The Bridge to Sanctuary [Closed]

[Juno]

Vivien sneezed and gave a snuffling snort and a few short, frustrated barks at his odd behavior. The man she'd seen before had been so intimidating with his ordered expectations and posturing. Now he seemed entirely different as a wolf, timid even.

She stared at him as she finally moved away again. Oblivious to his extended isolation she mistook his lack of eating as a sign of confirmation that he did not want to eat in her presence just as much as she was fearful of eating in his. Resettling by her few belongings and pack the she-wolf gave a great sigh as she watched him with interest. If she made him as uncomfortable as she assumed she was then why would he stick around any longer than necessary?

Morning would be better, she resigned. She could go and express her thanks with words and clear the air over whatever awkwardness had been created between them over the whole ordeal. Trying to signal that to him she stared out towards his home in the distance and pawed the air a bit in its general direction.

[Zero]

Why was she barking at him? Wolfram really had no clue what he was doing wrong! He had let her eat in peace, then when he'd come to finish eating she had begun to lick him, which seemed very strange to him, and now she was barking at him like he was the one being weird. His social skills truly had become abysmal, hadn't they?

It didn't occur to him that his behavior changing from earlier might be part of the problem. Although that was her fault too. Earlier she'd been an uninvited stranger trespassing on his territory. He had every reason to be short with her.

Now she was supposed to be there and he was trying hard not to make living near each other difficult. And failing. Horribly.

Wolfram gave another confused whine when she walked away and laid down, tilting his head as she pawed at the air towards his house. He didn't know what she was trying to tell him, but assumed that she wanted him to leave. Well, if all they were doing was creating tension and frustration then leaving might be a good idea. Hopefully she would be willing to speak with him later when they could actually use words.

Giving a huff Wolfram backed away slowly before turning and running into the forest. He'd done a little work earlier and with hunting he'd made a bit of a mess of himself. A bath in the river was due.

[Juno]

Vivien watched his wolf disappear and breathed a great sigh of relief for the bit of tension he'd carried away with him. It wasn't that she disliked him or hated being around him, but it was truly a frustrating thing to feel as though they were speaking two entirely different languages. There was no familiarity as she'd had with her previous packmates. She'd forgotten over the years how difficult she'd had it in the beginning with them, how stressful it was to assimilate with new wolves as she upset the balance of the pack even if that was only to give the others a bump up in the hierarchy.

She spent the remainder of that day resting from their great feast. With no one there to tell her no it was easy enough to return to the doe for more and more, but even she reached her limit eventually. In the back of her mind she was also concerned about being too greedy in case he returned and wanted more of it. How embarrassing if she'd managed to scarf all the best pieces by herself.

Once the sun had decidedly set the young werewolf was left feeling quite restless about their unfinished business. She couldn't sleep despite the peace of the forest around her little makeshift home and the relative safety she was beginning to feel there.

Returning to her human form Vivien ventured up to the town once more. She lingered at the forge, studying its contents again in the darkness before shuffling her way over to the door Wolfram had stormed out through earlier at their tense introduction. She hesitated, though, listening and hoping she was not going to be disturbing him or worse, waking him. She cringed at the assumed scowl such a thing might earn her, but it wasn't enough to deter her from the desire to properly express her gratitude.

Reaching out she finally gave a gentle knock before stepping back a little. Her hands folded in front of herself, palms rubbing together anxiously as she waited.

[Zero]

The water felt nice and it was soothing to clean the sweat and blood from his skin. Especially good to get the blood off in case someone saw him. It would have looked very bad to a human. Not that he had a lot to do with the local humans. Maybe he should have integrated himself better these past five years. Even if they weren't wolves it might have been better than keeping so much to himself that he didn't know how to act now that there was someone that he really did need to deal with regularly.

Once clean Wolfram had returned to the forge, double checking everything, making certain everything was put away where it belonged before he retreated into his house and promptly fell onto the couch, still not feeling completely at ease. Everything felt unresolved.

It wasn't a conscious decision to fall asleep, but he drifted off within minutes, napping fitfully for the rest of the evening.

At least until someone knocked on his door. That was fairly unusual. Most of the townfolk would have never come so far as to knock. If he wasn't out in the forge they usually just left. Feeling groggy and confused, Wolfram rolled off the couch and stumbled his way to the door in the relative dark while his eyes were still adjusting to the low lighting.

When he opened the door Wolfram held the look of a man who had definitely been woken, but not grumpily so. More a dazed and disheveled air about him and the only clothing he wore were a pair of low-flung breeches as he yawned and ran some fingers through his hair.

"It's you." Yeah, very smooth. He cleared his throat. "What do you need?"

[Juno]

Looking up once the door opened she tried to offer him the friendliest smile she could muster, though she did feel a little bad for the slightly off look he had about him. Her face fell a little at the thought that she'd probably woken him up. "Uh... Hi," she began, rocking slightly on her left heel as she tried to remember the words she'd been thinking about saying to him since they'd last seen each other.

"I don't need anything really, I just... I wanted to-" Vivien unclasped her hands and let one fall to her side as she lifted the other to point out towards the forest from where she'd come. "Thank you," she finally managed.

"For before, but you really don't need to do that. Um, share with me," she explained nervously. The last thing she wanted was to burden him to the point of being kicked out again so soon after finding a safe place.

[Zero]

Somehow Wolfram had thought that being in human form would magically make it easier for them to communicate, and it did, but it didn't help keep him from being confused by her or make him know what to do or say. She still looked kind of nervous and he still felt like an idiot. So apparently the problem wasn't exactly solved.

"Oh. Well...you're welcome? I wanted to share." He shifted on his feet nervously, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms again. Why couldn't he have been better with words like his brother Mingan? Wolfram still didn't know why she seemed so nervous about sharing, though.

"My name is Wolfram Hart, by the way. We didn't exactly become real acquainted earlier. I'm sorry if I came off harsh or cold or something. I haven't seen another wolf in five years and I didn't know how to really react to you. I, uh, still don't really know how to react to you." Well, that was the truth.

[Juno]

She tilted her head slightly in confusion. Why would he want to share? It only meant less for him. That seemed a much smaller issue, though, once she heard that she was the first of their kind he'd seen in years. Her eyes widened considerably, studying him in an entirely different light. How could this Wolfram manage such a lonely existence? How could any wolf?

"Five years?" she repeated softly, averting her eyes once her brain caught up and she realized she was being quite rude with her staring. There were a lot of things to consider. Maybe his pack left him. Maybe they died. Perhaps it had even been his choice to isolate himself in such a way even though she couldn't imagine such a thing for herself.

"You weren't really. Cold or anything." That was a lie, she'd been certain before that he might just take a bite out of her for appearing at his door. It was why she'd been in such a hurry to get away. "But nice to put a name to a face, Wolfram. I'm Vivien Derron," she finally offered, looking to him again with interest.

"Can I ask what happened? To your pack?" Well she assumed he had a pack, or did at one time or another. "Of course if you want to even talk about that," she added in a mumble, not wanting him to think she was going to demand it of him. She wasn't even certain the conversation was even appropriate. She was a guest, after all, and he had no obligation to her.

[Zero]

Wolfram wasn't sure what emotion exactly he saw on Vivien's face, but he shifted uncomfortably at the way she said the words five years. Wolves were social beings, he knew that it was quite strange for him to live alone without other wolves around him. He didn't even have the excuse that he used the humans to supply necessary companionship since he avoided them and kept to himself.

"I was pretty stand-offish, you don't have to sugar coat it or lie." At least now she knew that some of it was just him not being used to dealing with others. And they knew each other's names, which was definitely a plus.

"You can ask, but do you want to come in and talk instead of just us standing here feeling all awkward?" At least Wolfram felt awkward.

[Juno]

Her eyes widened slightly at the offer and she cast a glance over her shoulder to what she could see of the town in the darkness. She saw no one, though. What did he have to feel awkward about if no one was watching their odd conversation? That the awkwardness was between them had not really occurred to her.

"Sure," she agreed but hesitated for a few moments. She raised her head in caution, peering around him in the doorway to what she could see of his house beyond. It wasn't very much, though. And she was staring again.

Not wanting to be rude about his offer, Vivien slowly stepped forward at last with a slightly apologetic smile for her hesitations. "Wolfram is a very fitting name for a wolf," she pointed out. "Do the humans suspect you at all?"

[Zero]

For a second he wasn't sure that the she-wolf was going to take him up the offer to come in. Wolfram wondered if that was something that would make her uncomfortable. It was one thing to be on his territory, probably another to step into his den. When she accepted it was a little bit of a relief.

Stepping away from the door, Wolfram turned and moved into his house, it was a bit dark, so he found tinder and matches, lighting a few lamps around the living area. His house was mostly one large room, with a small part dedicated to a table and two chairs for dining. The fireplace wasn't lit, but it wasn't cold either, and in front of it sat the couch, with a plush chair angled to the side. There was only one closed off room, which was his bedroom, and the door was closed.

Overall it wasn't much, but it served a bachelor well enough.

"No, they never have. Some people just like to name their kids after weird things, at least that's what they figure. Make yourself comfortable." He gestured to the couch and chair before sitting down on the couch himself.

"Nothing happened to my pack. My family just got too big, the territory couldn't reasonably sustain so many wolves, so when I was sixteen and considered old enough to fend for myself they sent me off. Same thing happened with my older brothers. I was the youngest." Wolfram gave an indifferent shrug. She had wanted to know what had happened, why he was alone. He missed his family sometimes, but mostly he just didn't think about it.

[Juno]

Vivien followed him at what she felt was a respectful distance to just take in the look of his home. She watched him lighting his lamps and looked over what she could see out in the open. It was a nice home, she decided. Definitely small, but he was also just one wolf and had no need to share a space with others as she'd had to throughout her life.

She eyed the sitting area a little uncomfortably, nodding in acknowledgement of his answers as she just stood there. Vivien wasn't used to being so relaxed in the presence of any alpha or leader she'd ever known. Deciding it would be better if she did something, anything besides just standing, though, she finally moved to sit on the floor instead of the chair that was free.

"That sounds a little scary," she admitted, carefully tucking her legs beneath herself. She supposed her life had been similar except that she had been rejected as a burden rather than sent to start a new life.

"Were you not very...friendly with others? Why not just join a different pack?" Perhaps she was a little too curious about why a young wolf would stay alone for so long. She knew nothing about him really, so she could only assume. Maybe he was just stubborn, maybe he preferred being on his own and not troubling himself with other wolves, or maybe he just didn't like being around other wolves.

[Zero]

He thought it was weird when Vivien sat on the floor instead of on the furniture, but Wolfram didn't comment on her seating choice. Why should it matter to him if the strange little she-wolf liked it better on the floor? At least she had actually come over and come in to speak with him instead of hiding from him after all the awkwardness and frustration between them so far in just one day.

"It was a little intimidating at first, yeah." Not that he would outright admit that he'd been afraid when he first set out. Wolfram wasn't sure if he actually had been scared or not. Lost and confused, sure, but he didn't think he'd been genuinely frightened.

There was the key question. It wasn't like he hadn't been expecting it. That didn't mean Wolfram had a real, good answer for it. Why hadn't he joined another pack? Why did he stay alone?

"The only wolves I have ever known were family. When I had to leave I think I took it...hard." He shifted uncomfortably on the couch.

"At first I was going to find another pack with room to take me. I was young, healthy, and strong - somebody would have taken me. It's just that I didn't find anyone, and then I found this town. They needed a blacksmith and I knew the trade. The territory here was good and unclaimed." Wolfram sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "With such good hunting grounds I honestly thought that other wolves, wolves like me needing a new home, would come. When none did for a long time I just gave up thinking that any would. So when you showed up I was completely taken off guard."

[Juno]

She listened carefully, her head raised toward him with interest in his story. It didn't make it any less sad, especially when none of her guesses seemed correct. She felt a bit bad to know he'd been on his own and simply waiting for such a long time. It sounded like a very lonely existence, but she didn't want to judge him. There had to be parts he liked about it if he'd stayed for so long and not gone crawling back begging to his family or left in search of other wolves.

"Well, it is a nice territory," she praised gently. She'd seen enough of it to determine that, or at least she thought so. "And you have a nice home," she added, lifting a hand to gesture around them.

"Maybe others will come along soon. I might be the first of many to find you. Well, not too many. Just enough." It didn't hurt to be optimistic, did it?

"I'm sorry if I...scared you." Was that even the right word for it? "Thanks again for letting me stay."

[Zero]

There were things that had kept him there. Wolfram would never have gone crawling home begging to be taken back, his pride wouldn't have allowed him to admit defeat to his family. Not to mention that it was very nice territory and by the time he'd established himself both in the woods and with the town as a reliable smith it seemed too hard to uproot himself again.

"Thanks, the woods around here have good hunting, fresh water, and plenty of room." It was one reason he'd seen no harm in letting her stay for a while. Although Wolfram didn't think he would mind if she stayed for a very long time, but he figured she would rather a pack. He actually managed to give her a wry grin over his "nice home" though. "The house is small and plain, but it is all I've needed. I like to think of it as functional."

Wolfram shifted on the couch again, leaning forward a little to examine Vivien again. He still wasn't sure why she was sitting on the floor. It was odd to be looking down at her. "You didn't scare me, just was surprised when I picked up the smell of another wolf. It is...nice. To have you here, I mean. I haven't really become close with the humans. They wouldn't understand me."

[Juno]

For every bit he was leaning over to look at her she was craning her neck to look up. She didn't find it particularly awkward, though it was getting to be a little uncomfortable. Her legs shifted about so she could lean on her other side instead before the one went to sleep.

Vivien was happy to hear that he thought it was nice to have her around, short lived as she expected that to be. It felt a little odd to not be treated as lesser from the very start, but at least he might give her a chance to prove herself useful or at least a mostly non-burden first if he was saying that.

"Why wouldn't they understand?" she asked curiously, tilting her head slightly as she continued to stare up at him. Vivien had never had much extended contact with humans, but she'd known they were out there. Other members of her packs had interacted, traded, and worked with them before. "Bad experience?" she guessed.

[Zero]

"Not a bad experience, but if I got too close with them it would be inevitable. I'm not sure I could hide a whole part of myself from them if I cared too much. Don't think I would want to. Why would I want to make friends with people that could never really know the real and whole me?" Wolfram was worried that it would just make him feel that much more alone and isolated. Sure, there was a chance it would have helped him, but there was the chance that it would have ruined everything and seen him hunted or run out of a good territory.

Tilting his head, Wolfram leaned back against the couch again. "Why are you sitting on the floor? I mean, if you like it better down there, okay, but you know you can sit in the chair, or even on the couch with me, right? Was your pack kind of wild or something? I know my family was used to living more like humans, but away from humans. Some packs live more like wolves, or so I heard."

Wolfram winced slightly. That was kind of prying, but if Vivien was going to be living nearby he probably should learn more about her and he was very curious about her life and her exile. Although he wasn't sure he should ask about that just yet.

[Juno]

What he said finally connected for her with his initial warning. He didn't want to be revealed to the humans and didn't even want them to know what she was. The young wolf simply didn't understand why they should have any worries about humans knowing about them friend or otherwise and what the consequences of that could potentially be.

His other question distracted her away from such thoughts, though. Perhaps it was for the best for them not to be debating ideologies about humans their first day of getting to know one another. Vivien's face screwed up in confusion, though, as if such a thing should have been obvious to him.

"You're the leader." She cocked her head again in thought. Maybe he preferred the other term she knew of. "Alpha. It isn't polite to be too familiar with you in your home," she explained as she gestured to the chair and couch as if that should have been obvious.

"I wouldn't say wild, exactly. We...lived in buildings mostly. Close ones and connected ones. Maybe our customs are just different." She smiled a little, almost with an air of sympathy. Vivien didn't really understand that some of their kind simply lived in pure family units that didn't enforce such things. She just assumed he was out of touch.

[Zero]

"Leader? Alpha?" It wasn't that he didn't know what an Alpha was, his father had been the alpha male and leader of the family, but they had been only family. As soon as he'd been old enough to even be considered a man Wolfram had been forced to leave home. Perhaps his father would have treated him differently had he been allowed to stay longer. Since his older brothers had also been exiled at the same age he never saw them be treated as anything but his father's children either.

It occurred to him suddenly, speaking with this unrelated wolf, that Wolfram had a very underdeveloped social understanding of his own kind. He didn't know anything about how wolf packs that consisted of more than family members really functioned. Sure, they had all respected his father, but nothing like this.

"I'm not sure if calling me an alpha or leader is right." How could he be the alpha with no pack? You couldn't have a leader without people to, well, lead. It hadn't occurred to him that Vivien might really count as that, since there wasn't a pack for her to join here. Could there be a pack with only two wolves in it? He guessed it might be possible. "This is becoming more complicated than I thought. If you look at me like that, does that mean we're a pack now? Just because you live here?"

Realizing a nervous wolf like Vivien might take that wrong he hurriedly added, "I'm not saying I want you to go. This is just all...really new and I want to make sure we are both looking at this the same way. To avoid as much confusion and misunderstandings as possible. I have a feeling there's gonna be a lot of both."

[Juno]

She was uncertain what to make of his surprise. He seemed anxious to her, like it hadn't even occurred to him what he was, at least in her eyes. He'd already admitted to being forced to leave his home and claim his territory. He'd planned for some sort of life that involved other wolves joining him. It sounded like a leader to her. What wolf would go through all the trouble just to pass the reins to another?

Calling them a pack was something she felt a little hesitant about. Vivien had always assumed it would be best for as many wolves as possible to share her burden. The thought of wearing him out or making him angry if he was the only one around to help made her wary.

She did live there, though, for the time being at least. It was his land and his time she was occupying. Perhaps that was what they were even if she only meant it to be temporary. Making him uncomfortable was not in her list of plans for her new life. She'd sought the safety of other wolves and another territory and it just happened that he was alone. That wasn't exactly his fault.

"I thought that was just how these things worked," she finally admitted, looking to the chair again as she shifted uncomfortably on the floor. It had never occurred to her that a leader might not want to be recognized as any different or better. Perhaps it was just that he didn't see himself as one instead.

"You let me stay here. I thought that meant you were... Um, accepting me? I suppose 'into your pack,' even if that's just you for now," she explained, eyeing him cautiously. The last thing she wanted was to offend him. "Is there something else you want me to call you?"

[Zero]

Honestly Wolfram had never thought that far ahead, and had never needed to actually make a real plan for other wolves coming into his territory. Of course he also had a very narrow view of how a pack worked outside of a pure family group such as the one he'd been born and raised into. Had other wolves come sooner he'd have likely found himself rather shocked and taken aback as more aggressive and self-assured wolves barreled over him to claim the territory and possibly even remove him from it.

"I guess that would make sense." Of course it would make sense that his agreement to allow her to remain on his territory would be taken as accepting Vivien into his pack. If he had a pack. Well having other wolves join him had been the original idea. This was just happening later than expected that was all.

"You can call me whatever you want, I guess. If leader or alpha is what makes you feel better. I'm still just trying to adjust to all this. It's kind of hard to go from alone for years to having to think about someone else all of a sudden." Wolfram noticed her looking at the chair. "You really can sit in the chair. I don't mind. I don't know how things were for you in your last pack, but around here you can sit in chairs and share kills with me."