Sisters

[Nachty]

Keeza and Branna padded silently through the dark cemetary their brown pelts brushing up agianst the other's. Keeza's keen navy eyes darted around ready to find a spook around every corner. Branna on the other hand seemed quite content with the gloomy surroundings. Branna could sense the nervousness of her sibling and her forest green eyes were filled with worry.

"What is it sister?" her voice was strong but gentle as she spoke. Keeza just hadden't been herself recently.

"Oh it's nothing Bran...it's just so gloomy out here." With a sigh Keeza sat down and leaned up against a cold tombstone. With a jolt she jumped up. "Oh..it's just a rock..." she laughed nervously.

Now Branna's eyes were more stern than before. "Don't you try and tell me nothing is wrong now. I'm your sister I won't be fooled that easily." She gave a playful nudge to her nervous sibling.

Keeva sighed. There was no way any lie could get past her sister. "Branny I just miss being with our whole family. I know we can't have mother back but there is still one member missing from our trion. I mss our brother. Don't you Branny? I mean we still have each other to look after but he's all on his own..."

"Don't worry your self too much. I'm sure Orin's fine. He's strong and I'm sure he can care for himself." Branna grinned comfortingly. "We'll meet up with him again don't you worry."

Keeva only nodded in agreement. What else could she do? Branna was right. Even if their brother was in a tight space he could always find a way out. Still it did not hinder her worry. "I just hope your right," she finally concluded.

Branna surveyed dark cemetary. Not very welcoming but it would have to do. "Well, for now let us fend for ourselves. I believe here is a good place to make camp. Lets rest. Maybe things will be better tomorrow."

[abhorzion]

Nose twitching and ears stood stiff and erect atop his long head, Oswald prowled around the cemetary. He sure didn't like this place, it was dark and creepy and there were all sorts of eerie noises hanging around. The faint swish of the leaves on the tree's being caught by the wind and a crow calling out it's coarse, harsh song as is flew over the scene below. Oswald raised his head and looked at the crow.
"It's circling me!?" he gasped to himself. He screwed up his nose at it and it flew away, almost as if it'd seen him pull a face. Not far away, a bat screeched, making him jump, and he darted in a flurry of long, silky hair, hiding behind a large statue of an angel.
"What on earth!?" he panted, his heart beating like crazy. Oswald looked all round for whatever caused the noise, then noticed it land in a nearby bush with a crash. Quivering, he crept over to investigate...

As his nose poked through the leaves, another high pitched screech filled his large ears and made him jump again, but this time, he could see what was making the sound. With a snort, he pulled his head back out of the bush.
"Bah!" he huffed. "To think I was scared of a bat!" and he turned away, and carried on wandering through the cemetary. As he walked, he picked up a smell. A familiar, doggy smell. "It'll be Tatjana following me." he thought, remembering how his goofball sister always did everything in her power to annoy him. Then he saw two brown tails poking out from a nearby gravestone.
Oswald crouched down, those tails were large and bushy, he knew that tails like that often belonged to large dogs or wolves. He sniffed the air, observing the curious scent. No, it wasn't a domestic animal, it had to be a wolf. Two wolves, with very similar musks.

Curiously and cautiously, Oswald crept up behind the two, who seemed to be discussing something. They were obviously sisters, they looked and smelled so similar. As Oswald noticed that one she-wolf seemed uneasy with her surroundings, a smile spread across his maw. The opportunity was too good to miss.

He folded his ears back and narrowed his eyes, positioning himself directly behind the two wolves, a big toothy grin still plastered over his face. He approached slowly and silently, his grin getting bigger and bigger until.....

"BOO!" He barked, loudly, leaping inbetween the two and startling them. He turned and looked at the pretty young wolves, still grinning.

[Nachty]

Keeva let out a loud yelp of surprise as the sound came into her ears. The large dog in front of her and her sister caused her to cower slightly. Branna on the other hand did not shrink back from the dog but bared her fangs angrily at the disruptive crreature.

"Who are you?" she growled threateningly; putting herself between the dog and her sister. Branna was never one to back down even if th opposer was larger than her. Her fur was standing up in an attempt to make herself look bigger.

"Bran..." Keeva whispered in her sister's ear,"Don't you know better than to pick fight s with strangers?" She looked Branna in the eyes causing the more aggressive wolf's hackles to lay back down. Her voice steadier now Keeva turned to the dog, and with a friendlier tone asked, "What is your name stranger?" In her mind she had already become comfortable with the dog's presence which was quite unlike her.

Branna wrinkled her snout slightly and growled under her breath, "Always this polite?" Luckily her sister hadn't heard the annoyance in Branna's tone. She wanted to fight so badly. It would have at least given her something to do.

[abhorzion]

Oswald stood before the two she-wolves, chuckling to himself. The bolder looking wolf dived in front of her nervier looking sister and bared her teeth angrily, snarling at the Collie cross, who still had a daft, toothy grin all over his face.
"Who are you!?" snarled the wolf, hackles raised and a furious expression on her face. Despite the obvious tension in the air at this moment, Oswald was still smiling, he was a sucker for a pretty face. He stood tall and proud before the angry she-wolf, his ears lazily sitting atop his head, drooping slightly at the tips. He admired this wolf for her strong, aggressive attitude, not to mention her deep green eyes which were blazing away at him. It reminded him of a long lost friend of his.
Just behind her, her sister was trying to smooth things over, trying to discourage a fight between the two, and she smiled sweetly at Oswald, asking, "What is your name, stranger?" in a rather polite voice. This seemed to displease the green eyed wolf somewhat, much to Oswalds amusement. He grinned and nodded his head respectfully to the two wolves.
"Yea, I'll introduce myself. I'm Oswald, my dear." he said, holding his head high and puffing out his chest, his voice sounding less gormless than usual. "I'm sorry, ladies, I didn't mean to scare ya." he added, winking to the blue eyed she-wolf.
The enormous dog sat back down on his haunches, curling his long bushy tail neatly around his hind quarters.
"So what're your names?" he asked, his voice returning to it's usual, common as muck tone and a faint, sensible smile now washing over his face. "And what're you doin' in a place like this?"

[Nachty]

"And I'm Keeva," the brown she wolf grinned. This Oswald seemed pleasant enough. Keeva was happy Branna's actions didn't seem to upset the dog. Maybe not everyone was as aggressive as she thought.

"Branna," the other sister said flatly stretching up to her full height which still wasn't as big as the male's. "We're just exploring that's all," she added in a relatively calm voice, "Nothing special." Branna still didn't like the the stranger. She knew their creeping around was suspicious to an outsider, but at least she knew what they were up to. Oswald had just seemed to come out of nowhere.

"We're looking for our brother," Keeva's voice broke in, "We got seperated from him a while ago..." her tailed drooped slightly. SShe very much missed Orin, and her heart ached for them ro be together again.

"Not that's it's really any of your concern," Branna added quickly.

[abhorzion]

Oswald felt somewhat at ease as he sat before these two she-wolves and listened as they explained their business within the cemetary.
They're looking for their brother... Now that's an idea... thought the monstrous dog to himself. He wasn't quite in the same situation as Keeva and her sister but he hadn't seen Sebastienne in a very long time and he knew deep down that he wanted to find him and make sure he was ok. He remembered briefly the days they used to pass one another daily, exchanging pleasantries, laughing and joking a while. He missed those days. Suddenly, Branna snapped him back into reality.
"Not that it's really your concern." she added, abruptly, still staring him down.

Oswald rose once again to his feet, he never could sit still for any amount of time. He smiled at Branna.
"You're right, It's not my concern as such. I'm just nosy." he grinned, winking to Keeva. "I'm just here to scrounge myself some dinner, you gotta give me some credit for being honest!" he added. The expression on Branna's face said it all. Oswald, whilst still quite confident and relaxed, realised that if he kept winding Branna up, he'd end up pushing her too far and there could be a fight. He'd fought other dogs before, he was strong and confident, he knew what to do and what it was like. But he'd never fought a wolf and he certainly didn't want to, especially not such a pretty female wolf.
"I'm sorry if I ticked ya off, toots." he said, bowing his head slightly in respect to Branna, who still looked suitably unimpressed. "I don't mean ya any harm, in fact I'd kinda like to help ya both." he added, his common Northern English accent shining through strong as he spoke.

[Nachty]

Branna wrinkled her nose slightly at the dog but did not say a word. She had finally settled down enough to know he was no threat at the moment. His words did not sound like they were decieving, and Branna believed what he said was true. Still she remained close to her sister watching Oswald intently. Even though she had relaxed outwardly her senses were on full alert. Instict was telling her to be wary of any stranger. Keeva was not so uptight now that she had a name to the face and he didn't seem to want a fight.

"Food sounds like a nice idea," she smiled. Hunting usually got her mind off of anyworries she had at the time. Then another thought came into her mind. "But, how would you help us? I'd say we're doing pretty well on our own." Her voice was not bragging, but her eyes were steady. Keeva appreciated his offer, but what could this dog do that they hadn't? Did he mean searcing for their brother? Impossible. Not even they had been able to find him. True they had caught a whiff of his scent from time to time, but by the time they got there they were usually stale. Orin never did seem to stay in one spot for much too long. "You don't seem to be in a much better situation than us wandering out here by yourself"

Branna nodded her head as she listened to her sister's words. She was usually the louder of the too, but for now Keeva seemed to have things under control. She could have added a few things to Keeva's answer yet she held her tongue.

[abhorzion]

Branna's defensive stance seemed to mellow, and Keeva appeared to perk up a little. The mention of food made Oswald's stomach roar longingly, he hadn't eaten a thing in two days and before that, he'd only managed to bag himself a skinny little brown rat. It barely filled the hungry hole burning away inside the enormous dog. His mind started to wander, he dreamed of chasing down a nice big fat cat and gorging himself. He thought about the two pretty she wolves hunting down larger animals, like deer and boar. Saliva rushed into Oswalds mouth as he wondered how fantastic a freshly killed boar would taste and a large drop of dribble escaped his lips. How
embarassing, he thought, licking his lips clean.

"But, how would you help us? I'd say we're doing pretty well on our own." interrupted Keeva, who seemed much more confident now and appeared to be challenging Oswald's intentions. The german shepherd mix pondered his answer. These wolves must have good enough experience to look after themselves, they didn't need his help. As for finding their brother, there was no way for Oswald to know how long they'd been searching for him. He didn't know his smell, what he looked like or anything, was he really much use to these two wolves?
"You're a sharp one, you, love!" replied Oswald, a smile emerging on his face. "I can't lie to such a pretty face, you don't need my help. It don't stop me wanting to tag along with ya, though."
He flicked his tail and smiled at Branna, who looked as though she was bursting to say something.
"It can't hurt to have an extra set of teeth when you need a meal, can it?" he added, showing his impressive milky white teeth in a large grin.

[Nachty]

Branna thought for a moment over the dog's words. "Another set of teeth would be quite useful..." she finally nodded. She may have been defensive, but Branna was no fool and knew a good idea when she heard it. Her stomach too growled unhappily as it begged for a more regular ration of food.

Just then an idea popped into her head, and being the impulsive she wolf she was she just had to let it out. "This is all very well but might I request one small favour of you?" she smiled losing any hostility in her voice, "Just to be sure you aren't just making anything up. Now I don't doubt you could be of some help when hunting, but we've run into some pretty smooth talkers before. All words but nothing to back up these words. Lets see you catch something. Wouldn't you say that seems pretty fair?" she grinned watching Oswald with a relatively relaxed expression. "Just in case."

Keeva had remains silent but nodded her head in agreement. "My sister brings up a good point. I certainly sound believable, but why not check. There are some pretty good liars out there," she said with more trust in her tone.

[abhorzion]

"A liar? Me? Yer jokin' aren't ya?" exclaimed Oswald "I'm a lotta things, me. Tall, Dark, Handsome" he paused and winked at Keeva. "Blunt, cocky" he continued "But I'll tell ya this, I'm no liar. I'll catch ya something, might even let you 'ave it if you ask me nice enough."
Oswald, cocky as he was, wasn't one to turn down a challenge. He grinned his big toothy grin at the two ladies and stood in front of them, his large bat like ears pointed towards them.
"Eh, you can trust me, ladies." he said, confidently looking towards the fence in the distance. He thought of all the unsuspecting creatures hiding in the bushes, all the rabbits and squirrels, perhaps even a small sick deer that had strayed away from it's mother. Just the thought of it made him drool longingly.
"Do you reckon there are boar around 'ere? I'd love go get my teeth into a bit 'a that!" he said, eagerly.
Keeva and Branna seemed to grin at each other.
Oswald started to walk towards the fence, head held high and tongue poking out hungrily at the side of his mouth.
"Come, on girls!" he beckoned.

[Nachty]

Branna wrinkled her nose slightly at Oswald. His confidence was getting on her nerves, but she followed after him with Keeva behind her a step or too. Whether he caught something or not really didn't matter. Either way it'd be amusing.

"Ok," Branna grinned catching up to Oswald, "Impress me." She looked back at Keeva who was giving her a weird look. She shrugged it off and focused on the forest in front of her. Lets see what he's got, she smiled inwardly.

Keeva still lagged behind a bit content to coninue at her steady pace. She could see the fence up ahead and wondered what type of creatures were there for the picking. Her stomach growled quietly as she thought of a fresh meal.

[abhorzion]

As Oswald led his mini hareem to the fence, a wondrous odour of small animal wafted up into his nose, a musky smell, far stronger than a canine odour but delicious. It wasn't the boar he'd hoped to find but if it was smaller than himself and could be killed in order to be eaten, it was fair game.
When he arrived at the fence, he bowed his head and Branna bounded over to him.
"Impress me." she said, smiling.
The enormous German Shepherd mix lifted his head once more before padding over to a large hole that he'd learnt of earlier in the day, a hole that someone else had conveniently dug out and forgotten to fill in again. He flicked his tail excitedly and barely squeezed through the hole, the links in the fence snagging some of his hair and tugging small clods of it out. Ah well, I needed de-matting anyway... he thought to himself as he hungrily followed his nose towards the musky smell. He checked to make sure the two females were following him before his sharp eyes caught something and he collapsed into a tense crouch. He sat stiff, his ears pointed towards a large shrub by a small pool. His eyes scanned the immediate area and his nose twitched intently as the tantalising smell wafted around. He kept perfectly still and silent for a few moments and then he spotted a brown, furry, paddle-shaped tail poking out cheekily from the shrub. An otter! he thought, excitedly. He'd caught otters before, they could be tricky but they were definately worth the wait.

The stake out ensued for a good few minutes and just as Oswald thought the time was right to pounce on the unsuspecting otter, his stomach gave a loud growl, apparently audible even to the otter and it turned round in a flash. A deep, serious frown spread across the large males brow as the otter noticed him and bolted. He took chase immediately, his large paws thumping the earth and his teeth just brushed the otters tail fur before it dived into the water and just out of his reach. He'd failed the hunt! He'd let the otter get away! Or had he...
Furious and hungry, Oswald growled loudly at the otter, who had now left the water and sat itself on a rock in the middle of the pool. The cheeky otter pointed a webbed foot towards Oswald and giggled, teasing him. The enormous dog pounded the floor with his left front paw and snorted, he wasn't going to let that slide! When the sly brown otter wasn't looking, Oswald launched himself into the water, snarling loudly and he clamped his strong jaws down onto the otters body, lifting it from it's rock and into the air. It shreiked loudly in pain as his teeth plunged into it's lithe body but it's cries were soon silenced as Oswald shook it furiously, ragging it until he was sure it was dead. Then, with a mighty swing of his head, he flung it towards his two female companions, whom he'd temporarily forgotten about in the heat of the moment. He cast an empty glare at the two as his body tried to calm itself down.

[Nachty]

Keeva and Braana fit much more easily through the hole. They had scented the otter as well. THey'd never caught on before. They prefered preying on rabbits and deer which were plentiful in this time of year. The scent was very tempting and it took all of Keeva and Branna's self control not to lunge and get the creature for themselves.

When they spotted the sleek creature both perked up slightly. Fresh meat was just in their reach. Branna glanced at her sister; her eyes pleading for her sister to allow her to catch this thing for herself. Keeva however brushed her tail up against Branna's flank which caused her to calm down. Keeva's gesture was very clear to Branna who was used to her sister's soft spoken nature. This was Oswald's hunt, and leave him to it. However branna flexed her claws eagerly just in case. The silent transaction between the sisters went unnoticed by the large shepard who was glaring fixedly at his quarry.

The wait was waning on Branna's patience, but she could sense she would not be disappointed. As Oswald's stomach growled loudly causing Keeva's ears to lay flat. It was clear the otter had heard as his scurried off. Branna would have chased the creature had Keeva not grabbed her tail her firmly with her jaws causing some slight discomfort. The sisters watch the male eagerly as he chased the slippery creature. Keeva frowned when she noticed the otter had made it to the water. Both her and branna moved from their spots to check on Oswald, but stopped a few feet behind him when they noticed how aggitated he appeared. In an instant they watched the shepard dive into the water.

The scene that unfolded before them, both shocked and impressed them, and they both stared at the limp otter for a moment as it landed in front of them. Branna was the first to respond as usual.

"Nice catch, Oz," she grinned sniffing the fresh kill. "I will admit that I am thoroughly impressed." She flicked her tail up in satisfaction. Keeva nodded in agreement.

"Yes, very well done," she agreed aloud.

[abhorzion]

The Shepherd mix's body trembled, adrenaline coursing through him and his anger slowly fading. He hated filing at anything, especially hunts. Others would probably just deal with it but not Oswald, he'd inherited his mothers sharp temper, not that remembered much about his mum. The two sisters first looked a little shocked at Oswalds angry retaliation, then impressed by the meal lay before them. Branna flicked her tail and smiled, looks like he'd taken her by surprise.
"Nice catch, Oz," she said, lowering her nose to sniff at the dead creature "I will admit that I am thoroughly impressed."
He shuddered, shaking off the last drop of anger from himself. He hated being called Oz, especially hated Ozzy too but as he looked at the pretty young she wolf, how could he stay mad with that face? Keeva, the less boisterous of the two nodded and also smiled at the large dog. She agreed with her sister and proceeded to smell the otter. Oswald shook himself, ridding his long fur of excess water and otter remains and he padded out of the pool, a smug grin spreading across that white striped muzzle. He raised an eyebrow to Keeva, what a doll he thought as he approached the kill and the sisters. He cleared his throat and pointed his nose into the air.
"Well, I don't like to brag... but yes, that was pretty good, wasn't it!" he said, his deep voice oozing with smarm.

He stood beside the two ladies and looked down at the otter, it's nerves causing it to twitch every now and then. It was a fairly large otter but definately not enough to go round the three of them. He humphed to himself and turned to look at Branna.
"Hmm... bit small thought in't he?" he said, his broad accent rolling off his tongue. It was an amusing accent, almost as if he was missing the T's out of his words. "We needs summet a bit bigger, fill up our bellies, eh!?" he added, nudging Branna gently, his tail flicking playfully. He stood back a little, his tail swishing from side to side, water still dripping from the end of his thick tail fur.
"I reckon this is just the starter. If we work together, we can have deer for mains... and for desert..." he trailed off cheekily, winking at Keeva.

[Nachty]

Keeva smiled back at Oswald's wink but did not keep his gaze for very long. She knew he was a bit of a show off and a flirt, but she had to admit she thought he was funny. Branna had missed noticing Oswald's small gesture towards her sister and was already excited for more hunting. She flexed her claws eagerly digging into the dirt. "Even if the otter was big enough I'd still be willing to go on a good hunt," she smiled now feeling more comfortable with the shepard. He'd proven himself to her, and now her initial layer of defense had left her and her usual spunky self was showing.

"I think I scented some deer over that way," Keeva chimed in motioning back with her tail to a large oak tree where she'd caught the scent. "I'd think that'd be a good place to start." Branna grinned at her sister, clearly approving of her sisters scenting skills. Keeva had always been very aware of her surroundings for as long as Branna could remember. Before she could compliment her sister the brown she wolf's stomach let out a growl.

"But lets eat a little otter first shall we?" Branna said hungrily looking at the fresh otter. It's unique smell was so tempting that she almost dug right into the creatures flesh.

"Don't you think Oswald should get the first bite? He did catch it after all. I'd say he deserves it," Keeva grinned; pleased to see Branna pause to think about what her sister had requested.

"Fine," Branna finally agreed. "So Oz," she had decided that she'd call him that since she had noticed how for a moment he'd seemed annoyed when she'd called him that, "Does that sound fair to you?"