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Post by nightblood on Oct 9, 2009 15:23:11 GMT -5
Arnlan, the pack of shadows, was host to another early autumn snow. A healthy portion of freezing rain pelted Kuruk's frame as if he was a threat to their goal of covering the ground with slick ice. The brown male trudged on, his paw steps making loud crunching noises in the snow. His coat looked as if he had just climbed out of a snowbank after an avalanche. White ice studded his fur at the tips, hanging off of him like tiny stars.
He'd taken up his mother's old sentry duties today, skulking around the border and glaring into the distance, daring anything or anyone to come out of the darkness and attack. He had held that fighter's shine in his eye all day, waiting for the chance to sink his teeth into Sallian scum. When the opportunity eluded him, he abandoned the edge of the territory and headed inward toward his favorite training grounds.
There, the yearling had tired himself out until his lungs were almost frozen from breathing in the cold air for so long. He panted heavily now, shards of tree bark and leaves sticking out between his teeth as well as his claws. One more year until he was full grown. One more year, and the Alphas could not deny him his sweet revenge. NightShade would cower at his presence. Her blood would drip from his jaws.
Slowly, the young wolf climbed up the rocks and into NightBlood's old den. His claws clicked on the stone floor, echoing off of the walls until he finally dropped. Resting his chin on his foreleg, he curled up, drawing his tail in out of the rain. He was too tired to walk any further.
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Post by kiru on Oct 9, 2009 15:32:23 GMT -5
Later, it was unknown how long, heavier footfalls than Kuruk's own trudged their way into the den. There was a sigh, and a soft, distant thud, before the pup found himself being hefted up by the nape of his neck and slightly dragged further away from the freezing outdoors. "Mf...heavy lid'l guy..."
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Post by nightblood on Oct 9, 2009 15:59:03 GMT -5
Kuruk opened a blazing green eye to see his oldest brother pulling him further into the cave. Good thing too. His tail was about to fall off. The young male yawned loudly, splinters of tree falling out of his mouth. He pulled his ears back and whimpered slightly. They were numb. He couldn't feel the big radars on top of his head. He drug his claws on the floor, signaling that he was far enough inside and wanted down.
"Thanks 'Rath. You can let me go now," he half-growled.
Once back on the floor, he buried his nose in his tail and shivered as he waited for the ice on his fur to melt. He didn't have the energy to shake it off.
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Post by kiru on Oct 9, 2009 16:07:40 GMT -5
Another sigh. Paws stepped over the pup, Delerath nosing down and picking up what he had just tossed in. He set the mildly battered field mouse he had brought back within maw's reach of Kuruk.
"You know, if you keep feeding yourself on hate like this, you won't need another wolf to rip your throat open."
The heavy brown canid nestled down into Kuruk, curling around him without so much as a word or care to what the pup thought. He winced to himself as he felt the icy fur graze his underside, but made no complaint.
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Post by nightblood on Oct 9, 2009 21:49:46 GMT -5
"You know, if you keep feeding yourself on hate like this, you won't need another wolf to rip your throat open."
"I'd like to see them try."
Kuruk laughed, grinning to himself as he began coughing into his tail fur. Hopefully this wasn't the start of an illness. That would put a stop to his training for a while. He stretched his claws, trying to keep them from becoming too frozen. Broken claws would hinder his ability to injure his opponents.
"And that's easy for you to say," he growled as he lifted his head and flashed his fangs at his brother, "You're the oldest. You had the most time with her. What do I get? A month. I'll kill her..."
He started to lay his head down, but picked it right back up and twitched his ears, obviously annoyed. The movement would warm him up anyway and he might as well move his jaw to keep it from freezing.
"What do you care anyway?"
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Post by kiru on Oct 9, 2009 22:22:58 GMT -5
"Eat." Delerath insisted, curling a bit tighter around the smaller pup. "I care because it seems every soul mother brought into this world seems to want to waste their lives on revenge. But hey, what do I know? I just get food around here."
Delerath turned his nose away from Kuruk. He could practically smell the paranoia the pup had probably been emanating all day.
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Post by nightblood on Oct 9, 2009 23:05:35 GMT -5
The brown yearling snorted and gazed down at the morsel his brother had brought for him. It wasn't much, but food was getting scarce around the territories. While he had been patrolling, he'd heard the dogs of Geera creeping just outside their border, trying to track their beloved rabbit prey and scare them out of their burrows. A troubadour had even told him of their frightening visit from the Sallinian spy. These were troubled times indeed.
Letting nothing go to waste, Kuruk scooped up the mouse in his jaws, through it up into the air, and caught it again, it's head landing directly on his bottom molars. He bit down just enough to let it bleed onto his tongue before swallowing. A mouse wasn't worth even chewing, but he wasn't going pass up a chance to savor the taste.
"Thanks," he grumbled, finally finding the strength to shake his neck fur. His ears twitched as he head the melting ice strike the walls of the cave.
"What's life like in the shadows, old man? No one's been around lately."
Kuruk was speaking, of course, about the fact that all of Arnlan had gotten quiet after Mortil, NightBlood's best friend and creepiest wolf in the forest, left the territory. He'd probably died for all they knew. He was hoping there'd be some news about something. Anything, really, from anyone.
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Post by kiru on Oct 9, 2009 23:35:20 GMT -5
Delerath clenched his eyes and pulled his head farther away as Kuruk iced everything around him.
"...You're welcome."
Not really in the mood to nip the guy, Delerath opted instead to clean the little guy's fur, nosing and cleaning the ice and dirt away.
"Funny you should ask the guy who breaks up fights about all the gossip. I just do what I'm told and find food."
Personally, Delerath was getting tired of explaining this shtick to everyone, but as long as you brought home enough bacon, nobody seemed to mind if you kept your nose out of everyone's affairs.
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Post by nightblood on Oct 10, 2009 21:33:42 GMT -5
"Gossip... right..."
Kuruk was unconvinced. As easy going as this gentle giant bred for warfare was, he must have heard something from the other members. Even if he'd run into Crow, the mute. The yearling belched slightly after eating that tiny meal and stretched his paw out before him, stretching and moving his muscles to rid himself of the threat of hypothermia.
"Well, I heard that a couple of your littermates are going to try to claim their revenge soon. Wish I could go..."
The younger male grinned to himself. That ought to draw a more enthusiastic reply from his big brother.
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Post by kiru on Oct 10, 2009 22:24:00 GMT -5
Delerath just bathed the runt with a bit more vigor. "Sure, the runt that has trouble getting out from under my tongue, standing on the fallen bodies of all of our famous rival pack. I'd eat a tree's worth of bark to see that."
Kuruk couldn't see Rath roll his eyes in frustration. "Besides, what trustworthy source told you someone'd be doing something as stupid as a covert mission? Or have you been spying in neglect of your training...again?"
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Post by nightblood on Oct 10, 2009 22:41:35 GMT -5
"Me?" Kuruk widened his eyes in mock-horror, "Spy?! Oh, perish the thought, dear brother!"
The younger wolf grinned at his own foe-accent, the kind that made one seem to be oh-so-proper and all-knowing. He lifted his head and aimed a playful nip at Delerath's ear. Ducking away before he received a strike in return, he continued the conversation with what remained of that funny accent in his voice.
"I heard it with my own two ears while training in the forest this morning. And you can forget any names, spoken or speaker. I have no idea who it was that said it. Could have been one of my own sisters for all I know."
Kuruk lifted his hid paw and brought it to his ear, scratching the base of it absently for a few moments before returning his paw to the cold stone floor. He licked his wrist for another moment or so, listening for any retorts from the ever esteemed oldest brother.
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Post by kiru on Oct 10, 2009 23:00:58 GMT -5
"Forgive me if I don't trust mumbles you overheard as the most valid. Besides, half the litter talks about their imminent plans to put teeth to throat."
Rath nosed into the spot Kuruk had just stratched, nibbling at it for a moment.
"Still can't understand what's so appealing about the taste of another wolf's blood. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned...or just old."
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Post by nightblood on Oct 11, 2009 11:12:28 GMT -5
"Old," he replied with a grin, "Definitely old. The trees envy your age, bro."
This was all fun and games, naturally. Delerath was only one year his senior, but he acted as if he was the wisest in Arnlan. He doubted this seriously, but if he wasn't, there were very few who exceeded his so called 'wisdom'. Kuruk bit back a snarl and winced as the attention from the older brother started to agitate him.
"Sometimes I wonder about you, 'Rathy," Kuruk growled slightly, shaking his brother off of him as he stood up to stretch properly for a moment. His joints groaned from being moved too quickly, but the younger wolf ignored the pain. He rolled his shoulders and craned his neck to look out the mouth of the cave. It was still raining.
"You were bred to be the perfect fighter," he continued as he sat down, his tone growing more serious, "I would kill to have built-in muscle like you. Yet both you and Tamarah could care less about battle. Why is that?"
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Post by kiru on Oct 11, 2009 14:17:01 GMT -5
"You." Rath said, getting up and stretching himself out, arching his back over, then under. "Are still a pup. Don't go saying you don't have a chance of matching or surpassing my 'coveted' size. And no loving mother would 'breed' their children to be the perfect anythings." He finished his last few words with a touch of warning, straighening back up.
"Another thing you should know." Delerath said, his nose steadily closing the distance between the pair. "Is that just because I have muscle, doesn't mean it should decide what I do with my life."
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Post by nightblood on Oct 11, 2009 14:44:21 GMT -5
"And no loving mother would 'breed' their children to be the perfect anythings."
"Was NightBlood loving? I wouldn't know. That's why I want to kill that Sallinian tyrant."
Kuruk scoffed and clawed the floor of the cave, leaving scratch marks in his wake. His mother slept here once upon a time. Delerath and his siblings played here first. With NightBlood watching over them. Did she play with them too? He was told that Anek had never even laid eyes on his children after they were born, preferring to keep himself occupied by patrolling the border closest to Sallin and training his heart out, not too unlike Kuruk. Yes, the first litter was built for war, just like their parents. He envied them.
Then, however, there was Armageddon. He had that small comfort that he and NightBlood truly did love eachother. At least Kuruk had grown up with a father. The rolls were reversed with these two litters. Delerath had never known his father, and Kuruk only had enough time with his mother to remember he face and that was it.
"Another thing you should know." Delerath said, his nose steadily closing the distance between the pair. "Is that just because I have muscle, doesn't mean it should decide what I do with my life."
"You have what's needed to avenge her, yet you do nothing," Kuruk spat.
The yearling picked up his paw and dragged his claws across the stone wall, emitting a hateful sound that made his ears flick back and his lips curl into a snarl.
"Tell me you don't want a piece of NightShade for yourself."
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