A Change of Scenery [Open]

[Cascade]

Spring meant little to the barrens. Where elsewhere—even in the shrubland—there was an explosion of color from blossoming flowers and new leaves, these rocky plains echoed with stillness and gloom. The ground was littered with bare twigs and dry weeds, and the rocks...Narcotic hated these rocks. Baked by the sun, they were hot to the touch and caught her off guard more than once as she padded through. So much for a leisurely stroll.

Narcotic was blessed to have grown up in one of the largest and most desirable territories in the valley. Her mother said she would want for nothing, and it was true...except for a little variety. The pup was just old enough to wander unsupervised, and she intended to take full advantage. Where she grew up, the trees created a thick canopy which let in scattered shafts of light and patches of warmth. Here, there was no cover to be seen. The sun beat down. It was not wholly unpleasant, either—the sun shone down, unchallenged, onto Narcotic's whole body, warming her to the bones.

The pup focused on a small patch of dirt, concentrating on the idea of digging a hole. A chunk of the cracked ground wobbled, then flaked into a few pieces. Not a strong showing. 'It's a stubborn dirt...' she thought to herself, soothing her bruised ego, 'Much more difficult to move around than moist ground.'

That was enough practice for one day. Her power was born into her, was it really necessary to do daily exercises? She did not have to make "practice" of sleeping or snapping her jaws; what a preposterous idea. When she was older, her power would develop naturally. Inwardly, the pup imagined herself uprooting trees and creating great landslides in an instant, like her mother. Obviously she was just too young for such feats...but one day, it would be hers.

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It was surprisingly hot for a spring day, but Adante knew it wasn't that bad. The rabbit-ish young wolf was walking through the barrens, aptly named, his large paws easily keeping him on top of the gently drifting sand. The barrens were beautiful in their own way. They may not be lush and succulent like the vibrant forests of the deeper valley, the desert heather was in bloom, its dusky lilac blooms small but sufficient. The ivory pup was quite entranced by the pastel beauty of the barrens, the crystalline soil and shimmering, shallow streams. The sky itself was a cornflower blue, reminiscent of the morning water of Kai Lake. 

Adante had been traveling alone for most of his life, his early seasons with his parents cut terribly short by the crushing jaws of Alphess Skia. Adante remembered that day with a heavy solemnity and suffocating grief. However the memories gave him determination and hope, gratitude as well. He now looked out at the world with a light, forgiving heart. The valley had attempted to reconcile with him by providing his with prey. The short tailed hewolf had been feeding upon left-over carcasses, discarded by the bounteous throngs of wolves in the valley. He had taught himself to hunt of course, but he wasn't very good at it; one could clearly tell by the thinness of his belly and the raggedness of his pelt. However, as his fur was dull, his eyes were oddly bright. Those eyes, distracted by such odd colors immediately found another wolf. She was young, around his age. He took a step back, remembering the last wolves he had seen, the cruelty in their eyes. And so he hid behind a sparse scrub bush and watched, struggling to determine whether or not it was safe to come foreward.

[Cascade]

It was hard to hide in such a dry landscape—the crackling and snapping of footsteps on dried plant matter alerted Narcotic to the presence of another. Whirling around, she was relieved to see that it was only another pup—and a scrawny one at that. He would be easy to defeat. 'If it came to that.' Narc reminded herself, remembering that she was entrusted not to go out of her way to start trouble when it wasn't needed.

"Nice hiding spot," she snarked. No bush in this barren place was plump enough to hide any wolf; patches of cream pelt showed through the clumps of bare twigs. "Might as well come on out."

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Her head whipped towards him, her bright green eyes staring him down through the scant underbrush. He gulped, avoiding her gaze as he crept out from behind the bush, his pelt burning from the embarrassment of being caught staring. The red and white shepup was easy to spot in this scenery, he supposed he was no desert hued wolf himself, his sunset and blue markings not quite suited for the art of camouflage. "Hey-" His voice came out raspy, for lack of use and he quickly paused to clear his throat with a cough before continuing. "Er, hi." He ducked his head slightly, short-tail wagging lowly;  a tentative smile struggling onto his maw. He wasn't quite sure how to act, but he knew he couldn't seem weak. Weakness got wolves hurt. So with another cough, he raised his head, squared his shoulders and smiled fully. 

[Cascade]

The other pup revealed himself and stared back at her with a dopey grin. He was a loner for sure, no pack that she knew of had wolves in such a state. Her own pelt was thick and sleek, and she was ever so slightly plump with puppy fat. Narcotic was never one to miss a meal, their hunters were skilled and dedicated.

It didn't bother her that this pup apparently had so little while she had so much. In a world of Have's and Have-Not's, she was delighted to be a Have. Some wolves were just born better—it was nobody's fault, just the honest truth. He didn't look evil to her, but hey, first impressions were often wrong. You could never know who was sane and who slept on a pile of severed heads at night, looks could be deceiving.

Either way, she saw no reason to be overly cautious. The young pup stood tall, facing the stranger head on. "Pleased to meet you," she said, although a wolf who would run and hide at the mere sight of a stranger didn't truly please her. She could be polite...if she wanted to. "I suppose you have a name?"

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Adante was pleased that the shepup hadn't reacted sorely. She had stayed, that was a plus. She stood in front of him, obviously bigger than him, if he ate more his frame wouldn't have been so stunted. He supposed being malnourished wasn't a normal appearance. For this shewolf possessed thick, shiny fur and a healthy glow. The only glow he held was his overjoyed personality. He laughed as she prompted him to state his name and with a grandeur bow and flourish of his paw. "Adante at your service!" His higher voice was immature and cracked when he talked, his face burned as it did so, a sheepish grin consuming him. He had quickly grown comfortable with this shepup. Or as comfortable as he could be. For he was still insecure about his voice and his past actions. Adante was always cautious at first. but surprisingly quick to open up, the naive-ness of pup hood clinging to him stubbornly. 

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Narcotic stifled a chuckle. 'At your service...I could get used to that.' she thought amusedly. This pup sure has a flair for showmanship in spite of clearly not knowing when his next meal would be. 'Always nice to meet someone who has their priorities straight,' she thought sarcastically.

"My name is Narcotic." She paused after introducing herself, raising and eyebrow to see if she would garner any reaction. Doubtful, sadly...it was not like Frigid Plague had sent out a birth announcement to the valley, and unlike Mother she had no infamy of her own to carry her name to distant ears. Not yet, at least.

"Looks like you're in the wrong place to find a meal," she observed, "I haven't seen so much as one scrawny mouse all morning. But maybe you're a lucky wolf—do you have any parents to speak of, or have you been suriving out here all by yourself?"

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Narcotic...an interesting name. It fit her well. He nodded at her declaration, though he didn't understand what was so funny. She had nearly laughed at him. Or at her name? He rolled his scrawny shoulders. Shake it off. Apparently, she thought he was in need of a meal? What gave her that idea?? Adante was thin, and very, very hungry. "Well..." Adante shrugged, his ruff rising as his belly rumbled. "I don't suppose you know of a good place?" The hungry male hinted, cocking his head to the side, smirking slightly. He batted his eyes adorably before bursting out laughing. Flattery and cuteness wouldn't get him to wherever she ate...at least he didn't think so....

[Cascade]

Narcotic's brow furrowed—it didn't escape her that he had completely dodged her question. The evasion made her hungry for the truth, whereas she couldn't have cared less five seconds previous. People didn't tiptoe around questions that did not have juicy answers. But she wouldn't get any further by interrogating him, so she'd be cordial.

"I have never hunted, myself," she explained, "I have others to do that for me. But I have some idea as to where food might be found." The young pup racked her brain for a mental map of the valley, cobbled together from what Mother had told her, and what little of it she had had the opportunity to explore on her own. "We would have to go through the Barren Wastes territory to get to the nearest meadow. It's unoccupied now, as far as I'm aware, but you never know what lowlifes might be lurking around." She was confident enough that she could fight off another pup, but in unclaimed territory you ran the risk of coming across a rag-tag group looking to create an official pack, and she was smart enough not to fancy her odds against the kind of wolves who would be comfortable calling that place home.

"To the east are the heathlands. It's not exactly a lush paradise, but in spring it's not so bad. There should be prey out and about." The arrogant young pup looked down her nose at him, "If you want a meal I suppose we'll have to settle for something small that we could catch ourselves. Have you ever even tasted deer?"

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Adante didn't miss the look on Narcotic's face after he skipped over replying to her question. What else should he have done?! Explain to her that his parents had been brutally murdered before his eyes by an evil red shewolf??? What perfect conversation material.  He was relieved when she didn't press the subject, instead turning to the subject of food. Something I could talk about all day. She mentioned a nearby meadow, where surely prey would be plentiful, but that required limping through the dilapidated Barren Wastes. He knew that place...the pack lands of Midnight Silence... the pack whose Alphess had destroyed his family. At the mention of such 'lowlifes' his smile faltered and a frown flickered on his features, his eyes darkening with a twinge of fear before brightening back to their happy-go-lucky electric yellow.  

The second option was much more appealing to him. The heath lands were closer and had an abundance of smaller prey. He looked forward to catching things himself...though he wouldn't want to fail and embarrass himself yet again in front of this shewolf who so obviously held him in disdain; perhaps even disgust or reproach! "I think the Heath lands are our best bet! Do you...er...want to go now?" Adante didn't really know how to socialize, which was painfully apparent at this time.

[Cascade]

(OOC: We'll say they head to the heathlands, but I will go ahead and keep it in this thread since it's not very long and the place they're going to isn't too far away.)

Narc huffed. Another question ignored. She wanted to know what this pup's deal was already—was he a poor orphan who had never had a taste of luxury in his life? Or perhaps it was the opposite—a prince, fallen from grace, desperate to keep the secret of his birth and fly under the radar. She doubted it, or at least wanted to. It didn't please her to think of this wolf being anything like her, even in days past.

"Follow me, pup," Narc said, even though she herself was a pup. She bounded off, subtly softening the ground where her paws landed to mitigate the sting of the impact on the hard ground, leaving little dusty paw imprints as she ran off towards the heather, slowing herself just enough so that her starved friend could keep pace.

It didn't take too long to reach their destination, and Narc was pleased to have made it there first. The fact that she had won a race against a disadvantaged opponent did not bother her in the slightest, and she took great pleasure in gloating. "Don't worry, little Adante," she teased, "We'll fatten you right up and maybe then you'll have the energy to keep up. I will help you, friend."

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She kept on looking at him weird. Was he doing something wrong? Leave it up to him to mess up. But he wasn't the kind of wolf to dwell on such things, and so he shrugged and followed. She spoke to him about fattening him up, the talk of food so lovely in his starved puppy ears that he dismissed her slight demeaning tone. After all, if she was willing to help him find food, how bad could she be? she seemed nice enough, she hadn't bitten his head off, and didn't seem likely to. Narcotic was turning out to be exactly what she had called him, a friend.

When the pair had reached the heathlands, or what Narcotic had said it was he put all his senses on alert. Through his eyes, he scanned the dusty brush and tufts of grass, zeroing in on rustling foliage and blocky shadows. With his nose, he could open up the barren land and realize that the foot hills of the mountains were actually bursting with life. The scents of jack rabbits, lizards and mule deer all reaches his muzzle on the fragrant, dry breeze. Using his ears he could hear the grating sounds of reptiles on the grainy sand, and the low hoot of an owl. "How do you decide what to hunt?" Adante whispered in awe at the variety of choices.

[Cascade]

Narcotic's eyes scanned the rocks and crevices of the scrubland, looking for anything that might be lurking, ready to scamper from hungry jaws. "How do I decide?" she asked, chuckling as Adante revealed what a novice he was. Of course, she too was a novice, but that was a trifling matter. She would be gaining experience in this "hunting" business right here, right now. And she would excel at it, because excellence was in her genes.

"Well, anything bigger than us is right out," She paused, looking his scrawny form up and down, "Actually, let's say anything bigger than me. We don't want to have to cross squirrels and mice off the list." The pup grinned widely, hoping her new friend would find her joke as funny as she did.

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Adante smiled at her joke. She had played on his scrawny size, which, had he not been himself he would've been slightly self-conscious about. She hadn't stopped laughing at him or giving him strange looks since they had met. He had come to terms with the possibility that he might be out-of-the-norm. He was a scrap, not really having been fed very well. Which was to be suspected, living on his own as soon as he was weaned. It wasn't his fault of course. But he couldn't help but feel like he should've done more. However he couldn't dwell on emotional thoughts at the present moment, he was hungry and he had a companion. She was smart, and a knowledgeable shewolf. She was about the same age, but seemed so much more capable. She seemed so much his elder, and so Adante would continue to respect her. But not too much, Adante was a happy-go-lucky he pup and he wouldn't cease his humor in her presence. He simply didn't see the practicality in it.

Looking out over the landscape once more, he spotted a bundle of lizards sunning on a rock. "What about those?" He whispered, feeling the need to lower his higher voice. "they look easy to catch, they're asleep." The lizards were a mottled gray and orange, their scaly skin dry and smooth. The more he looked at them, the more he wanted to crush them in his jaws and fill his belly. It truly had been a long while since he had eaten.