An Exile [Open]

[chickenmuffin]

No, No, No, No, No! Orange shivered, letting her emotions rule as she stood alone. She was angry, she was terrified, relieved, shocked and confused. She knew how bad fighting was, but the baby Sheeran's were supposed to be her protective cushion. Now hard ground rested under her feet.
Exile... All because of... No, because of them all. The Whole World. Orange snarled and hit a tree, nose curling as sap stickied her claws. She needed to hunt, she needed to survive. Couldn't be so hard, though she was a warrior, Orange had only left being a neophyte a short while ago, and despite her denial, most her hunts were unsucessful.
At least she was alone now, that either way she looked the trees only stared back with blank faces. Alone. "Get a grip on yourself" She growled, listening to her surroundings. A hunt would make her feel better. With a grunt she pushed off and started to run, following the sound of something very promising. Sounded like a deer scratching his horns on trees. The horns part was worrying, but a deer would fill her up nicely, then she could store it away.
Do it step by step, Orange narrowed her eyes, twisting through the winding path. She knew of the danger, and the implications of being alone and injured, she was very aware that she could be running to her death and still she would not settle for anything less.
Orange planned to show them- everyone- just how good she was. They'd picked Terralisa over her and in a near desperation she wanted to show those Sheerans that she was better than the neophyte. She struggled not to argue with herself, point out the huge holes in her plan.
What if they never find out? What if I die? What if they'd rather have a cocky runt pushing them about? What if she turns out to be better?
The deer stomped its foot, and only then did Orange realise she'd made an error in her judgement. She dug her claws in and grinded to a stop, the deer a foot away, lowering its horns. He was a strong creature to be sure. His muscles bulged out, twice the size of Orange's. She growled, hoping to scare the buck into running, afraid to face the sharp horns.
The deer tossed its head and lunged forward towards her. Orange staggered back, putting her paws up to push the head away, falling back herself from the effort. She fled from hooves which thumped into the earth, then circled back around, not willing to give up despite her fear.
This beast will not best me.
Orange lunged, feinting to the deer's rear leg then trying to grab the deer's throat as it reached down to hit where she had feinted to. Too quick the deer swung its head back round, hitting Orange along her side. Orange yelped, feeling warm liquid trickle down her side. No No No No No!
With a snarl, Orange pushed away from the deer's horns, glad to feel her wound was only skin deep. The buck's head continued to sweep with momentum, and she saw her chance. In a flash, teeth clamped around its neck. She clenched her jaws tightly and closed her eyes. Hooves bruised her rips and her head began to pound with the bucking.
With no other to hold the deer, it cantered off, bashing the young warrior as it squeezed through trees. Though it panted and bled with a mortal wound, he showed no signs of slowing soon.

[Sivoncé™]

The day was ripe for torture, or at least it did to such a young and maniacal mind as Assyria's. She was a young thing, flashy and with her own signature flair, inheriting her mother's beauty to say the least. She was a a floral she-wolf, pelt full, thick, and angling outward around her neck slightly. Painted a rose and lined with a snowy silver-white to complete the resemblence. And though she held a tall and lean figure, muscles flexed as she moved across rough terrain.
But somethng made her pause in her pawsteps. Auds flicked as wolf-sound entered, and nose sniffed as wolf-scent wandered close. A sly grin crossed her as she thought of delicious wolf-prey this early.
Never too early for a good hunt...
Backtracking stealthily, she slunk down an gentle slope and ducked behind a bushel of dried, crumbling brush. Peering between the tan twigs, she discovered it was only a loner, faint traces of Sheeran scent lingering on the she-wolf's pelt.
Looks hungry. We have something in common...
Most certainly not a Hellfirian. Ah, well, we need some newbies. I'll test her out and see if she's worth initiating.
Rising elegantly from her hiding place, Assyria loped forward with her head high and tail in line with her bodice.
"Well, somebody's got a lot on their shoulders," she rolled her eyes, lighting down a few feet away from the female and nodding towards the fleeing deer. "Perhaps crossed by the Sheerans? I smell it on you," she smiled, flashing fangs of glowing white

[chickenmuffin]

Orange released the deer as she saw a familiar shape coming towards her. The moment she let her prey go, she cursed. It was just a wolf! What did she care for them, absolute nothing thats what! Orange tensed, shifting into the crouching position to set back off after her prey which had begun to stumble and wheeze, lulled into a false sense of security by the lack of weight on its neck.
The other wolf spoke to her, and she bristled. Did it want a share of her deer? She stalled her jump, eyes flickering to Assyria, taken aback by her looks, and something she couldn't quite place.
"Perhaps crossed by the Sheerans? I smell it on you,"
A flash of pain went through her. Had her smell changed so much people didn't count her as Sheeran anymore? The pain quickly followed by anger, she didn't want any Sheeran smell on her! The buck had galloped away by now, leaving Orange with a pounding head and numerous scratches. The thing would become the prey of some other animal, she'd lost her chance.
Orange would have turned instantly on another wolf in other situations. But her beating had left her feeling weak, and the other wolf looked all too capable of making her injuries alot worse.
Grunting Orange turned to face Assyria and bluntly told her "They kicked me out." Her head rose slightly, fighting exhaustion whilst she tried to look dignified.

[Sivoncé™]

Assyria studied the wolf before her, mind going a mile a minute, analyzing every twitch Orange made. Of course, this was all smeared into an unnoticable togetherness as Assyria tilted her head and frowned slightly. "Kicked you out, did they now? But why should they commit such treachery? Whatever did you do to them? You seem a warrior, no? After all, if it were not for my intrusions, I'm sure that would've been your kill. My apologies, of course....but please, elaborate: how could such a skilled hunter as you fall into a predicament such as this?" she woofed fluidly.
This speech is absolutely killing me....
Indeed, Assyria was not always this well-worded. Those who knew her knew this will ; she preferred cussings and harsh, sharp, blunt words than eloquent phrasings. But the Hellfirian forces would need new allies if they were going to succeed in their goals --- after all, these lands were strange and only the ancients knew them well. And who said the wizened were willing to help their descendants? What was more, Orange knew Sheeran territory. Pawsteps closer to having eyes where the packs thought they didn't....
Great Tartarus, I love being a smartass.

[chickenmuffin]

Being the vain creature she was, Orange puffed herself up with the praise. She was right, stupid Sheeran's kicking out the best one there. She would have got that deer, it couldn't have overpowered her! She’d lost herself for a bit, a silly title didn’t matter, instead of being Orange the Sheeran, she could make a whole new title, and whatever she wanted. Getting food wasn’t a problem; the deer had proven that, next she would get hold of an elk, maybe a caribou. Stooopid Sheerans, she would do fine without them.
"I hit some trainee for being insolent" She replied with a small growl rumbling in her throat, promising again that she would get Terralisa, she wanted to get all the Sheerans. Her blunted claws dug into the ground, frustration overcoming her exhaustion. She would get to them! She had to.
A warrior, yes... She was a warrior, she could fight, she would fight. They hadn't seen the last of her.

[Sivoncé™]

Assyria, though she was indeed slipping into the role of a well-rehearsed character, laughed honestly at Orange's explanation. A dark snickering erupted at the thoughts the ex-Sheeran implied.
"Insolence isn't a thing to hold pride in ; where I come from, we praise the work you did in the Sheeran pack. We can't have wolves so young being messed with so easily, so quickly. Apparently the damage went a bit farther than I'd thought." She pondered this now, playing possible scenes through her head. Chances are the little thing was just a prickly personality and rubbed Orange the wrong way. The wolf before her was easily swayed if positively commented, but if the other wolf had said something negative, chances were the wolf had flipped.
"Hey, what did you say your name was?"

[chickenmuffin]

We praise the work you did in the Sheeran pack
Orange blinked, her nose twitching. We? Was she being watched by others? Not really the most comforting prospect... But if anyone had seen her around the Sheerans, the word 'work' didn't fit so well. Now she noticed what had niggled her from the beginning, this wolf smelt like a pack- not one she recognised.
Hey, what did you say your name was?
Sure there hadn't been any exchange of name, Orange did what she did best: Said the first thing that came into her head. "I didn't say my name, its Orange though" Tail flicking to each side, Orange sat back onto her haunches, leaving the tensed position as a thing of the past.
Now that Assyria knew her name, it was automatic that Orange asked for a name in return for hers... A name an a pack. "How about your name? And who is 'we'?" Itching for the answer, her tattered ears swivelled forward. A pack outside packs? That would be the purrfect place for her to get revenge.

[Sivoncé™]

Progress. Maybe if she meets the others we can drop the damn facade in a week or so...
"I'm Assyria -- and as far as the 'we' goes, it's a very loose meaning. We've done the name thing before, but we have so many extended friends that calling us one group was a little too limited for our tastes. Think of it as a collective group of diverse wolves with similar interests and customs at heart. We come together in a common area when we please ;; we come and go. Our ways are something that we keep shadowed for the most, part, though. The main four packs in this valley are more than a little prejudiced, as you've observed. It's a hard life for a minority, but in the end, we all know its worth it. Blood might not bind us, but we are still a...unique family," she woofed.
I think that's good enough for now. If I could get her a little more interested, I could reference with some of the others and see if an initiation can be ordered...

[chickenmuffin]

Still sounded like a pack to her. And it sounded like a much better pack than the ones she'd known. Bubbling with excitement, Orange grinned, trying to convert Assyria's name to memory before it got lost.
Assyria, Assyria, Assyria. Assyria of a new pack, or is it new? The pack had probably been around for a while to have the wolves refer to each other as 'family'. Certainly the Sheerans didn't treat me as family.
Orange took in as many words as she was capable of, imagining the pack. The Sheerans had made her believe that there could be no other packs from them, the Destinatians, Siverians and Yozorans anywhere close to this place, and with just a few days on her own she had met a wolf from another pack. What did they do? Wander around with their heads covered in a bucket of water? Stupid Sheerans always have their head in something.
"Wow, sounds great!" Orange enthused, thumping her tail on the floor. She grinned, almost bouncing off her paws. She wanted in, it sounded so irresistible! "Can I see where you gather?" She asked, wanting to match the picture in her mind to the real thing.

[Sivoncé™]

It worked. Now maybe I can hit up Regulus and a few others to see what they think -- we need this, after all. They'll probably be up for it.
"Eh, you seem well intentioned, but we are wary, you see. Take no offense -- we've just be betrayed before. Pack wolves are not as honorable as they say, and we've had fiends creep into our camps in the past, just to spy. Luckily, nothing was too terribly damaged. I'll speak with the rest of my coparts and maybe we can arrange to meet here in a day or so -- I'm sure my friends will want to meet your for themselves. Maybe, then, I could explain to you our customs in deeper...detail. We live hard lives that require one to strictly respect and obey the laws of tradition. Ancient verses that the pack wolves have discarded like trash, but we still embrace. You're a defiant spirit, I see, and that is a good sign, but heed this: all wolves of my kind hold the same defiance as you, some bursting with it out in the open and others more subtle. Either way, those who respect said laws of divinity yield completely to them. No alpha rules us....the forces of nature and their words do. I'm probably saying more than I should....but I have a good feeling about you. We've been dormant for far too long ; the breath of new life is needed among us."

[chickenmuffin]

Orange slipped over so many words, trying to smooth them over into something which wouldn't give her a headache. What she got was that they didn't trust her yet, but Assyria seemed happy enough to give her a chance.
Tail wagging at the prospect, almost bursting with pride that she was better than all those 'dishonourable' Packs. No Alpha sounded good, not because she wished to take up some silly role where she had to care about what happened to others, but because her few brushes with the Sheeran Alpha hadn't left her with a sweet taste in her mouth.
Orange bobbed her head up and down in agreement. "Okay, I'll try my best to show you what I'm worth" She probably would get no sleep that night.

[Sivoncé™]

Assyria tilted her head on a slight incline, regarding Orange with a satisfied, electric excitement. "Noon tomorrow, then. I won't be alone, but I hope you have the sense to keep this all to yourself? Until tomorrow then, it's been a pleasure, Orange." She turned and leaped gracefully into crinkled, snapping burnt crisps of bracken. Though all shrubbery was disheveled and depleted, it didn't take the young femme long to fade from the view of the other wolf and into the mist.
Ah, yes, a morning that is still ripe for torture...
Torture to the Sheerans for letting such potential run loose for the claiming, torture to the Golden Wolf that one less soul is capable of tearing him from his own self-pity, torture for the enemy of my cause.
Such a pleasant piece of peaceful morning, such lovely mournings to come!