Pair of wolves (Arethiel)

[Silvy]

Summer 8, 511 AV The temperature barely hovered at 1C and the sky was starlit and clear with the beautiful summer breeze. It was dusk and the night animals awakened to search for food. Large spruce and fir trees groaned beneath the weight of the snow, dropping soft bits to the ground beneath. Silvy dropped her clothes at the gate, nodded shyly to the guards and burst into scintillating sparks of light, morphing rapidly as she leapt to the snow in her silver wolf form. Her slight form blurred against the darkening landscape and she lost herself in the freedom of running. Her favorite hunting grounds were a few clicks away and her effortless stride ate up the snow beneath her in a blinding speed. The wolf's tongue hung down the side of her mouth in a wolf grin of sheer joy. 'No clothes! No rules! No stilted two-legged walking!' she thought happily. She turned in a large half circle, slowing down to a brisk trot, not quite willing to stop yet--she still had energy to burn! It was a fine summer and the deer were fat with good eating. Silvy brushed against the largest tree in her territory and stopped to rub each side of her face along it. For good measure, she scratched hard at the bottom of the ancient old pine tree to mark it well. Moving back into her brisk trot, she continued checking the perimeter of her territory for intruders. She didn't want to fight, but she would defend what was hers. As is the way with all things in nature. She quickly squatted in the left corner by the gorse berry bush and trotted on heading west. 'Male, Vantha, ink, paper, and ...magic! Someone new has walked by recently!' The scent made her uneasy and she backed into the snowbank, rubbing her hind legs into it and scratching firmly with all four paws. That one needed strong marking. The young wolf surveyed her markings and nodded with satisfaction. Even a Vantha could read the message now. 'Mine!' The Kelvic's thoughts turned to food and she lifted her nose to test the night breeze. She swiveled her ears back and forth, taking in as much as she could with sight, scent and sound. Silvy lifted her head, and the fur raised along her spine as she licked her nose and teeth. She stood with all four legs rigid, her tail held high and very very still. 'I smell a wolf!'

[Arethiel]

Summer 8, 511 AV Arethiel had left her cave at a different time then she normally did to hunt deer, or maybe a vantha if one came by. She ran to her grounds and got there quickly seeing as how they weren't very far. That's when Arethiel spotted the deer, the one she wanted and the one she would have. She stalked it till it reached a snowbank whereby she pounced upon it going for it's neck. Arethiel had just finished killing the deer, quickly as was her custom, and had dined on it slightly when something in the breeze caught her nose. Another wolf, here? She knew that no packs were in this area and knew that her 1 and only pack she had left would not be looking for her. It had to be a lone wolf. Arethiel would have to be cautious as this wolf would probably head her direction. Her natural cave shelter, with her human possessions since she rather despised being in human form more then necessary, wasn't far so she could run to it, but she was too intrigued. She'd hide in the woods a bit far off. She was still cautious though so she'd at least attempt to come up behind this wolf when he or she arrived.

[Silvy]

The onrushing aroma of fresh blood and deer assaulted her senses divinely. Silvy tested the breeze and her silver eyes dilated to pinpoint pupils. ' A wolf in my territory and a fresh kill. I'm so very hungry; I just changed form and that deer smells good!' The young wolf paced in indecision. She'd only fought with a wolf once and he learned the word no quickly. To seek out the other wolf and take the kill would be a first for her. But she was so very hungry!! And how -dare- another wolf enter my territory ignoring all my marks? How dare it!' The silver wolf stopped pacing and decided to defend her territory. Anything killed in her marked space was hers by right! She loped into a three beat gate, following her nose and watching intently for any sign of movement. Deer tracks showed plainly in the snow and now Silvy could see and smell her prey and the intruder. She bounded over the snow peak with her fur bristling and her teeth bared. The scent of blood clouded her feelings and enraged her already roiling starvation. The wolf stood with her legs braced, tail out, snarling aggressively and fully baring her teeth. An angry and savage growl rippled through the icy air as a clear challenge.

[Arethiel]

Summer 8, 511 AV Arethiel saw the wolf approach her deer from her place in the woods. From what Arethiel could tell, the wolf was female and had a silver coat. She saw the wolf pace, she figured it was indecision though she couldn't know, then she stopped. Arethiel grinned a little inside when the wolf started growling, a clear challenge to her. She could see however that the wolf seemed to be a little smaller then her, though Arethiel did not let that cause her to become uncautious as she was still very much so. hmmmm the wolf challenges me, rightfully so since it was marked but I've lived in my dwelling for probably a couple years now, hunted here for a while albeit only lately but still, I'm not quite ready to concede it just yet. We'll see what this wolf does and then I'll make a decision to concede or not. Arethiel then jumped from her position in the woods and snowbank to behind the silver wolf. She brought on a Ambivalence facial expression, crouched down preparing for an attack knowing one could well come, her well defined muscles tensed, she began growling and then began to stare down the silver wolf, in her hopes to get it to at least stand down some. A clear response to the other's challenge but a defensive response and not one to incite a fight if it was unnecessary.

[Silvy]

Silvy stopped growling and swiveled her ears looking for the other wolf. She expected it to be near its deer. No wolf leaves a fresh kill uncovered unless it's startled or surprised. She heard a deep snarl a few paces behind her and leaped into the air in total surprise! Her little heart beat so fast she could hardly breathe! This wolf was bigger and stronger; and smelled older than her. The young Kelvic would most certainly not tangle with an older, larger female that could kill her! She saw the defensive posture that was ready to fight if necessary. The white wolf's body gestures showed her confident dominance with her calm acceptance of the challenge of a smaller, younger wolf. Silvy immediately took two steps back and quickly blinked to break eye contact. She fearfully tucked in her tail and hunched herself up to try and look smaller. This was the wolf version of 'Please don't hurt me. I'm smaller!' The young Kelvic kept her head and tail low, flattened her ears to the side and stood very still, and very scared of invoking the wrath of an older, higher ranked female.

[Arethiel]

Summer 8, 511 AV Arethiel, at the sight of the smaller and younger female wolf conceding, came cautiously from her posture, gazing ahead with bristled fur, the canine equivalent of an I accept. She began to move back to her kill but stopped. Something about this wolf intrigued her, she was grey but had no pack that Arethiel could see and had come from the direction of the city that Arethiel knew existed, she'd never been to it though. The silver wolf just seemed....different from the ones she had encountered while in her pack. Could it be this wolf is...Kelvic? Perhaps... Arethiel figured she'd find out, otherwise the curiosity would bother her. Arethiel would take the wolf back to her cave, which was close, where she could transform and have something to wear, and she had an extra fur gown as well provided this wolf was actually Kelvic. So she turned back to the wolf fully and did a very human, come here and follow me gesture. Arethiel really hoped she was right.

[Silvy]

Silvy noticed that the white wolf didn't eat but left her kill uncovered--and was about to walk away!! Very unwolf-like behavior-especially for an alpha! 'She must be Kelvic! I'll cover her food for her. I don't know a single predator that would leave their prey just sitting in the open for anyone to steal!' The littlest wolf thought. The little silver wolf quickly dug and mounded the snow over the deer carcass to cover it up properly, though her stomach growled unbearably. 'Now she commands me to follow! If I change form a second time so soon without eating, I'll be too tired and starving and weak to move! But I can't touch her deer--she would kill me!' Silvy thought in panic and worry. She was so hungry but to disobey an alpha --and another female at that--could ultimately make her very dead very soon. But if she followed, she would surely be left helpless, human, starving and weak in front of a stranger! 'I cannot change form twice so quickly with no rest or food--I will surely die! But that wolf will kill me if I don't do as she commands! She's a confusing Kelvic! She doesn't fully act like a wolf, but she also doesn't know that changing form makes a Kelvic exhausted and starving! Changing forms saps the energy and makes you very hungry!' The little silver wolf cried softly and shifted her paws in indecision. She turned in a miserable circle, not knowing what to do. Either way, go or follow, Silvy would be very very weak if she didn't eat and rest immediately!

[Arethiel]

Summer 8, 511 AV Arethiel began to move away, and looked back to see the young wolf having quite the breakdown. The wolf had to be Kelvic to have that sort of breakdown about following. I wonder why she's...oh, petch. It's been so long since I've shifted that I forgot that one requires food and rest, and she must have shifted recently and was probably hunting. I'll let her eat. Arethiel still thought it over for a good 5 chimes before she decided on yes. She came over to the young wolf, mouthed her muzzle to show she was friendly, and then stepped back a bit and jerked her head towards her kill, while nodding, the best she could as a wolf at any rate, a very human yes. Arethiel hoped the young wolf knew what she meant.

[Silvy]

Keeping her tail low set, she quickly wagged in thanks. The little silver wolf licked Arethiel's jaw to show her submission and dove toward the deer with ravenous hunger. Silvy unburied the carcass and tore into with relish, bolting down the half frozen venison in large chunks. She cracked through the rib bones with strong sharp teeth, immersing her entire head inside the deers guts. The ravenous wolf pulled back on a long tendon and brought her paw down hard to separate it and swallowed it rapidly. Silvy closed her eyes in pleasure, gorging herself until her neatly tucked in waist bulged a little. The young Kelvic respectfully covered the remains with snow, but was careful not to mark it as hers. She moved a few paces from the deer carcass and dove face first into the snow to help clean herself. Silvy couldn't abide being dirty and gave herself a quick but thorough grooming. She took special delight in grooming her front paws til they gleamed like pure silver. It was so soothing! She didn't want to keep Arethiel waiting, so she walked to the right of the beautiful pure white wolf and stood two paces from her shoulder. Silvy wagged her tail, again low set and carefully to show the Alpha she was ready and willing to follow.

[Arethiel]

Summer 8, 511 AV Arethiel watched the young wolf uncover and then eat the deer, then proceeding to cover it again. She watched the wolf groom herself, Arethiel smiled in her thoughts as the wolf did, and watched the young one give the signal, 2 paces to her right, that she was ready. Arethiel then began to run. Not as fast, though it was more then sufficient, as she normally would but she didn't want to outpace the young and smaller wolf. The run was a quick one since her den was nearby. At the entrance she slowed and stopped, turning and giving the ok for the young wolf to follow her in. Arethiel slowly trotted in to the back of the den and then stopped. Arethiel then had to think for a moment, and then her form dissolved into a massive amount of swirled lights, rearranging themselves into her human form. It took perhaps slightly longer then the average, most likely because she had not shifted in a long time. Arethiel, human for the first time in at least 2 years, walked over to a chest, and opened it. She pulled out her black dress, black boots, and black gloves. She felt stiff, so she had a slight difficulty pulling on her dress but she managed to get it all on. Following that she slipped on a gold signet ring, that of her family's. Arethiel turned to the wolf and bowed before speaking. "My name is Arethiel Mithésdar, of the Mithésdar line of wolves. I indeed hope you are Kelvic, and if so I do have something for you to wear."