Reaching New Heights {Akree/any}

[nightblood]

Ziro, in all his happiness of finding a new friend, didn't realize that Uin had said anything. He immediately when into a play-bow and wagged his tail, hoping the male would want to play. It was when he finally spoke that his mind was blown and his memory circuits went on, trying to find out when he'd been taught that pups sounded like young adults.

"Whoa! Where'd you learn to change your voice so good?" he asked, straightening up. He'd had a few friends in his old pack that could change their voice to mimic others, but he'd never learned how.

"Can you teach me?" he asked, wagging his tail.

[Akree]

Uin smiled as Ziro began being all friendly with this new found pup and was surprised at the pup adult voice and smiled. She nudged Ziro, looking to see if he was hurt, but the pup was unharmed, she turned to the older pup and back to Ziro again.

"Ziro, that's not polite, introduce yourself first"

She than turned to the pup "You have a really big voice for a pup"she chuckled at him politely.

Uin loved pups and better than a cute puppy was that she loved playing with them. She flicked her tail, two male puppies. She turned to look at the snow around them and a few trees here and there.

"Well, we were going to play" she said to the older pup "Would you like to play with us?" she smiled.

She looked back at the excited Ziro and chuckled, this would be fun.

[Squeeji]

Levy's ears dipped down against his skull, and he looked very very irked. His brows knitting as he tried, tried so hard not to be angry at Uin and Ziro, "I am not a pup. I'm just over two years old." His voice was a bit growly, though he wasn't being growling at them. "An adult." It seemed a very tender subject, but it was apparent that if Levy was a puppy, there was something very wrong, too wide at the shoulders, a bit muscular, but he certainly had the short legs, large paws and almost squat face of a young wolf.

The short dark wolf took a long breath, and let it out slowly, as though composing himself. "I'm Levy." He said kindly, trying to relax his temper some, he wasn't usually a touchy wolf, but as stated, Uin touched...a nerve. He sniffed and gave Ziro a smile.

"Maybe...what are you two playing?" He wagged his tail some, and looked between the two of them. Curious.

[Akree]

Uin froze a little, Levy looked a lot more muscular than a pup, how could she couldn't have noticed. She flicked her tail and looked back at Ziro.

"Sorry, Levy, I judged by first appearance, sorry" she said her ears thrown back in a kind of shame.

"Maybe...what are you two playing?" she heard the young wolf say.

Uin smiled and wagged her tail and was about to speak, when she was caught off by their own thoughts. What were Ziro and her playing, she recalled the past events, Ziro wanted to explore at first, but then he chased a mouse and she had helped him. She tilted her head in thought.

"Ziro, what exactly were we playing?" she asked the orange wolf.

She chuckled at Levy, and looked at Ziro for an answer.

[nightblood]

"An adult."

"Oh..." Ziro looked at the pup-sized wolf, stunned. After a moment or two of looking over the male, he began to consider how much fun it would be to stay that size for his whole life. He could easily hide himself from the eyes of others and could get into the tiniest cracks in the earth to see what what hidden there. "COOL!"

"I'm Levy."

"I'm Ziro," he answered, heeding to Uin's command.

"Well, we were going to play" she said to the older pup "Would you like to play with us?"

"Maybe...what are you two playing?"

"We're going exploring!" Ziro answered in a brave voice as he took a higher stature and raised his head and tail in the manner of a dominate wolf, puffing out his chest as he did so. "I need to memorize every nook and cranny of this place," he continued, looking around in a very business-like manner.

He turned toward the landscape before them and squinted in the sun, trying to find the most interesting part of Arnlan from the view he had. In the distance, he spotted a dark patch of trees. Anything could be hiding in there, judging by the blackness of it. His expression brightened in excitement as he lifted his paw to point out the direction in which he wanted to go.

"That looks like a good place to start!" he exclaimed, moving forward, "Let's go!"

[Squeeji]

Ziro's statement of how cool his deformity was well...made Levy cock his head at the pup like there might have been something wrong with him. "Oooooo.....kaaaaaaaaaay." but he smiled and shrugged it off, neither Ziro's oddness or Uin's accidental rudeness really bothered him, not for long that is. He was pretty patient all things considered.

Watching the pup storm off made the dark male snerk, and shake his head as he followed. "Every nook and cranny eh? What if the alphas find you..." He said it almost like he was warning the pup of a boogie man in the woods, he liked the alphas fine, but still there was no denying that they were mysterious, and sometimes really creepy. "...you don't want to go somewhere you aren't invited."

Levy had been here almost a year, and had gotten comfortable in the lands, so much so, he sort of fell out from under the radar of pack, just as he had before in his old pack...which was slowly but surely fading from memory.

[Akree]

Uin chuckled as Levy's expression changed to a quizzical one and smiled at Ziro's excitement. She turned to look at Levy and back at Ziro, but where was Ziro. She lifted her gaze to see the orange pup bolting off to the distance, she chuckled and looked at Levy, than back at Ziro.

"Ziro! slow down, you don't want to trip again" she yelled at Ziro

"What if the alphas find you...you don't want to go somewhere you aren't invited." she heard Levy said mysteriously.

Uin turned her head to look at Levy, the alphas, NightBlood had told her the names, Karolek and Sofika, was it? She turned her total attention to the young wolf, this peeked her interest. That meant that Levy had met the alphas.

"Karolek and Sofika, right?" she asked trying to test if her memory was good "NightBlood told me their names" she quickly declared, not to make it seem like she had actually meet them.

She turned to look at Ziro, but still directed their attention to Levy. She remembered NightBlood, the tank like female wolf that had appeared when she wanted to be accepted into Arnlan, she had made Arnlan sound so mysterious and terrifying, but still she believed the alphas couldn't be that bad, or could they?

[nightblood]

"Ziro! slow down, you don't want to trip again"

"You sound like my mother..." Ziro pointed out a little rudely. He hadn't meant any offense, but he did wish she would treat him like he had a little bit of sense. He wasn't exactly a new-born.

"Every nook and cranny eh? What if the alphas find you..."

Ziro slowed down and turned to Levy, eyeing him. If the orange pup ever aged, he would not want to be as cautious as these wolves. He wanted always to be adventurous.

"I hope the alphas find me. They'll see how good I am at finding things. Maybe, when I grow up, I can be a Tracker..."

"...you don't want to go somewhere you aren't invited."

"You don't know you're uninvited until you barge in!" he said happily.

With that, Ziro took off at a faster pace, being careful about where he put his paws. Only once did he almost trip, but he quickly regained his footing and ran head-on into the forest. He dodged trees, fallen logs, and boulders until they finally reached the dark part of the forest.

Not much light got through the dense leaves in the canopy. It was still bright enough to see in the middle of the day, but soon this would be the first black area of Arnlan. Ziro skidded to a stop and through his nose to the ground, sniffing around for anything more interesting than dirt.

{I could bring NB in for a plot. Maybe this part of Arnlan is haunted or something?}

[Akree]

(Good Idea, I'll post after Levy)

[Squeeji]

The stockly wolf just sighed and rolled his eyes, now, Levy understood he was a bit too serious sometimes, but it was pretty funny that the puppy and female couldn't take a joke. "I was kidding...you know that right?" He stated almost as though he couldn't believe what they said.

"Though...it would be so cool to disapear like Alpha Sofika does." Levy said so almost contemplating it, and jumped on a log, balancing his great mass rather skillfully before jumping back down. "I saw it, it was pretty awe inspiring....they just walk into the shadows...and it eats them up...spots and all." Levy was a slow moving wolf when there was no reason to run, every move deliberate and plotted out...he certainly didn't hurry after Uin and Ziro.

[Akree]

Uin tried to pay as much attention as possible to Levy, but between Ziro's cute, yet rude character and his running of, it really was hard to pay attention to both. She sprinted, but not very fast, so to stay behind Ziro and in front of Levy.

"You sound like my mother..." Ziro said

She chuckled "Sorry, Ziro, but you do seem like the type that loves to get into trouble" Uin said in a mid-laugh

. "I was kidding...you know that right? Though...it would be so cool to disappear like Alpha Sofika does. I saw it, it was pretty awe inspiring....they just walk into the shadows...and it eats them up...spots and all."

Uin chuckled at this, weird, she thought. Imagining a wolf walking up to under a tree and disappearing. She shook the thought off, kind of made her want to giggle. She pictured for a moment the huge sentry, NightBlood, she was kind enough to her, but wouldn't want to catch her on a bad mood in the dark, where you can't see nothing. She chuckled as she saw Ziro almost trip and reach the dark place that had caught the pup's attention. She looked back at Levy and turned her head to look at Ziro.

"See anything Ziro?" she called over to him as she as well arrived to where Ziro was now exploring.

[nightblood]

"Sorry, Ziro, but you do seem like the type that loves to get into trouble."

Ziro laughed. "I like trouble," he answered with a grin.

"I was kidding...you know that right?"

"You sounded serious to me. Maybe my ears just went bad for a minute."

"Though...it would be so cool to disapear like Alpha Sofika does." Levy continued. "I saw it, it was pretty awe inspiring....they just walk into the shadows...and it eats them up...spots and all."

Ziro thought it over. To disappear into the shadows would be an awesome sight to behold, but he doubted her could do it with his orange fur.

"I've never seen the Alphas..." he said, mainly to himself.

Before long, they were in the dark part of the forest, Ziro sniffing around looking for something interesting.

"See anything Ziro?"

"Nothing yet..." he said after a moment of gazing around. He liked to smell for things first. It made it a bit more interesting. Just then, a familiar scent came to him. Although he couldn't put a face with it, he was almost certain it was Arnlanian.

"I smell something..." he said, his nostrils flaring at the scent. Sure of its freshness, he followed it, slowly nearing a large bush. "Smells -sniff- like... -sniff sniff-"

RUFF!

It was as if the leaves and branches had suddenly decided to fall directly at him. Two large logs burst from the bush and scattered the leaves from it. The thunderous bark made him cringe in fear. He made himself small and closed his eyes.

"AAAHHHH!!!!!"

"You didn't run," came a gruff female's voice. Ziro's emerald eyes opened at the sound.

"NightBlood!!" he cried happily, jumping up and putting his large paws on her muzzle.

The great Arnlanian Sentry had been in the area for a short time before them, wandering around it and contemplating things of her own business when she heard the voices of the three wolves. She darted into the trees, feeling a dire need for some leisure time. She hadn't taken a break in a long while. Currently, the wolfess was in a play-bow position with her tail wagging lightly above her and her nose being pawed at by a young pup.

[Akree]

Uin looked back at Levy, seeing if he was still following. He was patiently heading toward the spot, she smiled and turned her head to look at Ziro, the pup was still searching the area.

"Nothing yet..." said Ziro, still looking around.

Uin walked next to the pup and began a search of her own. Snuffling around in the bushes, Ziro had taken the other way, him to searching the bushes.

RUFF!

Uin pricked her hearing after the deep bark, not turning around. A bark?, she turned her head as a familiar scent entered her nostrils. She turned again to see NightBlood the tank-like sentry. Ziro's yell, was ringing in her ears, she shook her head at the noise.

"You didn't run," came the sentry's voice.

"NightBlood!!" Ziro yelled happily.

Uin smiled at seeing the sentry again, she had hoped she could see NightBlood again soon. She walked toward the two wolves. NightBlood had dropped to a play bow and at this Uin chuckled to herself.

"Hi, NightBlood, good to see you again" said Uin smiling happily, at least now she couldn't say she hadn't met anybody.

[Squeeji]

Seeing the big female gave Levy pause, and he stopped, his ears perked curiously, but still unsure what to think of Nightblood. Sure, she would play with the younger pup, but he was no pup, and he didn't know her or vice versa.

Levy was always one to throughly assess the situation before barging in...there was no wisdom in going into a potentially dangerous situation with no plans or knowledge of what was going on.

But he seemed to get more comfortable as he watched both starting to play. He sighed in relief and layed down, watching casually. Though he didn't come to play himself.

[nightblood]

NightBlood raised an eyebrow as Ziro began to climb up her muzzle. Figuring out his idea quickly, she began to slowly raise her head, lifting it away from the ground. The pup, with his large paws, was unprepared for the movement and began slipping. He dug his claws into her fur, careful not to hurt the female, and chanced a look down. The ground was slowly moving away.

"Woah...!"

Now properly seated on the ground, the sentry looked as if she were wearing an oversized, orange hat as it crawled onto her head. She could see very little, but managed to make out Uin's familiar voice.


"Hi, NightBlood, good to see you again."

"You too," she replied to the darkness. Just then, Ziro picked up his hind paw and moved it away from NightBlood's right eye. "Ah, there you are."

As Ziro moved to sit down on her head, NightBlood lowered her head again, making him start to fall down her nose on his back. Before he got completely off, however, she threw him up high into the air by raising her head quickly.

"Ahh- oof!" came the sound of Ziro flying then landing back on her head, "Wow! Do that again!"

The Sentry happily obliged, throwing him up once more, a bit higher this time. "AAHHH!!!"

NightBlood turned her head and saw a darker male enter the area. He was about the same height as Ziro.

"Hey. Haven't seen you before," she pointed out.

"Ouch!"

Ziro landed again on NightBlood's head, a bit harder this time. Night winced as the weight was thrown back onto her.

"You, sir, need to stop eating so many squirrels."