He had tried.

He was still trying.

What was the problem, then? What was so hard about doing the normal thing? "Hi." "Hello." "I'm Noel." "How are you today?" It shouldn't be so difficult, and yet he still hadn't said a word to a Spirane wolf since his first day in the pack... unless you counted his mother and answering Alcide's meeting, but that was hardly- that didn't matter.

What mattered was that he had been here for months and was failing miserably in the "contribution" portion of pack expectations. He never left, but it was like he was never there, either. He didn't want to be invisible. He didn't want to be so seclusive. It just... well it just sort of happened.

It shouldn't be so hard, though. You see a wolf, you walk up to that wolf, you introduce yourself to that wolf... He wasn't shy, he knew he would have no problem with this. That is, he would have no problem if he could just muster the will power to see it through. That was the tricky part.

For all his want of a normal existence, his past experiences threw in the breaks. He had a past, but the sea stole those memories when it swept him away and threw him on Glorall's shores. He had an adopted family, but a bear stole two thirds of it for no apparent reason. He had a home in Glorall that he was finally starting to relate to, but another wolf stole it from underneath his mother in the wake of his step-father and step-brother's funeral. And he was here now, counting only his mother among his worldly "possessions"; though, he hardly saw her as a thing he owned.

Noel wanted to feel at home here in Spirane, but a cynical voice in the back of his mind reminded him that, if the past was any indicator, it would just be stolen. As capable as Alcide seemed to be, maybe one day there would be just that one challenger that had what it took. Tip the scale enough and maybe even the mountain would crumble. He wanted to feel at home like any normal young wolf, wanted to feel like he could have friends and make memories, but he had begun to wonder if, perhaps, life would just not allow it.

Cloudy as his feelings were on the subject of life, Noel had managed to find the will to get up every morning. He still made his way around the pack lands, alone, and felt quite comfortable in the peaceful mountains of Spirane. If nothing else, the fact that he recognized landmarks, knew exactly where he was in the territory no matter how long he walked or how deep he found himself in thought, proved there was at least a shred of hope still there. His subconscious self felt safe enough to grow familiar with this place despite the antagonistic chiding of his cynical inner voice. There was hope yet that he would grow out of this, get over it.

Today, Noel was skirting around the more heavily populated area of Spirane, a warm little valley nestled between a sloping peak and a rising cliff face. He was cautious, perhaps overly so, not to stray too close to occupied dens. That was personal space that he hardly felt privileged to invade, what with not knowing ninety-nine percent of the pack members anyway. The last thing he wanted to do was disturb them in their own homes and make a bad first impression; though, making no impression at all was almost just as bad. Life was such a conundrum.

Picking his way through the lush, green summer grass, the lanky, white boy had his strange heterochromatic eyes narrowed far down the valley where the mountains disappeared into a hazy mist. A strong eastern sun beat against his left flank, warming him in the cool haze of the lingering fog that had yet to burn off so early in the morning. It was peaceful, delightful, beautiful. As much as he had loved the sparkling ocean view of Glorall, the monolithic rises and rushing vales of Spirane were like no other place in the world.

A sharp rustle nearby disturbed the otherwise placid sound of crickets and songbirds, snatching Noel's attention quickly away from the horizon. His mismatched eyes turned with curious caution in the direction of the noise, body still as he studied with attentive ears. Whatever it was, it was small. Perhaps a gopher or a rabbit. Either way, the boy reckoned he had a good chance of getting a hold on it if he was careful enough.

He stalked forward, large paws carefully picking their way through the grass and body brushing by slowly so as to keep hushed. He paused for a moment as the thing made a sudden lunge away from him, standing still until he was sure it hadn't noticed him. When he felt close enough for a sprint, Noel darted for the critter with surprising speed for his long, awkward legs.

And stopped short.

He had to blink as he threw on the breaks, halting in a half-sit behind the little puppy who sniffed the ground vigorously between her small paws. She was young, most likely from this past season. Noel gave a quick glance around but saw no chaperone; in fact, as far as he could tell, they were the only two this far out from the den cites.

"You shouldn't be out here alone," Noel said with more confusion in his voice than conviction, brows narrowed curiously on the puppy's back. "Where's your mother?"

This certainly was not what he imagined his first encounter with a packmate would be like. A stray puppy wandering about Spirane unaccompanied was almost the last thing he expected to see as the parents here were usually very attentive to their children... or so he assumed considering he had never seen a child without their parents before. Still, as a yearling and hopeful Aquila, Noel felt a sense of responsibility in the current circumstance. He would be starting his warrior's training soon; he had a duty to protect the safety of the Spirane wolves. A little girl wandering about on her own wasn't what he would call safe.

soul and sky are magnetizing