Your Turn [Borealis]

[attr="class","pltxt"]she walks. she talks. she thinks

The young princess had quickly learned that the adults of her family were pretty stoic as a whole… as unreadable as rocks and at a young age had aspired to reach the same level of facial apathy. The monochrome female had never been able to decipher her parents’ feelings when approaching them, or being approached by them as her mother was now coming toward her, and she truly wanted to be at that same level… to constantly keep others in an air of mystery about what she felt and thought. She felt that over the months of practicing whenever she could, usually while she groomed in front of a pool of water, she had gotten to the point where until something truly surprising happened she would be able to maintain her features expressionless. Those were lovely thoughts and great plans for the ultimate goal of being as composed and dutiful as the ivory wolf in front of her was… but there was no hiding the slight surprise that sparked in her two-toned eyes when her mother complimented her. The compliment itself did not surprise her, seeing as she took every precaution to always look her best, but that fact that it came from the Marauder was what got her. Borealis did not even have time to respond before her mother continued, motioning toward the herd of hooves creatures she had been watching not too long ago.

“I hadn’t really thought of it… normally I just get the small stuff.” she said with a slight tilt of her crown, ‘The creatures less likely to get me bloody…’ she added silently. It was true though, part of the princess’s choice to never attempt to hunt any large creature came mostly from her sheer will to stay clean and presentable… an easy enough task when it came to hunting if your prey wasn’t even a third of your size. The odd question made the female curious as to what her mother was actually trying to do and before she could speak again to say she had no intentions of hunting since she had just finished grooming herself (for the fifth time that day, but her mother didn’t need to know that) her mom had turned around to face toward the herd. Just as she was about to call a farewell to her, figuring she was going to leave her to her own devices once again, she caught sight of Mara’s ear flicking backward, ‘Do not move until I tell you to.’ the words seemed to slice through the young canine’s resolve… there was not a single fiber in her body that would disobey the blue-eyed female’s command, at least not so outright and in the open, so she found herself remaining in the spot she was in, watching as the wolf that was not even half her size disappeared into the long grasses of the savannah.

The ebony and ivory painted wolf was transfixed, lost in the idea of finding her mother before the hooved creatures did. She could hardly tell the grasses that parted due to her movement from those that danced with the breeze that wove its way across the landscape. The scent of the deer was strong and seemed to barrel right toward her, a fact that she knew worked to their advantage… and though the instinct to hunt wanted to drag her forward, to move into a crouch and follow the path her mother had just gone, she remained steadfast as she had been told. She watched intently as the deer would lift their heads at the sudden feeling of danger, only to lower them once more and foolishly continue to eat despite the feeling that churned in their guts that they were being watched. Borealis scanned the creatures that made up the herd, looking for which one the ivory Marauder would have targeted… like mother like daughter. The young female had caught sight of the tiny, sickly looking female mere seconds before a flash of white seemed to appear out of nowhere and attack the very same deer. She almost leapt forward, adrenaline forcing its way into her veins as she watched her life-giver quickly bring the deer down and force it on it’s back, disappointed not to hear the cracking of bone over the thunder of hooves hitting the earth as the rest of the herd scattered. She was eager to watch the end of the deer’s life and expected her mother to waste no time in ending it… and her jaw nearly dropped in astonishment when her mother let go of the creature and backed away from it to sit and watch it pathetically try to run away. What was she doing? ‘Your turn.’

The words had almost been lost to the breeze, had nearly drifted right past her… but the voice that delivered the command was just as strong as it had always been, especially when instructing. She glanced from her blue-eyed mother to the form of the tiny female deer desperately trying to reach its peers, of which only a few remained within sight in the direction she ran, one nervously trying to urge her to go faster while the other seemed to lock eyes with Borealis. When she heard and saw the small, injured creature stumble again she launched herself into action. The injury to the doe’s back leg would slow her down significantly, which meant that the monochrome femme did not worry about burning out her energy too soon. She had noted how close Mara had been when she launched her own attack and while Borealis was sure her size had something to do with how close she was able to get, she wanted to believe that she could someday gain the patience to get as close as she had to this particular creature. The uninjured ones had fled as soon as any movement had been made on the young wolf’s part, and soon she had closed the distance between herself and the hooved animal that she sought to finish off. Once she was only a bound away the doe stumbled and fell once again, leaving her the perfect target as Borealis pounced, jaws parted and eager to have the metallic taste of blood on her tongue.

With a gurgling scream, the creature went limp in the powerful jaws of the black and white canine. Borealis wanted to make the kill and quickly and cleanly as possible and was glad to have been able to simply close her jaws around the exposed neck and she found herself almost moaning in satisfaction at her own kill, as unfair as it may have been considering her mother had done the hard part of the initial injuring of their prey. The creature was a little more than half her size, a decent meal… but one that Borealis knew her mother would start. She looked up to seek out the ivory form that stood out against the dried browns of the savannah and then lowered her muzzle once again to pick up the lifeless form of the doe as carefully as she could, not for fear of the still-warm body to fall apart, but simply making every attempt to avoid getting blood anywhere that was not around her lips. Even with the thrill of the hunt, Borealis managed to think of keeping herself clean and was resolved to groom herself again after she shared this meal with her mother, if that is what the older female decided to do. She dragged the fresh carcass back to where the petite female sat and set it down before her paws, careful to keep her eyes at the smaller wolf’s chest and chin as she spoke, “For you, mother.” she said softly, anticipating another compliment that she was almost certain she wouldn’t get… after all, she was certain her mother had been half expecting her to not abide by the request of participating in the hunt since she had had no intention of doing so, and yet… Borealis simply could not disobey her mother and Marauder.



words; 1347
tagged; Mara
notes; Well... I scrounged up the muse here lol.

[attr="class","pltxt"]she walks. she talks. she thinks

For how well the young wolf knew her mother, Borealis should not have been as disappointed as she was when she did not see even the slightest hint of a smile from Mara. She shouldn’t have been expecting it though, perhaps if she had actually successfully hunted it entirely by herself she would have gained at least a hint of a smile or at least a bit of pride in her look… but she didn’t let it bother her, after all she had just managed to take the creature’s life with minimal blood spillage on herself so she brought it back to her mother with a little bit more pride in herself. After she offered it to the ivory colored female, Borealis was almost surprised to hear her refuse it and say the prize was all hers… in truth, she had been growing hungry and the energy that had just been spent did nothing to help it, so she did not refuse because of that as well as the simple fact that she did her best not to go against her mother’s wishes or commands whenever she could help it. She watched as the smaller female nudged the carcass back in her direction but she dared not start to eat when she heard the blue-eyed wolf state speaking again.

Mara mentioned that her siblings, as well as she, would be expected to provide for the pack while their numbers remained few… and though she knew it wasn’t a direct command, Borealis knew better than to take it as anything less. “I suppose it would only be fair for everyone to partake in the work around here to guarantee our survival.” Borealis said thoughtfully just before her mother stepped forward to lick her cheek. Borealis smiled softly to herself as she felt her mother’s tongue rasp gently over her fur there, and that little gesture was all the young female needed to be reminded that no matter how stoic and emotionless the smaller wolf seemed there was no denying that she truly cared for her children and her pack. The female’s two-toned eyes turned to the fresh meat before her, a waft of it’s delicious scent reaching her nostrils and causing her mouth to water, but she waited to see what the Marauder would do… her ear flicked attentively as Mara spoke again, this time asking about what rank within the pack she wanted.

When she sat down beside her to allow her to eat, Borealis wasted no time in lowering her muzzle to tear off a chunk of meat from the creature’s shoulder, savoring the delicious taste as meat and blood met her tongue. She thought for a moment on Mara’s question as she chewed her first bite of food enough to swallow and then licked her chops before turning her head to see her mother a little better, almost surprised to see and feel her mother grooming her… but appreciating it nonetheless… particularly since she had always felt like her mother did not think too highly of her efforts to keep herself clean. This simple act at the very least told her that her mother cared enough to take note of what made her happy and it gave her all the more reason to want to please the older wolf and one day make her proud. “Ferula… like that one female, Lorelai?” she responded after a moment, “I want to learn about healing… and everything else that plants can do, of course.” Borealis finished saying just before taking another bite of her catch. She subconsciously leaned a little into her mother’s grooming as she chewed and swallowed her last bite, an ear swiveled in the ivory canine’s direction to catch her response. She also wanted a position as Ferula, for now, because it seemed to be one of the cleaner and less strenuous jobs, more of a mental challenge as far as learning and remembering which herbs did what and that intrigued her much more than hunting or fighting.



words; 670
tagged; Mara
notes;