WANNA KNOW 'BOUT THIS STRANGER LIKE ME [ROMA]

[Gaunt]

He had been long overdue for a lone-trip about his territory, usually accompanying a scouting or hunting party for the extra muscle and eyes, as well as to give instruction with the less predator-like canines of his tribe. He enjoyed it honestly, but with the recent need to sate the pregnant females and cubs that are of his pack, he almost always ended up giving his ration to even the lower members of his pack; it was small but they all needed their strength. He also knew it was odd in the ways of the normal world, but Gaunt was far from normal, having spent time with the small tribe of humans with his sister, no matter what humans did to them, he always took what he learned from them with great interest.

Making his way back towards the area of the catacombs his paused, the plump rabbit that was clamped in his jaws hanging lifeless from his maw as he pondered if he would be able to actually eat it without some pup coming over to whine at the food until he succumbed to just letting them have it ... he sighed heavily through his mouth and around the carcass, his stomach grumbling in disapproval since he had not actually eaten anything save for a few small rodents or squirrels in the past few days. Even though they were plump with the fall months he had hardly been sated and his energy was waning.

No, this catch was his, and with that thought he veered to the west and through less denser areas of undergrowth and foliage, the trees becoming closer together as he found himself going to a sloping drop off, jumping easily down as he came to the bottom and found the patch of berry bushes he needed to find, a small pine also growing practically in front of it to mark the small looking cave. Just before he got there the moist air that he had noted earlier became evident as it began to rain, droplets hanging off his pelt as he glanced up to the sky that flashed lightning across it. A few moments later the sky rumbled its displeasure before the rain began to fall in heavier sheets, making him quickly find his way inside.

He slipped through the bushed and into the smaller opening, the ceiling arching upwards to house Gaunt even in his human form if he were to stand in it, the semi-circular cave having past evidence of a fire in the middle of it all, a small pile of ash that was strewn about. In the back of the cave was a bundle of a blanket that was thrown over dried wood, prefect for the fires he would use to dry off later. It was odd the habits he was accustomed to, using this invention of man to dry and warm himself in cool weather, although never in front of others from his pack, save for his co-Alphess.

Circling an area in the back corner he circled once before settling himself on the ground, the rabbit dropped between his fore paws as he glanced to the outside, it was not quite dark yet, as the sun was just going down, but the overcast sky made it seem later than it was. The wind snuck past the vegetation, spotted with tart berries he might add that were delicious, and brought him a peculiar scent. Rogue for sure, but singular and ... well it was a bit different than he was used to. None-the-matter he dipped his head to tear into the flesh of the rabbit before pulling chunks of meat from it to chew and swallow. Oh how amazing it was to finally get a meal of his own.

[ROMA|RED]

The north wind had been vicious that afternoon. Despite the diligent sun, the blustery day seemed content to steal the light’s meager warmth away from Roma bit by bit until she could no longer feel her fingers or toes. What was scary, was this was just autumn and the red headed girl was already frozen. Nevertheless, the mountain pass had seemed the most reasonable route considering not many were around these parts and Roma wanted a vacation. A few days in the middle of nowhere would be a fabulous reprieve from the seeming consistent drama she kept finding herself in. Or maybe that was just the Menagerie. The fact that she and the second presence that shared their soul and body were not on speaking terms did nothing to help. Sister Wolf had taken her control too far, and Roma was not interesting in her side of the story. To the contrary she pushed Sister Wolf so far away she felt truly alone for the first time in a long time … but she didn’t know how she felt about that either. Roma’s sturdy appaloosa mare Dezba trailed behind her, plodding with industrious indifference up one side of the mountain and now, back down the other. The worst of the wind had been at the top, though (as Roma had been unhappy to figure out) this was the windier side of the range and the constant frigid gusts barely tapered off during their descent. Aside from the fact that it was cold, the winds made Roma feel partially blind. It made her eyes water, and she couldn’t smell anything. Not that her wimpy human nose could catch much anyway. It was hard not to tap into Sister Wolf’s much sharper senses … though the she wolf within would never have denied Roma the use (in a greater interest to further their security and safety), but Roma was entirely too proud to utilize it. So slowly and blindly they went as they had for many days now. Reaching a bluff that mildly blocked the wind with a precarious boulder, Roma decided a rest was in order. Releasing the horse’s lead, Dezba’s head immediately dropped to nose around the dirt and rocks at the base of a tree. Finding a sparse amount of grass to nibble, she quickly decided it wasn’t much good and the chocolate and white splotched mare heaved a sigh and tipped a hoof – anticipating that it would be a while before they moved on. Roma had taken quite a few such breaks during the past couple of days. She’d had to. Roma eased herself to the ground at the base of the boulder and once settled, let a deep sigh go from her exhausted body. She hurt – a lot. Cracked ribs were a hell of a hurt, and you didn’t get pain meds in the Menagerie. Or, at least, unless you were part of a ring or gutsy enough to steal from one. Roma was neither. She yawned and before she knew it she was asleep … The thunder cracked so loudly Roma and Sister Wolf bolted awake and stood as one, half tripping over themselves from the rain and wind and darkness. It was as if they’d woken into a nightmare, and the true alarm was not just getting caught in a storm on the side of the mountain. Since Roma could remember she’d been scared of, no, petrified by storms. Quite usually she’d hide herself away for as long as it took for the thunder and lightning to pass, but somehow the entire rainstorm had snuck up on them. Sister wolf was not fond of storms either, but the rolling and clapping of thunder coupled with the rain and wind had Roma on her knees hiding her head and whimpering and babbling nonsensically. In the mud, in the rain, Roma was undone. Sister Wolf did not like storms, and though Roma’s fear was enough to trickle through and send the already flighty wolfess into a frenzy she held on and tried to work through Roma’s fear. Come on! Roma, we have to go! I can’t! I can’t! I can’t! Terror, pure irrational terror had sunk its sharp teeth into Roma, and would not let go. Move! The urgency and insistence Sister Wolf put behind the command almost got Roma to look up, to try, but it was then that brightness tore through the sky, immediately followed by a crack and boom louder than any fireworks she’d ever heard in her lifetime. Roma cried out and hunkered down by the boulder and covered her ears. Her fatigue and the pain in her side were completely forgotten in the impenetrable bastion that was Roma’s panic. It was easy enough for Sister Wolf to realize after a few attempts to calm Roma that they weren’t going anywhere unless she took charge. Although their relationship was wrecked, if they died it could never be mended. Impulsively she wiggled past Roma’s fear filled mind, and took control. The instant she realized Sister Wolf’s intentions, Roma all but vanished in shattered relief. The wolf shifted smoothly into her own pelt, and instantly felt a little calmer for it. The fur of the red wolf was coarse and short. Designed to protect her from the desert’s volatile conditions (where it might be over a hundred degrees F ° in the shade and below forty at night) Sister Wolf was cold and wet but not freezing. The sound of the rain, a loud white-noise, stole a large amount of her hearing but in this form it was far more advanced than any humans. The rain concealed many scent as well and she was cold, and achy, and tired, and scared. Movement in the shadows. Sister Wolf’s sights narrowed on Dezba, whose eyes rolled as her head tossed in distress. Every inch of her was soaked. Dezba did not like Sister Wolf and the lupine was not entirely fond of the equine either. They needed shelter. As Roma never tied up the mare, Dezba would do well enough on her own she dismissed. Sister Wolf’s consideration in this was for Roma’s sake alone, though in her own nature she couldn’t care less what happened to the beast. As lightning streaked across the sky, followed by another crash of thunder Sister Wolf let her senses guide her. Trotting off into the muddy darkness, she was startled when a large creature in the blackness began to chase her. Looking back and ready to bolt, she realized the mare followed at barely contained pace. Golden lupine eyes stared at the mare through the rain as she gusted and flared nostrils at the wolf. Dezba was scared, and was not interested in being left alone. The moment Sister Wolf realized this was the same moment she accepted it and took off through the trees, followed by a skittish and surging thousand pound animal. They traveled through the nightmare that way for some time. Sister Wolf was stepped on twice by a closely following Dezba who was dashed to her knees at the breakneck speed four times. Each time she scrambled to her feet and stumbled after the small wolf as if she were tied to her. Branches grabbed at them, and the wind whistled and pressed against them. The rain stung, and all Sister Wolf could do was make her way down the mountain as fast as possible … and try not to get trampled. An hour or more later, they had made it off the mountain. Sister somehow found the echoing darkness that could only be a cave. It was large enough to fit many more creatures than the horse and the wolf, and Sister was surprised when the mare readily followed her into what could only be described as a pit of a cave. Coming out of the rain was like a hundred pounds relief, and now that they no longer braced against the heavy down pour they both took a moment to simply breath. Sister Wolf shook thoroughly, sending sheets of water to the dusty, rocky floor. Her eyes wandered to Dezba, who shook violently with her head low. Roma had a blanket in her pack. Sister had no desire to share with the mare she usually relished terrorizing, but she’d followed her through the storm, kept up with her no matter what. That was something to consider. Part of the reason Sister had despised the beast was she hurt Roma, and took off all the time. Not to mention the horse had shown no future in accepting Sister Wolf - but now when she’d had the chance to take a hike she’d stuck with The Wolf. What could she do? Sister Wolf approached. She did not do so slowly, or the horse might have thought Sister was stalking her. Instead she stood easily next to her, and raised her nose to take of the musky, if not sopping equine scent. Heat in the form of ghostly clouds drifted from her soaked pelt and Sister Wolf smelled blood, sweat, and fear. Slowly, she shifted into Roma’s form. There was always an odd element to the shell of Roma when Sister Wolf took on the human skin. The last time was when Grey … The mare eyed her hazardously, but her feet did not move. Her head lulled a foot from the ground, and she gulped panting breathes through her nose. After a moment her ears shifted back, and she looked to void as if to say, Whatever – I’m too tired to care. Sister wolf lowered her pack to the ground. She never understood the mechanics behind shifting with a pack, but if it was small enough it always seemed to go with them easily enough. Removing the blanket from the bottom, she tossed it over the drenched creature and almost angrily began to rub at her drenched fur. Her movements were pure and quick, and soon the blanket was soaked, and the mare was just damp. Tossing it over a rock, Sister Wolf realized she too was played out. Now that the adrenaline was leaving her, her eyes were heavy and her knees felt weak. She shifted into the wolf before she fell over. Four paws were sturdier than two. She was just as tired, but felt better … until her attention finally caught up with her nose and her hackles rose. Before now, she’d only smelled wet horse, fear, and her own wet fur … but another unfamiliar smell drifted to her … and it was predatory. Spinning around her head went down and her ears went back, watching to see who emerged from their hiding place.

OOC: Editing Later *falls over*

[Gaunt]

It wasn't that he tried to hide at all whilst lying there, oh no, but his meal was interrupted as the scent of another wafted in, followed closely by its host. His piercing blue gaze followed the desert lupine into the shelter, a large hooved being following closely; not Bellator thank the heavens - but the wolf wasn't one of his own either. He paused in the crunching of small bones, his maw slick with the red of the rabbit, his body still as a statue on display in a museum. He watched the pair, the canine shifting to a two-legged form to dry the horse off before shifting back once more; all the while seemingly unaware of his presence.

This idea was short lived.

He let tongue roll out and over his muzzle, thinning the red that stained the white as his eyes gleamed in the darkness, the female finally turning to stare directly at him - or well - at the corner of darkness he lay in. He contemplated her for a moment before he rose to all four legs, his nails clacking against the ground on purpose as he moved forward a few paces, his ears forward in interest and his tail stiffly out behind him, his eyes steady on the other as his nose tested the air. Rogue. Now he knew for sure, the rain having muddled the scents, and a rogue seeking shelter was the least of his worries.

'Well ... look what strolled into Nilda territory,' he spoke in shifter-tongue, an amused glint to his eyes as his ears swiveled to the side and his back legs dropped to the ground, his stance tall and poised as he watched her closely. With a slight glance to the nervous equine he looked back to the more interesting of the pair, 'You look like a wolf, though not the kind I'm so used too ... what with the short, bright blood-colored fur and all,' he said with a wolfish grin. 'What's with the tag-a-long? Easy dinner?' His gaze settled once more onto the horse, though he moved not, as his animal instinct told him of the meal it could make for a pack while the "human" side of him obviously knew it was a companion - and more importantly - a means of travel.



OOC; trying to add stuffs to it, but it ended up short D:

[ROMA|RED]

Sister Wolf remained frozen, her intense golden gaze unflinching as she stared at the stranger. Wolf, male, rabbit blood, retro, mature – her mind ticked off the information that her senses gathered as he spoke. It was interesting to see another wolf, and a retro at that. When Roma was younger they had run with some of her wild cousins in the deserts, and it was not until that moment that Sister Wolf realized she missed them. It would be nice to have a pack again, said her blood - though her interest was contaminated with a deep distrust. The simple fact that he was a male, and a large one at that, meant he was very dangerous indeed. His comments on her went without notice, for she little cared what he thought … until he spoke of Dezba. The very second the shifter-tongue words landed on the played out equine, Sister Wolf reacted. Between one breath and the next she became a red she-devil. Every muscle tensed, her tail bannered, and her shoulders hunched. Her ears pinned flat against her skull as her lips peeled savagely from sharp teeth. A snarl escaped her, and she mocked a start – her claws scraping against the tough floor with the force of her halt. Her eyes widened hazardously, and the facts that she was smaller, exhausted, and injured paled in her protective instincts. A distant part of her was surprised at her reaction, but whether or not Dezba was important to her or a forgone conclusion for lunch was her business. She belonged to them, and she would protect what was hers. There was an unpolished manner to Sister Wolf, or Red ... as she had chosen to call herself. A feral aspect that, as Roma was gone into hiding, made Red every inch as animalistic and primal as her wild cousins or the retros themselves. She was not governed by what humans decided was right, or fair, and in her mind law was what weaklings insisted upon to survive amongst their betters. The Menagerie was not like that. There were no human rules that dictated one’s actions. You fought for what you had or you lost it. It was a lesson she was still trying to teach Roma. The woman still thought in terms of human right and wrong, still clung to the inane expectation people had limits. There were no limits in here. In the background, the mare’s head lifted as she shied away – scurrying against the far wall where she might bolt out the mouth of the cave if need be. There was no fight in the equine left, and all three dwellers of the cave knew it. Sister Wolf kept the mare’s location in mind, but would not give up her ground. To back away would mean she was weak, and to take more would suggest a challenge. All she said now in the purest form was that she was not one to be played with, and that the horse was hers.

[Gaunt]

He barely reacted to the savage growl and act of aggression the small female showed, his ears having pointed towards her before swiveling away in disinterested as his lips curled in a show of warning. 'Calm down desert cousin. I have no interest in a companion of travel to someone unless they threaten me or my pack,' he said as he snapped his jaws as his fur bristled in a show of displeasure. His icen eyes had focused on the smaller wolf, watching her protect what was hers, and inwardly respected her for it as well - she was strong willed for one by herself but then again, one had to be in this little slice of the underland. He huffed, pausing a moment before he took her in; thin and a bit ragged .. possibly from days of traveling or at least days with little to no food. He knew it was tough being a rogue as he had brought in a few to his pack in the past -- granted she had too much of a shifter smell to her to warrant stay among his canine brethren.

He then turned his back to her, walking over to his kill as he bent neck to clamp his jaws around the partially eaten rabbit, a few dangly bits hanging from a ripped open gut as he turned back to her and walked over, tossing his head to half-throw the carcass as his inner thoughts yelled that he was too generous for a rogue that probably wasn't even a retro. He couldn't help it though - he always had a soft spot for the females. 'I'm not going to harm you or your hooved companion, she-wolf.'

Watching from where he threw the offered meal he fell back onto his haunches, his tail curled neatly around his side as he yawned wide, not realizing til this moment how long of a day it had been already. Who was there to blame but himself though? Surely the others would be worried but no one would seek him out so quickly, not with Najeri to keep them in line. He was sure the small Jackal would be barking orders from her pile of blankets - the warm weather animal despised it getting even a little cold so this chilled rain was no exception.

'So where are you headed? You know ... you're pretty cute when you're angry." he said with a arch of his ears in her direction and a lazy swish of his tail. He stayed in his spot though, not wanting to get her guard up even more. Not until he absolutely had to move more than a slight shift in posture that is. Speaking of which, he had kind of wanted to start a fire with the wood he had in the back, although he needed both his human form and for her not to attack him; and not in the way he'd like her to attack either.

[ROMA|RED]

Tired didn’t cover it. Red was drained as she rarely had been before and only the incomparable drive of protection and the adrenaline coursing through her veins kept her from falling over. Regardless, she stubbornly maintained – outwardly lifting her lips again with the larger wolf’s arrogance. Surprisingly he did not attack, though neither did he back down. She watched suspiciously as he trotted over to the kill he had made, and tossed it to her. Between these things and after, he rolled through a series of sentiments that the she-wolf little cared for. The mostly chewed up, bloody rabbit hit the cave floor with a wet flop and Red stared hard at it for a long moment. The coyote was an opportunist; the wolf was a hunter, and the girl deep inside of her reviled pity more than anything else in this world. Quite normally, her human half was not part of Red’s world when she ran on all fours as a wolf – it had been that way for … forever. Split down the middle, their two beings shared the same soul for so long in an unspoken agreement, there were certain things that simply were. Maybe it was because Red was so tired, or, perhaps it was because the girl felt so strongly about these kinds of things and the wolf knew it. Not before hell freezes over, said her inner spitfire red-headed cowgirl monsteress, and where most feral creatures would have gobbled the offering down whole Red’s ears lay flat in discontent and she backed away from the rabbit – her sharp golden gaze never leaving the brute. The equine was in her charge, and they would owe no one a debt Red deliberated. Her ears swiveled back to catch the sounds of Dezba as the mare blew out an exhausted sigh and shifted her hind end. It was for her that they would stay, and Red would protect her. She didn’t need any help.