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 Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:45 pm
It was a beautiful day; the sky hung clear above the lazy stretches of the Summerwood township, and branches swayed languidly in the feathery breeze that stole across the land. Chorales of birds chimed through the trees, and every once in a while, the sound of baying dogs broke the silence.
Sunday. The neighborhood was at rest, and not a single car cruised the streets. In the distance, a bell tolled the morning hour.
For Layla, there were better ways to spend a day off than sleeping in. The very thought was simply unacceptable! The golden husky had been up with the sun, and after having scaled a wire fence and escaped from her home, she was now strolling down the empty neighborhood streets, taking in the sights and sounds.
She was in her usual state - that was to say, she was immensely excited. There didn't seem to be many moments when she was any other way, and everything she saw seemed thrilling and wonderful and altogether new. In her mind, it was all spectacular, and she didn't understand the point of forgetting it. Every day, she saw things that made her pause and think of just how lucky she was to be alive and just how beautiful the world was around her.
Clearly, her brother didn't feel the same way. But that was another matter. Lazaros was the way he was with good reason, and Layla couldn't find it in her to question in. Or to question anything, really. Anything went for this girl.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 6:50 pm
 It was a big day for Rudolf. This was the day he'd decided to leave the forest. His home, so filled with memories, so well-known by the dog, was being left behind. Rudolf had felt a twinge of sadness once the treeline dropped away and he was staring at miles of open land before him, but that had been shortly after daybreak. Now he had to focus on the life that was in front of him, not behind. His mind was made up long before now. The wild dog was leaving the woods to make it on his own wherever he may travel. Rudolf felt excitement lift his heart. He would make the most out of his future, and see new sights, and learn new things.
The dog could see houses in the distance as he approached a neighborhood area. Humans! He was familiar with campers who brought shelter with them to travel (what a thing it would be if a dog could carry his den on his back!) but he had never seen a proper house before. Rudolf reminded himself to use extra caution. He was on the territory of other dogs, he could smell it in the air. Other dogs and humans and a flood of new scents that he had never smelled before.
His tail remained high and unselfconscious as he explored. Walking straight down the middle of the street, Rudolf kept himself on alert. There were a few trees but nothing major to hide behind, so he didn't. Even if someone saw him and came over, he would see them too, and that was fair.
It seemed there were plenty of barriers between human shelters, but he could see little uninhabited territory. Pausing in his walking every so often to look at something a little more closely, the dog got to wondering if he would be able to find shelter here. That was basic concern. Food, he assumed he could go and hunt for. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it. But shelter, that was something to sort out as soon as possible.
Rudolf found himself wandering towards a see-through barrier in front of a property. There was a den on the grass, not a hole dug out of a hill like he would recognize in the forest, but a structure built from red wood. It was dog-sized, but vaguely shaped like the human's den. Had the human built it for their dog? How odd...
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 7:09 pm
The morning found Layla pitter-pattering here and there, aimlessly, with her tail swinging and a tongue lolling happily, as she was wont to do. It would be a sad day when she stopped doing what she was doing, when she stopped trotting in no particular direction and when she stopped grinning like she always did.
Luckily for her, that day seemed nowhere near, and she was more than content to spend her time exploring all those sights that she had seen and smelled before. Life just didn't seem to get old for Layla, and she was more than pleased by that fact. She could do anything a hundred times, a thousand times and still manage to find something new and thoroughly enjoyable about it, and that was the way living was meant to be.
There was always some good out in the world. Always.
Soon, her meanderings brought her to the edge of the neighborhood, where the forest loomed dark and mighty, beckoning with promises of a wild adventure. Layla paused at the edge, as she always did when she found herself here, and pricked her ears, breathing in the fresh smell of the forest. There was always something enticing about the dark undergrowth, but she had been told time and time again that she was not to enter without a trust companion, so she stayed away, and instead, made for the little street stretching away from the woods.
Layla was a good girl, after all. Her customary smile came back to adorn her face, and she set off for the street, tail swinging. It wasn't until an unfamiliar figure came into her vision that she she decided to slow down and take a break from her whirlwind adventuring.
"Hello!" She greeted the stranger brightly, apparently unaware of the possibility of danger.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 7:32 pm
"Hm?" he breathed, turning his head from observing the dog-house to focus on the light-colored husky in the area. He hadn't noticed her approach until she had called out to him! In the forest, he would've been able to smell her from quite a ways off. It must be that the neighborhood was so full of new smells and dog smells that his nose was overwhelmed. That could be a danger for him, he thought.
Looking over the female dog, Rudolf edged away from the human territory to meet her half-way on neutral ground. He nodded. Rudolf wondered if she lived in the house he'd been looking at, in which case he would be trespassing on her territory. But she seemed friendly, and she was wearing a collar. He recognized collars from the pet dogs he had seen accompanying humans on hikes or camping trips. He'd always wondered if they were as uncomfortable as they looked.
"Mornin'," he greeted, in an attempt for friendliness. "You live here?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 8:12 pm
As the other turned his head, Layla couldn't help but remark that, under the sunlight, the bright stripes upon his coat gleamed like gold. It was fascinating, and he moved with a certain cautiousness that she rarely saw in the working and pet dogs in the neighborhood. Nor was it the mousy, hunch-backed swagger of local stray dogs.
So he must be from somewhere else. She sniffed the air, regarding him with wide-eyed interest. What it must be like to be foreign! Her tail wagged at the thought. It was all incredibly exciting.
"Oh, here?" She echoed, tearing her gaze away from him to look at the dog house beyond. Well. Next to her new companion, the dog house looked dull in comparison. She knew better than to scoff at a house, though. Shelter was always a welcome sight after having seen the hardships that came with sledding.
"No," she shook her head with a smile. "I live... oh, back over there.
She turned and pointed vaguely with her muzzle in the general direction of her home. "I'm from around here, though, if that helps," she added eagerly, determined to find out more.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 8:54 pm
Rudolf noticed how the female was looking at him, but he'd never been given a look like that from anyone before. There was something curious about her expression. Her gaze seemed intently locked on him, but not in a threatening way. No, she seemed happy for sure. This was good, yes? At least he wasn't upsetting the locals, he thought with a pleased expression turning up on his face. Maybe she was as curious about him as he was of her.
As much as he was trying to be friendly, Rudolf didn't turn his head to look when she indicated the direction in which she lived. It was always best to keep other animals within sight, an old habit. He nodded his head again. "I've come from the woods," he explained. "Just wandering through." He didn't want it to seem like he needed help, he wasn't asking for that. But it seemed his curiosity would do the talking for him.
"You have a human? I've seen a neck-thing like that before." He was aware of how much his manner of speech made him out to be the complete n00b foreigner that he truly was, but there was no shyness. Rudolf did not see any shame in asking questions or trying to find answers. How else was one to learn?
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:10 pm
"You're from the woods?" She echoed, ears perking. How delightfully exotic, coming from the woods! And that had to mean that he was... well, not a stray, because that was filthy. No, no, he was anything but that. A wanderer, she decided.
At that moment, her mind was filled with thoughts of grand adventure and incredible new places, seeing things that she had never seen before, nor had ever thought to see before. Getting to know humans and dogs and all sorts of creatures she had never met before. Traveling. It was all mightily exciting, and she regarded him with awe.
"Neck-thing?" Layla glanced down at the collar that lay about her neck. It was a beautiful collar, made for elegance more so than practicality. A harness was the tool of her trade, and the collar was only there for show, anyway. A good thing, too. She quite enjoyed the necklace-like ring about her neck and the bright jewels that reflected the sun. "The collar, you mean," she corrected with a smile. "From my.. human, yes."
It struck her that he must not have a "human," as he called them. Master was the more common word, Layla thought, and the term "human" made them seem so... distant. She decided that she kind of like it, though.
"So what are the woods like?" She added, bright-eyed. "I take it you don't have a human."
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 12:23 pm
Hearing the repetition of his statement that he came from the woods, Rudolf's face gained a rather cautious expression. He knew no dogs that lived in the woods other than himself; the only dogs he'd ever seen were with their humans. It was weird, something to set him apart, he knew. But was it bad? He searched the girl's face but the only thing he could find was something akin to admiration. It puzzled him. This dog surely didn't seem unhappy with her life here, but, well, maybe everyone is a little excited by something new. Rudolf relaxed a little on that basis.
Collar. Right, he'd have to remember that. There was going to be a lot to learn. Rudolf didn't recognize the need for it, nor would he have made the distinction between a collar that was strictly for show or function. They were all the same to him. It was a loop around the neck used by humans to tie a rope to their dog. He rather thought that if the dog wanted to follow a human, they wouldn't need to be tethered.
"The woods are like.. " he paused to think. "Not here. Wild. Free. And cruel." He lowered his eyes to the female's collar, but soon raised them again. "There are many other animals. Not many humans." Rudolf didn't know if this was the answer the girl was looking for, but it was the truth and so he told it.
The dog gave a deep nod in response to her assertion that he didn't have a human right now, but just couldn't leave it at that. "Once… but he did not have me," he said. Rudolf had never considered himself owned in his life. He lifted a corner of his mouth to try and show that it wasn't sad for him. He would continue to look forward. There was no use in dwelling on the past.
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 2:40 pm
Cruel? At that, the golden husky's ears twitched backward, and she cast a sideways glance toward the bordering woods from which he had emerged. Cruel? She never would have imagined. The forest was dark and foreboding, yes, but it seemed anything but cruel, and she had always thought that it must be more magical and mysterious than anything else.
Perhaps she had been wrong. Imagining the worst in anything was not Layla forte, however, and painting things in a positive light came far easier to her. Much as her brother had tried to instill some sense of danger into her, the lessons hadn't ended well, and she had come away no less eager to put her faith in everything and everyone. Over time, Lazaros had come to realize it was a lost cause, and had resorted instead to just keeping her out of trouble.
"Did you have a pack?" She asked, thinking of the strays that roamed certain parts of the city. He clearly was not a stray, but she assumed that living without a master meant teaming up with others for the safety provided by numbers. That was what she had seen, anyway, and it seemed like a decent plan. Not that she was endorsing stray behavior in any way. That was not something she could, or would do, for reasons that she preferred to keep to herself.
"You had a master once?" She said, surprised. Her brow furrowed at his next words, and she tilted her head with curiosity. "He didn't have you? How?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 2:56 pm
Carefully watching the female's reaction to his words, Rudolf noticed at which point her expression changed to uncertainty. He expected there was a reason why not many dogs chose to live in the forest. It was a hard life filled with dangers, and nature was cruel. Animals who lived in the forest lived one day from starvation, one day from freezing, one day from being eaten or killed. They had to be tough to survive. But Rudolf kept his chest out and didn't bow under the pressure of these thoughts. He had learned the law of the forest at an early age, and accepted it as the way things were. Some creatures live and some die, that's the way of it.
The dog gave her a tilted look. It seemed they both had plenty of questions today. He wasn't used to this much talking, at least not since he lost his mother, but he was liking it so far. Making a connection with another dog instead of having to hide from them and their human made him feel almost like he had a friend. And the female was being rather nice to him.
"I've never had a pack or a master," he stated with unwavering conviction. "The man, he was just… a wanderer, like me," he tried to explain. "We helped each other. He did not own me."
Lowering his eyes to near the ground, Rudolf fell silent. He began to wish they could change the subject, but couldn't think of anything to ask the female. Except… "What about your human?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 8:31 pm
"Never had a pack?" Layla couldn't help but blink. "But what about your family?" She couldn't even begin to imagine what life would be like without a pack. For so long, she had taken that sort of company for granted, safe in the knowledge that she would never be alone because her brother, if no one else, would always be there to keep her safe.
It was a strange feeling, knowing that she was in the company of one whose life had been so dramatically different from hers. He seemed much more like one of those wandering loners she had heard about before, a creature bound only to himself. It seemed entirely possible that she would never see him again once they parted.
What a thought.
At his words, Layla smiled, thinking of Devin. Her human. He was something, alright, and although Lazaros always warned her not to put too much faith in mankind, she was certain that Devin, too, would always be there to help her through her problems.
"My human is..." She searched for the right words. "Special." Layla didn't doubt that any dog he talked to would have said something similar, but there was just something about Devin, something incredibly instinctive about the quiet manner with which he did everything, something about the way he just seemed to understand.
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:07 am
The dog's ears flicked back for a moment and he fell silent. What about your family? The pack question had evoked an image of bands of dogs sticking together, not of his mother. He had forgotten… His mother was his pack. Rudolf suddenly sat down, feeling heavy. No, it wouldn't do to bring up those memories again. He would let what he said stand and give no explanation. It would be best that way.
Rudolf returned his gaze to the female when he felt a bit calmer about his internal struggle. He attempted to smile. She was obviously lost in thought about her human, which was interesting. He had never really seen a human acting cruelly, despite all of the warnings he was told growing up. This female had been so nice and pleasant, Rudolf was sure he'd hate to hear that her human treated her unkindly.
"Is special good?" he asked, lightening the mood a bit. He thought she sounded as if it was.
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:59 am
At that, Layla smiled, her usual, cheeky little smile and she gave him a patient look. "Well, I think you're probably pretty special," she said. Well, everyone was different in his own way, and because of that, Layla believed that each and every one of them was special somehow. But she meant what she said, and special was obviously a very good thing to the pale husky.
"But Devin, he just... I don't know, he just understands, somehow," she added, searching for the right words. It was hard to describe someone like Devin to a dog that had never met him before, much less to one used to living free and unfettered by human constraints.
"He's not like some of the stories you hear." Even as a kept dog, Layla knew there were stories, and she didn't doubt that, even on the racing circuit, there were some less-than-decent humans with the license to own dogs. It was terrifying and, frankly, despicable, but Layla herself had been fortunate enough to avoid any such owners in her lifetime, and it didn't make sense to her to blame the entire human population for things that several of them did or did not do.
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:37 pm
(( I'm sorry for making you wait this long! It's been a crazy week.))Rudolf angled his head towards the ground a little and smiled a bit self-consciously as the female called him special. He supposed it was a compliment, but being mostly socially inept meant that he'd be blushing if dogs could do that.
The dog nodded at the other husky, beginning to get a picture in his head of what her human was like. Devin. Hearing the name starkly reminded Rudolf that the two huskies had yet to exchange their own names. He hadn't used his in so long...
"I think you're special too. You've been so nice to talk with me," he began in a gentle voice. His expectations for this residential area had clearly been exaggerated. Although this wasn't exactly where the female lived, which might explain in Rudolf's mind why she was nice and not aggressively defending the territory. "What should I call you, Miss? My name is Rudolf."
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 1:03 pm
Admittedly, Layla wasn't the most accurate representation of life within the suburb. Nothing seemed to faze the pale husky, and everything seemed to her happy and carefree and not in the least bit worrisome. That, of course, proved to be a problem sometimes, and her naivete tended to get her into hot water every now and then.
But that was where Lazaros came in. Her brother was such the opposite of her, so much surlier and warier of everything and everyone, that he made up for all her unfettered glee with his stoic desire to protect her - and anything that was "his" - from harm.
"Well, thank you," she said, accepting the returned compliment with a smile. What a gentleman too, she thought, to say something like that - nevermind that it had just been in response to something she had said. It was hard to convince Layla otherwise when she had an idea stuck in her head, and this was one of those ideas. "Layla," she offered. "Pleased to meet you."
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