sticks & stones || open

[arbie]

Most days Adelaide spent her time alone. Not that she didn’t like the other members of the pack, it was just she was used to being herself. It was also chance that Adelaide couldn’t find any members. She expected most were around the dens, waiting for any pups. But from what she heard, there were hardly any pregnant females this year. Not even Sayuri, though she wasn’t surprised about that. However she did hear of Pembe, and was pleased for the young female. She seemed nice enough, as did her mate.

Making her way out of No Man’s Land, Adelaide rolled her neck to relieve some muscle pain. She had been running around and recently hunted down a large hare. So her belly was full and she had decided to run it off, though felt a bit alone. She was starting to get used to pack life, and seeing the sparse loners around No Man’s Land made her feel slightly empty. So, she approached the river separating the territories and stopped in the middle of the water, looking down at the rocks before she heard splashing water. Looking up, her ears twitched and her amber eyes landed on a small fish splattering about.

“What are you doing all the way up here?” she murmured. She lowered her head, ignoring it for now, and lapped up some of the water at her paws. Adelaide moved on, crossing the river and stopping on the other side, looking around curiously.

Dancing Stars were always so welcoming and nice, it was an odd feeling. Her family were nice of course, but the Dancing Stars seemed to be so interested. Her mind wandered to the new wolves, and wondered if this was a permanent stay. She found it slightly insulting that they decided to just park themselves down and claim the land. Not only that, but replaced Forrest’s pack with their own pack name. As nice as it sounded, Adelaide preferred Forrest’s pack. She preferred Forrest as a leader too, as far as she knew him, but Caden was just a good as leader, she supposed. Better than any of the newcomers, she thought.

[Paint]

It was an odd feeling. Like butterflies in her stomach, but worse. Like feeling sick. She wasn't sure what to say or do, she could barely run. She'd simply been pacing all day, back and forth, across selected parts of No Man's Land.

Finally, Esmerelda had approached the border of the Stars territory. One thing that calmed her was the scent. Although the Stars scent as a collective was always the same, the territory boundaries were clearly an unrelated wolf. Es thought back to her beautiful mother, and how she'd been ripped apart by Caerwyn. Es could scent his murderous stink from a mile away.

She'd finally plucked up the courage. She was doing this for Bion, she had to keep reminding herself. Cheerful, as always, but nervous, she found herself at the Star Stream. Just as she was about to lift her maw and howl for Caden, she spotted a wolf she'd never seen before. This one was no earthquake survivor that she knew.

The relief that washed over her was something that she did not wish to think of.

"Hello!" she cried, not meaning to sound half as forcibly friendly as she did. Although this other wolf would not understand, Es could not have thanked her more for helping her procrastination. She swallowed hard, smiling still at this random wolf. Caden could wait... so could asking him if she could have pups with Bion.

[arbie]

Her ears twitched and she looked round to spot a female. She didn’t smell of Dancing Stars, though something was slightly off. She did smell familiar, so perhaps she hung around the territory often. Adelaide put on a smile to appear friendly, not that she was trying to lie in any way. She was just a little tired, and a stranger that had been lurking around the territory borders seemed almost suspicious. There was nothing else for her to do now, and so she approached Esmerelda, gently walking through the water again.

“Hello.” she greeted, holding her head high. She didn’t have any reason to, though Adelaide enjoyed showing confidence and elegance to strangers. It gave them a taste of what was to come, so to speak. But she didn’t want to come off as intimidating; Adelaide did want to have friends, after all. She nodded politely as she closed the space between her and the other wolf, but made sure to keep herself at a cautious distance.

Approaching strangers was not her job, however Adelaide didn’t want to scare her off either. Dancing Stars were friendly wolves, and Adelaide wanted to emphasise that fact.
“I don’t recognise you.” she started, keeping a friendly but neutral tone, “Mind if I ask your name?”

[Paint]

Esmerelda watched carefully as the stranger came closer, but stayed a polite distance away. As a friendly character, Es just trotted slightly the last couple of feet which made the conversation seem friendlier. She wasn't one to stand on ceremony. Perhaps they'll resent that, here she wondered vaguely, before forgetting herself to answer the other female.

"I'm Esmerelda. A loner, technically, but I was hoping to join the Dancing Stars... soon," she finished, carefully, but still she felt clumsy. She smiled and her tail wagged very slightly. She felt glad to have found a wolf that wasn't from Empyrean. Well, she was assuming that this wolf was not from the old valley, because she did not recognise her scent or appearance at all.

"What's your name?" she asked, tone bright and bubbly. Her green eyes shone out from her tawny face as she smiled. She knew she posed no threat to this wolf, and she felt no fear. The Dancing Stars were not the type to attack and ask questions later, so she felt perfectly happy to chat with this stranger. Perhaps that was unwise, but she was not truly used to pack life yet. She'd left it behind long ago, now.

[arbie]

Adelaide watched Esmerelda. She was a young wolf, very beautiful she supposed. Perhaps almost too young to be out and about by herself, but Adelaide remembered being that young and hoping for some adventure. Not that she was old! Goodness, she was starting to sound like some sort of elder. She noticed the wolf moved closer, however didn’t question it or look uncomfortable. She knew enough wolves that enjoyed being close to others while they spoke, so she was used to it.

“Adelaide.” she dipped her head slightly, “It’s nice to meet you, Esmerelda.”

Something that caught her ear was the ‘soon’. She seemed hesitant, and Adelaide wondered what was going on. It wasn’t really suspicious per say, it was just odd. Usually wolves that were eager to join packs attempted to make very good impressions on just about anyone they met. At least, that’s what Adelaide figured and also did when she wanted to join the pack. Good impressions were left in the mind as much as bad impressions, and so Adelaide did her best to appear worthy.

“What do you mean by ‘soon’?” she questioned, chuckling a little to herself, “A little nervous? Trying to see which pack suits you more?”
Her statements often sounded more brash and insulting than a joke. She was also rather presuming sometimes, but that didn’t stop Adelaide from speaking her mind and being herself. She looked at Esmerelda, waiting for a reply. This wolf certainly didn’t seem Falling Moon material, thank goodness.

[Paint]

Esmerelda's eyes widened with surprise at what Adelaide asked her. She dipped her head in return, mumbling a "Nice to meet you too", momentarily hushed. A small smile returned to her face as she shook her head.

"Oh no. I'd never join the Falling Moons. My mate is in this pack, and," she wanted to tell her, for some reason. She wanted to articulate the fact that she was part of this pack's huge, complex and tragic history. But she wasn't about to spring all of that on this stranger. She took a small breath before continuing. "And... we were hoping to have pups. I think. So I decided to do the respectful thing, ask Caden if I may join, so that I wouldn't jeopardise my mate's position in the pack."

She continued to smile, curiosity at this stranger overriding her thoughts about whether picking up where she left off at the Dancing Stars was possible. She never really wanted to remember the old days, but being with Bion was moving on, right?

"Do you often hang around by the borders, scaring off potential new pack members?" Esmerelda chuckled in return, her question a comment on Adelaide's brash tone. She certainly had no problem with others speaking their minds, but Es was not one to roll over and take it without a spot of good humour in her replies.

[arbie]

Adelaide listened intently to the wolf’s story. Ah, young love. Pups so soon? Emserelda looked extremely young indeed, but if she wanted to chance that, then good for her. Adelaide herself wasn’t interested in pups just yet - although the thought came to her mind every now and then. It was never too early to start looking out potential mates, however she didn’t want to make it a habit. Just whenever the time suited her.

At her next question, Adelaide let out a long chuckle, amused by the wolf’s confidence. She liked a wolf that would speak up for themselves, and Esme was doing just that. Adelaide let a smirk crawl across her features and she could tell - or hoped - that Esme was just insulting her in good fun. Adelaide herself enjoyed insulting others to amuse herself, and almost all comments were just tactless yet humorous jabs.

“I hope you won’t speak to Caden in that way.” she taunted. In all honesty, she really wasn’t sure if Caden would take the humour well or not, but ignored the thought and continued, “But no, not always. Sometimes I stick around the dens to pick on the younger ones.”

Remembering the reason she was here, Adelaide wondered who her mate was.

“It’s good to see you have your life planned, though.” she commented, “Most wolves would rather play it by ear. It seems you have your target in sight and won’t stop.”

[Paint]

"Of course not," Es smiled softly, chuckling again at her second comment. "If I knew him better, I probably would. I like to keep the tone light."

Es wondered what had brought Adelaide here. What her hopes and dreams were, or if they were at all similar. So far they didn't seem to be, but you could never really tell. She might be one of those wolves who never really revealed all of her emotions. If that were the case, they certainly were not alike.

"My life isn't planned at all!" she laughed. She rather thought the opposite. "It's all a bit impromptu really. But Bion and I... we get on so well. And I'm always looking out for the next thing to do. It just so happens that, well, that now includes starting a family."

She wondered briefly what her mother had thought before starting a family with Caerwyn. Her ear twitched uncomfortably at the memory, but she ignored it, pushed it all to the back of her head and continued to smile. She laid down, becoming more relaxed than she probably should at this point.

"So are you not keen on starting a family?" she asked, although she felt as if she already sort of knew the answer. Adelaide seemed like she would be rather hard to impress, actually, and that certainly wasn't a bad thing.