Snow has Befallen us

[ziko]

Snow had befallen the land of Arnlan. Everywhere one looked there was white. The shadows seemed to have somewhat disappeared, and one could actually see between the trees of black. The time was night, and the day had been well spent sleeping for this young pup. Ziko emerged slowly from his small den which was carefully hidden by plant branches, stared with excitement unto the territory. Snow! Oh how he loved it so, yipping, and wagging his little tail furiously, the curious young pup dived out from his slumbering pit and tumbled forward into the white. His crimson and ebony pelt glimmered somewhat as it immediately soaked up moisture from the ground. Barking, the kid dashed forward at a rate he believed to be of impeccable speed.

Joy for this night was apparent in his eyes as the moonlight illuminated them with its soft rays. The stars scattered across space shimmered brightly above the young wolf as he tore across the territory. How he loved the feeling of the snow beneath his pads; the clumps between his toes. Haze emitted from his nose and mouth with every breath which he exhaled. The ground had been undisturbed until this one had come out tonight. A long winding trail of messed snow was left in Ziko's wake. His playful barks and yips erupted into the night, causing the daytime animals to stir angrily in their hide holes. Owls gave the odd hoot, and rodents made the odd departing scuttle before he arrived upon their location.

Where was everyone? Why where they not out enjoying the snow like he was? Did they have a distaste to this sort of weather? Or was it simply that they had been up all day patrolling and hunting that they forgot they were actually nocturnal animals and where hence sleeping the beautiful evening away? Ziko grumbled to a trotting stop and laid his ears upon his head. A soft whimper escaped his lips and he looked around. He wanted a play mate, and only the alphas would know the whereabouts of Kirk, his mysterious brother. Where was that darnit sibling of his? For several nights there was no sight of him! No doubt 'honing his abilities...

With a bored sigh, Ziko pressed on, glancing around the territory in search of another. Hopefully there was someone else out there looking for someone to 'hang with' this evening and he would not be alone. Or... maybe he could find one of rank and watch them do their duty in the snow! Na... he'd only get in there way. Too much play and not enough work would lead them to being punished. Snorting, Ziko went about the night, pondering about what he would do if he had to spent another night alone. It was times like these he wished his mother and father were still alive.

[nightblood]

A crimson eye shown thru a layer of snow. Shaking, NightBlood disposed of the frozen crystals, revealing her ebony and dark tan coat. Two red marks were placed above her eyes and a pair of scars rested horizontally in the corner of her left eye. The female had fallen asleep on a fallen log that was nestled smugly between two trees holding it up slighly.

NightBlood practically threw herself back down, too layzy to try and wake herself up. She had circled the border the day before, she deserved the rest. And yet, what was this noise? Barking, but something wasn't right about it. It sounded... young! A PUP! Just as the thought registered in her mind, the barks halted. She lifted her head in the direction of the last of the annoying yips.

With a loud yawn, NightBlood jumped off the log and stretched. "Too old to pup-sit," she murmered to herself as she trotted thru the trees, weaving her way toward the young wolf. Evidence of it's presence was everywhere. Paw marks and skattered snow shattered the once polished white forest floor. She gave a short growl of annoyance. She liked observing the spot-less winter ground. Now it was ruined.

She picked up the scent. A male about 6 months old. She followed it and found him walking around aimlessly. Now that he was done running in circles around the territory stupidly he was just being depressed? Little annoyance. NightBlood steped quickly out from behind the tree and into his path just a few feet infront of him. "You disterbed my nap."

[ziko]

The moonlight flooded the exposed land on which he trade. The snow glistened in the crisp night, and the twinkling of the stars reflected in the kids big, brown eyes as he watched the nighttime. Drawing his tail to his side, he quietly recollected the few moments spent with his mother and father before they passed on. Two, well known wolves of Arnlan struck down by the same, unknown disease. It was slight consolation that the pack had attempted to help them. When they had realised there was no hope for them, the alphas had arranged the remainder of the two loyal wolves to be as comfortable as possible. Smiling, a tear fell onto his crimson paw as he secretly thanked Karolek and Sofika for their gestures.

Then, a rustling, and a deep, strange voice filled the pups ears. Twirling around on the spot, he held himself low to the ground with ears withdrawn. His nose hovered slightly above the white on the ground, which he sniffed at gently with his tender black nose. It smelt sharp, fresh and a smile rolled on his lips. But of course reality struck him back and he threw a glance up to the she wolf. He was not scared, because he felt safe and secure in the territory. The alphas would not permit and intruder to wander far into the forest without confrontation, and so, he knew this one must be a subordinate. Smiling weakly, he wavered his tail behind him, but dropped it again when he thought of her words.

He had meant not to disturb her slumber and then again, it was the prime time of the evening and surely all the wolves of the pack should be up and about? Shaking his head from side to side the red and black male rolled onto his side and yipped half heartedly at the bulky female. He got the impression that she was not pleased with him waking her, and crawled onto her front again. Slowly, he edged closer to her, and stopped every now and again. He could not yet speak, but his body language should have been distinguishable enough. His head titled back in apology to her and he smiled weakly, hoping that he was forgiven. Licking his lips he eased closer, readying himself to pounce on her paw. This action should have been predictable by the way he held himself.

[nightblood]

NightBlood raised an eye brow and tilted her head. Either this pup was mute, could not yet speak, or was too terrified to do so. His actions made it apparent that he was quite appoligetic, though the fact that he was edging closer put her on guard. Pups, especially young ones, annoyed her to no end.

As he raised his head back in a full apology NightBlood remembered her own months as a pup. She could speak by this time, and her father would've never let her apologize to anyone, given her title as Alpha heir. He raised her to be a fighter-Alpha as best he could while his days ran short. His assassins had never seen... NightBlood secretly wished upon them a painful fall and snorted out loud.

Now as she looked back down at the wolf pup she noticed that he was about to pounce on her paw. She lifted it up and took a step back. "You keep away from me," she growled.

{{Teh shortness! Grr... And my brother is getting on my last nerve.}}

[ziko]

Ziko's eyes were wide with anticipation. His rear end was wriggling around in the air, and his tongue peeped from between his lips. One paw, then the other, and just as he was about to push off and pounce on the female's mitt, she withdrew it from his sight, backed up and scowled at him. Rolling onto his hinds, he sat up straight and looked at her with pleading eyes. His voice had yet to come to him, but he had never thought it to be a problem. One day, he would echo his first words, and then he would never to be stopped. Perhaps Nightblood should have considered herself lucky, because if he had been able to vocally communicate, then she would have been only irritated all the more. Clicking his tongue in his mouth, he heard her words and understood fully what she meant. He was disheartened and a frown rolled over his features, and he furrowed his brows in distaste for the new female.

He had not a father, nor a mother, to bring him up in any way similar to the way in which she had been brought. If they had been here yes he would possess the ability to speak, but they were not. He would be a lot stronger, confident, and mature, if his father had been there to mold him into a decent young wolf, like he had been once in his life. Kirk, Ziko's brother was growing up nicely, and perhaps a little too fast for his age, for he acted civilized, and un pup like. It irked his younger sibling to no end. You only had one chance at being this young and so why waste it acting something you were not? Karolek and Sofika had decided that they would console him as far as bearing with the loss of his parents, and then he would need to find his own way about. Learning to talk, walk and hunt for himself was something he had to teach himself.

Rolling his shoulder, the young pup watched through glinting eyes as clouds rolled over head, hiding the moon. He would soften her up... yes... Rising to his feet whilst stumbling slightly, he made a daring attempt at nipping her paw in a playful manner. His teeth clenched in his weak jaws and he glared up at her mischievously, and plunged for her toes. The paw that he had chosen to dive for was the one that she had moved from his reach before. Oh no though, he would get it, and he would play with her, or... she would play with him. The consequences for his actions where not considered. The alphas did not disapprove of the older wolves punishing the younger ones if they committed acts in that were looked down upon. But he was only a pup and figured he could get away with practically anything. His jaws parted, and he was close to sealing a nip on her toes as he fell quickly through the sharp winter air.

[nightblood]

The two year old wolfess could not believe the luck she had run into. If she had just stayed on her perfectly warm log, she wouldn't be in this situation. Yet here she was, facing a mute pup who was trying anything to aggitate her more. She was the only adulecent around. NightBlood had not yet heard if any more pups were in the pack. She hoped not. Too many more and she would confine herself to the highest of rock dens, never to come out.

At that moment a sharp set of teeth wraped around her raised paw. She blinked and found the red and black pup latched onto her foreleg. Her thoughts again returned to her father, RogueBane. This time she was ready for him. She'd use one of her all-time favorite tricks her father used to play on her. This pup was in for it.

With a grin she attempted to lie down on the pup. It was her father's way of toughening her fighting skills. Why, once he had even fell on her from a standing position. That had knocked the wind out of her at first, but she had managed to fight him off. If this pup was so intent on playing with her, he would have to play her way.

[ziko]

When he felt his grasp tighten around the foreleg of the female, he began to immediantly, gnaw gently on her skin. His teeth were sharp, but he nipped in such a way that he would not break skin and draw blood. No, he was not intending to play in such a way. It was much to his surprise however, when the female began to fall forward. Wind rushed around him, or at least, that was the way in which he felt. Then, a thud, as the two fell into the crunching snow. Then, a loud, high pitched yelp of pain erupted from his maw. Then whimpering and whining.

Gosh she was so darn heavy, and he had not expected her to react in such a way. It was more of the astonishment of the counter, that made him whine so loud and no doubt, unexpectadly. The only pain he felt was that of the air bursting out from his lungs as he felt this immense wait crush down on his tender self. Flailing around was not going to help, much to his dismay. He could barely move his limbs, never mind thrash around. Groaning, he started to kick his back legs, because he could slightly move then. He drew them about the female and attemtped to push her from him.

But it did not seem to work, and he was growing tired. Twas hard work for such a small kid to kick off such a bulky female such as this. This was not what he had hoped for in terms of playing. The moisture of the snow melted to his body heat and he felt his pelt immediantly soak up all the water, and a chill shivered down his spine. Yipping slightly, shaking his maw and panting quickly, he ceased his attempts to free himself. Perhaps if he just lay there, she would get off of him, and he would regain in feet and try again. Maybe.

[nightblood]

A yip was emited from under her, muffled by NightBlood's thick fur. She felt the pup whimper and laughed as he began kicking at her. The stillness began to worry her. She was sure she hadn't fallen that hard. Although, this pup probably wasn't as strong as she was back when she was his age. What a weakling this one was. She wandered who's kid this was, or at least who was responcible for him.

She lifted herself up with her open foreleg to give his some more room to breath, but she wouldn't simply let him up. No. She wasn't going to give him enough room to get away. He'd have to fight his way free like she did when she was young. She wouldn't go easy on him just because he couldn't speak yet. In fact, this might even force him to speak some way.

Suddenly, second thoughts were clouding her mind. This had been her father's way of training her, so why on earth was she giving this kid the same training which she had enjoyed so much as a pup. Almost immediatly she rose up to full hight and began to shake her paw gently in order to get the kid to let go. With his light grip it should be relativly easy.

[ziko]

Gently panting, his chest rose and fell slower and slower as he regained his breath. Her body heat made him feel relaxed, and as he inhaled, the fur on her body tickled his nose, causing him to sneeze. Smiling lightly as he felt the weight lift slightly from him, he decided that now he should attempt to wriggle free. Carefully, he tried to ease himself from under her. The melted snow beneath him helped a little, because he felt himself slowly side away. Snorts and light grunts erupted from his clenched teeth as he strained to free himself.

When the female stood up, and began to try to shake him off, he tightened his grasp on her maw, wrapped his legs around her leg; determined not to let go. But it was from being tired that made him slide off as she flickered her wrist, and he sat with his bottom on the snow, weezing slowly. Clouds of haze burst from his maw as he exhaled. Placing his tiny mitts on the snow, the faint crunching beneath his pads rung in his ears. Momentarily, he shut his eyes as he got to all fours. His crimson and ebony pelt bounced from side to side on his body as he shook.

Stopping then, he glared at Nightblood with a devilish smirk. She could have perhaps just stated she did not want to play with him, instead of trying to crush him into nothing with her toned body. Clicking his teeth, he looked up at her; her shadow cast over him as the moon dimmer her figure from behind. Her face was unreadable; twas shrouded in shadow. No one was really reasponsible for Ziko. Having had his parents die on an incureable disease, he was left all alone to fend for himself. If he had parents, or his brothers presence, perhaps he would be stronger.

Perhaps, he may have been able to speak.

[nightblood]

NightBlood growled as he stared at her. Annoying thing... why can't he speak? Thuroughly aggitated by the pup's presence, she turned to leave him, giving him one last look of disgust as she growled. She couldn't stand pups. Noisey, messy, always sticking their nose where it doesn't belong, no regard for others... the list went on. They were even frightening as new borns, wobbling around on tiny legs, as if begging to run into the nearest sharp object.

This wolfess was not going to stick around and play baby-sitter. She'd had too much of it already. She longed for the rest she had been robbed of. That is what she had been searching for when she had first come to Arnlan. She didn't want to have to hunt alone anymore. She could hunt with the pack and catch prey twice and three times her own size.

NightBlood turned and started to walk away when her mind gave another twist and released another stream of thoughts. She had been able to speak when she was... what, three months old? So why didn't this one talk? She turned again, this time heading back to the pup. She sat down in front of him and gave him a cold stare. Then, lieing down, she attempted to put her foreleg around his shoulders. "I'm not leaving until I hear your name, runt."

[ziko]

At the sound of the growl. his ears pinned immediantly back upon his head. His nose pointed to his chest and he looked away sadly to the side. Why was she acting all mean to him? Why did not she want to play with him? Why growl? Shaking his head from side to side, he let out a pitiful whine as she turned tail and began to stroll away from him. How was he supposed to learn, if everyone kept abandoning him; never giving him a chance to shine? Sighing, he watched her leave.

He had not intended for him to be a burden on anyone. Was he a burden to the pack? Eating all of the hard earned meet obtained by the hunters? Well, that was what a food store was for right enough, but a sad feeling surged through his body and he whimpered again to Nightblood. However his voice was so soft she probably never heard him, but when she stopped, turned back and made her way to him again, he smiled. His little tail wagged, because he thought she was going to play, but when she sat down, he simply blinked.

Then, the female rolled onto her stomach, placed a mitt upon him and spoke to him. His eyes watched her lips carefully, and he mouthed her words, or, tried to at least. He desperatly wanted to talk. He knew what all the words meant, but could find not the power to move his lips and make sound so easily as the elder wolves of the pack. Flicking his head, he turned his head and licked the females paw, as if to signal that he appreciated her help, but he just could not talk. Hanging his head in shame, he whimpered some, feeling helpless.

[nightblood]

NightBlood rolled her eyes as he liked her paw. Affection wasn't her style. She growled lowly when she saw him hang his head. "You're not even going to try?" she asked bitterly, "How are you going to get anywhere in life if you're not even going to try, kid?" A moment passed and NightBlood gave a great sigh.

Thinking, she put her head on the snowy earth in attempt to gather some memery of how she had been tought to speak. It had been so long ago... And yet, something hit her. It was her mother that had taught her to speak. She would have her repeat the words of objects and things she pointed out.

NightBlood decided to try that. Blinking, she picked her head up and looked at the pup. "Look, pup, it's just like barking or howling. You're good at that, right?" She picked up her free paw and patted the frozen crystals beside her. "Snow. Now say it. Ssnnoowwww. Try it."

[ziko]

Ziko tilted his head slightly and watched Nightblood for a moment. His big brown eyes glimmered in the moons light, and then he looked away at the mention of him not even going to bother trying. Wasn't his fault his parents died and the pack left him to learn all this by himself. He was grateful right enough, that they allowed him to feed off of the food store until he managed to hunt on his own, . He considered himself lucky that they did not kill him so that he would not burden them with the responsibility of teaching him all the essentials.

Rolling his shoulders, he watched the ground as Nightblood pointed and spoke the word of snow. Yes he knew what snow was, he grumbled to himself, but his ears pricked up as she asked him to repeat after her. Groaning, he rolled his eyes and twisted his mouth in an awkward way, trying to pronounce the oh so simple word. His tongue rolled from his mouth and his eyes squinted somewhat, and the sound of 'no' came from him. He smiled somewhat, thinking he had spoken the word and looked to Nightblood for reassurance that he had done everything right.

But something was not right. She had made a long 's' noise before the 'no'. Smacking his lips, he tried again, this time trying to keep his tongue in his mouth. "Ssssss" he droaned and flicked his tongue trying to say 'no' but he failed and shivered a little. He could not do it. No, he just couldn't. Turning his head to the side, he eyed the white ground, and noticed his angry trail of disturbed snow. He winced somewhat at the sight of it, because clumps of mud and little rocks were embedded into it. Meh, he moaned in his head and turned his attention to his 'tutor'.

[nightblood]

NightBlood raised a brow. The fact that he had said different parts of the word bacwards confused her. However, he did manage to say 'No', which was an important word he would use all his life. They were getting somewhere. She'd try getting him to say 'snow' once more before she decided to move on the word 'yes'. "Snow," she repeated, "Try and mix the 'S' and 'N' sounds."

Night remained silent as she waited for the pup to try again. Her brain was working madly, trying to figure out how she had gotten into this situation. Any other time she would've gotten up and left. So why not now? Why burden herself with this pointless task? Perhaps it was the fact that she was now in a pack that made her feel she was responcible for it's welfare, and right now, this pup was everyone's welfare case.

There was also the sad fact that at this age, every pup was talking their very jaw off. So why not this one? The only reason she could think of was that mabey his parents died or dissapeared when he was younger and the pack had neglected to spend proper time with him. That would be it. It was the only thing that made sence to her, so she'd stay away from family words until he was big enough to handle it.

Turning her attention back to the young male, she focused on the word he was supposed to be learning. 'Snow', an easy word. She didn't understnad why it was so hard. It was one syllable. Although... she couldn't remember her first word...

[ziko]

Snorting, Ziko looked up out of distraction. A snowflake had fallen upon his nose. Clouds. They had gathered overhead. Two seconds ago, literally, the sky was empty, and the moon was shining through; it still was, but was half hidden by the fluff that passed overhead. His tail wagged and he barked, jumping suddenly up, snapping at the flakes that began to fall. " Ssss " " Ssss!! " he cried and looked at Nightblood with an excited face. " nooo " " nooo " Then he began to buck his head up for her to look into the sky.

" Nooooo! Ssss!! sss!! " he groaned louder and louder, and kept himself on the ground now. His tail waved furiously behind him, brushing the snow beneath him from side to side like someone might do when creating snow angels. " Sssssnnnn" "nnnooo" he whimpered. His face was twisting less and less with everytime he tried to speak. The snow above, and the fact that he was so close to saying snow without breaking it into pieces made him happy. He wanted to run around; he wanted to play; he wanted to speak.

" Sssssssssnnnnnnnnnnnnn" "oooooooooo" "sssssssssnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooowwwwwwwww" he howled into the sky, throwing back his head. " Ssnnnnnnnnnnnooooowwwwwwwwww " he called again and again and again. The word was still long when it slipped from his lips however, but soon, no doubt he would be able to muster saying 'snow'. Ah, he thought, I wish my mother and my father was here to see me speak! Proud they would no doubt be! Giggling in his high pitched voice, he repeated " ssssnnooww " and looked to Nightblood excitedly as slowly, more flakes fell from the sky. Oh how he appreciated the help from Nightblood. It was from watching her lips move, and with him trying to mimick their movements that had gotten him into saying it.

The pack would probably roll their eyes, especially the ranked, when they found out that he could speak now. For he would no doubt be a nusiance, always asking question, talking, distracting them... or they would be happy for him.