ardent

Rest at Last -open-



Crusade

Loner

age
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gender
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gems
20
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build
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posts
70
player
02-16-2013, 07:53 AM





~*~

Crusade let her head dip once more when the Tortugan offered up her calling. Her tonelessness didn't bother the old Alpha. She was accustomed to it in some of her packmates, even from her own brother. She was aware that such a persona could hide a dangerous creature, or merely a laidback one. Clipped tones and expressionless eyes could be a sign of boredom or displeasure, but should never be taken for granted as such.

As it was, Crusade perceived no immediate threat from the smaller black she-wolf and was happy to speak on peaceful terms with her. Though Crusade's own pack always came first, all the packs had been through the same brand of hell in the past few weeks. A level of common experience and unknown was even to the surviving population. It took a foolish head or a hard heart to disregard it entirely.

So it was that when the Tortugan mistress spoke again, asking of news of the packs, a measure of true disappointment crept into Crusade's eye. "I wish to heaven that I did..." was the Timber wolf's reply. "I have met no other Alphas, nor Betas-" Crusade shook her head, "It is beyond my knowledge if any survived."

And if a stranger believed her concern for the other packs to be false, they'd be idiots. No wolf ever had stronger ties to those around her. It was Crusade's younger brother Collision who was the new crowed King of Valhalla. Where was he? Crusade's heart was wrapped in a fog of questions, yearning only for certainty. Yet she'd been in this mist before. And she knew the only way out was to keep walking.

Feeling Mercianne seating herself beside her, Crusade flicked an ear in her direction and brushed her bush of a tail over to encircle her. Not everyone could deal as stoically with these tragedies as the black Tortugan and the Glaciem Chief, and while it was Crusade's duty to make those of her pack stronger, it was also her job to protect those who weren't just yet.

Crusade's grey nose twitched as a large damp snowflake landed on it. A pity that it had to be in winter that all this maddness occurred. The cold hard season where those too wounded by the rocks and quakes and gases had no chance on their own.

"But my own search is far from over, and your search has my wish of good luck," Crusade murmured. Crusade paused, looking the stranger over appreciatively before she let her tongue shift again. "And in the meantime, Secret, if you find yourself or another in need of shelter or healing, you are welcome to seek it in Glaciem camp. For the moment we are camped in the Sparse Pines." Crusade was aware that her offer might be taken with ill feeling, but she couldn't be herself if she hadn't offered - and meant - it. If The black wolf had shown signs of agression it wouldn't have been given, but so far she'd shown herself only to be proud and polite in her own terse way.

~*~



~Because .G.i.v.i.n.g. U.p. was something I never learned to do~