Canis latrans Come

[RandomWiktor]

The story so far:
A pack of coyotes consisting of a mated pair (Decorum and Tet), along with Decorum's sister (Laetitia), and their pups arrive at Gallop Free after a long and difficult trip from their home range. Pack relations are strained due to the dubious paternal relation between Tet and his mate's offspring. The pups are tired from the journey and stressed from their parents' contrived and contentious relationship, only making the voyage more difficult. Presently the pack is trying to decide on where to settle. Origional Post

Last four posts:
:Zarathustra crouched closer to Laetitia, disturbed by the going-ons around him: Lyroh vomiting, Alitai worrying over her gagging sib, Wilkon curling up on the opposite bank, Meyla with a look of distaste plastered across her black face. When Tet growled at the reticent Wilkon, Zarathustra became all the more distressed, burying his fluffy face into his aunt's shoulder. He didn't much care what Laetitia's reaction was, nor that hiding away from the situation wasn't going to make it any better- all he wanted was a moment of escape, to forget about the trauma and pretend he didn't hear the rest of the pack go about its disjointed business.
:Of course, it wasn't particularly comfortable, standing there with his face smashed into the muscular side of his aunt, fur tickling at his nose and eyelids, tail tucked and ears drooping.:
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:Actually, it was considerably more uncomfortable for Laetitia, who glanced down at the pup with a mixture of pity and disgust. Sure, she felt bad for the whelp, but that didn't give him the right to jam his face into her side like she was some sort of pillow to cry into. This face-smooshing business was all around completely inappropriate and totally uncalled for. So, she cleared her throat gruffly. As this had no effect, she stood her fur up on end and shook. As the pup didn't react, she sidestepped, the action itself awkward.
:That the pup gave her a confusion- and anguish-filled glance after she stepped away definitely did not make her feel any better about this whole situation. In fact, she quite thought it was time to beat a hasty retreat and come back later, perhaps when some of the puppies were settled down to sleep and the parents were no longer in a position in which they had to actively interact. Laetitia always found moping entertaining, but this active turmoil was not her cup of tea.
"Hey, Decorum. Want me to go do some scouting? I'll find a good source of water, mebbe a den site, see if there are any wolves about. M'kay?" Perfect plan of escape.
:Her sister started, having been watching Tet interact with Wilkon with a bleak, unhappy expression. She cocked her head, eyes narrowed. "No," she finally said, ignoring her sister's annoyed glare. "We'll find a clean stream together, and then you can go wander as you like. I want you to be able to find us easily."
:Evidently, she felt like ignoring the fact that Laetitia could just smell them out of wherever they finally holed up. Although tempted to leave without the acting dominant’s permission, the burly female simply sat on her haunches and cleaned her expression of all annoyance. Who was she, after all, to not listen to the other's direct orders? She would simply have to ride out this period of uninteresting interaction and get her sister back later- nothing dangerous, of course, just something that would leave the other coyote feeling flustered and embarrassed.:
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:Decorum scowled at Laetitia until the other female sat. She was surprised that her sister hadn't simply left; a good (if unexpected) turn of events, because Zarathustra obviously needed comfort, sidling back up to his aunt and tucking his head into her shoulder. Decorum ignored her sister's rolled eyes and annoyed grimace. Instead, she waded the rest of the way across the creek, trusting that Tet would get Wilkon the rest of the way across the water.
:It occurred to her that perhaps she should be the one to drag the dark puppy across, but rejected the idea as silly- whether or not they had issues, Tet was still the pups' caregiver, and thus was just as eligible for dispensing discipline as her. Casting a warning glare at Laetitia, who appeared about to move again, she scanned the crowd of coyotes, making sure that none of them were dying. Finding this not to be the case, she padded a few feet deeper into the lush grasslands, staring once more at the tree line.
:Energy, always hard to come by, did not seem inclined to flood to her form and allow her to search out a proper source of water, much less den site. In fact, she would like to simply lay down and sleep, perhaps to wake and find this whole thing to be a dream. Eyes glazing, she could almost imagine the comfortable musky scent of the den, and the feeling of warmth from the coyote who shared it with her- and of course that other coyote would be Tet, not some stranger, or (gods forbid) the sire of the pups.
:Of course.
:Decorum sniffed the air, squinting up at the clouds and frowning at the hint of moisture in the air- hopefully, it wouldn't add to their discomfort by dropping rain on them. Either way, she could smell and hear another stream quite close. Quite possibly it was the daughter or mother* of the one they just crossed, and thus just as choked with debris, but she hoped it was a sister, one that flowed separately into the waterway, or completely unrelated. The female glanced over her shoulder, face impassive as she waited for Tet to urge Wilkon across that they might get moving once more.:

* Genealogy of Rivers; Monday at 9:45; Prof. Decorum Coyote.

[RandomWiktor]

The pretty pale fur of an approaching sister, Alitai, caught Lyroh's peripheral attention, and he glanced over. Sometimes her optimism was infectious, catching up his own sensitive spirit and encouraging it...or at least helping it close its eyes to the dark and the real that surrounded him.
Other times however, it was just one more garish thing to laugh at him. One more happy thing that wasn't real.
...This was one of those less-than-helpful times.

Sighing, he turned low-cast eyes away from his family, fair Alitai included, and wandered some feet away. Delicate ears swiveled discontentedly for a moment, automatically cautious of the new terrain, but it quickly became clear that there was too little smell and sound on this side of the stream as well. It wasn't as much of a wasteland as what they had just left behind them, but it wasn't much better either. Everything still reeked of smoke and old dry heat.
Though he meandered away, Lyroh's dark fur stood out in stark contrast with the bland plant life, making him unnaturally easy to keep an eye on, even from the distance the rest of them were at.

Trying to take his mind off of his family, at least for the moment, Lyroh flopped down in the grass and scooted his muzzle along the ground, his rolling body following after. Slowly the wetness and the ash from the creek was rubbed off onto the brittle grasses, his distractedly thrashing limbs pawing at the air.

[RandomWiktor]

~A frown graced Alitai's maw when her concern had no affect on her brother. She was relieved that he was all right, of course, but she had hoped that perhaps he would lighten up a bit. After all, most of the family seemed concerned with only their interests, even as they played the act of the perfect, caring family members. Alitai, sensing this, immediately assumed that perhaps her siblings were upset just because no one seemed to care. She hoped that by caring, Lyroh may magically get better.

He didn't. Instead, he turned his back on her and left her behind. A strained, quiet whine escaped the white female's mouth. She didn't understand at first, thinking that Lyroh just wanted a bit of company and reassurance. Then, watching Lyroh roll in the dry grasses, it finally clicked. He, like everyone else in their family, thought only about his own problems and concerns. And his concerns outweighed her care for him.

The female stood still for a moment, trying not to admit that she lived in a family that lived only for themselves, and seemed to feign living for reach other. She tried desperately to find something positive to think about. Then, heaving a sigh, the female sat down, ears low and clearly dejected, and cast a sad glance at her family. She felt distinctly alone and separate from them, the only one in the world to care. Even her optimism couldn't keep up with the misery.~

~Wilkon, meanwhile, was finding his resolution to stay away from his family was useless. He was able to ignore everyone quite well, even Tet's low growl... But it was really hard to ignore someone who was standing over you. It was also a big surprise, as Wilkon had been so busy ignoring everything that he hadn't noticed Tet's approach. He thought his father would just growl at a distance, and not approach.

When the male growled, low as it was, Wilkon let out a started yip and bounced to his feet. Ears flat, he turned to growl at Tet, then stopped short when he noticed who it was. At first, he considered growling anyway and curling back up into a ball; after all, his father was part of the problem. Then he realized that everyone was on the other side of the river. They looked ready to leave, and suddenly Wilkon became nervous. What if they left without him?

No matter how much his family frustrated him, Wilkon couldn't be without them. It was too frightening of a concept. Thus, with a low whine and ears back, the black puppy finally crossed the filthy river. Once he was on the other side and with his family, however, his bad attitude returned, and he wrinkled his nose bitterly both at the filth covering him, and at the family that he had so desperately wanted to be reunited with. Even Alitai was acting depressed, and to him, that was the ultimate sign that everything was going wrong.~

[RandomWiktor]

___Meyla waited patiently for everyone to cross and the drama to die down. Sitting with her tail wrapped around her haunches, staring blankly at the black water bubbling by, she felt oddly detached from the situation at hand. The swirling ash obscuring the clean waters below felt like the symbolic antithesis to the situation at hand; while the layer of external grime may have been hiding the water, in the case of her pack, a strained veneer of a happy family was barely covering an ocean of ugliness.
___Smirking slightly at this thought, she gave the barest nod of her head, then turned to watch Tet content with Wilkon. As she watched, one ear swivelled in the direction of her mother and Laetitia. It sounded as though the latter was allready getting antsy about the tension in the pack - typical. She personally was glad that Decorum turned down the female's offer; sure, she could find them by smell, but this place was thick with wolves; even her young sense of smell could detect this. If Laetitia wandered too far from the group and had a run-in with a wolf, it was doubtful that she would survive it.
___A sudden yelp roused her from her musings, and when she saw Wilkon turning as if to fight back against his father's discipline, the female's ears shot back. She wondered how Tet would react if his son dared to challenge him, and what's more, how Decorum would deal with that reaction. She noticed that sometimes her mother behaved strangely when Tet interacted with her and her siblings. It was strange, just like it was strange that she and her sibling had dark pelts...

___Tet watched sternly as Wilkon moved slowly across the river. He looked positively miserable all the while, everything that could droop hanging low and face pulled into a mask of misery. The male had trouble not resenting the pup, who wasn't making the allready tense situation any better by committing himself to depression. If they had really been his, they'd have inherited a more upbeat temperament, of course. Shaking his head at the thought and heaving a sigh, the lupe meandered towards the creek, making haste across it this time. No need to wait about to collect more muck, after all.
___ Padding back over to Decorum, Tet wagged his tail more out of habit than genuine pleasure to see her, licking her shoulder and taking a broad look around. He tended to leave her in charge when it came to the pups, a stinging but unintentional reminder that they were hers. He suspected from her conversation with her sister that she allready had plans in mind, so as usual, he would let her lead the way.
___"Plenty of open forest here to find a den; any scent or sight catching your fancy?"

[Pyrrhus and Coyotes]

– “No,” Decorum snapped, then reined in her temper -- shouldn’t have let her thoughts and her sister get to her. “I mean -- there are very many wolves here. And it’s not the best area… Maybe we should just rest for a bit, then keep moving.” She nudged her mate’s shoulder by ways of apology, offered a weak smile. She knew they were all tired -- but they’d be fools to settle in such an unwelcoming area, with winter coming on and so many pups to feed.
– Laetitia stood, unimpressed with this little farce of affection.

– Among the undergrowth and half-bare branches of the forest lurked Pyrrhus, low to the ground, his light coat blending well with the late autumn foliage, and with his scent disguised by the overpowering miasma of others wolves. He’d ventured too close to a pack’s territory -- he could smell their marks all around him -- but driven by his hollowed belly, he dared venture wherever he thought prey might be. He’d not yet reached the point where the body knelt to inevitability and consumed its own muscles; thus, he needed energy, far more than he needed to worry about treading on others’ toes. Needed energy… as could be provided by any flesh, even that of such a close cousin as a coyote -- or an innocent pup.
– His gut gave a lurch at the command of morality, then growled for starvation -- and Pyrrhus, young and idealistic though he was, bowed to the latter. With a mind for the hunt, he looked at the pack: considered the three adults: delicate female, robust female, male. Five pups -- too many for the adults to protect easily, by his estimation, and spread wide of each other. All of them covered in muck from the river, too; the wolf curled his lip in disgust at the thought of closing his mouth around long ashy fur. Nothing to do about it. Back to the plan of attack -- no way to know where they had their den. But one pup in particular caught his attention, dark-furred beneath the grime; it had wandered some way from the pack, and seemed distracted with cleaning itself on the grass.
– Pyrrhus took a deep breath, hunt-excitement humming in his bones, guilt a well-suppressed impulse confined to the oft-ignored forebrain. Gnawing hunger beneath his ribs and the chill on the air provided a constant reminder as to why he could not fail. Another deep breath; then he crouched low and slid from the trees, his gait quick and rolling; he could not allow the opportunity of the strayed pup to slip by. In the autumn-burnt grass, his coat did not do him as much good -- too pale on the sides, too red on the back. Had to move faster -- all the pups had attention on the adults or on their own selves, and the adults were not looking his way, not right now. His luck could not hold forever.
– He broke a twig under his paw, froze, lunged forward once more when the noise elicited no reaction -- probably couldn’t hear him over the stream. Still too far away to break into an upright run, his joints aching with the low posture, breath turned to pants with excitement and exertion and the phantom taste of blood on his tongue.
– So close -- almost out of the taller grass, to the point where he’d have to sprint, and then it’d be his fangs in the coyote’s belly and then the coyote in his belly, if he had his way. Then the sturdy female stood, stretched, drawled something at her companions -- “Since that’s all settled, can we find somewhere to sleep? I’m tired.”; unwelcome reminder that these were canines -- and she, disastrous, turned. Saw him. Pyrrhus thought their eyes met, both of them gone agog with horror, two sides of the same conflict experiencing, briefly, the same emotion. Then she shrieked, a bark like he’d never heard from a wolf, and lunged forward. She aimed for the same pup as he did, Pyrrhus thought, another step in their macabre parallel dance.
– She shoved the pup with her nose, got him by the nape and sprung away, her eyes on his and full of fear and hatred. Eye contact broke. Pyrrhus ground to a halt, paced toward the pack with his head down and eyes intent -- not giving them the courtesy of raised hackles and a growl, because they were prey. The other female, pale, delicate, and with an orange pup huddled in her shadow, did not hold any such compunction -- he thought he could see every tooth in her mouth. The robust female dropped her burden and wheeled on him, intent and -- perhaps a danger. She was competent.

[Lyroh]

Lyroh didn't have to worry about taking his mind off of his family for very long, as a soul-piercing cry raked through him. His blood thoroughly chilled, panic coursing through him in a tidal wave, he frantically twisted himself around to try and struggle to his feet. Anything, to get him out of the most vulnerable position he could have possibly been in.

She was there, however, in that same moment, shoving him over with her snout. And then, before he could find his voice, his thoughts, or anything else, he was torn away from the ground. He was held aloft, and was run frantically back to the rest of the family, and dropped.

Spinning in a frantic circle once his paws met the ground, saliva having re-wet the fur of his nape, he made a sorry and bewildered picture.

"Wh-what's going on??"

And then he saw him. The beast stalking closer.
All fur and sharp angles of starved bone and muscle.

And so, Lyroh clung to the nearest family member and clung, frozen and shaking.

- Meet Lyroh -

((sorry...I like having visuals, so I'm reposting his pic.))