.s.a.g.e.

[krrazy]

Funny how autumn hardly touched a place like this. There were no trees to change color or fall. Certainly the temperature dropped even cooler at night, but what kind of relief was that when each morning the sun still rose high, baking the earth. Much like it was now.

Sage walked with his olive green furred head held high. He certainly felt out of place here, his earthy tones a far cry from the orange, red and gold. Not that it mattered much to him, he was used to being alone and unusual. He didn't mind where he wandered, so long as the earth was solid beneath all four paws. Though sometimes it would be nice for a little company along the journey.

He yawned, jaws stretching farther apart until they reached their limit. Then he snapped his mouth closed and changed focus. Exploring was one thing, but now it was noon and he was hot, tired and thirsty. Far off he could smell water, but his body refused to carry on without rest. So Sage picked up his pace and moved toward a group of shrubs. Once there he curled up in their limited shade. Were there even wolves alive in a place like this?

[Shadow]

Everything seemed to glow in the strong midday rays of sunlight. They brushed their boiling hands over every inch of exposed surface and caused everything to waver slowly as they radiated heat. Amongst the vibrant orange, red and yellow stood a huge, solid black figure. The figure had its strong head lowered towards the river as it lapped up the trickling water rapidly, its throat bone dry with thirst. Piercing blue eyes were focused hungrily on the cool water. Khaos. He raised his huge head and ran his tongue round his maw, stealing every drop of moisture that clung to the ebony black fur. Panting slowly, he swung his head round, searching... There must be shade somewhere, why the hell did I come here? Khaos rolled his eyes as he padded off, each paw sending up clouds of dust as they hit the dry earth, in search of shelter from the roaring sun.

Even before Khaos had acknowledged the sight, his ears perked. A small tree. It consisted merely of thin, taggled branches that showed no signs of life, but the trunk was short and thick. A dark shadow was growing from its roots, growing shorter with every minute that the sun rose in the sky. Khaos looked round at his huge body and gave a short bark of laughter. It would have to do. As he lay stretched out, only half in the shade, one huge paw dropped to the dust covered earth with a dull thud. A lizard had dared to run from its shelter. Khaos stuck his tongue out slightly; he'd never been a fan of such food. Theres fuck else around here. He groaned to himself before ripping the creature apart and devouring it. With a long, jaw stretching yawn, Khaos dropped his head onto his paws and drifted slowly off to sleep.

[krrazy]

What, an hour had passed since he had first begun dozing? It was impossible to sleep in heat like this. Sage began to sit up, but in the process brushed against the sticklike bush branches. They prickled his skin, irritating beneath the fur. Sage groaned and leaned forward, crawling out from his "den" and back into the midday sun.

On his journey through the lands, he'd heard rumor that this gorge was sacred to fire wolves. Having now experienced its amenities, Sage was less than pleased and more than happy to leave the place for others. If he went back north, maybe he'd find something more of interest (and less of the blasted sun)?

Oh...but first he was thirsty. With a body far more agreeing this time around, Sage trotted down the sloping canyon trails to the river where he drank to his heart's content. Then it was him turning back around, shaggy green tail sweeping high over his back as he began to walk the riverbank in a somewhat northernly direction.

He smelled the blood first, wolf second. Intrigued, Sage strayed off his path and followed his nose. Within minutes he saw the short tree and the beast who slept beneath it. Sage's lips twitched in a smile as he compared himself to the other. Sage was not large, well built or even fast. He was just sort of green and silky furred. Not interesting, but this guy? He most certainly was interesting.

Sage wasn't afraid to walk up to the sleeping wolf, staring him down with curious pale blue eyes. Should he wake the wolf first...? Or risk the wolf waking up with a start? He decided quickly against the latter, imagining himself becoming like the lizard bones which littered the ground.

He moved backward a pace and barked sharply before sitting himself down on the parched earth and waiting for a response.

[Shadow]

Darkness... It surrounded him. Huge paws somehow managed to boom in the solid black as they hit some unknown surface. Thick, long, ebony black fur rippled with every movement. Khaos ran, flat out, through the darkness that gripped his heart. His huge body nothing in comparison with the everlasting pitch black that swirled around him. A light? No... a wolf. Two. Three. Now eight? Khaos' entire family was glowing in the distance, his mother and father just as glorious as he remembered them, his brothers and sisters still beautiful young, playfully pups. Khaos barked and somehow sped up, his tongue hanging out slightly as he galloped forward. They couldn't be... they were. Each step Khaos took, his family were gliding further and further from him. Baring his fangs, he snarled and stopped. Yet they continued moving further from him. When suddenly, his father barked in response to him. Or did he?

Khaos sat up with a start in the blinding light, growling and snarling, his head turning from side to side as he squinted in the daylight. As his piercing eyes slowly began to adjust, he noticed a wolf sitting only metres from him. His ears perked in surprise at the comparison in colours between the wolf and the scenery. Then they lowered slightly as he caught the scent of the wolf and finally saw him clearly. A male earth wolf. Khaos thought in slight disgust to himself. Being a wolf of darkness, Khaos had never actually truely met an earth wolf and was unsure of their personalities. Getting to his feet and standing up to his full height, Khaos growled defensively, "What do you want?" His long tail twitched slightly and a set of sharp claws dug into the dry, cracked earth.

[krrazy]

Sage watched the wolf before him dream with growing interest. Over his years he'd come across many wolves, but it never ceased to amaze him how varied they all were. Still, despite the differences there were elements that just made them all...wolves. Here, even this great, dark beast was prey to dreams and nightmares. Sage's eyes dropped as he watched twitching paws and listened to soft snarls. Maybe not a nightmare, he'd hedge a bet this wolf was just dreaming. The longer he watched, the more enthused Sage became. Watching the world, meeting other wolves, this was his life goal and here he was, a few minutes into coming across another wolf and already learning something new. We all dream.

The desert silence was broken by upset growling. Sage's eyes widened and he immediatly leaned backward as the dark wolf rose up. For a second the two stared at each other and Sage's muscles tightened up, better be ready to flee than not. Some lessons he'd learned the hard way and would never forget. So far though, nothing was happening. In fact, Sage felt just a little stared at. He could return that favor. Sage cocked his slim head to one side and did his own share of staring (though quite honestly he'd already been at it for the time prior).

Then the dark wolf talked and Sage was more than ready to answer. "What do I want? To see all the earth in my lifetime." Dry earth breaking apart interrupted his thoughts and he glanced down, noticing for the first time how sharp his new acquaintance's claws were. Definitely don't want to fight those. Then he met the wolf's gaze again, calm and collected. "Of course that's more than you'd probably care to know. I'd also like to know your name. I am an earth wolf, named Sage."

{{ ooc: -.-' forgive me. i haven't played as Sage before and i haven't found his mojo yet! sorry if his personality jumps around.))

[Shadow]

Khaos watched the wolf with his piercing blue eyes. His ears perked forwards and he leaned his head, the reply was certainly not what he was expecting. Just you overreacting as always Khaos. This wolf was nothing like he'd ever seen. True Khaos hadn't encountered many wolves before and stopped to properly look at them, mainly they ended up as mere dust amongst the earth. But this one? Khaos found this one interesting. He was a lean creature and that unusual chain on his ear was odd for a wolf. I wonder where that came from... Khaos' thoughts wandered off as always.

Shaking his head slightly, Khaos replied with a nod, "I am Khaos, a wolf of darkness." Lowering his head slightly, he continued to analyse the wolf. He didn't appear to want to fight, but so what? It was easy to put on a facade. Khaos spent half his life doing it, his lust for battle, for blood, was often overwhelming. Yet he knew he couldn't spend his entire life just killing every wolf that entered his path, no... even Khaos knew that many wolves did not deserve such an end.

A moment later Khaos realised he had been silent for a while. "You want to see all the earth?" His deep voice emitted a chuckle. "That's quite a challenge isn't it?" Their eyes had barely left each others, both were just watching. Waiting. A change in mood would cause the situation to escalate, and Khaos often found it hard to control himself once a fight had started. Despite thinking all this, Khaos didn't actually want to fight this wolf. It wasn't fear of being beaten, goodness no. He could take down this 'Sage' far too easily. But something was stopping him from attacking. This wolf was strange and interesting to Khaos. He didn't want to harm him. What the hell? Khaos thought to himself. I think I'm losing my touch. A snigger escaped from his lips at that last thought.

[krrazy]

Sage was rapidly tiring of the sun. He could feel the rays burning his skin, making the fur itch. Without much of a choice he began panting, eyeing the dark wolf for a good long while before standing up and slinking up beside him. "The shade..." He muttered as he moved along, tail tucked in humble submission. Then he was re-settling himself down at the very edge of the wolf's shade, even though there was hardly room for two. It was a reckless move, but Sage had decided he was safe enough for the moment. If this wolf started attacking, well...Sage figured he would have done that the moment he'd woken up.

"I do want to see all the world." Sage smiled broadly, throwing his shoulders and head back. "So far, I've been lucky. My god has granted me eight long years of exploration and I ask daily that he will let me live another ten." Sage shifted, trying to ease his discomfort. "I won't make it far in this damned heat though." His smile faded to a frown and he glanced over his shoulder at the cracked red land. "I've actually seen a large part of our continent, but this is my first time coming so far south..."

Out of nowhere the wolf sniggered, stealing back Sage's full attention. His green eyes narrowed briefly at the insult, but Sage held his tongue. They were in an empty, chaotic land and there wasn't a wolf alive who would come looking for Sage's body.

"I could talk for hours." He finally started speaking again. "But that wouldn't be fair. What is your name?" Suddenly Sage was feeling just a little too close to this wolf for comfort. He had no problems with male wolves or female wolves, they all entertained him well enough...but this was his first encounter with a dark wolf and...well, that snigger had said it all. Sage was walking a fine line trying to stay on this wolf's good side.

[Shadow]

Bright blue optics narrowed and his head followed as Khaos watched the odd coloured wolf shuffle towards him, his tail low in submission. "The shade..." Khaos barely moved his head as he nodded, saying it was ok. Afterall, he wouldn't want to be stuck out in that sort of heat and light for too long, he certainly wasn't built for that. Khaos listened with facination at the seemingly wise wolf that sat so close to him. Having never experienced an earth wolf before, he found it interesting to learn about their lives. Yes. Even Khaos was interested in what other wolves had to say, sometimes.

Khaos pulled his head back slightly as he watched the green-ish wolf misconstrue his laugh. He certainly wasn't insulting the wolf before him, there was nothing to laugh at. Seeing as Khaos himself enjoyed wandering and exploring, this wolf was actually a little like himself. Despite the obvious differences.

Khaos smiled as the wolf seemed to want to stop talking. "I don't think I would mind how long you spoke for. But since you asked, my name is Khaos. I too am wandering, exploring I guess. Although not in the same way as you, I'm sure." Thinking back to what Sage had said moments ago, Khaos commented "Generally I stay in the southern region, although not quite in this sort of landscape. The wastelands and the peccant are where you might tend to find me. Although being a wanderer, I guess you could find me anywhere." He laughed at the last sentence. I haven't spoken for that long in quite a while. Thinking silently to himself. Turning his eyes back to the colourful wolf that sat beside him in the limited shade, Khaos began to wonder how long it had been since he had encountered a wolf for such a length of time without drastic consequences.

[krrazy]

"Khaos, huh? A fitting name for a dark wolf such as yourself." Sage ducked his head in a sort of greeting before looking up to meet Khaos' brilliant blue eyes. "I don't get that compliment much...most wolves I meet have a thousand other things to do. Not many care to waste time talking." He tipped his head to the side, sulking slightly at the thought of previous meetings with others. "You'd think that learning and knowledge would be a priority in one's life. Though there are other worthwhile goals, I guess."

Feeling slightly more at ease now, Sage leaned in a bit as Khaos spoke of his travels through the Peccant and the wastelands. Long, ears focused in on Khaos and Sage's eyes widened. With whispered breaths he spoke, "You've been to such places??? Remarkable...I wouldn't last a day out there what with the wild ones who call it home." Then he shut his mouth and blushed, stuttering out, "but of course, you...I mean...I don't think you're wild...except you are. Really, you're a very dangerous wolf, but...I just...had we met under different circumstances I doubt I'd be alive right now."

Sage looked away for a second, willing himself to calm down a bit. This was part of why he hated talking, every time he'd end up saying something wrong, or something stupid. It was really a bad habit.

"So, ah...Khaos. Do you have a mate? Pups? Or do you wander alone?"

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[Shadow]

Lifting his head slightly, Khaos let out a quiet laugh at Sage's response to his name, "I guess it is quite fitting." A smirk slid onto his face as he watched the wolf moan about previous meetings he'd had with perhaps, many wolves. Poor guy. Admiration for this brave earth wolf was clearly growing inside Khaos. Never before had he met a wolf that had shown much courtesy towards him, one that didn't just look at Khaos' exterior and judge him for a brutal killer then try to battle it out with him. True, Khaos was a blood-thirsty wolf at times and he mainly enjoyed travelling alone, but even he would like company for a short time. Especially when they showed any form of respect towards him, seeing as Khaos was a wolf born for leadership, he enjoyed getting respect even when he wasn't a leader.

Khaos didn't quite understand why Sage seemed so shocked by where Khaos had travelled, not until the wolf mentioned the wild ones. He watched the wolf stutter in embarrassment, trying to correct himself, fail miserably and look away to calm down. But all Khaos did was let out a roar of laughter, "Oddly enough, I find that to be a compliment. And true, if you had acted any other way towards me I doubt we would be talking now." Khaos added with a sly grin. Generally the way Khaos acted was due to how his company acted towards him. If they snarled and took a snap at him, Khaos would gladly do the same. But if they did what Sage had done, be courtious and calm towards him then they would have little to fear. "Currently I am a lone traveller, mate and pup-less. To be brutally honest, I like it that way. How about yourself?"

[krrazy]

Something was changing about their meeting, Sage could feel it. While the dark wolf talked, Sage thought hard, waiting for an idea to surface. Finally it hit him and he saw clearly that Khaos was sapping power from him. Not literally sapping his power, but feeding off the respect that Sage was building. That was interesting, very interesting and Sage found himself curious if all dark wolves were so cocky and power hungry. Yet another question to answer as he traveled the world. Well, Sage decided as he watched Khaos, he didn't mind this give and take sort of companionship. If it kept him on Khaos' good side...well then all the better. Gaining allies in this vicious world was important.

"Ah, you dark wolves certainly are a breed of your own. Living in such places shows your strength, certainly. It is enviable." Sage stood abruptly, tongue hanging lazily over his lips. "I don't know about you, but I'm thirsty. Would you like to walk and talk? The river isn't far." He backed out of the shade, wincing as the hot sun devoured him instantly.
"I travel alone as well. There was a female in my life once, but we parted ways after a bit of a fight. I would like a family, or a pack to surround myself with but..." He frowned and leaned in. "You may have heard, the earth wolves have been homeless for quite a while now. Our last leader was murdered and the pack fell in upon themselves. I don't remember much, being young at the time...but I won't return to the pack until it is firmly established again. So...I guess I'll have to wait on a family until then. Which is fine, seeing as how I like wandering. How old are you, Khaos?"

[Shadow]

Khaos' crystal optics seemed to glow in the daylight, but despite the stunning sight of them, they showed no emotion. This wolf had no true emotion to reveal as he sat talking to the earth wolf. He was pretty relaxed in the situation right now and felt no need to bring any form of emotion to the surface. Why bother? But when Sage mentioned the strength of the dark wolves, a small lopsided smirk fell onto his lips, Not wrong there. he thought with a silent chuckle. Watching as the male got to his paws, Khaos nodded in response and pushed himself to his feet also before stepping out into the blistering heat of the day. It reminded him to wonder why on earth he had come to this damned place, there had been nothing interesting here until his meeting with Sage.

With a quick shake of his ebony pelt, Khaos began to pad alongside the earth wolf, auds turned slightly to one side as he listened to the wolfs story. "Hmm I think I do remember hearing about that, although personally I never gave it much thought." The news of the earth packs problems had indeed been apparant to the other packs, but they knew to leave the pack alone and let themselves sort it out. It was known that a new leader would come about soon, they would get through it. Khaos couldn't resist hoping that Sage would find a new family one day, he was a decent guy and clearly deserved it. Shit, I am losing my touch. The simple thought flashed into Khaos' mind as he walked beside the earth wolf, nearing the river.

Sage's question soon dragged Khaos away from his thoughts as they came to a stop beside the flowing river. Turning his head to look at the wolf, Khaos replied "Currently I am only four winters and three moons. Still quite young I like to think," He added with a slight chuckle. "How about yourself?" The quick question flowed from his maw as those piercing optics came to rest on the flowing moisture that ran before them, he couldn't resist waiting for it anymore. Dipping his crania, Khaos began taking deep gulps of the cool water as he waited for Sage to reply.

[krrazy]

Sage sidestepped to avoid the dust from Khaos' shaking, keeping a close eye on the dark wolf as he too moved out into the sun. For a while they walked in relative silence which Sage didn't mind. It was hard to converse with a dry mouth. This also gave him the oppurtunity to once again admire the harsh scenery. In the passing hours, the sun had sunk lower but Sage could feel little change in temperature.

He was relieved to finally see the river sparkling ahead of them. Moving around the leafless bushes, he approached the bank with little hesitation. At once Sage dropped his silky green head to drink, but Khaos startled him with an answer. Suprised at how young Khaos was, Sage lifted his head to re-examine the dark wolf. He was full grown, of course, but there was indeed that itching sense of youthfullness. Sage tossed his head and scoffed, "I'm no where near as young as you. Lucky." Then he turned back to drink. After his stomach was full and his thirst satiated, Sage leapt out into the river. It was relatively shallow and slow moving on the edges and he happily soaked his body in the refreshing cool.

The wolf would willingly have sat in the water for the rest of the day, but he wanted to get moving. Something told him hanging around too long would be trouble. With nimble steps he came back onto land. Sage stretched, looking down and watching the sand suck up all the water that landed on it. "What? 8 winters?" Sage sighed and flung water from his pelt with a might heave.

"Too old, much too old but I'm still going strong. Not even graying 'round the muzzle yet." Too wet to sit, Sage continued standing, facing Khaos head on. "Where do you plan on traveling next, Khaos? I am thinking of going back North, maybe see the ocean or something..." His voice trailed and Sage sighed, disappointed his body was drying so quickly.

[Shadow]

Sorry for the slow reply, I'll get to it soon (: