Th Rhythm of a newcomer(open)

Quiet. The soft, melodious sounds of rain lightly falling was the only noise reverberating around here. Mossy covered trees and tendril coated bushes, long vines wrapped around them as if they were hair trying to hide a face away from the world. The sky was colored full white, clouds hiding the sun's gleam and view from others. Perhaps it felt it didn't need, didn't deign to show itself, or perhaps the rain and clouds wanted to make their time shine as much of a pun that was. Dead leaves lay littered, yet it was Spring. The warm showers was what this forest needed. Life grew and thrived off of rain. Without it nothing could live. Yet too much was destructive in the same way fire could be beneficial. What a strange concept to think of, but hot as fire, cool as ice was the motto of one dark lupine crossing through the forest as slow and methodically as possible. Why should she even bother to rush? What point was there in rushing? Slow and steady always ran the race as it were. That old allegorical story..she snorted and shook her head. Like the trickster coyote and the fierce wolf, she always took them with a grain of salt. They weren't always true. Some coyotes could be honest and naive while some wolves could be quite cowardly and timid. Her?

Noviark was..quiet. Mostly silent. She talked when she was spoken to but she let her actions speak louder than her words, for the most part. She came across as icy cold yet there lit a fire within her that burned hot, and came to the surface when it needed to. The predator within was that fire and she felt it hunting and running and simmering. Her brother was gone, thousands of miles away, literally a star in the gleam in the sky by now. He was probably in a pack and knowing how strong he was he had to have been top wolf. Black, stippled body stopped and grey eyes flicked out as Novi frowned, thinking of that word. Pack. She was so hesitant to leave a life that had comforted her, that had made her have a reason to be selfish, but that was it. She was growing older and the older she got the more she would be less independent and the more she would need help. As much as the she wolf hated to admit it, she would have to think of the future, and a pack would offer more protection, would offer more help, but at the same time she hesitated, unsure of herself. Well she had to make up her mind. She was four. She wasn't getting any younger and less spry. Her mother would be patient with it, she was sure. Noviark knew how packs worked and knew she should not remain an utter loner for that long. It was here, in the Eastern Forest that she paused with the rain finally letting up and sat down, her jaw set as she thought of what to do..of her perpetual immortality and how much she had to perfect herself, how much she had to keep doing that. Life was moving in a fast motion and as the black she wolf sat there, she then now realized she had to move with it, and change. That her slow and steady race may not work for too long. And if it meant changing her ways, she may well have to.

Rain. What a nightmare. With an irritated growl, the wolf flung his shoulders up and shook his head, trying to dispel the water from his drenched coat..not that it was any use; even under the shelter of the forest canopy, huge droplets of water plopped mercilessly back onto his back, slicking the fur back down again. How he hated getting wet. His usually golden-copper coat was sopping, darkened to a deep red-brown, the medium fur clinging to his long, thin body as if the wolf had just jumped into a lake. But even the heavy precipitation wasn't going to stop Inferno from his daily run from the Northern Ridge border through the Eastern Forest. Usually, he kept far enough from the borders of the pack lands for his scent to be identified, but surely the scent of a male loner roaming around was added to the growing list of loners the pack was keeping watch for. Today, the rain had driven the male into the trees in an attempt to avoid getting soaked, not that it had worked well at all. But the water would hopefully help rinse away most of his scent. Him being discovered lurking around the pack lands would not be ideal; it wasn't ideal for any loner.

While pushing forward, scowling, through the rain, a new scent altered the male's path. Loner, definitely - as he knew the scent of every pack member - but this wasn't a loner he was familiar with, either. For the smell to be so strong, the wolfess must be near, and Inferno pricked up his ears as he stalked deeper into the trees to investigate. It wasn't long before the black wolfess came into view, sitting as if there was much on her mind. There probably was. If she was here, right on the border of Silverlight, this newcomer was most likely seeking acceptance. But how could Inferno just walk away without a quick greeting...

Stepping forward a few feet, though staying a non-threatening distance away, the tall male broke the silence, "There must have some important issues on your mind, if you couldn't wait for the rain to end before sitting down to contemplate them." Surely no wolf would willingly sit for so long in the rain without a dire situation forcing him or her to do so. The male flicked his gaze from the back of the female toward the pack lands. "You considering joining Silverlight?"

Her ebony mottled ears flicked a few droplets of rain off of her fur and Novi thought for an instant, a deep frown on her mind. Her brother? What would he do? Ugh she had to stop thinking of what he would do and concentrate on what she was going to do. The time was now and she couldn't compare herself to him any longer. He was a year older but she and he were as different as night and day, and Noviark had to keep reminding herself of that. He was this gentle male, this tall imposing yet pacifist while she was a sinewy black huntress..the queen of her domain when she was hunting. No one mattered when she was after a hearty rabbit or a fawn or young buck, and does when she could get them. Huh, the does weren't around much and that disappointed her. Any wolf knew that plump doe meat was the sweetest tasting around. Her teeth ached to tear apart and eat with relish, a puce tongue running across silvery-white mottled lips showed this as she froze and took a sniff of the air. Everything was new to her and though she was here for a short time, she still felt a kind of..connection to it. Something that bade her and welcomed her in. And she accepted it fervently. That feeling of getting stronger and striving to be the best wolf was growing stronger. Not necessarily an Alpha or Beta, though when she hunted she felt like one, strong and powerful...

Noise broke her of her thoughts and the dark female raised her head, bushy tail flicking out once before she turned her head to the direction of the voice. A coppery colored wolf, hued golden but looking dark on account of the rain, she thought to herself. Normally she wasn't the most sociable or even the most talkative, a trait that had earned her the moniker of Ice cold. She wasn't at all aggressive though or rude. It did her good to socialize more although it was still awkward with her. Being raised along tended to do that to her and Novi realized that it was one of many weaknesses to get better as if she was to possibly join a pack.

"I have a lot on my mind. Yes. And the rain soothes me. It does not bother nor is it a detriment." She spoke and looked over, then nodded, thoughts still running rampant as he spoke the next words. At this her calm demeanor broke somewhat into a more hesitant one, but the adult female wolf nodded and regained it quickly, wanting control back. "I have been thinking of it, yet I am not sure if I want to do away the perks of being a loner. Selfishness and doing things for one's own well being don't constitute a good pack member, you see. My name is Noviark." She spoke, giving a conciliatory nod over towards the male wolf.

At the female's outlandishly regal response, Inferno's ears twitched forward and one side of his mouth pulled up in a genuinely amused smile at the wolfess's strangely eloquent and proverbial speech. She was like a princess Blitz. Strange, but not unnerving. Returning the nod to Noviak, the wolf responded, "It's nice to meet you, Noviark." Not one for idle chit-chat, Inferno didn't comment again on the rain. He sat down, casting a quick, habitually abhorring glance up at the dripping leaves before focusing his amber eyes back on Noviark. [b]"There are perks to being in a pack, though you surely know that, or you wouldn't be considering this. I would advise you to look elsewhere for a pack. Silverlight is quite unstable at the moment, and things will only get worse for them." With an appraising tilt of his head, the male looked over Noviark for a moment, putting together what he saw and what she'd divulged about herself in order to make a preemptive judgement call. "I'm not sure you'd mesh well with that environment at the moment. It wouldn't help either you or the pack; I speak from experience." Of course, Blitz would immediately accept this new female, give her a position, and in the end, pretty much leave her to wander aimlessly around Silverlight as the pack tried to pull itself together, unable to spare a moment to tend to a new member. This lady would be unhappy, sooner or later - especially if she was anticipating it even before understanding Silverlight's situation - and Silverlight would be even further from its goal. In the end, Noviark would chose whatever she wanted, but Inferno intended to give her at least one other option.