In the Beginning [finished]

[Tryavna]

(This thread is open, just thought I'd mention :) and Trya hasn't spoken aloud yet)

The leaves beneath her crackled and crinkled, making static sounds, but she knew that no one could hear her coming. At her side, the rushing river thirstily swallowed up the sounds of her passing, until she was nearly silent to all but the best ears. 'Like the wind.' A smile, brief and ghostly, crossed her lips. Her hard amber eyes flickered, her tail twitched. 'A walking spirit.' She was finding this line of thought amusing. Little did she realize how surprisingly accurate her claim was. Against the shady blue river, her soft silver sides blended in almost seamlessly, giving any passerby the illusion that she was a vision in the water; albeit a vision of realistic clarity, and a vision that had a scent. 'If only I were a ghost. How much fun would that be? To play the ultimate prank, even on the Balkar!' That ghostly smile returned to her bony face - a face too sharp and thin to be pretty in the traditional sense. It lingered there a while, and eventually faded away as her thoughts turned earthbound and back into reality.

'Damn, it's later than I anticipated,' she thought, and momentarily stopped her endless march as she came around a clump of towering cattails to see how low Fenris was. The fading red sunlight caught her full in the face, and for a moment she was blinded. When she could finally see again, the sun had disappeared behind the hungry horizon and had left her alone. Her flinty eyes narrowed imperceptibly. Abandonment. She still loathed the concept, despite all her claims to the contrary. 'Shelter,' she thought, to keep her mind off of her emotions. 'There has to be somewhere nearby for me to sleep. I have to sleep sometime.' It was not a fact she was proud of, and once again she imagined how it would be to be a restless spirit, never sleeping, never eating. Going where she pleased, when she pleased, and doing as she pleased. The idea was attractive.

'Tryavna, a ghost, a legend. Is it possible, I wonder?' Trya shrugged, and began her mile eating pace once again, keeping the river at her side. The wood was quickly growing darker, especially now that she'd moved into thicker country. The darkness, however, did not frighten her in the least. As the greatest Putnar in the wood, Trya was gifted with the ability to see in the dark, as was every Varg. Her sight was especially good, and where her sight failed her, she relied on her nose and her ears; she listened to the woodland creatures. For a moment, they were calm and at peace. They scurried to their nests and dens and burrows to sleep. A few were beginning to wake, and they scampered from their holes and caves and roosts to sample the night life.

Then, all of a sudden, they told her - not in words, but in subtle sounds and smells - what she dreaded to hear: she was not the only Putnar here tonight.

[Lykos]

As Lykos came out of the woods he found the river. He walked over to the shallow part of the river and steped in, unlike most vargs Lykos wasn't afraid of the river. He didn't mind if the river pulled him he always thought it was fun. He wasn't trying to have fun this time though he was hunting, since he couldn't find anything good in the woods Lykos decided to eat fish which he didn't like that much but a meal is a meal he thought.

As he watched the salmon jump upstream and waited for the right moment, then thrashed his paw and caught a salmon. Just then Lykos noticed a varg walking towards him a fae. She blended into her surroundings. "Hello, who are you"

[Tryavna]

Her hard, flinty eyes scoured the darkness and her ears jerked up. The silver drappa could hear thrashing in the water: the telltale sounds of a fisher. It sounded like she had not yet been seen, so she slunk as far back into the shadows as far as she possibly could, and started trotting upriver along the bank, hoping to leave the stranger behind. Her plan was foiled, however, for she was instead headed straight at him. The splashing that had sounded as if it were just a few steps downstream was actually an echo, reverberating from the myriad of trees and gray boulders along the river bank, and it tricked her into believing that she could disappear if she ran away from it. 'But nothing is ever that easy; not for me,' she thought angrily when a masculine voice broke the silence just ahead.

Tryavna immediately spotted the dark shadow: the black wolf was quite difficult to see in half-light of evening, but she had strong eyes and an excellent nose, and she identified him quite clearly once she knew he was there. He looked like he was a very strong dragga: his shoulders were square and muscular, he had an impressive build, and a proud muzzle. His voice sounded friendly, but she had known enough Varg to consider everyone untrustworthy. She regarded him quietly for a moment, looking cold, and unfriendly.

After a moment of stony silence, the silver she-wolf drew herself up to her towering height, and, from her high place on the bank, looked down on the black Varg. "I should ask you the same, stranger," she said. "After all, you are trespassing in my territory." Tryavna smirked, and to an onlooker it would seem as though she was getting ready to chase the black wolf away, but, in truth, Tryavna smiled because it was a good lie.

[Lykos]

"Really"Lykos said a little interested. "I smelled for boundaries not to far from here and I didn't smell anything" as he was saying this he wondered if this fae was lying. She doesn't trust me Lykos thought, but he didn't care he wanted to join a pack and ride the ranks to dragga, this fae didn't look like she was in a pack but just in case he continued the conversation.
"My name is Lykos what is your name." asked once again.

[Tryavna]

"That's because," she crooned in a voice that subtly mocked him. "My territory does not start until that tree there," and she lifted her sharp, slender muzzle and pointed it at a gnarled tree, distinguished by the gaping hole in the side that faced the river. She lifted her tail authoritatively as she resumed staring at him. "I suggest that you ask for Larka's Blessing before you press on any farther, Stranger, or I will chase you away this very instant and be done with you," she snorted. Her breath smoked away in a heavy fog.

She was about to make good on her threat, when he suddenly spoke again. Her ears shot up as she listened to his introduction. 'Lykos?' she thought, but she didn't give a whisker. Instead, she continued staring at him, furiously and with all the confidence she could muster, until she finally broke the heavy silence with a snort. "My name is Tryavna," she said in a growling voice. "I'll ask you once more, Lykos, to ask for 'Blessing to eat my food and wander my territory before I chase you away into the night."

[Lykos]

Larka's blessing Lykos heard stories about Larka when he was a pup and his pack told him they asked for Larka's blessing for a short time but soon went back to Tratto's Blessing, but Lykos didn't think much of it. Lykos knew now that this fae was a kerl and of no use to him, but did not feel like fighting. "Here take this fish."said Lykos tossing the fish toward Tryavna. "But I will not give you Larka's Blessing, I shall give Tratto's blessing instead."said Lykos with a kind tone and with that Lykos quickly thrashed his paw and caught another fish. "Well then I guess this is goodbye Tryavna, maybe we'll meet again."he said as he walked away slowly wondering if she might stop him.

[Tryavna]

Tryavna grunted as the black Varg tossed up his fish. She was not accustomed to strangers giving their food away so quickly and so eagerly, especially a Kerl. But perhaps he truly believed she had a pack nearby, and did not want to risk fighting her over his kill. She slowly bent down and snatched the limp creature in her jaws, staring warily at him the entire time.

Shortly after he gave her the fish, he asked for her blessing of sorts. 'Tratto's Blessing?' She'd heard variations of the greeting. From her homeland, Larka's Blessing was the more commonly used way to ask for a pack's permission to enter their territory. But perhaps the reverse was true in this country. Still, Tryavna flicked her ears. She didn't wish to discuss such trivial matters, especially with some Kerl whom she hardly knew, or even cared to know. She shrugged to his offer of Tratto's Blessing, and dipped her head in acknowledgment.

Lykos immediately caught another fish soon after with a flick of his paw. Tryavna was suddenly struck with jealousy. The Kerl made it look so easy to catch one of those slippery beasts, especially now that it was growing late in the evening and the murky waters concealed the fish so well. However, she didn't feel particularly bad, because she was already gnawing on her own fish that he'd given her. It was still cool and wet, and she favored the oily taste of its skin and flesh. She ate it while she watched the black Putnar catch his second fish, and finished as soon as he came ashore with his own.

Her ears shot up as she heard him say goodbye. Their meeting had indeed been a strange and short lived one, but Trya had no intention of stopping Lykos if he intended to leave. She knew she would be unable to continue the ruse of a pack Varg for much longer, and it was high time for them to part ways. She had some real hunting to do, in the pack she had scented out just south of here: Deor. She licked her glittering jaws, and dipped her head as the black wolf turned to leave. "Perhaps we will, Lykos," she said to him. "Perhaps next time it is I who will be asking for Tratto's Blessing from you. Goodbye!" And without waiting to watch him disappear in the shady wood, Tryavna turned and swiftly disappeared into the bushes, leaving nothing but the bones of her meal behind her.

(FIN)