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Post by 'R a i q u e n on Aug 2, 2010 19:51:51 GMT -5
Raiquen Overcast skies spread across the land as far as one could possibly see, churning various shades of gray and black. Torrents of rain fell in the autumn storm, soaking everything in their path. Shivers ran down Raiquen's spine, the expression 'chilled to the bone' felt quite literal at that moment. His normally, thick and fluffy silver coat was drenched, limped and flattened against his skeletal form. His head and tail hung as he walked. He was exhausted as well as cold. A grimace crossed his face as his stomach rumbled, demanding food. Ok so he was hungry too. "Great," he thought "Add to the list of my miseries, why don't you?" Well there was nothing he could do about food at the moment, he might as well focus on shelter. A rock in his path sent him stumbling. A yelp of hurt and surprise escaped his muzzle, and the stench of blood filled his nostrils. He hadn't been able to hear where obstacles lie, and mental maps were useless when he didn't know where he was. "Damn rain..." he cursed while slowly regaining his feet. He sniffed at the source of the blood. Just a minor cut. The bleeding stopped when he gave it a lick. Once again, he started to walk, only to slip once again. Frustrated, the pale wolf through back his head and howled. It was a sad, pathetic noise, one of desperation and loneliness, but Raiquen was too tired to care. He stopped the noise with a whimper. Getting out of this rain wasn't just about comfort...it had become a necessity.
A strange rumbling could be heard ahead, like thunder. But Raiquen didn't think it was thunder...it was different somehow. Like the rain, but intensified. He could hear a stream, rushing close to his paws. He hadn't been here before, but he thought perhaps he had heard of it. Emerald Falls was said to be a beautiful sight, with rainbows bouncing out of the spray. But sight meant nothing to him, and besides, there were no rainbows today. His muscles convulsed with more shivers, there had to be shelter near these rocks somewhere. He moved towards the cascading water. His normally brisk walk was cautious, and uncertain. He had fallen quite a bit, and wasn't to eager to add to his collection of bruises and scrapes. Perking his wet ears forward, he let out a loud bark, listening to the way the vibrations bounced. A small smile lit up his defeated face as he heard what he was looking for. Ignoring the spray of the falls... he was already soaked, he headed to a huge rock directly to the right of them. Underneath, it was hollowed out, forming a cave-like shelter. Raiquen thanked fate for his small size as he squeezed inside. It was larger than it looked from the outside, he was able to turn around with plenty of room to spare. He shook out his fur, getting rid of what water he could, and ignored the mud. Later he would clean up. Right now he needed rest. Curling up as tight as possible, he squeezed his blind eyes shut, and shivered himself to sleep.
The sun warmed his ivory pelt, and the soft grass tickled his muzzle as he lie, stretched out near the den. One ear twitched, as his sisters wrestled a ways away. "It's mine now!" Azarni's cruel laugh rung out, sounding like it should belong to a demon instead of a pup. "Azarni, that's not fair!" Tora whined in protest. With a slight sniff, he could tell that is was a bone they were arguing over. Sighing, he rolled over, trying to block out the noise of Azarni's bullying. The two sisters whispered, and he raised his head towards the sound. His blue eyes narrowed as they neared. He could practically smell his elder sister's cruelty. "Raiquen," she said sounding so sweet it could rot out one's teeth "We decided that you should have this bone...since you need the extra food and all." He grunted and started to stand up. "What are you talk-" Pain exploded over his head as Azarni cracked the bone over his skull. "OUCH!" he yelped as both Azarni and Tora laughed, the sound so harmless to the ears. Like tinkling bells. But there was a lighter, rougher sound too. The laughter of his father, from above on the rock where he lie. "Azarni!" Kala had come to the rescue. His mother rushed to his side, growling. "Sorry mother...it slipped." The two female pups ran off, laughing like a couple of hyenas. "What is wrong with that pup..." his mother murmured.
Blood stink filled the air, as well did Yanng, Azarni, and Tora's laughter. Sight filled his eyes, but he wished it didn't. They were at the den, the sky was red. Whether it was sunset, or splashed with blood, Raiquen didn't care. He could only see the white wolf before him, her white fur turned crimson as her life blood stained it. "Why would you do this?!" he screamed to the rest of his 'family'. They stood atop the flat rock that formed the den, still laughing. Yanng stepped forward and peered down at him. "Worthless!" he sneered, before bounding away, daughters in tow.
Worthless...the word echoed through Raiquen's head as he jumped up, awakened by the horrors he had seen. "It was just a nightmare," he sighed. His heart beat slowed from it's frantic rate, and he lie back down. Just a nightmare sure. But brought on by cruel reality. His head rest on his muddy paws as he stared out the gap that was the entrance to the hollow. It was still raining. A long night was ahead...and Raiquen doubted that sleep would be returning to him anytime soon.
♥ character; Raiquen.
♥ word count; Nine-hundred-sixty-five.
♥ muse; Great.
♥ lyrics; None.
♥ comments; Open to anyone. |
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Post by bardon on Aug 3, 2010 1:00:31 GMT -5
Drip, drip, drip Groaning and rubbing the moisture off his ear once again, he shifted his position only to have water splash onto his nose. With an irritated snort, Bardon rolled to his feet, glaring at his surroundings. Sure, the trees and bushes around the falls were a decent shelter from the rain, but he found it very difficult to sleep with all the droplets and worse falling from the leaves above. At best, he would stay damp all night, but of course, some of the water had to land on the more sensitive parts of his face.
As he looked up in the leafy canopy, another drop landed directly inside his ear and he shook his head vigorously in hopes of dislodging it. With a sigh, he started off to find a more comfortable sleeping place.
He'd only been walking for a few minutes with a sad, lonely howl broke through the storm. Cocking his ear toward the sound, he waited, but it wasn't repeated. Grumbling to himself, Bardon, mumbled, "I'm not answering that. It's not my problem. It'll be nothing but trouble."
In his mind, he began listing the reasons not to go find the wolf: one, these encounter never turned out well for him; two, there was practically a monsoon going on right now; three, he didn't know that wolf, and even if he did, they wouldn't be friends... For several minutes, he silently argued with himself, though he knew which side would eventually win out.
"Why me?" he groaned, as he starting walking toward the Emerald Falls. It almost seemed like Fate, or whatever it was, was conspiring against him. He just wanted to be left alone in peace, but he kept running across people who appeared to need help or something, and he lacked the ability to just walk away from them. Maybe he was cursed. Whatever the case, he couldn't live with himself if something bad happened to someone just because he didn't help.
As he broke out of the trees, the torrent of rain dumped on him, quickly wetting him to the skin. A chill slowly into him, and he began to shiver. "Why me?" he repeated as he squinted again the downpour, looking for any sign of a wolf. Nothing.
He lowered his nose to the ground, but the rain made tracking difficult. Finally, after about half an hour, he came across a small space under a rock that he'd overlooked. Hanging back out of habit, partly out of view, he considered how to handle this situation. His ear twitched, trying to pick up on any noises within.
Not knowing if his approach had gone without notice, he asked, "Are you alright? I was resting nearby..." He waited for the other wolf to respond. As usual, he turned the scarred side of his face away, in an attempt to hide it.
(I thought that this would be an interesting meeting)
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Post by 'R a i q u e n on Aug 4, 2010 13:11:33 GMT -5
Raiquen The constant sound of the pouring rain and roar of the waterfall outside were calming, but nothing could lure Raiquen back to sleep. He focused on the water noises instead of his nightmares. The shelter he had found was nicer than what he had been expecting. There was no space between the rock and the earth for water to seep in, it was large enough to stretch out in, and old dry leaves and moss most likely brought in by former inhabitants, made the dirt floor more comfortable It wasn’t especially warm but just being out of the wet was doing wonders for him. The shivering had ceased and his fur was no longer soaked, just damp. His head rested on his crossed front paws, his blind eyes never blinking. Eventually he would have to clean up his white fur, but for now he was content to leave the mud and dried blood in it’s place. If it wasn’t for the horrors of the past he had unwillingly brought back to the surface, he might have actually been at peace and relaxed.
He should have known that it was impossible for him to go undisturbed. Through his kind hearted mother, Raiquen had been blessed with the powers of the stone, which gave his ears more sensibility. They made up for his lost sense of sight, and more. About ten feet away from the rock, he could hear paws sinking into deep mud. With regret, he acknowledged that he probably should have noticed the approaching creature sooner, should have been paying more attention. Now he only had mere seconds to distinguish what the unknown was, and if it was a threat or just an annoyance. Blocking out the sounds of the rain, air, and his own breath and heartbeat, he listened. It was definitely a wolf, a small one at that. No larger than he was. This meant it was probably female…not that gender mattered much to Raiquen. He didn’t want the company either way.
The stranger wolf stopped near the small opening to the shelter, Raiquen could smell him now. He was surprised to find that it was in fact, another male. “Not that I should be judging.” he thought with a shrug. A wince crossed his muzzle as he stood up. His muscles were stiff, first from falling and then from lying still for so long. Yawning, he stretched before crossing the cavern to learn what this other wanted. "Are you alright? I was resting nearby..." The voice was hesitant, and Raiquen wondered why the wolf was bothering to interfere. He hoped he wasn’t one of those ‘do good’ types that got on his nerves so much. Usually they were sympathetic, but sympathy wasn’t something he wanted. He stuck his head out the gap, not caring if the male was startled by his cloudy blue eyes or not. “I’m just fine,” his right ear flicked as a raindrop landed inside it “But you’re soaking wet and probably freezing. If you don’t annoy me, you can come in and dry off.” He drew his head back and went back to his pile of leaves. It was highly unusual for him to offer anyone favors, especially a stranger. But this male didn’t scare him. He was small, and it was pretty clear he only had good intentions. Malicious wolves didn’t tend to come see if strangers were in trouble. Part of him hoped the male would stay out in the rain, let him be miserable alone. But he doubted it…this rain was horrible, he knew that all too well. But another part of him, a part he would never acknowledge hoped that he would come in. Offer some companionship that his life was so desperately lacking. He was a wolf, a pack animal. And even though he was anti-social, he didn’t always want to be alone.
♥ character; Raiquen.
♥ word count; Six-hundred-forty-five.
♥ muse; Good.
♥ lyrics; None.
♥ comments; I think Raiquen might actually like Bardon. They seem to have decently similar personalities, I could see them being friends. |
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Post by bardon on Aug 14, 2010 23:34:43 GMT -5
Lightning danced across the sky as Bardon waited for a response, steadily becoming more and more concerned about finding a warm, dry place to sleep for the night. Fairly quickly though, a wolf appeared at the mouth of the crevice, and he was slightly startled that the male turned out to be around his size, something he wasn’t accustomed to. By comparison, however, it was nothing considering the shock he felt when he realized that he was blind. Not only was the cloudy blue eyes a clue, but he obviously couldn’t see him since his eyes weren’t exactly focusing directly on him. As he stared for a few seconds with a puzzled expression on his face, he even forgot that it was raining. This was something that he was totally unprepared for, and it took another several seconds for him to decide what to do. He knew of such things but never seen it for himself. It was a rare and unfortunate thing.
Frowning, he searched his feelings to decide on how to react to this new information, but strangely enough, he felt completely comfortable with it, maybe even glad. For the first time as far back as he could remember, he met another wolf without feeling like a freak, a monster. A confused mixture of bewilderment, relief, and awkwardness flowed through him, thrown into turmoil by the wolf’s unexpected offer. Sure, he was glad that he was alright, and sure, he couldn’t see what he really looked like, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to stick around for any period of time…
Uneasily, he retreated a few steps, back into the safety of solitude, but as if to taunt his inhibitions, thunder exploded in his ears, and the wind suddenly intensified, sending him into violent shivers. Sighing and feeling very anxious, he crept back toward the safety of the cavern, responding stiffly with a slight edge to his voice, “I don't have a history of being 'annoying', besides, you won't have to put up with me long." The other wolf could probably tell by his tone that he meant what he said. Bardon, despite his attitude, was an honest wolf in all that he said and did, finding trickery, manipulation, and otherwise wishy-washyness to be distasteful.
He'd already decided that he wouldn't acknowledge the blindness, thinking that he was likely as frustrated and tired of having it pointed out constantly as he was with his scarred face. In a way, this was returning the favor that the stranger didn't even realize that he'd given. For now, they were just two somewhat normal wolves, momentarily sharing a shelter.
After spending about two seconds trying to figure out the best way to enter, Bardon lowered himself onto his belly, pushing his long front legs, which made up a large part of his height, inside. Digging his back claws in, he slid across the slick mud, and with a some grunting, a little panting, and much thankfullness for his small lean body, he managed to squeeze inside.
Huddling near the entrance, he sat still shivering violently, but very glad to be out of the storm, no matter for what period of time. Mud completely caked his underside and his legs, but he knew that when it dried, it would crack and start to fall off. As he turned toward his apparent host, he remarked, matter-of-factly, "Well, I guess it would be polite to say 'thank you'" He wondered if he really wanted to try to show his rarely practiced manners to him. It wasn't often that he had the opportunity, much less the desire.
Word Count: 603
Muse: Good
Comment: Sorry for the wait. I let myself get sidetracked, trying to find a job and all in this economy. I understand if you're irritated. I'll try to do a lot better....
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Post by 'R a i q u e n on Aug 19, 2010 20:32:47 GMT -5
Raiquen [/center] You know that feeling you get when someone is staring at you? Raiquen's skin prickled, causing his fur to rise slightly as that familiar feeling fell across him. His face turned warm with embarrassment and shame. He tipped his head a bit, making a small attempt to hide his blue eyes. It was in vain, he knew. They were like beacons for other wolves, a realization that he wasn't as perfect as they were. The feeling stopped, and the blind eyes narrowed slightly with suspicion and surprise. Normally others just kept staring. This wolf seemed to be alright with it. But that didn't mean he was going to play nice!
Raiquen heard the stranger shy back at his request, and felt a bit of relief. He preferred to be alone, no matter how lonely it may be. Thunder boomed right over them, making Raiquen jump. It was twice as loud in his ears, and the pain made him wince. The wolf who had been leaving, came back. Raiquen moved to the very back of the cavern, leaving plenty of room between himself and the other. “I don't have a history of being 'annoying', besides, you won't have to put up with me long." the stranger said stubbornly. Raiquen chuckled, it was something he would have said, if their positions were swapped.
The fellow squeezed himself into the gap, grunting as he went through the tight space. Raiquen could hear the small wolf shivering, but he knew he would warm up soon. "Well, I guess it would be polite to say 'thank you'." he said. Raiquen sent him a slight glare. "If you get all polite and crap with me, you're gonna find yourself back in that storm prettyyyy quick." he yawned before rolling to face the wall. He didn't want to be thought of as polite, or nice, or anything close. He just didn't want for a wolf to be miserable when he could do something.
♥ character; Raiquen.
♥ word count; .
♥ muse; bad.
♥ lyrics; None.
♥ comments; No problem...I've been quite busy too. [/justify][/blockquote][/center][/size] |
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