Under your wing.

Subject: Under your wing. Sat Jun 11, 2011 4:52 pm

The forest let go of the last of it's shade and Echo flew out of the forest, paws skipping over one another in the soft sand. She tumbled head over paws down the dune, landing at the bottom. She shook her white coat, now dusted with a light gold color; an echo of an ancestor now passed. She panted, pink tongue lolling out of her mouth, having run all the way from the heart of Midnight Meadows. She looked up the dune from where she had come from, waiting for Exodus. She didn't know how far her adoptive mother was behind.

"Ow, ow, ow!" she yelped, the sand hot underfoot. She hopped up and down on the sand to keep the burning feeling away, but it did her no good. She peered around through the heat waves and found a small rock, one that offered a small slice of shade she could place her feet at. She dashed over there, mitts now cooled, now patiently waiting. She didn't know what had happened, but she hoped that everything was all right. She didn't know what she would do otherwise...

Subject: Re: Under your wing. Sat Aug 13, 2011 3:43 pm

Exodus had slowed letting Echo run ahead. She didn't want to follow to close. When she too broke free of the forest she didn't see Echo. Her heart jumped and she let her eyes frantically search around for her finding her just beside a rock. She walked over slowly. "Hot huh?" she smiled and licked the top of her head feeling the heat on her back and panting a bit. "Come on, we must keep moving, We don't want the other's following us. If we keep going a ways there is a small oasis. You can drink and rest before the longer walk." she smiled down at her daughter. She was strong enough to make it, she knew it. "But before we go, sit in the shade a bit, tell me what happened back there with Navi." it was now time to course her daughters mind between right and wrong, and though she'd only hear one side of the story she already probably guessed what had happened back there...

Subject: Re: Under your wing. Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:56 pm

Echo saw Exodus come out of the forest. She tilted her head up at the fem as she talked, nodding all the way. She followed Exodus back towards the forest, sitting back on her haunches in the shade. She looked out the desert - it didn't at all look like a friendly place for her feet, but it seemed that there would be no other way to get to Jabbar... Meaning that there would be no other way to see Damean, and the rest of the wolves that Exodus said were more like them than the other wolves. She tilted her head down at her paws, hesitating as Exodus asked for what happened...

"I still don't see why everyone's making such a big deal out of this," she grumbled, one ear pinned back in annoyance. "I mean... I get that she ran away when no one was looking. I know that's bad. And when we were going to play the game, Navi was looking sad, so I told her to cheer up and have some fun... I guess she just took it the wrong way." Echo shrugged her little shoulders. It was as if everyone was trying to get her to admit something terrible. "Because... I'm not..." She looked up at Exodus, blue eyes shining bright. "Because I'm not a bad wolf, am I? I don't think I am, but..." She dropped her gaze to her toes again, questions swirling around in her mind.

Subject: Re: Under your wing. Fri Sep 02, 2011 2:50 am

Exodus listened to her daughter talk but didn't look at her till all the words were spoken. The female watched her ghostly white daughter for a moment, looking into the eyes that were not hers, looking at the face that didn't match hers... the only thing remotely close to themselves that matched was their pelt color. White. Exodus matched her father, the male that wasn't Damean Jager. She had been born with a darkish pelt but it had changed to a lighter color. Her eyes squinted a little towards her daughter, words swimming through her head... "Echo." she said firmly leaning over and licking the center of her head. "No matter where you come from you shape your own future."

She smiled and stood up looking down at her own paws. "I come from a very...dysfunctional family. My mother was... well you'll grow up hearing this anyways, my mother was a tramp. She slept with some male in heat then turned around that same day and mated with my father, I think in hopes of trying to see which seed was better. I have other siblings but one deceased. His name was Legend. The father of Navi. She doesn't know this though, and Cinder is her mother. Link is not her father. Legend took advantage of Cinder and after much battle and war he was killed in the very place you were brought just days ago."

Exodus sighed and looked around then sat back down. "I don't know who, or where you came from but I don't care, you're my daughter and I will try my best to shape and mold you into a proper lady. Where we are going is not like the pack we were in. My father Damean took me there when things got rough in Jabbar, which is where we are going now, and I've lived there ever since. I'm going home now, and it's not a pure pack. You do not have to go down a life of darkness, for Jabbar I guess would be considered a neutral dark. Muerta, which is a place I don't think you'll ever travel to, is the darkest of the dark. So we're on a lighter, or will be on the lighter side of the spectrum. I love you Echo, and there is nothing wrong with what happened. Navi has made her own choice back there, as you made your own in your words. You were the bigger wolf in that situation. You invited her and she reacted like... well a pup."

Exodus scooted over towards Echo and wrapped a paw around her and pulled her closer. "I love you" she said softly and licked her head repeatedly before standing up and nudging her under the chin. "You're my strong girl, and with my help, you'll be just even stronger" she smiled to her and nodded. "Let's go to the oasis right now let you fill up with water and some berries, maybe I'll snag a little snack for you? Stay in my shadow, it'll help with your paws." she walked out into the sun and waited for her daughter to step with her.

Subject: Re: Under your wing. Fri Sep 02, 2011 12:02 pm

Echo looked up at the sound of her name, Exodus' eyes not of the same hue, but of the same nature. She listened to what Exodus had to say about her family... Echo knew that Exodus and Damean were half-related, so it did not all sound unfamiliar. When it came to discussing that the way of her future was a choice, a sorrow couldn't help but be had within Echo's chest. She wanted to be a good wolf, but everything told her that that was not the way... Perhaps, though, Exodus felt the same way, and Damean, and his friends Akiko and Despair. Nothing was all bad as long as one had friends, right?

"I think I understand now," Echo said slowly, pawing at the golden sand. "There's light... and dark... and inbetween. Shades of grey..." Still, many questions swirled in her mind, but like most things, they would come in due time. She knew that for now, where Exodus went and where Damean was, she would be safe, and that was all that mattered. She would figure the rest of it out when it came.

With a burst of renewed energy, Echo bounced into Exodus' shadow, following her to the oasis. The sun was hot and the earth was dry, but when her tongue became thick and parched, the scent of water reached her nares. She had an urge to run into the water but she fought it for now, knowing that if she spent more of her energy, it would take longer to recover. There were still many miles ahead of them before the great, ashen forest of Jabbar.

Subject: Re: Under your wing. Fri Sep 02, 2011 2:51 pm

Exodus smiled towards Echo. She got it. With a nod of her head they were off to the oasis and Exodus saw the light in her eyes. Soon enough there was the shade reaching out for both their feet and Exodus bent down nudging Echo to run forward. "Jump in." she said with some excitment but Exodus stuck her nose to the ground. She would need to find... and there it was. Wolves who remmebered about this place would understand what it was like to travel such long distance. She walked over to the little cach and began to dig it up. She pulled out a little meat and then covered back up the meat bin.

She carried the meat over to the water and dipped it in rinsing it off and then laying it out on the shore bed before she herself got in and let the water soak into her fur. "Eat that too, over there, it'll give you some energy for the longer walk..." she smiled and lapped up some water as they cooled off, a nap would be nice too before the walk, let Echo relax those legs.

Subject: Re: Under your wing. Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:24 am

Echo stepped into the cool, languid water, tiny waves rippling away at her movement. She closed her eyes and smiled - though she had walked in Exodus' shadow, it still felt so good to cool off. The water was clean and clear, and she looked over her shoulder to see her adoptive mother digging in the ground. What was she doing? Echo watched as she revealed a meat cache, laid a piece of it into the water to soak, and then pulled it out when it was succulent and soft to eat. It looked and smelled funny, but it was food nonetheless, and Echo was hungry.

She stepped out of the water and laid down to chew on the meat between her paws. "Aren't you gonna eat?" she asked, watching Exodus cool off. But before she knew it, Echo was yawning, her belly warm and her skin cool, the afternoon sun passing overhead so that she now lie in a shady grove. Her head felt heavy and she laid them down on her paws, slipping away to sleep...

Subject: Re: Under your wing. Thu Nov 24, 2011 5:52 am

Exodus couldn't help but smile and shake her head when Echo asked if she were hungry also. Soon though her daughter was fast asleep and she came over and curled around her slowly so not to wake her. Her mind wandered, not tired at all. First her father, damean jäger. Then legend. Then cinder. The treaty... Echo. Echo. Damean jr... Jabbar... Thoughts raced around her mind. She had someone to look forward to now though which put her at ease. Echo. The young little ball of fuzz who would grow to be an adult one day didn't know it, but she had saved her life from
Depression and hopelessness.

Aladar... Where was he? Jabbar she hoped. She realized time enough had passed and she licked echo on the head and nudged her softly. "wake dear... It's time we go home..." she smiled at the thought and waited for sleepy pup syndrome to ware off before standing...

Subject: Re: Under your wing. Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:03 am

She had dreams... strange dreams.

She was running through an open tundra. She looked down at her legs - long and the color of ashes - sprinting as if she were on the hunt. But there was no deer to catch, no prey to kill, and yet she ran for her life. At this moment in time, she was no longer a cub, but a full-grown adult, but she didn't look or feel like herself. A black, foreign-looking wolf made herself known on the horizon, and her pace neither quickened nor slowed. Her mind told her to stop, to talk to this wolf, but her legs were not under her control. She ran past the wolf, the wolf's mysterious green eyes watching her in silence. The wolf didn't even make a move to follow her. Echo watched her over her shoulder, wondering if she would give chase, but no - and when she looked ahead of her, the earth beneath her suddenly gave way to darkness, and she fell into the jaws of a monster...

Echo woke up with a start. Her paws had been kicking throughout the dream, and they continued to kick, but now she was awake and alert. What had happened? And where was that wolf with the green eyes? It was then she realized that it was only a dream, Exodus' voice coming to her and reminding her of where she was. She stood up, shaking the sleepiness from her head, looking down at the sand beneath her paws. She wasn't sure if she had ever been to a tundra landscape.

A strong wind blew against her coat. She looked out into the desert where the sand was dancing and flying high in the sky - somewhere, a wicked sandstorm was brewing. She stretched her limbs and looked to Exodus. "Home? But I thought we were just gonna visit."

Subject: Re: Under your wing. Wed Jan 25, 2012 5:25 pm

"Home is where the heart is..." she said softly giving Echo a nudge.
"And since we both keep our heart to ourselves, maybe we will make many travels.
Follow the world where we want to go?" she smiled to her and shook out her pelt.
"Would you like to go see Damean? Or would you like to go somewhere else?"

Exodus wasn't set on any which way, if Echo wanted to go back to Midnight,
they would go back it was mainly up to the pup, Exodus would have to lie
though when she got back. Her thoughts trailed to Navi and she wondered
if the whelp had gotten eaten, stolen, used as a bartering tool.

"I think too, we may go meet an old friend of mine someday, if you'd like that,
he's a funny man... has a lot of jokes, he can kill with laughter, if you
like that sorta thing." Exodus looked down at Echo waiting for her answer.
There were many choices laid out before them. She knew though that with
Damean and Echo see eachother it would bring a light to her eyes and heart
seeing her little girl playing again, and with someone she enjoyed, not Navi...

Subject: Re: Under your wing. Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:19 am

Echo looked up to her adoptive mother, her blue eyes bright; if possible, at the mention of Damean, they were even brighter. "I would like that very much," she replied with a soft wag of her tail. The thought of seeing him again made her heart pound in her chest, but she contained her excitement. She tilted her head when Exodus spoke of her friend. "Would Damean be able to come if we went?" she asked, hoping that the Prince of Jabbar wasn't all grown up and tied down by the pack just yet. "Because, I think we should go. It's good to stay in touch with old friends." While Echo didn't have all too many friends herself, something told her that it was an important aspect of life. She wagged her tail again, legs eager to get to traveling again.

Subject: Re: Under your wing. Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:47 am

Echo, as eager as she was to see Damean, was so kind to offer up the opportunity to see him and go meet her friend. "No hun, not today, today we will go see Damean, and then we shall see where that takes us later. Friends like him could wait just a bit more in time. You'll see him eventually." She smiled and went back to looking around. "Well... we should take off then. I bet Damean will be excited to see you" She nudged her pup softly and gave a soft hrmm in her throat and then turned. "Lets go shall we" she started off looking back behind her, though she was walking slow, she wanted to make sure Echo would be with her, next to her... for strangers still lurked in the shadows of the brush they were in, strangers were everywhere...

Ooc:|| Let us go to Jubbar =) YAAA