Alpha's Hunting Grounds

The Alpha's hunting grounds are little different from the rest of the area surrounding the tribes scattered haphazardly across the mountain bowl known as the were city. As a matter of fact, there's probably nothing particularly significant about it other than the fact that the Alpha frequents it out of habit. It's where he was often trained by the previous Alpha. It also has a curious rocky outcropping that the current Alpha enjoys thoroughly for sunning in the afternoon and hunting when the shadows keep it hidden.

Other weres are allowed to hunt there if they so wish it, but they must first ask the Alpha himself.

Tari flowed from his perch like water, melting into the slowly frosting undergrowth like a shadow and whispering through the grass. It was still dark enough that the panther was nearly invisible in the softly rustling plantlife, nearly silent in the stillness of the coming dawn. The only visible part of him was his eyes, peircing shards of hardened ice after first freeze in the North.

As was his custom, the First padded his way to his hunting grounds on the eastern side of Veksle, where the brilliant plumage of the trees was already beginning to show through the verdant veneer of summer. Every nerve sung with anticipation as morning began to break, bathing the world in the first chill, thin veil of grey twilight that would soon herald the sun.

The Alpha slunk into the dense foliage at the edge of the trees, feeling the spring and coil of every muscle working in harmony within his big frame. Today was a good day to be alive. Something large today, I think, Tari rumbled his pleasure as he reached the larger trees and felt the crinkling of leaves beneath his paws.

A scent tickled his whiskers. A werewolf? Tari turned back towards the deer path he'd followed and leapt into a large oak to stay completely concealed in the growing, misty dawn. From here, the Alpha could see the intruder a number of yards away, crashing through the undergrowth and unknowingly trampling the long grass. His icy eyes narrowed and the Alpha sampled the scent again. A newcomer, then. I do not know his scent from the records, though I suspect him of being a second generation Northerner. What tribe would he hail from?

The panther licked his lips with a wet pink tongue and extended his claws. Watching the were make his careful way to the edge of the trees, Tari waited patiently for the were's next move. He should not be here. The wolf stopped at the trees' edge, looking around as if searching for someone, then settling down to wait patiently, so it seemed, for the Alpha himself.

The wolf's manner was easy, unthreatening, and had an air of self-confidence Tari had not seen in many a younger were. The newcomer was obviously not here for a fight, and had yet to approach the border of the Alpha's grounds. After a moment's thought, Tari flowed down the tree and padded over to where the werewolf stood, still out of sight.

"What is it you want with me, stranger?" the Alpha rumbled, his voice a deep, smooth basso profundo that seemed to echo in the early morning stillness. The panther stepped forward into the wolf's line of vision, both tense and at ease. "Why have you come to interrupt me?"

Rakel sat there waiting fot the Alpha to show up. Patiently his hand trailed along the sheath of his blade. Is this the destiny you sought? he wondered. He heard a soft padding and although it alerted him to another presence, he decided to stay relaxed.

Then, coming from seemingly everywhere at once, he heard a voice questioning him and he stood, hand heading towards his blade before he immediatly stopped it. Is this the Alpha? Then a black panther leaped down in front of him.

Rakel stood and, sensing the domineering presence of the Alpha, greeted him. "Hail, wise one. I have come seeking your council." Trying to size up this Alpha was hard. He was a different type of were and kept himself under easy control. "My name is Rakel I hail from the northern lands near a city named Strid. I am new to your fair city and was told I could seek you out here."

Done with his introduction, Rakel took a knee and bowed his head to the Alpha with his arms away from his weapon as a sign of respect and of trust by leaving himself vulnerable.

Tari blinked at Rakel's suddenly submissive stance and rumbled deep in his chest. Though still necessarily wary of the newcomer, it could be said that the Alpha's whiskers twitched in what was nearly a ghost of a smile. "Stand, young one," the panther growled, touching Rakel's head softly with a brush of his warm, wet nose, "How can one gauge his company without looking to his eyes?"

Tari sat back on his haunches, curling his tail about his paws in the freshly frosted loam and staring at the werewolf intensely. He would let the impropriety of coming near the Alpha's grounds without express permission slide for a time, but Tari's muscles remained coiled and ready, lest the werewolf became violent. "What is it you have called upon me for?"

Rakel glanced up at the Alpha. Standing, he did not let his eyes wonder and looked straight ahead. "I apologize for coming to your grounds but I sought the Alpha. New to your city, it is proper for me to first find you and let my presence be known. I have only been near one other Alpha and that is how his tribe was run. " Rakel spoke as his hand mindlessly drifted to the blade at his side and felt the gem in the hilt.

He is a wise-looking leader and seems to understand much without words. I respect him so far. Rakel thought without betraying his current emotional ease. Rakel then let the Alpha know by his body language that he would not attack him on here and relaxed his own stance.

He knows as little of our customs as I once did, Tari nearly wrinkled his muzzle in a smile, but composed himself. "I see," he rumbled, still staring unblinkingly at the wolf.

"However, your customs are not our customs, as you will soon learn if you stay for any length of time in our semblance of a city," the Alpha's tail moved a little, slowly as he continued, "To avoid another breach of decorum, I suggest you go consult alpha Arun'haaraktuk. He is our current keeper of the records and can be found, unfortunately, on the other side of the bowl among the tents of the Haruun tribe."

Melting gracefully to a standing position, Tari began to turn back to the forest and to his delayed hunt. "they, too, are wolves, so you may feel a bit more at ease."

The sunrise finally broke the horizon, bathing the morning with its golden touch and setting the trees afire with color and birdsong. the Alpha's sable fur and silver, spider-thin latticework of scars glistened with the frost as he slunk into the darkness of the trees.

An interesting individual, at least, Tari mused, padding deeper into the forest, though I do wonder who told him about my grounds...

Mentally, the big panther shrugged; it was yet another something to deal with later. though he would have to take up the mantle of Alpha in a few hours, at least for now he was free to follow his instincts. His deep, earth-throbbing roar rumbled out through the trees, startling the birds to flight and claiming the territory as his own. The panther continued on, padding through the trees silently and swiftly.

Quall dozed lazily and soaked up the gracefully warm sun in his midnight black fur. His hair swayed slowly along with the surrounding grass as it flowed and tangled within his fur and became uniform in terms of motion rather like a wave without water. He didn’t quite know how long he’d been there (given his cat nap) but he was vaguely aware that he was in fact in some sort of tabooed fields. But just what was the reason again? Was this within someone’s territory? Was this some sort of hallowed ground? The thoughts flickered dully in the back of his mind.

In and out of consciousness, reality and fiction. Oftentimes he didn’t know exactly when he was awake and when he grazed the depths of his imagination. It was after one particularly long nap that he awoke with start suddenly sitting upward quite swiftly. He then uneasily glanced across the wooded area to see two figures in the not-so-distant-distance.

Quall wasn’t exactly a high ranked were, actually, he was hardly considered a were at all. It was said that he was born of a human mother and father, that his mother’s womb had been touched by the devil causing her to die at his birth and him to be like this. In appearance, he was a black werelion complete with shaggy fur covering the entirety of his anatomy with darker fur comprising his impressive mane and about where one might consider a ‘beard’. So besides half of his basic anatomy the only physical trace of a human lay within the fact that he was half clothed. That is, he appeared to be wearing rather tattered and worse-for-wear shorts.

In any case, the interactions he’d had with the indigenous tribes of weres in this area were brief and numbered. Although he had left a bittersweet impression on some natural weres. Some enjoyed his less-than-serious attitude, others found it utterly deplorable and others still found his very existence an abomination.

He bit his lip with one of his rather sharp (oddly white) teeth as he eyed the two figures in the distance uneasily with his aqua blue eyes. Hopefully, he wasn't in too much trouble.

Hmm so once more im sent to another location. Rakel thought to himself as he watched the Alpha walk away and turned to head out. He paused sensing another near by. Looking around and not seeing anyone he kept movind deciding if he felt it agian he would hunt this mysterious being down.

(I really have no clue what to do here... XD")

Tari harrumphed at the scent of yet another were in his territory and bared his formidable fangs. Ugh. What do I have to do to get some time to myself?

The scent Tari picked up was almost unmistakable, but Tari hoped he was for once misled. He altered his course to come around downwind from the intruder and sighed irritably as he spied the young werelion lounging in the early morning sun. Oh, boy. It's him, Tari's ear flicked as if warding off a fly, It took weeks to calm down the ruckus from last time he visited. What is it he wants now?

The Alpha stepped into view smoothly, watching Quall intently with his icy eyes.

"Oh hi there," Quall smiled and waved in an inviting manner, "Quite a nice day isn't it?"
His actions seemed genuine despite the apparent danger he currently found himself in. Perhaps he was simply ignorant or was responding carefully to the situation as if not wanting to arouse any harsh feelings.

Then again that would be assuming that Quall was capable of such complex thought. Now THAT in itself was definitely a large assumption.

Tari snorted at Quall's cavalier attitude and boxed the werelion's ear with a heavy paw. It wasn't unkindly, but neither was the cuff a love-tap. "The least you could do when I find you on my lands is act a little less nonchalant," the Alpha chided, his voice serious.

To tell the truth, Quall isn't such a bad person, the panther sighed inwardly, he just has a habit of stirring up so much trouble, some of the other weres believe him to be a harbringer of doom...

The panther gave Quall a stern look and demanded to know his reasons for being here. It's becoming late, Tari noted, squinting to see the sun breaking free of the horizon and flicking a sable ear to pick up the slow rumble of the tribes beginning to awaken below. He shifted a little, a tad impatient, and turned his attention back to Quall.

Quall flinched more from the shock than the actual blow itself. He then raised a bushy brow in an inquisitive gesture as his left ear twitched somewhat. To be honest, he was kind of used to being pushed around and over the years he'd sort of gotten used it it.

He then listened calmly to what Tari had to say and in response a semi confused look spread across his face. "Your lands," Quall pondered, "Frankly I wasn't aware where I was or wasn't. I just sort of wandered here and figured it'd be a nice place to nap," He yawned, "turns out I was right. Well somewhat. Until you came of course"

He paused for a moment, "NOT that that's a bad thing or anything... just that I was sleeping before... I mean you know napping and then by you coming it would then be a disturbance of the nap and then well...."

Quall stopped again and blinked several times, "So um... yeah."

Tari snorted impatiently at the werelion's babble. "You still need to either stay in this area or get away from my city," the Alpha rumbled, his tail twitching, "Do you remember what happened the last time you came into town? I am not really of the mood to run you out of the marketplace again."

Tari glanced back up at the sky and noted the Sun's position. "Now, if you please, I will take my leave. Although I have had much of the pleasure of your company, I had best be getting to my duties."

Inwardly, Tari sighed and rolled his eyes as he turned his back on the werelion. I have so much we must do today, aside from pointing newcomers in the correct direction. he shook his heavy head disapprovingly as he reached the edge of the woods. And now I must reprimand the guarding tribes. To let two strangers in without letting me know! We are getting lax in our peacetime.

Between one stride and the next, Tari's panther form swelled upwards into that of a man's. He swept up a loose pair of pants from beside a tree as he entered the awakening city and pulled them on fluidly, never breaking his stride. He threw a light jacket on against the cold, unneeded though it was, and continued on through the winding main streets of the city he called his own.

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