Cloud Gazing [open]

[Aquaria]

It was a clear summer day without a dark cloud in sight. This was the perfect weather for a nice walk or so Finch thought. He found himself wandering into the longgrass territory, where the grass had grown quite high this season. In fact, it was so high it would be hard to see anyone or anything walking through here. To him, this was a very good reason to be here. He had no desire to be found by anyone especially any "groups of someones." He shivered at the thought of coming across a hunting party or worse. Nope. He had no wish for that so he took his time through the grass so he didn't stir up too much movement.

Careful of where he stepped, Finch moved quickly through the grass. His hope was to find somewhere to pretty much hide himself and daydream. He needed a break from the constant struggle to feed himself and stay alive....away from other wolves. So the best way he found to do this was to find somewhere to lay back and relax. In this case, he chose a spot deep in the long grass. Once he found his spot, he laid down, the grass moving to make room for him. With a final look around him, Finch let out a relieved sigh and laid back. This was nice. The weather perfect for something like this.

After what felt like hours of just laying there, shale gray eyes turned upwards to look at the sky. Some of the fluffiest white clouds had floated overhead, making shapes across the skies. He tilted his head a bit as he admired them. One cloud almost resembled that of a rabbit. Another a howling wolf. He had never looked at the clouds in this way. It was almost fun figuring out what they looked like. He was so lost in the clouds, he had forgotten about his fear of others finding him. He was totally relaxed.

[Meds]

Pan;

Mismatched eyes, gold and molten-red, scanned the field. All was at a hush, without even birdsong to interrupt the silence of the hot summer day. Occasionally a few cicadas would pierce the area with their call, but other than that, all was quiet. Pan had made his way up into a tree at the border of Long Grass, but with a quick jump and a few strides, he would be in the territory. The open field provided a nice home for rabbits and perhaps a few grouse, and from the tree, Pan was watching for any movement that might give away their position.

Pan was perfectly comfortable up in the trees, especially because his slightly-smaller stature made most branches plenty strong enough to hold him. He couldn't physically climb the trees, of course—he wasn't a cat—but low-hanging branches were simple enough to jump onto if the jumper had had enough practice.
It was still early summer, but a few of the trees boasted naturally orange and red leaves, which were perfect to camouflage the brown and orange wolf. The only piece of his fur that might have stuck out was his blue stripes, but if he stayed still enough even those wouldn't give him away. Pan was certainly a wild-looking animal, sitting there up in the tree, adorned with a petrified-wood piercing in his ear and a red feather knotted into his mane—but he was usually as friendly as anybody. Perhaps a little bit mischievous and tricksy, but all of that came from a place of pup-like joy rather than malice.

Suddenly, interrupting his thoughts, Pan's keen eyes locked onto some of the tall grass as it moved and swayed. Success! Rabbit! Without a second though, he leapt from his perch and hit the ground running. In seconds he had cleared the space between and hunkered down into a hunter's crouch. He crawled forward on silent feet, holding his breath, until...

He burst through the grass and gave a victorious snarl, ready to catch his dinner unawares. Suddenly though, his snarl had turned into a yelp of surprise as he came face to face with, not a rabbit, but another wolf lying on its back and looking at the sky. Pan had a lot of forward-momentum going, but somehow he managed to check himself and throw his weight backwards so he didn't trample the cloud-gazer.
His maneuver resulted in him doing a somewhat messy flip and coming to a halt on his back not three paces from the stranger. He struggled for a moment, then righted himself to a sitting position, fixing the wolf with wide eyes.

"You're not a rabbit at all."

[Aquaria]

Finch was deep in thought about another shape of clouds when there was rustling in the grass. The noise came from far away at first, seemingly quiet to those who didn't listen closely. Then as whatever being came running closer, Finch could hear their paw steps crunching the blades of grass. Or at least he assumed paws, his fur now standing on end. He was prepared for a collision as the noise was to his side. Before he had time to react, a brown wolf burst from the grass snarling as though attacking prey or an enemy. Finch clamped his eyes shut expecting the wolf to hit him.

There was a loud commotion and a thud as the other wolf managed to stop himself just in time. But from the sounds of it it was a very messy halt to his charge. When Finch opened an eye to peek at the other wolf, he was on his back as well. While Finch didn't see the crash, he guessed that the wolf was unable to catch his balance after that near miss. He rolled onto his side, watching the other wolf closely.

The brown stranger took a moment to get to his feet, sitting and eyeing him. "You're not a rabbit at all." Finch almost snorted a bit at this. Of course he wasn't a rabbit. A rabbit wouldn't make the grass move quite as much as Finch probably did when he laid down. But from whatever perspective that wolf had before his charge, any movement could probably be taken as some sort of prey moving along.

"No. I'm definitely not." He spoke calmly, watching the other male. He was curious where this meeting was going to go. Because neither of them had intended to meet another wolf here. Yet here they were.

[Meds]

Pan;

Pan glanced around after the other male had spoken. It was impossible not to notice that this male, too, was smaller than what would be considered average. Pan had thought he was somewhat unique—yet here was another wolf quite similar to him. He wondered if this male was stunted, or just small. Pan himself was just small—there was no parts of him that were disproportionate. He would be quick to correct anybody on that matter, as well.
He let his tongue loll out as he surveyed Long Grass.

"Seeing as how you aren't exactly going to fill my stomach," His mis-matched eyes scanned the surroundings—though because he was short, there wasn't much to see. "—Have you seen any prey around? Usually the Long Grass is full of them, but so far all I've seen is you." He gave his head a shake, causing the feather knotted in the long fur of his gnarled mane to bounce around. He lifted a paw and scratched at it, bumping against his piercing as he did so.
Pan was not one for formal introductions. A quick hello, then he set to scratching himself.

"Not that you're necessarily a poor trade for a nice meal," He added conversationally. "Though I can't say that for sure, yet." He glanced up to the sky, eyes tracing the clouds. Some of them almost looked like shapes. A smile alighted to his wild face and he cleared his throat. "I'm Pan."

[Aquaria]

Finch watched the stranger curiously. It didn't seem like this wolf had any ill-intentions, he was just hungry. Good. Finch wasn't in the mood to fight anyone, let alone deal with anything of the like. In fact, Finch was starting to get hungry himself so he could take this opportunity to find himself something to eat. Not necessarily something to share with the stranger but something to snack on himself would be nice. While he didn't mind this wolf, he wasn't comfortable enough with him to just give in and offer to share anything with him.

"No. I definitely wouldn't help your stomach issues but I did catch wind of something along the outskirts of the grass. Though I didn't stop to figure out exactly what it was." Finch replies, getting up into a sitting position to look at the wolf. "I haven't caught wind of anything else since I've been laying here though." Which is actually quite strange for the area. Maybe the prey picked up on the smell of wolf and took off. That was the likely cause.

"Finch." He replied as the brown wolf introduced himself. "A full belly would beat me any day. I'm nothing special." He scratched at an ear before looking back at Pan. Food was always a better alternative considering you couldn't live without it. Or at least in his opinion. He wasn't the social sort so food would always be his choice over company.

[Meds]

Pan;

Finch replied easily to some of what Pan said, then even gave his own ear a scratch. Pan smiled, noticing the movement. Perhaps they were similar in more ways than size.
Finch explained that he had smelled something along the edges of the territory. Pan's ears perked and he swiveled so quickly that he almost lost his balance. He couldn't quite see over the tall grass, but he gave a jump or two, then finally gained enough momentum to get a quick glance.

"Nothing too big I hope," He said, looking quite obviously up and down at Finch's similarly small frame. "Deer best me every time, and don't even get me started on boards. Some rabbit would be nice though—or maybe a pheasant." His mouth watered at the idea of pheasant. It had been a long time.

"Are you new to the Valley?" He stopped trying to see over the grasses and glanced to his company before making the decision to go and hunt. "I've lived here for ages—still a loner though." He snorted in laughter.

[Aquaria]

Finch watched the other male as he tries to jump and look over top the grass. They were both small compared to the average male so he knew that jumping wasn't going to get Pan very far. But the male jumps again before turning to him. "I've caught a deer or two but they weren't very big. I don't think I could take down a full grown adult on my own. I try to keep to the smaller targets like the rabbits. It's just easier with me being small." He adds, getting to his feet. This talk about prey was making his stomach gurgle loudly. He would be very surprised if Pan couldn't hear it.

"I wouldn't really say I'm new. I've been here for some time, I've learned my way around some of the valley. Keep my distance from any large groups of wolves though." He remarks giving his legs a good stretch. Finch didn't keep track of the days that passed while he had been in the valley. Heck, he could have been here for years and he wouldn't even know. He just sort of took each day as it came really. Being on your own you didn't have time to focus on the things like that. You had to make extra sure you survived to live another day.

[Meds]

Pan;

Pan nodded stoically, stopping his jumping and instead looking at the male with wide, mischievous eyes. Avoiding things like large groups of wolves was probably a good plan, with statures like theirs. Though supposedly Finch had gotten around it and actually taken down a deer (or two). Pan's brow lifted in respect.
"I'll admit, I'm impressed by that. Perhaps I wouldn't be so small if I ate deer more often." His sharp teeth flashed in a little grin, and he swung his head to look around them with enough force to send his feather bouncing once more. He lifted a paw and scratched at it idly.

"Where were you before?" Pan asked, noticing the male's obvious hunger but ignoring it, for now. Hunting could come later if they really wanted—but he thought it would be interesting to make acquaintances first. He would reply in kind if Finch asked him about his own history, but wasn't about to bring it up on his own if he didn't have to.

[Aquaria]

Finch watched the high-strung male, slightly amused by his antics. It wasn't often he came across a wolf that made him feel comfortable quite quickly. But every move he made and every word Pan said, made Finch more convinced that he had no ill intentions at all. He was just another small wolf looking for a meal. This might be his opportunity to have a friend in the valley. Even if it was just them passing by one another while out hunting. Even something as small as that was a good thing to have despite has social awkwardness.

"Eh. Like I said they were just little things." He said, being modest about it. Finch watched as the male smiled and tossed his head about, a feather bouncing against his head. The male blinked as he actually got a good look at it and the strange piercing through his ear. "Kind of a change of subject but why do you have your ear pierced? And a feather tied into your fur? I've never seen such interesting baubles on any wolf before."

"My mom had me just outside of the valley. We kind of just went with the flow, not settling in one place for too long. So I'm not even sure how long I've been here in the valley. I sort of lose track of time...." He says with an embarrassed chuckle. You'd figure a clever wolf like himself would keep track of such a thing. But he was usually too busy avoiding other wolves and trying to live another day. It had been rough since he had parted ways with his family. He had to learn how to keep himself alive while wandering alone. Such as what prey he could handle himself or how to find safe places to rest. Things that were essential if you didn't want to end up dead.

[Meds]

Pan;

As often happened (and Pan would be the first to say he loved the attention, of course), Finch noticed and commented on his piercing and his feather. Pan gave them another toss for good measure. What story should he tell that day? The truth? No, no, never the truth. A smile came to his lips, and his eyes brightened as if remembering something true.
"Indeed I do!" He said, speaking without hesitation, his voice proud and full. "Tokens from my birth-pack. The earring signifies my family—we all had matching bars, of course—and the feather is just my own decoration." He chuckled convincingly. "Because what is a piece of fossilized wood without a feather to match? My father didn't agree, but he never had an eye for that sort of thing." He grinned.
Finch then answered his question, and Pan ceased speaking long enough to hear his words. Apparently he had been born just outside the valley, and had since learned the ways of going with the flow of everything around him. Pan nodded, an important skill, especially for wolves of their size.

"Time does seem curious here," Pan agreed, reflecting. "Perhaps the fabled White Wolves play their tricks on it, too?"

[Aquaria]

Finch listened intently as Pan told him that his piercings and feather were more or less family tokens. It was something all of his family apparently did to their own ears. It was...interesting, a little barbaric almost. But he supposed there were many families that had something similar. Though they probably didn't do anything quite like that. This wolf intrigued him even more now with his strange looks. "Really? That's an interesting way to mark those in your family." Finch replied, examining the baubles as Pan showed them off more.

"I just don't pay attention, honestly. I'm more preoccupied with making sure I live to see another day." Finch says stretching out abit. Pan did pose a good question. Where the White Wolves strong enough to play with time? Or would they play with time for the heck of it? What would you do to even figure that out though? "It is very possible that they might. But how would one really know?"

[Meds]

Pan;

The male bit to the story, as Pan had hoped he would; and after all, Pan was a practiced truth-withholder. He nodded vigorously as Finch commented that it was an odd custom. Indeed it would be, if it were true.
"How well I know that," Pan smiled, his voice dancing like the sound of wind through autumn trees. "You should have seen what wolves mating-into the family got." A little shiver shook his shoulders. "Slightly more painful than the earring, I'll tell you that. I count myself lucky that I was born into it." He eased off of the story then, for fear of laying it on too thick. If Pan had learned anything, it was that when lies got too involved, they were almost always found out.

He nodded along as Finch mentioned trying to survive to the best of his ability. The brown and orange male grinned in response.
"A noble activity. I must say you seem to be going well at it so far." His ears flicked as Finch answered his question about the goddesses of the mountain. Pan shivered again. "I've heard stories of those females," He said in hushed tones. "Some good and some... not great."