A Fresh Start [pack-joining]

[Raleigh (Rawls)]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true]

[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq94/NuckyGirl/rawlsrawls-1.png] Raleigh hopped as he moved up to the canyon top. The stones beneath his feet were sound, but a bit of loose dust was stirred up by his sharp hooves and blew away in the wind. His ears were scanning the area carefully, quietly; the deer’s soul overpowered the wolf in terms of instincts at times. It made him overly wary and underwhelming in his confidence for flight was his first reaction. Then, the Deer Myou found his way to the final step of that natural staircase. His forehoof caught the ledge and brought the rest of his awkward body up. The two souls inside of him felt a sort of accomplishment to this achievement. “Now, it was said that there was a pack here.” He was thinking aloud. He had drifted from pack to pack. Each one died and he was beginning to think that his presence cursed packs into their demise. But, then again, he had grown with each pack. His first pack had known him as a shy wolf without courage or the ability to even stand up for himself. The pack he left had known him as a wolf that was intelligent and able, as well as a great mate. They didn’t know that he had cheated on Linnea. Gypsy, his mistress, hated him now too. And since he abandoned Linnea, she probably hated him too. New pack. Fresh start. It was his mantra now. The reason he had chosen to get a new pack. He chose the newly formed Styrrstdar Cadre because it was newly formed. He could have risked meeting with one of his old friends. A wolf he knew once before. But today, he chose his new identity. Raleigh, yes, he’d keep that name, for it suited whatever personality he took, but he would choose to be unassuming again, out of the way. Nobody looked at the new wolves. And finally, he summed up the courage to raise his head and howl sweetly for the leader to accept him. He didn’t expect a test. He didn’t expect to have to spar and was wholly unready to handle a pack joining of that sort.

[RHIANNON !]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,475,true]

[atrb=background,http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad144/FallArrow/RHIANNONbg4.png] Rhiannon had spent her morning by the river, padding along its banks lazily. There wasn't much for her to do, considering Forte took over the hunting, along with a few of the newer members. The pack had been growing quite nicely, and Rhia was pleased with its growth. But there was another growth she was not quite so pleased about. Her stomach was beginning to buldge even more than it had before, causing her usually 'fluffy' appearance to appear even more bulky and 'fluffier' than usual. And this, of course, was not something Rhia enjoyed. So she was trying to bide time, busying her mind with the river. It was very apparent that venturing into its churning waters was a bad idea, and yet, the female stood knee deep in it, carefully placing each paw down as she went. The water swelled around her body, splashing her huge stomach. It was quite evident the female was pregnant, something that Forte had brought to light a few weeks ago. Something which Rhiannon tried vehemently to deny. But as much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, the hunger, tiredness, and of course, weight gain were all tell-tale signs, signs which she couldn't ignore. Sighing, she dipped her snout into the water, splashing a bit of it on her face as she moved through it. The entire concept was utterly too hard to comprehend. Having just come to terms with actually being female, despite the red panda soul being male. She heard the light giggle in the back of her mind, a tickling reminder of her second soul, who had remained relatively dormant the past few weeks. "Yeah, yeah, funny," she murmured out loud, chirping a little bit and then leaving the water. Just as her paws hit dry land she heard a howl, echoing above her. Her amber eyes instantly shot up and she hissed a little bit, before composing herself once more. The howl wasn't threatening in the least, and was quite sweet considering. Flaring her nostrils she inhaled deeply, but the scent had yet to permeate the canyon. She shook her body off briskly, knowing Forte was still out with the rest of the pack, and made her way towards the staircase. She waddled her way towards the stairs, finally reaching them and plodding her way up. It was a slow, long haul, and she realised halfway through she should probably alert the newcomer to her prescence. Lifting her head, she let out a loud howl, responding to the other wolf's, and continued her way up the stairs. It was quite some time after the first howl was heard when she finally crested the top of the canyon, hopping up onto the top. With the sparse flora on the top, it was quite easy to find the source of the howl. As she had moved up the side of the canyon, his scent had wafted through her nose and she knew quite quickly that the wolf she would be addressing was male. She stared at the male, a very impressive looking ya... She stopped mid sentence, her eyes finding both his long tail and his hooved feet. Clearly, not a yagi. A myou like you Rhia, the second soul lazily murmured. Rhiannon nodded in agreement, waddling over towards him. "Hello," she spoke, stopping a little ways before him and regarding him with a slightly cool glance. "I am Rhiannon, alpha female of these lands. You called?" ------------------------------------- OOC ;; n/a

[Raleigh (Rawls)]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true]

[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq94/NuckyGirl/rawlsrawls-1.png] Raleigh stood stock still as howl alerted him to the fact that another wolf knew that he had arrived. His sharp ears spanned an arc to find the origin of the howl easily, and he thought that it wouldn’t be long before the wolf would reveal herself. Eagerly he jellied his stance, finding himself relaxed again. But the howl rang lonely through the canyon, causing Raleigh to wonder if he had been so wrought with guilt that he was hearing things. As the doubt touched into his mind, a pregnant female crested the ledge and made her way toward him. She didn’t have to introduce herself as the Alpha Female. Everything she did showed him her rank. Her cool glance and the way she regarded him, it made him better his posture. Her confident words made his tongue lose its sharpness for the first impression, painting him in the picture of a fool. “Yeh… yes. I called.” A mild stammer blocked him, but it was only because he didn’t expect a pregnant female to be the first wolf he met in the pack. Raleigh knew why he had a problem with her. It was precisely because she was pregnant. He had left his mate after having kids by her and he had, for lack of better terms, raped a loner when the lust-crazed stag overtook his instincts and mind. Both females had had irreparable damage done to them in terms of relationships, but he still had the foolish desire to fix it. At least… in a pack setting, he could escape his past. Right? “I wish to be a member of your pack, Alpha Rhiannon,” Raleigh had a soft voice, which neutered any thought of threat a wolf might have of him. That, and his appearance was that of a heavily influenced Myou. The deer was definitely the stronger of the two spirits at times.

[KAI ♥]

Kai


The white female bounded quickly up the steep steps after Rhi, who was going much slower due to her...er, fluff. Her toenails clicked on the red rock and her tail wagged happily as she gained on her friend. "Rhi?" She called softly, as to not scare the older and higher ranking female. She made sure to make plenty of noise along with her voice. Once she reached the the red femme she smiled at her and said, "Hey Rhi," her tail wagged even harder now and she shook her head with her tongue out causing a little bit of drool to fly out.

She nodded her head at the wolf/deer male in front of her and smiled sweetly as she raised her tail to a notch below Rhia's and listened as he asked to be apart of the pack. This was Kai's first time being around a wolf who asked acceptance into Rhi and Forte's pack, of which she was beta female. "I'm Kai, I'm the...er, beta female!" she said to him, trying to stay serious, she was going to need a lot of practice. Her pupil-less eyes closed and her ears went back slightly as she reprimanded herself at her lack of self-control, she looked to Rhi, who was obviously pregnant, to try to model herself after the older and more experienced female.

[RHIANNON !]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,475,true]

[atrb=background,http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad144/FallArrow/RHIANNONbg4.png] Had Rhiannon been the kind of wolf that noticed the little nuances in body language, she may have picked up the sudden stiffness and uncomfortableness the male had around her. She didn't though, and she stood just a little ways away from him, hearing him almost stammer. She thought nothing of it, except that she was indeed very intimidating, and thus, her mere prescence was the reason that he stammered. Clearly, a fluffy, short, pregnant wolf was very scary. Rhiannon was not expecting the clicking of toenails behind her, and the sound almost made her jump as she heard the questioning voice of the younger female. She turned her head a little, and despite the female's intentions to not scare her, it was rather evident she had startled the myou. "Hello Kai," she replied, keeping her face fairly straight, minus a bemused smirk. The little one had much to learn, but Rhiannon was quite pleased to have such a young mind adore her so much. Kai was always there, as that constant comic relief between the tensions that were always so constant now with her pregnancy. Taking her minds from such thoughts she turned back towards the male before her. She held herself with the dignity and regailty she believed she had, and nodded curtly in response to what he had said. At least he was the source of the howl, and not some other wolf. Rhiannon had no problem with his next request, nodding as he spoke. She liked the sound of her name as he said it, and he seemed both submissive and demure. Though that was not necessarily always a good thing, she appreciated it. Rhiannon wasn't exactly sure she had the energy to deal with a high strung, or stubborn wolf right now. Rhiannon opened her mouth to speak, but Kai spoke instead. If it had been anyone other than the little white female, Rhiannon would have snapped and lost her temper. But she stayed quiet and let the younger wolf introduce herself whilst trying very hard to maintain a serious expression. Rhiannon made no attempts to correct her, merely giving her a tentative smile and nod and turned back to the deer myou. "I am pleased by your request, wolf, but I do not know you name," she replied, musing for a moment. She figured a joining fight would be a good idea; she had been fairly lax about them for the past few weeks, but she was in quite a decent mood all considering, an watching a spar would be splendid. She also decided that it would be good practice for Kai, and Rhiannon would let her stand in as her apprentice judge. "But I accept your request none-the-less, deer wolf," she added, her tail flicking slightly. "But I do have one request of you," she spoke, her eyes glancing around the territory, "my mate, Forte, is up here, and should be back soon. I would like you to spar him. You look like a strong capable wolf, and I would like to know if you are indeed truly worthy of being in my pack." ------------------------------------- OOC ;; n/a

[Gypsy]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true]

[atrb=background,http://i50.tinypic.com/34z0jf9.jpg] Dainty black paws were caked in the red dirt of the territory, spindly legs carried a lithe body of a female sennyo. It was her turn to follow her luster. She had decided, after her last meeting with him, to make him suffer even more for wanting her. What better way to do that then to dog his steps for a while. She hadn't planned on doing it for long, just enough to make his deer half paranoid. The terrain she had come across was much different than her preferred brand, she was quickly losing interest in this game. She also had not been successful in hunting the past few days, the fish up here were different than what she was used to and the fruit seemed sparse. In all her years of life, she could not remember the last time she had this much trouble. Maybe it was just a bad year...yeah that was it. She was lost in her own thoughts when she was suddenly brought back by the sound of voices. Strangers....except one. Damn. She had lost track of her distance, she had caught up with the deer myou. Oh well....no time like the present for tormenting. Or taunting. She came over the crest of the canyon, she found herself behind the alpha female and the beta female, her path up the cliffs had been different than his... Her bright blue morpho wings opened to take in the sunlight as she glared through the females to the male.

[Raleigh (Rawls)]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true]

[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq94/NuckyGirl/rawlsrawls-1.png] It was getting crowded. The wolf half of Raleigh’s mind saw himself surrounded by the two females. Both outranked him; both were the leads of this pack. Submission was key here. This pack felt old fashioned by the way the first female—the pregnant one—introduced herself. But that spell was broken as soon as the Beta, as she claimed to be, arrived. It immediately put Raleigh at ease. These weren’t the females whom he had betrayed. Finding his confidence again, he said, “Oh yes, my name Alpha Rhiannon. I forgot myself.” A smile curled upon his muzzle. “I am Raleigh, a wolf looking for a new start.” There was something wholesome in his smile because his new identity, he had decided, would be a wholesome wolf. “And…” he said with his voice, slightly diminishing in volume and brightness, “I’m certain that I am capable for a spar.” What quieted him slightly was a sweet, familiar scent. It immediately brought images of the female wolf he was attempting to escape from. And he hoped that it was guilt creeping upon him rather than Gypsy tiptoeing into the scene. But in his heart, he knew that she was there. Raleigh, unable to voice is displeasure saw past her, at the sky and then decided that he must not derail his goal. This was still his fresh start. He was not going to abandon it just because she was there. That would make her seem important. Instead, Raleigh pulled his eyes from that Sennyo and turned to look at the Beta and the Alpha. “I’m ready for Forte.” His voice gave no trace of his true feelings toward Gypsy. Neither his hatred nor his love for her could be detected. Her icy luster still somehow allured him, but he promised a new start for himself. He could no longer love her as he had done. It had been self-destructive.

[Fortissimo]

Fortissimo lazily traversed the flat top of the canyon. His mind was at ease. A dead jackalope was clutched in his jaws, slowly dripping blood down his chin and chest. It seemed like he was always hunting these days. His mate being a glutton in her pregnancy. Rhia was a small wolf, but she sure could put it away.

The new scents had not escaped Forte's nose. New wolves were in the area. He usually let Rhia do the recruiting since they had not set the joining fights as mandatory yet. But, today he decided that he should do something more for Rhia then provide her with food. Especially in light of recent events. Events that he had caused, and that had almost killed Rhia. He knew he would never make it up to her, but he could try.

He found the congregation in short time. The four wolves were easy to spot in the shapeless landscape. He easily recognized Rhia's short, bloated figure among them. He made a beeline for her, and was able to hear the last bit of conversation. He ignored the newcomers, but he was careful not to turn his back on the strange male, as he dropped his kill at Rhia's feet. He acknowledged Kai with a nod, and only then did he turn to the male. He briefly wondered who the sennyo was, and why she was standing behind his two girls, but he made no comment.

"And who are you, to address me so informally?" He growled. "I am Alpha Fortissimo, and if I heard right I am to fight you." Forte was taller then the stag-wolf, and had about 30 pounds on him, by the look of it. At a distance, Forte had thought him an actual yagi, but now he could quite clearly see that he was a myou like himself. He couldn't help but feel kindred to the stranger. "This isn't a fight to the death. Its a mere spar to assess your fighting style, and talent. Please do not try to inflict in debilitating wounds, and I will return the courtesy. Since you are ready, let us fight." Forte glance over at Rhia, to offer her a smile, before facing his opponent, his muscles tensing under his white, bloodstained pelt.

[Raleigh (Rawls)]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true]

[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq94/NuckyGirl/rawlsrawls-1.png] Raleigh wanted to swallow his words. He hadn’t expected Fortissimo to be right there. It seemed that in his desire to just brush the existence of Gypsy away, he hadn’t been paying close attention and had, instead, disrespected the Alpha male of this pack. He wanted to apologize, but he didn’t dare to interrupt Fortissimo—especially because he had already spoken so off-handedly about the wolf. The deer Myou averted his eyes and licked his lips, nervous beyond anything else. Despite this, the strongest thought in his head was a creeping wondering about what Gypsy thought of his nervousness. Was she cherishing the moment? Or did she not care as he tried to? His mind was busy and he was only half-listening to Forte. It was a terrible first impression to both wolves. First to Rhia—he seemed afraid of that pregnant midget. And then to Fortissimo. Raleigh couldn’t ground his thoughts with Gypsy around, and he had to force himself to focus on the task at hand—that is, the spar that was to be his pack initiation. A ritual of sorts, Raleigh supposed. “Uh, yeah. Let’s fight,” Raleigh echoed as he tensed himself up, ready to spring forth. He had to be careful though. He couldn’t hurt the male and it seemed that his every end was dangerous. His mouth, his crown, his hooves. It would be safer if Raleigh could take control of the battle. But he could barely take control of his mind. This time, however, it wasn’t Destry that was lording over him, but Gypsy. The Deer Myou sprung forward in a single graceful leap; his body propelled in an arc toward Fortissimo. It was half-hearted. And even mid flight, Raleigh doubted his ability to spar effectively. He moved too tenderly. Afraid to hurt Fortissimo. Afraid that he’d be a fool in front of Gypsy. Afraid that he wouldn’t get in. Damn. He really messed everything up. And this was supposed to be his fresh start.

[RHIANNON !]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,475,true]

[atrb=background,http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad144/FallArrow/RHIANNONbg4.png] She hadn't noticed the other scent in the air until after she had addressed the deer-wolf. Suddenly though a waft of smell, carried by the breeze hit her nostrils. She blinked for a moment, trying to identify the perculiarities about the smell. It was clearly female, but besides that it had a scent like nothing other she had really ever smelled. But the deer-wolf replied quickly after Rhiannon had spoken, bringing her mind from the foreign smell back to the current situation. Lifting her red and white face she watched him with a scruntinizing eye for a moment. Raleigh, he said his name was. A strange name. She could appreciate the fact that he was looking for a new start. Weren't they all, really. She smiled and nodded her head as he agreed to the spar. "I am glad, Raleigh," she said, his name sounding awkward with the lilt in her voice. She sounded so formal, which, strangely enough, she didn't mind too much. Once he had finished speaking, he seemed to be preoccupied with something. The scent was stronger now, and Rhiannon turned her head behind her at the source. Before her stood, quite possibly, the most beautiful creature Rhiannon had ever seen. She tried to hide the obvious shock on her face and failed. Lifting a single brow as she stared at the black sennyo, she eyed her from top to bottom - from the antennae, to the beautiful blue wings... suddenly Rhia felt more than inadequate and swallowing hard she gave her head a shake. There were few things that caused the female's confidence to waver. Rhia gave her a slight nod, letting her know that she would address her momentarily. Rhiannon hadn't realised Forte had arrived until he was there, so preoccupied she was with the black sennyo. He dropped a jackalope before her and she felt her stomach rumble, noisily echoing its hunger. She ignored it though, acting as if it hadn't happened. She snorted slightly though when Forte spoke, trying to hide her snort under a cough. The wolf, Raleigh, was getting into trouble for her mistake. She offered the wolf a slightly apologetic smile, before glancing over at Kai. She'd let Forte take it from there. She grabbed the jackalope in her mouth, moving it towards the edge of the canyon, away from the two males and waddled her way over to the sennyo. She left Kai to watch the beginning of the match for a few minutes while she addressed the newcomer. "Hello," she began slowly, her tail raised in a dominant position. "My name is Rhiannon, and this is my pack. I assume you're here to join it?" She glanced over at the fight just in time to see the deer myou spring forward. She sincerely hoped that his antlers would stay clear of her yagi mate. Sighing, she turned back to the female. "If you are indeed interested in joining us, please come with me closer to the fight, so that I may better divide my attention between both you and the spar," she said, turning her body so that she could see both of them. ------------------------------------- OOC ;; fight, fight, fight!

[Gypsy]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true]

[atrb=background,http://i50.tinypic.com/34z0jf9.jpg] Her icy gaze met the deer-myou's breifly. What had he gotten himself into? Perhaps she should not have followed him. It seemed like a silly endeavor after all. He said he didn't want her anymore, yet the look in his body seemed to speak differently. He was trying to hide every thing from the new wolves. Of course he was ashamed of his past with her. She had half a mind to leave, just turn around and walk out of his life forever. However, a horned male passed her, paws falling heavily on the ground. He looked like a yagi, was he the one that was to fight Rawls? Maybe he would hurt her....aquaintence. The idea was like a drug, she wanted to watch it. She soon noticed the alpha female come closer to her, she fought to hide the grimace of disgust that almost came to her face. Pregnancy was a nasty thing. The small wolf spoke to Gypsy, join a pack? That was unheard of. Gypsy had not been in a pack in over 50 years, why should she start now? Her ears flickered forward though, join the pack and watch the fight? She could do that. Hell, not like she would be missed if she slipped away in the night as she was so opt to do. She offered a forced smile, showing her white teeth breifly, " A pleasure to meet you....Rhiannon. I call myself Gypsy." Usually she would not bother with giving her name, but this circumstance was differnt, she had to play nice rather than coy and aloof. She stepped forward to join the fat female, wondering briefly why she had allowed herself to get pregnant.

[ARTEMIS!]

[Clarifying post order; Forte, Rawls, Rhia, Gypsy, Kai. Just so this is less confusing.]

[KAI ♥]

Kai was oddly excited for the sparring match, she wanted to watch and see how this horned wolf fought, and Forte was the perfect opponent to show the skills, she was just glad it wasn't her. She was sure one day she would be in Forte's position, but she had little to no fighting experience, let a lone sparring. She had only once fought a wolf, and she had done well, but she didn't want to do it again, she didn't really know to fight, so fighting without claws and teeth would be difficult, she wondered if Forte would teach her.

Her head titled curiously as they began to circle each other. She saw Rhia walk away from her and towards the black Senyo and her ears dropped a little and her eyes became sad. She hoped Rhi wouldn't replace her with the older wolf, she was in fact older, and prettier than Kai was, and she and Rhia looked so nice standing next to each other, so friendly and, wait. The Senyo, who Kai could just barely hear introduce herself as Gypsy, seemed disgusted by her friend. Her sad eyes narrowed, she was going to get replaced as Beta Female and Rhi's best friend by a wolfess who didn't even like the alphess?

The white female laid down and sighed and turned her attention back to the spar so she would stop thinking about the pair of females, maybe she could pick up a few things.

[/i]

[Fortissimo]

Forte was momentarily confused. Then thought is he serious? as he lightly danced backward to avoid the in coming deer myou. Did he seriously think that he could win anything by being gentle? He waited till the deer's hoofs touched the ground in front of him. Before the deer myou could make any further moves, Forte shot his head out and grabbed the base of his antlers in his mouth, and yanked the deer's head down and to the side, twisting.

A deep growled sounded in Forte's chest as he dug his feet into the ground for more support, readying himself for Rawls' retaliation. He had been offended by the start of the fight. Forte didn't feel like the stranger was taking this seriously. So he would make him take it seriously. He bit down harder, twisted further. Compared to Forte's dense spiraled horns, the deer's looked delicate. But Forte knew that they were not something to underestimate. He did not want to be gouged by them, so he thought that he would trap them before they hurt him.