quietly, carefully [open]

[DingoMutt]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][bg=E0EEEE] Rowan moved delicately, quietly, gracefully across the river. Here it was little more than water trickling over smooth stones, but still she put great effort in every step. Her paws were carefully placed on the largest, most sturdy rocks her paws could find, so she hardly stumbled as she crossed. The cold water moving over her paws made her body convulse with a shiver, but she cut it short and let out a deep breath. Her breath twisted towards the sky as vapor, and she paused to watch it dissipate. Her light golden eyes were intrigued - she let out another breath, this one a quick, heavy exhale, and she watched with a wagging tail as it vanished. Every year it was the same; she loved the winter, the breathing of smoke, the catching of snow, the changing and then falling leaves. Her eyes fell shut for a brief moment, before she remembered that she was in the middle of crossing a river. With a quick snort, she collected her legs beneath her, let her hind legs coil like springs, and she leaped the rest of the way. It was an impressive jump for a wolf her size, but she just raised her nose and wagged her tail. She had always been an acrobat, and soon her feats of flexibility and endurance went unnoticed by her brothers, so she had no longer thought them spectacular. So what if she did something wonderful? Nobody had time to notice when they were being invaded, no time for poor Rowan and her silly little tricks and her silly little feelings. Pushing away her weird and painful thoughts, the she-wolf pivoted around so that she stared at the river again. She thought about crossing it once more, just to leave a confusing scent trail, but she decided against it. She dipped her head and lapped delicately at the water, her ears swiveling all the while. She wasn't too worried about being snuck up on, but she had a nagging in the back of her mind that she should be aware and afraid. It was the voice of her eldest brother that broke through her thoughts, telling her that this place was open and scary and she needed to run. She shushed him; imaginary Rowan bit imaginary brother on the nose and made him shut up, but instead he griped at her to be more aware and not be so absorbed in her thoughts. When she finally ebbed back into her body, she had raised her head and her throat was cold. Licking her nose, the wolfess turned and moved down the shore. Here the shore was covered in grass and foliage, so she picked her away around thorns hidden in the hibernating grass and the fallen leaves. Whenever she saw a crunchy looking leaf, which was only every few minutes, she'd stomp on it with great effort and relish in the sound. A smile spread across her maw; she liked it here in this quiet yet loud place. Halting, she tilted her head back and let her eyes fall shut. She focused on the other scents, and she reached out to the world around with everything but her eyes. The ground beneath her was damp; she shifted her weight and the foliage grumbled lightly, wrapping around her paws. The world smelled like water, and sort of like mold and moss. She couldn't find the scent of another wolf, so she was content and she rubbed that in her imaginary brother's face. The smell of other animals drifted into her nostrils, so she was content to observe that a lot of prey passed through here. She heard nothing but the bubbling of the river and her own relaxed breathing. Her lips parted, and she sucked in a breath of air. It tasted like water and damp, and she was unimpressed. She pinned her ears and bared her teeth for an instant, suddenly frustrated with this place for being so boring. She needed excitement, she needed another wolf, she needed security. Perhaps the first one conflicted with the other two, but she didn't care. She furrowed her brows, knowing that if she did find something exciting or another wolf, she'd be too worried to speak, so she flopped to her rump and stared hard at the bubbling river, as if had the answers she needed. Maybe it did, she thought, shifting her weight a bit. Leaning over the edge of the river, she stared at her reflection. She was surprised that the water moved slowly; a few feet upstream sat a large boulder that seemed to nearly halt the flow. Her golden eyes flicked back to her reflection, and she carefully studied herself. Unchipped ears atop her head, a long muzzle, almond shaped eyes, and a button nose stared back at her. She leaned a little closer, not quite familiar with her own features. Now that she thought about it, she had never really cared enough for her appearance to actually look at herself. She wondered if somehow she was staring at another wolf, so she opened her jaw and quickly clipped her teeth together. She frowned, stuck out her tongue, went cross-eyed, and always this other wolf copied her. "Neat." She said. word count: eight hundred and seventy three status: complete tag: Rowan for anyone! A male, if you please~ notes: Man, this is bad. :U It'll get better as I go along and Rowan becomes less new.

[Tessa]

<sup>Gideon took an extremely tentative step, trying not to make a sound. His dark green eyes were fixed on a deer grazing upwind from him. He frowned, then took another silent step. This was extremely frustrating; Gid was terrible at stalking prey. His huge body always seemed to betray him by making noise, giving away his position. And if that were to happen, it would be time to run after his prey, and he was a terrible runner. He could never hope to outrun a deer. Holding his breath, he took one more step. 'Just a little bit closer..' he thought, ever-so-slowly moving his large paw.

The wind shifted. The doe jerked her head up, nostrils flaring, immediately spotted him with wide fearful eyes, and took off. "Damn!" roared the wolf, and he too sprung up from his near-to-the-ground stalking position and ran, rather awkwardly, in pursuit of his lunch.

He threw all his effort into keeping up, but even as he pounded along, the deer was getting farther and farther away. It hadn't been long before he started to grow tired, his breaths coming quick and hard, his pace slowing. Both him and the deer were approaching a river. He had been here before to drink; this river was wide and deep in some spots but little more than a trickle in others. Unfortunately for him, him and his prey were both approaching one of the wider parts.

He watched as the doe made a magnificent leap over the flowing water. As he himself reached the edge of the river, his already slowing pace came to a standstill. He looked down at the water, anticipating just how cold it was. He wouldn't be able to leap across as the deer had, so if he were to follow, he would have to swim. 'Not in this cold...' He thought. It seemed that his prey knew he wouldn't follow, for the deer stopped and looked back at him briefly.

"You're lucky it isn't summertime!" He barked angrily at the creature. At his voice the doe turned and trotted away. He had no talent for reading the expressions of prey animals, but Gideon had an uncanny feeling that the animal mocked him with her slower gait. Growling to himself, he began to turn away, but was suddenly distracted by a new scent.

Gideon turned his head in the direction of the smell, immediately catching sight of its source, which happened to be a pretty female wolf who stood upriver from him, where the waterway wasn't nearly as wide. All thoughts of his lost prey were swiftly forgotten as a friendly grin spread upon his face.

"Hello there." He said, "Its a pity that deer didn't cross over near you. I would have continued my chase be it not for the fact that the water is so cold." In truth he knew he probably would never have caught the deer, but he wasn't about to admit that to this femme. Gideon simply smiled. "And what might your name be, if you don't mind my asking?"</sup>

[DingoMutt]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][bg=E0EEEE] Rowan quickly grew bored of her little game of ear twitching and mouth opening and watching her reflection do so. She carefully rose from her seated position and took a step forward, where she spread her hind legs and planted them. She planted one foreleg and used the other to push river stones onto the shore and once she had a nice sized pile, she backed up and sat once more. She began to arrange the rocks by size and color and smoothness; a favorite pastime of hers when she was terribly bored, as she was now. Her belly let out a grumble and bared her teeth at it for an instant before going back to her arranging. She grew relaxed as she pushed the stones around with her paws, balancing on her haunches as she hummed a delicate tune that her mother had always sang when she was a pup. She couldn't remember the words, so she stuck to the rhythm. She wondered if her pups would carry the tune. Not that she had any pups, she thought. Of course motherhood was a programmed dream; she had silly ones, like flying and fighting bears, but beneath all that was the concrete desire to pass on her genes. It wasn't until recently that she'd seen the words written there, in some ancient tongue that she had never seen but she somehow knew. Shoving aside those thoughts, she noticed a change in the wind, so she took a deep whiff. Analyzing the smells, she didn't find anything exciting, so she turned back to her little game. By now she had finished her arranging, so she arranged her stones in the shape of a wolf. While the shape was rather crude, she placed the most almond-shaped rocks as the eyes and then she began to form a muzzle. She often looked at her own face for reference as her tune became louder and her masterpiece took shape. She heard a great rustling to her right which she flicked an ear at, but she didn't pay much attention to it. She picked up a rock delicately in her teeth, as if she were holding a pup, and she moved and set it back in the river. She left her nose under the water for an instant, where she blew bubbles. The dull crashing became the perfect harmony of a running doe, and behind it she heard the well placed, if heavy, steps of a wolf. She could only assume that the wolf was chasing the deer, albeit ungracefully. She picked up another stone and placed in the river. As she released it from her delicate grasp, the deer came up to the river and leaped gracefully over it. Rowan watched with admiration as it soared, a soft smile dancing across her maw. She grabbed another stone, then the wolf that had been chasing the animal came into view. She didn't look at him long enough to find any details other than that he was a tawny color, and the scent that suddenly filled the air was distinctly male. She set the rock in the water, letting it fall and splash as the wolf shouted after his lost meal. Her tune died and she let out a sigh as he headed towards her, but she continued her movements. Bend, pick up rock, pivot, step, set down rock, pivot, step, repeat. She glanced up at him to see his smile, and she met his bright green eyes with own pale gold ones. She smiled a polite, delicate smile back at him. He greeted her as he approached, and she nodded in response, her tail giving an automatic, friendly wag. She felt rude, but when he started to speak she paused and listened, taking in his appearance. He was of average height, putting him about even with her. He was rather muscular, while she was quite petite. She twisted her neck to stare at her small figure, then back at him. Is this how it was supposed to be? She was sure that there should have been more barking and whimpering and baring of teeth, but she didn't care right now. She moved another stone, and he asked for her name. "Rowan," she said simply. She liked her name, how easy it was to say. "What's yours?" She asked in retaliation. Among the panic and paranoia that had been her puphood, she had been taught manners. And manners, to her brothers, was to always introduce yourself before asking questions. Maybe this big male didn't have older brothers to pester him about his etiquette, she thought, and she wanted to ask him but felt it would be rude. After all, she was a wolf of simple words, so it would be silly for her to make an attempt at idle conversation with this strange stranger. word count: eight hundred and four status: complete tag: Rowan for Gideon notes: A weird post for a weird wolf. :B

[Tessa]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,427,true][bg=626262] Gideon watched with interest as the wolf bent to pick up a stone, then deposited it in the river. He tilted is large head in confusion, taking a few more steps toward the female in an attempt to see what she was doing. It seemed she was arranging the rocks into some sort of pattern, but he had little time to decipher it before she started to speak. 'Rowan. What's yours?' he met her light golden eyes as she responded. She was watching him with a sort of calm curiosity, even a slight sense of confusion. He watched as she looked him up and down, then turned to examine her own rather delicate figure with that same look of perplexity. A strange one, indeed. Gideon wasn't used to being met with someone of such few words; Usually he incited a talkativeness in others. "My name is Gideon, and it's a pleasure to meet you." He responded, once again flashing a practiced smile and wagging his tail, hoping to get a bit more of a reaction from her. He turned his eyes back to her arrangement of rocks, then began to slowly approach her, examining it. He lowered his fluffy tail slightly so as not to seem too intimidating, hoping that this female wouldn't become uncomfortable as he drew near. His large size occasionally gave others the wrong impression about his nature. It was often assumed that he was aggressive, when in reality he was actually quite lazy, and more likely to avoid a fight than to try and start one. He perused her creation, and after a moment noticed that it resembled a wolf. He stared for a moment, engrossed, having never seen a wolf make anything like it before. "Interesting thing you've made here.." he said, his tail gently swaying back and forth. He looked up, taking a moment to get a good look at her. He found her to be quite attractive, but then again there was rarely a female he came across that he didn't find attractive. He once again made eye contact, admiring the pale golden hue of her irises. He was unsure of what to say next. To tell the truth he felt a little bit awkward standing there next to this quiet, slightly non-responsive wolfess. But he masked his slight sense of discomfort with that trademark smile and genial body language, watching her with cheerful green eyes, waiting for her to say something else.

[DingoMutt]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][bg=E0EEEE] Rowan was a little pleased that the male watched her with such interest. She knew she was strange, and she liked it when others realized that. Her smile grew a bit, but his prying eyes on the ground and her stones made her anxious. He was coming closer now, so her pace quickened in moving the rocks. She wasn't worried, but his coming closer made her want to put her rocks back more quickly. She wasn't sure why, but with each step she grew a little more anxious. Maybe it was fear that he was going to harm her, but she silently shoved that feeling down into her belly. Her imaginary older brother was whispering in her ear that yes, this stranger, did want to eat her. She replied by saying that she'd probably taste gamey, and left it at that. Imaginary brother frowned and disappeared, but not after sending the green-eyed male a stare that promised pain. So, his name was Gideon. She looked up again with a kind smile, taking the time to memorize his face. She tried to imagine what sort of scars lurked under his thick fur, but she pushed that thought aside. She wondered if he did have any scars; her own body was marred by just a few, mostly given to her by her siblings. On her nose were several crisscrossing lines, given when her play had grown far too rough with her brothers. Rowan had never had a foul encounter with another wolf or beast, always too careful and mindful to run into badgers and the like, or into the hooves of her prey. For so long, she had been so terribly careful, but now she didn't seem to care at all. She was sure it was the life of her brothers that made her worry, but in their death she found indifference. Her eyes stared hard at the river, but Gideon's voice and compliment dragged her from her reverie. He thought her picture was interesting. Her grin grew. "Thank you, Gideon." she said, her smile becoming polite and thankful. A hint of shyness lurked there, but she didn't know what this feeling was. Her tail wagged, and she moved another stone back to it's watery home. Licking her nose, she glanced down at her picture and was content to see that for the most part, it was ruined. Only a few of stones remained; the eyes, the tip of the ears, and a few parts of the maw sat on the soft sand of the shore. The shape was still distinctly wolf, and the other stones had left an imprint where they had been. Her paws were cold from walking back and forth, and her jaws ached from carrying such heavy burdens so delicately. Her footprints stretching back and forth between the picture and the river had melded together to form one paw-wide trench. "Is there something I can do for you, Gideon?" She asked politely. She was quite curious as to why the wolf had approached her; shouldn't he be chasing down that deer, or looking for something else to eat? Her stomach gave a quiet rumble, so she pinned her ears and gave the brute a sheepish look. Since winter had wrapped it's icy fingers around the land, she'd struggled to keep her belly full. She managed to find enough rabbits and small prey to keep herself going, and now that she'd come to the river she could fish. She licked her lips, deciding she'd find a meal for herself soon. Maybe Gideon, too, if he was as un-graceful as he looked. That thought made her giggle a bit, before turning back to the brute to wait for his answer. Her toes wiggled in the sand, her tail wagging delicately. word count: six hundred and twenty seven status: complete tag: Rowan for Gideon notes: owo

[Tessa]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,427,true][bg=626262] As he watched her, ferrying those rocks from one spot to another, he got the impression that she was thinking frantically, though he couldn't hope to know what was on her mind. So far she'd hardly said anything to him with the exception of polite formalities, and he wondered if she wanted him to leave. She had begun to dismantle her arrangement of stones as he approached, though what it had been remained obvious. He tried to focus on the fact that she was smiling, rather than dwell on his suspicion that she wanted him gone. "Thank you, Gideon." she replied with that same polite smile. He wagged his tail. "You're welcome." He wondered why she continued to move stones back into the river. The elements would eventually destroy it, but to him there seemed to be no reason not to leave the wolf likeness where it lay. Maybe she was embarrassed of it. It did seem strange, to make such a thing, but not something to be embarrassed by. He looked again to her face, this time noticing several small, delicate scars crisscrossing her nose. He wondered what, or who, might have made them. He himself had few scars; He rarely got into any fights due to his friendly nature, and he was built in such a way that there wasn't much that could hurt him. He wanted to ask about the origins of her scars, but said nothing. She made him feel slightly awkward; He was used to speaking a lot, but not to doing almost all of the talking. "Is there something I can do for you, Gideon?" she asked in that same polite tone, and he felt his heart sink. It seemed she did want him to go after all. He quickly masked his frown before replying. "I'm sorry if I've bothered you, Rowan. I have a habit of walking right up to everyone I see and starting a conversation." He gave a weak smile, taking a few backward steps to put a little bit of distance between them. "I can sometimes... overstep boundaries." Hearing her belly growl, he smiled in response to the sheepish look on her face. "Its a shame I didn't catch that deer." he said, "I would have been happy to share." It was unusual for him to feel out of place like he did now; Normally he would have suggested that they hunt together without a second thought. But now Gideon was under the impression that she disliked his presence, and would probably soon be finding an excuse to go before his ego got too bruised. He watched her with a growing sense of unease and frustration. The fact that she spoke so little made him only want more to learn just who she was, what she was thinking of when she didn't speak.

[DingoMutt]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][bg=E0EEEE] Rowan enjoyed company; at the very least, she'd allow it if it came to her, but she didn't actively seek it out. It wasn't that she didn't like other wolves, just that she had to remain calm and level headed, composed and quiet, or she'd lose it. Strangers would often invoke forgotten emotions within her, or ones she'd never known. Distaste, hatred, attraction- wait, attraction? Her smile sank for an instant, and she found herself yes, attracted to Gideon. He was terribly handsome with the sun dappled across his dark pelt, that happy smile on his maw. She felt something ugly stir alongside her heart, and she crushed the emotion like a dry leaf. Feeling calmness and indifference flood her again, she smiled and perked her ears as he begin to speak. She let her head tilt so that she stared off at the river, wincing as the water exploded with light. She shook her head quickly, but flecks of darkness danced across her vision. She blinked quickly to try to chase them away, but they just danced across her eyes and finally settled in the center. She frowned before turning her eyes back to Gideon to show she was listening. His smile was fake, and then he backed up a few steps. Ah, this was how it normally went; things were fine and dandy until the other wolf grew bored of her lack of excitement or terror. But Gideon seemed to feel bad, so her heart reached out to him and she took a few steps closer, so that she was only a few inches from him. She was no good with words, so she stretched out and sniffed him delicately, her tail wagging as she committed his smell to memory. "You're fine," she said. "I'm just quiet," She said, raising her head so that they were eye to eye. She was never this bold; she tentatively licked Gideon's nose and chin. She had no more words for him, so she hoped actions would suffice. She would be content to listen if he wanted to speak, but she had nothing to say. When he spoke of food her stomach rumbled again, and she turned her muzzle to look at the river. Her eyes scanned it carefully - this time she kept her eyes half lidded to guard against the bright reflection- searching for prey. "And a good fisher." she said simply, looking back at Gideon. She enjoyed his closeness, and she almost missed as she stepped away. She headed towards the river where she leaned carefully over and searched for a target. She'd seen plenty of fish in the river; she just needed to find one. No, she needed two. Her eyes lit up when she spotted her targets; a pair of salmon, fluttering idly, undeterred by the presence of two wolves. As far as they knew, wolves were no threat to them. Rowan waded out into the water and watched them, taking slow steps and pausing when the fish would fall downstream. Her hind legs tensed and she sprang forward, smacking one fish with all her might towards Gideon and grabbing the other with her teeth. She pivoted quickly and carefully on the slick stones, pulling her sopping wet body onto the shore. She dropped her fish a few feet from the water, and she watched with a content smile as it flopped and suffocated. She licked her lips, enjoying the small amount of blood that had spilled on her creamy colored lips. She glanced at Gideon out of the corner of the eye, seeing the fish she had smacked towards him also dying on the shore. "Told you." She said, smiling brightly as she moved towards her prey. She picked up the salmon and pranced back to where Gideon was, having ended up about five yards downstream after her hunt. She dropped to her belly quickly, placing her prize between her forepaws, and she began to tear greedily at it's scales, exposing it's pink flesh. word count: six hundred and sixty four status: complete tag: Rowan for Gideon notes: Hope she's not too terribly forward.. xD