DotW: A Task Gone Awry

An RP between Notah and Jane with lilwyverngirl as Notah and JaneBadger as Jane.

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah found himself blinking awake to the smell of musty foliage and the heaviness of sitting rain. For a second, Notah didn't recognize where he was - there was no scent of ash or charcoal on his palette. But then the overpowering scents of other wolves hit his nose and he realized with a jolt where he had denned that night. At the den site!

His whole body stiffened and hackles rose with alarm, but as he shifted his pelt brushed another's; he practically felt his heart stop. Then he remembered; hunting with Jane and coming back to the den site only to fall asleep from exhaustion next to the she-wolf. Notah's fur began to lie flat again as the memory of yesterday returned.

As gently as he could he nudged the she-wolf. "Morning," he said. "How about that tour as a Sentinel?"

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pureoneskennel said the following:

She awoke instantly "good morning" she said looking up at him "very loud night last night, stayed up for hours!" When he asked her about the tour she was surprised "'course! its might be boring though, probably just patroling and making sure no one crossed the border.." Jane took a deep inhale "Wow! you might want to groom yourself, you smell like something died" She leapt up and waited for him to rise.

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

"All night?" It was a rhetorical question, but he was a little shocked. He must have slept like a rock through the sound of the storm.

Notah blinked and sniffed his coat. He did smell like charred forest - but he wrinkled his nose. He wasn't fond of the taste of ash. The ochre wolf padded off a little bit and gave himself a good shake, most of the ash flying off his fur before trying to quickly wash his paws and pelt. Some of the ash was caked into his pads. It would probably be prudent if he did dip his paws in the cold water, even if he hated the feeling of icy cold water on his pads.

He wrinkled his nose at his pelt. "Maybe roll in some snow later," he muttered under his breath. Notah would rather deal with melting snow that already icy cold water. At least the snow would melt and warm quicker than a thorough soaking. "Just some ash," he said aloud. "I'm ready." He gave her a slight wag of the tail with a little smile as if to say, I'm sure it won't be boring.

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pureoneskennel said the following:

"Well not ALL night" she giggled, and she too gave a mighty shake. "Come on" Jane stalked silent out of the den and her stomach rumbled with hunger, but she ignored it.

As she neared foala ridge she stopped to make sure he was following. " smell anything?"

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah couldn't help but crack a smile at her at the comment and giggle. He was starting to warm up to this she-wolf every heartbeat they spent alongside one another. The ochre wolf followed her along as they headed away from the den, keeping his ears swiveling and his mouth open trying to take in the scents.

As they came upon the Fola Ridge, Jane stopped and Notah listened to her query. He closed his eye and licked his nose to wet it as he drew scents over his palette. The one-eyed wolf had learned after many turns of the seasons compensating for his missing eye that he didn't always need his eye. "Heat and water from snow run-off... A passing mountain goat, stale."

Notah turned his head to the side as he opened his eyes. "Your scent, stale. And our fresh scents. I don't smell that a wolf has been through here recently other than you." He looked over at Jane curiously. "What are the things I should be scenting for?"

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pureoneskennel said the following:

Glancing back at him she replyed "We are just checking to smell or see if any loners or mountian lions and anything else that can harm the pack STAYS AWAY" Jane said, "I care about this pack....And this job is good for-for someone like me" She said lowering her voice.

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah nodded as he remembered his first encounter with a Vandyr... and remembered his subsequent interaction with Astir Faust thereafter. He was glad this wasn't his task and he was sure Astir Faust would agree.

But the last bit that Jane added made Notah tip his head to the side curiously. A wolf like her? "You're strong and cunning," Notah noted, not quite getting her reference. "Of course." Jane in his eyes would have been a great Huntsman too, but she was much more forward than he was which made her a great Sentinel too. He wondered what would happen if they came across a Vandyr or other dangerous creature.

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pureoneskennel said the following:

She seemed to shake off her sadness and continue her tireless pace "Mostly what I do is keep pack members in check and punish traitors, I keep dangers away from the pack and guard borders. if I find a traitor or border crosser I am supposed to banish them or fight them...But that is yet to happen."

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah's ears flattened reflexively at the thought of punishment and also to fighting loners. He would rather be forced to eat rocks or take punishment himself than choose to fight first. But he rather would keep that information to himself when it came to any other wolf in the pack. "That's good, no fighting yet," Notah mentioned instead, keeping his gaze on the ground, trying to look like he was searching for scents or tracks.

A stale, very, very stale scent of bear touched his muzzle and he started a little in confusion. Bear? But it's been a long time since it's been through here. Notah wasn't sure he should mention it. Maybe it had already been chased off by another wolf. It smelled like it had lumbered down into the ridge instead of into the territory anyway. But the scent made him think of something else. "What if you find a bear?" Notah asked. "Wouldn't you need the pack?"

Notah sure would, no matter how strong he thought he was, bears were many times more powerful than a lone wolf.

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pureoneskennel said the following:

"Yes, I am glad I have not had to fight... I HATE it but I would rather die than let my pack be hurt." She jumped a little at his question " Well yes i would need the pack, why do you ask?" she narrowed her gray eyed and stared at the one eyed wolf, Her stare was odd, her eyes had a haunted look to them as if she had seen things no wolf should ever see, and when she looked directly at you it seemed as if you could feel the pain she must have suffered.

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah's heaad bolted up when she jumped and noticed her expression and frowned. She's got something in her past like I do, he thought to himself. It reminded him of how he felt just after killing the cougar cubs, guilt and horror and pain all at once. He didn't know if he should pry or not and looked down to break eye contact again instead.

"A bear had been through here," he mumbled shyly, his nose pointing away from the territory. "It went there. But long ago it seems."

Notah picked his head up with a slight wag of his tail, hoping he could get Jane's mind off of whatever gave her that haunted look. "Let's find a rabbit or something. Neither of us ate much."

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pureoneskennel said the following:

"Okay" she said dropping her head and looking away, "sorry I acted weird...Thanks for letting me know, I dont want to lose anyone else"

"So where do you want to go? I know a rabbit den near the moors, some deer are sure to be in the woods, any other ideas?"

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah shrugged. "It's okay. We've all got our own monsters," Notah said as he remembered the mountain lion incident again. I killed those poor, defenseless kittens, because I killed their mother for food. He shuddered involuntarily and tried to hide it by shaking out his pelt at the same time. "Vale is strong - none of us will be lost with you watching us." He gave her a lopsided smile.

"I've never hunted the Moors," he said, pricking his ears. "Let's find some rabbits."

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pureoneskennel said the following:

"Thank you Notah, Yes lets get us some rabbits!" She Dashed off towards the moors thinking to herself 'Don't let your weakness show jane, you can hide it' Jane suddenly stopped in midrun, put her muzzle up and sniffed "I smell a rabbit! follow me!" sinking down into the damp earth she scanned the forest opening into the moor.

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Brushing away the last of the cobwebs in his memories, Notah followed suit, dashing after the reddish she-wolf. Sentinel work was so serious - not like hunting. The thrill of the chase still excited him after all these turns of the seasons.

When Jane stopped, he skidded to a stop; only to crouch down with an alert prick of his ears as she mentioned the scented rabbit. Notah parted his jaws to pick up the scents. He could smell the rabbit too and began swivelling his blind side ear, trying to pick up even the tiniest of sounds. He didn't see the rabbit yet as they stalked, but he assumed it was because rabbits blended well with the grasses of the Moors. In the forest, there really wasn't anywhere for rabbits to hide.

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pureoneskennel said the following:

She signaled for him to circle the patch she focused on, Jane had grown used to hunting on the moors and could sense things better here. Slowly and fluidly she stalked towards a thing only visable to her.

Looking up at notah she made sure he was moving to position.

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah nodded as she signaled to him to circle around a spot she'd been focused on. Notah didn't see anything still, but he could hear a faint rustling and figured the rabbit was there. Careful to make sure the wind was with him, Notah circled around the patch, waiting until he'd found the right spot that Jane wanted him in.

He was still learning how to hunt as a team, but he felt excited hunting with Jane. He was very focused on the hunt and on the tactics he was learning from the reddish she-wolf.

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pureoneskennel said the following:

When he was in his position she moved further towards the rabbit, closer, closer "Now!" she howled
singing the song of the hunt, and she lunged. It took a moment to realize that what she had come across was NOT a rabbit, sure they were both small and furry but this was different, "what is thi-!" she only managed to say a few words before a horrifying scent filled the air "Skunk!" she yelped in horror.
'What have I gotten myself into?' she wondered.
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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah charged forward a second later but skidded to a halt at Jane's alarmed call. What the-? he thought until he saw the black striped tail rise and the angry hiss that came from the skunks. Their eyes darted from Notah to Jane and back again, spinning from side to side, confused and frightened by the two wolves.

If there was anything Notah remembered, it was that skunk spray was awful and it clung to your pelt and skin for many, many days if you were unlucky enough to be sprayed. He carefully inched away from the skunks, hoping they wouldn't spray him, but one of the skunks caught sight of his movement and immediately lunged in his direction tail high and its back end facing him.

Notah couldn't help a yip of fright as he turned tail just as the skunk sprayed him. The horrible stuff hit his hindquarters and he ran to a safe distace, yelling to Jane as he ran "Get away while you can! They can only spray once!" The other hadn't sprayed yet, but Notah hoped they wouldn't both have to go to the den site smelling foul. There'd be no point hunting now. Everything would smell them coming for miles.

Notah would be smelling for days. He inwardly groaned at his foul luck. So much for a good hunt.

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pureoneskennel said the following:

"GAH!!!" Jane yelled as the smell filled her noes, and she ran as fast as her legs could carry her, but as she thought about what had just happened she burst out laughing "Did you see me!? I looked so dumb, and you were just like 'what the-' I have not had that much fun in years!" she rolled over and chuckled " But this is not gonna be fun to wash out.."

She wondered if he dealed well with jokes, she did not want to offend him. "sorry for that, I am just bad luck to hunt with, last time I ended up with my head stuck in a badger den"

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah whined, circling in place for a moment as he tried vainly to escape the smell that was stuck on his hind end. "I won't be able to sleep in my den..." he whined making a pouty face. He would have to find some wild garlic or something to roll in since water did nothing to get the stuff off.

He pricked his ears as Jane fell to the ground laughing. His ears reflexively fell back, but he was reminded of better times when he was still a pup and suddenly he yearned to be a pup again. Notah padded up to her and looked down at Jane. "At least you didn't get sprayed," he said.

"That's okay," he started as she apologized and then rubbed his sprayed side against her side before she could flinch away. "You can join me in my misery! Ha!" Notah leapt away and hared for the river. "Can't get me!"

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pureoneskennel said the following:

"You little!-" she play growled and chased him to the water "you'll pay for that!" and she sprayed water all over him as she hit the liquid "how do you like that?!" she laughed and crashed into him rubbing water into his fur.

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah made a face at Jane while she splashed in rubbing water into his fur, then wrinkled his nose. He forgot water made the smell worse. His playfulness faded. "Let's find some wild onion to roll in," he said leaping out and snuffling around near the water's edge. He remembered finding some near here earlier. "It'll help mask the scent for now and remove it a tiny bit." It was a while since his last encounter with a skunk, but this time he'd make sure he didn't make things worse.

"All that will help now is time; just don't use your den if you don't want it to smell too." Notah wrinkled his nose. He could smell that stark onion smell and padded away a little from the river, shaking out his fur. He noticed the long stalks and red bulblets that indicated the plant, pricking his ears as he stood over in and started rolling, his hindquarters over the plant.

The powerful scent of onion that came from crushing the plant made his eyes water and his nose burn, but it was better than smelling like skunk the whole time. He stood up when he could only smell the onion smell. "Don't eat it," he warned. "Elk or deer that eat it die, so don't clean yourself with your tongue where you roll in it."

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pureoneskennel said the following:

She gave a worried look "I won't eat it..I'm Not a deer. And thank you, I will make sure not to groom myself now" Jane rolled in the garlic the smell made her nose hurt.

"I'm surprised animals are dumb enough to eat this, it stinks" wrinkling her face in a look of disgust.

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

"You can still give yourself a dust bath," he said with a lopsided grin. "Skunk smell is hard to get out and water doesn't seem to do much but intensify the smell." Notah hesitated. "This isn't the first time for me."

Notah noticed Jane wrinkle her nose at the plant. "Too hungry to care? Usually it is desperate animals that do. Like a starving loner going for long dead carcasses I guess. You know you're going to feel sick afterward but you do it anyway."

Suddenly Notah had an idea. "The onion smell might not alert prey to us if you want to try again? Then we can go back to the border." He wagged his tail slightly with a small grin. He was starting to really like spending time with Jane.

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pureoneskennel said the following:

"good idea, they might just think we are their food!" she said sarcastically. " you lead, this day has been really very exciting, most fun i have had in a LOOONNNGGGG time!" Jane was really enjoying the day, notah was fun to hang out with.

"So Notah, how did you find your way to vale? and where did you come from?" She had been asking most wolves, if she got along with them at least where they had come from and how they got to vale.

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

"Same here," he replied. He felt young again.

But at Jane's next question, he froze with a paw in the air. Notah hadn't expected the question and wasn't sure how to answer or even how much to tell. He hesitated a moment before answering. "Just a loner tired of being alone," he decided to say. "Nothing special."

He frowned. He did everything he could to convince Astir Faust to let him join after dragging a large stag to the border to prove his worth. He still had bruises from that stag. And as much as he yearned to feel useful and a part of the pack he was still nervy around others. And he was never comfortable sharing his past except with that you juvenile that reminded him of Casaiah.

"How about you?" He asked pricking his ears as he tried to brush his past away from his expression. He wasn't sure he was succeeding though.

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pureoneskennel said the following:

'He is keeping something, mabey he has had a bad past like me' looking at the sky still gloomy from the storm she said "Well, um....My father raised me and my sister" she modified her story from the hell hole it really was "And a few months ago I left with her and took care of her by myself and found this pack."

'That's pretty close to the truth' she thought to herself.

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah's face fell she Jane mentioned her sister. He figured she had died just like his. "M-my mother drove me away," he said as she mentioned her family unit. "Never met my father."

Feeling nervous but at the same to curious he asked his question. "Did your sister pass away before you came here?" He didn't remember seeing another wolf like Jane around. Not sure if she was nervous to share her story he offered a little bit of his. "My sisters died long ago."

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pureoneskennel said the following:

"I dont know where she is or if she is dead, I could not care for her....I-I had to leave her behind..." Jane choked out the words, she could not bear to think about her sister it was pain to her heart. "I am so sorry about your sisters.." she looked at him with understanding and kindness "that must have been hard, my mother was killed. I saw the whole thing."

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah frowned and brushed his fur against Jane's in an attempt to comfort. "I'm sure she's fine wherever she is." Even if not on this earth, he thought but left that unsaid.

Notah swallowed hard as he fought a keen of mourning. He could still see the ravanged bodies of his sisters sometimes when he closed his eye. At least he hadn't been there to see it happen. Though not bearing witness also gave him the heavy weight of guilt too. "I'm sorry you went through that," he said softly with a strained choke.

Being brought up without a pack seemed to bring so much sorrow into a wolf's life. Maybe things would have been different I they'd both been born to a pack instead.

The sorrow hung heavy in the air and Notah found himself wanting to relieve it. "We can scrap the hunting," he said with a twitch of his ears and a forced smile. "I have a small stash of carcasses near Brisbane Woods. That is, if you aren't scared of ghosts."

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pureoneskennel said the following:

"Sometimes I wonder if the gods force us to have horrible lives, Notah do you believe in the gods?" she followed notah "Me afraid of ghosts? never!" It was getting dark again and a light snow flurry was falling.
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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah cocked his head to the side at her question. "I don't know of the gods. I believe in life after death though. That all that is given is all that is taken. A circle of life and death I guess." he shrugged. "I know some wolves believe in them, I just haven't decided if I believe in any, if at all yet."

He took his gaze to the sky as they made their way off the Moors and skirted through the Glasmuir Forest. A light snow was beginning to fall. "Maybe next time, you can share your beliefs with me. The light is starting to fade and snow is falling."

The snow couldn't hide the burnt smell that the Brisbane Woods still held. It was eerily silent, but Notah relished it. He started to pad into the ash and snow, snuffling for his hidden kills. "I keep them just in case I have a bad day," he said as he found his hiding space at the roots of a particularly large burnt tree. Only a jagged stump remained. He pulled out two half frozen rabbits, sniffing them to be sure they hadn't turned yet. "They're still good. Caught these yesterday before I went after that elk."

After he set the rabbits down, he dragged a young deer out of the pile too. This one was closer to being frozen than the other two. He sniffed this carcass as well. "Better bring this to the den site. Can't let the rest of the Brood go hungry. I'll be back." He dragged the deer out of the Woods, not paying attention if Jane followed him back or not, carefully making sure he dragged both sides through snow before dropping it at the den site. That way no ash or burnt smell remained. He hoped nobody would question why he came back with a stashed carcass - and he relied on the fact that he clearly stank of onion and skunk that no one would want to ask why.

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pureoneskennel said the following:

This time Jane did not follow him, she sat down in the snow and waited. The snow fell on her fur and the clouds over head darkened, She ate a few bites of the rabbit then paced back and forth, she was restless. Something caught her attention, A small being moved around in the snow. She stiffened and saw it was a fox, turning back to her rabbit she pondered what to do next.

'its probably time to leave' she thought to herself, pin pointing the direction of the river she had to cross she followed the path that Notah had taken, but cut away from the path to go back to her den. She howled a farewell wondering if he could hear it and left.

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lilwyverngirl said the following:

Notah was padding back when his ears turned at the sound of a howl. His heart plummeted. Jane! He must have taken too long - the deer was heavier than he expected.

Slowing his pace, he came back to the outskirts of Brisbane Woods and found her half eaten rabbit and his own next to her. Sighing, he re-buried her rabbit and picked his rabbit up before padding off into Glasmuir Forest, looking for a niche or hollow to sleep in until he stopped smelling bad. He found a decent sized hollow tree, with a deep hollow just big enough for him if he tried to fold himself up nicely.

Notah wedged himself into the hollow and chewed on his rabbit, though it tasted of ice and ash to him. Maybe I'll see her again, he thought to himself. Next time things will go better.