When You're Alone, the Dark Hurts You More{Open}

[shadowspark]

Shiori padded through the forest with no particular destination in mind. She couldn't sleep and was feeling down tonight. There was an ache in her chest that was almost to much to bear. The young wolf felt......lonely. Normally being alone didn't bother her, so she could not figure out why it did so now. Maybe it was the fact that all the others were finding mates and pairing off.

Finally Shiori rounded the trunk of a large tree, and the river came into view. There was a hollow area at the base of the tree that was free of snow. Well, most of the forest floor was free of snow, but here, at the edge of the trees, a white blanket carpeted the ground. Shiori sat down in the hollow area and and stared out across the river into the darkness. She felt empty. She wondered what her counterparts in the Stars pack were doing. 'Probably sleeping safe and snug in their dens,' she thought with a scowl. Her ears swiveled as she caught a crunching sound - the noise of paws on snow. She turned to face the source of the noise...

[[Midnight]]

Justyn had just thought of something interesting as he was wandering New Moon forest. He had yet to meet Raiden. He had been back in the Moon's pack for ages it seemed now, but no glimpse of the male had been seen.
Well, maybe Justyn had seen him without realizing it; he didn't know what kind of wolf he was looking for, after all. Considering how unique Rose was, this guy had to be some sort of Prince Charming. She wouldn't give her heart away to just anyone.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw a dark form standing just a couple of meters away. He recognized her immediately and sighed.
Shiori.
What a mischevious pup she was. But now she was clearly growing up, perhaps considered an adult this season. Thank goodness, because there were going to be enough pups this Spring. His ears flicked in a silent greeting as he started padding closer to her.
She had a bit of a sour look on her face. It wouldn't surprise Justyn if the runt had been recently chastised for something. He smirked.
"Why the long face?" he asked, stopping with a bit of room between them.

It was nice to no longer have snow piling up on your back and face. Spring had its pros.

[shadowspark]

Shiori sighed. She debated for a moment as to whether to tell Justyn about her problem or not. 'I don't know. I'm just lonely, I guess.' The young wolf's fur shone silver in the moonlight, making her look almost like a ghost. 'I mean, normally being on my own doesn't bother me,' she continued. 'But, for some reason, that's not the case this time.' Shiori looked across the river once more. 'Everyone else is paring off and finding mates...' She trailed off and fell silent.

Shiori's green eyes glittered in the moonlight. She looked sideways at Justyn. A rather painful thought trickled into her mind. 'Who would want to mate with a runt, anyway?' Shiori knew that she would always be small, and, as a result, so would any pups that she would have. She had never let her size hold her back, but it did make life hard, always having to keep up with wolves that were bigger, stronger, faster...it was a constant struggle. Shiori had learned to use all the advantages her small size gave her, long ago. In the Falling Moons pack, those who did not use their full potential, did not survive. It was as simple as that.

'Maybe I'm too young for that sort of thing, but still.....'

[[Midnight]]

Wow, weird. A little while ago he might have though that this was something a Dancing Stars would say. Now that he was older, however, he had learned that it was mostly just a female thing. Sometimes, though, even the males got this down in the dumps about being mateless and utterly alone. And it usually started around Shiori's age at their first Spring as an adult. He grinned. Whether or not it was mockingly, he wasn't actually sure of that himself.

"Are you serious? Miss Independent has caved in?" he asked seriously. Genuine surprise didn't come for him often since he was so used to having expect the unexpected. But he certainly never foresaw the spirited young pup become so needy. Ever since he had found her brought her to Duke, he watched her grow up as a fighter.

Her ghostly appearance made him wonder what he looked like in this light. Probably looked like just a massive dope with an iridescent glow. Then he began to wonder about Rose, and wondered what was worse; having found your soul-mate and then proceed to lose them, or never finding anyone and being alone forever.

Well, he himself was going to be alone forever in that aspect. And he felt fine. The only things that depressed him had nothing to do with finding a mate... At least, he didn't think so...

He cleared his throat, struggling to find something to answer her with. The only thing he could think of advising her with was the usual "get over it and move on because there's nothing you can do."

"...I guess you'll have to get over it and move on. Because there's nothing you can do."

The best smooth-talker around, huh? he thought to himself.

Perhaps he could add a little more to that.
"If it's a mate you're looking for, than...ew. All the guys in this pack have the short, thorny end of the personality-stick. You wouldn't get along with any of them!"

[shadowspark]

Shiori gave Justyn an odd look. 'Given in?' Her voice contained a slightly insulted note. 'No. But I suppose I'll take the 'Miss Independent' bit as a compliment.' One of the young wolf's ears flicked back in a sort of ironic amusement. She sighed; her posture was not that of of a pup, not anymore.

'I believe you are right, however, in that most of the males in our pack tend to be rather...um...prickly, to say the least.' Shiori flicked her gaze towards Justyn. To her, his fur looked glossy in the moonlight. He was very handsome... Shiori gave herself a mental shake. That line of thought would get her nowhere. And Justyn was right, nearly all of the males in the Falling Moons pack were not good mate material. The young wolf sighed once more and returned her gaze to the river.