time; late afternoon
status; all welcome, but definitely seeking audience with Chakra
Life had not been kind to the young DeSarinno-Frostfur; not since he had gotten separated from Cyrus. He had truly thought he was going to die after having had a not so nice run in with a badger. It had torn his hindquarters up pretty good (or bad). He didn’t remember a lot from that day other than having made his way to the bottom of some mountain. He didn’t remember if someone had found him, if someone had taken him in, if someone had tended to his wounds. He had been pretty out of it for many days. When he had finally woken, he had been all alone but a fresh rabbit had been left for him. Apparently, whoever had been taking care of him had decided he was well enough to not need them anymore, leaving him to his own devises. He’d been entirely alone ever since, and not liking it in the least. He wasn’t the best of hunters, having never really hunted by himself because he’d always had either his parents or Cyrus around. Hamied had considered returning to his parents, but he couldn’t even remember how to get back. So he did the only thing he could think of, he returned to the last places he could remember having been. It had been so long since he’d seen Cyrus, that he figured his brother had given him up for either dead or gone to try to find him, so he didn’t bother trying to return to the last place he had seen Cyrus. Instead, he wandered, aimlessly, trying to think of what to do. And then he thought of his aunt, Koontz. Maybe if he could find her, he could find a home as well. He returned to where he was so sure that her pack was, but he wasn’t finding her scent, at all. This was obviously distressing to him, but there was obviously nothing he could do about it. That was when he picked up the scent of a nearby pack. He was hesitant to approach anyone he didn’t know, but if he didn’t do something, he wasn’t going to make it for much longer. He looked pretty ragged with his disheveled fur, slight limp and scars on his flanks from where the badger had torn into him. The yearling could only hope that whoever lived here didn’t turn him away. Stopping at a respectable distance, the young male found himself hesitating. Uncertainty filled his every thought and he almost changed his mind. Almost. Knowing it was now or never, the young male tilted his head back and let his soft voice fill the air, asking for audience with whoever was in charge. Then it became a waiting game… |
She was doing her usual duties, patrolling the outlands where young evergreens slowly gave way to tumbling scrub and wild grasses, when a howl rent the afternoon air. Her head jerked upward, ears alert and turned in the direction from whence the howl had come. This was no voice she knew. Immediately her hackles bristled and her tail rose up over her back, an almost involuntary reaction to a potential threat at her borders. She made her way toward the stranger at a fast lope, covering the distance quickly. She arrived within ten minutes and surveyed he who had let his voice be heard in her silent forest.
He was a mess. A beaten and draggled rag of a wolf. Something had clearly had its way with him and it had not been kind. Chakra looked at the creature and felt a conflicting mixture of contempt and pity. Wasting no time, she asked in a brisk and frank tone, "Who are you and what do you want?"
His wait time was a lot less than he thought it would be, though he really wasn’t entirely sure just how long he would have to wait. When he had first ended up at the base of the mountain toward the north, no one had come. At least not while he had still been conscious, anyway. So he wasn’t entirely sure just how long he thought he was going to have to wait. It sure didn’t leave him much time to completely change his mind, at any rate. The moment she came into view, the yearling dropped into a respectable bow, slicking his ears back against his crown in the process. He wasn’t good with speaking to strangers, having always left that to Cyrus when they had been traveling together, but Cyrus wasn’t here, meaning he had to do it himself. ”Hamied DeSarinno-Frostfur, ma’am,” he answered her first question first. It was her second question that left him stumped for a brief moment, but only because of his own awkwardness. ”A home, ma’am,” he finally responded after a few brief moments. ”I have nowhere to go and don’t want to be alone anymore. I lost my brother, Cyrus, several months ago. I got separated from him and couldn’t find him. I thought about returning to my parents’ lands, but I don’t remember how to get there.” Once he got going, he found he couldn’t seem to stop. The young male cringed when he realized he must be rambling. ”I’m sorry…” for rambling, but he couldn’t seem to bring himself to say the rest of his apology out loud. |
So she arched an eyebrow at him appraisingly and, in response to his explanation, asked, "So, what happens when you remember where your parents' lands are?" She cocked her head, her glacial eyes drilling into his face, even though he (to his credit) remained carefully avoidant of her gaze. "Do you leave us and rejoin them?" The question was spoken with a crisp, sharp tone, but not unkindly. It was a genuine curiosity, but an important one as well – she would not take in someone whose loyalties lay elsewhere.
Although he knew that he was quite a pitiful sight, he wasn’t expecting pity from anyone (though it wouldn’t hurt haha). He didn’t expect to be let into anyone’s pack based on pity, and would probably walk away if he thought that was the case. The young male didn’t want to be someone’s charity case. Hamied wanted the chance to be able to prove himself. Of course, he knew that he would have to get healthier in order to give his absolute all, but still. Making sure to keep his gaze upon the ground, he gave a slight shake of his head before speaking, answering her questions. ”No ma’am,” he began, still making sure to be as polite as he had been taught by his mother. ”When I left home with my brother, I did so with no intent on returning home. I was going to only try to return back there as a last resort.” But even his last resort seemed to fail him. There was just no winning for him, it seemed. Lifting himself from his almost seemingly cowering crouch, but without lifting his gaze, he took a deep breath. ”I know I don’t look like much, ma’am,” he began, not feeling anywhere near as confident as he was trying to sound. ”But I only ask for a chance to prove myself… to prove that I’m more than I currently appear.” |
She was skeptical as she looked at his injuries. This was not the best time of the year to be taking in wounded stragglers who couldn't offer much. And she knew, despite his attempts to reassure her, that it would be some while before he was well enough to benefit Neverwinter in any way. "Understand this," she replied, some of the frost leaving her voice and being replaced by a more reasonable tone. "It is the middle of winter. This is not the best time to take in wounded strangers. Frankly, you would be a burden for quite some time until you healed enough to pull your weight. Tell me then, Hamied, why it would be a good idea to take you in. Tell me of your strengths, what you can do. What makes you worth my time?"
He flinched, slightly, as she made mention of the scars on his flank. ”They’re mostly healed, ma’am,” he spoke up only when she had finished. He would absolutely not ever interrupt someone obviously far above him while they were speaking. His mother would have tanned his backside if he had even remotely considered doing so, and it stuck with him after all this time. The manners she taught him would probably never leave him. ”I’m not the best hunter in the world,” he chose to start out, giving another slight shake of his head. ”I can hunt, though. However, my parents, both leaders of their pack, taught me, and my siblings, how to interact with others, pack politics I guess you could call it. Because I was the one that was picked on the most, I focused my attention on learning all that my parents wanted to teach us.” Hamied truly didn’t like talking about himself, especially when it felt like he was bragging about himself, even though he really wasn’t. There was something else that was good about him… ”My small size makes me swift. The limp I now walk with doesn’t hinder my movements. My parents taught me to be alert to my surroundings. It wasn’t until my accidental run-in with a very displeased badger that I fully understood what they meant. I’m young, ma’am, and willing to do whatever asked of me, learn whatever someone is willing to teach me.” Would this be enough to gain acceptance into her pack? He could only hope. |
"That you are willing to learn is a plus, though. I can work with that. I do not tolerate slackers. You should be willing to learn a skill and do it quickly. Is this something you can agree to?"
As she spoke, his ears tightened against his head. Though his parents had never actually gotten involved in the politics, they had made sure their children learned just in case they ever needed it later in life. ”Yes, ma’am,” he replied, ducking his head down a little lower. He didn’t seem to be getting off on the right foot and it was rather discouraging to the yearling. Hamied was starting to worry that she was going to turn him away because he was seemingly basically useless to her. When she spoke again, he felt a touch of renewed hope. The yearling male readily nodded his head, making sure to absolutely keep his eyes diverted away from her face. ”I am willing, ma’am,” he answered, trying hard to not sound as eager as he was feeling at that moment. Though he wasn’t sure what skills were expected here, he didn’t want to seem like a complete moron by asking her when she already seemed displeased by him. If he was accepted, he would ask it of someone else within the pack. |
She gestured for him to follow her, and then made her way back toward the forest's interior. The evergreen dominion was endless, it seemed, ancient pines standing in ranks that went on forever into the distance, scraping at the heavens with their giant boughs. Chakra wove her way through them and followed paths she had memorized by heart; even blind and without a functioning nose, she would know these trails through her mythical forest. "Should you encounter a stranger at the borders," she began again, her tone much kinder now that they were packmates and brethren. "Give no quarter. Our pack does not negotiate or bargain with neighbors. We do not allow others on our lands at all. What is ours, is ours to protect. I expect this of you, Hamied." She looked at him meaningfully, as if entrusting him with something important. To her, it was important. What good was a pack if it was not well-protected? "If you are not sure what to do, just howl for me. There are some I would permit to enter our forest, but only with my permission at that time."
Suddenly, a realization came upon her. "Oh…er, my name is Chakra – and I do apologize for my breach in manners, I should have told you this earlier. Chakra Feralheart." She had to suppress a smile as she considered how confused poor Hamied must have been; Chakra's personalities went from one extreme to the other. One moment, terrifying and imperious, the next…a chatterbox apologizing for her bad manners.
i'm breathing in the chemicals
i'm breaking in, shaping up
then checking out on the prison bus
[size=3]this is it, the apocalypse[/size]
His tail began to sway against his hind legs when she granted him entry into the Forest and into the pack. A very relieved sound escaped from the young male. “Thank you, ma’am,” he responded, allowing a faint smile to begin to grace his youthful face. “I will try hard to not disappoint you.” And he would, too. Hamied would do whatever he could to try not to disappoint her. Granted, there were probably going to be things that he did or said that would bring disapproval, but it wouldn’t be like he’d do them on purpose. He was young and still had a lot more to learn.
Readily, the young male fell into step with her, though he made sure to keep a few steps back so as to not be directly even with her purely out of respect. He was eager to absorb anything she was going to tell him about the pack because he knew that it would make his transition into the pack just that much easier. His mismatched eyes eagerly took in his surroundings as they moved through the trees. Having grown up in a forest, he was no stranger to trees. But since this was a new place, he wanted to begin memorizing as much as possible while they walked.
While taking in his surroundings, he made sure to keep attention focused on listening to what she was saying. “Yes, ma’am,” he responded when she directly spoke his name, giving a nod of his head to show that he understood. “No one is permitted to enter without your permission.” The young male repeated what she’d said, in a condensed version, to show that he really was paying attention. He continued to address her as ma’am mostly because he didn’t know her name, but also out of respect for her position as leader of the pack.
Although he was confused by the night and day change in her personality, he didn’t question it. He knew that it was quite a job being pack leader. Hamied had watched his parents a lot. So he knew not to question personality changes from how they were with strangers, to how they became after accepting someone new into the pack. “It’s a pleasure to know your name, Miss Chakra,” he responded, pausing a moment to be able to dip his muzzle down in a bow before moving to fall back into step beside her (but still a couple steps behind).
"You have a fineness that I don't often see," she observed, referring to his manners and politeness, and glancing at him as they passed a wide clearing, which was obviously a rendezvous area for the pack. The tamped-down grasses and mingling canine scents were evidence of the area's frequent use. "Would you care to tell me of your family? " She asked the question tentatively, in the careful way that one stepped out onto a lake whose ice was uncertain. You never did know with families; sometimes it was all well and good, and other times…well…you wished you hadn't stepped out on that ice, figuratively speaking.
i'm breathing in the chemicals
i'm breaking in, shaping up
then checking out on the prison bus
[size=3]this is it, the apocalypse[/size]
His parents had, indeed, raised him very well, but it had been his mother that had insisted on her children learning manners, though not all of them upheld those manners that they had been taught. Some of his siblings could be downright jerkfaces. But not him. He had soaked it all in, storing everything his parents taught him away into his memory because surely a day would come when it would prove useful, and he was right. Him being here, being accepted into a pack all by himself, was proof of that. The young male knew that there were still things he would have to learn along the way, but he was so willing, so eager, to learn.
Mismatched eyes took in all the sights around him as they moved through the land, her land. Though he was obviously new here, being within the trees of the forest, he already felt at home. This was because of having been born and raised in a forest. He had no doubt that he’d quickly learn his way around this forest just as well as he knew his way around his parents’ forest. Not only was he taking in the sights around him, but he was listening to everything and sniffing various things here and there to take in the scents. He wanted to familiarize himself with everything that had to do with being a part of this pack. Now was just as good a time to begin learning as any, right?
Her words took him by surprise. Mismatched eyes blinked and glanced over at her, though making sure to not make eye contact. “My mom made sure to teach all of us kids manners, telling us that she’d bust our behinds if we didn’t.” He laughed, softly, as the mental image of his very small mother going after one of his much bigger brothers. She sure knew how to get her point across when the need so arose. And if there was any problem that she, herself, couldn’t handle, that was when she turned it over to their father. And boy oh boy did you not want daddy after your backside!
If it were possible to blush, he would have, though, simply because no one had ever spoken about his politeness. “Well… I’m the oldest of 2 from my parents’ second to last litter. I have a littermate sister. They had 3 litters before my litter, so I have older brothers and sisters. I was traveling with my brother, Cyrus, but we ended up separated and I haven’t been able to find him since them. From his litter, there are three boys; Cyrus, Hugin and Muninn. My parents had just had their newest litter before I left with Cyrus.” He paused for a moment, cocking his head slightly to the side, unsure of what she wanted to know.
“Out of all my siblings, not including the newest litter, I am the smallest of all of them. I got picked on… a lot… by the others. Cyrus was the only one that wouldn’t, though, and would beat up the others for picking on me. My parents would interject when they needed, but mostly let Cyrus deal with it. I looked up to Cyrus. I still do. It hurts not knowing where he is or if I’ll ever see him again. I do have days when I miss my parents, but I set out with Cyrus because I wanted to see more than just home, to learn more and meet others outside of our pack and the Valley.”
She noticed his mention of a brother named Muninn, and pondered with interest the fact that she had a Muninn here in her pack. Was his surname Frostfur? Absently, she turned it over in her mind and tried to remember.
She especially related to Hamied when he went on to tell her of his experiences as the smallest of his siblings. She too had been the smallest of her own litter, and life growing up had often been hard, especially with three larger brothers. She suddenly felt protective of the young wolf, regardless of his status as a stranger she barely knew, because of this shared link. She replied after he had finished, "I too was the smallest of my litter. It was hard growing up. I was picked on a lot, and my mother seemed to expect more of me than my brothers and sister, for some reason." She stopped walking, her brows furrowed as she thought back on those memories long ago. She had never been able to understand her mother's reasoning on some things. Salene had held her to such high standards and pushed her to be so much. She supposed, in retrospect, she ought to be thankful to her mother. But in some parts of her heart, there lived only resentment. "But I turned out fine. I became strong and earned respect, and I came here and now I lead a pack of my own. None of my siblings can claim that themselves. I think the greatest power can be found in those we least expect. You will be fine here. You will grow strong and others will respect you."
She didn't know why she said these things to him. Maybe she was wasting her breath. Maybe she was making a fool of herself, or making herself look like a simpering, oversensitive female to him. This was, after all, nothing like the Chakra she had showed any of her other packmates. But what he told her touched some part of her, the frightened little yearling who had fled her home pack and the persecution of her mother, and made her way alone into the wide-open, scary world. Perhaps, one day, if they came to know one another well enough, she would share the rest of her story with Hamied. For now, though, she would let him be content that he was safe here and that, if nothing else, he had a friend in a high place.