The Start of Something New (Altan/OPEN)

[Loca Jaci]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][tr][atrb=background,http://i453.photobucket.com/albums/qq254/Eldarwen5/Wonder%20Why/Gifts/Loca1Mid.png] The morning of departure had been difficult for her, she had stuck to her word and not told anyone that she was leaving, none of her siblings, new or old, nor her parents. She didn’t really care what they thought anyway! Although after she had parted ways with Altan she had not slept well, tossing and turning, even waking up with a yelp as she turned on one of her wings the wrong way. It made for her eyes to be blurry and red when she was finally awakened, she was also snappish and grouchy as she bit into the two rabbits she had managed to hunt down before she went to sleep. She knew she would need the energy as they traveled because she wouldn’t be able to fly the entire time, with Altan being a lyxxus, he was pretty much grounded, which meant for part of the journey she would have to be, or do a lot of double back flying, both of which she was okay with, if it meant getting out of the valley. During her quiet time of eating the rabbits she snarled and continued personal commentary about how sorry everyone would be if she left, and what if she chose not to return? She could always tell Altan to come back and tell everyone about her decision but then they would be truly sorry, her ears fell back against her head with a devious look at the rabbit, before biting into the next one in a fit of temper. She knew they would be heading for Yuliterra first, it was the closest territory that was not occupied by another pack and she couldn’t help but be excited the flying fish were migrating and this way she could get into an open space and eat all the fish she wanted! She had indeed inherited her mother’s predilection for the salty, oily prey and her mouth watered even as she took another bite of the rabbit in front of her…’Mother…’ For a moment her sky blue eyes faltered and a small tear fell to the floor of her den, she missed her mother, no matter what she said. She wanted her attention and her love and she felt like as soon as she could walk and explore her mother had taken to the skies and then gotten knocked up again, anything to avoid her daughter who just wasn’t like her…. ”Why do I have to be like her to be loved!” Then there was her father, she sniffled as though she were a pup again and tried to wipe at her eyes with a paw stubbornly. Here was her father who had taught her nearly everything about flying and although she quickly surpassed him she remembered being embraced by his wings and being coddled when she had fallen…she wanted that feeling back! After wiping her eyes and finishing her meal she kept a look out for the adopted brother who had offered to travel with her, she was not going to sit outside the cave just in case he had lied and they were out looking for her. But so far she heard no one calling her name, and no one seemed to be flying around panicking or doing anything else, so she could only assume Altan had kept his promise and said goodbye to those he needed to say goodbye to but hadn’t let her secret go. It made her think better of the male who was quickly becoming like a true older brother to him. She made sure that by the time he arrived she had cleared her face, and any mention of her red eyes was met with a hasty and snappy response of not sleeping well. The first leg of the journey was hard on Loca, she was used to flying everywhere, and on land she was not only slow, but clumsy. She forgot how many trees, and rocks she had banged into and tripped over and her language slowly deteriorated and she called several offending flora and fauna, ‘fox dung!’ and a variety of other colorful phrases. Her frustration was mounting, and when she thought she could take it no more she would spring into the sky to nurse her hurt ego and let her paws which were raw have a break. She soared higher and higher, and finally doubled back so she could keep an even pace with Altan on the ground. She tried to keep up conversation into between…cursing the land around her when she was on her feet, and she shuffled from a whiny, ‘Can we PLEASE stop’ to a ‘Let’s keep going!’ For anyone not prepared for her moodiness it would be a turn off and wearing thin on their nerves, but for Loca it was all worth it when they came upon the dry but beautiful lands of the Yulittera Prairie. The long grasses shuddered in the wind, exposing various colored flowers, and of course the reason she wanted to come, the flying fish. She let out a loud squeal and shot up into the air, “Altan isn’t it beautiful!!!!” Her wings flapped enthusiastically as she soared and dive bombed through the air, slapping down fish to rain on the ground around her ‘keeper’ and managed to catch a particular bad spirited fish in her jaws, snapping the head off before she landed. There had to be four or five fish on the ground and she smiled, her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she looked at the smaller lyxxus, “Do you like fish?” She hoped so, for it was something they could share together…but if he didn’t it was more for her. She smiled, her eyes squinted in mischief as she looked around. “Oh all the flowers…and the breeze, and the grasses..if I wasn’t so big and clumsy we could play!” Sometimes Loca simply forgot that she was old enough to take a mate and have pups, and instead took a very manic and child-like view of things, but so far no one had told her it was wrong, or a bad way to be, so she continued on. She sat with the larger fish in between her paw, running her claws along it to remove anything not truly edible as she watched Altan with a new interest. If he could do this all on paw, then she could too. “I didn’t realize how hard this was going to be…on land I might slow you down, but in the air, I can keep up just fine! You must have been in really good shape to do all the traveling you have done on foot, I can’t even go three paw steps without running into something….Here it might be better, I don’t see many trees…” She said dubiously looking around as though a tree would sprout up for the sheer sake of her running into it. With a huge bite of fish in her mouth she said, the words slightly muffled , “Where do you think we will go after here? I will leave navigation to you, since you know everything, I just want to experience it all, like you did!” Swallowing before she spit out her own food she blinked her sky blue eyes at him…and for a long moment she wondered if she was doing that…’talk too much too fast’ thing she tended to do…but instead of apologizing she just got a rather sheepish look on her face and pulled her wings in tightly to her back. Speech

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Table by Eldarwen · Image[/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[Altan]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][tr][atrb=background,http://i453.photobucket.com/albums/qq254/Eldarwen5/Wonder%20Why/Tables/AltanSoarTableMid.png] Between spending time with Reynard and Nocht, Altan hadn't really gotten quite as much sleep as his body probably would have cared for. Perhaps subconsciously a part of him simply wanted to stay away for his last little bit of time in the pack, he would be back of course but it didn't mean he wasn't going to miss home for the time that he was away. Hopefully Loca too would grow home-sick soon enough and want to return. Little did he know though that the very morning of their leave she was already feeling some sadness of leaving the life too. Of course part of her sadness was a longing for an old life, but whatever had brought on that wave of emotions, Altan would never know. In fact, he wasn't to know about those emotions at all. By the time he finally shifted to go and meet Loca, she had ended her tears, livened up a little more in preparation for their trip. Not exactly the most observant of creatures, the reddish effects of crying went unspotted to the Lyxxus. "Morning Loca, you ready to leave?" He too had already eaten, having caught some food for himself after speaking with his family and eaten it throughout the night, finishing off a little this morning. From the remains near Loca, it seemed she had been clever enough to do the same. As he awaited her answer, a part of him hoped that perhaps she had changed her mind in the night, that all of this could be forgotten, though unfortunately it was not to be the case. Soon enough the pair of them had slipped away, heading to the prairie to begin their journey. It was of course here that Altan would have previously been able to simply leave her, though he knew it couldn't be done, he'd promised to look after Loca and he was going to do that. Sending her off on her own certainly wasn't going to achieve any level of care. It was a little slow in some ways, his light graceful steps could have carried him the distance in far less time, though Loca continued to stumble and trip. He made sure she was ok, back on her feet before continuing and then again the similar steps were repeated. He slowed his own pace for her a little, though she had soon had enough and took to the skies. Reynard had told him to keep Loca in his sights, now what was he supposed to do? Pace quickened again and he called out for her to come back. Soon enough though, she doubled back and joined him upon the ground once more. Things after that still weren't exactly smooth, what with numerous cries of stop, changing sharply to let's go. Back and forth, her mind couldn't be made it seemed, it was irritating Altan had to admit. He wasn't known for his patience, though luckily neither was he known for a temper. A few more rounds of similar pauses and finally the prairie was in sight. He was about to explain that they were here but Loca seemed to realise on her own, shooting into the air in a triumphant flight and happily declaring her views on the landscape before darting over to the fish to catch a few of those. Apparently already hungry since her snack earlier, or perhaps just eager to try some. He left her too it, though didn't try join in the hunt, it wasn't necessary. Her question hinted that she had caught the fish for the pair of them though and it was useless to allow them to go to waste. He would have to eat some of them. Settling down to eat the nearest one he gave a nod of his head. "Makes a nice change once in a while." He responded, it certainly was very different to the meat they tended to feast on. "Nice catch." He thought to praise her as well as he tucked in. All of this was about a lack of attention, though of course with no one else really around, Loca would be getting pretty much all of his attention for however long their trip lasted. Apparently the prairie was pretty in her opinion, the long grass, the flowers that were dotted throughout it. "Should finish the fish first." He pointed out to her. " Do you like it?" She had certainly seemed pretty eager to catch them so hopefully the answer was a yes. On she continued to chatter though, first about their differences on land but how she was so much better in the air. Well he had certainly seen that when they had gotten to the prairie. A part of him certainly longed to be able to mimic such talent, and though he would grow new tails he would never grow a pair of wings. He would simply have to continue excelling on land as he did. The praise was another little boost to the ego that his siblings and Reynard too had been repairing in the past 24 hours. "You'll get a bit better with practice, and you will have to practice, you can't keep flying off. I don't want us to get separated and lost." Well it was of course more the fact he didn't want to lose Loca, he would likely be able to find his way back, he had before after all and that was back when the lands had been much stranger to him. The talking continued though, and the next was where they would travel after this. Well they could go either direction, though the closest lands were probably to the South or West. If she wanted to see everything, it would likely be easier to head South first though, and then West and North. "To the South I think, the swamp. There are more trees there though, still sound ok?" He certainly wasn't going to take her to the Jungle though, determined to keep clear of the Mafia. He needed to keep her safe and stepping too close to their territory would be stepping right into danger.

Image by Soar

[Loca Jaci]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][tr][atrb=background,http://i453.photobucket.com/albums/qq254/Eldarwen5/Wonder%20Why/Gifts/Loca1Mid.png] Through her journey to the Praire with Altan she had tried from the beginning to be....happy, but her grouchiness did come into play at several points during their time together. Truly she did not mean to take her lack of sleep out on him, but when one was feeling a certain way and the only other person that was there was one you thought you could trust, well things happened. At several points she thought he would just growl at her and turn around and go back to the Valley. He seemed like even if he did get annoyed with things there, he seemed pretty content, and she had to wonder why he was accompanying her on this journey, maybe there was a deeper reason than just being the guide of experience. It left Loca questioning for most of the morning as they traveled together. During that time though there were several times where she cursed being a keiyou, which she had never done before, she had always thought it would be wonderful to fly in the fky and have her big black wings to stretch out, but seeing how easy Altan moved made her more an envious of how quickly he was on the ground, and for once she thought she might be the one slowing them down. She wondered if she could just fly the rest of the journey but then again how would she know if something interesting happened here on the ground with Altan? Plus she would tire even easier with all the double backing and swooping she would have to do, her wings had drooped at the very thought of it all, and once again she was overtaken with the idea that she may have over-extended herself. When they had reached the Praire Altan seemed rather subdued, but she supposed he wouldn't have the same reaction that she would, he had been there, numerous times and he had probably seen all there was to see. It was kind of disappointing to her, because she was so excited and thrilled to finally have reached their very first destination. To her, this meant that it was all really happening, she was really taking a journey and soon, if not already they would all find out she was missing, for Altan they might just assume he was going on another trip, but Loca had never made one before and thusly they might think someone kidnapped her, or she was hurt....thinking for a moment she asked, “Altan you don't think they'd track us out here do you? You know smell our scents together and look for us...?” She was desperate to believe her plan was going to work. When he complimented her on her catching the fish she puffed out with pride and nodded, “Thank you, I hope you enjoy them. I am pretty good when it comes to catching food in the air...but when it comes to hunting on land I suck...Blaisen is better at it than me..stupid brother.” To answer his question she nodded her head enthusiastically and yipped, “Oh yes, I do love fish, I like they way they are different then anything else you can eat, and depending on where you catch them, they even taste differently..! I know my mother loves them...” She swallowed a piece of fish before putting her ears back against her head, here she was talking to Altan about the very people she wanted to run away from and make worry about her. Well she would just have to not do that anymore, she firmly promised herself to not mention them again, they did not matter, this was her journey. She was not going to let anyone ruin it for her if she could help it. When he said she would get better with practice she nodded glumly, until then she supposed she would just keep slowing them down and hurting herself on those stupid trees and rocks, and hard places. It kind of dulled her spirits and reminded her that her paws were throbbing from their exertion already. “I don't suppose it would be good if we got separated I wouldn't know where to go! But you could find me in the sky...or I could see you on the ground and find you faster..I think..” She was touched that he was considering her, he didn't want her to get lost or pushed away from him, it made her think she had made the right choice in asking him to come with her. A small wriggle within her stomach let her know she was full, and most of the fish were gone except a few inedible parts and scales. She fell over on her side slightly, feeling full and fat, and oddly happy. She listened while he told her they could go south and she perked up, but didn't sit up. “Oooo the south has beaches right? Can we see the ocean?” She thought about it and then said, “The south also has jungles right? I want to see that I hear they have big flowers and all kinds of plants, I want to go there too!” Her eyes were falling down, half lidded as she nodded about the swamp...”Trees....more trees? What if I fall over and drown!” She had heard about sink holes...but even with her over dramatic response she was feeling tired enough to want a nap...”Altan...can we stop for a nap...will you nap with me? Then we can explore?”Speech

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Table by Eldarwen · Image[/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[Altan]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][tr][atrb=background,http://i453.photobucket.com/albums/qq254/Eldarwen5/Wonder%20Why/Tables/AltanSoarTableMid.png] Suddenly a little concerned, Loca questioned whether or not he thought that they would be followed by the pack. Altan of course knew that Reynard was simply trusting him to look after Loca and wasn't going to try stop them, but he couldn't explain that fact to her though, it would mean admitting he had broken the promise and that likely wouldn't go down to well. For a moment he looked thoughtful, though the pause was understandable, he was simply considering the question. In the end he shook his head in response. "I don't think so. I have left to go to the Prairie a couple of times and perhaps they may think you've followed me. For the fish maybe, a little hunting trip. By the time they realise we may have gone further it'll probably be too late for them to catch us up." It certainly sounded plausible. Loca wasn't a pup anymore and Altan had coped on his own before, they wouldn't worry too much about just the two of them heading off for a while. He had said goodbye to Reynard and Nocht first anyway, they wouldn't be looking for him, it was only really Satinka and perhaps Blaisen and Halycon that Loca really needed to have any concern about. Reynard would likely put a stop to any worries though, that had been the idea in sharing the information. Loca didn't seem to like Blaisen too much, though Altan had no idea why of course. Kyita and Malaika were obviously in the bad books for simply being the youngest siblings, taking away attention but what had Blaisen done to earn such feelings from Loca? Maybe one day he'd understand but he chose not to ask her directly. "I'm sure you're not that bad." Altan had always felt he was a good hunter, in fact he and Nocht were rather evenly matched, they had their differences in personality but although Altan had always craved more attention, skill wise they were pretty similar. "Maybe I could help you a little." Loca often gave him praise, he would likely only receive more from her if he got a chance to show off his hunting skills and help Loca improve her own. It was rather fortunate that Loca didn't mind Altan being a little protective of her. Of course such attention was exactly what she wanted really, if only she could have seen Reynard's reaction when Altan had first informed the male of what was happening. "Lets not chance it, just try stick together." He decided. He couldn't stop her flying completely of course, though places that were open like this were far better, would let him keep Loca in sight. "Yep, we can go to the cove afterwards and you can see the ocean." Altan nodded, it would after all make sense for that to be the following destination after the swamp. The jungle though? Well he was shocked that Loca wasn't quite so aware of the dangers there, she really did need someone to look after her. "We shouldn't go to the jungle, it's dangerous. The Mafia live there, they're horrible wolves." He responded, shaking his head in response, he didn't want to offer anymore information on the matter. Altan himself wasn't feeling too tired at the moment, nor did he really want them both to sleep in the open like this, at risk if anyone or anything suddenly came along. He certainly wouldn't stop Loca from resting however and simply nodded his head. "Of course you can have a nap."

Image by Soar