[Joining Thread] Be Good to Me

[Agni]

Agni hated, absolutely detested, water. Especially swamp water. With his clumsiness he always seemed to manage to find every sink hole and dip. Nine times out of ten he'd overbalance and be thrown into the muddy water. It was horrible, and yet he had still ventured into the swamp. Why? He had been asking himself that very question the first time he had tripped and landed in the vile water. Pack was the simple answer. If one wanted to delve deeper than that he might say protection, warmth, companionship.

Maybe it was just curiosity. His parents had never been part of a pack and he had been lonely ever since breaking away from them. Perhaps he had been on his own or a too long, though in the grand scheme of things a year alone wasn't all that long.

Agni tried to be careful about where he stepped but he wasn't having too much luck. It was at that moment that a sharp turn caused him to slip on a patch of mud and sent him sliding into the water. By the time he broke the surface and managed to get back on somewhat dry dirt his fur was caked with both wet and in various stages of drying mud. Not an inch of him was clean and one could barely tell what color he had been originally. He looked very much like a mud monster.

[Chance]

Chance was making his daily rounds when an unfamiliar scent drifted though the air. The Kieyou banked and drifted down to land on a branch of a mangrove tree. The brown wolf scented the air and his violet eyes scanned the ground for the source of the smell. He could tell it was resent and couldn't leave until he found the trespasser.

It was odd to think of the change in the winged wolf. A year ago a strange scent would have sent him running for cover. Now he sought out the cause of this disturbance. Even if it was from the safety of a tree. What could he say; old habits are hard to break.

Chance continued his search, gliding from tree to tree until he found the new comer. The new wolf, Chance could tell from the light green fur, a Lupus. He watched as the Lupus tried to tread carefully but instead went spiraling into the water and coming out completely covered in mud.

Sympathy filled the cowardly Kieyou as he drifted down closer to land on a branch closer to the ground. He folded his brown wing and draped his lion tail over the bark. Leaning down he asked, "Are you alright?"

[Agni]

Agni bared his teeth as he moved further away from the water. The caked on mud clinging to his fur pulled at his skin with every move he made. It was enough to drive him batty. Agni stopped moving abruptly and started shaking vigorously, sending the still wet clumps flying.

"Are you alright?"

At the voice suddenly breaking the silence Agni flinched, the force of which caused him to stumble and cease shaking. He looked around but there didn't seem to be any other wolves in the immediate area. Where had the voice come from? Well, if the origin wasn't in front or behind him, and didn't seem to be coming west or east of where he was standing than either it was coming from below or above him. With that thought in mind Agni looked to the sky and when that proved fruitless the trees. All of this took less than a minute of course.

The wolf that had asked about his well-being was laying on a branch and from his tail, he was definitely a Keiyou.

"Yes," Agni started hesitantly as he got back his bearings, "I'm fine . . . I think." Agni paused, trying to think of how to phrase his next question.

"This territory . . . it belongs to your pack?"

[Chance]

Chance shook a fleck of stray mud, flung from the soggy wolf below, off his muzzle. He considered the Lupus as he sought out Chance and found him fairly quickly. His tail swished as the other wolf considered his answer.
"Yes, I'm fine . . . I think."
Chance found the statement slightly amusing but didn't let it show in fear of offending the Lupus.

"This territory . . . it belongs to your pack?"
Letting his purple eyes bore into the wolf below. He wanted to leave and unsettling feeling before he answered, just in case. It never hurt to be too careful with strangers.

"It is," Chance finally replayed, repositioning himself on the branch. "What is your business here?"

[Agni]

Agni slowly sat, cringing as he did so at the feel of the mud clinging to his fur. He kept his eyes on the Keiyou in the tree and winced when he flicked off a glob of mud.

"Sorry," Agni said sheepishly.

"It is. What is your business here?"

Relief flooded him strongly enough that it showed in his eyes and the way he relaxed. Finally, after wandering around aimlessly he had encountered someone who could potentially help him if they were so inclined. He didn't want to think about what could have happened if he hadn't found someone, accidentally or not. At least this wolf had found. Even if the exact situation was painfully embarrassing.

"I came here looking to join your pack," Agni said softly.