[ A New Day]

[-zynêx-]

That little onslaught of pup and fur and exactly what the female needed to brighten up her mood. As the pup assaulted her face with licks, she simply smiled and returned them back every chance she could get, whining with immense pleasure for his affection. In this moment there was no doubt in her mind that regardless of the circumstances, this little one could make her happy. And she was content with that.

She had postponed an answer to his inquiry for sometime, allowing him to get the licks out of his system while she mulled over exactly what position the little one would take. He was too young for a rank to be determined for him, and he was far from useless. To hear that his mother would dare assume something like that made the fae's fur bristle as impressive fangs bore in a threatening snarl, though the distant look in her eyes indicated it was not directed was Yeti. She had no reason to be upset with the child. He was an innocent, still learning his way of the world, and in her eyes, he could do no wrong. Smiling, she dipped her head and nudged the pup into a tumble. "Little one, you are far from useless and I would like for you to stay with me. I can't give you a rank right now for you are untrained and still learning. But if you like...you can be my son...adoptive of course, but I will treat you no differently than if you were my own flesh and blood. Would you like that?" It was a big decision to place on the pup, a life changing one at that. And this decision was not made out of pity, but for her love of pups and her want to give the darling a loving environment to grow.

She let Yeti think over her proposal then once again gave her attention to Razoniel, starlit eyes shimmering curiously. It was difficult to determine whether the compliment was with a friendly intent...or if it harbored something more. Regardless, she was a fae being complimented on her appearance, and thus acted accordingly. She lowered her head, shyly casting her glance anywhere but to the male. That unfamiliar warmth in her belly she was becoming accustomed to, surface once again causing the tip of her tail to twitch and sway hesitantly. She uttered a soft 'oh' then mumbled a near quiet "Thank you."

[nerrezai]

Nerrezai felt her companion fall into step beside her, though his contact did not work quite the way he wanted it to. The grey and white female nearly shrunk back every time their fur brushed one other. With each touch of their coats the she-wolf became that much more fearful, though she did not take on such an external display. Once along the way she felt the temptation to bare her fangs in fright, realizing at that exact moment that she was alone-with a hormonal male. Oh, the things that a male of his stature could do to a wolfess such as she. Admittedly he had control over his pheromones, and it was just that much more appealing to let him have his way with her. However, she too was able to quell her sinful desires, instead focusing on what was happening around her. The shadow elemental was shy to many things, contact included.

The result of this was Nerrezai’s shadow, cast by the sun that loomed in the direction they were headed. It took on an odd, vicious form, much like one only seen in nightmares. The maw, gaping in some unreadable expression, was adorned by numerous fangs of varying sizes. The claws were elongated, resembling more of a human hand with talons than the paws of a wolf. Of course, neither wolf would ever notice unless they looked behind their shoulder to the ground behind them.

Squinting against the sun’s near unbearable light, at least to her night-oriented vision, she suddenly felt very hot as she furthered her walk down the trail with Viggo. It was sweltering as the day wore on. Dawn had long since past, and the female was beginning to doubt if she’d even be able to hunt capably. Nerrezai missed the darkness of the night and all of the shadows that accompanied it.

She was dimly aware of Viggo when he spoke as she stared distantly at something unseen, instead humming in a questing tone. The male’s words then registered in her mind and she became alert, attention on him. Zai gave a slight nod as her companion spoke. So his element was lightning. She noted it, interested, and gave him a small smile. Addressing his last inquiry first, she replied, “Shadow.”

Sighing a bit, she continued on with her own summary of her history. Though not as much as a sob story as other wolves’, it was painful enough for her. Originally she was going to give him the full story, but thought better of it. Zai’d bore him with the details if she did that. “I was kicked out of my own pack by my sexist brother. Traveled with my sister for a bit, but she fled after she learned of my element.” She whispered under her breath the word ‘coward,’ still hurt after the abandonment.

“So tell me, Viggo,” she began, stopping short, “how did I of all wolves grab your attention?” She wasn’t one to challenge others or entice a conversation, but upon further inspection she was degrading herself. Also, if Viggo couldn’t answer, then she’d straight up leave him standing in her dust. Nerrezai wasn’t there for another’s entertainment, and she still couldn’t believe that he had called her beautiful.

[viggo]

Wonderfully faked hurt creased and lined his handsome tawny face. Was his plan that obvious? Had she guess so quickly? Apparently he had mistaken her timid nature for one that was also easily gullible. Impossible and improbable. Only with Zynex (and a select crazy few) had he been twarted, and he would not be denied again. Zynex even had come around in the end. Soon he would be partaking of her warmth...

Mind back to the present, he answered with an injured tone clearly showing in his voice. "Grab my attention? Simply put, we're both new here... and I thought we could share in that experience together." He paused, wording his next statement carefully in his mind before allowing it to enter in the air between the two of them. "And I really meant it when I said you were beautiful... I know that I don't know you very well, but I would love the chance... because if you're even half as wonderful a wolf on the inside as you are on the outside... well, then it would be my pleasure to know you..."

Viggo allowed his voice to trail off. His posture had sank, ears and tails drooping and he pulled himself away from her. Everything from his body language to his words spoke of the faux injury she had dealt to himself and his pride. Amber eyes glanced up carefully at her from their former eyeline at the gray soil beneath their paws. This Tytanus pack is causing nothing but trouble as far as the feys are concerned. What is their deal? I'm a fucking catch. Are they that blind?

[nerrezai]

Either this wolf was an marvelous actor, or he was lying through his teeth. Nerrezai honestly couldn’t tell which; she’d never been in this sort of situation before. ‘Share in that experience together,’ the grey female echoed to herself, bemused. Well, she certainly wasn’t expecting that to come out of his mouth. That second statement baffled her even more. It sounded almost too… dramatic for a wolf such as Viggo. Viggo was acting as if she had just rejected him, but she had only asked a simple question, right? Yet again, Nerrezai didn’t have that much experience in the opposite gender department, unless you count sexists brothers.

Her own grey and white face contorted in puzzlement and disbelief. “I’m not beautiful…” were the only words she could find as a reply, and even they were mumbled and soft-spoken. Other than that, the she-wolf was speechless. Nerrezai’s brow furrowed further still as she glanced behind her shoulder in an anxious manner. She was beginning to not like this, and wanted badly to run. Her grey gaze then met the nightmarish shadow, her nightmarish shadow. Quickly returning it to normal so as not to scare her companion out of his wits, she decided more to focus on why she had been involuntarily manipulating her element instead of on his reaction.

A sigh of relief sounded from her as the scent of rabbit wafted into her nostrils. It was fresh and close-by, causing her to salivate at the thought of sinking her teeth into its carcass. It was a welcome distraction, as well, and gave her an excuse to not look at Viggo further. Maybe she could impress him with her hunting, scare him a bit with her shadows. Or give it to him as a way to say 'I'm sorry.'

Nerrezai sunk to the ground, her belly fur scraping against the rock of the path. The furry creature then scuttled into view, glancing around warily. As it spotted the pair of canines, its body went rigid at first, then bolted into action over the remaining bit of the path and up the slopes of the canyon. The wolfess leapt after her quarry, determined not to lose it.

Manipulating her shadow to move across the earth at a faster rate than either her or the rabbit’s strides could ever compare to, she watched with pleasure as it mingled with the tiny prey’s. She sped a little faster, nearly slipping as the rocks shifted under her weight. Suddenly, the shade beside the creature’s heels leapt up from the ground, wrapping around the prey’s midsection and brining it to a halt. The she-wolf pounced, swiftly ending the rabbit’s life and trotted back over to Viggo. She dropped at his paws, then stepped tentatively back in an apologetic behavior.

[Yeti]

Yeti's little nose wiggled, urgently holding back snorts and little fits of excited whines and sneezes. He, taking it as a challenge to lick Zyn more than she could him, dodged and snuck in with short quick bursts to swipe her cheek before drawing back. It wasn't to say Zynex didn't get her fair share of kisses in. Yeti's cheeks and nose were doused in her affection. His tail lifted from it's common place by his heels and wheeled behind his body in a frantic motion. It pumped air and propelled his body into small jaughty movements as he stood perched on his two hind legs.

He only drew back when her expression suddenly changed from delight to what he could only describe as anger, but somehow, he knew it wasn't directed at him. His short attention span and memory quickly forgot what exactly he'd said to change her mood. He could only briefly recall mentioning his mother and packs; he whined and looked at her pleadingly. He slowly sat back on his butt, glancing once at Raze, his eyes blinking 'help'. But Zyn corrected herself and spoke once again to him. He thumped his tail. He sat in silence and puzzled over her option to him. He could only breath in slowly, questioning his history and looking to the future. He knew his life depended on taking help - which he hated but was beginning to accept - and he liked Zynex and Raze. "Would Raze be like...like a father?" He asked. "I never had one."

He looked shly at the older male. He hadn't spoken much to him, or bonded really, but for the first time he really wasn't intimidated or threatened by a male. Raze seemed older, more docile and gentle. It comforted him. He wasn't, he noticed, looking over his shoulders and didn't feel the tick of paranoia that he'd soon be hunted. "I'd like for you to be my mo-" He struggled for the word and wrinkled his nose, trying again. He took a breath. "-my mother. I'd like to live here. I would like to be taught how to live and hunt and have powers and get a rank." He looked a little more cheerful and already a spark was coming back to his dulled green eyes.

It would be work to train Yeti, though. He had a certain sexist streak that was yet to be tested. He hadn't taken to authority well up until now but who knew for how long?

[viggo]

Nerrezai allowed him little to no time to respond before darting off. At first, Viggo was slightly puzzled, and a little bemused. He simply assumed it was yet another female that he had failed to woo. There seemed to be something about Nevermore that would not allow him to continue his usual life style. He was still a handsome wolf, his fur a luscious golden tawny mixture, and his body was still very shapely and muscular. What was going on? Was there something in the water?

His brain had processed all these thoughts when a terrified shriek of a small creature reached his ears, its scent catching in his black nares simaltaneously. Viggo laughed inwardly at his own stupidit; she had not bolted on his account, but rather on their original reason for leaving the others: food. Rabbit in fact, just as he had suggested. Moisture gathered in his mouth at the smell of its blood and at the thought of the taste of its flesh that was soon to come. Raising his posture slightly, he saw Zai coming towards him, kill in her mouth. Tail wagging carefully, he commended her on a job well done.

"That was absolutely amazing. I've met other Shadow elements, but I've never seen one in action hunting. It was both the coolest and possibly the most potentially frightening thing I've seen in a very long time." The carcass plopped to the ground at his feet. As she stepped back, he realized this was her apology; his ploy had worked. Humblily he smiled at her, tail still slowly moving. "Thank you." Eyes meeting hers, he nudged it slightly, indicating he wanted her to eat first. "Ladies first." Her personality was, in fact, just as beautiful as she was. Regardless of his intentions, to share prey with newly met wolves was a rarity in the wolfen world, and he appreciated it as such."You are beautiful... and don't you EVER let anyone tell you otherwise."

[Ɽazǿniel.]

R A Z O N I E L !!

He stood off to the side and listened as Zynex offered to adopt the little pup, and a smile brightened his face slightly as he watched the cub. The two tumbled about, licking each other, and it was all he could do not to laugh. But with this amusement came a sense of distress, wondering what had happened to the alphess so that she would not show warmth toward the adult male. I’m being entirely childish,

[/i]he told himself angrily. You were fine before. You relished having someone to guard. You’re lucky to even be her friend. In six years you have never found a mate, so it should probably stay that way. Although he firmly told himself that, setting his jaw when he looked up at her beautiful grey eyes, her demeanor shifted when he had complimented her. Her shy whisper of “thank you” gave him hope that he was ashamed to feel. But he wasn’t going to let that show too much on his face, his pride already slightly damaged by his out-of-character antics. She had changed him a lot indeed.

“Why are you thanking me, Zyn?” The black wolf smirked in what he hoped to be an attractive matter, though he had never felt clumsier in his life. He remained away from the pair, though, a bit too unsure to make any steps toward the female. There was no telling how she was taking all this; she’d proven to be unpredictable. Usually it was a benefit to him, though now it was hindering him. Again he told himself he didn’t need this, and again he pushed that thought away, pretended it had never been proclaimed. He settled with watching levelly, until Yeti voiced a question that caused his ears to stand up.

The dark cub looked shyly up at him, and Razoniel stared back, his eye wide. He then got over it and smiled, shaking his coat. He took a couple of tentative steps toward the pup, probably as nervous as he was, and bowed his head to nose one of his ears gently, movements as slow as he could make them to not scare the young one off. “I will protect you more fiercely than any father would,” he promised, eye glinting with unfamiliar warmth. “And I suppose with time I might become like a father.” The double meaning did not register in his mind. His thoughts were only on how unsure this cub seemed around him; all he could really do, feeling unsure himself, was swear to protect him as hard as he strove to protect his leader. He would, he supposed, give his life for this pup’s survival.

He lifted his head again, his eye darting to Zynex, and swallowed before turning and slowly loping off to the field. Here, he crouched in the shadows and blended in, before he became engaged in a chase with another rabbit. He was more listening to whatever conversation they were having than focusing on his prey, so he was running after it for a while.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[-zynêx-]

ooc: Rounding up all wolves!

In all her seasons, Zynex had never been so shell-shocked as she was now by the pup's innocent question. She should have expecting something of the sort to surface in his mind, but it was none the less shocking to hear it from the tiny maw. Razoniel...as his father? Hadn't she silently decided never to pursue such thoughts again? Why were the Fates testing her this way?! Oh how she would have loved for him to be Yeti's adoptive father, and she his mother. The creation of a little family to call her own..one to be proud of.

But...there lay a problem with this fantasy. Razoniel surely wouldn't agree to something like that. The male would probably deem the idea ridiculous and embarrassing. And admitting this would only serve to harm the female emotionally even more....

But as the Fate's saw it, they gave her hope. Her ears perked at the male's confession and compliance with the pup's request. Grey eyes widened to their fullest, bodice betrayed a stoic expression as her entire body lurched forward without meaning to. Her intent was to take the elder male in a full tackle and lick him senseless, but as he loped off to his own doings, her affections and enthusiasms were doused onto the pup. Her tongue left no part of onyx fur untouched as she devoured him with love and affection, her eyes brimming with happiness. "Oh darling I would love to be your mother! And Razoniel your father. Little one you are a fortune to have believe me!" She spoke between licks and whines of pleasure, her tail whipping through the air.

In the form of an innocent pup, her hope for Razoniel was renewed, and even more so by his words, whether intended or not. Perhaps he finally understood now! All that was called for now was for her to wait for the male to make his move. The anticipation would surely drive her mad, but if it meant her being with the Grey then she would endure it.

It was some time before her onslaught on her pup subsided enough to regain her breath, but once she did, when ashen muzzle raised to the afternoon sky, she took note of the time. Their excursion had taken the better part of the afternoon, and the sun was slowly starting it's decline. Zynex looked down to her child and swiped his cheek another time. "Come little one...we must get the pack together again..." She smiled at her charge, then raised her elegant maw to the endless blue and released a bellow that would reach the ears of her comrades. The call was for their regroup at the canyon, and it was there were the training would begin. Trusting her potential suitor to follow, the autumn fae picked up her up by the scruff of his neck and bound toward the entrance of the canyon.

[Yeti]

There was what, to Yeti, appeared to be an awkward silence, as if the two older wolves were holding their breaths. He considered taking back what he said but quickly reconsidered. It was a simple, innocent question. Refusing to believe he did something wrong he looked away from the two adults, blinking confusion. His tail still thumped slowly behind him. Loose particles of dust settled on his thin black fur. Quickly losing interest he jerked his head around and settled his eyes on his tail. He twitched, whining to himself, and made an involuntary movement to persue it.

But then Razoniel spoke. Yeti froze and look, seeing a smile on the male's face. At ease Yeti smiled back, his tail lifting to wag behind him. He growled playfully as the grizzled male roused his ears, and mumbled: "Thank you, I never met mine." He started to shake his head as the male pulled back. He breathed easy and felt his spirits lift. He went from a starving, malnourished homeless puppy to have new parents and a new home. It was an odd revolation, but he was glad for it none-the-less.

His silent celebration was then ubruptly interupted. Razoniel had disapeared and Zynex was suddenly upon him. He fell over onto his back and wiggled his legs and body as kiss after kiss befell him. He giggled helplessly and growled harmlessly. He didn't quite understand what she was saying to him but could tell she was happy, and that was all he really needed to know. After a time she let up and Yeti wriggled still in the dirt as she gently plucked him up by his scruff. He hadn't met "the pack" and to be honest wasn't quite thrilled. But still, this was home now so he manned up and said quietly: "Okay."

[nerrezai]

That Viggo, always full of compliments. A bright smile blossomed on her features, yet she wanted desperately to frown, feeling uncomfortable in the limelight. If he thought that was potentially frightening, then he had just better hope he wouldn’t meet a sadistic, infuriated shadow elemental alone in a dark forest. That, she mused, could turn even the bravest, most fearless wolf in all of Nevermore into a cowering mess. ‘Or not. Don’t assume things.’

“I still need to work on it,” was the only argument she could throw back at her companion. Honestly, she wasn’t that good. Nerrezai was probably horribly sloppy and amateurish compared to Razoniel. That was why he was deemed her mentor, after all. She’d improve over time, she knew that.

Something peculiar swelled in her chest the moment Viggo said, “Ladies first.” Nerrezai ignored it and stepped timidly up to her original position, coming to terms with her own hunger, then bent her head to nibble the side of the corpse. Saliva rushed to her mouth, and her stomach growled in demand that she eat faster. She obliged, taking a chunk out of the rabbit and swallowing happily, savoring the scrumptious prey.

Her body went rigid, pausing mid-chew as her companion’s last statement drifted into her ears. Nerrezai swallowed the last of her share, then spoke. “I’d argue with you, b-but I can see that I won’t win.” She worded it cautiously, wanting desperately to exclaim her unexplainable anguish at him, beat it into his head that she wasn’t attractive in the least. Most wolves would appreciate such a comment, but Nerrezai certainly wasn’t like most. Her self-consciousness and sheer disbelief wouldn’t allow such flattery to pass without a fight.

Hearing her alpha’s call, she gestured with her tail toward the canyon entrance, beckoning him and backing away from the kill. What did Zynex want? Training hopefully, and at that thought she started her trot in its general direction down the slopes and toward the rest of the pack.

[viggo]

ooc: I'm responding in Worth One's Merit