Coming to terms [open]

♀ M e e r a

When it came to getting up in the morning Meera was an utter disaster! She was a deep sleeper no noises from her pack mates outside nor sunlight would cause her to wake. The creamy white she-wolf only woke when she was 100% rested. Today she got up as usual maybe a little on the early side because it was still morning not yet midday. Her stomach rumbled loudly but a glance at the kill pile turned her off. It didn't look that fresh and Meera was an extremely picky eater so she decided it try hunt herself or wait for the others to do so. The ecru she-wolf paused for a moment to enjoy the feeling of the rays of heat coming from the sun warming her coat. This was surely one of the last nice days they would have before winter hit. It really was a lovely morning but she didn't linger long, this wolf was a hungry one!

Meera moved into the forest at a trot hoping that today she'd be successful. Meera was far too clumsy to make a good hunter so she seldom managed to catch anything. Prey was abundant in the forest so it did not take her long to come across a rabbit nibbling on some grass in the center of a tiny clearing. The she-wolf prowled closer determinedly alas as quickly as the wolf had located the prey this prey realized that it was being hunted. The clumsy wolf had of course managed to make a loud snapping noise by stepping on a twig. The rabbit dashed out of the clearing and a cream white blur dashed after it. The chase led halfway through the forest until finally the rabbit scurried into a clearing inhabited by its own kind, a moment later it vanished having found safety under the earth. Meera skidded to a halt and watched the creature disappear in the small earthy hole. The cream she-wolf's paws reached after it but alas the effort was a futile one, the creature was gone and wouldn't be poking its nose near the entrance of the burrow anytime soon.

The she-wolf sat down giving an exasperated sigh, another sound came from the wolfs body this was her empty stomach giving a slight rumble. She was panting heavily so she sat for quite a while trying to get her breath now. Gradually her breathing began to slow until it returned to its normal rate. It was pure luck when something caught the females eye. With the wolf being there so long a mouse had crept out of its hiding place thinking the predator was gone. Even Meera was skilled enough to catch prey as easy as this. All it took was one blow from her paw to smash the little animals skull. She scooped it up in her jaws and swallowed it whole not caring about the hair. A mouse was not enough to fill her stomach but it would do her for now.

The fae's stomach gave a second rumble not as loud as the last one just still audible. Meera would have to find more prey but not now, her legs still ached from chasing that rabbit through the forest and her mouth was dry. With her mouth screaming for her to hydrate it the lone she-wolf began to move forwards again. Her paws carried her towards the river this time not as rapidly as before her energy level was too low for that so her pace stayed at a walk. The river wasn't all too far from here anyway, she saw no need to hurry herself.

Soon the sound soft of water tinkling came to Meera's ears so she so she knew that she was close. As she drew ever closer a though crossed the hungry wolfs mind. What about some fishing? She never had the patience for it so she had not the practice the acquire much skill at fishing but she was hungry and it couldn't hurt to try. A beaver would be easy prey if she managed to get it out of the water. Of course the problem was getting the animal out of the water, the cream she-wolf had no idea how she should go about that. First of all she needed to quench her thirst then she would see about some hunting by the river. You'll find something to eat she thought trying to raise her spirits A day without food won't kill you anyways.

Finally Meera had reached her destination, there it was the river. It was obviously in its mature stage, the flow was slow not rushed like that of a younger river. Just right if she wanted to swim or fish. The ecru she-wolf moved towards the rivers edge at a slightly faster pace than before, halting just before her paws reached the water. She lowered her head opening her mouth to reveal a pink tongue, that pink tongue proceeded to lap up the water from the river. The water was ice cold really not something she wanted to put her paws in, maybe trying fishing should wait until summer. So the alabaster fae discarded the idea and left her paws carry her forwards in a different direction to continue on her search for prey.

Unintentionally Meera made her way closer to the border between her packs territory and that of the yerizhan pack. The soft breeze soon brought the scent of another wolf to her nostrils. It wasn't the familiar odor of her own pack so she was uncertain if it was that of a lone wolf or of a member of the Yerizhan pack. One of her faults was of course her lack of caution so she made a beeline towards where the scent was coming from. Not long later the cream hued she-wolf reached the border. She slowed down to a walk when her pale green eyes focused on the other wolf. By now she was pretty sure that this was a lone wolf and not one from the enemy pack, he didn't smell of Yerizhan and she was not the type to be suspicious. "Hey there" she called out to the male. Really she should have been more careful, if this wolf wanted to fight her chances of winning were slim. Yes she was a trained fighter and she was relatively large for a she-wolf but this male out massed her quite easily. Her stance was neutral neither asserting dominance or being submissive, she was just excited to see a new wolf her mind wasn't on the possible risks.

Meera continued moving forwards towards the loner moving neither at a brisk nor sluggish pace. She did not pause nor slow when he rose abruptly to his feet, for all she knew he could be getting up to prepare himself to attack her but that did not occur to the creamy white fae. Luckily the male didn't seem to want to attack her, not yet anyways. Both ears pointed in his direction her undivided attention was on the wolf who introduced himself to be Maverick. So near the territory of the Yerizhan she should be listening out with one ear just in case a wolf from the enemy pack was approaching especially with the wind not being in her favor. The wind was blowing her scent and the lone males towards the Yerizhan wolves so if one of them was near the border they would not miss it. It was fortunate that the loners scent had not attracted anyone from the other pack yet. The numbers were low in both packs so each pack would do its best to win lone wolves over to join their packs. The ecru fighter knew that if she could get this wolf to join them the alpha was very unlikely to turn him down and he would surely be pleased with her. Personally she thought a new pack mate would be nice too, newcomers were always interesting!

Meera figured from the way Maverick tripped over his first few words that he must be either shy, uncomfortable or maybe she had just caught him off guard. Although the distance between them was still too large for her olive eyes to notice the way he lowered his eyes to the ground it was quickly closing with each of the alabaster wolfs strides. "It's nice to meet you Maverick" she spoke in a friendly tone, this time she did not have to raise her voice she was close enough so her normal tone would suffice. "My name is Meera" she introduced herself flashing her pearly white teeth in what was a warm smile. "Intruding? No of course not" her smile turned into a grin as she gave a vigorous shake of her head. Being the social butterfly she was Meera was not one bit shy of this new male. Seeing a new face instantly put her in a good mood and caused her to forget about her hunger.

A few paces more and Meera came to a halt in front of the other wolf. "I'm from the Naharis pack by the way" she informed him after all he might not know which side belonged to her own pack and which belonged to the Yerizhan pack, better to be on the safe side and let him know. Of course it was ironic that while forgetting to be on the look out for wolves from the other pack she managed to remember to inform him which of the two packs was hers. "What brings you here handsome?" she asked her tone still remaining friendly. Calling this stranger handsome was probably something she ought not have done, her own pack mates might know that the young she-wolf was a flirt but this wolf did not know her. He would not know that she flirted with anyone be it her alpha to random strangers like himself, it wasn't a sign that she was interested in him. The cream coloured wolf lowered her rump to the ground so that she was now sitting across from the male. Her light green orbs now moved to study him carefully, from a distance she had not noticed the scars that littered his body. She was tempted to ask about them but for once she held her tongue, that could wait first she would await his reply. She cocked her head slightly gazing at the loner while she waited for him to speak.

Archer made his way down the Yerizhan border, padding along, his tail swishing through the brush. Every so often, he would sniff the air or, more rarely, look behind him: however, most of the time, he continued his walk, tongue lolling out his mouth casually. He had been assigned the task of border patrol from the higher-ups, and, although this was a lowly job, he didn't particularly mind. Better here, walking around and being active, than lazing about with nothing to do! At least, that was the way he saw it - he'd choose active activities over still ones any day. What was the point of staying still? Out there, out in the wild marsh of life, there were adventures to be sought out, dragons to fight, and possibly even a pretty damsel to save.

At this thought, he let a grim smile tug at the corner of his mouth like a little lost child. And then it was gone, as quickly as it had arrived.

However, out here, on the borders, there was a definite shortage of dragons to fight, adventures to sought out and pretty damsels to save from the jaws of the nightmares: it was just the same as it always was, and that was the way it had always been: it never changed out here. It was nice, granted, but things were a little more exciting further within the territory. There was certainly a larger percentage of damsels there. Dragons? Maybe Maeve had some hidden away. A chuckle came from black lips. He wouldn't be surprised if Maeve was a dragon herself, the way she behaved. Talk about a wolf wearing sheep's clothing: had they ever considered a dragon in a wolf's? Now that would be a story to tell the pups that were going to be coming this season.

Still, lame jokes aside and all that about adventures, Archer was happy to be on a nice walk in the morning: getting some good morning air in his lungs and all that. To be honest, Archer didn't really care about health and so on: after all, it just seemed to be a bunch of old healers who had made that up one day out of the blue, and all the stuff they had told him not to do back in his old pack - which he had done, by the way - hadn't put him in any greater or lesser health. The only things he did abide by in terms of health is to never eat wolf meat or meat that looks or smells funny, and to never eat yellow snow. His younger brother had tried that, once - tried to eat yellow snow. And all the spluttering and retching that had followed when Archer had finally told him! The memory made a spark of humour dance in his pupils. But there was revenge, and then there was sibling-rivalry-revenge: his brother had laced his bedding with more of that yellow snow for the duration of the week that followed after that particular little stunt. Still, it was fun. There was no denying it, that was clear: Archer had enjoyed the event, and as he always said, one had to get their pleasures while they could. Where better yet than when with one's own brother?

Archer was disturbed from his cheerful little reverie by the sound of voices, and, at the sound of this, he perked up considerably, glancing around for any sight of them. He detected them soon enough: they were just over the rise, right next to the border. At first, he thought them to be a gang of rogues, and, for a brief moment, his friendly facade vanished and he was all for confronting them, but he relaxed when he heard the familiar voice of another of his own pack: Cepheus, one of the fighters, if he recalled correctly. What's going on here? He frowned, and then rushed forward, approaching the group.

And what a sight! There was one female from Neharis, and one rogue, a male. The rogue looked particularly scared, but, as Archer thought wryly, he had a reason to be: he was with a Neharis member, after all. They were damn scary, and this one was probably as well, although she was weaker than the rogue. And there, next to them, was Cepheus, trying politely to get them off Yerizhan land. He bounded over, looking with interest towards the two nearly-intruders.

"And 'ello, who do we have here?" he asked genially, an open smile dancing on his features. He looked for all the world relaxed. For all the world. "A Neharis member?" He playfully frowned. "Didn't know you lot were into flirting with loners." He shrugged, as though this was something new. It wasn't. "And speaking about loners - you seem new here. Welcome to the border of Yerizhan, as Cepheus said so warmly." This was of course directed towards the rogue, and also partly towards Cepheus: however, the tone was in jest and he winked towards the lower ranked male, not actually meaning any offense whatsoever.