Life Goes On

[Eldarwen]

Closer and closer a single female moved towards the lake, she moved silently yellow eyes locked firmly on the ducks floating ontop of the water. They had no idea in the world about the wolf drawing up on them, oblivious to the fate of lunch.

Suddenly though, something went wrong, the wolf lost her footing, landing with a soft thud that immediately caught the attention of a couple of the ducks. Soon after that they began to quack and outstretch their wings flapping and splashing as they fought to leave the lake first. By the time Huyana reached the water only a few feathers remained.

She didn't feel as though she'd lost though. So much loss pained her that this, failing to catch on a hunt was simply like that trip earlier. She'd fallen but she'd get back up, she'd have other chances. Sadly she'd never have another chance with her mate or friends. They'd gone.

One day, maybe she would join them. At this rate it'd be sooner rather than later; she'd probably starve to death. Something inside of the wolf made made her carry on though, continue fighting. A part of her suspected it was the loss that did that though. She couldn't just sit back and allow others to be lost in the same way, she had to help the best she could.

[F.atal;;]

<sup>A blazing orange figure lay on top of a small rock which jutted over the edge of the lake. One black paw hung limply in the water, swaying as the current moved it back and forth. The delicate chest heaved up and down steadily as the lanky wolf lay stretched out on the rock, fast asleep. The air was still and quiet; a quiet only broken by the soft birdsong and the occasional splash as the ducks searched for fish in the lake. A fly landed on the wolf's large ear and settled there, only to fly off again with an indignant 'buzz' as the wolf's ear flicked at the disturbance. All in all, it seemed a peaceful afternoon.

The wolf, better known as Jeremiah, stirred a little, raising his head, with eyes still closed, and stretching his jaw back in a wide yawn. Opening his golden eyes, he surveyed his surroundings, taking in the large lake before him, which seemed to sparkle like diamonds in the sun. The ducks were happily swimming along in the water, letting out a dull 'quack' every now and then. Getting up onto all four feet, Jeremiah shook the sleepiness off himself and stood, letting the gentle breeze that blew past him ruffle his fur. Wagging his tail slightly, he turned and bounded off the rock, making his way to the waters edge.

Lowering his head, Jeremiah took in great gulps of water, enjoying its coolness as it slid down his throat, a great relief to his dry mouth. Upon quenching his thirst, Jeremiah raised his head once again, water dripping off his muzzle and landing with a soft splash into the lake. His gaze was fixed on the ducks and he licked his muzzzle as he thought of them. He was hungry and a duck would do well to satisfy his growling stomach.

Just as he was creeping up on the ducks, almost close enough to catch the nearest one, he heard a soft thud from nearby and, rolling his eyes, he watched as his dinner flew away in a panicked frenzy. He broke his cover and leapt out from the grass, snapping at the nearest duck, just managing to catch it's wing between his jaws. A mouthful of feathers was all he was left with, but he was glad to see as the duck fell back down to earth, having had some of it's main flight feathers plucked away. Jeremiah jumped on the duck, which was now lying on the ground, helpless. One quick twist of his jaw and the duck was put out of its misery.

Jeremiah happily carried the duck through the grass, heading back to his perch and not quite caring about who or what had disturbed the ducks, only that he had finally gotten his dinner. But, as he walked, he noticed another wolf nearby, a rather sad looking wolf.
'I guess I just found the culprit..'</sup>

[Eldarwen]

So lost in her own little bubble of depression, Huyana barely noticed the other wolf. It was actually very shocking that she hadn't spotted him earlier whilst attempting a hunt, nor having seen him when he went in for a kill anyway. She'd just been so intent on watching the birds escape, leave her. Everything seemed to do that to the poor female sooner or later.

As the orange figure moved across the grass though, she did happen to spot him out of the corner of her eye, the colour and movement disturbing her momentarily. Even she found it quite odd actually, how quickly she could move in and out of these 'daydreams' as some would call them. She personally disagreed. Dreams would be wishing all of this was over and that she'd never lost anyone, not moping around about how much she missed others.

"Hello." She stated simply. Huyana's conversation levels had dropped a fair bit since the loss, though she never was and never would be a timid wolf. She could still make conversation if she forced herself, it just never seemed to run as smoothly nor be quite as bright anymore. The tone in her voice certainly proved the latter was indeed the case, her sadness clear in the words. She simply hoped though that Jeremiah would allow her current mood to simply slide, ignore that fact and either ignore her altogether or continue with conversation.

"I see you still managed to catch one." She added, suddenly noting the duck hanging from his mouth. She forced a small smile, and even made an attempt to sound a little brighter, that too failed though.

At least guilt wasn't about to be added to her thoughts.

[F.atal;;]

Golden eyes closed and mouth turned up in a grin as the other wolf spoke to him. He had indeed heard the sadness in her voice, but she obviously didn't want anything to be said, so he ignored it, it wasn't any of his business anyway. Jeremiah walked a few steps closer to the wolf and dropped the duck in order to speak more clearly. He chuckled joyfully before he spoke, trying to lighten up the mood of this wolf.
"I see you must be the one who scared the ducks off." he said light-heartedly, but then he realized that this could come off a bit rude and quickly tried to right it. "I-I mean, well, you did save me from getting wet. That duck practically flew right into me. Certainly allowed me to catch t a whole lot easier." He smiled at the wolf, he wasn't incredibly brilliant at these types of social situations but she did look like she needed some cheering up.

He realized that if she had been hunting, she must be hungry and he picked the duck up again and gently dropped it at her feet.
"Here." he said, awkwardly, "You must be hungry, no? You can have this if you want. I'm not so hungry myself."
Jeremiah stood uncomfortably, looking at the femme, waiting for her reply. What was wrong with him?
He sighed and sat down, watching the still lake. The ducks would return soon, they always did.
"My name's Jeremiah by the way." He stated. "It's nice to meet another wolf. I've been travelling on my own for quite some time."
He gazed into the wolf's eyes, she did look like she needed cheering up. Maybe he shouldn't leave just yet.

[Eldarwen]

Huyana was certainly grateful when he didn't point out the sadness that was obviously clear to probably anyone. Even that made her feel a little better in some ways, knowing she wasn't about to be bothered by an onrush of questions she couldn't and didn't want to answer. They'd bring back too many memories and right now, that was something she didn't really want. Of course the happy memories were nice to share and recall, but the painful ones always seemed to follow.

"Sorry about that" She mumbled as he commented upon the scaring of the ducks. Glancing down at the one on the floor she reminded herself that he had still caught something at least. She'd been rather clumsy as of late, not quite thinking properly, unable to truly concentrate, being rather distant to others in the pack. She'd even avoided Sway as much as she could in the hopes of remaining jobless. Honestly, what could she do in this state?

The thoughts faded again though as Jeremiah continued once more, almost in an attempt to correct himself and he guessed bring a smile onto her features.
"Well I suppose there was at least one bonus then." She stated, attempting a small smile in return though it certainly didn't contain the energy that Jeremiah's did. The quote itself might have normally been delivered in a more humorous way, but today for the female it was simply stated as a fact in passing conversation, the way one might say 'the sun is bright today.'

As he nudged the duck closer, offering it to her Huyana only shook her head.
"No I couldn't." With the food so close she noted that she was indeed a little more hungry than she'd imagined beforehand, though she couldn't take the kill away from Jeremiah even if she had basically guided the stupid bird towards him. "It's yours."
A part of her felt a little rude for turning down the offer outright, he was only trying to be nice, she could see that much.

[F.atal;;]

The duck lay on the ground where Jeremiah had left it, gazing up at the sky with it's glazed, lifeless eyes. Jeremiah looked down at it, it was strange that such a small thing could make such a big difference to a hungry wolf. He looked up at the sky, where he had come from.... No, he didn't know exactly where he had come from, or who his mother and father had been. In the pack where he had been raised and spent most of his life in, a wolf would never turn down the help of another, they thought it to be rude. And that pack would help any wolf who came to them for help. But he supposed that his pack had been different from others. From what he had learnt from his travels, not every pack would tolerate a stranger on their land. Didn't stop him though.

He sighed and turned his attention back to the other wolf. Well, she was just trying to be polite. But she looked hungrier than he was, if he was honest with himself, he had just killed that duck for something to do. Life was so boring these days. It seemed that nothing happened. Life just went on, with the same routines everyday..... Not that he was the type of wolf to turn his nose up at a peaceful life, but something inside him just craved somethingmore.

Standing up he stretched himself and yawned. This female seemed quite sad and maybe she wanted to be on her own for now. He didn't know. All he knew was that, now having felt the company of another wolf, he didn't want to be alone. He hadn't met, or at least had a decent conversation with, another wolf in ages. He didn't realise how much he missed pack life until now. And he remembered watching other packs from a distance, playing, having fun. And his heart had yearned to be with them, to feel like he belonged again. It had hurt. But he had disregarded it and walked away. Losing someone hurt too. Perhaps it was better to be on your own, with nothing to lose...

That was his mindset back then, but he had began thinking that life came with its ups and downs. Along with the happy times, there were sad times. But if you had nothing to care about, nothing to be sad about, then your life isn't worth much. Having some happiness and companions was worth all the sad times. If he thought about it. His pack, his family weren't really gone. As long as he had his memories. As long as he thought about them, even if he felt pain every time he did, then they would live in his memories.

Brining himself back to the present, Jeremiah smiled. It was a warm smile full of happiness and comfort. Yes, they were with him. He was running in their pawsteps. They marked out a safe path for him to travel, kept him safe.
"Well, I'd best be going..." he said as he turned to walk away from the other wolf. He didn't want to stay were he may not be wanted, even if he wanted to.
"I'll leave the duck. In case you change your mind. I didn't really need it anyway. I guess I was just...bored." He smiled again and hesitated before walking away. Then he stopped and turned around, looking at the other wolf.
"By the way. My name's Jeremiah." he said in a friendly tone.

[Eldarwen]

Huyana kept her gaze on the duck for a moment as neither of them moved for it. Maybe in Huyana's case it was simply a stubborn side of her showing, not wanting to take charity from this other male. Or maybe it was simply a stubborn side in both of them, just trying to do what each of them thought was the most polite think to do. For Huyana the only way she'd touch the duck was if they shared, he couldn't just leave it...

Her gaze wandered back towards the male's direction as he spoke again, still keeping that friendly tone. In some ways it only made Huyana feel ruder still, the fact that she still spoke with her miserable tone, and the only genuine look on her features was one of sadness. Of course she had her reasons, but here she was trying to be polite and yet she couldn't stop moping around to make a pleasant conversation.

"I'm Huyana." She stated simply, trying out another smile which was indeed a little more real and easy than her forced one earlier. "You don't have to go." She continued, her eyes still on the wolf, leaving the duck out of things for the moment. Apparently neither really wanted it, or didn't want to seem rude, as she'd already sussed out.
"I know I'm not the greatest of company, but please don't leave on my accountant." She added, just trying to explain her point a little more and seem a little more friendly and talkative.
'Maybe I'll cheer up at some point.' She thought, and even that developed a further trail of thoughts that may have just been part of the answer she was looking for. 'Khoe's still out there somewhere, I'm not entirely alone.' The thought of her daughter was indeed welcoming, though she still partially wished that she was here now. She'd escaped the war though, gone to find safety, maybe they all should have done so...
'They wouldn't want me to sit here all alone anyway...' Another realisation hit her and she knew she had to at least give it a good try. Time would probably help, she kept telling herself that, but maybe she simply couldn't wait it out, rely on time to change things, maybe she had to try start that change...

[F.atal;;]

Jeremiah stopped when the fae spoke, one black paw hovering above the ground a bit. He turned around and looked at the wolf before dropping his gaze once again towards the duck. It did feel like such a waste to leave it there....
As the fae spoke again, he smiled, the smile reaching his eyes.
"No, no. I don't think at all that you're bad company." he said cheerfully. "No, even the angriest, fiercest wolf would be great company to me right now." he said earnestly. "I haven't encountered much of my own kind in my travels and its nice to be able to talk to another wolf instead of the birds for a change."

He walked back towards the fae and sat down opposite her, with the duck lying in between them. He inclined his head towards it.
"Now, it would be such a shame to let this perfectly good duck go to waste, so what do you say?" he started, pulling it towards him with on foreleg. Carefully, he grabbed one end of the duck and held the other with his paw. It took some effort, but he managed to break the duck in half. Pushing one half of the duck towards the other wolf, he lay down with his half lying in his paws and looked up at the fae.
"Eat up." He stated simply, digging into his own piece.

((ooc: sorry it's so suckish...don't know what's up -_- ))

[Eldarwen]

Huyana did genuinely crack a small smile at his comment, certain at the back of her mind that the words weren't actually true. At least she knew she would rather be alone than fighting for her life, unfortunately, it seemed in these lands that you could never really escape from the latter.

She didn't respond to that in any other way though the smile widened a little, actually becoming clear as he spoke of the birds.
"So you don't kill all of them for fun then?" She questioned, though it still didn't have quite the usual playful tone her voice often held, it was indeed a start of the old Huyana coming back. Maybe all this time company was actually what she had needed.
'We've hardly spoken much anyway' She thought simply. 'Especially not me...' Though she pushed that thought away as he moved closer.

She looked down at the duck as he did, and she had to admit he was right. There wasn't really any use in hunting if they weren't going to eat and there was nothing wrong at all with the duck, it was simply their own manners getting in the way of them eating it.
His idea was certainly a bright one though, half each. Neither would have to keep declining in hopes the other would give in, or accept the others offer and tuck in, probably being ashamed the whole time whilst feeling relatively greedy; at least they were the thoughts that crossed her mind at the idea of such a thing.

"I suppose you're right. Thank you." She responded simply before lowering her head to pick up her half. She slid back a little, leaving a bit more space between the pair of them before settling herself down once more and dropping the half between her paws and then began to do exactly what he'd told her to do, eat up.