How to Be Stupid

[RandomWiktor]

The Story So Far...
While searching for long-lost pack made Devil's Guardian, Seeker's Angel finds himself in a precarious situation, perched between a nexus of several potentially hostile pack territories. Luckily for him, a disenfranchised and frustrated Kimeneya is out patrolling, and inadvertantly directs him towards his goal (introducing the two in the process).
Origional Thread

Last Two Posts:
___Kimeneya carefully evaluated the male's mask of calm, friendly peace. She was too used to alterior motives and lies lurking behind kind eyes to trust newcomers, though she tried not to make this apparent. She could not sense any veneer of contrived amicability; the lupe seemed genuine enough as he introduced himself and curiously inquired about the terrain. Perhaps he really was just a naive newcomer trying to find his way around. Unfortunately, the best way to describe the location was in terms of packs, and this wolf would not know any packs. Still, it was valuable information for future reference...
___"A pleasure to meet you as well, Seeker. I apologize that I can not describe the area to you without using names you would be unfamiliar with as a newcomer. You are in a bit of a precarious position right now; there is a pack territory to the north as well as to the west. You've somehow managed to find the only strip of land in this vecinity not yet claimed."
___She let out a low and humorless chuckle with these words. It wasn't that any of the local packs would even be too violent in driving him from their land, as they were largely small, absorbed in their own problems, and often looking for new membership as it was. However, this male must have had luck on his side to have situated himself smack dab in the middle of three closely linked pack territories without landing himself in one. She only wished she were so fortunate in life!
___"To the North is a small pack; the alphas are Theto and Tasha. They may have a litter right now, so I would avoid the north. To the west is Auhlae and Devil's Guardian's pack. They are peaceful but I doubt they are seeking membership. If you were to travel east, you would be on my territory, which I lord over with my mate Rhetquarken - if you could call what we do "lording." " She snorted with these words, perhaps indicating some unrest in her pack. "If you follow the creek directly south and depart it at the bend, you can narrowly pass between two territories to a largely uninhabited area. Though it will draw you close to the mountains, so be wary of cougars."

((My posts are SUCH shit lately... really sorry))

[RandomWiktor]

~Seeker's Angel couldn't be particularly sure -- he wasn't the most attentive wolf, after all -- but he had a funny feeling he was being scrutinized. The female was still watching him carefully even after their initial greeting, in contrast to himself, who was still paying attention, but allowing his attention to divert to the surroundings as well. He immediately wondered why she would be paying him so much attention.

And then she mentioned the packs. Aha. That may explain a thing or two. Most of the wolves in this area apparently were in packs and he was a lone male, making him suspicious. Yet he, by a new streak of luck, had managed to land smack in the middle of them without actually getting on their territory. He couldn't help but chuckle at it, but unlike her laugh, his was genuine, as he was truly amused. Only he could manage something so, well, impossible. It was good to know that his luck was looking back up after losing his pack and potentially the pack member he was trying to save...

Then his brain froze mid-thought at one name that was all too familiar. The male snapped completely to attention at the mention of Devil's Guardian's name, ears perking and body tensing for a bit with obvious surprise. Devil's Guardian? Wait a minute. Last time he had checked, that wolf had definitely had a group of wolves heading to rip him to pieces. And yet now he was hearing that the male was not only alive, but somehow the alpha of a pack.

His surprise melted into relief as he listened to the rest of her words. Well, however it had happened, at least the male was alive, and that was all that counted. Of course, it meant that he had gotten lost and everything for nothing, but all was well that ended well. Even better, he was near the male's territory, so if he really wanted to check on him, all he had to do was, er, invade his territory. Seeker's Angel couldn't help but snort with amusement at that thought.

He forced himself back to the conversation at hand, bobbing his head with a polite smile on his face.

"Thank you very much for the information. It is just my luck that I would end up in the middle of all of these packs and yet not cross through them."

He chuckled softly, shaking his head with amusement, then looked back at her.

"Though, if you do not mind my asking, do you know how Devil's Guardian is doing? You could say that some... Problems between him and my former pack are the reason I'm lost out here."

A quirky smile came to his face, one ear drooping, and for a few moments the wolf looked distinctly young.

"Problems being a severe understatement here."

The statement was perhaps the first thing he said that was quite serious, despite the expression on his face. Indeed, a vague worry seem to be hovering around the male, as relieved though he was, he was fairly convinced that Devil's Guardian couldn't have escaped from this unscathed. Indeed, he was imagining the male as brutally injured, and wondering how in the world he was an alpha afterwards.~

[Kimeneya]

___For a wolf who was currently being faced down by an alpha female who was informing him about just how precarious his present situation was, Seeker's Angel struck Kimeneya as oddly cheerful - even chuckling as she noted the cautious path he'd need to take in order to escape a brutal mauling. She'd been around Rhetquarken so long that she wasn't used to seeing things like smiling or laughing, so much so that it seemed almost foreign to her. If he wagged his tail, she'd probably startle from having not seen one move in her own pack for so very long. Smirking at that thought, she decided that she rather liked this newcomer's attitude; after all, why shouldn't he be happy? Sure, he was in a tricky spot - but the fact that he hadn't happened on anyone's territory and been killed, particularly with the prey scarcity, was nothing short of miraculous.
___Though she admired Seeker's optimism, Kimeneya couldn't help but be slightly vexed by the fact that his head seemed firmly planted in the clouds. He appeared unfocused as she explained the quite serious business of describing the locations of the various wolf packs that would be inclined to reduce his charming smile to dislodged teeth scattered around chunks of fur. However, he suddenly became very attentive when she noted Devil's Guardian, a spark of recognition apparent in his eyes. His speech confirmed that he did indeed know the wolf... and was from his previous pack. The she-wolf's eyes widened and her pelt immediately stood on end.
___DG hadn't said much about his pack aside from the fact that they were responsible for his condition, but she recalled vividly that several aggressive wolves came to seek him out roughly a year ago when he was still a member of Khahirre's larger pack. Members of his former pack, they seemed intent on destroying him, apparently not pleased enough with simply having horribly disfigured and maimed the poor wolf. And now Seeker's Angel arrived, claiming to be a packmate and asking questions. Suddenly, the male's calm, cheerful, charismatic veneer became the charm of a serpent in Kimeneya's eyes. Backing up a few steps and flipping her upper lip to expose teeth, she raised her tail and stared forcefully at the lupe.
___"I don't know what unfinished business you have with Devil's Guardian, but I don't care to bring your conflict to my pack. I think it's about time you left." She took a step forward to reinforce her dominance, then paused. "You know, I can't imagine what he did to deserve this relentless stalking from your kind, but he's not so helpless these days with a pack to back him. If you have half a head on your shoulders, you'll just leave him be."

[Seekers Angel]

Seeker's Angel rapidly saw that he had made a big mistake. He wasn't surprised that his former pack had a bad reputation where Devil's Guardian was concerned, but he was shocked that the first wolf he would come upon would know of this. The second Kimeneya's fur stood on end, Seeker's Angel's optimism melted into true concern, and he knew he would have a lot of explaining to do.

Well, if he would survive. As the alpha female bared her teeth at him, Seeker's Angel immediately diverted his gaze, tail and ears drooping. When she spoke, he lowered himself toward the ground, seconds away from exposing his stomach and throat if need be. He let out a low whine of apology, tail tucked firmly beneath his legs.

"I beg your pardon; I am not here to stalk him as you say. Or at least I would like to hope my coming here is not treated as such."

He winced.

"I understand your hatred for my former pack, and I do not understand either why they were so obsessed with being rid of him. I wanted to find out the truth. I was originally to be with the group that was to come here first--"

Seeker's Angel realized a few seconds afterwards that that was a stupid thing to say, and he whined again, lowering himself further.

"--But they must have suspected that I was not coming with them for the same reason, and abandoned me. I continued on my journey certain that they had found him and killed him as they desired, and am relieved to hear that they did not succeed. I only wished to know that he was alive and well, and I am assuming that if he has a pack, then he is."

He rolled slightly, belly partially exposed.

"I beg your forgiveness for my former pack's brutal obsession. I assure you that I am not at all affiliated with them any longer, and hope that they have gotten over their stupid hatred and will leave Devil's Guardian in peace."

It was not just a pretty speech, but the truth. Seeker's Angel had always found his former pack's hatred to be odd and pointless; if the wolf was out of their pack, then what was the point? It had been half the reason he suspected Devil's Guardian to have been wronged to begin with, and the reason he had wanted to discover the truth. He was horrified that Kimeneya would automatically think him to be still hounding Devil's Guardian after so long, when he only wanted to make sure that his pack had not succeeded, and furthermore to confirm his suspicions: that Devil's Guardian was innocent.

However, it seemed that it would not be. He had no doubt that even if Kimeneya did forgive him, she would only sternly escort him away from this place and leave him to continue his travels. He knew he should be grateful, but Seeker's Angel couldn't help but be disappointed that he was automatically branded the enemy and not allowed to explain his more heroic plans. He had not expected to ever find the male, sure, but he had never imagined this hostility in the meeting. His ideal world was crumpling at his paws.