Oblivious.

[ACE]

Dig dig dig dig dig!

A young male timber wolf of about three years was rooting around in the pine needles. His white pelt, splashed with hues of cream, was covered in dirt and debris. The pieces slipped off his oily coat slickly, it was clear he hadn't groomed in a while. Which was quite unusual for this male. He was always fastidiously tidy, to himself and often the materials around him. But he knew it was here! It had to be! He growled thickly in frustration at the soft dirt. It was clear to see he was rather hungry as well, which wasn't uncommon for Fuego. There was only one thing he cared about more than food, or rather, more than anything else. The ladies. Yes, this charming young brute was fascinated by his female counterparts, always seeming to have one on paw whenever he felt the desire to do so. Taking a break, he pressed his ear to the ground, huffing as he listened for the vibrating sounds again.

He had been attempting to unearth the mysterious critter for about an hour now. He was oblivious to anything around him, one being that he was trespassing on pack territory. Not that he was a threat to anyone anyway. He regularly traveled about, stepping paw wherever they wanted to go. So far, he hadn't had any problems. He pulled his head back up and glared at the ground with his shocking brown eyes. Maybe if he stared at the ground long enough, it would reveal to him where the hidden morsel was.... His fluffy tail wavered steadily. Patience was not a strong point for him, but he was determined. Whatever it was...he would get it. He lunged forward, paws ripping into the dirt once more.

DIG DIG DIG!!!

[FANTABULOUS.]

valencia
subordinate of the northern pack

Valencia had found the new wolf within the boundaries of her pack's territory after she wandered from the camp, attempting to avoid hearing the elders and alphas fawn over Maya's amazing, brilliant, spectacular feats of bravery again. She was never one to deny her sister; she really was kind of wonderful and she was never afraid of anything, sort of destined to become an alpha when she grew up, with a natural charisma that seemed to have skipped her when the genes were being handed out. But sometimes it got her a little depressed. She was happy when others were happy and certainly, everyone was happy with the way Maya had turned out but comparing her with her sister was always going to make everyone else unhappy with her.

Her one saving grace was the fact that she was beautiful. Angular, with spiky ruffs of fur and a pointed snout, beautifully trimmed claws and a mixture of russet browns, blacks, greys and some streaks of chocolate mud. She was a timber wolf, lithe and swift like most of her breed, with big, gorgeous golden brown eyes, and her appearace usually made up for the huge lacking void where her personality should have been. All looks, but no brains. Well, all looks, and the rest of it heart. She tried hard, but nothing she could do could ever get her even slightly out of the shadow of her sister's awesomeness.

And with this newcomer here, well, she was destined to mess this up too. Knowing her, somehow she would make such a big mistake that there would be a fight, her friends would die and the loner would get away with food, or territory, or pups, or a fae, or really anything that meant the other wolves could blame her. And all she wanted was to do good. He was cute, she would give him that, and kind of attractive, though he seemed slightly crazy. Oh well, crazy wolves were the kind most likely to fall in love with her, going by past reference. Maybe she had a chance with him; he was a wolf not of her pack so he did not know her history, did not know that Maya was the wolf to fall in love with, Maya was the hero and the valiant fighter, Maya was the obvious object of attention, Maya, Maya, Maya. In this wolf maybe she could find a lover who would not just hurt her and leave her.

She had interrupted him doing something, digging up the ground - her pack's ground, and therefore not his to dig - and listening to it, like it was talking. Bending her head down very slowly, she lowered an ear to the ground and listened too, but there was nothing there, nothing she could hear anyway. Making a half-hearted cough in the back of her throat to try to get the white wolf's attention, she muttered timidly, "Uh, excuse me. Hi there. Uh, I don't want to bother you but... you're kind of in our territory and I suppose you shouldn't be..." She trailed off, wincing back and closing her eyes in an effort to dull the pain that was likely to blossom any moment. The elders always told her to keep away from loners, they were malicious and conniving. And what if it was a Thestral? She would be dead in moments! A small whimper escaped her lips and her eyes remained tightly clamped.

Please don't kill me!

all we ever wanted was to be loved,
whether sun or stars above.
all our troubles, all our toil
was toward no greater earthly goal.

notes: hi there ace!
muse: fairly decent.
lyrics: swimming pool by the submarines
tag: ace!

[ACE]

Victory! With one final scoop, Fuego had dislodged the last of the the dirt to reveal a hole that was obviously once a tunnel. However, his surprise came not from the hole, but from behind him. Someone's voice filtered into his audits, a female voice. With a small snort of surprise, the she-wolf had caught him off guard, and not in his best form. Turning sharply, the young male teetered off balance. Slamming a paw into the ground to try to keep himself from falling, Fuego made for a quick re- positioning. Too bad for him that he had managed to sink his paw right into the hole. He felt as though the world around him moved in slow motion as he effortlessly, and shamefully, fell on his face, with one leg stuck inside the hole.

He struggled to get his footing with the other three legs, all the while craning his neck to see who the femora was. Yes, anything to get a good look. He figured that she was not dangerous, or else he would have been in more of a predicament. He finally saw her, or, at least he thought he did. She was crouched low to the ground, seeming to have copied his own stance in search of the hidden critter. Odd. His eyes narrowed at her display, forcing a sneeze to escape his nostrils to clear them from the dirt that was blocking them.

"I'm quite aware of that, Miss. But can't you see I'm stuck here? No thanks to you I might add."

He grumbled a little, but anyone with a working set of optics could see the teasing smile that curved onto his features. He tried to pull his paw out of the tight hole, but it was proving difficult. For the moment, he would forget about her, his focus was on nothing less than escaping the now hated hole. He wanted to talk to the female, he always wanted to talk to the females, but he had to get over and obstacle first, or rather out of one. With a scrambling heave, he managed to wrench his paw out of the trap, but he stumbled backwards and landed with a light thud on his backside, sending a cloud of dust in the air.

[FANTABULOUS.]

valencia
subordinate of the northern pack

It had all happened so fast. Valencia never expected somebody else to be as clumsy and accident-prone as she - she had been surrounded by smooth-as-silk Maya for her entire life - and so when the newcomer wolf got his paw stuck in the hole he had just dug out, she just stood and gaped, not moving to help him. A dozen thoughts raced in her mind, the most intelligent being 'Maybe it's a trap to get me closer so he can attack me,' but by far the most prominent on her thoughtscape 'If he dug the hole in the first place why'd he get stuck in it?' She dallied about, pacing a little forward and shuffling a little back, unable to decide whether to help him or not. Finally as she had decided, what the hey, she might as well help him trap or no trap, he snapped at her in what she perceived as an injured and embarrassed tone. Why, she too would be a little offended if she was caught in this position by a wolf she did not even know. But then again, that was just her.

She rushed forward as he made one last effort to tug himself free and arrived just as a cloud of dust rose and fell softly back to earth, leaving her with a front-seat view of the seemingly unfortunately unlucky loner sitting on his rump in the torn-up dirt. Her sharp intake of breath preceded a rushing expulsion of words which in any normal social situation he would not have been expected to understand, but the timber wolf's concern was evident as she neared closer, examining the previously-captured paw with a trained eye. His scent wafted towards her, and her eyes narrowed as she tried to concentrate. "Are you hurt? Do you need anything? Is everything okay?" All pretence of defending her borders was dropped, as she rushed to the aid of a complete stranger. That was the difference between her and Maya, right there in a physical example. Her sister would give a stranded loner not even a second glance, but Valencia would ache to see someone, anyone, in pain and unaided and on the floor. It tugged at her heart until she gave in - she was a sucker like that.

all we ever wanted was to be loved,
whether sun or stars above.
all our troubles, all our toil
was toward no greater earthly goal.

notes: you're alive! i missed you for a while there. where'd you run off to?
muse: disappearing fast.
lyrics: swimming pool by the submarines
tag: ace!