Walk through the Westwood (Open and Tagged)

[Fierfly]

((Meds))

Kailypso:

A wood pigeon had finally filled her empty belly and now she was back on the road, finally able to enjoy the scenery. Massive, russet-barked sentinels stood guard around her, giving that particular section of the forest a quiet calm of peace and serenity. A light powder of snow, maybe three inches deep compared to the three feet in the open lands of the valley easily revealed her trail, but she didn't care. The gentle drifting flakes misting down from the high branches through the cold, pale sunlight and the deep, earthen red was a beautiful compliment of colors on that winter morning. Oh yes, Kailypso knew how to appreciate beauty, she did it often. She loved the outdoors and roaming through the forests in particular, there was always that beautiful feeling of wonder and awe as she strolled between the mature trees and wondered and what they'd seen through their many years of guarding their own patch of wood.

The rich scent of earth and loam of decayed bark and fern mixed with the cold, clear of the snow made the young she-wolf feel extra alive and put her in quite the good mood. With a rather innocent, childish little grin she skipped once, never minding her bad shoulder and dashed madly through the maze of tall, red trunks. Paws slipping and sliding beneath her as she ran and dashed and pushed off against the trunks as she skidded abound the forest floor. A rare giggle bubbled up and the honey-gold eyes danced as she scooped a small pile of snow onto her snout and tossed her head up into the air, the snow flying with it and the fine little ice crystals caught the rays of the sun in their icy patterns.

Her nose was cold now! She sat down and brushed a paw over the bright yellow snout to try and get the feeling back in it, then the round ears came up and the nose rose to tease the air. Were those footsteps? Was someone there? She got back to all four paws and gently raised the ginger-brown ruff. The laughter went out of the golden orbs and she cautiously began scanning the area to find who'd been watching her.

[Meds]

Kanga;

Footsteps indeed. Heavy, large footsteps, that left gaping holes in the snow where the monster had walked. It was Kanga, and though the snow was deep, it barely brushed the underside of his belly. The weather had to be severe before it hampered his movement. His ruddy coat stuck out like a sore thumb in the pristine white surroundings, and his legs were soaked from the snow by then. Since the bottom part of his fur was wet, it was shining more red than brown, though his top-half was still chocolate. It made for an interesting picture.

Eventually, he got out of the deep snow and into the Redwoods. He sighed, big head swivelling and drinking in the surrounding quiet. It always felt extra quiet when he was without Manaaki, but today wasn't as bad because their parting had not left a sour taste in his mouth. He had simply been bored, and Manaaki had been far too calm, and so the younger twin had escaped. Running would often go badly in the snow, what with not being able to see holes or stumps, and so he had resigned himself to a walk. Most often he could be found running or wrestling with his brother, and so the feeling of walking and being alone with his thoughts (or lack thereof) was almost strange. Foreign.

Up ahead, he thought he heard a giggle. Sound travelled over snow and quiet more easily than it did over water sometimes, and so he was sure that had been what he heard. He grinned, and launched off the path into the many trunks, displaying his speed and finesse, always so surprising with a body such as his. A few more paces brought him in sight of a female playing in the snow. Kanga's keen eyes quickly discerned that she favoured one side but didn't seem too bothered by it while busy playing in the flakes. He smiled, rolling his large shoulders.
He must not have been quite as stealthy as he thought, though, because all at once she froze. Her hackles raised and all laughter died in an instant. Kanga rolled his eyes and stepped out from the trees. Some wolves were so defensive; then again, with his size and general know-how he had never had to be defensive. Huh. The things you realize when the annoying older brother wasn't there.

"Surprise," He said lamely, his deep voice punctuating the smile in his words. It was a ridiculous thing to say, because she clearly already knew he was there. He sat a respectable distance away and fixed her with his ringed stare and gave her a crooked grin.
"Hello."

[Fierfly]

Kailypso:

A low, baritone greeting off to one side made her whip her head around and she turned to study the new-comer. Oh gosh...he was enormous! She maybe made it to his shoulder, maybe. Strong, powerful legs easily propelled him forward and a mighty tail waved lightly behind him. A crooked grin formed around the dangerously sharp teeth and she wouldn't have been surprised if she could have fit her head inside his maw. He sat down a respectful distance away and politely nodded in greeting, the mild grin never slackening. Deep brown eyes ringed with gray casually looked her up and down and copper-tinted brown fur waved in the mild breeze. He didn't look too unfriendly, and despite his size he seemed to be a sort of gentle giant.

She never trusted first impressions.

Her ears tilted back and she flicked her lip as she considered how to proceed. How long had he been watching her? And why? Had he just been hesitant to interrupt her playtime? Or had he been watching her for some other reason? Gosh, she hadn't accidentally wandered into that Forest of Love place had she? Power preserve her if she had, she definitely didn't want to be there, flirtatious advances were the last things she was after.

No, he didn't look like the flirtatious type but then, (as her family had been so fond of reminding her before she left,) what did she know? Especially when it came to males. Nothing, she knew nothing. Fine, she'd admit it, but he was remaining respectful and the crooked tilt to the grin was roguish without appearing too menacing. Her caution was still up and her ruff refused to flatten, but she did manage to turn to face him and slowly eased herself back onto her haunches, she could at least be polite. "'Morning," she nodded.

[Meds]

Kanga;

She did not trust him-it was painfully obvious. Kanga could understand that, though. He, too, rarely trusted strangers; often though, with himself, his mistrust was a lot less apparant. He never had to ruffle himself up to appear larger—he already was larger. When his hackles raised and he revealed his teeth, he became not only gargantuan, but horrifying as well. Such displays were usually unnecessary though, because there was rarely an opportunity to react thus; especially during a first meeting.
He looked her over as if he was a (smaller statured) threat. He supposed that seeing her ill at ease, all fluffed up and sharp, would make him think twice about causing her trouble.

Usually Kanga didn't open up to strangers very easily, but seeing as how he had happened upon her and she was so uncomfortable, he thought it only polite to introduce himself and try to make nice.
"I'm Kanga." He dipped his head ridiculously low, burying his nose in the small layer of snow at their feet. He snuffled a few times, melting and blowing the snow about in equal parts. Straightening again, he grinned down at her, large tail thrashing. "What's with your gimpy shoulder?"

See? This is why he needed Manaaki around. To contain him. Ahh well, it was probably for the best. He really was curious, after all. Besides, it's not like he would offend her. Currently, his very presence seemed to be offending her. He himself had never sustained any permanent (physical) injuries before, and it was interesting to him. Was she born with the defect? Was there some dark secret or story that she wouldn't share with him? Would she get angry that he asked? Basically he just wanted to get a reaction from her, and if he got the information as well, it was just a bonus.

[Fierfly]

Kailypso:

He glanced her up and down again, grin slipping ever so slightly before he very chivalrously bowed his head to the ground, burying his own snout in the snow and then snuffling and blowing it about as he inhaled an odd crystal or two. If he hadn't been big enough to step on her and hadn't surprised her the way he had then she might have found it funny. Such a huge creature compromised by a little snow? Definitely not a mal-inclined wolf, there was no way they'd bother playing with the snow, not like this. Either it was entirely accidental or purely friendly and careless, she didn't care either way, it only assured her that she needn't bear her teeth at this one. At least, not yet.

"I'm Kanga." Kanga? An interesting name - not that she could talk about those - it had almost a bounce and a clip to it, easy to say, kind of a nice name all in all. His grin came back and he tilted his head down to appropriately meet her gaze for a conversation. Good grief, he was huge! She couldn't wonder at his size enough, she'd never seen such a huge- well...she'd seen one that came close. It had been an older male, barrel-chested and muscular like this one, but he'd been a wanderer and as usual she'd kept her distance, so she couldn't say she really knew anyone of his size, but having seen it only once...even if she'd seen it a million times on a thousand different wolves she'd still be in wonder as she had to tilt her head full-back to return the courtesy of eye-contact. "Name's Kailypso," she nodded back.

"What's with your gimpy shoulder?" her ears twitched back again and her lip raised for a split second and the fluffy winter ruff irked and puffed out even more. She raised her chin defiantly and sat back, "What about it?" she asked coolly. It had never bothered her before, she was determined it wouldn't now, especially not in front of this giant.

[Meds]

Kanga;

Kailypso, eh? It had a nice ring to it—not unlike his own name. He shook out his mane absently, chuckling outright at just how far she had to crane her neck back to look at him. He stretched his chin up towards the sky before letting his paws slide gently across the frozen ground, bringing his torso down the ground. Now on his belly, he had to look up at her (just). He hoped it would put her a little more at ease. Then she heard his question about her shoulder.

Ooo, she hadn't liked that. She fluffed up even more, and Kanga saw the glint of teeth. He smirked. He knew it was just a reaction of irritation on her part, but it could have been taken as agression. Laughing quietly so she would not actually be intimidated by him, Kanga shook his head sharply once, ruffling up his mane and hackles and flashing his own long canines for a split second. If this was a fluffing party, Kanga was in. He had planned on only keeping his neck raised, but it was too funny, so he allowed all of his fur to raise on end, travelling in a jagged line across his spine. He licked his teeth just once, before relaxing again. Red fur hid back within the brown once more, and he rolled onto his back casually, paws in the air, glancing at her upside down. Some would have thought this a submissive pose, but it was not.

"You tell me," Kanga said. They could both play the game of short with words. "What about it makes it... gimpy?" He purposely used the same word, eyes flashing and giving her one more crooked grin.

[Fierfly]

Kailypso:

Kanga took a moment to process her name, chuckled at her craned back head and slowly slid down on his forepaws and belly to be closer to her level. Aha! He now had to look up to see her! Even if it was just a little bit, it was an extremely kind gesture on his part to accommodate her, assure her that he meant no harm. She wasn't the type to let her guard down, but she no longer felt quite so hostile toward the giant...until he made his quip about her shoulder being "gimpy".

He smirked at her reaction, actually smirked! That almost irritated her more, no, it did irritate her more, but if he found it funny then she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing that. He chuckled again, shook his enormous head and flared his own ruff in return and gave her a good look at those long, sharp, dagger teeth in a dangerous smile of a split-second. She wasn't intimidated, he was just fooling around, if he thought it was funny to irritate her then he could go ahead and keep on doing that. To appease him she flared her ruff a little more, the scruff on the back of her neck puffed out until it was nearly standing on end and a quick shake and an entire ridge formed down her spine, continuing to her tail which fluffed and puffed to half again the size it had been. Her fur was not particularly long so even puffing didn't do much to increase her size and it never stayed up for very long. Now the fur along her neck and back was slowly settling back down and giving her a more awkward appearance, like a cub that had just been awoken from her nap. Kanga chuckled again and flared out the fur along his spine and tail as well, licked the dangerous knives in his mouth and then rolled over, belly-up and paws in the air, eyes shifting up so he could see her and grin still looking like a grin even upside down.

He pursued her shoulder again, he wanted to know what had happened to make it..."gimpy". Didn't he have any other way of describing it? No, of course not, he was trying to irritate her. She now shook herself over to flatten her rough and tilted her chin back defiantly again, shrugging her shoulders carelessly. "Just a silly accident when I was a cub." That darn crooked grin of his! "Got a problem with it Mr. Crooked Smile?"

[Meds]

Kanga;

Oh, now she really didn't like his display. As easy as breathing, Kanga's ruff settled once more. He was on his back anyway, so it wasn't hard—but it itched, so he shifted around in the snow until his fur was back where it was supposed to be. Her response to him was to attempt to get even larger, eyes bulging and the like. A bit of the light died in Kanga's eyes. What was the point of the display? Even on the offensive, she would be no match for Kanga. Not even a match. Besides, he clearly wasn't trying to frighten or challenge her... so what was the point? She looked silly, anyway. As if her mother had tried unsuccessfully to clean her pelt and left her mussy and confused. He chose not to comment on it though, and instead turned his eyes to the white, snowy sky.

She chose to reply to him, which he supposed was a win. She could have just walked away. She wouldn't have been the first to do so. ...
A silly accident when she was a cub? Interesting... It couldn't have been that silly, as she was so closed to talk about it and ever so defensive. Kanga's grin turned even more mischevious, but he swallowed his words—for once, showing restraint that Manaaki had not forced upon him.

Mr. Crooked Smile? ... He liked that.
"A problem?," Kanga repeated as he rolled over onto his belly. "On the contrary, I think it makes you look tough. Way tougher than me. I'm a little bit big—but I've got no real ailment. Scars, sure, but actual war wounds? Nah. For all anybody knows I'm just for looks, can't do anything. But you?" He shook his head and grinned. "For all I know, your 'silly little accident' could be when you assassinated an entire enemy pack at the tender age of two months, and I'm actually in grave danger." His eyes widened and reflected seriousness, but laughter flashed there, too.

[Fierfly]

Kailypso:

He wiggled around in the snow a while as though appeasing an itch or a sore spot and glanced up at the sky for a moment, then craned his head and rolled to his side and then his belly as he processed and replied to her barb about her 'gimpy' shoulder giving him a problem. "On the contrary, I think it makes you look tough." Kailypso scoffed. "Who, me? Sweet little Kaily 'tough'? Never." she dismissively shook her head, but let a tiny smirk that nicely showed her teeth curved in what could almost be described as an-almost pleased or even slightly amused smile shone through for a split-second. The slightly down-turned corner of her mouth came back but the frostiness in her eyes didn't and though the ruff absolutely would not flatten properly, she no longer felt she had to be ready to tear his jugular out.

Kanga insisted and persisted in fantasizing about what 'silly little accident' might have actually been. She'd been a tender little pup of two months and had assassinated an entire murderous pack perhaps? His hazel brown-gray eyes widened in surprise and he folded his ears out slightly to immitate the shirking of a frightened pup, but that silly grin came with the package and assured her he was still teasing. This guy couldn't stop teasing could he? She shook her head again and rolled her eyes at the thought of herself at two months sneaking off in the dead of night to spill blood. No, that had been one of the last things on her mind at that age. "Nothin' so grand-scale." she dismissed. "It was a stupid mistake, nothing more. No scars, no real damage, just a stupid 'gimpy' shoulder." she shrugged it to demonstrate, it didn't quite rise even to her left and getting to her paws and shifting her weight between her legs there was some definite hesitation and uncertainty as her weight was shifted to that one. "I don't notice it much anymore," she was getting distracted! She turned back to him, golden eyes narrowed. "Now you, I know nothing about you. For all I know you could be a one-wolf army, some Alpha's living arsenal and personal guard and you leave wolves cringing in terror." she looked the awkward, gangling legs over again and checked the silver-ringed eyes. "Or you could be the biggest play-thing any pup has ever had the pleasure of terrorizing and be the horror of any orderly family's life anywhere." she sat back with that ghost of a smirk again and tilted her head, waiting to see if she'd gotten it right.

[Meds]

Kanga;

She played the innocent card as if she had been born to do so. Kanga saw right through it, but he grinned. She hadn't meant it seriously. Any sentance that came after 'who, me?' was automatically a joke. He laughed, the sound building within him before breaking out of his lips and past his teeth with a shudder that could have cleared the trees. This poor wolf. She had had no idea what was coming when Kanga had happened upon her.

She began downplaying her injury once again, and Kanga felt the colour of the joke fading. He hadn't actually wanted to pry—well he did, but it was the principle of the thing. She used the word gimpy again pointedly. When her mouth formed that word it was accented with harshness. Suddenly, Kanga thought that perhaps she had heard that word before in a not-so-fun encounter. He frowned—which was all together startling on a wolf such as him. He was the last person who wanted to pour salt in a wound from childhood. He had enough of those for himself, he knew what it was like. Upon realizing that, he tried to lighten the mood, using the word directed at himself rather than Kaily.
"Some would argue that I have a gimpy head." He laughed again, that same sound rocking forth once more. The accent in his voice, sometimes more noticable than others, made the word come out sounding more like 'gumpy,' but he trusted she would understand.

Kailypso then began trying to pinpoint just who the giant before her was. He sat up and gave his mane a good shake for effect, sending a few pieces of snow flying. If she was going to be sizing him up, she may as well do it properly. He shot down a hilariously charming smile to her, revealing teeth on only one side of his mouth, and cocked an eyebrow.

"Pretty close on all counts," Kanga said, letting the fake smile ease back into his ever-rougish grin. "For all I know I could be a one wolf army as well. I've never tried, you see. I mean, I'm sort of on the bigger, stronger side of things—" He downplayed it to try and make her smile, a (perhaps) doomed attempt. "—so I agree. I could be that. However, you're also pretty close on the other side of that paw. I do enjoy a good terrorizing." Would she understand what he meant? He left it open and waited to guage her reaction. She could either take that as yes he enjoyed terrorizing others, or, and this was the way he had actually intended, that he enjoyed being terrorized by pups. A certain pup, most of all. A quiet, yet not so quiet, pup.

He dug little mounds into the snow with his big paws, digging down with his claws until he felt the hard earth below.
"But more factual things about me include—" He tossed his gaze to the sky. —I am the younger in a set of twins. The bigger, but the younger, unfortunetly. I am a reasonably long-standing member of Secluded Sunrise, up soon for a promotion in ranking if the rumors can be believed," He winked at her as if no, they shouldn't be believed, and who in their right mind would promote him anyway. "But other than that, I'm just Kanga."

[Fierfly]

Kailypso:

A hearty laugh bubbled up from deep in his throat and erupted into the cold, clear air - she could have sworn some of the vibrations made the trees shake. Ah yes, it was a huge joke, 'sweet little Kaily' was the funniest thing anyone had ever heard. She smirked and narrowed her eyes. It was a joke alright, she was about as sweet as a hornet, most wolves had no idea.

As she tried to explain that it had only been a foolish accident, not some grand adventure like he'd supposed, that had caused her permanent limp, Kanga's crooked grin slipped and he frowned. It wasn't a heavy frown, not dark or disappointed - the ones she was used to seeing, but it was light and uneasy, was that pain on his features? Pain? For what? Surely not for her, what had she said? It was his adjective. He wasn't hearing the bitter edge in her voice was he? Crap! She recovered herself and quickly tried to shift attention over to him - before she could say much though, he interrupted and remarked that some would say that he had a gimpy head. She wasn't quite sure how to reply to that, but Kanga was able to laugh at himself, so she left it at a snort and another flick of the tail. His turn to be in the spot-light.

He sat up, as though proud of her assessment of his potential as an arsenal, then that blasted lop-sided grin came back at the mention of his innocent terrorism among pups. Hang him by that grin! What was it with him and that almost immovable smile? He acknowledged that she was not quite wrong with either guess and she plopped herself back to hear him out. He conceded that he was enormous, he was strong, quick, yes he could have been a one-wolf army, he'd simply never tried, thus she wasn't wrong that it was a possibility, but it didn't seem to be his reality if he hadn't tried. No, her other guess had been pretty square too, he was all for a good terrorizing. With that stupid grin and the unabashed, forward inquisitiveness in this conversation, she couldn't picture him as a violent terrorist. No, she'd been right, his victims were pups - or he was the victim of pups - who greatly looked forward to the attacks and whose parents looked heavenward for patience whenever he thundered into their den-site. Maybe it wasn't just pups though. She was hardly past a year but he was entirely too-much enjoying terrorizing her. No, he was an easy-going, all-around jokester...her brother had been a little something like that...

He began tossing the ice-crystals up into the air and moved on to and idly put-together list of facts: He was the younger twin in a set, but also larger. He felt that something about the two facts was unfortunate. He was a member of Secluded Sunrise (she could only assume it was one of the packs in the Valley, she hadn't been there long enough to really hear the gossip and know for sure), a promotion may have been in order if rumors were to be believed - he winked. She startled and froze, eyes widening into a foolish expression of child-like surprise. Had he just-? What?!? Oh Power, she had to calm down, he'd been joking about his promotion; thank White Magic. He wrapped it all up by insisting that he was "just Kanga".

Her turn again? What had stuck out to her in that wonderful list? He was a twin, a younger twin. She recognized that thin edge in his voice, not really a hateful one, but...forgotten, alone... "A younger sibling huh? I know the feeling," she shifted her shoulders and frowned, the faint light of prickly friendliness in her eyes disappearing. Why did she have such a big mouth? Something else! What else could she follow up on? "Secluded Sunrise, I've never heard of that pack. Is it near here? What's it like?"

[Meds]

Kanga;

She looked like she had seen a ghost when Kanga winked at her. Another rumbling laugh echoed in his belly but he didn't let this one escape his lips. Poor thing. He fancied he actually watched her fur go paler. Then, once she realized his wink had been in a joke and not, in fact, a hint, her relief was palpable. This brought another laugh forth from Kanga, but he managed to keep it to a dull roar that time.

Suddenly, as his own voice dwindled, he saw curiosity reflect in her eyes. She was trying to work out what he said—look deeper. He closed his eyes in brief annoyance. He had said too much, but not enough. That was always his problem. Why had he felt the need to include that he was the younger brother? She had obviously picked up on the tone of his voice (which if he was honest, he hadn't even realized). Now that would be a question that, even if she wasn't yet aware of it, would wait at the corner of her mind.
Kanga gave his head a bit of a shake and the fleeting darkness passed his eyes. He was overreacting. Besides, it wasn't the simple fact that Manaaki was older that brought so many bad things to memory. It was what his pack had done, after all. Manaaki had never been anything but perfect to him. It wasn't his fault that he had been more loved. More wanted. A blessing rather than a curse.

Enough.

He took a barely noticeable breath and retuned in to what Kaily was saying. Ahh, what was this, now? She was a younger sibling too, and what was that? Did Kanga detect the same hidden tone in her voice?
He didn't press, because surely pressing would result in him having to share his own dark thoughts—and he didn't even really know what they were. They were just bad memories, really. That was all; but then again, if they were just memories long in the past, why did they hurt him so?

"I've never heard of that pack. Is it near? What's it like?"

Kanga stretched and finally stood once more, walking in a slow circle around Kailypso. He looked down at her, then, upon realizing just that having him walking was probably intimidating, he sat down quickly. The snow puffed around him because of the speed with which he sat. He gave that cocky, confident, and ever-crooked smile once more.
"It's to the North East of here," He nodded his big head in the direction of the packland. The Sapling Grove was probably the most sought-after land in all the valley. "What is it like? Well... The alphess, Blaise, is not to be trifled with. She is an increasingly busy wolfess, and 'has no time for your games, Kanga,'" He said, turning it into a quote half-way through and chuckling. "The pack itself is Neutral. There are three allignments in the valley. Good, Neutral, and Evil. Secluded Sunrise is the largest haven for Neutral wolves in the valley at the moment—but there's no telling what Geist could do if the mood gripped her." He shivered to make a point, only assuming the wolf before him had heard of the White Wolves.

"So tell me, Kailypso. What do you do around the valley?" It wasn't meant to be intrusive, he was genuinally curious. What did a young female with a bad shoulder and no pack allignment do in the valley? It could be rather harsh at times.

[Fierfly]

Kailypso:

Kanga seemed to regret mentioning his brother - his face looked like how she'd felt when she'd revealed she'd once been in a similar situation as the younger sibling, but Mr. Crooked Smile and Unabashed Curiosity had the decency not to press. Instead he was all over her queries to Secluded Sunrise. He stretched and stood, starting to pace around her in a slow circle as he pondered the question, but he must have noticed her ruff prickle up and the sudden shadow that came into her eyes as she got to her feet and turned to follow him, never letting him out of her sight. "Never turn your back on a stranger," words she'd been raised by and were now a rule for her, in a strange place and no allies or family to save her here, it was time to practice what she'd been preached and take every rule - no matter how tedious it might have seemed - very seriously. His steps slowed as he realized her posture had turned defensive again and he quickly swooped back down to his backside, resting it in the snow and causing the lighter powder to puff up in a cloud around him with the sudden thump of his mass re-connecting with the ground.

What was it about that hazel-eyed crooked grin of his? Back it came and he sat back comfortably and she hesitantly copied him as he began to explain. Secluded Sunrise was somewhere to the North-east of the Redwoods. The Alphess was not to be trifled with and that ghost of a smirk curved her mouth up again as he seemed to have crossed paths with the busy leader of the pack more than he might have cared for. No time for games? Ooh, no, that didn't sound like someone Kanga would have liked at all, though he chuckled good-humoredly about it. Some willingness to play a little every now and again was required just to be able to survive his stupid grin, even if it was her fierce, heartless, dead-pan humor that was helping her cope, it was something. The poor alphess - Blaise had he said? - she didn't envy the position or the patience and diplomacy that was required. No, as a loner, she felt that this encounter with the friendly giant had been much more interesting.

He went on to explain a little about the pack: it was neutral (he brought her up to speed on alignments should she be unfamiliar with them) and explained that it was currently the largest neutral pack in the valley - but that could change...who knew with Geist? What was a- she stopped herself just in time from voicing her question. She wasn't that ignorant! Sure, it had been a while since she'd heard the stories and she'd never been a firm believer in them (she never questioned that they were true of course, her nose was yellow, but they had never concerned her either: if she left the Power and Its White Wolves alone, they'd leave her alone).

Then the topic shifted to her again. Couldn't he talk about himself? ...No, in retrospect he couldn't, he'd already demonstrated he wasn't terribly comfortable in talking about himself. Well, neither did she. The young she-wolf shrugged: "Oh, not much, wander mostly, look for my next meal. Haven't been around long, since Winter started I guess." surely she could do better than that. "What about you, whatchya do for fun? Leavetheterritoryoften?" she clamped her mouth shut as the speed of her speech increased. She was getting nervous, she was talking too much - so she stopped talking and waited for an answer.

[Persecutor Kaiju]

Asrael;

Asrael shuffled through the forest, her bright pink eyes glistening as she stopped close to two wolves. She moved behind a tree, only half her face showing so she could watch them. Asrael got into an attack stance, watching and waiting. She sat still, despite the uncomfortable position she was in. Suddenly, a bird that landed close to her, a crow, no less, started cawing and flew off. Asrael froze and retreated again behind the tree. ''Ah, great.'' She thought as she barely moved. Not a single whisker twitched, her ears were angled so that she could hear from the sides.

[Meds]

Kanga;

As he babbled about Geist and the alignments, it became clear very quickly Kailypso knew about the workings in the valley—how things went. She didn't seem surprised. If anything, it appeared as if she was trying to listen and be polite even though knowing exactly what he was going to say. He sighed to himself and a half-smile touched his lips; but then, when he mentioned the evil White Wolf, Kailypso's eyes flashed. For a moment she looked like she sat before him in disbelief, but then something shifted and she gave the barest hint of a nod.
A nonbeliever?

The Valley wasn't a cult or anything—but most wolves either believed in the White Wolves or simply hadn't heard about them. The idea that there could be another faction among the loners interested Kanga. He himself had never searched out Sheba and requested a power like so many other wolves did. Frankly, he didn't need help during battles—-and he didn't fight that much anyway. The very idea of him with a power was jaw-dropping.
For a half-moment he considered it.

Who could stand in his way?
Fleeting images of half-imagined things twisted and danced through his head for a moment, his eyes on the large mountain in the distance. Truly. Who would be able to stop him?

Then just like that he came back. His eyes refocused and he gave his head a little shake, hoping his company hadn't noticed. He hitched a smile in place just in case.

Kailypso played down his question. Kanga had forgotten she didn't like to discuss herself at length. She gave him a shallow answer, barely touching the surface he thought, but still: she was talking, and that was better than it had been in the beginning.

"What do I do for fun... hunt, fight with my brother, generally bother people," He winked again playfully, still towards himself. "I get away a lot, too. From the rest of the pack. Manaaki, my brother, is good for that. He gets away with me. Just to keep our heads and bodies fresh, you know. Imagine how quick our hips would go if wolves our size put on a bit too much weight, hmm? He and I are usually together. Some other wolves seem to think of us as some sort of duo." He chuckled. "No idea where they came up with that."

He was about to continue when a sound came to his keen ears. He turned his head fluidly, barely breaking his conversation with Kailypso. Behind a tree a little way off was a female, and—no, she couldn't be serious.
She was in an attack position?
Against Kanga?

He held in his laughter and met Kailypso's eyes for a heartbeat. He gave the barest of winks, then leapt towards the tree, landing a few feet from it and crouching down into a position to meet the new females stance. The ground thudded in protest where Kanga's bulk landed.
She thought it was polite to inturrupt a conversation and go straight for the kill position? Not around Kanga. It was almost as if somebody had to teach her a lesson—or make her think they were going to, anyway.

Kanga was so much larger than her it was laughable. His lips lifted to reveal ridiculous teeth, and his growl seemed to almost vibrate through the air, so low was the sound. He snarled and licked his teeth, his bark ripping through the cool, calm winter air.
Of course, he wouldn't really attack her. But she didn't know that. She couldn't know that. The gargantuan animal before her, with dripping teeth and fire in his eyes ooked downright convincing.