Pack Meeting #1

(Ugh, how could you do this to him AGAIN! lol xDD)

Inferno loped out of the den after Blitz toward Fallon and Khalessi. He really wasn't excited about the idea of a hunt at the moment, either, but that idea was instantly one hundred times more desirable the second after Blitz made his suggestion to Inferno. There was no way he could help the incredulous look that manifested his initial, instant dislike for the idea. After a second, he blinked away the look and furrowed his brow a bit, thinking through the pros and cons for a split second before agreeing with a nod. "Sure, I'll keep watch around here." She'd be asleep anyway, and he had to get over that awful feeling that had been nagging at him ever since they'd gotten here. The wolf smiled reassuringly and walked over to his den, which was within view of Molly's, and stretched out in front of the entrance in a great position to watch all entrances into the camp.

Fallon delightedly began practically bouncing in place, her eyes sparking with anticipation. It had been forever since she'd been in the position to take down big game! This would be great. She looked to Blitz and Khalessi almost impatiently as she waited for them to get going.

((Blitz/Fallon/Khalessi continued - with time lapse: https://incendio.rpg-board.net/t58p15-combinations#571 ))

( *pauses Blitz, Khalessi and Fallon* )

Molly slept soundly, relaxed and calm as she dreamed within the safety of her den, even as the hunters went on their way to hunt the large game that had come into their territory once more. They would be gone for a while, and she needed the rest anyways. She slept for some time, nearly an hour and a half before her stomach growled angrily, pulling her from her peaceful dream. She groaned, pinning her ears back and trying to fall asleep again, only to be roused by her stomach once more. With an annoyed snort, she quickly stood, not realizing that the lack of nutrition and food in her body would not cope well with sudden standing and laying. She exited the den, however, and soon discovered her mistake when she stumbled and fell over from dizziness. She laid there, stunned, for a moment as she blinked and her stomach growled in protest. But she forced herself onto her feet again, carefully walking towards the storage den and stumbling at least two more times before reaching it and collapsing inside.

Inferno had not wasted his hour and a half of just sticking around the dens. There had been a lot he'd been wanting to think about, and there hadn't been a moment for it since early this morning. The puzzle of the spirits was always gnawing at him, and the piece he'd received today just opened up more questions. Why did the spirits have to give the bare minimum of information? Between these thoughts and hundreds of others, the time passed quickly and in a rather relaxed manner.

It had been so quiet that it was almost startling to hear Molly moving about in her den. And then coming out. He got to his feet as he watched her for a second, frowning a bit at her condition. With a sigh, the male padded to the storage den after her and was met with the sight of Molly in a heap on the floor. Did he ever meet up with her any other way?

"Molly," he asked, walking in and looking down at her from a few feet off, "I think you'd be better off just yelling for help next time instead of trying to commit suicide over a piece of meat. Anyone would be happy to get you whatever you need, you know..." And she did know; he knew that. Why was she constantly so stubborn?

Molly flinched in surprise at Inferno's sudden voice. She mentally kicked herself for not being more alert. When he spoke, she sighed, looking down at her paws as she pulled them beneath her and sat up. Then she looked back up at him, her ears flat and respectful. "I know, I'm sorry Inferno." She said softly, her stomach growling and making her wince. She glanced up at Inferno as if to make sure it was ok that she took some food, and then walked carefully to the small pile, taking a large rabbit and laying down to eat it. She finished it rather quickly, licking her lips and swallowing the last bite with a slight smile. Her stomach was still rather empty, but at least it wasn't growling and throbbing painfully anymore.

He watched her through narrowed eyes as she got her food and ate. Once she was done, he went over to the pile and tossed her another rabbit. They had plenty (Fallon and Blitz had done well), and she still needed it.

"Molly," he said in the silence, sitting down away from her again, "if you were truly sorry, you'd quit trying to pull this stunt over and over again." Inferno wasn't up for letting her last statement go just yet. He'd been dealing with this all day, and it was only going to hurt Molly in the end if she didn't cut it out. "Will you just ask next time?" asked the wolf in a significantly softer, slightly fatigued voice. No one here thought twice about helping (well, he did, but only because she was constantly in this strange mood), but everyone would be devastated if Molly were to get even more sick.

Molly's ears perked up as he tossed her another rabbit, and she ate it silently, not even noticing him sit down and prepare to speak. But when he did, she looked up at him, her ears submissively flat again. She looked down as he spoke, nodding slowly. "I will." She said softly, trying to focus on anything but the male wolf's face and his scolding voice. She frowned, he made her feel like a pup being scolded. She silently picked at the clean bones of the rabbit, avoiding eye contact and not getting up to return to her den. He'd probably just yell at her if she did.

The wolf's ears flattened against his head and he looked out at the bright white blazing in from the opening of the den. Molly had used that tone before; he knew what it meant. It meant she was only saying what he wanted her to say. Well, he wanted her to mean it, too, and it was obvious from past experience and the way she was holding herself that she didn't.

"Better get back to your den so there's room in here when the others get back," he told her, standing up and waiting for her at the door. "I'll help you back..." But he'd definitely wait for her to come to him if she'd like the help. The male could foresee possible negative effects if he got close to her on his own accord. At the very least, she keep that 'scared out of her wits' demeanor going, which kind of off set him.

Molly didn't look up as he spoke, but she was sure that he didn't believe her. She sighed softly as he said she should get back to her den, and she carefully stood, walking slowly towards the entrance and hesitating beside him. Would he yell at her if she kept going without letting him help her? Probably. She was pretty sure that fell into the category of stubborn. She sighed, taking another step and nearly stumbling and leaning against his large form for support. Her ears flattened as she didn't force herself off of him, but leaned against him as she made her way to her den, focusing on getting there, rather than the soft fur that she was pressed up against.

Walking her back, Inferno knew she probably wasn't thrilled to be helped by him, of all wolves, but after having watched her make her way to the storage den in the first place, he knew that whether she liked it or not, he was actually making a difference in helping her body rest at least. Her mind was another matter. What made him so disagreeable with her? Ok, maybe he was a little pushy (Fallon would definitely have let Molly sleep whenever), but for her to be so, incredibly...whatever emotion she felt toward him. It was unclear whether she was angry, scared, or annoyed - though it was probably all three, he ended up deciding - but whatever it was mattered a lot.

They reached her den and went inside. Inferno let her slip gently to the floor of the den and then turned immediately and paced out. He returned thirty seconds later with yet another rabbit. "So you won't need to ask or get up next time," he explained gruffly, dropping the carcass near the side of her den without the fear of it going bad anytime soon. She would be hungry again soon enough.

Molly sighed as she slowly sank to the ground in her den, when she was finally settled, she looked up to see Inferno gone. But as she laid her head down gently, she was frightened by his gruff voice and a soft thud. She jumped slightly, lifting her head to look up at him. "Thank you." She said softly, her voice light and airy as her ears flattened slightly once more. She wasn't interested in it right now, but like him, she knew she'd want it later. She soon laid her head back down on her paws, sighing softly, utterly miserable at being stuck in her den all alone for so long.

The wolf just shrugged and walked out of her den, sitting down by the large rock in the middle of camp and restlessly twitching his tail as he glared at the storage den. This tension between him and Molly was exhausting, and unfortunately it kept driving him away from her, thus killing any chance of resolving it. Maybe when Molly was better and the pack was around, things would be better.
Inferno smiled at this though and laughed in his head at himself, finding himself wishing for Fallon to come back for about the eighth time that day. He could have been in love with her with all his longing, and this thought was cracking him up. Yup, he was sinking deep into a desperate boredom.

Molly yawned, but she found that she wasn't tired. For once, she found that she had gotten more than enough sleep. She sighed, laying there drowning in bordom as she stared at the dead rabbit nearby. Was this the only company she got? She snorted at the thought. She wanted to get up and wander, oh how she wanted to walk around! But she knew that would annoy Inferno, so she forced herself to stay put. Finally she decided that eating would entertain her, and she started to pick at the rabbit, finishing it much to quickly for her liking. Then she was bored again, and she began to play with the bones, accidentally flinging one out of the den entrance. She was about to get up and retrieve it, but she was worried that she'd get in trouble for going outside, so she didn't move, but instead rolled onto her back, swatting aimlessly at the empty air above her.

What in the world was Molly doing in there? The wolf walked over to the rabbit bone, sniffed at it, and finally grabbed it and made his way over to Molly's den. After dropping the bone at his feet and standing outside, lowering his head to peer in at the white wolfess, the wolf asked, "Did you want this back, or was your aim that bad in going for my head?" He was hoping she actually didn't want it, since while he wasn't hungry, chewing the bone to bits would help alleviate his boredom a bit.

Molly looked over at him as he arrived, still laying on her back so that she had to turn her head to look up at him. She couldn't help but smile at his comment about hitting him, and her tail even wagged a bit. "Is my aim really that bad?" She said, the joking tone obvious in her voice. "You can keep it, it seems like I'm not the only one that needs a bit of entertainment. But at least your not stuck in a dark, tiny den." She said, swatting at the air above her head as she looked up at the ceiling again. She was bored out of her mind, and she had been surprised that Inferno was as well. But then again, she was pretty sure that she was being babysat, most likely at Blitz's request. She sighed, she hated being treated like a helpless pup.

"Yes," he told her, unable to help playing along, "but it seems like you've got a lot to practice with," he nodded to her stack of rabbit bones, "and tons of time on your paws, so I think I'll be watching my back from now on." Inferno smiled a little, looking at the bone by his feet, and lay down. With the bone between his paws, he started gnawing it, sighing in disappointment as it began to crumble into pulp as he chewed.
The wolf paused and looked across at Molly for a second, trying to resist his urge to lecture, or at least that's what Molly would call what he had to say. 'But really,' he thought, going back to the bone, 'if she'd just suck it up and let herself get better, this would all be over so much sooner...'

Either way, they were stuck here, bored to death. Raising his head and cocking his head questioningly, Inferno asked, "What do you know about Khalessi?"

Molly could tell, even without looking at him, that he wanted to lecture her again. Her ears pinned back at the thought, and she sighed, doing her best to ignore that itching annoyance that creeped up her spine. When he spoke, she tilted her head towards him, still laying lazily on her back. "Absolutely nothing. Well, other than she's the head hunter and just got back from trying to find prey outside of Silverlight." She said, yawning in bordom and looking back up at the ceiling. Finally she rolled onto her stomach, pulling her legs beneath her and turning slightly to scratch her neck. "You know, I don't need a baby sitter." She said softly, instantly regretting the words as they fell out of her mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it like that. I'm just frustrated that I have to stay here. It's so boring and lonely." She said, frowning as she looked down at the dull pile of rabbit bones in front of her. She couldn't wait until the 'grown-up wolves' let her go outside again. She sighed at the thought. That's what it felt like, they were the grown-ups and she was a child that got in trouble and was put in a time-out.

Ugh, that was not helpful. But there wasn't time to dwell on that let-down, because in the next instant Molly stunned the daylights out of Inferno. He didn't care what she had to say about getting 'baby-sat', because he was obeying Blitz and whatever she had to say technically didn't matter in light of that. But the next part was still ringing in Inferno's ears. "Molly," he told her, shaking his head a bit and stretching out, as if that would open his mind up to processing hers better, "I think this is the first time you've ever admitted to me, in words, that you have emotions." Was she getting a fever, or something? Again, he could say so much to her right now that he thought was important, but it was unavoidable that she would just get angry, or whatever it was, and shut down again. So his mouth stayed closed and he just kept looking at her with a dipped head and perked ears, having no shame in his obvious concern.

Molly's ears pinned back at his words, obviously insulted. "I have emotions. It's not my fault you've been a jerk." She said, fighting to hold back the growl in her voice. His words had hurt her, which was obvious on her face, and her instinct had told her to lash out, which was exactly what she had done. She grew silent, then, her ear pinned back and her tail curled around her small form as she did her best to calm down and tell herself that what he thought of her didn't matter. But that was the worst thing, it did matter to her. She frowned, trying to figure out her logic behind this matter, but coming out empty handed.

After all she had put him through, Inferno couldn't exactly feel bad that what he'd said had cut Molly so much. It was horrible, but he was almost feeling smug about it. Finally, she had caved! He quickly vowed to himself that he'd make this up to her later, but at the moment, all he felt was victory. Her reaction to his words (though unfortunately painful) was confirmation that she saw him as an actual being, not a raging, invisible force of nature that happened to drag her around everywhere. That's what it had felt like the entire time - she hardly ever looked at him! - and for the first time in most of the time he'd known her, she acknowledged him emotionally.

Still sinfully gleeful, though concealing it fairly well, the wolf shrugged and responded, "I really don't think 'jerk' qualifies what you've seen of me in any way." 'Except for right now, of course,' he amended to himself.

His smug words of what appeared to her to be pleasure at her reaction made her snarl. She didn't care if she was supposed to stay in her den, there was no way she was going to just roll over and stay stuck in here with him. "Get out of my den." She growled, her ears pinned back as she got to her feet and tensed, delusional as she actually thought she could force him out. She would have just left the den, but his large form was blocking it and she needed him to move before she could get out. The fur on her neck and shoulders rose, and she trembled with a sensation she had never experienced before, true anger and hatred. But alas, what she mistaked as anger and hatred was merely hurt and insult, and her mind and body were only defending her. But she had never acted like this before this moment, and just the feeling confused and scared her, but she was much to upset to just let it go.

Inferno complied easily, though now he was almost breaking out into a grin. Lo! She grew a spine!
He grabbed the bone between is teeth and stood up readily, casually chomping on the rib as he looked at her one last time and walked away with his tail waving subtly. Unfortunately for Molly, her small size, skills, and sickness at the moment did very little to intimidate Inferno, but the fact that she had risen up like that made him happy. Perhaps she'd never do it again, and perhaps she'd hate him for the rest of her life as well, but at least once he got to see her in action. It was kind of glorious, and could only have been better if the out-lash wasn't directed at/caused by him and if it he hadn't needed to hurt her to get that reaction.

The wolf shook himself and sat down by his den once more, flinging the bone into his den for later. Ok, maybe he was a jerk some days, but for the moment, it was worth it. He sat there for fifteen minutes before getting up and making his way back over to Molly's den. It wasn't like she was going to be any less angry at him, but at least she possibly was cooled down enough to let him talk for just a second.

Again standing outside the doorway, the male put his head down to look at her. "I'm sorry," he told her, limiting his apology to the one thing he was legitimately sorry for, "that I hurt your feelings. I promise you, very little I've done today was done to intentionally annoy you, scare you or make you mad."

Molly growled when he left, curling up and doing her best to force herself to sleep once more. That way she wouldn't have to think about how she was angry at him. Instead she just ended up laying there, furious and upset about the way he was treating her. Then he suddenly returned, muttering some pathetic apology that only gained a snarl from her. Her ears pinned back as she refused to look at him, willing herself not to even listen to his words. He'd have do better than just an apology to make her less mad at him. And she had no intention of making things easy for him.

Molly's snarl was Inferno's obvious cue to leave. With a shake of his head, Inferno brushed off her anger and resumed his post at the vantage point he had in front of his den. The wolf just sat and focused on the borders and his job once more, hardly concerned with Molly anymore. He'd tried, failed, and had his attempts at reconciliation snuffed by the little white wolf. Whatever was going on in her stormy, female head, Inferno didn't know or care. From now on, he was completely fine just doing his job. His only concern at this point was that he'd get kicked upside the head by a bull elk and that Molly would decide to exact vengeance at that moment and not help him. The wolf wasn't exactly sure if he could convince himself that she was that black-hearted, at least toward him now, but it was still kind of nagging at him.

Molly was grateful when he left, relaxing once more as he disappeared back out into the den area. She sighed softly, grooming herself mutely and slowly falling asleep. But a while later, their alpha's sudden, close howl made her jump, and she lifted her head, yawning softly. She knew the howl was meant for her, so she stood, stretching slightly and making her way out of the den. She didn't care if Inferno wanted her to stay there or not, and she walked right past him towards their alpha.

(want to move this to Laek's board if Roar is ok with it? We can always continue here if they separate in that board into the Molly-Inferno and Blitz-Laek thing again)

((Molly continued: https://incendio.rpg-board.net/t55-laek-s-last-trek#497 ))