Making Her Own Way

[forte]

It was early morning, and a dark reddish-purple she-wolf bounded through the deep snow drifts that defined the vast plains of the valley. For once in her life, Heresy was actually happy. Her whole life she had been treated as little more than an inconvenience and hadn't known how to change that, but now she finally had control over her own life, her own destiny. Being kicked out of her pack had been a blessing.

The reddish she-wolf had traveled for many days in search of another pack, even keeping an eye out for loners, but her parents' pack had a bad reputation and it seemed that no one wanted to make their home nearby. She had been miles away before she had come upon another wolf, and even then he had been of no help. But now, finally, she had a lead on another pack. A whole crop of packs, actually, but it was only the largest one that interested Heresy. She couldn't remember exactly what the loner had said the pack's name was before he took off. Dark something... She had passed one territory on her way north, but it appeared to have been abandoned. Now she had stumbled upon another with a much stronger scent, a feeling this was it. The Dark Something pack.

After scoping out the scent border for a short ways, Heresy sat down in the snow, suddenly feeling something she did not like to feel. While normally she would try to brush off and forget her anxiety, this moment was important and for once she allowed herself to feel a little nervous. Whomever the alpha of this pack was, she knew she had to make a good impression, or she could be rejected, or even attacked. Heaven knew her life was hard enough as it was without the alpha of a pack after her.

After a few minutes of building up her courage, Heresy took a deep breath and howled, making her presence known to all wolves in the area, and then she sat still as a stone and watched the distant treeline to see if anyone would appear.

[Juice]

Purple eyes scanned the horizon, double checking the sun's position in the sky. It had been a long day of border patrol and Portia had simply been stewing in annoyance the entire time. The white, gray and black she wolf plodded along lazily remembering that her mother told her how important it was to do border patrol. She had serious doubts about that since she never saw her father or other siblings doing border patrol but she had mouthed off to Ilana and she was now being punished for it. Portia was just about to stretch and head back to her den since her shift would be over shortly when her torn, black ear caught a sound on the wind. The she wolf raced towards the sound.

Portia saw a reddish colored wolf waiting patiently at the borders and quickly decided that border patrol wasn't as big a waste of time as she originally thought. For a moment, Portia considered telling this new stranger that she was the alpha here but then thought better of it because Ilana would have beaten her to a pulp had she done something so mocking. Instead Portia decided that she would still make this a learning experience, as she was always trying to better her knowledge of leadership and alphahood, and deal with this new stranger all on her own without calling for help from her mother or father.

Coming to a stop in front of the new she wolf, Portia stood tall, held her head and tail high and said "My name is Portia. I am the heir to the Alphahood here at the Dark Donoma pack. What is it you seek here?" Although she was simply masquerading as a wolf with leverage, Portia thought she was doing quite well so far. She had been on many border patrols with Ilana where she had accepted new pack members and knew that this was how it was done. The white she wolf only looked on at the wolf before her and waited for an answer.

[forte]

Heresy's heart began to race faster as she traced the path of another wolf across the snow-blanketed fields. She made herself sit still and tried to appear dignified. She may have been a loner, but that didn't mean that she was not worthy of some respect.

The other wolf, a female, white as snow but for some scattered black and grey markings, stopped near Heresy and spoke. The reddish she-wolf felt a rush of relief as Portia spoke the name of her pack. Dark Donoma, that was it. Feeling more confident now that she knew the name of the pack and that she had found the right one, Heresy lifted her head a little higher. She had never joined a pack before, but she guess it would be good to try to appear strong. All packs wanted strong wolves in their ranks. "My name is Heresy," she announced. I seek entrance into your pack."

[Juice]

Portia looked the red wolf up and down with her purple eyes. She was confident and held herself well, not to mention she was respectful of the pack borders. Porita was sure her mother Ilana would approve of this wolf so there really wasn't any reason not to accept her. "Well hello Heresy. I would be glad to accept you into the ranks of Dark Donoma but we don't take kindly to those who can't hold their own. Know that you need to be strong to survive here and that the alphas here, Rhett and Ilana, will not hesitate to kill you at the first sign of weakness or betrayal." Portia narrowed her eyes at Heresy and was about to ask what rank the red wolf felt would be a good fit for her but suddenly a sound reached her torn ear. The white and black wolf looked up and realized that the alphas were calling for her. "You are hereby accepted into the pack Heresy." Portia said. "Now if you'll excuse me, the alphas are calling me and I have to get going. Feel free to roam the pack territory and see if there is an open den you'd enjoy calling your own." and then the white she wolf ran off towards the source of the sound leaving Heresy to her own devices.

-Exit Portia-

ooc: Thanks for being so patient with me Forte. Sorry this took so long to get replied to! Also, as of new protocol (or rather old but now we're actually enforcing it) could you please post in the Pinboard with the appropriate template for a Status Update stating that Heresy has now joined Dark Donoma? I know it seems redundant since I'm a mod and I know you joined but we have to start keeping a clear record of everything in the Pinboard. Please see This thread for more information

[forte]

Heresy began to feel a sinking feeling in her stomach as Portia outlined the alphas' expectations, knowing that she did not meet them. Heresy had been surviving the past month only on carrion as she had searched for a new home, so she would be of no help if she were needed to hunt for the pack. She had limited training in combat, but she was sure anyone else in the pack could kick her butt, especially with her nearly starving from her trek, so she would not be able to prove herself against other packmates or help fend off a rival pack. And it sounded like Portia was going to ask her to prove her skills somehow....

Heresy was just beginning to think about bailing when she saw Portia's ear twitch toward some distant howl, and as the white wolf went bounding off into the territory, Heresy breathed a sigh of relief. She would not be asked to prove her worth, at least not yet, but still she could not feel safe. She had been accepted into a pack that might kill her if they knew that she was of no value to them. The magenta-furred wolf shivered a little at the thought. What to do next? Find someone in the pack whom she could trust to help her practice hunting and fighting, practice on her own, or go straight to the alphas and ask them for help?

With a sigh, Heresy chose neither option. Portia had suggested finding a den, which seemed like a good option given the cold weather. Still feeling anxious about her new pack, she stood and began to traipse, rather unenthusiastically, in the direction Portia had gone, hoping the pack's camp was in the same general direction.

-exit Heresy-