Finding Home [Open; Joining Thread]

[Dogsrock]

kara -

Here she was on the edge of the border. The wolf watched the vast frontier around her. Endless grass as far as her eyes could see, and a sky larger than she even knew was possible. She could see raised blurs far off in the distance, like flat hills with cliffs for sides. It is all so different than where I come from. No trees, no cover, warmer climate... A part of her was thrilled, but a part was scared by this new, foreign landscape.

The scent markers were right under her paws, indicators that this was pack territory. They smelled like a friendly pack, a loyal pack. Maybe a little carefree. But that's not a problem, right?

The pink and gray wolf scuffed the ground with her paw, flicking her tongue nervously. Kara had been searching for a pack for what felt like so long now. A place so strange, so new... could it really become her home? And the pack? Will they accept me?

Kara checked her posture. Tail lowered, body slightly hunched, long lips. Nonthreatening. She only hoped she would be perceived that way. Taking one large breath and gathering her courage, the wolf padded into the grassy plains, heading towards the cliffy hills.

[Accalia]

Lyta was patrolling her territory, which apparently was the usual thing for a leader to do around here, although to her mind it seemed strange - where she had grown up, patrolling was for scouts, and sitting around looking regal was what higher-ranked wolves invariably did, with little or no variance in their schedule. But she had been trained in a harder school than that, and she felt vaguely delinquent whenever she wasn't doing something that she felt like she ought to. And so she had decided to make these regular outings, at first from a sense of duty, and recently for pleasure. She found that she enjoyed looking over her domain, enjoying the stunning views, catching the odd bit of prey, and striding along feeling vaguely proprietorial even though she knew that in fifty-odd years this bit of land would probably not even remember her, even if she did succeed in getting her name down in legend and song.
It was with quite some surprise that she noticed the other wolf, and quite a bit of annoyance at herself for not having smelt her long before she came into view. All this leadership and world-pondering was getting to her head. Having achieved her first dream, something of the ambition and resolve and fierce watchfulness in her had... died.
There was no time to worry about that now, though, because there was a wolf on her territory. Okay, just on the border of her territory. Lyta's tail lifted into a position of dominance, but she refrained from changing her stance otherwise; the other wolf seemed submissive, and thus Lyta was more than willing to be friendly.
She trotted down the slope towards her, hoping that she was here to join the pack. The Alliance could always use new members. Lyta supposed she would always be wistful for the days and places where she could have forged a pack hundreds strong, the times when she had belonged to a pack hundreds strong... but hated it anyway, at least here she was free. She hoped the unknown wolf knew that; this was a pack of freedom, willing to be allies and friends.
"Hail, stranger!" she called in her best welcome-to-the-pack voice. "What brings you to the edge of Aurora Caeli lands?"