Set Me Ablaze

. . .


She was hardly reassured by his manner. But he'd noticed that his stoic words and unflappable demeanor, rather than make others calm, just threw them off. Especially when it came to young she-wolves. Was there something wrong with him? Or did he just have really terrible luck when it came to the ladies? Oh well, he was growing up but it wasn't like he was looking for a mate or even a crush any time soon. He still had too much to figure out about himself, and this waking death trap he called a world. Cross knew fear. He knew utter, paralyzing terror that made her heart forget to pump and her tongue feel like it was lead. After the incident, his younger seasons had been spent in primal fear of the world around him, but he hadn't shown it.

It hadn't been expressed in flinches and whines or cries or anything like that. It had been expressed in silence. Eventually he came to terms with the fact that someday he was gonna die bloody and somehow it made things easier to bear. They say that soldiers can't fight at their best until they come to understand they're already dead. Alot to take in on your first year of life, and Cross was only just beginning to present a relateable face to the rest of the creatures out there. The only problem was how little others understood. Then again, maybe this was a wolf who was fully aware of the dangers out there, and that was why she was so afraid of him. He heard her fur rustling against the stone as she backed up further. She was very afraid of him.

Was he that terrifying?

In his seasons of quiet, he'd gotten quite adept at body language. As the she-wolf spoke to him, he turned slightly, angling his face more towards cave door, so that he could just see her shadowy form out of the corner of his right eye. He even went as far as to stretch out his forelegs and lay out. Being this close to the front of the little cave meant that he was still getting a bit rained on, but at least he wasn't out in the gale like winds and lightning strikes. His back was more or less towards the girl now, and though he knew it was a risk on his part, he was willing to take it to put his odd new den mate at ease.

He also managed an answer to her question. "I wanted to see if my swimming had improved- if I could cross an ocean channel without nearly dying on the other side." Training. That was his reason. Well that and pure masculine desire to push himself harder and harder. After that, he'd staid because of his softer side; his real appreciation of beauty. He glanced in the direction of the girl. "What's your excuse?"




. . .