Keenai meets a new friend

[Teetee12]

Keenai sat, listening to the soft flow of the wind. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, a smirk appeared on his face.

[MistySnowDrift]

The wind promptly shifted direction, moving so any scents were made oblivious to Keenai. The world fell silent, the wind suddenly dying out as a girl emerged from the shadows of the forest. Her eyes were watchful, knowing. Everything about her seemed to glow, to radiate comfort wherever she stood. Like a little sun on earth, a bundle of joy. And yet, there was something off about this pale girl with chocolate colored hair and eyes to match. It was hard to tell just what it was, whether it was because she hid it so well, or because it was so lost in comparison to everything else. Her gaze slipped to Keenai, like she already knew he'd be there. She said nothing, made no movement. Her breathing was even; she was unafraid.

[Teetee12]

Keenai felt an eerie feeling in the air. But he shook it off, and shifted his weight on the rock that sat beneath his warm jet black fur. The white tip of his tail wagging back and forth like a windshield wiper. He looked down at his right paw, that was given a birthmark, which made it white, his pad and claws pink. He put his paws together and looked at their differences. He chuckled to himself slightly and began to lay his head down, ears still alert.

[MistySnowDrift]

As the girl took a step, the wind picked up again, playing gently with her hair. She moved with purpose, skirting around bushes and things - careful not to hurt anything - until she was within Keenai's sight. She studied him, hear head tilting to the side in the smallest of movements, enough so he'd notice her. A small smile touched her lips, it'd been so long since she'd seen any animals in these woods.

[Teetee12]

As the wind picked up, he also picked up the scent of something else. A scent that he'd never smelled before. He opened his eyes and sat up looking around and navigating his ears like small radio disks. Then he saw it. A tall creature, stand on it's hind legs. Even though he had never seen a creature like this, it was beautiful to him. His curiosity and interest for the creature grew within him. So he stood up slowly and jumped off the rock. He kept his eyes on the creature the entire time, but the creature looked harmless. But Keenai knew from past experience, just because it looked harmless, doesn't mean that it is. So he stood there, until she made a move.

[MistySnowDrift]

There was a moment of silence before the girl shifted her position, moving - slowly - so that one knee was on the ground, her hand extended towards Keenai. She didn't speak, though her eyes were questioning, full of some sort of light that seemed too happy and innocent to really be real.

[Teetee12]

Keenai stood for what seemed to be forever until the creature got down to his height. He felt less threatened by this. Then the creature extended its webbed paw, or so it looked like to Keenai. But as the creature did this, Keenai took a step back. And then slowly, forward again. Something about the creature called him forward. He walked slowly, each step taken cautiously until he was 10 feet from the creature. It's was strong and sweet. He lowered his ears to his head, afraid of what it may do. But it's eyes soothed him, which was the only thing keeping his tail from cowering between his legs.

[MistySnowDrift]

The girl shrugged, seeming content in the time that had passed. She didn't push Keenai, didn't expect him to feel comforted around him. Not yet, anyway. But it would come, and she knew it. She let her hand fall and laid back in the long grass, gaze up at the sky. She let her eyes slide closed, her breathing light, almost unnoticeable. Waiting, just waiting..

[Teetee12]

The creature laid on it's back, almost as if it didn't see Keenai. Keenai took 3 steps closer to the creature, stretching his body to look over the creature. He was pretty sure that if it wanted to kill him, it would have done so already. He began to sniff the fur of the creature and wondered why the fur was only on it's head. He began to lick the fur, feeling the hairs we thin and soft. He could also see the fur was amazingly long. He leaned over her once more and cocked his head to the side. The creature looked up finally and stared deep into Keenai's eyes .. piercing his thoughts.

[MistySnowDrift]

The depths of the girl's eyes were like shallow, comforting pools of water. Not something you could drown in. Something familiar, almost like home. She smiled again, hair ruffled by the breeze-- there was a moment of silence, nothing in the area moving - even the wind had stopped - and then, a light, angelic golden light enveloped the girls shape, covering her completely. It shimmered, the glow fading, and when it finally fell away to nothing, as if it were never there, the girl had disappeared. In her place stood an elegant white wolf, her fur a more crisp and clean shade than that of snow. Her tongue rolled out in a grin, brown eyes catching Keenai's gaze. She yipped at him, reaching out with her paw to swat him in the nose before she dropped into a crouch, tail wagging excitedly.

[Teetee12]

Keenai was taken by surprise. Had his eyes deceived him? Or did the two legged creature just turn into a wolf, like himself? He looked into the brown eyes of the she wolf, almost as a distraction as she swatted his nose. Keenai jumped back, and shook his head. When he finally looked up to her, she was in a playing position. Was this some type of joke? Well, at least he knew she could do much harm now. He began to get into play position as well with an edgy smirk on his face.

"What's your game?" he said with one of his white eyebrows cocked up.

[MistySnowDrift]

The she wolf crouched a little lower, eyes sparking with a playful glint before she sprang, sending them both rolling through the grass. When they stopped, she stood over him, her tail still wagging. "My game? Hmm. Good question." She backed off, sitting a few steps away, one ear flicked in the opposite direction, listening to something far off. "What's your name?"

[Teetee12]

Keenai lay on his back, shocked at her agility and speed. He got up slowly and shook his pelt.

"My name you say .." He began to size her up and slit his eyes. "My name would mean little to you, but you really want to know, it's Keenai."

Keenai leaped over the wolf and knocked against her side with force, sending her to the ground. He looked over her triumphantly with a smirk on his face.

"And you my brightly colored friend?"

[MistySnowDrift]

There was little time that passed between the second Keenai shoved her, and the second she'd rolled - quickly and lightly - onto her feet. She gave him a look, flashing her teeth in the slightest, more in irritation than aggression. "Would you prefer my mouthful of a full name, or just what everyone prefers?"

[Teetee12]

Keenai slowly began to pad away from her. Once he was 20 feet from her, he turned around to face her, than planted his bottom right on the ground. His eyes staring into hers, almost like a sort of test.

Keenai leaned forward and said," That my friend, is your choice."

Keenai sat, ready for anything she was about to say or do. He was waiting, .. anticipating on her reaction.

[MistySnowDrift]

Her nose twitched at his movement. She swayed on her feet, nose pointing into the breeze before she turned her gaze back to him, eyes questioning, almost intimidating. "Do I worry you, wolf?" Her tongue rolled out as she paced a few steps toward him, head high. "Or do you always do this to those you come across?" She paused in her movement, head tilting to the side. "...They call me Misty, for the record."

[Teetee12]

Keenai kept his head held up high to show that he had fear. He stared at the wolf, finally learning her name, Misty.

"I don't actually. I have no idea what your intentions are, which makes me quick to be aggressive. But as of right now, I'm not acting aggressively, because you have not.

He looked at her as she began to circle him. As she went behind him, he kept his head forwards and waited for her to come back around. He was calm and expected her to take a shot at him.

"So .. what are your intentions?" he said, raising one eyebrow.

[MistySnowDrift]

Misty snorted, shaking her head as she stepped to the side. "Intentions? None, other than I wanted to see who was 'in the neighborhood'. Animals aren't too popular around here these days." She sat and scratched her ear, looking almost bored. "If you're expecting me to be aggressive, it won't happen, so don't other on being all defensive."

[Teetee12]

Keenai laughed loudly, it rang out into the air. "You don't see many other animals here because this is my territory. I like staying to myself a lot, which is why I have no pack. Everyday I venture out of my land to hunt. Any wolf that sees me, doesn't talk to me because of my stand offish nature. They even invite me to their lands. I go, but I don't stay and they know that. I would invite them to my land, but this ... this is my sanctuary. My place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the others." He looked at Misty with an eyebrow raised. "Which is why I am wondering how you got here."

He looked down for a long moment and a confused look came upon his face.

"And also wondering .. what exactly you are .. "

[MistySnowDrift]

Something in her eyes clouded over, her chocolate colored irises taking on a golden hue. "Cursed, that's what I am..." silence rang on for several moments, her gaze full of something knowing and ancient before she shook her head, the golden hue disappearing with it. She flicked an ear, seemingly listening to something again, but there was nothing to be heard. "I'm here because I want to be. May you should try a 'keep out' sign, tends to be more effective than any scents you could leave. As you can see, your 'boundaries' didn't keep me out. Next time it could be a power hungry creature, and you could end up killed. You /might/ want to work on that."

[Teetee12]

Keenai snorted, "I am not afraid of anything that may venture in here. If they come in, well, they come in. I won't stop them. But after a while, everything with fangs has got to find some meat to devour .. and I ain't the tastiest." Keenai chuckled to himself. "And a sign? That's what I mark for. I'm sure you smell it everywhere around you."

[MistySnowDrift]

Misty rolled her eyes. "That's my point. That's not enough." She pulled her lip back in a grin. "You males aren't too keen are you? Same old crap, all the time." She sat, the golden light coming around again, it went away and she was human. She shrugged. "Do whatever you feel like, but sometimes, things are a h*ll of a lot more dangerous than they seem-" as the warning died off, that same golden hue came into her eyes, becoming a more dominating shade this time, eclipsing out the brown before she blinked and it went away as if it were never there.

[Teetee12]

Keenai thought for a moment. He looked down, almost a little shame in his eyes, but why did he feel that way? Then he thought about what she had just told him. About her curse and and that the protection he had wasn't enough. He could tell she was hurt by something, but Keenai was too fascinated at her new form to understand what she was saying.

"That what happened to you?"

Felt he crossed the line with this question, so be began to stand up in alert. He was wary, but still dazed at the creature that stand before him. She had to be at least 3 feet taller than him, and her eyes seemed to be looking into his soul, but he didn't care, he kept staring back. His mouth slightly opened to let out a much deserved breath of air.

[MistySnowDrift]

Her smile was cold, a stark contrast to her usual glowing personality. "Not to me. This..curse that I bear, it was passed on to me, as it has for a long time now. It is my cross to bear until death, or, at least until it deci-" her voice cut off, ending in a sort of whimper, involuntarily she'd shifted back to her wolfish self, eyes a bright, hard gold. The color was alarming, and screamed 'run'. Her lip curled back, a growl ripping from her teeth. There was no time to waste in those seconds- she lunged, taking Keenai to the ground. As her teeth closed around his throat, the pressure didn't increase, didn't affect his breathing. They were simply there, like something was holding back the kill that could have so easily been done. She dropped him, suddenly, a hint of brown breaking through the gold before it was pushed back out of sight. Her ears flagged back, she turned and ran back into the shadows of the woods.

[Teetee12]

Keenai's breath had returned a minute late. His eyes still fixed on the sky. His limbs motionless, everything stopped as if he were dead. Then he could suddenly feel his heart beating again, like a kick in the chest. He suddenly sat up, like he had come out of a nightmare. He looked around for Misty, all the while still having a crazed look on his face.

"Misty? .. Misty!" he called. "Was that .. all a dream?" he thought out loud as he began to look at his paw in disbelief.

He got on his wobbly feet and scanned his sanctuary. Nothing. His heart calmed and went back to it's regular pace. He began to slowly make his way out of the sanctuary and to the river. The whole time, thoughts running through his mind.

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