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Post by Mystic on Nov 29, 2009 19:35:52 GMT -5
"My grandmother's." Juliet answered breathlessly. Ok. A bit of a weird answer. But Juliet herself didn't look much older than a yearling. Though it was clear from the way she spoke, the way she acted...either she had age beyond her years or something was up. Juliet looked at the other pups. "Are the rest of you ok?"
Dandre nodded. He was still staring at the brown wolf, though. What was he doing on their territory? Hemitite said no Blackshadow would bother them...'Who're you? Why're you on our lands?"
"Mind your manners, brother. If he hadn't been here, who knows what would have happened." Juliet replied softly. She couldn't bring herself to snap at him. At any of them.
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Post by Phantom on Nov 29, 2009 19:43:13 GMT -5
The male smiled softly. "My name is Dirtspatter. Me, my two sisters, and my father live in a pack near here. We knew this little spot of Blackshadow territory usually is abandoned, and I was going to hunt here to get some extra food. But if you're living here..." He shrugged, smiling sweetly at her. He was being awfully understanding, considering he himself looked only about two years old.
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Post by Mystic on Nov 29, 2009 19:48:39 GMT -5
Juliet sat up, keeping the pup close to her. He seemed sweet, yes. And had they met on better circumstances she would be flirting away. These weren't good circumstances, however. So...Dirtspatter was just out of luck. "My pack is new to the area. We call ourselves Blackwood." Some might think it was named for the dark forests, but it was a nice inside joke in the family. Most of them were half Blackshadow and half Greenwood. "I am Juliet. The Beta of this pack." A yearling a Beta. Hm...
"The larger pups are my younger brothers. Dandre and Starblood. The rest are my grandmother's...and yet to be named." Juliet's ears flattened against her head. Sunstorm would be devastated...
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Post by Phantom on Nov 29, 2009 20:00:46 GMT -5
Dirt tilted his head, curious, but merely smiled. "Well... Why don't I hep you carry them back? You look like you've got your paws full." He smiled warmly, moving over to Dandre and his two little aunts to gently manage to pick them all up in his mouth at once. Man, he was pretty capable. But he glanced at Juliet, ears back, as if to ask permission to help her.
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Post by Mystic on Nov 29, 2009 20:10:55 GMT -5
Juliet nodded once. She picked up the rest of the pups. Juliet just couldn't get over losing those pups...why hadn't she kept a better eye on them? Juliet began to lead him towards the dens, sure-footed in this new territory as if she'd grown up here.
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Post by Phantom on Nov 29, 2009 20:16:31 GMT -5
Dirt smiled, following after her, not seeming to understand what was wrong. He didn't know that there had been four other pups with them. He just kept after her, relaxed even with his load. Once they reached the dens, he set the pups down, and sat at the edge of the clearing, curling his tail over his paws again in a relaxed fashion. But he did seem a bit iffy about beng here. In completely unfamiliar territory.
The two females quickly ran to their mother, who was standing near her own den, watching Juliet. When her two daughters raced forward and both started talking at once, she blinked, confused. What was going on. She padded over to juliet, taking one glance at dirt before looking over the pups present. Quickly, her eyes widened and she looked up straight at her grandaughter. "No... please tell me they're not..."
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Post by Mystic on Nov 29, 2009 20:22:17 GMT -5
Juliet set her load down, winced, and nodded regretfully. "I'm so sorry....they ran ahead and fell..I only managed to help one..." The young Beta bowed her head. How could she be expected to help protect their new pack when she couldn't even pupsit without something going wrong?
Mystic hurried over, eyes wide. "Oh no..."
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Post by Phantom on Nov 29, 2009 20:27:18 GMT -5
Sunstorm took a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. But after a moment, she licked her granddaughter's cheek. "It's alright." She whispered, turning away, motioning her remaining pups into the den after her. She wouldn't let Juliet see just how much it hurt to know four of her pups had died. Drowned, no less. Of all the ways to die...
Dirt frowned on the edge of the clearing, abruptly drastically uncomfortable. This was a tight-knit family here. He didn't below here. He tucked his tail as he got to his paws and started off, ears back tight.
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Post by Mystic on Nov 29, 2009 20:41:44 GMT -5
Juliet whimpered and looked at her mother. Mystic sighed and nudged her. Starblood bowed his head. Dandre looked back at Dirtspatter.
"Hey? Where you going?" Dandre asked loudly.
Mystic looked up, noticing him for the first time. "Starblood, Dandre...go to our den and lay down." The two pups obeyed, glancing back at Dirtspatter. "Who are you?"
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Post by Phantom on Nov 29, 2009 20:44:33 GMT -5
Dirt paused, glancing back. "Um... well, I just... was going." He frowned, quickly backing away. He could tell by her prescence that this female was the Alpha. "I just uh... ran into them on the border... I didn't mean to trespass..."
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Post by Mystic on Nov 29, 2009 21:00:48 GMT -5
"He helped me when I was trying to get one of the pups out of the rapids." Juliet told her mother.
"In that case...stay, please. My kin means the world to me...and I'm grateful you helped her and at least one of the pups survive." Mystic said. She was a trusting wolf. What reason did he have to help Juliet, when he could have easily walked away?
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Post by Phantom on Nov 29, 2009 21:05:17 GMT -5
Dirt smiled softly. "I'm sorry. I have a pack nearby. I'm sure they wouldn't miss me if I was gone a few days, but I can't stay long." He padded slowly back into the camp, ears and tail back in submission. "Thank you."
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Post by Mystic on Nov 29, 2009 21:14:37 GMT -5
Mystic blinked. A pack from around here...he didn't look like a Blackshadow. Not enough scars. And he certainly wasn't a Greenwood. Shrugging this off, she smiled a little bit. "I'm Mystic, one of the Alphas...this is my daughter and our Beta, Juliet."
Juliet mustered a small smile and looked around camp. Nothing else seemed to be wrong. She let out a sigh. "I'm going to go hunting."
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Post by Phantom on Nov 29, 2009 21:30:34 GMT -5
"... can I come?" Dirt offered, trotting up to her in an oddly submissive pose for his much bigger form. He watched her with what could only be described as a puppy dog look, tail wagging cutely. He actually looked a lot like the pups that had gathered around her paws earlier that day, begging her to go to the river.
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Post by Mystic on Nov 29, 2009 21:40:29 GMT -5
Juliet looked him over and nodded once. "We'll be back soon, Mother." She began to lead him off. It wasn't hard hunting here. There was always a bush full of rabbits or a clumsy deer limping around. And since no wolves had lived there for generations, the prey didn't know how to avoid them. Not yet, at least. 'I didn't really thank you properly, did I?" She glanced back at Dirt.
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