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Post by Smilies on Apr 25, 2008 21:43:24 GMT -5
Tala found herself wandering about the land's borders. Surely, it wasn't her job to patrol them, but what else was there to do? Currently, she didn't really know what to do with herself. She felt empty. Like she didn't know where she belonged, IF she belonged. And she was beginning to wonder if anyone would be able to fill that hole in her heart.
Her slender muzzle was lowered to the ground, and audible breaths were being sucked in through her nares, just smelling for the slightest sent of a trespasser. A rogue male maybe...Maybe she could win his heart and they could run off together. That was very doubtful, but she could dream, couldn't she? All her other siblings had mates. She felt left out. It wasn't as if she'd cling to the first male that came along, she wasn't like that, but having someone would help fill that emptiness.
She dropped the subject of love completely from her mind. It wouldn't help to linger on it. It would just make it worse, and she was slowly beginning to think about other things. Her mother had gone so long without a mate, she could do it too. Mates weren't everything, and neither were pups. She didn't need anyone. She was perfectly fine on her own. At least, that's what she told herself. [/size]
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Post by Kaneko on Apr 25, 2008 22:24:47 GMT -5
Zaal was trotting along a good distance away from Tala, looking for something to do. He occasionally stopped to sniff around for something that could be potentially entertaining. The truth was, he was very bored. It'd been a while since Marley's death and he'd moved on, or at least, he appeared to have moved on. He seemed to have lost contact with his brothers, Dach and Zinc, but he didn't mind. Now, there was nothing to occupy his mind all day long. That was when he saw the pale-furred female. His ears pricked up curiously and he went into stealth mode, intending to sneak up on and scare her.
He paused for a moment, actually questioning the wisdom of sneaking up on Tala. He decided that it was a good way to kill a few moments. Even more if there was conversation after he snuck upon her. He was still crouched but now he continued forward, his eyes locked onto Tala.
He moved quietly across the ground, using whatever cover he could until his came up behind her. He walked as quietly as he could after her for a few yards before beginning to come up on her left. With a sudden and sharp intake of breath, he watched her to see if she'd jump. "Hey there," he said, innocently acting as if he'd inhaled so he'd have air to greet her. And innocent smile graced his lips as he padded next to her, still watching her.
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Post by Smilies on Apr 25, 2008 23:01:50 GMT -5
Ever have that feeling that someone was watching you? Well, Tala's instinct told her that someone was, and she looked about, allowing her eyes to land on the male. Seeing him crouched down like that made her smile, and she shook her head. "C'mon, now, you didn't actually think you could scare me, did you?" she questioned, her voice holding a bit of a challenge in it. She blinked twice. She'd never seen this male around and she wondered if he was new. Or had she just been too wrapped up in her own boredom to notice anyone? Well, it seemed as if her prayers had been answered. Someone had sent a brute to entertain her.
"I'm Tala, by the way," she told him, eyes boring into his, questioning. "What's yours?" she asked, tipping her head a bit to the side. As she did this, her ears tipped over ever so slightly, matching the position of her head. She continued walking, gesturing for him to follow if he was interested. She ignored the border now, and just peered at him, giving him her undivided attention.
For the first time, she actually took in the weather. Other than a bit of rain, it wasn't too bad. Nice, actually. It was gradually getting warmer, and that was noticeable. It wouldn't be too long until pups bounded about the Falling Moon lands. It seemed so odd to her, to be able to watch the creatures that were her at one point. She hadn't even noticed it, but time had passed rather quickly. And she was out of puphood, just out of puphood. Though she felt so much older. [/size]
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Post by Kaneko on Apr 25, 2008 23:50:16 GMT -5
Zaal rolled his eyes playfully. So she'd seen him, oh well. "I'm Zaal," he said. He hadn't really expected her to know his name because she was an heiress of the pack, after all. He paused for a moment before walking after Tala.
"And, you know what? I thought it was worth a shot," he said with a small chuckled in response to her first question. He took a deep breath to take in the scents of the coming springtime. The scent of rain hung in the air along with the scent of growing things and it filled Zaal with energy. He felt like he had to do something exciting that would burn off allof his extra energy, but walking and talking with Tala was fine too.
"So..." he said and paused, trying to think of something to start conversation. "Is anything interesting with your life?" he asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes before looking forward again.
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Post by Smilies on Apr 26, 2008 10:37:30 GMT -5
Tala let out a short laugh along with him, but said nothing in response. "Well, it's nice to meet you, I suppose," she said, with a small nod in his direction, before turning her gaze back to the ground. Tala could also feel little sparks of extra energy. She wasn't sure if it was from the weather, or from being with Zaal. She hadn't had company in a while, and Zaal just made giddiness wash over her.
Her ears pricked as he began, and then paused, but she waited as he thought of something to complete his sentence. When he did, she shrugged, and shook her head to the side. "Nothing, really," she murmured. "It's been pretty boring around here lately. When the pups come, I bet they'll spice things up a bit. Bring some sort of entertainment to us," she told him, though she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than him. [/size]
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Post by Kaneko on Apr 26, 2008 10:53:47 GMT -5
"Nice to meet you too," Zaal said enthusiastically and looked over to her as she spoke again. "I suppose they could be entertaining, at least for a while," he said and shrugged as he walked. He was quiet for a moment and then smiled slightly, looking over to her again.
"So, do you have a special male in mind this spring?" he asked. He figured that because she was the heiress of the pack and all that she should have at least some males chasing after her. He could be wrong, but he did think he was. Then again, he didn't really know all that much about here. This was the first time he'd even spoken to her so he couldn't really assume things like that anyway. He pulled himself from his thoughts and glanced at Tala to see if she'd replied yet.
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Post by Smilies on Apr 26, 2008 16:33:32 GMT -5
Of course a male wouldn't find pups entertaining. They'd find them to be burdens who'd just grow up to take all the food. But maybe he wasn't thinking about this. It wasn't as if she could get in his head and read his thoughts. "You don't like pups?" she questioned, deciding to find out for sure if he did or not. As she walked along, she found her giddiness was slowly dying down. Possibilities of what to do to pass the time ran through her head. Since the weather was warmer a swim was possible.
A brow lifted as he asked his question. And she let out a sort of snort, laugh. "No," she said, her voice saying, "Me? Yeah, right." "Any special females in your life?" she questioned. Everyone seemed to have mates now, and something told her that a charming male like him would have one. Though she could be wrong. You could never be too certain on someone you hardly knew. [/size]
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Post by Kaneko on Apr 26, 2008 18:26:37 GMT -5
Zaal made sort of a face in response. "Well I don't hate them. Actually, to be honest with you, I've never actually been around pups long enough to really decide how much I can tolerate them," he said with a small laugh.
He seemed surprised at her tone and, for now, ignored her question. "You seem to think my question had an obvious answer," he started, looking at her, his eyes glittering in curiosity and confusion. He guessed her self esteem wasn't very high, but that was just a female thing, right? One could never be to sure.
"Why wouldn't you have any special males?" he asked. She seemed pretty enough to attract several males, but maybe that was just his opinion. He snorted softly when he thought of some of the arrogant males in his pack that might have opinions of the pale furred female that differed greatly from his own. But he pushed the thoughts to the side and looked back to Tala.
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Post by Smilies on Apr 27, 2008 1:29:13 GMT -5
She laughed along, and suddenly felt stupid. She'd never been around pups either, and had assumed that they'd be fun and entertaining. "Me either, I guess," she said with a sheepish smile. "I was actually in the last batch of pups from Anevay and Duke, so this spring would be my first for being on the opposite end of things," she informed him wondering if he cared or not. His answer had been so manly. She'd expected something like that from him. Like how he'd said tolerate instead of like. Well, there was the male species for you.
She nodded her head, agreeing with his statement. "Yeah, pretty much," she said, confirming his suspicions. Dachian hadn't been able to take her tough side, and so he'd broken it off with her. And she began to wonder if she'd be good enough for any male. Once they saw her true side. She tended to keep everything bottled inside, all her anger, and then after a while it would just be too much to contain and it would explode, almost behind her control. If Zaal saw it now, he'd probably run from her. Her explosions weren't so bad, at least that's what she thought.
"I don't know," she murmured, eyes to the ground suddenly feeling embarassed. "I just wouldn't," she said, voice low and soft. She didn't exactly have a direct answer for that question. No one seemed to know about her explosions, because she never found someone she could talk to about it, not even Dachian. Oh, how she missed him. But it was time to move on. The past was unchangeable and moving on would be for the best. [/size]
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Post by Kaneko on Apr 27, 2008 10:16:48 GMT -5
"Oh," Zaal said softly. He wanted to ask more questions, but he didn't want to seen like he was prying. "Well I don't have a special anyone either," he said, looking away. "I'm not very close with anyone in the pack anymore," he said with a sigh. He used to be a lot closer with his brothers, but then something must've happened because they just sort of seemed to grow apart.
Zaal was used to it, though. He always seemed to find himself alone these days. He looked over at her final statement and reached over with his muzzle to nudge her shoulder. "Cheer up," he said, bouncing up and down once and wagging his tail as if giving her an example of what happy was supposed to look like. "Surely it can't be all that bad, can it?" He began to walk normally again, still looking at her.
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Post by Smilies on Apr 28, 2008 15:06:05 GMT -5
"Neither am I," she told him with a yawn. It wasn't a big deal. It wasn't as if she'd actually tried to make friends and so loneliness was the consequence. But even Seta hardly talked to her anymore. He was too busy having pups and a family with Deppene and training to become Alpha to worry about her. "I've thought about becoming a loner. I could go where I want, when I want," she told him, feeling the urge to get off the subject of how lonely they both were. "And then meet different animals and everything, see the world beyond this valley," she commented. "Don't get me wrong, I love this pack, but something's missing."
She sighed and glanced at him, wondering if she was making any sense or even if he wanted to hear what she had to say. Who would want to here her sob story. "Sorry, I had to vent," she told him, and lowered her gaze to the ground. "So, how long have you been in Falling Moon?" she asked. Before now, she'd never seen this male. It was good to see a new face. [/size]
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Post by Kaneko on Apr 28, 2008 16:46:52 GMT -5
Zaal walked next to her, listening carefully to Tala as she spoke. He smiled slightly and shook his head. "No worries, it's not a problem. I'm here if you ever need to vent," he said, seeming to shock himself. Normally he wasn't so...nice to other wolves, but he figured if he was nice, at least to just this one wolf, it would be acceptable.
"Well, I've been in the Falling Moon pack for as long as I can remember," he said with a slight smile. He looked ahead, watching where they were walking. "I noticed you at a distance because, well, you're the daughter of the alphas. I'm sure pretty much everyone noticed you sooner or later. Me on the other hand, I've kinda just been laying low my whole life. No need to make a big fuss over myself and attract a lot of attention." he said and shifted his dark gaze to her once more. "Do you know what is missing or is it one of those mysterious things?" he asked curiosity lacing his voice.
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Post by Smilies on Apr 29, 2008 16:07:57 GMT -5
"Thanks," she murmured, sincere gratitude in her voice as a small smile found it's way to her facade. She figured Zaal was alright. Maybe he could be a possible friend. Now was her oppurtunity to try and make one, because up until now, she'd also been laying low, not trying to attract attention. Well, she did try in a way, but never wanted to seem too pushy and so she'd wait for wolves to notice her, which wasn't very often. Zaal seemed to be one of few he decided to notice her.
She shrugged. "I guess they notice, but heiresses get boring, and they lose interest," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "And the thing is, they notice you, but that's just about it. They don't try to make conversation, nothing like that. Apparently some think that all heiresses and heirs are just conceited, spoiled wolves who get whatever the hell they want." Her voice was sharp, her pulse beginning to race ever so slightly as she thought of what Jasmyne had said to her when she'd kept Skull and Crossbones from entering the lands.
She forced herself to calm down, keeping all anger away from her. "It's a mystery," she said with a sigh, wishing it wasn't. She didn't want to have to solve a mystery, but how else was she supposed to get rid of this empty, numb feeling inside of her? It would stay, and until she found what it was that was missing, she'd be invisible. [/size]
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Post by Kaneko on Apr 29, 2008 19:31:14 GMT -5
Zaal shied away slightly at her sharp tone, but quickly returned to his normal stance nodding slightly as she spoke. The truth was, he figured that she might be all high and mighty because most wolves let the power of being an heir go to their heads and it corrupts them. But she seemed to act, in several ways, just like he normally acted. Laying low and trying not to attract attention. He raised his head slightly in place of a smile. He wasn't the type of wolf to smile all the time so he found other things to do instead.
"It's a mystery," he heard and paused for a moment before giving a nod as if making up his mind. "Well, I wish you luck in solving your mystery." He paused. I'm sure it would be a sad day if you left the pack," he added the last part hesitantly, wondering if it was a good choice to say it. He continued acting like anything he said wasn't a big deal. "Any big plans for today or were you just going to wander the lands like a lost spirit?" he asked, his eyes twinkling slightly to show he was joking as he looked back at her.
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Post by Smilies on May 2, 2008 10:40:54 GMT -5
She caught a glimpse of Zaal shying away and her heart dropped. Did she scare others that much? She'd scared Dachian off and now she was gonna scare her potential friend off. Maybe it was time to deal with the fact that she was just a scary wolf. Just like Duke. Duke wasn't exactly scary, but there was something about him that just made you fear him...Maybe it was the way he held himself, or the fact that he'd killed Xaka and many others all by himself. She sighed, gaze cast to the ground as they continued to move along. She was considering just leaving so Zaal wouldn't have to see her bad side. But either way, it'd be rude. So until he left, she'd keep her angry emotions inside.
"Thank you," she said, voice flat, but her eyes read sincerity. "Yeah, I doubt that," she said with a kind of snort. "Half the wolves here don't even know I exist," she said with a shrug. She didn't want to sound self-pitying so she kept the tone of her voice even, no hint of sadness seeping in. "I was just gonna wander around," she told him honestly, smirking at the thoughts he may be having. For all she knew he could be thinking things like, 'what a boring wolf.' Or something along the lines of that. "Why, do you have anything in mind?" she questioned, tipping her head to the side slightly. [/size]
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