The forest stands tall and lush here; ancient trees reach weather-twisted arms to the sky, fighting monster-like storm clouds back with their interlacing fingers. Shadow seems to lurk everywhere you look, but it spills calmly, coolly, inspiring a sense of stealthy calm or protection rather than unease. That is, if you've forgotten what kind of creature might be stalking just out of sight...Abendrot is a land cradled by the dark woods on all sides; in the center, some of the larger trees stay behind to reveal a small plateau - a citadel where this pack can gather and defend itself from invaders. There are, of course, softer sides to the land. Clearings here and there allow the sun to throw down its rays in incongruously resplendent gold showers. Ignore the lingering scents of blood spattered here and there along the borders: those do not concern you. The river on one edge of the territory is playful enough when it hasn't been gorged by violent rain. You can choose to note the ragged claw marks raked down tree trunks and the forest floor as friendly "Home Sweet Home" signs, if you wish.
All who treasure loyalty, order, victory, and the occasional indulgence of raw visceral pleasure are welcome, once they've been approved by the ever-watchful eyes of Abendrot's Alpha. But keep one thing in mind: no matter what your motive, this is not a fool's Paradise. This is the land of soldiers, assassins, and spies. This is ABENDROT.
Make up your mind quickly and prepare to prove your worth. You wouldn't want to add to those blood spatters, would you...?
IP: 167.206.17.113
Posted on October 21, 2015 at 09:35:21 PM by Azula
All That I See, Absolute Horror  |
_________________________________________________________________________ The two female warriors, one young and one grown, padded silently through the trees. Azula had been in these lands long enough that she knew the ins and outs of the territory. Knew where to place her paws so her steps would be silent and knew where the next set of trees would be before they were visible. The woods were silent right now, except for the occasional breeze that shifted the trees and made the leaves on the ground rustle. That was one of the things that she liked about this pack. It was easy to be on your own and not be bothered by others. There were not others there to constantly be in your business, wondering what you were up to and where you were. It was everyone for themselves here, and those that did not make it did not survive here. The fact that this pup had been chosen by Marx to take under his wing and show her the ropes showed that she was the type that would survive here and get along with the other wolves that called Abendrot their home. This younger femme, Nova Prospekt, reminded her of her own son, Felan. He longed to prove himself and had a strong fighting spirit in him. He was smarter than most for his age, and she seemed to be as well. It had been a while since Azula had seen her son and daughter, but they were teens now and old enough to not need her to survive. She often worried about Corde, she was not as strong spirited as her brother and feared much that was in the world, but she hoped that the two of them had stuck together to look after each other. The scarred female’s focus was shifted back to the pup that was with her now and they continued chatting about the wolves within the pack, but then Azula moved the conversation to a new topic. She was not sure why she was offering to help this pup. Even though she was in the same pack that did not mean that she owed anything to the younger femme. But the dragoness knew that she missed having younger pups to teach things to and look after, even though she did not need to look after Nova Prospekt. There were not many lupines that she liked and got along with, but this russet colored female was one of them. As the pair reached the river that ran through Abendrot’s lands, the multihued dragoness continued walking into the cold waters, pausing when the waters reached her shoulders to give further instruction to the pup that was about to have her first lesson in swimming. After telling Nova Prospekt what to expect she pushed off with her own powerful hind limbs, letting her front limbs push through the waters and direct her. She could feel the blue orbed gaze of the other varg, most likely watching what she was doing so she could try to imitate it. Azula’s light green orbs watched as the smaller female wadded into the water, pausing again before she finally pushed off into the deeper waters. She must have pushed off too hard because she was suddenly under the waters entirely. Azula’s mothering instinct told her to rush forward and pull her up, but she held back, waiting to see what the other female would do instead. Normally when one was pushed under water like that, their reaction was to flail about to try and bring themselves back to the surface. That would work in calmer waters like this, but if there was a current flailing would do no good and it was better to focus all your energy on moving your body, especially your head, up towards the surface. Azula was impressed when she saw Nova Prospekt begin to paddle with her front limbs instead of flailing about like an inexperienced swimmer would do, and soon the smaller varg’s head rose from the waters and she was able to breathe again. The older warrior had stayed close in case she needed to rescue the beginner, but her help was not needed. This was the difference between the wolves that made up Abendrot and the wolves of other packs, The more time that she spent with the other being the more she could see why Marx had taken her to train. There was a lot that this wolf could offer to the pack. Nova Prospekt’s initial reaction when she came up and took in a deep breath was shock, her blue stargazers wide and staring, and Azula smirked at her when she saw a calm face replace her features after a moment. The pup was good at hiding her emotions at most times, but even the most trained warrior had slips here and there. “So much for a smooth start.” The female spoke sarcastically, trying to play off her trip under the waters. But Azula thought it was good she had experienced it. Better for the first time to be in calmer waters than in the more troubling ones with stronger currents. ”It would have happened to you at some point. Better now than later on in a current.” She let Nova Propsekt swim where she wanted between the deeper and shallower areas, letting her untrained form get used to the water and what it felt like to swim. “Trying to learn this on the run would definitely prove to be a bit more difficult.” The dragoness could say from experience that that was true. Taking care of two pups that were younger than Nova Prospekt were at the same time made things even more difficult. ”Try doing it with two pups that could barely walk, never mind swim.” The gray and white female swam a bit further down the river, keeping in ear intently listening to the beginner behind her in case she needed any help. She needed to find a good place to teach her how to fish. She knew of a place where she went often, and they were not far from it, but with all the rain they had had lately she was not sure if the waters would be too high. She was pleased to see that the rocks she often fished from were still above the water, though the river had definitely raised a bit from the last time she had been here. Her powerful limbs carried her over to the rocks, scrambling up on the slippery surface so she was now out of the water. She let out a bark, calling Nova Prospekt over to her. Azula waited patiently until the other female had joined her on the rocks, and then she shook out her multihued pelt, water droplets spraying everywhere around her. Her light green orbs looked into the waters, watching as fish of all sizes swam around, unaware of the two predators above them. Her gaze shifted to the pup, remembering when she had done this same exercise with Felan and Corde. ”Take a few minutes to watch how the fish move through the waters. You can usually predict where they will be moving next after you watch them for a little while. That will be important when you want to catch one. You cannot try to catch one based on where it is, but where it will be going. They move very quickly, and of course there is the glare and reflection from the sun which can confuse you as well. When you reach in to catch one, you’ll need to think ahead of the fish, and aim for where you think it will be when you touch the water.” Azula once again focused her gaze to the water, focusing on one fish in particular that was coming towards them, watching its movements for a moment before quickly throwing her paw into the water, making sure to keep her balance on the rock as she flung it from the waters where it landed on the rocks near them. Without a second thought she had leapt from the rock and her daggers dug into the flopping form of flesh, blood filling her mouth as she let out an instinctual growl at the kill. The female flung her kill aside, and leapt back onto the rock before speaking once more. ”I found it easier to learn with my paw first, then I was able to move on to just using teeth to catch them. But we can try that later.” She knew that fishing was a difficult and frustrating task, one that not every wolf liked to do and not all had practiced it enough. Azula had been forced to become good at it when she was on her own with two young pups for so long. She had not wanted to leave them for too long and that took out hunting. The pups were too loud to bring with her on a hunt, but she was able to take them with her when she went fishing, and so had been much more comfortable doing that. She owed a lot of her skills to her two young, even if they did not realize it. The warrioress waited to see if Nova Prospekt had any questions before watching her practice. Picture credit to Kyleigh <3 ________________________________________________________________________ |
Replies:
- I will build m y s e l f - By Nova Prospekt October 26, 2015 at 11:58:53 PM
Darkness Imprisoning Me - By Azula November 18, 2015 at 01:05:21 AM
Post a reply:
<--
-->