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In Plain Sight [M] [DragonSong]

Started by Juno, January 19, 2016, 04:25:14 PM

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Juno

With a storm a shift in the land always followed. At the outskirts weaker, older trees finally gave way to the weight of snow and ice. Trails and scents were smothered and familiar landmarks were shrouded. The sudden calm after the storm was always a bountiful time for a keen hunter as all the land's creatures took to the open once more in search grazing to uncover or unsuspecting prey to catch.

Christopher sat firmly in the second camp that day, the man motionless as he perched among an outcropping of rocks. He was silent as his eyes scanned the horizon, his body tense with even the slightest sound of shifting snow or sliding ice beneath the pristine surface of fresh powder. Not everything would be his to catch that day, but he had not yet seen any of the larger game that might be worth his energy to pursue.

DragonSong

The storm had kept the pack in in their den for almost two days. Now that it was over, the wolves were eager to get out, stretch their legs. But most of all, eager to hunt.

Dire wolves were distinct from their multiple cousin breeds in many ways, and one of them was the way they chose to hunt, usually splitting up into groups to take down more game rather than moving as a whole pack.

Snowfur, Graywind, and Brenna were the quickest group, and so sent out first, hopefully to grab some small game and return back to feed the others so they could track down something more substantial. The girl sat astride the alpha female, sharp eyes searching the white landscape her foster mother nearly blended into.

Up ahead, Graywind suddenly stopped. His hackles raised and a low growl rumbled in his chest and throat. He smelled something. Brenna gave a low, questioning bark.

The young male shook his head, looking back at them with glowing golden eyes. She leaped to the ground, hand going to the hunting knife strapped at her hip as she sniffed the air. Her nose wasn't as sensitive as her family's, but by their stiff stances and snapping eyes, she knew she should be on guard.

Juno

The sudden, predatory growl from the young male alerted him to their presence, but the shifter truly had no reason to suspect wolves being unhappy with his existence, though he was certain they could scent where he'd tucked himself away. His kind had shared lands with all manner of tundra creatures over the years and for all he knew the sounds he heard were meant to signal some prey creature they'd spotted.

When he heard no sounds of retreat nor chase, though, Christopher grew curious as he turned slightly on the balls of his feet to peer over the top of his hiding place. The pair of wolves did not surprise him, but the sight of the girl raised a bit of concern. To his knowledge he was far from any of the human settlements, but even stranger to him the animals did not seem bothered by her presence.

Instead of speaking out he merely observed her in silence, curious about what she could have possibly been doing. Perhaps it was just coincidence they had stopped so close and he wondered what they might have found that he had not. Truly unconcerned with any danger they might pose Christopher's bow and small quiver of arrows remained tucked against his back and his own knife safely sheathed.

DragonSong

Both wolves' heads suddenly snapped toward a rocky outcrop. The intensity of their growling had lessened but they were still clearly wary. They smelled something new, something strange, and they weren't quite sure what to make of it.

Brenna gave a low bark, gesturing for them to stay back. She'd go check it out- if it was dangerous, they could back her up if she needed it. Her foster mother growled her displeasure at the idea, but Graywind liked her cheek, chuffing. His pack-sister was tough, she could handle it.

Giving her brother a nod and a quick, close-lipped smile, Brenna darted across the snow toward the rocks, drawing her knife and holding it at the ready. With a powerful jump, she leaped to the top of the outcrop, landing in a defensive crouch, eyes narrowed warily and barking a challenge to whatever animal had entered their territory.

Juno

Her communication and continued familiarity with the wolves was intriguing, but the moment she was off and running he ducked to slip back down and out of view. Never in all his life had he heard a human produce such a sound and he stared up at her frozen and puzzled as he studied her knife and tried to determine if she was truly a threat to his life in any capacity.

"I don't speak dog, missy," he finally scolded her with a huff, narrowing his eyes right back at her as he stared up through the space between rocks. "Do you plan on using that?" he asked, glancing at the blade of the knife.

DragonSong

Her eyes widened when she saw him. Stunned, she began to lower her knife unconsciously. This animal looked like...her. Sort of, anyway.

Vague memories circled in her head and she blinked, giving a sharp growl of frustration. The sounds he made weren't like beast-speak, but they were somehow familiar. What was it?

Very, very slowly she straightened up, blade held limp at her side. Opening her mouth, she dug deep into her memories and croaked out in a voice long unaccustomed to forming such words, "What...are...you?"

Juno

He relaxed a bit in her bewilderment, no longer thinking he might get stabbed immediately with her crude weapon. Her struggle seemed odd, though. Was she not used to speaking? It seemed unusual to him for what he assumed was the "human" form of a werewolf of some sort. No sane human would have wild wolves for friends, in his opinion. Or, perhaps, the whole lot had fooled him and he was now sharing land with werewolves as well.

"What am I?" he repeated, raising a brow and looking down at himself as if that question should have been made redundant just by looking at him. "I'm like you. A shifter, yeah?" he guessed aloud.

DragonSong

Brenna tilted her head at him in a manner distinctly reminiscent of a wolf pup. "Shifter...?" she repeated slowly, the word unfamiliar. Her voice was hoarse, unused to human speech, and she experimentally cleared her throat.

Snowfur and Graywind seemed to have had enough of waiting for her, and in a few quick bounds they were flanking her on the outcropping. The younger dire wolf gave a questioning yip and she chuffed in response, shrugging her shoulders. She didn't know what the newcomer was, exactly- she was trying to figure that out.

Looking back to the familiar-stranger, she ventured, "Why...come here? Why you...here?"

Juno

"Yes..." Suddenly he wasn't so sure that he'd assumed correctly, but what kind of girl would freely be among wolves if she were not?

He observed her interactions with the beasts curiously, uncertain about what sort of conversation he was witnessing. Their yips, barks, and the slightest twitch or shifting posture was almost entirely lost upon him and he found himself staring dumbly between the trio.

"Why me?" he repeated, pointing to himself as he moved to step out of his hiding spot and into the snow. If he was to be cornered by a pair of wolves and a strange woman he would definitely much prefer any disagreements happen in the open if things got ugly. "I live here. This is my land." Christopher gestured out into the distance and made a rounding motion with his hand, hoping she might understand he really meant all of it. "Why are you here?"

DragonSong

Brenna frowned, tilting her head. "Live here," she said. Then, realizing it might seem as though she was repeating his sentiment, she gestured to herself and her foster mother and brother. "Live here," she repeated, laying a hand on her chest.

She gestured to the tundra behind her, eyes narrowing a bit. "Our...home. Pack home. We live here."

Juno

He followed her gesturing warily, uncertain if she was really referring to both herself and the wolves or just the wolves in her "pack home." Wolves were certainly across the territory but it was his first time being approached so directly by other predators. As far as he was concerned it was still his home and they merely lived in some undesirable area for his own needs.

"Your home?" he asked, hoping she might understand the clarification he sought. "You live with the pack?"

DragonSong

"Yes." She nodded. This forgotten language- gestures and words she was unused to- was like a muscle left unused for too long; weak and sore, but the more she used it the easier it became to do so.

"Our home," she agreed, nodding again. Then, slowly, "My home. My pack. I...live here. Pack is home."

Brenna tilted her head at him, curious. "Don't see you here. You...live here? Where?" She was confused- how could such a creature live in pack territory without her knowing it?

Juno

He thought he understood what she was telling him, but her confusion about him seemed odd. If they truly lived there and neither had ever spotted the other it was a most unusual incidence of chance and fate. Christopher shrugged, gesturing again to the tundra beyond them. "I live here. This is my home. Also my home," he corrected, not wanting her to think he had any reason to feud with wolves previously unknown to him.

"And you," he began again, pointing at her. "You are not a shifter? Not a werewolf?"

DragonSong

"Shifter?" She repeated the strange word again, slowly shaking her head. "Do not...understand. Were- werewolf?"

Snowfur's ears perked at that and she made a low sound in her throat. Surprised, Brenna looked to her and barked a question. The alpha female gave a quick, sharp answer that had both Graywind and Brenna blinking, heads tilted.

"No," she said after a moment, looking back to the stranger. "Not werewolf. I...me. This." She gestured to her form, two legs and fragile skin wrapped up in crude clothing. "Pack sister. Wolf...inside. Not outside."

She frowned. This was difficult to explain. "You are shifter? Werewolf?"

Juno

He flinched slightly for the sudden sound from the female wolf. His eyes studied her warily, uncertain what sort of command or information it was. The girl seemed to understand something about it, though, which he found awfully curious.

"A wolf inside still seems a werewolf to me," he commented, not quite understanding her meaning about her relationship with them. "I am a shifter. A cat. Ah, leopard?" he tried to clarify to her, uncertain if she would even understand that.

"No pack, though. Are they your only pack?" he asked, wondering if they were the only wolves but uncertain if he was being clear with his question. Her manner of speaking seemed strange to him, just a bit off, though he wasn't quite sure why yet.

DragonSong

"Cat..." She tilted her head, frowning. She knew that word, but she was having a hard  time justifying it with the two-legged creature in front of her. Leopard was foreign, but she didn't give it much thought. "Not...not werewolf," she clarified, still frowning a bit.

At the question about her pack, she sort of sank down on her haunches, shaking her head. "Pack...one pack here. But..." She bit her lip, trying to remember the words. "More..." She started ticking wolves off on her fingers: the alphas, the pups- Graywind and his siblings- the beta, the omegas.

She held up eight fingers at him. "Wolves." Looking at her own hands, she suddenly grinned. "Eight wolves!" she exclaimed, very pleased with herself. Then, belatedly, "No...nine." She put a hand to her chest. "Nine wolves. Pack."

Juno

"Yes, cat." Christopher watched her face carefully, interested as he observed her thought process happening on her face. He wondered if she truly understood what she was or what he was asking about and he counted along with her as she held up her fingers one at a time.

"So you are a wolf?" He chuckled nervously, uncertain if he should be careful of her or not. A regular wolf might not have been much threat but if he had nine werewolves lurking on his land he had much bigger problems to worry about.

"Are they...people, too?" he tried, hoping she might understand the concept of two forms better than the names he was giving for them.

DragonSong

Brenna shook her head, frowning in confusion. Luckily, Snowfur seemed to understand what the stranger meant. She huffed and gave a soft bark, shaking her head.

Brow still furrowed, Brenna barked back, tilting her head from one side to the other. Eventually, she returned her attention to the...shifter. "No. Wolves." She tried very hard to remember the word for it. "Deer? No...dire wolves," she corrected herself, feeling a small flash of triumph. Deer were prey. She remembered that.

"I am..." She bit her lip again, russet eyes narrowing as she thought. "People?" That didn't seem quite right. Damnit, what was the word?

"Human!" Her eyes lit up. Grinning, she said again, "Wolf inside. Human outside." She gestured to Snowfur and Graywind. "Wolves outside and inside."

Juno

He waited patiently for her explanation, but he still had a bit of confusion about whether or not they were all a pack of werewolves. He'd yet to understand that she was a human living among wolves, his brow creasing slightly as he thought on what she was telling him.

"So... They are wolves," he began again, pointing to her furry companions. "You are...both? Human and wolf?"

DragonSong

Brenna nodded- that seemed right to her- but Snowfur gave a sharp bark, shaking her head.

The girl looked to her foster mother, confused, and let out a low whine. The alpha female nuzzled her neck, giving her cheek a lick and huffing.

Slowly, she looked back to the stranger. "Not...not quite," she muttered, not sure how to explain. Snowfur seemed to understand what he was asking better than she did. "Pack...family. Pack raised me." She gave the Snowfur a look, and the white wolf nodded.

Shaking her head, Brenna looked back at him, frowning. "Where is your...den?" she asked, tilting her head. It seemed strange to her that the pack had never come across it.