A Call to His Highness

*Xae* · (This post was last modified: 07-07-2014, 04:28 PM by Xae.)

Life as a loner was not dreadfully difficult, but it certainly was not easy doing things alone. Xae?s parents had taught him everything he knew ? well, mostly everything ? but even so, leaving home before he was truly mature wasn?t the wisest of his decisions. But the dark rust-painted canid needed to experience life alone, he was sure of that. His last few months spent as a loner had definitely given him the knowledge that he had so desired when he left the comforting warmth of a family unit. He learned, truly, of hunger; of the aching in one?s belly, when you felt so hungry that it seemed if you were able to snag a meal, you?d merely vomit up the limited contents of your belly. He?d felt that horrible pain, and he?d learned the easiest, safest, wisest ways to keep that pain at bay. He had needed to learn of that hardship. He needed to feel the aching in his bones, the fear of death in his heart. For information?s sake, of course. Without the valuable information that he?d managed to gather through his few months of difficulty, how could have ever learned that, while incredibly swift and highly observant creatures, rabbits were dim, and fell into traps easily? How else would he have discovered that one could easily ?climb? trees by hopping up the branches? No need to ignore tasty Robin eggs, or, better yet, young Robin pups, before their feathers grew in. He certainly wouldn?t have learned the succulent flavor that came with bird eggs and little birdlings in a pack, now, would he?

He also would have never felt the longing in his heart, the depressing lonely nights, if he had never left. Xae learned a valuable lesson being on his own, even if it was for a short time. He learned that wolves were strongest, healthiest, in a pack. Maybe not even a pack ? a small group would be fine. Even just one other wolf. Being alone was nice for a while, but eventually, Xae started losing weight, freezing during the chilly, lonely nights. He would listen to the distant howls of wolves, listen to them comfort one another, mourn for a fallen comrade, congratulate one another after a successful hunt. Many times, he had nearly lifted his own soot-coated muzzle to the moon. Many times, the urge to join in a pack activity had nearly been impossible to ignore. But Xae remained silent. After all, he was smart enough to know that it was silly to jump into a pack without first finding out if said pack even went along with your ideals and morals.

Plus, even if he wouldn?t admit it aloud, Xae wanted to cheer for an underdog; a new pack, just rising from the ashes. It would be an experience to join into a well-established pack, but Xae worried it may not be quite right for him. Besides, that little journey was for another time. Jet-socked paws carried his long body over the same lands for something near a week now, always on the outskirts, never really invading the claimed territory. But now, when he reached the boundary, the scent of the pack?s alpha clear on some of the foliage, he paused for only a second, allowing himself to take in a breath before he crossed over into the territory he had decided he would live. Adaven. But Xae, remembering the many times he had been violently chased from other pack lands, paused just inside the boundary. He didn?t want to appear rude, after all. Glancing around the plains, the wind gently rustling the thin, yellowed grasses, Xae waited. He waited for a minute or so, before tilting his head back, his long, slightly floppy ears pressing against his skull. Midnight jowls parted just enough for the young wolf to send a call into the sky, as though he were requesting residency in this land, a family in this pack, from the sun. As he finished his call, the howl directed at Bass, the alpha of Adaven ? so he?d heard ? the sun slowly began to sink, painting everything around him in a burning orange glow.

"Speech"
Thought

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