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themba looked at armen for a moment. the whiff of other scents had flooded his nose, though nothing seemed to alarm the large male. "themba," he responded. armen looked down at the pup.
"armen," he stated with a soft smile.
how was he so good at that?, themba thought silently to himself. he brushed off the thought.
"we come from a pack not far from here. there's others there, like you," themba stated. it was more of an offer, perhaps waiting for her to ask that she went there. themba hoped the opposite in his mind. he couldn't be the one to do this again and again. but in the back of his mind, he knew that he was the one. somehow the male was always chosen for things that he didn't want to do.
but hey, look at how armen turned out.
---
"where are these bastards at?" issa huffed softly.
"issa! why do you always talk like that?" ruth asked, genuine curiosity peering through her gentle voice.
"to get through the heads of the morons in the pack," issa replied flatly.
ruth laughed until she realized that issa was in fact being serious. she always hated how good she was at keeping a straight face, so whenever she said something that seemed like a joke, ruth would always question it in her mind. she didn't respond, but instead kept following her sister.
"if you're tracking you're gonna have to be quiet. even the smallest of noise can disturb whatever life is around you," issa looked down at ruth, who continued to step on small branches and dried up leaves.
"right," ruth sighed, defeated.
"be light on your feet. don't overthink it," issa pointed out.
ruth never found her sister to be much of a teacher. with her, it was learn fast or die. ruth figured it was the way their mother raised them before she died, perhaps their father, though neither really knew him. ruth hummed softly at the thought.
"shush!" issa whisper-yelled, looking over her shoulder. behind them was atasi. to issa, she wasn't much of a mother. but to ruth, that was her mother. her teacher. her birth-giver. issa couldn't understand how easy ruth could be pulled in by dogs, but she never bothered making it a big deal. she figured it was a phase.
in the distance issa could see a few figures. "atasi," she said softly, "is that armen?" she questioned, looking at the older female. ruth looked up at her, admiring her features while waiting for a response.
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the creamy-coated dog was truthfully, rather scared. the males that stood in front of her were full of different scents, scents that reese was way unfamiliar with. the brown wolf admitted a reply out of his mouth rather quickly, though not automatically. "themba." he said reese being reese, she nodded her head in respect to the male, whom she could now label as themba. she now assumed that it was now the other husky's turn to introduce himself so she turned her attention to him. "armen." that male finally said as he plastered a soft, yet noticeable smile across his muzzle. "it's quite nice to meet you two," the young pup vocalised. perhaps these two could help me find my way she remarked inside of her mind. themba soon began speaking again. others like me? what do you mean, you don't even know me reese questioned inside of her mind, remembering to keep her comments to herself. "perhaps i could-" she presumed before hesitating and stopping. "i don't want to waste your time, so perhaps i could tag along?" reese added, sounding rather confident than before. 𓆩♡𓆪 atasi trotted along, behind though still close to ruth and issa while she peered through the bushes for armen and themba. issa huffed a short sentence that ruth replied back to, tuning in once she heard her pups voice. atasi rather liked issa, she was always quite blunt passing her point easily through anything she said. "you know ruthie, once you get older you will surely understand" the mother exclaimed - still searching for the two males who were supposed to be in the area. issa started giving ruth tips on how to be rather quiet while doing what they were doing and the older female nodded in return as ruth responded back to her older sister. (right??) and although issa didn't quite see atasi as a motherly figure, atasi still cared for issa as she was her daughter. she cared for everyone in the pack, but seemingly cared for ruth and issa the most. maybe she only cared for issa so much because she shared the same blood as ruth - either way it didn't matter, but it was still a topic that sometimes kept atasi up at night. finally the two elderly females (compared to ruth) spotted two figures in the distance. issa seemed to spot them first as she looked at atasi rather quickly, saying her name before asking if that might be the two males they'd been looking for. "i think that might be them" atasi responded, before adding on to say "stay here with ruth. i'll give you a sign if it's them, i don't see why it shouldn't be" atasi walked pass the two to other females she'd been with and kept her eyes on the two figures that'd been in front of them. although she was a little bit away from the canine-like mammals she could tell it was who she'd been looking for, signing ruth and issa over quickly after coming to the conclusion she'd just made. atasi quickly noticed another dog she was unfamiliar with. she made her presence known by clearing her throat and abruptly asking "care to share who this is?" |
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themba stole a glance from armen. his glance was like that of broken glass; sharp and cruel. armen huffed slightly out of annoyance. how could this male be so cruel to a dog? themba never was one to have problems with the dogs or half-breeds in the pack, but armen always found himself questioning the other male's intentions at times because of his reactions. there was little to no reaction from armen though when themba looked at him coldly.
themba returned his attention to the pup at hand. "if you tag along you will learn the ways of the wolf. you will forget everything you know about the aliens," themba stated. he pronounced aliens in a disgusted way, referring to humans. armen pinned his ears slightly. he was never sure why the wolves, especially themba, hated the humans. of course they were a threat to the wolves, but what had they done to themba to make him hate them more?
themba was trying to do everything in his power to scare this pup into going back where she came from without saying it out right. armen could feel the tension from the other male, and as much as he wanted to soothe his friend, he didn't bother trying. it would've turned into something else. something a lot more. armen sighed.
"yes, you can come along," armen said, lowering his head towards reese and looking at themba who gave a menacing look with the flick of his tail. he grunted softly with a small roll of his eyes. it was themba's way of saying what are you doing without voicing the thought. themba didn't bother looking at reese again, but instead stared at armen. it was brutal.
---
ruth nodded towards atasi at her exclamation, "i hope so." she responded, wagging her tail slightly as she continued to follow issa.
ruth knew that issa held something against their mother figure. ruth could see the love that atasi still had for the older female anyway, which ruth could appreciate. the young pup never bothered trying to change issa's mind - it seemed useless. when issa had her mind set on something, that's what she would stick with. it didn't seem like much could ever change her opinion about really anything.
issa stopped in her tracks, ruth doing the same, looking at atasi. she huffed softly when being told to stay back with ruth. "right," she sighed, sitting back on her haunches. ruth moved closer to her sister, the two of them watching the smaller group from a distance.
"what's that smell?" ruth asked, looking up at issa. issa scoffed.
"that's the smell of the aliens," issa responded. "which also means there's going to be more of the alien's pets around," she spat. ruth shrugged.
"that just means more numbers! like the alphas want, right?" ruth smiled.
"more numbers doesn't mean it has to be from dogs. not even armen or atasi could fully learn the ways of us, ruth. as much as they want to, they're still their pets." issa was stone cold serious, which caused ruth to look down at her feet.
"i just don't understand-" ruth was cut off by atasi signing for them to come over, which the two did.
"who the fuck is this?" issa asked, cocking her head, looking down at the puppy. ruth looked at the other pup with excited eyes, wagging her tail.
armen and themba both looked over, seeing the females. "atasi," armen began, "this is reese. we just found her," armen informed the group. issa looked at themba who gave a sympathetic look.
while the two were not close, themba and issa shared the same thoughts of the dogs and the half-breeds in the pack. issa never knew why themba hated them, but issa simply despised them because why would you want to change what you stand for when you could easily live the way you want to? dogs live with humans, wolves live without them. that's how she thought it should be.
"reese, huh," issa looked back at reese, taking her appearance in. "she stinks," issa blurted.
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reese waited patiently as the two exchanged glances with each other. she yawned before glancing over at the three, what seemed to be, females who had now joined the group. after examining the females, reese spotted a pup that seemed to be around her age, if not a little older. she sat up and kept her eye on the young pup who seemed to be quite excited to see her as well. themba began speaking to reese, so reese shifted her attention to him instead. "okay, i'm assuming aliens are.. humans?" reese questioned while flicking her left ear to the side. she hoped she wouldn't be much of a burden on what seemed to be the pack and she wanted to make it known, but she didn't wanna vocalise it. the pup looked at the other husky, then at the wolf who looked quite similar to her in colour, then back to the other pup. i wonder who that pup is, she seems like she would be a fun friend reese huffed in her mind, before contemplating approaching the wolves. "yes you can come along." armen said. reese was caught a bit off guard by his response but nonetheless was grateful. "thank you." she smiled, before wagging her tail just the slightest bit. themba didn't seem to be happy about it, but there wasn't much reese could do. she didn't know anything about surviving by herself so she decided she should just keep quite. 𓆩♡𓆪 atasi sighed as issa blurted out a rather rude comment. she kept her thoughts to herself and simply shook her head while glancing over at themba who didn't look too happy. atasi took a couple steps closer to reese and took a long look at her. "i'm not too sure what to say, though make this worth it for the long run, missy" she muttered while looking at reese |
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issa chuckled. "ohhh, we got a detective over here," she scoffed, sitting back down on her haunches. ruth continued to wag her tail. "i'm ruth!" she said happily.
armen nodded, looking back at atasi. themba hummed softly to himself before he began walking away, issa following his frame closely with her dark eyes. she knew that he had always been the one to train these dogs, and maybe a puppy wouldn't suit him.
ruth approached reese, inhaling her scent. she did stink, though ruth didn't judge. she knew eventually that it would fade and she would smell like the rest of them.
themba looked over his shoulder. "get a move on," he said gruffly, almost like a growl in a way. his tone was slightly demanding.
issa looked around for a moment, seeing armen stand by atasi. "you think he'll warm up to the idea of another dog in the pack?" he whispered to his lover. he gave a longing glare towards the other husky-wolf mix. issa gave a bit of a sarcastic disgusted look, seeing how intimate he looked at atasi.
"disgusting," she rolled her eyes, beginning to follow themba.
ruth watched issa follow the older male before she turned her attention back to reese. "they'll warm up to you, i swear," she said reassuringly, knowing deep down she might be lying. she believed most lies, anyway, so it wasn't much of a surprise if what she believed was wrong and she continued to spread false information. ruth sighed softly at the thought, hoping she wasn't wrong.
"you're in a shit mood," issa said aloud to themba.
"glad you noticed," he said impatiently.
"you don't want her, do you?" issa asked.
"is it that obvious?" themba responded, looking over his shoulder, glaring slightly at the remaining four. he continued walking, issa alongside him.
"uh, yeah," she exhaled sharply.
"i'm not dealing with another one, let alone a pup," themba stated.
"your hearts too big to leave her behind though."
"that's the problem."
themba stopped in his tracks, issa stopping slightly in front of him. he looked back over his shoulder, seeing the others interacting. he shook his head and looked down at his feet.
"armen and atasi turned out alright." issa smiled, trying to lighten the mood for the older male.
"they're not pups," themba grunted.
"teach 'em young, as they say," issa pointed out.
themba raised his gaze to the younger female. maybe she was right. |
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reese hopped down from the stump and went to join the young pup who had introduced herself as ruth. "hi! i'm reese" reese said playfully as she watched themba waltz away. he ordered for them to start walking along and the young pup did as so. "i hope they warm up to me, but it's okay if they don't. we all have different mindsets, i can't force someone to like me or not" "so, ruth, is this life.. fun?" reese questioned while walking close by the other wolves. if you told this pup she'd be here in life honestly she would probably look at you and laugh. weirdly enough, reese never believed in being alone - meaning being without a human but obviously, she'd been completely delusional of the fact. reese took in her surroundings, looking at each canine around her carefully. she had already caught themba's drift. overall, she was quick witted. he didn't want her there and his feelings were valid, though sadly you can't change what already has been done. atasi and armen had stood out the most to reese. she felt the most connected to them specifically even though she was yet to meet the other pack members. atasi had a very motherly and safe aura, so reese knew that she'd at least warm up to her. reese waited patiently as the two exchanged glances with each other. she yawned before glancing over at the three, what seemed to be, females who had now joined the group. after examining the females, reese spotted a pup that seemed to be around her age, if not a little older. she sat up and kept her eye on the young pup who seemed to be quite excited to see her as well. themba began speaking to reese, so reese shifted her attention to him instead. "okay, i'm assuming aliens are.. humans?" reese questioned while flicking her left ear to the side. she hoped she wouldn't be much of a burden on what seemed to be the pack and she wanted to make it known, but she didn't wanna vocalise it. the pup looked at the other husky, then at the wolf who looked quite similar to her in colour, then back to the other pup. i wonder who that pup is, she seems like she would be a fun friend reese huffed in her mind, before contemplating approaching the wolves. "yes you can come along." armen said. reese was caught a bit off guard by his response but nonetheless was grateful. "thank you." she smiled, before wagging her tail just the slightest bit. themba didn't seem to be happy about it, but there wasn't much reese could do. she didn't know anything about surviving by herself so she decided she should just keep quite. 𓆩♡𓆪 atasi looked at armen as he spoke to her sweetly. "honestly, i hope so. she's just a pup, god knows what she's already gone through. i just hope he's easy on her" she replied quietly. atasi was being honest, although themba seemed to be a mean, grumpy old guy atasi knew he had some kindness left in his heart. they all did. |
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ruth looked happily towards the other pup. finally, someone who she could befriend. ruth was never interested in learning how to hunt or track. the other pups her age were, and they were always busy with it. ruth followed alongside reese as they followed issa and themba, themba being the one to order them to follow. "i'm sure they will, reese! can't see how they wouldn't," she said reassuringly, a certain spark in her tone.
"i think it is! there's so much to do here," ruth said with a wide smile.
---
armen nodded in agreement. "i don't know what it is, but themba has something against us. our kind, i mean. themba was welcoming towards us, why can't he be welcoming towards a pup? let alone one that needs help." armen had looked towards reese and ruth who began following themba and issa. armen looked back at atasi. "all we can do is hope, i guess." with that, he began following the group.
---
"sooo, how'd you end up out here?" ruth asked politely. "i mean, you don't have to answer if you don't want to," ruth then added, not wanting to pry on the other pup. perhaps her story was traumatic and not one to be shared. or maybe reese did need a friend who she could talk to, and ruth hoped that could be her. she smiled at the idea, waiting for a response.
---
issa gave a concerned look to themba. as much as she related to him, she still questioned why he could be so cold towards a pup. issa was never fond of young children, though she was one once too - just as anyone - and learning to like them was hard, but she figured having a little sister could help with that. while themba was quiet, he had been deep in thought while walking back to blackcastle.
"we might not be close themba, but this sort of deal isn't one you can just look over. i mean c'mon. nobody likes kids, but already being annoyed with a kid you don't even know?" issa tilted her head. she wasn't much younger than him, though themba had lived a lot more than issa could ever know. not that she would know, considering he would never go on to tell her. not anyone.
"i had a son once. from my tribe," themba began. the words coming out of his mouth were obviously hard to speak. "he was the last remaining one of my litter, my only litter, that i sired before i could earn my rank. i took him after everything went to shit..." his voice trailed off. he shook his head, giving an unfazed look towards issa. he sighed. "why am i even telling you this?"
"you couldn't save him, could you?" issa asked, ignoring themba's last inquiry.
themba pinned his ears and hung his head low, not responding.
"i'm sorry..." issa trailed off, the familiar scents of home flooding her nostrils, both of the wolves' noses beginning to twitch.
he looked over his shoulder, seeing everyone following behind in pairs. "keep up, i'm not waiting on any of you!" themba announced. |
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reese sighed before looking all around her. what if she never did end up fitting in? honestly, the best she could do is hope. as long as she was safe, nothing really mattered to her. reese just hoped it would be worth it in the meantime."that's reassuring, on a good note - i'm glad i came across you guys! i hope to be nothing but a helping hand" the young pup smiled before looking over at ruth, who seemed happy to have reese around. "that's good to hear, maybe you can show me around?" reese asked, wagging her tail slightly while watching her surroundings. reese was happy to have met ruth, their names even both started with an 'r.' which reese thought was neat. maybe they had more things in common? who knows, all we know is time will tell. ruth suddenly asked a curious question, and reese being the pup she was couldn't leave her hanging. "it's rather a long story.. i woke up and my owner was being taken away - then i was taken to his families house. then they took me here in a car and dropped me off at the forestline. i've been by myself since, until i found you guys" she happily explained, while looking at ruth. -- atasi glanced over at armen before returning her gaze to the ground then back up. she kept good eye contact with the male and kept it that way. "i've noticed that myself, my love. whatever it is, i'm not sure if we can do much to change it. perhaps he has reasoning behind not liking our kind, who knows? and if he can't be welcoming towards the poor thing - we can." she assured the male, before adding onto her sentence. "i mean - at least i think so? i know i could be welcoming, but could you?" she corrected herself before speeding up as themba commanded. |
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ruth wagged her tail delightfully. "i'm glad we found you too! most of the others my age are always off learning to do more adult things, but me, i like to admire the wilderness," she said pleasantly. "i'm sure you will help us out greatly," ruth added, giving her new found friend a warm glance before continuing on.
"i would love to show you around," ruth responded. she was excited to get to know another female her age, and she couldn't wait to see what the future had in store for them. she hoped for the two to grow together and perhaps even stay together for the rest of their lives, living out their old days together and be living proof that wolves and dogs could stick together no matter what.
ruth's mood suddenly change. "i'm sorry that happened to you. i promise you i will make sure that it never happens again. i couldn't imagine what someone must think to do that to an innocent dog!" ruth responded, a bit of hatred in her tone in her last sentence. she understood the reasoning behind hating the aliens - humans - as it made sense to do so. but she never fully comprehended how to hate them either. it seemed they were just good or bad with no in between.
---
armen held the eye contact that atasi held.
"it just doesn't make sense. i mean, he was at least okay with us. me and him get along..." armen's voice trailed off as he gave a bit of a worried look towards atasi as she mentioned being welcoming to reese. of course he could, but armen couldn't imagine basically becoming a father. it was never in his future, and he never figured he could be a good fit, even with atasi. atasi was his second half, the female who filled a void in him that he didn't even know he had. "i'd like to believe i could," armen responded, matching the pace with atasi as the pair sped up. he looked behind him, seeing ruth and reese talking among themselves, not really having a care in the world. could he be a father?
---
issa and themba led the group to blackcastle, the camp in which the pack resided. themba waited patiently for everyone to catch up, and once they did, he could feel the drift in atmosphere as it changed, the other wolves of the pack approaching the group. he heard distant conversations like the following;
"look what the cat dragged in."
"another damn dog?"
"could this day be any longer?! this can't be..."
"more mouths to feed."
themba looked around for their alpha. issa approached ruth and reese, specifically reese and looked down at her.
"i'm sure you got this talk before kid, but coming here is either a blessing or a mistake. you learn fast or you die. you obey the rules, and you listen to your superiors no matter what." issa's tone was stern and straight forward, ruth quieting down as she heard how serious her sister was. |
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reese reese slowly stopped wagging her tail as time went on. "well, you'll have a buddy for now on! i usually prefer being out in nature too." the young pup smiled happily as she conversated with the other pup. "i will, if you ever need help i'll be here!" reese added to what she'd just previously said. reese was actually quite grateful she'd been taken in by this group of wolves, after all she basically knew nothing about the area she'd been dropped off at, she barely knew how to hunt for herself and surely didn't know how to fend for herself. maybe the group was a gift from the dog gods above, giving reese a second chance at life? "aw, you're sweet. thanks for that! i'll make sure no humans ever get to you - i swear" she promised, hoping she'd actually be able to keep her promise. a human most likely had more power than the young pup bit that doesn't mean reese can't try to fend for her and her friend, right? -- atasi -- "i think it may be because she's a pup. after all, most of us are convinced pups are annoying and never keep quite. maybe that's what he thinks?" atasi suggested. she didn't know if she was right, though she really hoped she was. maybe reese was different, and themba could eventually warm up to her. it was all atasi currently hoped for, after all everyone did deserve someone to love them. atasi began thinking of what she'd said earlier. she already had ruth to care for, could she really take care of another pup, herself and partially armen? "we will figure something out. it's what we usually do at least, right? we got this." she reassured her mate as they approached their camp. "here we go.." she muttered as they entered camp, waiting to hear the groans and complaints of her pack as they noticed the new addition. -- mazikeen -- mazikeen was sunbathing on a rock as she was awakened by the groans of her pack. she quickly sat up, rather quickly noticing what they were complaining about. "another dog? please have mercy on our souls" she huffed as she watched reese enter camp, alongside ruth. the adult female remained in her place as themba, issa, atasi, armen, ruth and the newcomer approached the middle of the clearing. she flicked her ear and rolled her eyes, huffing once more before she laid back down and returned to sunbathing. -- kenai -- kenai was sitting at the opening of his den when he noticed a rather unfamiliar face enter camp. he automatically stood up and walked towards themba, who didn't look quite happy. "themba, what is this?" he asked, rather cockily. it was a pup. one rather young in age. "has khan gotten word? i don't know if his snobby ass would be too happy" kenai added before deciding if he should return back to the enterance of his rather dark cave. "whose idea was it?" -- khan -- a dog. the alpha male growled in his mind as he sensed a new presence just outside of his humble abode. "i do not have the time, or effort to do this right now. i mean, i do, just i don't want to deal with that mess" he spoke to himself as he realised armen or themba had probably came across another dog and invited them in. that wasn't much of a themba thing to do to, so it must've been armen. who knows. he huffed as he stood up, realising he should probably go out and see what was happening. he stood a couple feet behind the cave opening before actually walking out, seeing the new arrival. it was a pup. another pup, who seemed rather scared with all of the moans which escaped his packs mouth. khan stood there, saying nothing as he watched his brother, kenai, stand by themba. |
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Fall 
Night Weather: 
Clear Moon: 
