trip around the tunnels

[Destiny]

ooc: this thread is set after the 'parentless pup' thread...so the next morning.

ic:

Destiny, as she had recently been named, poked her nose out from the den which she'd slept in alongside Faith for the night. It was early in the morning, and the air was fresh and cool. The little muzzled sniffed the air cautiously, not having a clue why she did it, but remembered seeing another lycan do it at some point. Oh well, she'd learn, she figured.

Taking a single step, her right front paw crossed the threshold of the den and into the main chamber, very proud at her own achievement, she turned and glanced over her shoulder at the heap of covers on a bed. Faith sleeping. The sheets rose and fell with every breath that the blonde woman took, it'd been comforting to sleep alongside this woman last night, being kept warm and safe instead of outside, alone and cold.

Deciding that Faith was asleep, and wasn't about to wake at any moment soon, Destiny turned back, and walked out into the main chamber of the tunnels. She wouldn't be gone long, probably would be back in the den before Faith even began to wake up. But Destiny was bored and so wanted to explore her new surroundings.

She instinctively walked over to the fire, which had now gone out and was just smoking a little. This is where she and Faith had spent most of last night, getting to know each other. Destiny wagged her tail just at the thought of Faith coming to her rescue, taking her in and feeding her. The pup may not have had a great deal of understanding about many things, but she'd known that she'd been close to death when she stumbled across this place.

Next, she caught the scent of meat, she followed it to the source: which was a freshly killed stag. Destiny tilted her head as she peered at it: stepping closer, she nudged it softly with her right front paw, wondering why it wasn't moving. Then she realized that the beautiful stag was dead, and her tail and head drooped simultaneously.

Falling backwards to sit on her hind legs Destiny began to whimper ever so quietly, as she continued to watch the still creature.

[Kage]

"Why so sad, little one?"

Kage moved quietly into the room, drawn by the pups quiet whimpers. Clad only in a pair of black cotton pajama pants, he approached the pup carefully. Whose was she?

He sat down behind Destiny, legs crossed, palms resting gently atop his knees, watching Destiny, waiting for her to respond.

[Destiny]

Destiny jumped in shock as a male appeared behind her. Jumping to her feet, and running behind the dead stag for cover, she peared nervously out at the male, ducking back for cover every now and again behind the stag.

'He won't get up' she said, her tiny little mental voice sounding nervous as she answered Kage's question.

[Kage]

Kage winced as Destiny made the tiny little statement in his head, he did not relish the thought of explaining Life and Death to such a young pup, but it appeared he had to.

"Well sweety, sometimes, when people need to survive, they have to do it at the expense of other creatures. Us Lycans, for instance, thought we can assume human form, we dont.... mix well, with the general human populace. Thus, we have to hunt, and animals like these," He said, indicating the stag between the pair.

"Make the sacrifice so we can go on."

Kage briefly contemplated making the whole 'Circle of Life' schtick, but decided to wait.

[Jagger]

Creeping out of his den silently, tail-first, Jagger cautiously pulled the door closed behind him with his paw. Quietly, he ventured down the looming tunnel towards the entrance of the den where he knew his mother went with all the other lycans so often. His pointed ears were forward, listening to the two voices he could hear, a man and a girl, both lycans.

Sniffing the air like the hunter he was pretending to be, Jag pushed his nose to the dirt and took a big whiff, keeping his body low to the ground as he stalked along the tunnel further. He saw the man sitting cross-legged in front of a dead stag and behind the rotting animal Jag saw a shy white wolf-pup.

He didn't emerge from the shadows; instead he lurked closer to the man, until he was right behind him, just off to the side, still in darkness, his brown eyes the only visible part of him unless one looked closely.

'But what about his kind then?' Jagger asked uneasily, standing his ground bravely near the two he didn't yet know. This was his first time out of his den without his mum, and the man looked strong. Although he tried hard not to show it, the male pup was feeling slightly nervous.

[Kage]

Kage mentally rolled his eyes, recalling the 'Circle of Life' schtick used in the Lion King. He spread his hands in a sage-like manner

"When something dies, its esscence becomes something else. When Lycans die, we become the grass. The other animals, they eat the grass, and we eat them. It all comes together in the Circle of Life." He said sagely.

[Jagger]

Jagger watched the man closely, he was smart. But Jagger couldn't help wondering one thing, he'd heard from other lycans, when his eyes were still closed, and then from his mother, but she had been crying when she told him. He looked at the ground for a few minutes, wondering whether to say anything else or not.

Taking a few steps forward, Jag took the courage to sit beside the man and prop his two front paws up on the man's right knee, sitting his back half down on the ground. Staring at the man with large brown eyes he looked confused and crooked his head to the side before saying in a very weak voice:

'But we're immortal...'

[†Faith Winters†]

“Yes, we are immortal, we can not die from age, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t dangers out there, we still have to be careful,” Came a soft voice from the doorway of one of the chambers. Letting a yawn out, Faith pushed herself off of the doorframe she was leaning on, and stretched.

She had been in the middle of a pleasant dream when she had heard voices out in the main chamber, and had awoken. After a moment or two of panicking from the lack of Destiny being there, she figured she should probably go check to see if the little pup had wandered into the main room.

When Faith had exited the chamber she had slept in, Kage had just begun to talk to Destiny, curious to see the interaction between the two; Faith had remained silent, leaning against the doorframe.

“Good job, Kage, really did love that movie,” She said with a wink and a playful smile as she walked over to Destiny and scooped her up carefully, and beginning to scratch her stomach lightly and placing a light kiss on the white lycans head, “You should tell me before you wander off, kiddo”

[Destiny]

Destiny tilted her head, and stared at Kage as he explained life and death, and then the circle of life. It was all a bit too much for the white pup, and she didn't quite understand yet.

From her position behind the stag, she nudged it gently with her right paw again, willing it to move and get up. But it didn't.

Destiny's muzzle dropped again in sorrow, but didn't remain there long as a male pup arrived, jumping to her feet, she walked over slowly, her tail wagging back and forth at such a speed that it almost blurred.

"HI!" she squealed, as she reached the male, her royal blue eyes looking straight into his, as she met him, and pushed their muzzles together, before raising her right paw and batting him playfully. "Who are you?"

Her whole attention had now shifted from the solem mood about death, to a happy mood about meeting another pup, about her age. Jumping with excitement Destiny yet out a yelp of surprise as she was suddenly lifted into the air by Faith.

Laying on her back in Faith's arms Destiny closed her eyes with comfort as Faith scratched her stomach, had she been a cat she'd have been purring.

"Sorry Faith, but I was bored..." she said, opening her eyes to gaze at Faith giving Faith her best puppy dog eyes!

[Kage]

Kage looked at Destiny in mock-indignation as she went right past him to Jagger. "What, is Uncle Kage not good enough entertainment for you?" He asked.

Then, he looked down at Jagger, ".... who are you, exactly?" Not having seen the pup before.

[†Faith Winters†]

Letting out a soft chuckle as Destiny yelped, Faith rose her eyebrows slightly, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya kiddo”

Grinning slightly at Destiny’s puppy dog eyes, Faith shook her head, “S’ok, I understand, no one wants to sit around and do nothing, just, be careful when you wander off, and don’t wander far… It’s OK for you to wander around in here, but you shouldn’t leave the tunnels, OK? Don’t want anything happening to you,”

Turning her crystalline gaze towards Kage, she smirked slightly, “Aww, I think you hurt ‘Uncle Kage’s’ feelings Destiny, humor him a little bit, that’s what the rest of us do,” She said, smiling at Kage, before poking her tongue out.

[† Alissa †]

'Daaaaaaaaad!!! Make Mommy wake up! She's being lazyyyy!' Alissa laughed as she ran into the den, probably when she shouldn't have done. The little brown pup was beginning to become more excitable by the day, and found herself running around more than sleeping as of late.

Rounding the corner into the den, she giggled again. Dad!! Come... Oooh... who's that?' she asked, tilting her little head to one side at the sight of a little white pup she had never seen before. 'Do you think I can be friends with her? Do you? Can I? Pleeeease?' Alissa asked, taking a step forwards and smiling as much as a wolf can at Faith, who she didn't know very well, before tilting her head at another wolf she didn't know. 'Whoa.. lots of new friends!'

[Jagger]

Jagger looked over to the doorway that Faith was leaning on as she walked out, bobbing his head up and down to show he was taking in what she said. His cocoa eyes caught the ground a minute and he hopped off Kage's knee and wandered back towards the tunnel, still watching the ground as he went.

But then he was confronted by the earlier pup as she bumped her muzzle into his and batted him. Snorting in surprise, Jag turned his nose up at this behaviour and fell back on his haunches as she batted him -clearly stunned by it all.

Barking a bit as he coughed back the surprise he quickly prodded the ground hard with all four paws and stood up straight, cocking both ears forward at the man as he asked who Jag was. 'My name's Jagger, my mother is Rogue, do you know her?' He asked with a boyish voice, stretching his tail out neatly as he sat back again.

He watched the other pup run into the room, addressing the man as her father. This pup seemed way more interested in the white pup, and Jagger hardly noticed her.

[Destiny]

Destiny jumped, and hid herself in Faith's shirt even more as the sound of an energetic pups frightening her half to death, peering out nervously she spotted the brown pup and watched her.

"She's loud, ain't she Faith?" she asked, her features in a frown.

She then turned her attention back to the black male pup, for some reason she found him very interesting, but didn't understand why.

"I like him though!" she said, again to Faith.

[† Alissa †]

'I'm not loud,' Alissa answered, her telepathic voice sounding shocked. 'If you think I'm loud, wait until you meet Cealla! You are going to meet her, aren't you? You're staying, right?' Alissa asked, getting happier by the second. Before long, games of Fox and Hound would become much more interesting with more pups to play with.

Turning to the black wolf who had apparently completely ignored her on her entrance, Alissa tilted her head again, toppling over as she tilted it too far. 'Ouch!' she giggled, getting upright in a lying position. 'Who're you? Have I seen you before?'