He knew he shouldn't have wandered off without someone else to back him up. Should have asked his father or one of his sisters to come with him. But no, he had to be pigheaded and go off on his own to prove his worth. Why did he have to be the only son? He could just hear his family now, telling him, "Draven! Don't make us give you a babysitter. You're a big boy, take care of yourself."
And even if in the back of his mind some warning was going off, he chose to ignore it as he chased his prey. There he was, running after a herd of deer, intent on bringing back the largest kill to present to his family so that he could prove he too, a male in this family, was just as able as a female. He had no idea where he was running towards, only seeing the deer in front of him, not realizing he was crossing into a danger zone.
His family was an odd one. Instead of being patriarchal, the family was led by his mother Chrysanthemum. Although his father, Damien, was just as capable of a leader as his mother, Draven knew that Damien respected Chrysanthemum greatly and realized the potential she had and stepped down out of love and respect to let her lead. Their family held females in high prestige, giving them the blood and genes to make them like the Amazon women, warriors and leader with the beauty of goddesses.
This all started with his grandmother Narcissa who was still alive and kicking to this day. She from a pack where females were lesser and inferior. Despite the fact that she could probably beat every male in the pack including the alpha, she was treated no better than a slave. That pissed her off, big time. She went on a small rampage, liberating the females and castrating some males before she left to make her own pack, a pack where women were equal if not better than males. She met Gang, who would become Draven's grandfather, and the family began.
Draven had five sisters. All beautiful, intelligent, strong women. And he was the only male of the litter. Although he could see his family loved him, he could sometimes see the disappointment in his mother's eyes that he wasn't a female. Bah well that was when he was younger. Over the years Draven grew and soon enough his family realized his capabilities. But he still strove to prove himself, not giving his family any chance to doubt him.
Over time, the family pack grew. Some strays would come seeking acceptance, females from other packs and rarely some males. At the moment the head count totaled 15 wolves in their pack now. Quite a large number when originally it was only nine family members.
Anyway enough of thinking of home, he had other issues to dwell on.
Like...
How he was going to get out of this metal compartment that some humans stuck him in after they shot him with a bunch of little needle things that made him sleepy.
It all happened so fast. There he was, chasing after the deer when suddenly he saw a few deer just collapse to the ground. The herd left them, but Draven was suddenly alert. But it was too late as he felt three little pricks on his flank. Turning to see three red sharp things sticking out of his thigh, he once again felt another three on his shoulder.
Panicking he ran, despite the sluggish feeling that was soon settling over his both, he ran. Hearing the voices of humans only fueled him on. And he got pretty far but soon after about four more sharp pricks, he fell like a sack of bricks to the ground and was out.
He awoke with a massive headache, the inability to move his body effectively, and to the smell of wooden thing he was in, and to the unsteady movement of the vehicle that was transporting him to Fenris knows where.
...
"Shit,"
Was that went through his mind as he tried to think of a plan and fast. He tried to get up in this box thing and thankfully he was enough to where he could crouch on all fours but not enough to where he could stand. And not like that would have mattered because he could barely stand without his legs wiggling and shaking.
What did they do to him? Maybe it was all those prickling things.
Whatever. He shoved against the wall of the box, but it held strong although it did move a few inches. Through a small hole in the wood, Draven peeked out to see a wired gate that separated him from the plains that were his home.
He shoved again and again and soon he was getting closer to the gate of the truck that held the crate which held him. He moved back as much as he could in his crate and flung himself at the other end of the wooden box, at the same time the truck just hit a rock in the ground, sending his box into the air for a split second.
His moment sent the crate forward and with a resounding thud, creak, and thump, he could himself upside down in his crate, looking through the hole as he saw the vehicle drive away with the broken door hanging in its wake.
Well now great...he was out of one thing, but still stuck in this thing.
This was gonna be fun.
She--he, who what, huh? [Shaydie]
-
K.A.T
- Beta
- Posts: 1285
- Joined: 10-04-2011 02:21
-
Shaydie
- The Shadow Hound
- Posts: 879
- Joined: 08-07-2009 20:17
It's nice to be alone every once in a while. Just you, the sun, the sky, the grass beneath your feet. Alone with your thoughts, with no need to act differently around others. You can just be yourself.
For Median, that was a huge weight off of her shoulders.
The blue-grey wolf lay on her side in the soft grass, unmoving. The grass itself was long enough to conceal her from the prying eyes of all but the closest of individuals, at least as she was in this position. Besides that, it made a nice bed. And nothing but grass as far as the eye could see... A single tree reached toward the great blue sea above, but it was far off, seemingly as unreachable as the snowy white peaks beyond. Paradise. Almost. She hadn't seen a single soul besides herself since she entered this lush wasteland. She had, however, been lucky enough to find small ponds to drink from and catch lizards and birds for food. Indeed, Median was well-nurtured, but somehow she longed for company.
Even after that blasted pack...
She hailed from a family two hundred strong, bred between each other and from the strongest and most intelligent vagabonds. A formidable pack, indeed, especially when they valued male over female to the point where the girls were only good for breeding. Very rarely did a female wolf beat the odds and become something more in that pack... And when she did, it was usually short lived. Sometimes her success was cut short by an "accident." Sometimes through blatant treachery. And sometimes they even disappeared without a trace... never to be seen again. It wasn't that the males treated them poorly to begin with. In fact, a proven breeder could find herself coveted by the strongest of the warriors, and live a happy life full of pups. But she could never make a difference. Ever.
And so Median had decided to become a male.
Obviously it was physically impossible to change her gender, but her mother had mated with a very large vagabond, giving Median the size and build of a wolf of the opposite gender. Her long coat, supposedly gifted to her by a grandparent, helped to hide the area that would have held the sheath and sack. Even so, she always kept her tail down. The only other inconvenience was her voice, but even that was bent to her will. After months of practice, she could flawlessly change her high, girlish voice into a deeper, masculine drawl. Though it was still borderline feminine, combined with her looks, most wolves never had the slightest inkling as to her true sex.
This masquerade had served her well, for the most part. After puphood she became a warrior. And at the peak of her career she had been called to the alpha himself... as he had wanted someone trustworthy to guard him... Yes... Trustworthy... and pleasing to the eye...
Median swallowed as she remembered those days. Nothing had ever happened as she served the alpha, but she had always suspected...
No. He never knew. He would never know. Divines, what if someone had found her out? She would have been executed on the spot for deceiving her superiors... And if not, she would have been assassinated. Hunted. Torn apart at the joints. Thank god she had never gone into heat for whatever reason. Her mother insisted that it was only a late blooming, but Median suspected she was barren... It had helped her, in a way. If they ever found out...
But here she was. Miles away. Over mountains and rivers and thousands of pawsteps away from those days. But she could never go back to being female. Her mind had already been made up.
... Would be nice to find somewhere she could relax, though...
Absently, her jade eyes trailed a small ant as it trekked its way to the top of a blade of grass. Even as the wind blew, shaking its footholds, the ant continued. Such persistence should have been admirable, but all Median could think of was that there was nothing to be had at the top. Just an end. A sharp end. Fate was fickle like that.
And at that precise moment, fate threw something new her way.
A faint roar drew her head up, peeking above the grass. She saw it then - the large black monster floating over the landscape. She'd seen them before. Most often they went on their way without a glance in her direction. Sometimes they stopped for a moment as they passed her, in which case she'd hide or run. Never had they posed any sort of real threat, and this one was hundreds of strides away, so she just waited for it to pass. And pass it did...
And it left something behind.
Median's ears pricked up as the square-shaped thing fell from the back of the black monster. She blinked once. Twice. The monster kept moving, perhaps unaware that it had left part of itself behind. She watched as it disappeared into the distance, to the horizon and over it. She waited a few minutes longer, wondering if it would come back for what it had dropped.
But it didn't. Strange...
The blue-grey female weighed her options. One, she could stay here and wait, perhaps for the thing to reclaim what belonged to it. Two, she could leave and put the whole thing behind her... Or three... She could investigate. Find out what it was that it had dropped. Maybe add some excitement to her life. Yeah... That sounded cool... She flicked her ears back and forth, listening. The hum of the black beast could no longer be heard. A few birds chirped in the distance, perhaps as they made their nests on the ground as some birds do. But beyond that, there was silence on the plains.
"Come on, girl. Get your tail in gear."
She muttered it to herself in the voice she had made, not the one she had been born with. Even so, it was enough to make her stand, shake herself, and begin trotting toward the small dark shape the beast had left. The entire way, her mind began to nag at her. This was such a bad idea, possibly the worst ever thought up by anyone ever. She could get herself killed by some black magic, everyone knew the monsters couldn't be trusted. Maybe it was another, meaner monster that the first had left behind out of fear. Maybe it was an egg, god forbid, and whatever hatched from it ate wolves like her. Maybe-
Maybe it was... wooden?
And box-shaped.
And it smelled funny. Like nothing she'd ever smelled. Maybe something like the mushrooms that made wolves sick. Faintly toxic. Median edged closer, tail held high in some kind of lame excuse for confidence. It definitely smelled vaguely familiar, though. Something underneath that chemical smell - which, upon closer inspection, came from the strange red markings it had painted on it. Hrm... Something familiar... Like... wolf...?
For Median, that was a huge weight off of her shoulders.
The blue-grey wolf lay on her side in the soft grass, unmoving. The grass itself was long enough to conceal her from the prying eyes of all but the closest of individuals, at least as she was in this position. Besides that, it made a nice bed. And nothing but grass as far as the eye could see... A single tree reached toward the great blue sea above, but it was far off, seemingly as unreachable as the snowy white peaks beyond. Paradise. Almost. She hadn't seen a single soul besides herself since she entered this lush wasteland. She had, however, been lucky enough to find small ponds to drink from and catch lizards and birds for food. Indeed, Median was well-nurtured, but somehow she longed for company.
Even after that blasted pack...
She hailed from a family two hundred strong, bred between each other and from the strongest and most intelligent vagabonds. A formidable pack, indeed, especially when they valued male over female to the point where the girls were only good for breeding. Very rarely did a female wolf beat the odds and become something more in that pack... And when she did, it was usually short lived. Sometimes her success was cut short by an "accident." Sometimes through blatant treachery. And sometimes they even disappeared without a trace... never to be seen again. It wasn't that the males treated them poorly to begin with. In fact, a proven breeder could find herself coveted by the strongest of the warriors, and live a happy life full of pups. But she could never make a difference. Ever.
And so Median had decided to become a male.
Obviously it was physically impossible to change her gender, but her mother had mated with a very large vagabond, giving Median the size and build of a wolf of the opposite gender. Her long coat, supposedly gifted to her by a grandparent, helped to hide the area that would have held the sheath and sack. Even so, she always kept her tail down. The only other inconvenience was her voice, but even that was bent to her will. After months of practice, she could flawlessly change her high, girlish voice into a deeper, masculine drawl. Though it was still borderline feminine, combined with her looks, most wolves never had the slightest inkling as to her true sex.
This masquerade had served her well, for the most part. After puphood she became a warrior. And at the peak of her career she had been called to the alpha himself... as he had wanted someone trustworthy to guard him... Yes... Trustworthy... and pleasing to the eye...
Median swallowed as she remembered those days. Nothing had ever happened as she served the alpha, but she had always suspected...
No. He never knew. He would never know. Divines, what if someone had found her out? She would have been executed on the spot for deceiving her superiors... And if not, she would have been assassinated. Hunted. Torn apart at the joints. Thank god she had never gone into heat for whatever reason. Her mother insisted that it was only a late blooming, but Median suspected she was barren... It had helped her, in a way. If they ever found out...
But here she was. Miles away. Over mountains and rivers and thousands of pawsteps away from those days. But she could never go back to being female. Her mind had already been made up.
... Would be nice to find somewhere she could relax, though...
Absently, her jade eyes trailed a small ant as it trekked its way to the top of a blade of grass. Even as the wind blew, shaking its footholds, the ant continued. Such persistence should have been admirable, but all Median could think of was that there was nothing to be had at the top. Just an end. A sharp end. Fate was fickle like that.
And at that precise moment, fate threw something new her way.
A faint roar drew her head up, peeking above the grass. She saw it then - the large black monster floating over the landscape. She'd seen them before. Most often they went on their way without a glance in her direction. Sometimes they stopped for a moment as they passed her, in which case she'd hide or run. Never had they posed any sort of real threat, and this one was hundreds of strides away, so she just waited for it to pass. And pass it did...
And it left something behind.
Median's ears pricked up as the square-shaped thing fell from the back of the black monster. She blinked once. Twice. The monster kept moving, perhaps unaware that it had left part of itself behind. She watched as it disappeared into the distance, to the horizon and over it. She waited a few minutes longer, wondering if it would come back for what it had dropped.
But it didn't. Strange...
The blue-grey female weighed her options. One, she could stay here and wait, perhaps for the thing to reclaim what belonged to it. Two, she could leave and put the whole thing behind her... Or three... She could investigate. Find out what it was that it had dropped. Maybe add some excitement to her life. Yeah... That sounded cool... She flicked her ears back and forth, listening. The hum of the black beast could no longer be heard. A few birds chirped in the distance, perhaps as they made their nests on the ground as some birds do. But beyond that, there was silence on the plains.
"Come on, girl. Get your tail in gear."
She muttered it to herself in the voice she had made, not the one she had been born with. Even so, it was enough to make her stand, shake herself, and begin trotting toward the small dark shape the beast had left. The entire way, her mind began to nag at her. This was such a bad idea, possibly the worst ever thought up by anyone ever. She could get herself killed by some black magic, everyone knew the monsters couldn't be trusted. Maybe it was another, meaner monster that the first had left behind out of fear. Maybe it was an egg, god forbid, and whatever hatched from it ate wolves like her. Maybe-
Maybe it was... wooden?
And box-shaped.
And it smelled funny. Like nothing she'd ever smelled. Maybe something like the mushrooms that made wolves sick. Faintly toxic. Median edged closer, tail held high in some kind of lame excuse for confidence. It definitely smelled vaguely familiar, though. Something underneath that chemical smell - which, upon closer inspection, came from the strange red markings it had painted on it. Hrm... Something familiar... Like... wolf...?
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K.A.T
- Beta
- Posts: 1285
- Joined: 10-04-2011 02:21
Icy blue eyes snapped open and slowly they became adjusted to the unnatural darkness that surrounded him. Only the slight and small rays of sunlight that snuck through the cracks and crevices of the thing he was in reminded him that it was day and that he had unexpectedly dozed off.
Well shit...
How could he have fallen asleep in a situation like this?
Pause.
He looked at himself. His feet were to the sky and his head was to the earth, his front paws pressed to his chest and his tail was probably squashed under him.
On second thought how on earth did he manage to fall asleep in a position like this?
Feeling slightly embarrassed despite the fact that he was alone, Draven looked and assessed his situation. Well at least he wasn't bothered by anyone or anything while stuck in this box. It probably reeked of human nothing would even come near it. On that thought he wondered when those blasted humans would realize he was missing. He hoped it was well after he got out of this and far away as he could.
Drat! He could feet his paws falling asleep, the slight prickly needle sensation he felt from his muscles was making him very aware of the time. How long did he doze? According to the sunlight it was probably close to noon and he needed to get his arse moving.
He tried moving around, damn him for being big now. And whatever the humans shot him with it still hadn't gotten out of his system because he was still feeling a bit hazy and his memories were fuzzy. Great, like he needed more problems to add to his list.
Grunting, he tried to get onto his feet, but only succeeded in causing the box to flip over from his weight and moving about. The box shook as it landed on another face but at least it helped him out since now he was on his feet. Or bum at least but he stood up in the tiny cramped space that he had to spare and thought of how to break out.
Lifting a large paw, he pushed against the wood to gauge how much it would give. Well damn, those humans sure knew how to make sure nothing got out of here easily.
Frustrated, he jumped and thumped his back against the top of the box, and then left and right, causing the crate to shake and jump.
"Damn...you...freaking....blasted...thing," he grunted each time he hit himself against the sides.
But it didn't give. He was probably scaring off anything within close proximity to this damned thing. Grunting from exertion he growled slightly at his predicament.
Letting out a breath he shook his head to clear his mind. He exhaled deeply and then inhaled--and suddenly a scent came to him.
Hmm...
Aside from the stink of human and smell of wood, he smelled something else. Quickly he searched for the hole he had used to spy from and looked out from it.
....
Grass. Trees...dirt...wait wait....was that...wolf?
He inhaled deeply and sure enough he was right. The scent of a wolf was nearby and fresh. Perhaps he could get this fellow kin to help him.
But would they help? What if they decided to sound a howl and got the humans running back?
Should he take the chance? Or should he rot in the box?
....
"Hey. I know someone's out there. Answer if you hear me," he called out of the hole and waited for a response.
His ears flattened against his head as he hoped to Fenris he was gonna get some good fortune and not bad luck again.
Well shit...
How could he have fallen asleep in a situation like this?
Pause.
He looked at himself. His feet were to the sky and his head was to the earth, his front paws pressed to his chest and his tail was probably squashed under him.
On second thought how on earth did he manage to fall asleep in a position like this?
Feeling slightly embarrassed despite the fact that he was alone, Draven looked and assessed his situation. Well at least he wasn't bothered by anyone or anything while stuck in this box. It probably reeked of human nothing would even come near it. On that thought he wondered when those blasted humans would realize he was missing. He hoped it was well after he got out of this and far away as he could.
Drat! He could feet his paws falling asleep, the slight prickly needle sensation he felt from his muscles was making him very aware of the time. How long did he doze? According to the sunlight it was probably close to noon and he needed to get his arse moving.
He tried moving around, damn him for being big now. And whatever the humans shot him with it still hadn't gotten out of his system because he was still feeling a bit hazy and his memories were fuzzy. Great, like he needed more problems to add to his list.
Grunting, he tried to get onto his feet, but only succeeded in causing the box to flip over from his weight and moving about. The box shook as it landed on another face but at least it helped him out since now he was on his feet. Or bum at least but he stood up in the tiny cramped space that he had to spare and thought of how to break out.
Lifting a large paw, he pushed against the wood to gauge how much it would give. Well damn, those humans sure knew how to make sure nothing got out of here easily.
Frustrated, he jumped and thumped his back against the top of the box, and then left and right, causing the crate to shake and jump.
"Damn...you...freaking....blasted...thing," he grunted each time he hit himself against the sides.
But it didn't give. He was probably scaring off anything within close proximity to this damned thing. Grunting from exertion he growled slightly at his predicament.
Letting out a breath he shook his head to clear his mind. He exhaled deeply and then inhaled--and suddenly a scent came to him.
Hmm...
Aside from the stink of human and smell of wood, he smelled something else. Quickly he searched for the hole he had used to spy from and looked out from it.
....
Grass. Trees...dirt...wait wait....was that...wolf?
He inhaled deeply and sure enough he was right. The scent of a wolf was nearby and fresh. Perhaps he could get this fellow kin to help him.
But would they help? What if they decided to sound a howl and got the humans running back?
Should he take the chance? Or should he rot in the box?
....
"Hey. I know someone's out there. Answer if you hear me," he called out of the hole and waited for a response.
His ears flattened against his head as he hoped to Fenris he was gonna get some good fortune and not bad luck again.
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Shaydie
- The Shadow Hound
- Posts: 879
- Joined: 08-07-2009 20:17
A small sound emerged from within the strange box-thing. Median tilted her head, trying to listen. It was a creaking noise, like a tree bending. Then, without warning, a louder sound snapped into the air as the box shuddered and tilted. The blue-grey female stepped back a ways, ears turned back and tail waving at half mast by now...
The box kept waving back and forth, inching along at a snail's pace as it rocked. She wondered briefly if it was really trying to move, or if it was just making noise, trying to scare her away. She could hear something else murmuring beneath the rocking sound, but she couldn't make it out. Stubbornly, Median held her ground, muscles taut and ready to bolt if the thing lunged at her.
But in time, the rocking stopped.
Strange thing, isn't it... she thought to herself, and stepped forward again... And again... Until her nose was nearly touching the side of the box as she sniffed at it. Still that faint smell of wolf...
As she yelled the words for anyone nearby to hear, she leapt backwards, stumbling over herself and nearly falling flat on her back. Even when she landed she scrabbled further away, until dirt became grass again. The thing had spoken! And it knew common tongue, too! Still sort of dancing back and forth as her jade orbs eyed the monster-thing, Median tried to remember if she had kept her masquerade in order when she'd cried out in sheer terror. ... As best she knew, she had. After a few moments, she cleared her throat quietly and called out to the box.
"What... Who... ... Is there someone IN there?"
Honestly it was the only logical answer she could think of. Wood didn't talk. Then again neither did metal, and the black monsters roared all the time.
(Short, but not much else to do :c)
The box kept waving back and forth, inching along at a snail's pace as it rocked. She wondered briefly if it was really trying to move, or if it was just making noise, trying to scare her away. She could hear something else murmuring beneath the rocking sound, but she couldn't make it out. Stubbornly, Median held her ground, muscles taut and ready to bolt if the thing lunged at her.
But in time, the rocking stopped.
Strange thing, isn't it... she thought to herself, and stepped forward again... And again... Until her nose was nearly touching the side of the box as she sniffed at it. Still that faint smell of wolf...
"OHBYTHEDIVINESWHAT!?""Hey. I know someone's out there. Answer if you hear me," he called out of the hole and waited for a response.
As she yelled the words for anyone nearby to hear, she leapt backwards, stumbling over herself and nearly falling flat on her back. Even when she landed she scrabbled further away, until dirt became grass again. The thing had spoken! And it knew common tongue, too! Still sort of dancing back and forth as her jade orbs eyed the monster-thing, Median tried to remember if she had kept her masquerade in order when she'd cried out in sheer terror. ... As best she knew, she had. After a few moments, she cleared her throat quietly and called out to the box.
"What... Who... ... Is there someone IN there?"
Honestly it was the only logical answer she could think of. Wood didn't talk. Then again neither did metal, and the black monsters roared all the time.
(Short, but not much else to do :c)
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K.A.T
- Beta
- Posts: 1285
- Joined: 10-04-2011 02:21
Draven heard what sounded like a screech from inside his compartment and then the sounds of someone scrambling and tripping over himself or herself."OHBYTHEDIVINESWHAT!?"
That screech was pretty loud, so much so Draven had slapped his ears against his head and then after the echo of the voice was gone, he stuck his paw to his ear and wiggled it to make sure his hearing was not damaged.
"Wow what a splendid pair of lungs you possess. Can you go any higher and make my ears bleed?" he called out sarcastically without even knowing who in the world he was talking to. He just knew by George could he or she scream.
From the sounds, whoever was out there wasn't that far away from this box thing when he spoke. But now who knows, maybe he scared the shit out of them and he or she ran off to tell of a talking wooden box thing.
Patiently, or impatiently was the better word, Draven sat in his tiny square foot and waited. Waiting for what?
Waiting to see if whoever was out there was still out there.
When his patience almost ran out, he heard someone clear their voice, his ears perking up instantly, and then a voice.
Draven rolled his eyes."What... Who... ... Is there someone IN there?"
What kind of question was that? Did...was it a she or he out there? He really couldn't tell at the moment. Whatever...it. Did "it" think a wooden thing could speak?
"Well by the looks of things I'm not OUT there with you, so I must be IN this thing." he replied as he tried to look out of his peephole to see and make sure he wasn't imagining someone talking to him.
"You know it's all charming and dandy and it's lovely to meet you, but it would be even better if I was kinda facing you while talking. I don't fancy having wood as the median between us, do you?" he kept talking just to reassure himself that he was sane.
"Just a question, are you large enough to help me out of this contraption? I'm feeling a bit down from what the humans did to me so if you would be so kind as to lend me a paw, that would be great. Maybe shove me down a cliff or something?" he said as he tried pushing against the wooden sides only to have them creak and bend but not give.
"Damn, blasted, wooden cage. How the hell did they put me in here?" he spoke to himself as he tried to find an opening or some clue to help him get out.
Once again he started jumping inside the box, slamming into the sides and making it look like the box was moving side to side and up and down, wiggling to and fro and just looking plain bizarre.
"As you can clearly see, I'm not having the great of luck here getting out," he added as he started clawing at the sides with frustration, peeling away a thin layer of wood as he did and it clearly didn't make anything better but get wood under his claws.