The Old Den

[meixiaotian]

"Their are humans, three of them, and they are heading straight in this direction. None of you panic. We're not too run, we just need to stay as quiet as possible, and wait for them to pass. Nobody make a sound." Alarm shot through her. They were coming? She lifted her head from Halgea. They wouldn’t notice them. It was too dark too see anything. Only owls and nighthawks could see, and she had heard that their sense of smell stunk like hell. Not to mention, they were trying to be hidden, the humans would not, could not, shall not, will not, ever find them. She flattened herself against the ground and retreated a short distance back. Just in case. Then she lay down and watched everyone else. Koiro scrunched into the den too and sat down. Being obedient to his mother and alphess. He probably realized how far he has pushed it. How far they both have. Well, now almost everyone was in. Good.
Shade came back in. He had just finished covering up the entrance with a branch.. He quickly talked to Kishi, then went back to Halgea. She watched as he came closer. He nuzzled Halgea’s cheek. She was unconscious, pretty useless if she never notices. He’s just cooling down. She silently marveled at what her life had been only a few days ago. She had been alone, and the small part of her that craved socialization was closed, she was happy alone. But then Kishi came and it opened up. Now, if she went back, something would be missing, when there was never something missing in the first place. She was stuck with these guys. Oh well, she didn’t mind. To much. She settled down in her area, the stone was already becoming slightly warmer, more comfortable. Then, the scent, which she now knew was definitely human, became stronger. Her fur bristled. They were coming very close. She heard the leaves and twigs crunch under their large weight. Their gate sounded unfamiliar with the terrain. That was about their only advantage: home turf. With a bit of nervousness, she went a bit farther back. That wouldn’t help, but it was instinctual to run and hide for her.
Then she wondered, what would happen once they left? I mean, the present situation being what it was, it was preferable that they left, but then what? Live in a pack of 5? Hardly a pack, more like a bunch of friends. It wouldn’t be respected at all. She remembered a question that had nagged at the back of her mind. What should you do with your life? Survive, of course, and that’s why hard challenges were so interesting and they were a way of life, but after peace, then what? What would be fulfilling? She remembered the odd wolf that had appeared out of nowhere earlier on, saying something about Zentha. Ah well, that would be another problem arising. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have to face both at the same time. She shook her head from her fuzzy thoughts. She forced herself to calm down, they would be fine, at least for the moment. Live in the now, not the future, things sort themselves out. Her eyes closed. Then she heard the humans again. This time, very close. She forced her eyes to stay closed. They would be fine.

['Kishi]

It was evident from the sounds coming from outside that the humans were growing closer, and closer, and closer with every passing second. The entire time, Kishi kept her attention focused on her son, Koiro. She focused over how much he had grown, how much he had changed, and how much he had come to look like his father. The resemblece was in plain sight, even a wolf from another pack could spot it. One day, the young male would be Alpha of this pack, just as his father had been. Kishi would have to put him through some seriosu training before that day came, though, just to ensure Koiro was ready for such a task. Well, he would have to be. He didn't have much of a choice.

Her attention then focused on the other members of her pack. This was everybody, she assumed. Jewel had not arrived, which must have meant that she had perished over Winter, leaving the Xyla pack made up of only herself, Koiro, Helgea, Frost and Shade. It was small, and yet she possessed more members than the Liazo did. It would definitely be an issue if the Skyla decided to attack, their numbers were a much larger figure, and Kaijas pack was made up of many great fighters. Kishi trusted them not to, though. So long as Shade kept his distance. 'Kishi with your permission i will fill you all in on what i know of the humans though my encounters with them.' The Alphess looked at her Warrior, and then nodded, eager to learn more about these 'humans'.


After what felt like years, but must have been nothing but mere minutes, the sounds of the humans passing through the area died down, and after waiting for another couple of minutes, Kishi stood up and pushed herself through the tree branch that Shade had used to try and conceal their whereabouts. It had been a clever idea- and Kishi caught herself thinking that perhaps he wouldn't make too bad an Alpha. Quickly shaking these thoughts away, the small femora glanced around the clearing, before calling out softly to tell the others that it was safe, and that the humans had thankfully gone.

[Shade]

The warrior spotted the nod but before he could tell his tale his alphess walked out of the cave, that was a very bad idea, the brute quickly rushed after his alphess in an attempt to get her back inside but he would have to handle the situation with a soft paw and a level-head after all she was stressed enough and this was her pack, the brute slowly made his way through the branch and padded over gently and reassuringly rubbed on the left flank of the mexican fae. "Kishi.. i know your trying to be brave for the pack and we all look up to you for it.. but please you must listen to me.. it may look like their gone.. but their not.. please get back inside.."the look in the brute's eyes were not of question or stubbornness, but concern for his alphess, he was concerned about her safety and he hadn't expressed any real concern for anyone in the pack besides an ocssial nudge or a lick on the forehead but that was just how the warrior was but this time that was not the case, kishi ment more to him then anyone and he would be damned if he let anyone harm her. he stared at his alphess for a moment then motioned to the cave once. "please kishi.."

And with that said the warrior brute slowly turned and walked back through the branch and looked at the pack, he would gently nod to them to let them now that everything was still okay but he would not stay in the cave long, he soon turned and walked back out not wanting kishi to be alone especially when the humans had just past by and they would surely be returning to their base soon he couldn't take the risk of losing her, it was just to much for him to bear if she did get attacked by one or more of the humans he would give his life trying to save her if he had to, unaware to him but he was starting to behave more and more like an alpha every day, he started behaving the same way that karn had behaved like any true alpha would and their first thing was to protect the alphess then the pack at all costs and that was exactly what shade had in mind as he stood proudly beside kishi waiting for her to move toward the cave.

[Koiro]

As the humans made their slow ways past, Korio felt the fear in the air escalate by another 100%, and the male even found that he himself had held his breath as the creatures wandered into the area, only discovering this act when he let out a loud puff of air from his throat once the two-leggeds had disappeared from sight. He glanced around at his mothers pack wolves, evaluating how each of them had hadled the situation. Frost particularly caught his attention, and it seemed to him as though she had the most effective tactic; one he wished he had thought of, instead of sitting here holding his breath and shaking. The femora was crouched down to the hard ground, with her eyes shut tight, as though blocking out all of the bad things in the world. Right now, that seemed like an appealing thought.

Shade requested that he be given a chance to explain to the pack more about the humans, but even though Kishi accepted with a nod, his chance never really arrived, for as soon as the humans were out of sight and out of smell, Koiro's mother was padding warily out of the den and back into the clearing. Her actions seemed to startle Shade more than it did he, as the Brute rushed outside after her, with a protective feature showing in his expression that was not at all comfortable in the young Brutes mind. That was the job of his father, Karn, not some over grown Warrior with a petty crush. Because thats what it was, Koiro realised. Shade had a thing for his mother. He liked her. Liked her liked her, in a more than like kind of way. Eww.

With his eyes narrowing in a huffy mood once again, Koiro focused all of his attention on watching Frost. She was a curious sort of femme, and the young male was yet to hear her speak more than just a few mere words. She wasn't bad on the eyes though, and if he needed a distraction, he was fairly sure she would provide one. For now, as he awaited the return of his father, the Xyla heir would simply have to sit and watch the intriguing Shaman fae, until his mother decided to come back inside and provide them with some sort of explanation as to what one earth was going on.

[meixiaotian]

The humans came closer, until they were right outside. Frost’s fear spiked up so much that she was sure all the creatures within a mile would sense it. Her eyes were sealed tightly shut and she was pressing herself so close into the ground, if the ground had been any softer, she would’ve been buried. Finally, after what felt like hours, if not days, they left. She started to relax only once they were already out of hearing range. When they were completely gone, with only the footprints and scent they just left still there, she stopped pressing herself away. She just lay there, shaking from the after effects of fear. She listened to the padding sound of paws as someone left the cave. Frost took a few deep breath. They were gone, she was safe. Then, she thought something that had somehow escaped her mind until know. Situations like this would happen again, as long as the humans were here. The thought put herself into fear again. Humans can’t notice a few wolves hidden in a den unless they were looking for it. They wouldn’t know everyone was here. Then again, Halgea and Shade had easily revealed themselves to the humans, making it obvious that there were wolves around. Those idiots! She silently cursed them and their stupidity. After another deep breath, Frost opened her eye. Shade and Kishi were gone. Off talking again. She snorted, when weren’t they? By now, it was exceedingly obvious, Shade liked Kishi. He’d never get her, she’d already had a mate, but he’d died. Most wolves only had one mate, not two. It was probably mating season. She remembered the time before the winter. During mating season, there were brutes running after faes, faes running after brutes, it had driven her nuts. Whatever it was, he had zero chance with Kishi. Frost looked around at Koiro. He was staring at her. She blinked. Was he seriously-her thoughts were interrupted by a huge yawn.

['Kishi]

‘Kishi.. i know your trying to be brave for the pack and we all look up to you for it.. but please you must listen to me.. it may look like their gone.. but their not.. please get back inside. please kishi..’

His words caught her off guard, the way he had spoken- it had been so gentle! Kishi had never heard him use a tone like that before, and looking to him now, it became apparent that he was being very serious about this, the look on his face showing strong concern. The large male padded into the cave for a few seconds, before joining her again outside, standing by her side in a protective manner that gave her funny butterfly like feelings in the pit of her stomach. He’d said ‘please’, too. In all the time that she had known him, he had never, ever said please. His words had always been head strong, demanding. This had been more like a pleading sort of tone. Whatever his issue with being outside was, it must’ve been pretty serious.

So, for once in her life, Kishi obeyed the commands of a lower ranked wolf. The femora nodded, and with one last, longing glance in the direction of the human camp, she padded back into the cave, turning in a circle in an attempt to find a comfortable spot, and settled herself down alongside her Shaman. The way in which Koiro was staring at Frost had not gone unnoticed, either, and it amused Kishi a great deal. The young brute must have realised that everybody had seen him, including the fae in question; for he dipped his head and looked to the ground in embarrassment. The one thing that was playing at the very peak of her mind, however, was of course the dark hued male that had spoken so gently to her several seconds ago, and yet had stood with such a protective, ferocious posture. It really was wrong, the way he was playing on her mind like this; afterall, her loyalties still lay with Karn, even if he had been dead for almost two years now- he was still her one and only mate. She had loved him. That was why she felt so strange when longing for Shade the way she did. It was wrong of her.

“Shade seems to think the humans will come back, and that its still not safe outside. So I guess we’ll all be staying in here for the night. Nobody is to leave the cave.” The Alphess muttered, just loud enough for everybody to hear. She lowered her head onto her paws and closed her eyes, suddenly wishing for none of the attention to be directed at her anymore. Embarrassed, Kishi withdrew into her own mind, and locked herself away from everybody else.


[Gaah, museless D:]

[Halgea]

Halgea stood, winced, and listened to the conversation. "Well I think we should sit here and prevent further damage to our pack if you ask my opinion. I am going to protect you guys, even if it means I lose my life. I don't want to be known as the wolf who cared not about her own pack's safety."

[Shade]

“Shade seems to think the humans will come back, and that its still not safe outside. So I guess we’ll all be staying in here for the night. Nobody is to leave the cave.”

"I don't think they will i know they will" The voice boomed from just beyond the branch but then its owner slowly made his way into the cave, shade stood before his alphess and his pack mates, his eyes filled with a mixture of pride and concern not that he'd ever show his true feelings to anyone but kishi of whom he trusted beyond everyone else. he could tell that they did not really believe him about the humans so it was time to prove them wrong and show them that he did in fact have the pack's best interest at heart instead of just trying to impress kishi, that is when he heard the betan speak up it was clear that she thought the pack had looked down on her for some reason.

"Well I think we should sit here and prevent further damage to our pack if you ask my opinion. I am going to protect you guys, even if it means I lose my life. I don't want to be known as the wolf who cared not about her own pack's safety."

"Relax no one thinks that and i'm the one who is on guard the rest of you need to get some rest" just then something changed in the brute's eyes something from his past was brought back to the surface as he went silent and padded over to the only path through the branch and laid down, the look in his eyes was not that of anger or anything like that but they were filled with a bitter sorrow as if he were blaming himself for something. he had even forgotten what his alphess had given him permission to do and that was fill the pack in on the humans, all the massive brute could do though was just stare at the ground.

"shade?.." A voice rung out within his head, cheen landed on the branch near his master unsure of what to do, he then looked over at the pack then at kishi a sly grin then formed on the owl's beak but that was quickly destroyed as the brute known as shade snapped at him verbally, but due to his state he was unaware that he had spoken out loud, "Cheen.. go get the radio..now.." of course cheen was not the one to disobey his master even if it were a stupid idea so he took off to get the radio that shade had dropped before. a few moments pasted and the owl returned to his masters side dropping the item between his paws.

Shade then picked it up and padded over to his alphess then laid down placing the radio in front of her, he would wait for her to ask about it before trying to explain mainly because he knew that she liked to figure stuff out instead of just being told how or what something was. Honestly he just enjoyed watching her try to figure it out she looked so cute when she did so, he knew the feelings he had for her were wrong because karn was and will always be her mate but he couldn't bare to see her alone, it was not that he didn't respect karn hell karn was his best friend but nothing could change what happened.

['Kishi]

'Well I think we should sit here and prevent further damage to our pack if you ask my opinion. I am going to protect you guys, even if it means I lose my life. I don't want to be known as the wolf who cared not about her own pack's safety.'

So Helgea had woken up. Kishi opened one eye, just to ensure she was okay. The betan fae had stood up, and was sounding somewhat irritated by the conversation. The Alphess wondered for a second what it was that had upset her, but then decided to ingore it. Helgea was a good beta, that was all Kishi needed to know. She closed her eyes again, ears fully erect and swirling to catch every sound around her. Shades voice boomed from outside, declaring that he didn't think, he knew. The fae smirked, amused by his tone. Her tail swayed gently, content that she was surrounded by all of her pack members, even though the situation wasn't particularly desirable.

'Relax no one thinks that and i'm the one who is on guard the rest of you need to get some rest.'

Again, the femme agreed with Shade, as he spoke gently to Halgea in an attempt to reassure her. He was the head warrior, and so the responsibility to protect his pack members fell on him- and in honesty, the rest of the pack were looking incredibly tired, clearly warn out by the days events, especially the youngest of them all, Koiro. The Alphess looked to her warrior with thankful eyes, feeling warm on the inside, before laying her head down on her paws again, closing her lids and looking as though she was going to go to sleep. Although she wasn't. She heard the Brute talking to somebody, and the flap of wings, so could only assume it was his Opakti, the owl. Nobody else was talking.

Some time later, the flapping of wings returned, and something was dropped between her paws. Opening one eye to take a look, Kishi was met with someting staring at her straight in the face. It was a strange contraption, with no fur, and it didn't appear to be breathing either. She sniffed at it curiously, but immedietly wrinkled her nose, discusted by the stench of whatever it was. Looking up at Shade, intrigued, she asked "What the heck is this?"

[meixiaotian]

Kishi came back in. She had listened to Shade, then. Her scent moved closer to Frost, who had closed her eyes again.
“Shade seems to think the humans will come back, and that its still not safe outside. So I guess we’ll all be staying in here for the night. Nobody is to leave the cave.” Great. Honestly, humans don’t come back to the same place twice. They might go back to their camp, but seriously, it’s not like they would just decide to go back to that place with a small den that they didn’t even know about! Oh well, it was pretty late. None of them would be going out anytime soon. It wouldn’t make much of a difference, but she would prefer that she would at least have the option of going out.
“I don’t think, I know they will.” Shade said, coming back in. Mmmhmmm... Sure. Why ever, it again, didn’t matter. Frost settled in better into her space and relaxed. The sounds outside seemed to settle down too. Birds in their nests, squirrels scurrying out once more, and the simple quiet that always came during the night. It was so peaceful. Much more than how the pack was. Life is never that easy.
"Well I think we should sit here and prevent further damage to our pack if you ask my opinion. I am going to protect you guys, even if it means I lose my life. I don't want to be known as the wolf who cared not about her own pack's safety." Halgea spoke. She was awake? Well, that’s certainly what a warrior would say. Especially a wounded one. She'd heard plenty of speeches like those by injured warriors back when the pack was... fuller. She almost asked how exactly she was going to protect them, why if there everyone else would too, and what exactly was she going to protect them from. The humans were long gone. Well, according to Shade, they would come back.
"Relax no one thinks that and I'm the one who is on guard the rest of you need to get some rest"
Well, fine by Frost. There was nothing wrong with that. Hopefully, that would keep Halgea from trying to act like a brave beta. Some flapping came from outside. Odd... Most of the birds were asleep or inside their nest. It could be an owl, a very noisy on at that, then. Most owls are silent flying. Then it landed on a branch. It was probably that owl Shade had. Shade said something, she would probably know what it was, if she had been paying attention. A few many moments later, long enough for her to fall half asleep, there was the sound of something hard being dropped. Her eyes flew open. It always scared her half to death with loud, strong, quick noises like that. Gunshots, falling rocks, falling trees, danger, nothing good. This, whatever was brought in, fit into that category. She didn’t recognize it, but the stench of human was all over it.
“What the hell is this?”
Frost honestly was just a clueless. It was medium for a human object. Suddenly, she remembered the bullet from Halgea’s wound. Whatever this was, it was bad. It was human, and that was all needed. They had to get rid of it. She shifted around and looked at it. This wasn’t good. Her temporary alarm was overcome by another huge yawn. Slowly, tiredness crept back into her mind and her eyes closed again.

[Koiro]

The young male sat patiently throughout the whole scenario, listening to what each wolf had to say. In his opinion, his mother relied too much on what Shade was telling her. He acted as though he was the Alpha male, which he wasn't. God, if his father knew about this! alot had changed over the past few minutes, the Betan female - Koiro had forgotten her name - had woken up, and Frost seemed to have gone to sleep. Sounded like a nice idea to him, in honesty. To fall asleep right now and not have to witness what was going on really did appeal to him.

Koiro worried about where is father was. He assumed the Alpha must have been out hunting or patrolling or something, but surely to be outside on his own with those two legged hunters around would be very dangerous for him. Kishi didn't seem to be bothered about it, but then again she was very good at hiding her feelings, Koiro had seen her do it many a time before.

Something else was going on now- Shade had dropped something inbetween his mothers paw, which she apparently had no idea what it was. Neither did koiro, but the object held his attention for mere seconds before he attempted to get to sleep. The stench of human had been bought in with the object, leaving Koiro feeling quite sick, and wanting nothing more than this night to be over.

[Shade]

"What the heck is this?"

Honestly the brute did not have the slightist clue what it was, but cheen had told him that it was a way for the humans to speak to one another over long distances, this seemed like a very important thing for the pack to know especially if they would have to some day rise up and force the humans out of their territory, the brute sighed heavily and looked toward his alphess and for a few moments the warrior was speechless he wanted nothing more then to tell her but he couldn't seem to bring himself to do so, but after some time had past the warrior finally spoke up, "Quite frankly my alphess i don't know but my eye in the sky has told me the humans use it to talk to each other, this may be how they found out we were in the area", as if to prove the warrior right after he had finished speaking the radio sparked to life, of course none of the pack members could really understand the humans, but from the sound of it shade did not like it,

just then the branch started rustling, had they found the cave?!, this was bad very very bad.. but shade was not one to just cower in fear, he made his way over to the branch making sure to use the shadows to his advantage remaining unseen and as he peered through the branches of the fallen limb, he could of sworn that his heart stopped for directly outside a small distance away was a creature like the one shade and kishi had seen when he had taken her to see the human camp, he could kind of see a human by the branch so the brute prepared himself for an ambush attack he would rather die then see his pack mates hurt. just then something drew his attention to the young male known as koiro shade did not know if it was the fact that he thought of him as a warrior or not but he kicked a rock gently into the brute's head then motioned to kishi, as if ordering him to protect her which would make sense seeing how she was the most important wolf in the cave.

But just as everything seemed lost the rustling stopped and the radio went silent, the brute peered back out of the branches and the humans were gone, to his relief his pack was once again safe but he could sense that they would grow in numbers before the day was through he did not know why he felt this way but he still had hope that the other pack members were still alive out there somewhere, even through his pack was once again safe the brute stayed in his postion by the branch, not moving an inch nor did he speak to anyone or even look back at them, all he did was just stare out into the clearing that was before the cave. a soft breeze blew past him but still he did not budge an inch, the brute was lost in his memories, memories of how he had failed his old pack sure he had only be a pup at the time but still he should of done something anything to save them, for heaven's sake he watched his father die!, if anyone in the xyla knew this then they would surly know why he had been actting so strange especially when the humans were around, after all he had basically shown respect to koiro for a second time in the same day!.

Finally he turned his attention back to the pack but the look on his face, well it was hardly the same brute that the pack had come to know and love, something had changed or snapped within him appon seeing the humans, he was more determined to protect his pack more then ever now but before anyone could approach or even speak him to him, before they could even ask what he had seen the brute stared at his alphess for a moment then turned and padded out of the cave, that as if he was signaling for her to follow him but once again he had made no sound or gesture toward her to do so, he had just stared at her, once outside the brute padded up to the lake and just stood there staring at himself in the reflection, he once again saw karn in the reflection instead of himself but instead of being honored this time the brute reached over and slapped the water with his paw, distroying the reflection as he then turned his attention to the sky, cheen of course had taken a perch in a nearby tree just to watch over his master.

~shade exits~

['Kishi]

'Quite frankly my alphess i don't know but my eye in the sky has told me the humans use it to talk to each other, this may be how they found out we were in the area.'

The female quirked an eyebrow, staring at the thing in wonder. How could they possibly use this to communitcate with one and other? Were they not capable of simply speaking like normal creatures do? By this, did he mean when next to eachother, or over long distances? Gosh, that would be extraordinary! she had heard of a master and Opakti being capable to talking to eachother from far apart, but for two of the same species? That was quite odd. Perhaps it was magic they used? Well, whatever it was, it had Kishi more intrigued than ever. She felt like a learning pup once more. Suddenly, the communication thing sparked into life, talking as if it had a mouth of its own. Of course, she could not understand a word of what was being said, but it still managed to make her jump.

The atmousphere changed dramatically once again as a sharp noise came from outside. In that moment, Kishi was sure that they had been found. Shade went to investigate, and by his body language, she could tell that their was indeed something undesired out there. Hunkering down next to Frost, she waited with wide eyes, ignoring everything else that was going off, her attention focused soully on the tree branches that were covering the cave entrence, expecting them to move at any second. Thankfully, the tension dropped just as quickly as it had risen, and whatever it was that had been there, was evidently gone. The Alphess breathed a sigh of relief, content that nobody had been hurt again. God, one simple pack meeting had somehow managed to turn into a blood bath!

Kishi did not want to see any more of her pack get hurt, and yet she was readying herself to make a large request of them. The fae didn't know if she was brave enough to do it, brave enough to be the reason her wolves wandered into Skyla territory. Those lands were probably the most dangerous of places on Kongrai to be, including the outlands, and she was going to put forward that her pack follow her into them! Kishi would never forgive herself if something bad were to happen there, and yet, she had little choice. It was for the good of the packs, and a vague attempt at keeping her peace with the Skyla and Liazo. Decisions, decisions.

Waking up from her thoughts just in time to see Shade staring at her, the fae felt her heart rate increase and her cheeks warm ever so slightly. He had padded out of the cave by now, a strange expression looming from him. Kishi felt she should go and talk to him, and yet, she did not like to leave her other pack members. After some silent debate, she sighed. "I guess I should go see what's up with him." Her attention focused on Frost, then Helgea, and lastly Koiro. she frowned. "You are free to leave the cave now, if you wish, and resume your daily routines. Please meet me here again in two days time, as I have something to ask of you all; and its important." With those last words, she padded softly out of the cave, nodding her goodbyes to her members for now, and following the scent of her Warrior.

[Kishi exits!]

[~*Satarah*~]

<sup>the sound of delicate padding entered the area. the sound belonged to the silver famora satarah. the smell of the xyla pack was strong in the air but she couldnt quite pin point where because the smell of human lingered strongly. fear for herself and the others became slightly abundant. when she was a pup humans hunted her pack for there furs and when there were very little members left and some pups the pack began scavenging resulting in the poisoning of a few pups and the last of the adults. the remaining pups were picked off. during the chaos satarah managed to escape.

as she continued moving forward it was apparent her wounds were cracked open but she wasnt really paying attention to them. the pain wasnt as bad as the wounds looked anymore. she suddenly froze. the sound of large foot steps were nearing. satarah quickly moved under a bush just as the large boots of a human came into view. he seemed intrigued by something. it was a fern that had blood on it. it was satarahs blood from her cracked wounds, she held her breath as he examined the area fearful he may find her. his voice boomed THEY WENT THIS WAY!! his foot steps went in the direction she had come from along with three others that followed. a few intense minutes went by before she ventured out again. a smirk came to her elbony lips as she felt quite cunning.

she made her way to a clearing where the packs scent was the strongest. shades scent seemed to trail off with a faes which she assumed was kishi's. since he was quite taken by her. she could follow there scent or stay here where the scent was the strongest. she figured they went off alone for a reason. so she decided to stay. she made her way to a stucture towards the edge of the clearing.this must be the den siteshe thought as she came near what appeared to be the entrance covered with branches. now she had to decide whether is was safe to stay outside or if she should go in. the humans were gone atleast for a couple hours. so she could wait outside without a problem. thats what she would do so not to freak out the probably already frightened members. moving off to the side where she could watch to den she slowly laid down so not to tear her wounds more. there she waited.</sup>

[Koiro]

The young male sat, listening with fading interest as Shade explained what the 'thing' was that he had abruptly dropped on Kishi's paws. He claimed that the humans could use this thing to communicate with eachother, which Koiro thought was very unlikely, but if this guy believed it, then each to their own. Resting his head back onto his paws for what seemed like the nundreth time today, the heir closed his eyes, thinking that now he might just be capable of getting some sleep.

When he woke up again, things were different. His mother and Shade had gone, leaving just him, Frost and Helgea in the Den. Frost appeared to be sleeping, as did Helgea, leaving him in his own company. He sat for a short while, not really paying attention to anything in particular, until a scent floated into the area, causing him to sit up and alert. Gathering himself up onto all four legs, Koiro padded warily outside, immedietly spotting a white female, younger than himself, standing near the clearing. 'what are you doing?' He asked, not in a particularly threatening manner.

[Apologies for shitty post]

[~*Satarah*~]

<sup>her delicate thorns raise to someones voice

"what are you doing?"

at first from a distance if he had not spoken she could have sworn it was shade but it wasnt. this brutes tones where slightly lighter with darks blacks, reds, and browns. his question caght her off guard she hadnt thought of what to say to one of the other members. rising to her feet she dipped her tiara slightly in greeting. her stance wasnt quite submissive it was more of a comfortable one. her gentle voice leaked into the atmosphere well i guess visiting.. she paused for a moment wondering if he may get defensive at all. she quickly added im one of shades friends i was asking him about the alphess here and he said when i get the chance i should come meet her... her back half lowered to the gound and her tail curled around her paws.

her midnight orbs still watched him carefully. he was quite handsome and not much older then her. the idea of a mate this season had already left her mind. she thought she was too young and wanted more adventures before pups. well maybe if someone was interested in the same things they could maybe agree on a mutual relationship and work there way up but that all depended.</sup>

[meixiaotian]

Half asleep, Frost was barely paying any attention to what happened, but her curiosity at what the thing was kept her listening when Shade said what it was. "Quite frankly my alphess i don't know but my eye in the sky has told me the humans use it to talk to each other, this may be how they found out we were in the area." How? They had internal radar to find where it was?
There was a rustling. The smell of humans flooded her nose. Again?! But soon, they passed. They really had a horrible sense of where things were. She thought back again to what Shade had said. The only way would be if they said where they were, but she highly doubted that, and if they did have some internal radar for this, how had it helped to bring it in the den? If that’s how they came back, was he just going to prove it by making it happen? He-whatever. Hating Shade wouldn’t do anything. Anyway, he was a good warrior. There was no true reason to get mad. He was right, more or less, and that’s that. But she still felt sort of angry, well, nobody likes being proven wrong. Shade stood up and, after a moment, exited.
Kishi spoke up. "I guess I should go see what's up with him. You are free to leave the cave now, if you wish, and resume your daily routines. Please meet me here again in two days time, as I have something to ask of you all, and its important." Then, she left. Just...left. Now it was just her, Halgea, and Koiro. Why had Shade and Kishi both left? They were both important, but... Maybe Shade did have a chance with Kishi. Great. Another thing wrong.
Lost in self criticism, she barely noticed the coming scent of wolf until she heard something. She looked up. There was the smell of a loner. What?! Koiro got up and went out.
In the quiet, she could hear what they were saying.
“What are you doing?” Koiro asked, but he didn’t sound very threatening.
“Well i guess visiting.. I’m one of shades friends I was asking him about the alphess here and he said when I get the chance i should come meet her...” Really? It sounded and smelled like a fae. So, she wanted to join? There were borders for a reason, and the reason certainly wasn’t to invite loners to come in!
She turned to Halgea, who still seemed conscious. "So, you’re the beta. What should we do?"

[Koiro]

A shift in the atmousphere surrounding the dens, and a slight rustling noise from inside told Koiro that either Frost or Helgea were now awake or alert. He couldn't tell which one it was, but the males first guess would have to be Frost, as their Betan was still recovering from being shot at- or whatever it was that had happened to her. It gave him some relief, though, knowing that he was not alone when facing this stranger. As although she did not look as though she was intending to cause any harm, he still was quite unaware of how to handle these sorts of situations. As the only male here, seeing as Shade had goe galavanting off in a bad mood, or whatever it was he had done, Koiro felt it was down to him, as a warrior and an heir, to protect the other pack members. He just wasn't sure how he was supposed to be doing that.

'Well i guess i'm just visiting. im one of shades friends i was asking him about the alphess here and he said when i get the chance i should come meet her.'

At first, Korio had thought her sentence had been quite nice. So she had chosen to visit them, how friendly of her! the male loved a good friendly wolf, somebody to talk to, who was willing to play without getting narky with him, yet somehow, none of the wolves he had met over the past year had fit this description. But then the word 'Shade' had been mentioned, and Koiro immedietly felt his mood drop. God, he was sick of hearing that name. To him, it seemed like the entire day had revolved around 'Shade', and although that may have just been because Korio had taken a severe dislike to him, he had been quite relieved when the larger male had decided to stalk off. But now his friend had turned up!

Restraining his eyes from narrowing in annoyance, Korio did not undertand why Shade thought he held the authority to just come along and invite loner wolves to drop into the territory- and also, why this female had followed his wishes. If she had bumped into the wrong wolf, she could have found herself seriously hurt, and that wasn't what Koiro wanted to see, she was far to friendly, far to pretty to get messed up in that sort of thing. "Shade, huh? Gee, anyone would think he was our Alpha." He said, with a slightly grudging tone, before hastidly adding, "Which he's not." Deciding to lighten the mood that he had accidently darkened, Koiro took to changing the subject, making small talk and waiting for the older, more experienced pack members to come out. "So, where are you from? Do you belong to a pack? Or are you Shades mate or something? Okay, a meager attemt at changing the cubject, but he could not pass up the opportunity of getting some grueling gossip about the male he held so much ahtred for.

[Natalay]

The wise famora padded into the clearing, her scent was that of the pack but then again her pack mates had either died or abandoned these lands some time ago, she did not expect a warm or excited welcome, oh well she would just ask for the alphess or alpha, she had heard that the alphess is known as kishi and the male is known as karn, hopfully they will listen to her and allow her to join the pack, the she-wolf then spotted two wolves standing a few feet away from a cave which she could only assume was their den, but the way they stood sent a clear message that neither of them were the alphas of this pack, in fact the one on the left seemed to just be visiting or they had only arrived a few moments before she did, either way it had gotten a reaction from the pack, was there a chance that the alphas were inside the cave?

Natalay sighed abit and went to approach them but that is when she stepped in something, it was very small and sort of cold but still it had a hint of warmth to it, As she lifted her paw and looked down she saw a small dot of blood on her pad and on the ground, she then looked over at the small grouping of wolves, now concerned that either she or they might be injured she ignored her normally timid nature and padded over to see if there was anything she could do to help, after all she had the knowledge to heal most any wound, it all depended on how old the would was and what supplies she had to work with at that moment, Natalay is and always has been a very caring wolf.

The closer the fae grew to the group she could now see that it was indeed a brute and a fae perhaps she had been mistaken and these were the alphas? after all they were cute together if they didn;t mind her saying so, not that she would actually say it out loud of course, she did not want to make things awkward between them, heck she did not even know if they were the xyla that she had been looking for but it was against her nature to just leave an injured fae alone when she could help her out, or atleast she could introduce herself to them, maybe they did know the alphas.

"Hey.. i'm Natalay i hope i'm not interupting something but i couldn't help but notice that one of you is hurt" her voice rang out into the crisp cool air, so sweet and innocent as if she did not have it in her to bring harm to anyone not even a fly. this could be no further from the truth, in fact if push came to shove she could hold her own in a fight, especially well against a fae but she could only hold out for so long against a brute before he over-powered her, she did not even want to think about what could happen if she lost to a brute, but some how she figured that death would not be on the victors mind, after all she was single and in the prime of her life, still in her pup bearing prime. she then shook her head coming back to reality as she then smelt and located the source of the blood, she was correct it had been the fae, she was kind of hoping that she was wrong but that was not the case.

she then turned and looked at the injured fae and spoke softly, her tones once again bursting through the air in a soft harmless manor, "please.. allow me to treat your wounds before they get to infected", she sat down waiting for the fae to give her some sort of signal or response that she could help her or not, if she did not want the help then there would be nothing that natalay could do about it, its not like she could force-treat her especially not with a brute so close by. perhaps he could help her convince her to seek medical aid?.

[~*Satarah*~]

The moon kissed fae continued to watch his stance waiting for any signs of him being unwelcoming. The only signs of him being at all unhappy was when she meantioned shade. A small grin came to her features and she said softly you must not like him very much. the soft sound of whispers could be heard from the den. Satarah figured it was other pack members realizing her presence and deciding whether or not to come out. Either way she would be happy getting to know one at a time or all at once. Its wasn't long before the brute spoke again this time it was many curious questions. One in particular made her blush slightly. Her auds flattened slightly not agressively but in a more shocked way. A slight chuckled escaped her as she began to answer him eh no no no... He only saved me from a possibly bad situation with a skyla female... As for your other questions I'm a loner, so basically I came from high waves beach, but I'm not completely alone I guess you could call it a sub pack. I have two friends I usually travel with. this guy was a curious one. She didn't mind though. She was often the same way it was there youth.

Her midnight blue pools casted there current in the direction of a new scent. Another fae. Maybe this was kishi? No. An alphess wouldn't be so cautious on her own land. The faes tones pointed out one of them was injured. Satarah just remembered how the men thought she was a wolf they possibly injured. Looking to the brute she was going to ask who was hurt, but alas the other fae singled satarah out not long after she first spoke. She wished to treat her wounds before they got infected. Looking down her left side and really looking instead of ignoring the mangled mess she sighed deeply. Knowing she really hadn't been takening care of it or herself like she should be especially with crystal and raphin being there for her. She needed to be fit to protect her 'growing' family. She gave the fae a soft smile and said it doesn't hurt as bad as it looks are you sure it needs to be treated she knew it did but it was her nature to joke around to make others more comfortable around her. Her gaze moved to the brute still with a smile and more words I guess I should do what the doc says... with that to gave another smile with a nod to the fae to let her know she could treat her if she wished.

[Maple]

The sun shone high in the sky as LoneDrop raced along the ground. There was no sound but him. He reached a small grove in the trees. He stopped, panting. The feeling of Autumn was everywhere. Birds were migrating, squirrels were storing up for the winter, leaves were falling dead from the trees, and, luckily, the bears were preparing to hibernate. They were the most dangerous creatures out there, well, except for insane animals. That, and humans. He shuddered and lay down out in the warm sun. His mother had told him about them. She’d said that he would recognize them on sight. “They are more different than anything you’ll ever encounter, maybe with the exception of what they make. My father said that they are very tall. They stand like bears sometimes do, with only their hind legs on the ground. They have no fur either, only strange pelts and long hair from their heads. The paws they don’t stand on can somehow grasp things, like a stick, but the most obvious quality is their nature. They want to destroy the world, take it over, and they have no respect for other creatures. None. They think they’re best and will do anything to prove it. Anything.” She had also told him about three deadly human things. A long stick, that shoots out small rock-like things into an animal, killing it. When the thing shoots out, there is a loud boom/crack, that makes everything want to run into it’s home and hide forever. There was a large, winged thing that they sat in, that made a heck of a lot of noise and flew. Then there was the most dangerous of all, their hatred of wolves. If some wolf did anything at all to even be seen, they would hunt him or her down, along with all the others.
LoneDrop stood up and stretched. A rustling of dead leaves to his left told him that every prey had run. He sniffed the air, the most abundant source of prey was upwind, downwind, everything had fled. Off at a sprint, he went towards them until he could see his targets. Two birds, and a small squirrel eating off of a few seeds. Stalking slowly, none of them noticed until it was too late. He pounced. This was the time when he didn’t know what was happening, he just had to hope to be lucky. He felt something drag under his claw. He lunged again, this time squishing whatever it was. By the scattered feathers, it was probably a bird. Good, most of the time, the prey smelled him and fled. He dragged the unlucky bird along until he reached a border. Pack border... Something about it was faintly familiar... What was it?! Frustrated, he gobbled down the bird and raked his mind. It was something he remembered. Okay, it was a wolf. It was something from a long time ago... Aargh! He growled. Maybe if he followed the scent, no, that didn’t do any good. it was a border, stronger than a normal scent. Furiously, he decided to leave it be. Then, there was a loud noise. He recoiled in fear. It shot him back to when his mother had told him about the humans. His childhood Guns... Humans... Halgea... Oh god. He ran into the packland. Halgea was in there. So were humans. He growled and set off to where he heard the gunshot.
LoneDrop had started to hope that he wasn’t the only wolf that survived, and Halgea had survived too! Aft, her a while, he came to the spot. He hid in the nearby trees. Human reeked everywhere, and there was a lot of blood. It lead to the river, and to the lake. It ended at another place full of human scent, in a den. The scent was strongest in there. Outside there were to wolves talking. His lips pulled back, showing his teeth. Halgea’s scent was inside with another wolf. Were they holding her captive? He remembered that his mother had told them that there was an evil pack. Hrmmm... He could probably shove aside those wolves. Suddenly, there was another fae. Seriously? He doubted he could take on all three... Still....

That last paragraph was bad. Sorry.

[Maple]

The fae loner continued to talk with Koiro. She shifted her weight again. The tiredness was taking over again. Today was way too eventful. Then there was the scent of another wolf. What?! Seriously, are these loners nuts?! It smelled like a fae, she couldn’t tell what she looked like, it was too dark. She turned to the other loner and asked something, whatever it was, Frost didn’t care. Something about healing. That really set her off. What was this? Loner convention spot? Fury burst through her. The other loner responded. How did everyone even find the den? Her head swiveled to Halgea. She hadn’t responded yet. Then came another loner, this one a brute, and it smelled faintly like smoke. Anger burst through her. If she hadn’t been so restricted, she would’ve run out of the den and screamed at them like a banshee. In fact, that’s exactly what she did. Ignoring Halgea, she burst out. She glared at all of them.
“What is this, Loner collection area? Why do you think borders exist? To invite loners into a pack? Or maybe it’s because Xyla is weakest? Look, I don’t care who you are or how you got in, unless you’re in this pack get out!” She snarled fiercely. Her head swiveled to Koiro, “and you, don’t think you can bring them in. You may be heir, but you. Will. NOT act like the alpha. That’s Kishi’s job alone, you got it?!” She turned back to the loners. “All of you,” she aimed especially at the hidden brute. “Kishi and Shade are coming back in two days, you could wait at the border and see if Kishi will accept you.” Not waiting to see what they said, she ran off along the lake. Fury and anger pulsed through her, along with the annoying feeling of being so terribly wrong. The trees cast pale shadows in the moonlight, and the moon’s reflection shimmered in the lake. She breathed heavily until she reached the spot she was going to. Her den. Completely exhausted, she plopped down and fell asleep immediately.

Whoops! Wrong account.

[Halgea]

Halgea was filled to the brim with rage, and a lot of hatred. A deep, gutteral growl, grew in her throat and she snarled, "Who do you think you are?! We are accepting wolves but this? Now, all of us have been through a lot today, and pretty soon, we will go off. I don't want to get mad, but you can't strut in here, acting like an alpha, and expect us to bow down to an heir that left the pack! I have the highest rank at the moment of all of you. You two, Koiro, and whoever you are, Kishi isn't here and I will not make her decisions for her, but I'm warning you, don't mess with a betan who was shot today. I can walk, and HEAR. Frost is right. Leave and sit by the border until Kishi comes to accept you." Halgea's teeth stayed beared. She couldn't believe these two. She had made a lot of mistakes in her life but strutting into a random territory? How could any wolf rationalize that kind of thing? How?

[Koiro]

'you must not like him very much.'

Korio laughed at her observation. Was it really that obvious? Her words had been a bit of an understatement, he personally would have chosen 'hate' as a more fitting emotion, but whatever. It was true, Koiro wasn't exactly a big fan of Shade. He acted too much as though he was a higher rank, and even though the young male had only been in the territory for, what, a day? He had already taken a severe dislike to the other male.

'eh no no no... He only saved me from a possibly bad situation with a skyla female... As for your other questions I'm a loner, so basically I came from high waves beach, but I'm not completely alone I guess you could call it a sub pack. I have two friends I usually travel with.'

Glancing around, Koiro could not see these two friends she spoke of. He was not given the chance to have a proper look, though, as another female padded boldly into the clearing. None of these loners seemed to fazed by the fact that they were waking on pack territory, nor by the idea that they could possibly wind up dead for turning up unanounced. Any other pack probably would have punished them straight off, without a question. Koiro knew that that was not the way the Xyla was, nor was it the way Kishi worked. His mother held every belief that others should be given chances in life, something she'd stick to even if it put her own life in danger. Stupid really.

'Hey.. i'm Natalay i hope i'm not interupting something but i couldn't help but notice that one of you is hurt. please.. allow me to treat your wounds before they get to infected.'

The young male cocked his head, observing this new female with slight causion. She held herself with alot more confidence than the first female had done, enough to make the younger wolf feel slightly on edge. This fae could probably pack a punch or two if things got nasty, yet she did not seem as though she wanted to cause trouble. Looking at the younger femmes wounds, which Koiro had only just noticed, they did seem pretty bat, yet the fae was adamant that they were not causing her any pain. She allowed the older femme to check her over though, just as yet another loner walked into the area. This one however, really did make Koiro feel uneasy. It was a male, and given the current season, along with the ammount of females here, the situation could quickly turn for the worst.

The young heir growled a warning, stating that he did not mind the fae's company, as they did smell just delightlyful!, but the male was definitely unwanted. Asif their weren't too many already. A sound caught Koiro's attention, and he spotted both Frost and Helgea coming out of the den. He sighed in relief, thinking that they would be better to handle the situation, but things changed in a snap of an eye. Suddenly, they were both shouting the odds, and he could not for the life of him understand what they were shouting about, and who the abuse was aimed for. It seemed they were yelling at him! The young males eyes widened, his ears pinning back in an astounded manner. What had he done wrong? This was so confusing! He hadn't invited them in! if that was what was meant by the words, and if indeed they were aimed at him.

Helgea looked in a rage, and Frost had run off all together. Koiro didn't fancy his chances against the angry Betan, and yet he still felt that undying urge to protect the first, young famora from this new Brute. so, without a word, he stood respectfully, dipping his head to the Beta with his eyes still fixed firmly on the brute.

[bit of a messy reply, but whatever. Done!]

[Halgea]

Halgea could smell a smokey scent in the air, but she couldn't put her finger on who it came from.... She knew that scent... Then a bit of motion caught her eye and Koiro growled. She glanced over to the place and new joy filled her eyes. She calmed as Koiro dipped his head in respect. It was LoneDrop!!!

"LoneDrop?" She said in disbelief. "LoneDrop? Is that you?" She repeated. Curiousity and confusion dawned in her soul. Could it be? or was it just another wolf? She looked at the faes left in the clearing. Strangers, all of them. Could this be another?