Unfamiliar Land

(wolf)

A wolf paddled out of a deeper part of the water and pulled up onto a grouping of roots. Shaking himself off, he looked around and examined the territory.
It was quiet here, besides the calls of birds coming from the canopy. He felt unsettled by it, so he did what he knew how to do best in an uncomfortable situation, he made a joke. He turned to the tree behind him and bowed to it "Hello, old and wise tree! My name is Hyena, and I come from the far and away land of mountains. Thank you for gracing me with your presence."
He snorted to himself, but hearing an unfamiliar noise behind him, he flipped around and huddled against the tree. The sun was setting, and he was alone. Where had his pack gone? How far from his home was he?

Bashiri Whitewind lifted her head and sniffed the air. Her pupilless eyes saw many things that most mortal wolves didn't. She scratched the dirt with a claw. wondering about the new scent that had come to her nose. it smelled like a male. A wet male. She shook her head, as if to clear the scent from her mind. But it would always be with her now. Her mind was like that. Once somethnig was smelled, it was never forgotten. "I believe we should go see who our new visitor is." she told herself. "Don't you agree?" She answered herself, "Oh yes. That sounds like a grand idea." She nodded and set out, one paw over the other, to look for the strange male that was new in the land.

Hyena curled up in a hollow provided by two of the trees larger roots. A wind was picking up, and his wet fur was now chilling him to the bone. He drew his fur to stand on end in an attempt to pocket warmth between the air and his skin.
It had a desirable affect, but didn't fully warm him. He tucked his nose under a paw and whimpered.
He felt alone, and he was very afraid for the first time in his life.

Bashiri topped a rise and sniffed the air. "Yes. We are very close." she told herself. "Very close." herself answered. The smell of wet male was very strong and carried thick on the wind. She looked around and spotted him. Only she could've seen him from the angle she was positioned in. He was wedged between two trees for warmth and was shaking from the cold of the wind. She herself didn't notice it. She had lived through worse. She lowered her head slightly and started toward him.

Hyena flicked an ear up to listen intently. He thought he heard something approaching, but he couldn't be sure. With a disappointed grunt he lifted his now warm muzzle from under the protection of his paw and looked around. Through a blurry of dried leaves blown by the wind, he saw the stranger. Another wolf. He jumped up in excitement, wondering if it was his pack finally come for him. It almost looked like Kiri, the alpha female of his pack, but he couldn't be entirely sure. He tilted his head back and howled a greeting, hoping for the best.

The howl came to Bishiri's ears and she sniffed once. It was coated in lonliness. Her guess was that the individual who had delivered the howl has been sperated from his pack. But there was also something else. A tinge of hope. Maybe he had caught her scent, or seen a flash of her fur, and thought she was pack? She sneezed a laugh. "Hardly likely." she told herself. "We've made a habit of not traveling with males." Herself answered, "Yes. Not since the last...incedent. Let's just leave him be, yes? It's for the best." Bashiri nodded slowly. "Yes, for the best." She made to turn and walk back the way she came, but she stopped. There had not been any wolves in her area for a long time. This newcomer had peaked her curiosity. With a sigh she resumed her trek down the hill. She stopped within three jumps of him and bared her teeth. "Who are you, stranger?" she asked. Herself was protesting. "NO! Get away from him! He could to terrible things!" "Oh hush." she retorted in her head. "If he tries anything I'll rip his throat out. We can handle ourselves."

Realizing that he'd made a large mistake in assuming that this wolf was one of his pack, Hyena flattened to the ground and raised his tail as a flag of agitation. "My name is Hyena. If I've encroached on your territory, I'm sorry." he scooted backwards and out of the hollow so that he had a better chance at defending himself if the wolf decided to attack. "For the sake of diplomacy, may I ask who you are?" he took the chance to sniff the wind and catch the wolves scent. It was a female, and he could smell no others. Was she alone like he was?

Bashiri blinked her pupilless eyes slowly. She could smell his anxiety. "Do not be afraid, I mean you no harm." she assured him. "I simply wish to know what you are doing in my territory." She lifted her right paw and placed it back on the ground an inch from where it was. just then, a worm poked it's head out of the earth. "I am known as Bashiri Whitewind." She had caught the sniff he had made. "Do not worry, I have no pack. I travel alone."

Hyena lowered his tail and stood up slowly, examining Bashiri with interest. "You...Why are you alone?" Hyena blurted out unceremoniously. "I'm sorry, didn't mean to ask you like that. It's just...I've never met a lone wolf before." He tilted his head to the side against the wind. His fur was drying off, but it was still cold, so he scooted back into the hollow slightly to warm up.

Bashiri eyed the other wolf with interest. Herself was being eerily silent, but she took no interest. She found herself walking closer to him and sitting on her haunches. "Do not apologise." she told him, staring at him with her pupilless eyes. She was aware of his every movement, waiting for his reaction. "It is true, I am an oddity. I have no illusions about myself." She never took her eyes off of him. "I am a lone wolf because of fear." She blinked slowly. "I had a pack, once. A long time ago, at the beginning of my life. But there was a prophecy, and I fit the description to a T. So they banished me, and my mother. My mother died and I was left on my own." She turned her head to the side a bit. "I tried to get close to other wolves, but they have heard of the prophecy as well. Time after time I was driven out. So now I live on my own." With one exception. she thought.

Hyena felt a little jittery under Bashiri's pure white gaze, but she didn't seem too frightening otherwise, so he sat down as well. "Oh, I'm sorry. You don't...seem dangerous or anything. I can't imagine why anyone would feel so threatened that they'd banish you." He paused, and remembered how crazy and unbelievably superstiscious the elders in his pack were, and all the times that they had dunked him in a river because they thought something was possesing him. "...Well, at least why any sane wolf would." he scooted forward slightly, keeping his butt on the ground. His tail wagged lightly. "So you're like...a vagabond, aren't you?!"

Bashiri blinked slowly. "Yes, I suppose I am." she agreed. "In a way. And not of my choice." She turned her eyes from him and looked to her left toward the lake. "Tell me, boy," she turned back to him. "What in the name of Tangalor were you doing in the lake?"

Hyena's tail stopped moving mid-wag, and he hung his head ashamedly. "I was just taking a quick dip to cool off. But then I lost track of myself, and couldn't find a way out." he smiled sheepishly up at Bashiri. "Besides that, I'm always doing crazy things that normal wolves would think insane. Like diving off of cliffs into rivers. And climbing trees to chase snakes." He lifted his left forleg, revealing a scar on his chest, and under his elbow, at least an inch wide and three inches long. "This is what I got in return for the last trip up a tree I made. The branch I was on broke, and I fell on the back of a buck. He threw me, chased me around, and gave me a good clobbering with antlers and hooves alike." He lowered his paw to the ground again. "Point being, I was in the lake because it seemed like a fun and good idea at the time. As it is with most of my schemes."

Bashiri sneezed a laugh. "I'm amazed. You seem like the type to take things slow. I guess I misjudged you." She shook herself and stood. "So, what will you do now?" she asked.

Hyena grinned widely at her laugh. "Well, I dunno. Whatever I can do I guess. I dunno where my pack is, or how to find them again...maybe I could go with you!" he jumped up, with his tail wagging to and fro madly.

Bashiri laugh choked off. She stood up and began to turn away. "I don't know about that..."