{Open} Sneaking Away

[shadowspark]

Sylvia carefully made her way into the water. Though only four months old, The black and silver pup often wandered far from the dens - and the watchful eyes of the wolves whose duty it was to protect the pups - and got many a scolding for it. She knew that she would probably get another such scolding for sneaking away once again, especially since she was so close to the border, but the lure of the water was irresistible for her. Sylvia knew that if she crossed the center of this stream, she would no longer be in the territory of the Dancing Stars pack. This was the border of the No Man's Land, where fierce Loners - wolves who belonged to neither pack - roamed.

Now, Sylvia may have been young, and even somewhat daring, but she was not stupid; she stayed on her pack's side of the stream. She ducked under the water for a moment, soaking her blue-black fur. The water felt so good on the hot summer day. Standing up, she shook herself, getting rid of the excess water, and leaving her fur pleasantly damp. While walking back to the shore, Sylvia heard a sound from the No Man's Land side to the stream. Nervously, she picked up her pace, but, just as she climbed onto the bank, she tripped over her own large paws. She tumbled into a patch of grass. Frightened, the black pup turned to see what was making the noise.

{And here's a perfect place for a loner to come in. }

[[Midnight]]

Taya tended to be more care-free than anything else. Sure, she had her mushy moments - and sometimes, even her moody moments. Like any normal wolf, she called it. Wolves tended to be very social creatures. Dancing Stars was full of social buggers, the normal variety of canines, while Falling Moon was just where all of the more sicker scum gathered. Like Duke, for instance. Taya would probably never be fond of Duke.
But not all of Falling Moon were bad. Taya was sure of it. It was impossible for a wolf to have no heart whatsoever.

Those were the thoughts that were running through Taya's mind as she aimlessly wandered through No-Man's-Land. The unclaimed territory was not her favorite place, only because really rough characters tended to gather out here.

The white and brown female was about to turn around and head pack into Dancing Star's territory when she emerged from the underbrush and caught sight of a familiar face.
Just on the other side of the stream was a pup. And not just any pup, but a Dancing Stars pup. Her ears shot forward and she suddenly felt sick to the stomach.

"Sylvia? What in the world are you doing in No-Man's-Land?" she asked her very seriously.
There were a lot of depressed and confused wolves around here these days that Taya wouldn't doubt the possibility of a psycotic wolf getting his jaws on little Sylvia.

[shadowspark]

Relief flooded Sylvia, as she got to her paws, but apprehension soon followed. 'I wasn't in No Man's Land,' the pup protested. 'I stayed on our side of the border.' Sylvia became uncomfortably aware of the dry grass stems and dead leaves now clinging to her fur.

Sylvia sat, and her ears drooped a bit at the stern look on Taya's face. 'I just wanted to be near the water,' she said. 'That's all.' The pup wondered what her punishment would be this time. Apprehensive, once more, Sylvia curled her tail over her paws and waited for Taya to speak.

[[Midnight]]

Taya still looked a little uncertain but she smiled at Sylvia to tell her she wasn't mad.
"I don't blame you. It's hot right now," Taya agreed, stepping into the water until it reached her ankles. The white and brown female loved pups, since she got along with them well. Mostly because she was a generally patient wolf.

"You just got to be careful out here, even if you are on Caden's territory. There are bears, and Falling Moons', and foxes, and... Ugh, just all kinds of scary things!"

[shadowspark]

'You don't have to warn me about the Falling Moons pack,' Sylvia snarled. 'After all, the knowledge of what happened to my mother is with me all the time.'

A Moons wolf had forced himself on Sylvia's mother, traumatizing her to the point of death. She died while giving birth to Sylvia and her litter-mates. Sylvia was the only one out of three pups to survive. Sylvia's mother never spoke the name of the one who fathered Sylvia and the two other pups. No one knew why. The other wolves of the Stars pack, who were the ones who had raised Sylvia, told her of the circumstances of her birth, hoping to caution her. However, they unknowingly fostered a deep hatred in Sylvia for the Moons pack, particularly the males.

The pup realized that she was snarling at an elder. 'Sorry Taya,' she mumbled. 'I didn't mean to snarl at you...' The pup's head was down.

[[Midnight]]

Normally Taya wouldn't be so irritated at the pup's outburst, but she was in a slightly bad mood that day. She narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw a bit, but her eyes were soft and understanding.

"It's okay, Sylvia. I didn't mean to treat you like you knew nothing," she said apologetically in response, starting to wade into the water. It wasn't very deep, so she made it across on the other side within moments. After that, she took another couple of seconds to shake her wet paws off.

"But, if you know so much about Falling Moon and what they're capapable of, you should truly understand why I was worried for a second," the timber female countered once she had sat back on her haunches comfortable. "I'd be terribly sad if I something happened to you; who would I play with then?"
She smiled kindly. It was a known fact in the Stars pack that Taya was one of the most playful wolves they had.

[shadowspark]

Sylvia smiled a little sheepishly. She liked Taya, because, like her, Taya was somewhat of an outcast. Sylvia knew that her chances of getting a high rank in the pack, when she became an adult, were very slim, but she didn't mind so much. Sylvia was determined to find her own place, no matter what the others thought. 'Anyone who tries to attack me will find out that I am no easy pray,' the pup said, baring her small fangs.

Sylvia stood and walked over to Taya, but before she got half way across the short distance between them, she tripped over her large paws yet again. This fall sent her tumbling into the stream once more. Quickly surfacing, the slim pup shook the water out of her sleek blue-black fur. Her head drooped. 'I'm never able to keep my balance when I'm not running or swimming,' she thought despairingly.

[wolfstar]

Ritbant padded about on the banks of the stream. He wasn't particularly watching where he was going, so he was surprised when he saw two wolves just ahead, one a pup, and one an adult. He stopped, and then cleared his throat awkwardly. "Am I interrupting something? I'll leave if necessary, but I'd rather get a drink first." Without waiting for a reply, he stepped to the stream and drank deeply of the cool water. He lifted his head, and his green eyes regarded the two curiously, with frank interest.

[Fire]

An amused, disgruntled snort could be heard over the shy gurgling of the river. A tall, slim loner at on the other side of the river, watching his reflection with a smirk, although it was clear he had not grunted at his reflection. He looked up at them, a smug grin on his handsome face.
He was a fine mixture of dark, light and sandy brown.
There was a devious, and yet slightly mysterious gleam in his eyes, something that seemed to slip away from you every time you thought you had placed what the gleam was.
'Oh please,' he scoffed, his voice low and not completely unfriendly. He raised his maw in the air and let out a scornful grunt.
'You? Not easy prey? You wouldn't last two seconds in no mans land. Especially with that attitude-'
He lowered his head and his smirk grew, his facial expression turned dark suddenly, and his voice changed from slightly friendly, to sadistic.
'-it would make plenty of wolves want to tear you apart limb from limb as soon as you got over here,'

There was a pause, and the threatening shadow cast over his face dissapeared as he raised his maw once again. He was still smirking, as if to say try it.

[wolfstar]

Rit snorted at the handsome stranger. "That's why she's saying it from the other side of No Man's Land." He chuckled. "You are, unfortunately for amateurs, right." He looked amused at the black pup.

[wolfstar]

"But he's right. You shouldn't go into No Man's Land. You never know who could find you. Some wolves don't like intruders, especially pups." Rit looked seriously at the black pup, but there was a hint of mischief in his eyes. He nodded at The brown and white wolf. "Your friend can come and go, because most Loner's don't like a fight, and adult wolves are assumed to be able to fight. Pups are easy prey."

[shadowspark]

{FiRE, is the loner, that you're playing here, Taku or Seth?}

Sylvia bristled. As always, no one took her seriously. She met the brown-fured loner's chllenge with one of her own. As her blue-violet eyes met the loner's brown ones, they carried her challenge. I am not afraid of you, those eyes said. If it comes to a fight between us, I will win.

Sylvia's cat-like tail lashed in anger. 'I am NOT easy prey!!' the slim pup snarled. It was not the soft sound of a pup, but the furious growl of an adult wolf. Stalking into the water, she deliberatly waded to the exact center of the stream. Ignoring the looks she was getting from the adult wolves, she easily moved downstream with the current, the clumsiness, that was apperent on land, vanishing the instant Sylvia's paws hit the water. Staying in the exact center of the stream, the pup gracefully made her way towards the Waterfall Pool. The water felt good against her fur, but did nothing to cool her anger. She gave a growl that had no words.

[[Midnight]]

The approach of the loner made Taya's fur bristle. How dare this brute antagonize Sylvia like that?? Ritbant was fine, sure, he wasn't being threatening to the two of them.

Ignoring Sylvia's jibes about being strong enough to take care of herself, Taya threw herself towards the loner, her lips curling up in a snarl.
"Don't you go near her, stranger," she threatened, her fur bristling slightly.

[wolfstar]

Ritbant looked worriedly at the pup in the middle of the stream, all hints of mischief gone from his eyes. "I was only teasing. I do think you'd give a fight. I was just saying that you'd be considered easy prey, even if you aren't. I also know that you would give me a good fight." This last was partially flattery. Ritbant was one of the best fighters that there was. But he knew that the pup was a scrapper. He could see it in her eyes, even as she was standing in the middle of a stream. His green eyes turned to the small confrontation between the two wolves, even as he kept track of Sylvia with his peripheral vision.

[shadowspark]

Sylvia stopped and sat down in the water, her back still turned to the spiteful loner in the deliberate insult. She ignored the current tugging at her fur. Her posture suggested that she was, in fact, listening to all that was said and done. Her ears flattened to her skull. 'Taya, I appreciate the sentiment, and I'm glad you think so highly of me, but I can defend my own honor, especially since this loner seems to have none.'

Sylvia did not refer to Ribbant with this insult, in fact, she was feeling somewhat of a liking for him, despite her natural aversion to males. But the other loner, now that was a different story. something about his demeanor brought her hackles up. She turned to the spiteful wolf and bared her fangs. Despite her size, anyone who looked at her would no longer see the playful posture of a pup, but the strong and graceful one of an adult wolf. In her short life, Sylvia had already faced challenges that would make some adult wolves shiver.

The black pup had quite a few tricks, albeit the ones she was best at involved distracting the attacker until the slim pup could flee. As clumsy as Sylvia may have seemed when walking, once she sped up, her clumsiness would vanish and her true grace would emerge. Other tricks, ones that she was still perfecting, could disable an attacker. When she wanted, Sylvia could be very fierce. She stared into the loner's brown eyes, her blue ones speaking once more. Well? was all they said. But that one word carried a challenge.

{Hows this for a long post?}