Stargazing

[shila]

Akiak had left camp alone to visit the star lit plains. He usually left at night to gaze at the stars above. Although he had been with the Destinian Pack for a month, he felt as if he didn't belong. Akiak ran at his top speed to reach the plain.

Sad and exhausted Akiak trotted to the middle of the plains. There wasn't any prey out and around him he was intrested in chasing down to kill. The stars were more lite tonight than he had ever seen before. Akiak looked around and had a flashback.
-flashback-
Akiak was a pup playing in the meadows with his brother, the fireflies of night flickered around the meadow. The two were having fun chasing and stomping around. Akiak's attention was on a butterfly and he leapt into the starlite air and fell on his brother. The two laughed and played for awhile. Even Akiak's father was a bit happier back then. He pranced over to his son's and roughed them around playfully. Then the two brothers jumped on their father yelping and laughing happily. Alll sudden joy was gone when the ear splitting roar of a grizzly was upon them. The grizzly stood tall roaring and waving his claws around. Akiak's father ordered them to run and Akiak did as he was told. The grizzly roared again and Akiak's father was even running. His brother was frozen in his place. Staring into the eyes of the grizzly he was frozen with fear. The grizzly charged Akiak's brother and just as if it had just started it was all over. AKiak watched with a horrified expression as his brother was killed and eaten by a grizzly bear. Akiak's father did not watch he only walked slowly away he called for Akiak and they both reteated in the nightly shadows of the starlite sky.

Akiak snapped back into reality and looked around with shock and a bit of fear. He didn't see any fireflies.....he saw no grizzly.....and especially he did not see his brother or his father. Akiak whinned a bit then turned his attention to the sky and snarled a very outraged snarl.

"Why did you have to make me remember!"

He shouted with hatred and sorrow. Akiak hated living like this he missed everything about being a loner, especially his brother and father. He only wished things would get better.

[Sivoncé™]

The frost-kissed night was lit by chandelier heavens, alive and vibrant with countless shards of crystal. Two young wolves loped along in the night, untouched by the cold because of their thick and full winter underpelts. They danced around merrily as small flakes fell lazily from above, oblivious to the prescence of another for the time being.
"Catch me if you can!" The young female teased, sticking her tongue out at her brother. Tatiana was her name. She was a pretty thing, small and dappled with rich silver-blue. Her brother, crouched low in the snow and emitting a defiant growl, mirrored her appearence closely. Their eyes met, challenging and furious.
Etheris leaped at Tatiana, but the female dodged and stepped nimbly out of the way. A small smile lite her features, and she laughed softly as Etheris rolled his eyes and gave up. "If I'd had proper battle training, you would not best me, sister," he grumbled. Suddenly, the male's eyes caught another shape in the darkness. Tatiana followed his gaze, and her smile grew.
"Another Destinian, by the looks of it. We really need to stop being so dense and pay attention to what's going on around us," she snickered. "Ah, well. Let's go and say hello! He looks familiar -- a neophyte, maybe?"
Etheris nodded, and the two began to pad in the direction of their packmate.
"Yes, I believe his name is Akiak, the loner that joined about two moons ago. I haven't really spoken with him yet, I wonder what he's like..."
"Hey, Akiak!" Tatiana barked in lively greeting. The two stopped in front of Akiak, smiling twin smiles.
"I'm Etheris, and this is my sister, Tatiana. What's up?" Etheris woofed.

[aoboco]

The air was cool, a nice night. With the stars twinkling above, the stage was set for... something. The neophyte shook his head vigorously, hoping that the uncharacteristic poetic thoughts would be disrupted enough to fall out of his head. That was the way old wolves spoke, and FIrefly was definitely not old. In fact, he was still a new neophyte, enjoying the simple pleasures of wandering the territory. He hadn't before made his way to this part before, and the unexpected beauty of the lights and quiet plain had made him stand completely still for a minute or two. It was pretty hard to keep this little one still, though, so he was quickly on his way.

The third thing he noticed, after the stars and the stillness, was that he was not alone. Three wolves made up the company. Three Destinian wolves, he assumed. Two of them were close together, while the last was alone. Maybe they hadn't all come to this place together, and one group had run into the other, just as he was doing now. Firefly smiled slightly. It wasn't very much much to just walk around and get to know the territory. He would much rather share the experience with others, have some others to talk to. He trotted happily toward them, waving his tail in greeting.

[shila]

Akiak paused for a moment before greeting the brother and sister. He wasn't very social at the moment since he was still a little new. He finally dipped his head in greeting to the two and finally spoke.

"Nice to meet you.....I am Akiak as you must already know....What's up you ask? Nothing really, just remebering."

Akiak wasn't going to lie, but now he wished he had in case these two were nosey and needed to know everything. Then he saw the another wolf. [i[Great just what I need more company....[/i]Akiak turned to greet the newcommer by dipping his head in acknowledgment.

[Sivoncé™]

Tatiana was satisfied with the explanation -- it was a suitable description of his actions, and in her mind, she hadn't asked anything more of the wolf. Etheris, however, thought otherwise. He inclined his light head slightly, watching Akiak curiously. "Remembering?" He glanced about, then his eyes flickered with realization. He must be remembering what its like to be a loner --- these lands are wide open and were dormant until we got here. "Oh," he woofed softly, about to say something in comfort before Tatiana sent him a sharp glare. She silenced Etheris, then glanced back to Akiak, a light smile touching her features.
"That's cool, you must've led an interesting life as a loner. But hey, do you want to playfight or somethin'?" She covered easily for Etheris, putting aside her own curiosity, though it hadn't stirred much. Tatiana was easy-going and enjoyed simpplicity. Well, my relation to this wolf is simple, and so should be the interaction.
Etheris glanced over his shoulder, sniffing the air. He scented Firefly before he saw him approaching, something that pleased him, but he knew he would still have to improve upon in the near future. "Hey, it looks like somebody else is joining us, too -- don't worry, I'm pretty sure it's just another Destinian neophyte," he woofed, proud of his identification.
Tatiana snorted, cuffing him lightly over the ears. "Thank you, oh great sniffer! For a moment there, I forgot how to use my nose!" She snickered, her tone bitingly sarcastic.

[aoboco]

All three of them had noticed him, by the looks of it. One of them turned to dip his head toward Firefly, and the neophyte, not really remember his name, could only guess that it might be Akika, or something close to that. He watched as Etheris's mouth moved to say something, and then as his sister, Tatina or something, cuffed his ear good-naturedly. Their little acknowledgments of his presence spurred him a little faster, and his long legs easily adapted to the change of speeds. The muscles that he was using to give himself that extra push yearned for more, and on impulse he indulged them.

As he was still a distance away, the lope he broke into didn't send him flying into anyone, and it felt great to stretch his legs out. It felt pretty good, so he let loose and ran, challenging his former top speed. As he sliced through the crisp night air, the neophyte forgot all about the wolves that he was running to, more concerned with making himself comfortable than anyone else's. It was more a childish absentmindedness than selfishness, but accomplished all the same. By the time his thoughts were back in the real world, he was already too close to the group to stop running, for it took him a little longer than the average wolf to slow down. His carefree grin transformed into a frown of concentration as he tried what he thought to be impossible. That is, he was trying to stop on a dime.

[shila]

Akiak watched the wolf run at his top speeds and he was slightly impressed. He couldn't run that fast but he could still run pretty quick. Humorously he watched the wolf attempt to suddenly stop. He huffed a few chuckles and then spoke.

"You know most wolves would slow their pace before stopping after running at that speed."

Akiak was glad Etheris dropped his question for him. When Tatina asked to playfight, Akiak's intrest sparked. He never playfought much when he was a pup since his brother died young. His father despised him back then.

"Playfighting sounds good. I picked up a few fighting moves when I was a loner."

[aoboco]

Stopping so suddenly caused Firefly a major wipe-out, and came up with grass still sticking to the fur on his face. He grinned sheepishly at the remark made by Akiak, and dipped his head a little. "Yeah, I need to work on that," he mumbled, averting his eyes. The subject was quickly dropped, however, when he mentioned something about playfighting. He wiggled with excitement at the word. "Playfighting?" he asked, even though he wasn't very good at it himself. "I don't know many fighting moves," the neophyte admitted, wondering when Rapier would teach him some more. He really wanted to be a full Destinian warrior, but wasn't sure how much longer he would have to wait.

[shila]

Akiak smiled at the neophyte. He learned enough fighting moves to keep him alive when he was a loner. He was eager to try it out on them.

"I will show you some moves if you want me to."

Akiak smiled and then leapt at Firefly, tackling him to the round. Akiak gently pawed him on the face several times and then leapt off. He faced Firefly and stood firmly on the ground.

"Lesson number one always expect the unexpected."

[aoboco]

Firefly stayed on his back for a few more seconds than it should have taken him to register that the weight had been removed, but he was a little stunned. Once he realized exactly what had happened, though, he made it a point to quickly role into a safer position, without his belly exposed. Pushing himself back up to his feet, he looked at the other neophyte, almost quizzically. "Expect the unexpected?" Where had he gotten that? How was it possible to expect what couldn't be expected? If it was expected, then it wouldn't be unexpected, and therefore there was no sense in the first lesson. Besides, he wasn't his teacher, so how much could he really know? Discarding the advice from his memory, he barked happily, "What else?"

[Sivoncé™]

Etheris snickered with anticipation at the true mock fight, Akiak already spinning off a reel of tactics that mentors coached their neophytes on, but Tatiana merely rolled her eyes and sighed with exasperation. "Stupid males! We're playfighting, dumb butts!" The words were barely out of her mouth when she launched herself away from the cold, frost-bitten earth. In the air, she swept in a graceful arc and slammed her full weight, more forceful with the pounce, into Akiak's side. She nipped and tugged on his ears, antagonizing the shock that the impact could've created in her opponent. A flash later, the female was gone, already six or seven feet away from Akiak, in a low-to-the-ground prowl. A daring snarl curled from her maw, her eyes glittering with adrenaline. "Instinct."

Etheris stood, transfixed and miffed for a moment. His pelt was ruffled from Tatiana's sudden performance of skill -- he didn't like being outshone. In a swift dip, he was circling the three wolves, plotting inwardly. He barely heard the single word his sister had hissed through her teeth. Of course, all wolves had instincts.....but to give yourself completely over to them would be like surrendering to insanity. That's why killers are so messed up -- no self-control. He opened his maw to argue this with her, but already she was at him, batting his muzzle shut with the soft part of her paw -- this was no real fight. A friendly skirmish. Well....to everyone except for Etheris.
"Instinct, brother. Lupine instinct." She giggled in a tantalizing whisper. Away she was again, a silver-blue streak across the meadow in the heart of night. Etheris growled in frustration and tore after her relentlessly. Pssht. Yeah, whatever.

[shila]

Before Akiak could respond to Firefly he felt the weight of Tatiana boring into his side. Akiak was on the ground, winded. His ears were being nipped and chewed and he felt as if they had become a play thing for her. Akiak got up when the female leapt off. Akiak shook his pelt and snorted. He was impressed yet disappointed in himself for not seeing that comming.

"Instinct is important, Tatiana, but remember this...when a cold blooded killer uses only instinct, their is no more sanity in their body. They have then become a monster.....not an animal."

Akiak remembered the grizzly from long ago that claimed the lives of his brother and father. The very grizzly that was no longer animal but monsterous. The painful memory of having a family about sent Akiak into insanity. He shook the memory away and dipped his head in farewell to the three wolves.

"I am going back to camp, sorry we had to end this little game so soon."

Although Akiak said he was going back to camp, he really was just going elsewhere to sleep for the rest of the night. He wasn't yet use to the thought of sleeping in a space where no moonlight or starlight could reach. Akiak trotted off into the shadows of the dark forest.

[Sivoncé™]

Tatiana stopped, infuriated. Her eyes were suddenly ablaze with coldfire, and she was rushing after Akiak in an instant. How dare he! What, does he think instinct is evil now? Or does he think I'm the evil one? He's the dimwitted moron is what he is! She rand until she was a few feet away from him, and then stopped, snarling in outrage, "It is the wielder of the instinct, not the instinct itself! If the wielder is pure of heart, then so shall their instincts be. If not, then it's your own character to fear, not your instincts! You can't pass the blame to wolven nature, you take it as your own nature! I happen to be a wolf of morals -- a wolf with good instincts!" She twirled on the heels of her paws and began and indignant march back to her brother and Firefly, fluffed up and highly offended.

Etheris shuffled his paws as he caught his sister's defense. That's pretty true, I guess. Well geeze...Akiak's just a sour sport, isn't he?

[shila]

Akiak stood with eyes of sorrow and pain hidden behind eyes of an unreadable expression. He gazed at the ground and then turned back and looked at Tatiana.

"No.....I know what instincts can do....Though you are right in some ways...every wolf has their own instincts. Yours is good, Tatiana, but for other creatures of not of wolven kind those creatures are natural born killers, with instincts to attack and kill anything that moves or breathes. That was how I lost my brother and father. That is why I joined this pack....that is why I am all alone in this world...is because of instinct...."

Akiak turned away and headed for the shadows.

[aoboco]

Befuddled by the exchange of words, Firefly could do no more than stare, open-mouthed, at all three wolves in question. How had an innocent play-fight turned so quickly into a sour argument? And instincts? He had not heard the good side, nor the bad side of them before, and didn't actually completely understand them, but now he had something to work with. I wonder if my instincts are good or bad? It would be a test of character to try them out, but could he really be so sure that no one would be hurt in the process? Well... I'm not that experienced a fighter, and I'm pretty young as of yet. My teeth haven't gotten very big... they can't feel worse than a thorn. Now was as good a time as ever.

How to go about it was another question altogether, and one that stopped the neophyte in his tracks. It was obvious by the words of the older wolves that one would have to give oneself to it, but how did it happen? Maybe one day he would understand, but it made little sense to him at that very moment. "Um, guys?" he asked, tentatively, not really sure if their hot tempers would turn on him. If they did, he could always run like Hellfire was after him. Or, of course, he could endure whatever they had to say. Or... or could you trust his instincts? Were they powerful enough to get him out of a sticky situation? Questions, questions... "Don't you think we should do something else? Something that... doesn't involve instincts?"