Qanik ghosted around the border of the lake where submerged trees still survived. It was quiet here, a quiet Qanik needed today. She loved her pack, considered them family, but... it could be lonely sometimes being more than twice the age of most, and by far the eldest of the pack. It made her feel old before her time. Physically she felt in her prime, but emotionally... she felt like her entire life had passed her by with nothing to show for it. She had thought she had something... but that too had passed her by. She'd been spending so much time with her duties as legionary that she hadn't had much time to think, so the second she had taken a moment to herself, after the training meeting, it had all come crashing down on her. So she'd found herself down here, south of the packlands. She was considerably less likely to run into any of her pack mates down here, leaving her to brood in peace. Speech,

Home.

It was only a hop skip and jump away from the Lifeless Caverns that he claimed as his own. So far no one had thought to wander upon the male's get away, and that suited him just fine. Rouge, that was what he was known by, by most wolves that had the chance to come across him. But his name, his precious real name was only known to two wolves so far. His sister Othello, and that feisty little wench Sinister, did this effect him? A bit, he wasn't sure what to expect, at least with his sister he knew where she slept at night...

His mind was only a jumble of thoughts, as his mass went away from the ground and landed with a thud against one of the sunken trees. With sharp annoyance he slowly quivered, shaking out his thick pelt as he grumbled mostly to himself. "Fish...wolf...fur," his ears went back against his head his eyes darting down toward the ground before spotting a pale she-wolf off into the distance. Who was this?

The male flicked his ears forward, rolling his shoulders back, and lifting his tail a bit as he watches her behind curious storm hazed eyes. The male made a sound somewhere between a bark and a growl, trying to grab her attention. Who is this? His excitement seeped from his body and into the air around him, his head lowering to align with his spine, his tail beginning to wag behind him. How long has it been since the hermit first sunk himself into his home in the darkness? How long has it been since he's spoken to another.

"Our greetings," the ragged words pushed from the male as rich deep baritones, he was on the edge, his muscles twitching under his fur as he ponders leaping down..But that means he would have to get wet. How the male did abhor water.


"Speech"
'thoughts'

Qanik's attention was captured by a rumbling bark. She glanced around until movement drew her gaze to Imonde's form, and her brows climbed. Whatever she had expected to see it was not the sight of a wolf stuck in a tree in the water. Moving closer she stopped as her toes touched the liquid. Our greetings the wolf spoke. Qanik cocked her head to the side cautiously. "Hello," she replied with a good dose of wariness. "Do you need help? You seem... stuck." Could he not swim? If not, how had he gotten there to begin with? She wasnt sure she was a strong enough swimmer to carry them both, but she would give it a shot if needs must. ooc: got the impression that he was out on a tree over the water. If not then oops. Speech,

Annoyance!

That was what he felt for not being able to lurch at the female with his typical serpentine greeting, instead the man was stuck in a tree, just above the water. How embarrassing. The male slowly places his ears against his head, tail still moving behind him but his annoyance with his stuck state very evident upon his features.

His features would finally smooth other as her voice caught his attention, his head tilting to the side before he looks down at the water below him once again. Him? Need help? A Divine? Nay! He did not need help, he was merely putting off the illusion of not liking water, though he actually thought water could go drown itself if he had his choice.

But finally he leapt from the tree, floundering in the water with a giant splash as his forelimbs thrashed around in an ungainly manner. Eagerly he crawls toward the bank toward her, his body shaking, ears pinned to his head, his honor in tatters, and a glare being cast over his shoulder toward the water. "Let us sp-e-ak to no one ab-o-ut this...yes?" He asks, sopping wet as he drips all over the ground as his ears flick to the side.


"Speech"
'thoughts'

Qanik watched with a sort of skeptical amusement that she took care not to show as the male shifted on the tree, obviously irritated with his predicament. The amusement grew, tainted with pity, as the male flopped into the water and began thrashing his way to the shore - though she was more concerned than anything. He hadn't accepted her offer of help though, so ungainly as his swimming appeared she simply remained poised on the shore watching calmly. Finally he was ashore, raggedy and dripping, speaking words with in a quite strange manner, so unusual that it took her a moment to comprehend the whole. When she did she merely inclined her head slightly. "Of course," she replied to him. Who would she tell? She didn't even know the man, and she certainly wasn't one to gossip. "Are you all right? That water is cold even in the summer, it must be frigid now." Speech,

Murder.

That was the only thought on his mind when he thought about water mixing with his fur, he wanted to kill the Divine that thought water was a wonderful idea. Though he held his murderous intent to the back of his throat, swallowing slowly as if that alone would get rid of the strict hatred he was feeling at this particular moment. Enough was enough, when he returned to the heavens he would show Mr. H2O creator who was boss, lay down the law, and get rid of this horrid creation.

Her mentioning the cold brought him back to the notion that he was indeed wet, cold, still had a hole above his shoulder, and let's not mention that his charm went straight out the window since he was focused on two million ways to murder the element of water. Her voice though cut through his murderous haze once again as he noted an opportunity to seduce the female.

And oh how he attempted to take it. The male lowered his chin down to his throat, his head keenly tilting over to the side as an innocent light flashed through his storm stricken eyes. We do rec-kon we are mig-hty cold, per-haps you could..." He meant to finish that sentence with the whole let's put our bodies together and keep warm statement, but when he tried to fluff up his coat there was a wet reminder that one could not look manly when one was sopping wet.

Which only lead back to the annoyance that he felt earlier, making the male drop his smooth statement and instead shake his body once again, dislodging drops of water. "We sup-p-ose sed-uc-tion is out of the ques-tion, since we look like a fish with fur..." The creature growled darkly under his breath, but there was a flicker of humor behind his gaze.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Qanik was a little taken aback by the sudden, patently-false innocence the stranger displayed, his strange vocal patterns forming the beginnings of what was quite likely a bad pickup line. Mostly she was taken aback by the very fact that he was wasting a perfectly terrible pickup line on her, twice his age and far from the most elegant of females. She flinched away as she was sprayed with water droplets - uncomfortably cold even when it was just drops. The male's forthright grumble drew from her an unexpected laugh, as low and rough as her speaking voice. "Where I come from, it is said to get so cold in the winter that even the fish grow fur to stay warm," she told him, neatly sidestepping the awkward proposition. She cocked her head to the side, a faint smile still playing over her square muzzle. "What is your name, stranger? I am Qanik." She offered her own name first, hoping to entice his from him so she knew what to call him, even if it was just in her own head. Speech,