.WASTING TIME

[serendipitus]

Drip, drip, drip.

That sound might drive her insane, with it's endless repetitive splatter. It was consistent and thrumming, the sound of live that refused to be squandered, and her muscles twitched as she heard it. An endless sound. how she hated it so. One that penetrated her very core, feeding the seeds of madness slowly sprouting in her mis-shapen mind.

Drip, drip, drip.

She groaned as the noise refused to let her bask in the glory of sleep,of relaxing, as the water dripped of the end of the evergreen an onto her thing lupine snout. Her lip twitched in discomfort as the water slipped into her large black nose, and she lifted her head to sneeze, a very child-like action in itself. And she moaned as she got up, her muscles and bones seemed to be revolting against her. It might have been because she wasn't listening to them now days, and didn't give them what they asked for. Her stomach grumbled in agreement. Even her brain seemed frazzled by the lack of food. She slipped back onto the ground, her head resting on her paws as her stomach sunk into the melting slush of spring-snow. She closed her eyes, and a wind sifted through the trees, pulling out smells and scents. She she closed her mind, and relaxed her muscles, she could even smell warmth, the bodies of animals re energizing for the spring after a long winter. Her lip twitched again. There was a distant thump, and then another. Her eyes snapped open, and her eyes widened. Two more thumps, and the splatter of snow. The trees tussled again. She caught the scent. It was a snowshoe hair, she deiced, his fat floppy feet compacting the snow as he rushed to get across it before anything such as herself noticed his presence. Epic fail. She rose, and saw the movement of white over white.

And the chase was on.

She burst out of the trees, and rushed at the hare. He had momentary surprise on his face before he tried unsuccessfully to run from her. But she had taken the advantage, and even if he had noticed her coming, she still would have one. She flipped him over she she came by, snapping jaws grasping at a long ear and pulling it aside. The shocked body rolled in the snow. The small grey thing had probably already suffered from a heart attack. Aurile didn't waste to much time after this, less the heat of a once strong heart eascape into the clutching cold of the tundra. She sunk her head into the small ribs and finished up quickly.

It really wasn't much of a meal, but it was enough to satiate her burning desire. So she gave one more look at the body over her shoulder, her condescending eyes shinning as she chuckled low and deep over another victim. It was too easy, really. Almost sad, she concluded. She walked away then, her indigo toes dragging though the snow, the only indication that she was there, for her pale coat pulled right into the frost-bitten surroundings.She strode on a ways, her dragging paws creating small smudges of tracks where her feet took her, the only evidence of her passing, besides the now forgotten carcass. She was tired again, just a walking travesty. So she laid down in the snow where she was, and sighed as she buried her black nose into the slush, closing her sapphire eyes. She wasn’t tired, or sleeping. She was just done. Her body was moments away from mutiny, and the experts would say she’s delirious. But she didn’t mind. She was Aurile, and Aurile was kick ass, if you asked her.

[riyo]

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[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq94/NuckyGirl/nori-1.png] The ground was damp at Nori's emaciated paws. Each step she made was met with a loud squishing noise. Her pads were bursting the air bubbles and displacing the water that hid in the debris-filled dirt, grimy snow, and pine straw that rested underneath the tall firs. The air was cool, clear, and had a pleasant odor and taste to it -- the sappy, sweet scent of the needles overhead was enormously attractive to the skinny wolf. Breathing was very easy -- she inhaled with a slight smirk on her face, stealing for herself all the oxygen she could. Nori was feeling greedy, and it showed. Her eyes were glowing brightly as they searched for something to fulfill her need. She wasn't usually this animalistic, this in-tune with the balance of nature and her five partially-neglected senses. Her instincts as a lone wolf were not generally wasted on scenic things such as this. She really was one to enjoy the company of others whether she spoke or not. She was definitely not focusing on living in harmony with the world around her as a loner instead of living in harmony in a pack. She was searching for the latter, somewhere to call home and someone to call her the Alphess. She wanted to reign over something, and the Earth wasn't one to be harnessed. Thus spurred her slight refusal of it -- conquering was a form of art ignored by nature, given that it conquered all unconsciously. Yes, this was all very strange for the dark-colored she-wolf. Nevertheless, she sucked on and felt powerful because of it. Maybe it is not so strange, Nori thought. She was always aware of her actions. I am, indeed, feeling as though I am the leader of this air...these lazy, hopeless days spurn meaningless and intangible things, do they not? She was asking no one in particular, as often occurred when she had nothing to organize or keep order within. She sighed loudly, bored into succumbing to the ordinary things ordinary wolves when they had nothing much to do. She started to walk about aimlessly, looking for nothing in particular. Nori wasn't worried about getting lost -- there is no getting lost when you have nothing behind or ahead of you, really. No home to find yet. No pack. Although now she was realizing how lonely and deprived of social endeavors she was, she was still feeling greedy. For what? Everything. Then, she found just what she needed. She hadn't cared that she was following what she knew were wolf tracks in her destination less journey, not expecting to find anything at the end -- she had been in the forest for weeks without any kind of interaction. A part of her had begun to feel slightly attenuated, too, a little disappointed that it seemed another lost cause. But now she saw another form, perhaps sleeping -- if the small mound of flesh ahead of her was sleeping, she was making the impression of "deranged". Well, deranged is merely an adjective, not a negative profile. "Greetings, girl. Might I ask why you are resting? You happen to be in my way." Nori gazed with narrowed, judging eyes at the pale, slender form in front of her.

[The Creature Account]

Dark feathers shifted in twitching movements as the griffin opened a lazy eye. Her golden gaze was eagle-sharp and her avian face gave a perpetual grimace. The beak was frozen in that eternal scowl. Taloned forelimbs unfolded from under her as she heaved herself up. Her body was an awkward yet elegantly powerful conglomerate of lion and eagle. Her velvet hindpaws took a step back, then forward as she steadied her form. She turned an eye toward her nest, her young were nestled comfortably in the soft straw, feathers, and fur. She sighed. Her own form seemed ragged. She had supplied some of the feathers and fur from her own body. And besides, raising her lovely children took a lot out of her.

Hungry…

The griffin, named Cras, cocked her head birdlike as she thought she heard a sound echo through her forest home. The sound was that of a hunt. And such music made her heart beat. She needed to watch the show. Cras contemplated flying to the hunting creatures--in fact, she hoped that they would share a meal with her. And if not, she could easily kill them. A griffin was not an idiotic creature. They knew what they were capable of and what they were not. And a griffin wasn't an overly proud creature like a wolf could be. A griffin could always retreat when met with an immoveable obstacle--such was the intelligent way.

Cras gave a sigh as she stroked the soft feathers of her young, and following the feathers until they blended into the fur. "Lovely darlings…" she said in the griffin tongue. She then opened her wings and flew away--needing to collect some glorious meal for them because the young griffin did not drink milk.

Her sharp eyes, a honey gold color, pinpointed the wolves as she neared them. Her beak opened, and from her throat, she let out a piercing cry. It shattered the lovely silence of the forest, sending a few prey animals fleeing and a few creatures peeking out of their usual hiding places just to see what the griffin was going to do next. This was Cras's part of the tiaga. She wanted to make sure that the wolves weren't… defiling it.

Cras would have smiled here if she had the ability too, but her beak kept that permanent frown--a complete look of seriousness that made all griffins inherently similar in composure to most wolves. The griffin wasn't an expressive species. Love was merely cleaning the feathers of your life-mate and joy was sharing in a feast. There was nothing to read on each other's faces. And so, in love and joy, each griffin seemed to keep a business-like starch manner of doing things.

With an unreadable expression, Cras moved forward, her lion's tail flicking. She twittered to herself, attempting to find the mimicked tone of a wolf in her mind. She had been rusty in doing this. "Helluuu," her voice was fluty, something that wasn't expected if you had never heard a griffin speak. She moved her head mechanically, switching her eye to see both wolves.

"Hunt, I see," she added, her tone a bit more neutral this time. She seemed interested, non-threatening. For now. It was a bad mistake to trust a griffin, but perhaps she could coax a lazy meal from the wolves. If not--she could demand it. And if not--they themselves made for a delicious kill.

[serendipitus]

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[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq94/NuckyGirl/aurile-1.png] Soft ears her thudded paws, and a sharp intake of breath stung her lungs as she lifted her ale head to look at how she was 'bothering.' Her lip nearly curled, seeing as this wasn't a way she'd particularly like to be addressed in. 'Really? Who's to say that you're not in my way, pompous mongrel?' She shook gently, and lifted her head, standing up to her full height, as tall as a lupus got. She could definitely use her agility in a case like this, but when it came to sheer bulk, she was a goner. Which is why she would just never get hit. Simple as that. Pretty little time bomb, she had a bubble gum smile and a switch blade attitude. She wouldn't take anything from this arrogant wolf before her. Then came another sound, powerful beats that alarmed her with their consistency and sound. Bird. That was her immediate thought, but the rest of her brain rang against that, screaming to run. No, no, no. She thought again. Big bird. And then came the griffin. Her muscles froze as she looked at the imposing figure, and she turned her head to the other wolf. Her hackles rose. Where they in it together?

[cinnabar]

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[atrb=background,http://i33.tinypic.com/6dqslt.png][atrb=width,450,true] OOC: Hope you guys don't mind me joining? :3 === IC: Kreios was terrified. He'd never been out in the wild, for so long, alone – not even when eight months ago when he was trapped in a dark cave by his ex-packmates. No, that did not even come close. He had been wandering for only two days before he found an opening; now, he had walked and walked and walked for so long that the hours and days ran together in a blur. Somehow he survived. Somehow his luck didn't run out. But he knew his fortune was soon to end, because he just wasn't the type to prevail against all odds. He just hoped he knew how he would die. And that it was not at the raging, snapping jaws of his ex-packmates. The very thought of such a horrible death sent a tremor down his spine. The Lupus trembled at literally every step he took. He had good reason to. A sound, carried on a chilly gust of wind, reached his ears; instinctively Krei ducked down and assumed a defensive-submissive pose, gaze roaming rapidly around his environment, seeking the source of danger. A while passed before he sat back up gingerly, feeling a little foolish, as he realised that it was only a sneeze. Still skittish, Krei pressed on, forcing his way apologetically through undergrowth and low-hanging boughs. His ears picked up more noises as he walked, revealing snippets of conversation to him ("…why you are resting? You happen to…"), giving him enough incentive to relocate his path away from the congregation of wolves further on. Approaching a slight break in the canopy, he squinted up at the sky, judged the time, and debated pensively about feeding himself and carrying on with his one-wolf exodus. Krei had almost decided on a snowshoe hare when a regular, thumping sound, growing steadily louder as time passed, jolted him out of his thoughts. A glance in the direction of the disturbance nearly sent him off on one of his silly panic attacks again; it was by sheer willpower (and the fact that he was rooted to the ground, frozen with fear) that Krei managed to avoid immediate notice by the swooping griffin. However, a moment later, his body suddenly decided that it was of his best interest to run off in the same direction as the griffin, so he found himself bolting towards where the voices came from, all helter-skelter, while screaming "GRIFFIN!" at his loudest, even before he could react. To the other wolves and the griffin, it would probably be a rather humorous sight to behold. [atrb=cellSpacing,0,true]

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[riyo]

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[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq94/NuckyGirl/nori-1.png] Nori remained dead-faced and apathetic as she faced the other female. Although she looked dainty, a little delicate flower you intentionally stepped on during your childhood or irate days, the wolf was not behaving accordingly. The fact that the little white wolf was behaving in a way that suggested that she, Nori, was not capable of understanding her purpose, amused Nori slightly. I'm positive it's not much to shake a claw at. Nori stared her down again, the crone's hungry yellow eyes meeting the other wolf's with a concentrated apathy. "Intentional irony," she said, her tone flat and a mite condescending. "Unattractive, fake. You can do better than that, lass." Again, her voice was house to only subtle derision. She didn't like wolves like this one. They irritated what she observed about wolfkind as a whole. The irony indeed seemed quite false. Perhaps Nori was merely being negligent to herself and not seeing the fact that she was becoming jealous, thus the result of the hostility towards this beautiful and obviously mentally-endowed she-wolf. Then again, this was not a typical day for her -- instinct was acute this morning, the grievous compression of methodical tendencies lifted with the morning fog. She heard the crack of a twig in the distance. Her first thought was to loudly ask who was there and fall into a defensive pose, but she crushed it with an inner scoff at herself. She was not as stupid as to steep to that. She'd resent that for weeks, even if it resulted in nary a frightened piece of game. Nori recoiled inside herself, restraints tauter than the manner in which her skin stretched upon her walking skeleton of denied hunger pains. She would not fall prey to herself because of this unusual morning. She quietly caught sight of a griffin. Her expression did not display any sort of alarm, for none was stimulated. The viewing of griffins was not uncommon out here on this immense taiga. Run-ins were many and Nori knew that not all griffins were truly malignant. Perhaps this one would even demonstrate mercy and benevolence -- that seemed to be common of females of all species, and the one standing before her was shaped as if she had recently delivered cubs -- or perhaps they would be referred to as fledglings... Nori's mind was drifting in the junction between letting her attention encompass defending herself and disposing of the creature before her and continuing to play with the little girl beside her. Nori decided to focus on the griffin; survival tends to trump pride or the thrill of being correct, and this was surely becoming one of those cases. The female beast's stance was casual but prepared, ready to activate her putrid claws at any given moment. This would require tact and cooperation. She ignored the white wolf standing before her and let her mind be enveloped in the first few steps she took towards the griffin, stalking with measured stealth. She stopped dead when she heard a panicked yowl. She couldn't contain herself, whipping her head around as she pulled back her lips into a snarl, bestowing upon the senseless mass of hot pink pelted flesh the image of bleeding, swollen gums and fangs ugly from disuse. "A griffin, do you say?" The mockery was not hidden this time. Another testament to her lack of social situations -- usually she'd respond with a kind of strained caring and grace, or at least have the heart to ignore him. This audacity...she was beginning to enjoy herself, actually. Taking care of this situation may come out entertaining in the end.

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[The Creature Account]

Wings shifted; feathers ruffled. The griffin overall had an unkempt look about her—the same look that a new mother wolf might have. All tired, but all pride of the life she had created. She could only think back to her young ones, probably peeping awake and begging for sweet meat. The griffin raised a fore-talon. She tilted her golden head, her sharp beak half opened, wanting to speak, but also she wanted to listen.

Wolves were an interesting lot. Out of all the prey a griffin caught, they felt the most satisfaction from hunting wolves. In the beak of a griffin, a wolf is a whisper from a murder. They matched in intelligence; it gave Cras chills up and down her spine. She usually avoided meeting wolves in the eye—but spoke to them, conversing before ending their lives, which may explain her skill in the language.

She cocked a dark-gold eye. “Wolves say, wolves say that they be for civility.” Her eyes smiled with a curious glimmer, but her face remained in that frozen frown. “They call the griffin savage, bestial, slavish copy, copy, copy of brutal nature…” Her fluty voice rose and fell much like birdsong, bubbling in the air. It had an innocent quality. She spoke rather skillfully in the lupine tongue, only a few of her verbs seemed out of place and she seemed to like to repeat herself—though it seemed more for thought and reflection as to what she should say next rather than any other reason.

She turned her eye from Aurile, to Nori, to Kreios. The prissy princess, the fickle bitch, and then the seemingly foolish coward. Cras’s eyes flashed with a light of hunger. Hunger for their flesh as well as hunger for her love of her children. She placed their needs ahead of hers for now. The meat of wolves wasn’t sweet as that of rabbits, deer, and other lesser-minded prey. The Griffin hunted them solely for the sport of the hunt and the trophy of the meat within the stomach. The pride of saying, ‘I hunt wolves’ seemed like candy to the mind of a griffin.

But.

Cras needed meat like candy for her young. Something sweet, small, grass-eating. She sat calmly on her lion hindquarters. “You fight, you rape.” She tilted her head, “You lie, you die, you steal... And you,” she pointed out Nori, “what hope you have with that?” She spoke simply. “Prove me wrong. Show me a wolf’s so highly regarded teamwork. Hunt.” She tilted her head to the other side. She twitched her tail. She hoped to edge them in the right way. She hoped to lead them to hunt for her—from there, she’d steal the fresh carcass, a gift for her young. These three wolves, why couldn’t they work together anyways? They were all the same species.