Seeking a pack

[xexes]

For whatever reason, his attempt to join the pack forming in the Burning Woods had not only failed, but failed miserably, and he'd been politely asked to leave (or so he thought). That left the Sol-Arinate pack as the only pack left on the lands. He hated the thought of returning to the desolate sands where he'd been left to die. There was so little energy here to be had, and so few creatures to eat compared to the abundant wildlife of a forest, burning or not.

The encounter weighed heavily on his mind for another reason: the leader of Sol-Arinate had been there. They had introduced themselves, and he remembered it being a female, but the name escaped him. He made a mental note to funnel some energy to his brain later to check if there was any issues with his memory or old age. Whatever had happened, she had seen, and might easily choose to ward him off for whatever nameless reason that the Burning Forest creatures had.

He scented for the borders of Sol-Arinate, stood before them, and gave a howl. It was a song loud enough to be heard from the distance, but hopefully not loud enough to cause a racket. Perhaps those two were contradictory.

Not wanting to waste anyone's time, and fearful of another rejection, he spoke aloud to the first creature he would see.

"I've come in search of a pack to join.

I met the leader of Sol-Arinate at the Burning Forest, but was ejected from the lands for unknown reasons. I regret that the leader witnessed that drama, it is not my wish to cause trouble. I wish only for a pack for protection and to serve. I have many skills to offer, from hunting and fishing to teaching and trade.", and then he would smack his lips thoughtfully, as if searching to detect which teeth he still had in his mouth.

[Hyenism]

On silent wings Aya drifted downwards, spiraling through air currents on her way to the desert floor. She landed gently, the sand shifting under her weight and the desert winds blowing her scent for miles. Thus was the nature of the desert, it was unstoppable, limitless. Anything here would be everywhere and yet nowhere, she'd tracked prey for months, following scents that had drifted on the breeze from no-where's land. She loved her home, cherished it.

She lowered her delicate nose to the sands, shifting it about as she searched for the treat buried somewhere bellow. The wind had carried the lizards scent for many steps, she'd caught wind of it by the pack dens. It took her hundreds of years to perfect such a skill as tracking in the desert, a skill she put to good use on a regular basis.

Her ears snapped around before she registered why, a voice carried on the wind, slow and distant. A voice she recognized almost instantly. She allowed her mind to drift through the memories of the ashen plains and the burning deity that lay in wait, emerging to ward this creature from his land. She didn't hesitate and with a powerful down-beat of her massive wings she escalated into the near frozen air and found her current.

Flight was far easier when the winds took you where you needed to go, nature would always help you, if you only let it do so. She never struggled against the natural acts, allowed them to take her, guide her, and trusted they knew where she needed to go. As it turned out, it was only moments before she could see the figure in the distance, by the border of her lands. She circled down gently, making it apparent who she was and where she was going so as not to startle the deity, not that it seemed he was one startled easily, it was just common courtesy and she would have expected the same.

She landed powerfully, sand rolling away from her form as she settled, her wings drawn tight and her tail finding it's place comfortably, swaying lightly in the wind. She focused her duel-hued eyes on the creature before her, nodded her head politely and after a moment of careful deliberation spoke in gentle tones.

"Greetings Oob, it's a pleasure to see you again. Our lands are always welcome to you." she said with a kind smile. "If it is a pack you seek, you may indeed find it here.

[xexes]

The ruler he had seen in the Burning Woods soon appeared alight on the wind. It appeared to him that much like an eagle, the figure soared effortlessly, expending little energy to get from here to there. He wondered if having wings would suit him better, and make his incessant trips to check on his tree any easier. But alas, he didn't have wings, so it was pointless to consider such things, window-shopping without any means to purchase.

His speech had been a little lengthy, but direct and earnest. The creature, the leader, who landed near him, indeed a female, had a speech similar, and even more concise than his.

He quickly bowed, pointing his horns outwards and down, and his rear end upwards in the process. He took a moment to shake off the sand that had clung to him from the border winds, also signifying the end of an activity: lonesomeness.

"Thank you. I will begin at once.", he replied as he straightened up, his spine cracking in several places like an old roof as he did so. He lifted one paw off the ground, tentatively stepped forwards, and then the next, moving forwards, and so on, and so forth, entering the territory, and allowing the sand-laden wind to wash away his packless scent of wilderness into something with more purpose and more pungency: that of the deserty Sol Arinate pack.

-- fade out / exit --