Learning to Read (Attn: Sol)

[Neira]

Skyshadow roamed the Stedding contentedly, her belly full of rabbit. The place coursed with activity; Wolfbrothers and sisters walking about dutifully and conversing with each other, the wolves among them trotting alongside the twolegs. Sky was still getting used to all the smells of all the emotions and the noise and bustle of the Stedding. It was so extremely different from the quietness of the forests. Thoughts of wandering out into the forests were common in her little mind, but today she felt compelled to explore her still new home.

 

The wolves that walked among the people worried her more than the twolegs did. The twolegs didn’t stare at her as she walked past, but the bigger cubs and some of the grown wolves that she saw about gave off smells that she still didn’t quite know what to make of. They made her uneasy. There was one dark colored cub that made her put her tail between her legs just by his smell. She had quickened her slow plod to a trot after catching it. He scared her and she took a sharp turn into the nearest den.

 

It was one of the big dens that were made of trees. She darted into this one and turned quickly once inside to watch the entrance where she had just come from, expecting the bigger cub to follow her in and chase her back to her own den. But endless moments passed and Sky could neither hear nor smell the scent of him, and her entire body relaxed.

 

Looking around the den, she took in the smells. It smelled of man, and the familiar sharp, itchy smell of the weird den that she always stepped clear of. She wandered about the small room, sniffing at this and that on the floor. A bit of come soft something laid on the floor at the bottom of a big log it looked like, but when she put her front paws up on it, it wasnt hard like a log was. It was... squishy... and taller and bigger than a log would be. Deciding she would save the odd log for later, she went back to the thing on the ground. Sniffing at it, the smell felt vaguely familiar. She had not come into contact with many of the wolfbrothers, but she could not recall the form that went with the smell. Writhing about and rolling over it, she somehow managed to be laying on the floor, and the stuff covered her small body completely. Tossing her head about, she couldnt get it off of her, she whimpered softly as she wiggled aobut trying to remove it. Struck with an idea she rolled around and managed to get free of it. Backing away, she growled at it savagely. Jumping on top of it, she took hold of it and pulled. It made a satisfying noise as it was torn to shreds by her sharp teeth.

 

Once the...whatever it was...was properly torn to many shreds she went back to the big log. She tilted head at it, wondering what to do about the thing. After a moment's contemplation, she hunched backwards, putting her weight on her back feet and launched herself upward. She caught her front paws on the top of it and pulled herself up. She noticed that the same stuff that she dug her claws into to get up on the log was the same stuff she had ripped up on the floor. Looking around this new thing she had found, she found something else she had never encountered before. It was square and had an old smell about it. She approached it carefully, and reached her nose toward it carefully, licking a corner of it and taking in its smell. In a moment’s harsh wind, the object did the strangest of things. Parts of it jumped up and made a loud rattling noise. It scared the young pup and in her fright she attacked it; she tore at it with her claws, and pieces of it flew everywhere. After but a short moment of this, she felt the thing properly disposed of and backed away from it. It was ragged looking now and, she assumed, harmless. The wind had died completely and the room was still. Walking back over to the thing, the light breeze made it ruffle again and Sky growled at it. Laying on top of it, so it would be quiet, she began gnawing on the corner of it. Just to be safe she would make perfectly sure that it wouldn’t do that loud noisy thing again.

[Shadow]

Solomon spat out the sliver of wood he had been chewing on, and looked admiringly over the stedding. It was lovely in the spring, warm and with an abundance of sweet scents. The winter had seemed that much more stale, especially once he had gained the heightened senses every one of the 'kin enjoyed. Unfortunately, the smell of wolves was equally in abundance, given that the community lived in harmony with their furry brethren. All except him, it seemed. They mostly ignored the leathershop, due to the smell, so he was safe for at least of portion of his days.

 

Dusting off his shoes, he came to his current, although temporary, housing, the Infirmiry. After a short journey down the hall, he threw open the door and...found a small wolf cub staring back at him. More disconcerting, however, was the torn shirt it was laying on top of, and the remaining shreds of paper behind that. There was a short pause as opposing parties fully considered the situation, then Solomon's face changed from surprise to a dark, angry look, his eyes squinting as he took a step towards the tiny intruder. The timid, squirrel-like cub before him yelped and tried to escape, but he brought a heavy boot down in front of it, blocking that escape route, and his hand shot down and snagged the cub by the scuff of its neck.

 

"Well, well, well, someone was hungry. But I know just how to handle this..."

 

The cub just stared back, trying to look pathetic and doughy-eyed, but Sol's bitter grimace showed no signs of softening. He did, however, walk over to the open window, and toss the furry runt out several feet, onto the street.

 

"Next time to get peckish, try to remember this!"

 

Solomon's shout caught the attention of a woman nearby, but he slammed the window shut before her scathing remarks could reach him. Returning to his ruined belongings, he examined them and found them unsalvagable. He tossed them into the corner, to be disposed of later, and bemoaned the grim task of trying to explain the destruction of the book. It wasn't even his...

 

OOC: Alright, have fun with that...

[Neira]

Skyshadow yelped as the big twoleg caught her by the neck and hauled her up before her. Her tail stuck between her legs as she viewed the ugly twoleg in her face. He made that growling-like noise in his throat at her, and without warning, tossed her out the opening in the wall of his den. She hit the ground hard on her side, with her foot oddly beneath her. She had to squirm around to get herself upright.. Standing was a difficult thing, as her head was spinning and her foot was sore. She shook herself to try and make the feeling go away, in the process of this action she lost her balance, and had to catch herself with her front paw, yelping in pain, she fell backwards onto her haunches and whined

 

At this point one of the wolfkin women came and knelt next to her. She smelled of herbs and of the first place she had seen in the stedding. She sent Sky a feeling of assurance and calm. It soothed her somewhat as she picked up her foot and looked at it. She sent Sky an image of herself picking up the little cub as if it were a question. Sky licked the kin’s hand and she picked her up into her arms and carried her back into the den.

 

Entering the den again, the thing that Sky thought she had fixed rattled again and she flinched and wiggled about in the kin’s arms. She and the twoleg that had thrown her out the window exchanged noises. He smelled of aggravation and she of stern control and consternation. After their noises stopped, to Sky’s horror, the kin put her in the hands of the same twoleg that had thrown her out the window a few minutes before. Sky whimpered and wiggled around in his arms, hoping he didn’t throw her again.

[Shadow]

Only a few minutes had past since his last unexpected visitor, and already Solomon had a new one. He ignored the pounding at his door for a second, trying to remember what page he was on, but it became more and more insistant. He tossed the book aside and opened it, and much to his dismay, there stood the Wolfkin woman he had seen earlier, and the fanged rat that had eaten his book.

 

"Dis-gusting!"

 

Solomon raised an eyebrow at the remark. His room had a few stacks of books scattered around, and some clothes on the floor, but he hardly had enough to make a truly messy room.

 

"Great," he deadpanned in response, "and if you're done belittling my stuff, here's the door."

 

He tried to close it in her face, but she was surprisingly quick to get her foot in the way.

 

"No," she exclaimed, shoving the door back open. "You'll hear me out. You hurt this little cub, and I expect you to make it right!"

 

"Riiiiight," he replied through bitterly amused laughter, "that's great! Seriously though, " Solomon's voice lost it's jovial tone, and his face darkened as he finished, "get out!"

 

The woman frowned, and turned as if she were leaving. "Alright, " she began, "but I'm sure Aurin would love to hear this!" Solomon's jaw tightened, and his eyes narrowed. If looks could kill, his gaze would have left a few miles of forest in smoking ruin. "Yes," the woman continued, "I'm sure Aurin would be more than happy to..."

 

Solomon cut her off a sharp, "Enough!" He took a deep breath, before nodding in agreement. "Fine, I'll look after the little rat. Just make sure it doesn't eat any more books, or there might be another accident involving the window."

 

"What is your problem anyway," the lady asked, looking rather confused as she handed the tiny cub over. "You're Wolfkin, tell her not to!"

 

"Better idea," Solomon replied, "you get out." The lady stood her ground for a moment, but gave up when she realized Sol had comprimised all he was going to. As the door closed, he kicked some shirts into a crude bed and placed the...thing, into his precious bundle of clothing. Kneeling down over the tiny monster, he ruffled its head up a bit before giving it a stern look.

 

"Eat any of these shirts, and I'll break the other leg. You've been told."

[Neira]

Her fidgeting must have worked because after the female wolfkin had left her half dropped the cub into a pile of that same stuff she had torn to shred for attacking her earlier. It smelled like the wolfkin man that had her just moments ago. He kneeled down in front of her and growled at her. Cofused, she tipped her head sideways and sent him her smell and name. The vision of the Sky before the water fell. She knew this wolfkin, but she hadnt yet learned his name. His smell changed and it still itched her nose so much that she sneezed in his face unknowingly.

 

OOC: shortest post ever but i'm laughing my ass off...luv u sol!!

[Shadow]

The little wolf's response was less then encouraging. There was some nonsense blared in his head, obviously from his new roommate, and then she...it...coughed. Solomon let out a sigh, and silently cursed the blackmailing witch who had forced the little rat upon him.

 

"So, now I need to figure out what you need to eat, and make sure you don't..." Solomon was forced to pause his woeful dissertation as his less-than-welcome guest sent another blast of mental senselessness. He continued, "...and a muzzle wouldn't be a bad idea either. Aurin's got his wolf pretty well trained, maybe I can teach you something useful as..." He was cut off once again by the same inane images, and, well, enough was enough.

 

<Shut UP!>

 

The message was crude, and not exactly words, but Sol was at least confidant that the general message had gotten across. His new 'friend' let out a yip and buried her head in his shirts.

 

"Well...now that we've gotten that out of the way, I'm looking forward to finishing a book you didn't eat..."

 

OOC:Alright, hopefully, that will give you someplace to go...

[Neira]

The twoleg made more noises at her, and it was starting to make Sky angry. She knew that the noises he made was how he talked to other two legs but this she could not comprehend. She sent him an image of himself and his own smell and a questioning scent. Surely he would understand. He was wolfkin.

 

But it all came to nothing when his own message returned came with a scent that was unmistakably anger. She yelped at the severity of his message and hid herself in her little nest she had been dropped into. She whimpered there, wondering what she was supposed to do now. She looked around the den and saw that the entrance was blocked now. The big twoleg had found another of those noisy things that she had killed earlier and he had laid it on the big soft log and was staring at it without making a sound. She vaguely wondered what was so interesting about that noisy thing but somehow she found herself drifting into sleep.

 

When she woke her stomach gurgled to her and she knew that it was time for her evening meal. Every evening she was brought some form of rabbit or squirel or other small animal, but the entrance to the den was still shut. Timidly she approached the twoleg and lept up onto the big loggish thing and stood on the noisy thing he was staring at so silently. For a moment she obeyed his earlier command of silence but when his scent changed back to that spikyness from before she couldnt help herself. She knew he would recognize the feeling of hunger she felt in her stomach and to go with it she sent the image of a rabbit.

 

He had to understand. Her stomach spoke to her again.

[Shadow]

Solomon was nudged from his reading, annoyingly enough, by his small wolf-friend. He took the time to note his page, then turned to to the wolf, half-intending to smack the whiny little midget into next week. He stopped however, when a series of less annoying, tastier animals flashed into his head. Whatever she was doing, it was becoming a little less annoying, and by the grumble in her belly, she apparantly wanted dinner.

 

"Well, at least you're making a little more sense. I suppose I could...no, that's right, I broke that leg. Well, I can't let you starve, try as I might..."

 

Solomon reached for the longbow that was so fashionable in the tiny wolfkin village and a quiver of arrows and managed to fit his companion into a small leather satchel he used on occasion.

 

Darkness made hunting a little harder, but a clear night, the nearly full moon and his golden eyes made it easier then it looked. Solomon crept through the woods, arrow notched and ready for small game. It certainly wasn't long before he stumbled upon a rabbit, one of the many that seemed to flood the forest. He pulled the satchel off his shoulder and set it down gently. Unfortunatly, the cub's foot was ackwardly placed, and her loud yip spooked the rabbit into flight. Solomon's arrow went wide, shattering the tip on a stone. Muttering a curse, he recovered his burden and nocked another arrow.

 

It wasn't long at all before the cub was tearing apart a fat rabbit under a large tree not far from town. Solomon was, quite honestly, exhausted, and was waiting impatiently for his charge to finish so he could bury the remains and get some sleep...

[Neira]

~Skyshadow~

 

Annoyingly, he tried to talk to her with that growling that the twolegs used. She looked up at him until he got up and started gathering a bunch of different things from around the room. When he turned back to her, he picked her up by the neck and lowered her into some kind of sling that he carried her in. She struggled in his hand, but dangling in midair she was powerless to avoid it. Sniffing around in her new surroundings she was caught unawares as they began moving and whined as she lost her balance and fell on her hurt foot. She stood up again, holding her paw up so as not to stand on it and peeked out of her carrier. They were crossing the stedding toward the forest. hunting! she cried into his mind and wiggled about. He snorted at her and shook his head when she spoke to him and she watched anxiously as they entered the trees.

 

The smells of the forest were welcoming to the young cub's nose. Trees and all the creatures around her tickled her nose and she itched to be let down to walk on her own. Her paw hurt though, and she knew there would be no need in attempting to walk without making so much noise they would scare away anything they might find. And her stomach was still gurgling. Twice she was put on the ground while the twoleg, whose name she still did not know, let loose one of his flying bolts. The first time he had dropped her to the ground and she had landed on her foot. She yelped and scared off the rabbit and whimpered as she was lifted up again without a word from the twoleg.

 

When his third bolt struck home in one of the rabbits Sky got tired of sitting still, and despite her hurt foot, ran to the small animal and finished the job of killing the thing herself. Its little neck broke between her teeth and she tore into its flesh hungrily. She ate most of the rabbit, but there was still a bit of meat on the thing when her stomach was full again. She tore the bits that she had finished with away and carried what was left to her new friend who had fed her. She dropped the bit of rabbit on the ground in front of him. ~eat~ Accompanying the message was the warm feeling of a full belly. He was the one who had made the kill anyway.

[Shadow]

"Hey, thanks and all, but I'm really, really not hungry right now..."

 

Solomon had only to look at the meat before him to lose his appetite. It wasn't just that the rabbit had been devoured, that was fine. He just didn't like his meat without, ya'know, cooking. And perhaps a light glaze or sauce? At any rate, he buried the remains and recovered the arrow. It was time to head in. "Come on, pup," Solomon quipped as he collected the cubbearing sack and tossed it gently over one shoulder, "It's time to sack it in for the night."

 

After a good night's sleep, eggs and toast, along with a little snack for the furry pest, Solomon was ready for another long, boring day. And after that boring day, he livened things up with a trip to the hoochhouse. "Hey, I'm home, nobody. Oh, and miniture furry killing thing. Can't forget you. If I do, I'm libel to have to clean something up." Solomon said, "And let's see how long it will take before I can get rid of you..."

 

Unfortunatly, the tiny leg was very swollen, and the little furbag was squealing at every slight movement. There wasn't much he could do but wait, and it looked like it was going to go on for a week, at least. He didn't know much about wolves, but he had broken his limbs enough to know about it. Well, perhaps HE had not broken them...that squealling was enough to make him want to get drunk, and rather quickly. Another solution dawned on him, however, and he reached to the small dresser that adorned his tiny room.

 

"Here, a nip of this will shut your foodhole." he sighed, as he poured a small amount of liquid from a clear glass bottle into a dish, "That's good whiskey, so it had better..." His unfortunate roommate took a few whiffs and immediatedly retreated from the proffered dish, but he gave her a look that was fairly univeral in it's message. The cub downed the saucer, and actually seemed to enjoy it, even looking at him with big, pleading eyes, as if expecting more. "Not gonna happen," he replied, with another withering gaze, "You're tipsy enough already, I don't need a sloshed hairball getting me in more trouble." At least she wasn't screeching anymore...

[Neira]

She was carried back to the same den and put back on her pile of fluff, which she immediately began gnawing on again. The twoleg just sighed and let the light disappear. Her paw was still sore, and it was hard to fall asleep, but after rolling around a few times sleep overtook the small pup.

 

The next morning she was tossed a bit of squirrel and the twoleg left her alone. He went through the hole in the wall and blocked it up, so she couldnt exit. She limped around the den looking for another way out, but it wasnt to be found. After forgetting to keep her foot up, and stepping on it hard she decided to keep to her pile of fluff that she slept in the night before. It was easier to not hurt it if she kept still.

 

By the time the twoleg had returned, near to twilight, she had torn apart most of the fluff and found another noisy-flappy thing to tear to shreds. It was a lonely day. And she was looking forward to another scrap of squirrel if he would give it to her.

 

However when he walked in he payed little to no mind to the young pup. More growling and nothing else. He did come and pick up her leg, which hurt very much. She squirmed and whined when he touched it and he winced and left her alone after that. The hurt didnt go away after he left her alone tho. He had twisted it when he had picked it up and it hurt. She continued to whimper.

 

After a few minutes of her whimpering the twoleg sat a dish of some very oddlooking and smelling water before her. It stung her nose and she backed away from the dish. However, when she looked up at the twoleg the expression he wore and his spiky smell had her lapping at the strange liquid. It tasted as stingy as it smelled and felt weird going down. It was oddly addictive. Looking up to the twoleg hurt her head terribly. His face was blurred and not focused. The little cub sat back on her haunches and shook her head trying to clear it. It felt heavy. She whined and looked up at the twoleg with pleading eyes.

 

He growled something at her and shook his head. She tilted her head at him, which made her dizzy. Why dont I know your name? She sat, shaking her head some more, waiting for him to answer.

[Shadow]

Solomon chuckled as the cub seemed to stumble slightly.

 

"Yeesh, someone's a lightweight. That was barely a taste. At least you look a little better. You had me scared for a while..."

 

<Why don't I know your name?>

 

The thought floated up seemingly from nowhere, and at the same time, it was obviously from his now tipsy cub. This time, however, it was understandable. It was thought the rodent was speaking english instead of jibberish. Since it had eaten most of his books and the one he had been reading was about dull things that happened to stupid kings or ugly hags in years long since past, he decided to give talking with...it...the thing...the hairball...whatever derisive term he was going to give it, a shot.

 

<The name is...Keyes...?>

 

It was all wrong. Talking to wolves was by no means intuitive for him. Keyes came out like a brainpicture of a set of keys, complete with a ring. It was annoying, but he couldn't find another way to say it. The jist of the message got through, but that was it. He tried again. But the word Solomon was more like wisdom and courage, two emotions about the name Solomon rather then the word. And he certainly was neither wise nor courageous. Finally, in desparation, he tried to dredge up something that described who he was.

 

<My name is...Swift Paws>

 

Somehow, that made sense. Annoying, poorly understood sense, but it was better then anything else he had tried to send. Apparantly, wolves didn't talk in the traditional sense. They 'sent' base emotions, pictures and meanings, rather then words. A bloody annoying system, but at least he could tell the stupid thing to stop eating all his books. They were getting expensive, and he could only dice so much off before he was caught cheating.

 

<Rat, what's your name?>

 

The word Rat came out as a picture of the cub, but with ratlike features. An image of the way he saw it. The response from the halfdrunk cub would be hilarious.

 

OOC: Sorry, I've been having browser troubles. This has been WRITTEN since monday, but I could only post it now. Sorry. Have fun!