Traveler's Pass [Any]

[Ina]

November was upon the pass and with it came the rain.

And boy did it rain! Dante's Pass was now covered in puddles and the ground was soaked through. Murky puddles sat in the tracts where horse-drawn carriage had gone through. The wolf hybrid treaded gingerly alongside the road. Her white paws were splotched with dirt that blended with the light gray freckles on her forelimbs and belly. She stared dutifully ahead despite this. She had no real destination in mind. Maelu was simply taking the road because she wanted it. To either side of the forgotten street were trees, some barren and others still holding their changing leaves. Despite the gray tint to the sky, everything looked rather like one would expect an Autumn day to appear. The air was a bit cold, but Maelu wasn't bothered by it. She sniffed at the air. It was crisp and filled with just a soft brush of the night's rain. The wind whirled through the trees with unexpected forcefulness, knocking the breath from the wolf-dog for a moment.

Leaves scattered here and there gracelessly. She opened her eyes. When had she shut them? The canine kept walking down the road. It was quiet, but she was used to that. She had spent much of her time alone and because she looked more wolf than dog, she was balancing on a tightrope. Her mother was a wolf, and so, she looked like one. Wolves welcomed her in their midst for the most part, but there were a few who turned her away based solely on that. Her father as a handsome German Shepherd. Dogs frightened her. She trembled in their presence and with good reason. Her past was a tangled mess of things, one she still was sorting out for herself. Maelu's head snapped up quite suddenly. What in the world? Her thoughts had just randomly turned to her past, and in doing so, had made her heart heavy. The pain that existed through it was not one that she was going to dwell on, and so, she padded quietly down the pass. Mud splattered her a little more as she took a few more steps. She glared at it.

"The village might be a good place to go." She said to herself, hoping to find a few friend.

[>.< Awful post. I suck with starting posts.]

[bloodwood]

Adara sniffed her way up the muddy path, her orange paws muddy. The Akita padded her way slowly over the floor. She lifted her head up a snift the air. A new smell hung around. Not Dog Nor Wolf. She growled. Wolves. She shook the images of the wolves who attacked her village out of her mind, and carried on. Her majestic trotted made hardly a sound as she trod. Her little black nose twitching as she smelt the air. The rain was hammering onto the floor. Her once fluffy, beautiful brandy red and white fur soaked. She splashed through puddles, some up to her knees,because of the neglect to the road.

The dark cloudds didn't seem to show any signs of stopping, and the rain just got harder. She avoided the puddles, in fear of falling in. The abondoned path was old, and it seemed not even the animals used it much. The rain fell from the sky and the leaves, and gathered on them, or in plats and weeds. The wind blowing harshly. Adara barked, and made a dash forward, still following the scent of the Wolf-dog.

[Ina]

She wasn't alone. Maelu could smell the faintest touch of dog not too far off from her current location. She felt her heart hammering in her ribs and the shy canine took a deep breath in some attempt to calm the fear that raced unbidden through her being. This fright, to anyone who knew not of what she had endured, seemed unnatural and many supposed her to be mentally ill. This was not the truth. In fact, dogs had wronged her in the past. They had taunted and beaten her for merely existing. It had been a hard life, one that had taught her to trust no one and give not a chance to just a stranger. Yet, the dog she smelled some ways down the path was harmless to her, but Maelu didn't know that as of yet. For all she knew, the Akita Inu was a dangerous opponent for her to face down. As the saying goes, old habits die hard, and the reaction was instantaneous. Maelu spun around quite suddenly, her white feet painted with a new layer of murky, thick brown as one of her feet landed in a puddle. The cold water coated her underside and made her fur stick together in clumps.

It only took a few silent seconds for Maelu's cobalt green eyes to land on Adara. She was a wonderful rust color and her markings and features were pretty to say the least, but the trait that Maelu noticed above all else one was very one that caused her to tremble. Adara was a dog. The wolf-dog looked at the newcomer cautiously. Her ears laid back against her head and her tail lowered itself to the ground. True to her ancestors, Maelu looked far more like a wolf. It was her lupine appearance that often caused trouble. Dogs bit first, asked questions later. This theory, combined her historical based fears and the olden instincts of the wolf, with her personal experiences. It gave her a drive and allowed her to handle this situation as she did. Maelu took a few steps back, her belly now almost touching the ground. She whined plaintively at Adara, raising her voice so it would be heard. The message was loud and clear. Do not harm me! Maelu's entire posture and her actions screamed it loud enough.

Maelu, trembling and covered in mud, was no threat to Adara, but would the dog be so kind as to realize that this was a canine who needed a friend and not the cruelty she had come to expect?