Lost in the Canyon (Joining the Pack Thread)

[Midnight Solace]

When the lone wolf howls it's final song, who will be there to answer his call?

Midnight Solace, a wolf of 3.5 years, who is searching for a pack to call his own...

Midnight sniffed around, taking tedious steps, cautious. He had never been to this part of the Park before, and it was as unfamiliar as a bear's den to him. He looked up, thinking he had heard something. Perhaps it was just a trick of the wind? He shook his head, trying to remember something important. What was it his mother had said? Don't trust anything that thinks for itself if you can't see where it keeps it's brain? No, that wasn't it. He sighed, closing his eyes and letting out a soft, song-like howl that was low enough that it wouldn't be heard unless one was at least a foot from him. It was an old lullaby his mother sang to him when he was a pup to help him sleep, and at times, he would sing it to himself.

Finally, Midnight Solace stopped walking, and sat down, grooming himself. At least, he was until a hare darted out right in front of his nose. Swiftly he jumped up and charged after it, slowed down due to the lack of territory knowledge of this particular place. However, when the hare faltered, he lunged, barely managing to snatch it up by it's throat and deliver the final killing blow. He dropped his prey, howling in triumph, before picking it up and beginning to start back out of the canyon. Until he heard that noise again. He stopped for good this time, dropping the hare, looking around, heart hammering in his chest like a stampede of elk.

[Gael]

Gael wandered alone, and although he could smell he had crossed a boundary into the territory of another pack, he still didn’t stop. He could smell something other than the scent marks of the pack who owned this territory, another wolf. He had followed the scent for a short distance now, and given that it had originated beyond the territory markers he was reasonably confident that it wasn’t a member of the pack, but another rogue like himself. Perhaps a new companion. Gael hadn’t really stopped to consider how this male might react to him, nor how the pack who owned this land might react to him – all that really mattered was that his gut told him to follow the scent, and his curiosity encouraged him to do as his gut insisted. Perhaps it was merely instinct that drove him to stalk the male scent with the same enthusiasm and seriousness that he might use to stalk his prey, but the game had started now and he couldn’t just call it off. With a light, bouncy quality to his gait he trotted on, his head up and his nose turned into the wind. The scent was strong, and mixed with that of blood and meat. The stranger had made a kill and was staying in one place – what a perfect time to make a new friend! Around the bend of the canyon, with the constant and somewhat reassuring sound of the water at his side he continued, somewhat enjoying the shade that the high banks cast down on him, it was soothing to be out from under the hot summer sun. There, ahead was the strong figure of a large grey wolf. He had seen some scars in his time, but this brute was something else, like a battle worn old soldier, yet his frame suggested that he was hardly even of age. Gael tilted his head and perked up his ears, what a curious young wolf he had stumbled across. He bounded over with the typical enthusiasm of a pup, paying little heed to the young wolf in front of him and wagged his tail, dropping himself into a wide-pawed play bow. “You look like you know how to play rough,” he remarked with a slight chuckle in his bark. Gael