Pack Roleplay

Paddfoot watched as the day grew darker and the wooden huts dotted around him became illuminated from various campfires that had been strategically placed around the small village. He tugged on the lead which refused to release its grasp around his neck. Paddfoot gave up with his half hearted attempt to free himself and he resumed to pacing around in a circle. He felt like he was driving himself insane, 'nothing could be worse than this' he thought as he followed his own tracks in this man made hell.

Paddfoot's restless shuffling woke up Echo who woke up to see paw prints dotted around her, "calm down Paddie it won't be for much longer," she yawned. Her words fell on deaf ears as Paddfoot continued to walk around in his cageless enclosure. Echo gave a sympathetic look, "Look Paddie, they've put you here because although you're a wolf-dog, you've spent much to long in the wild and you look far to aggressive for them to let you go. If you just tone it down, act submissive to them and they will release you."
"I'll...I'll do anything to get out of this..." muttered Paddfoot as he continued to pace around.

Suki woke up in an instant, glancing around. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light, the sun long deserted to be replaced by the less symmetrical moon - yet the moon still awestruckingly similar to it's counter part, the sun. The she-wolf got up and shook the debris off her. She soon realised she had been tossing and turning in a restless slumber. Waking up quickly, Suki padded outside, darkness overcoming her. The silent, somewhat lonesome clearing made her oddly calm. Suki had always been a night wolf. Dashing to and fro, she became one with the night. She stealthily darted towards the camp. Though purposely not taking the most direct route to her destination, the she-wolf still made it to the human camp in good time by her standards. Her eyes quickly checked out the clearing, finding Paddie tied to a pole. Figures, she thought, slowly crawling towards her target. She figured he had enough of this admittedly boring place. Suki was careful not to wake the she-dog sleeping strangely close to Paddie...

Paddfoot sighed in relief when he noticed the distinctive walk of Sakura. He made small gestures with his head to call her over once he was sure that it was safe for her to do so.
"C'mon, you got to find a way for me to get out. I'm going insane here!" he whispered desperately, "The lead they bound me to is strong, it'll take a while to gnaw through it otherwise I would be free by now."

Paddfoot scratched himself nervously as the pair thought about how he could escape. He couldn't however feel some guilt about what he was doing when he glanced over at the happily resting Echo, "I'm sorry...I can't stay here, the dog you know died a long time ago." he whispered under his breath as indecisiveness sunk in splitting him into two frams of mind. To avoid any further hesitation he made his best effort to not look at her and pretend that none of this happened.

Paddfoot tried his hardest not to look at the wolf-dog but one last glance revealed something to him, it reminded him why he had put up with everything. It showed that his business here had remained unfinished, although he had found out who he was, he still did not not know what took his memory from him and left him with the scars running down his neck. It was a question that layed buried deep within his subconscious and it revealed itself as soon as he had a chance to find an answer. Paddfoot stopped gnawing on the lead as if hesitating. He looked up at Sakura, revealing his slightly watery eyes that displayed his inner torment, "Sakura..." he mumbled, "If you had a chance to find out about your past, would you risk everything to try and find out what it is? If...If I stay I may be able to finally hold my head up high, knowing who I am and what happened to me that marked me for life." Paddfoot tried as best as he could to reveal his scars to her but the hair flopping over them made it difficult. Paddfoot decided not to bother about telling her about the memory loss, he wasn't sure but she might of already known about it, "However If I stay things will only get more complicated, especially with..." Paddfoot pointed his muzzle over to Echo who was still completely oblivious to the escape attempt.

Paddfoot was suprised at how deep his feelings were, this side of him never usually came out in public but, after a day confined to a space no larger than a small pond, there was no excitement or mindless optimism left to hold it down.

Ed stood quiet as he heard Paddfoot repeat the same sentence he had told his fake-father two years ago. It surprised him how socked he was to hear it from someone else, and he pondered over the sentence for what seemed centuries, but in reality was a fraction of a second.
"If you had a chance to find out about your past, would you risk everything to try and find out what it is?"
Shaking the thought, he walked towards them silently, making sure not to sound too stealthy as to scare them, but just loudly enough to let them know he was there.
"You want my advice?" Ed whispered, bitter taste in his mouth. "I had that same choice. I took it, and I wasn't sorry. I learned dark secrets that should have been kept alone, and some still haunt me to this day. But I made my peace with the nagging question of 'why?' that was always in my head. However, that was my experience, not yours. I'm not sure what it might be, whether it will bring you a long-deserved answer or provoke more unanswered questions, whether it will scar you 'till your final days... but I do know that if you do, you'll get to at least answer that question. you'll know that you tried." Edwyn stopped when he saw the she-dog beside Paddfoot stirring. "Your choice, Padds, better make it quick." He said hurriedly, waiting for his friend's answer.

A cold breeze drifted across the clearing, ruffling Sakura's fur. The she-wolf was shocked at what Paddie just told her, and probably Edwyn seeing as he just materialized. Suki dragged her tongue over her teeth, swallowing hard. For once in her life, she wasn't sure. All her life, she just had.. something, some one with her, a companion to - not assist - but to just be there. With that, she was.... fearless. She would do anything she wanted to, whenever and without doubt. Without worrying about her history. It was just that... history. Heck, she did everything she could just to forget those memories. But the aura that rose from Paddfoot's trembling form told Suki he thought differently.
"Follow your heart." she whispered finally, meeting Paddie's gaze. She noticed he was holding back from telling her something else, something... With a start she realised he was slightly attempting to conceal his scars. Paddfoot's scars... he doesn't know what happened... "Oh." she blinked, taking a step back. "Then again 'tis none of my business. Would you like one more night here? I have to set up camp - for myself - anyways." Suki mumbled, glancing back at the silent she-dog Paddie was hinting at. Realising, she grinned. She opened her mouth to call him out, but at the last moment shook it off, her mouth reforming a frown again. She steadied her gaze on the ground in front of her and waited for a wolf to speak, for she was, at a loss for words.

Paddfoot nodded, the words of his pack members gave him confidence on what he wanted to do, " Thanks. Give me a few days, I need to be taken further into the human den..." He pointed to a large ornate hut which was twice the size of the others and obviously held the high ranking humans, "...so I can talk to the old wolf dog living in there. Hopefully he'll know everything. I may need a few days for this so I can prove my worth to get in. Could...could you do me a favour though, If I get too friendly could you remind me that I still belong to the pack..."

Paddfoot nodded and after a brief and quiet goodbye Paddfoot turned and sat back down next to Echo. It didn't take long, however, for Paddfoot to become restless once more and he sat up fidgeting nervously about what was install for him in the morning.

Sakura silently nodded. The chilling air swirled around, sometimes picking up leaves and sand along with it. The she-wolf started making her way back to the den, mind already planning on where she was going to sleep. When Suki glanced up, she saw the sun just barely peek out of the tree tops, making her remember that she still didn't know. But she was glad that Paddfoot was happy, in the end that's ultimatly what matters, right? But then what was her goal? Suki thought about doing the same thing. Then she thought about the ninja band. Should she just tell them the truth? Finally the top of the den appeared within Suki's sight, causing her to sigh. "I guess I should get started." she muttered, glancing around for a dead thing to use. She thought, This will take a while... but it will be worth it.

Paddfoot watched the sun rise from behind the horizon, illuminating everything with a warming orange glow. The view of the sky from this camp amazed Paddfoot, he usually wasn't able to get a good view of this from within the territory. After fidgeting and slowly pacing around in a circle, Paddfoot decided enough was enough. Paddfoot crept up behind the sleeping Echo and he gently nipped her tail. Echo yelped and jumped into the air in shock. She growled at Paddfoot and she moved out of his reach before curling back up on the ground.

Paddfoot stood there confused, "Obviously she doesn't like mornings..." he mumbled before curling up himself and attempting to sleep.

Edwyn stood atop a rocky formation on an otherwise clear field. It gave him the ability to see from far away any annoying bear or better, a juicy elk to eat. He had focused mostly on survivability after last night's episode, since he was so confused.

So my pack leader -or the closest thing to it- left for a while to 'find himself' and besides Suki, I haven't seen anyone else recently. Well, that's just great. If it weren't for the enigmatic she-wolf, I could almost call myself a loner again.

Ed sighed, not really caring about his mental anecdote, instead more preoccupied in finding food.

Suki placed one last branch on the 'fort'. It somewhat resembled a beaver dam, and it was sort of close to the other dens, the dam barely in eyesight of the dens. The she-wolf yawned and trotted to the dens, ready to grab one of the hares from the fresh-kill pile. But Suki stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the two hares she had cought yesterday were gone. Sighing, Sakura turned around and started hunting for more food.

Bored out of his mind, Ed decided to go after some small prey, since it was apparent no big prey was nearby.
He noticed a river full of salmon, but he was in the mood for hare, and besides, he had no time to time to go fishing. Quickly startling a hare, he sprinted towards it and caught one of it's hind legs in his left paw. After a finishing blow, he feasted on his small meal, before moving on to find another one.

Suki stood still, listining. She pinpointed a hare and gave chase. When she was close enough, she leaped on the rabbit, killing it upon impact. Devouring it, Suki decided to go swimming. Or something like that. Daylight flooded through the clearing, the sun raging in it's full glory.

After two or three more hares, Ed had a full belly. Content, he decided to head towards the den -rarely used by him- for a quick nap.

Suki cought a fish and began eating it, soaking wet. After the fish was devoured, the she-wolf shook off excess water and buried the bones. Yawning, Suki decided to take a quick patrol around the borders.

Edwyn reached the den, where he plopped down on the cold ground and napped.

Sakura yawned again and... decided to check up on Paddie. She trotted to the human den area and glanced around. Spotting Paddfoot in one peice, she wandered back towards the main den area. Seeing the prey pile empty yet again, the she-wolf started hunting.

After what felt like an age, Paddfoot opened one eye when he heard footsteps approaching him. He immediately stood upright in excitement as he hoped that he could be freed.

The human stopped infront of Paddfoot and he knelt down to his level. He reched out his hand and held it out infront of Paddfoot. Curiously the brown wolf-dog sniffed the mans hand out of some form of instinctive curiosity. His head was immediately ruffled by the human's other hand, obviously Paddfoot did something right. He couldn't help but notice that the human was wearing strange cloths and fabric and even an animal skin, "Must be a trophy of his kill..." he mumbled as he held in the urge to lash out at the human who touched him.

Paddfoot yipped in delight when he felt the strain on his neck lesson, This woke up Echo who seemed to be as grumpy as she was before. Paddfoot was walked around the village and into the forest. Paddfoot's ears drooped and he felt very uncomfortable knowing that his pack friends were probably watching him. He held in the urge to try and overpower the human and run to safety but that just made him look even more awkward. At least Echo was following him, even if she was silent for the whole trip.

The human then screeched something and Echo responded quickly by dashing around with her nose to the floor, trying to pick up scents for the humans. She then barked three times before dashing off into the forest. Paddfoot then felt the tug around his neck which told him the human wanted to follow her.

"I wonder where we are going..." thought Paddfoot as he let the scene run infront of him. He didn't feel like doing much so he decided to let those two do all the work.

After catching a few stray birds and depositing them to the spot, Suki walked over to the stream. Instead of looking at that, she looked up at the sun. "The sun..." muttered Suki, who barked twice before howling for what seemed to be no reason in particular. Mid-howl, a pitch black - almost blue- wolf jumped out and tackled a very surprised Suki. The wolf mumbled in her ear, "Dawn breaks before the cricket jumps onto the cherry."
Just as sudden as the strange wolf arrived, he dashed back into the forest and vanished. Suki instantly understood what the male was trying to say in code.
Her new mission.

After watching Echo and the human chase the scent of a rogue hare that got away for a while and after a few teasing comments, Paddfoot found himself tied up back in the pen and tied up to the pole. He was relieved that he had moved more than a few meters and the hunt amused him greatly. He also noticed that the humans weren't so heavy handed with him anymore and they were still giving him treats after doing some basic things such as sitting and laying down.

As the sun set for another night of fidgeting and unrest, Paddfoot curled up in a little groove he made for himself in the ground. Unsuprisingly Echo crept away from her owners hut to keep him company.
"So what were you doing today? You know aimlessly tracking a hare and having the human foollow you?" asked Paddfoot curiously as he let out a long drawn yawn.
"It's what the humans want you to do," replied Echo. She giggled slightly at Paddfoot's confused expression before filling him in, " The rule here is...we find the food, we distract the food, they kill the food and they give us our share..."
"Huh..." replied Paddfoot, "Sounds like we're at the bottom of the pack." Paddfoot sniggered evily at her confusion as if it was payback, "In a pack the dominant wolves eat first and the others get what's left..."
"Well that makes sense, I wouldn't want to challenge one of them anyway. They have strange weapons that are much stronger than our claws. Anyway why would I want to overthrow them, they give me food and a home to live in. I'm glad to be where I am and you should be too..."
Paddfoot wasn't sure how to take the last bit, he was still in two minds about what to think. He shook down any thoughts and he remembered what he was here for.

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A few days passed and eventually Paddfoot was released from the lead. He had learnt enough of the human commands to be trusted enough to be let free. He spent most of the morning stretching his legs around the camp and watching the activities of the the other wolf dogs, especially the old wise one. There had to be a way for him to see this wolf but unfortunately the old dog had fallen ill and was confined to the hut, all signs looked doubtful that he'll survive. This worried Paddfoot as his history might die with the old wolf. He couldn't wait any longer and so he used his observations to devise a plan to extract the information he needed.

Soon night fell and Paddfoot watched as the humans retreated into their wooden huts for the night. Paddfoot quickly and stealthily snuck through the door of the large hut after the human chief. Paddfoot remained silent and stayed in the shadows. He watched as the shadow of the human chief and the other two busy themselves with creating a small campfire inside to flood the place with light. In the darkness Paddfoot snuck around the oval room and towards the bed where the old wolf was sleeping. Paddfoot poked the wolf with his muzzle and watched as he groaned awake.
"Elder...Please grant me your wisdom...I require some answers that only you will know." whispered Paddfoot. He was told by Echo that this was the formal way to talk to the old wolf.
"Child...I am old...can this wait....until tomorrow?" slowly panted the elder who was obviously struggling to breathe under his wiry grey fur.
"I'm sorry Elder but this is important and requires urgent attention. I need to know...who I am." muttered Paddfoot as he crept over the elder and hid in the space between the dog bed and the wall.
"Oh so it is...the returning Paddfoot....that has come to me....at sundown. I have heard...much of you...from Echo." the elder breathed as he struggled to move into a more comfortable position.
"It is...I need to know where I came from and what happened that day."
"Those are...questions...must of...troubled you...for a long time....child." The elder leant over the bed and wearily drank from a small bowl of water, "However...I do not know who...your natual parents are...you were brought here...from a distant...human camp...when you were...only a few days old. You were sent...to father pups here. But when you left...someone else...was brought in...much to Echo's disappointment." The elder didn't have to say anymore about that. Paddfoot could fill in the gaps himself. It left Paddfoot shocked but in a way relieved that he finally knew, even if it was something he didn't really want to hear. The old wolf continued, "That day...was tragic...our camp was attacked...by the local wolf pack...we were betrayed...the agreement between...us and the wolves...had been broken. A small scale war...had broken out...and we went after...the alpha of their pack...However they assaulted us again...you were split off...from our group...and the last thing we saw...was you running into the forest...with a beta male...at your heels."
"So...is that what happened..." whispered Paddfoot who wasn't really concentrating on what he was saying. The very pack that raised him up were the ones that stripped his life from him. But it makes sense. The pack started to collapse when he arrived from the loss of the alpha and it finally dispersed leaving him and Riley to fend for themselves in these lands.

Paddfoot remained quiet as he pondered his thoughts in the safety of the shadow that was cast over him by the the dog bed. He sat their and listened to the shallow and forced breaths of the old wolf as if he was almost choking on every breath. Paddfoot whined slightly before remembering he was hiding before he went into a troubled sleep.

He now knew...

(Sorry for the time skips. I kinda wanted to get this out of the way)

Sakura's eyes grazed over the big lake. It was one of the biggest the she-wolf had seen, but she had seen bigger. The sun was rising behind the waters, creating the illusion the sun was bigger. It was slightly foggy, for dawn had not passed yet. For a split second, Suki pondered over the thought of jumping in and swimming across. For 'twould only take but a moment. She snapped back into reality when the sound of paw steps echoed close behind her.
"Hey, wolf." a low growl came from behind the she-wolf.
Sakura got up and turned a full 360 degrees in less than a second and spat, "What do you want, Seth."
The silver wolf known as Seth stepped out of the dense undergrowth. He mumbled, "I see you still remember my name. You'll be screaming it later." his gray eyes glinted with mischief.
"What are you up to..."
"Oh, me? The one wolf from the Band you've completely lost touch with? Oh, and don't tell me you haven't seen your precious Cricket in the past four years...? Didn't think so." Seth sat down next to Sakura. "So, how's it going?"
"What do you want?" Sakura growled, side glancing at the loner. "Just get it over with. Why are you here?"
"Oh, yeah. That. Swift Wind told me to give you your next mission. You have to-" Seth blinked before retreating back into the wilderness. Sakura glanced over her shoulder to see what cut the O' Mighty Seth off, and gasped.
The sun had dissapeared from the sky, and everything was as red as blood.

Paddfoot woke up the next morning sore and tired from his awkward sleeping position. He poked his head over the dog bed and scanned for a way out. He noticed that he could push the door from inside and so, with a plan of escape in his mind, Paddfoot whispered, "Farewell elder I have to leave now. I have responsibilities elsewhere. I hope you feel better soon."

Paddfoot snuck out of the squeaky door, stirring the sleeping humans as it crashed shut. Paddfoot ran out of the camp as silently as he could, making sure not to be spotted by the guard dogs as he left. It wasn't easy but his experience as a scout paid off and he escaped unnoticed. Paddfoot stopped momentarily and looked back as he wondered how Echo would react to this. He shook the thought out of his head and silently ran back to the den, his 'mission' complete.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat. What the heck just happened to the sun? But just as spontaneous as it began, Suki blinked and it ended. "Weird," she mumbled, backing up a step. "I wonder ..." she said, glancing back to where Seth left. What was that? Shaking the thoughts from her head, Suki started for the border. Patrols solved every problems.

Edwyn arouse slowly, his body aching, but from what, he did not remember.
"What...where am I?" He muttered almost un-intelligibly as he rose. He noticed that the pack scent was strangely far away, and his surroundings were not familiar. "Well, wherever I am, I guess I better go to the pack..." He said optimistically, which felt strange on his tongue since he rarely, if ever at all, was optimist. Shaking the swirling thoughts off his head, he started towards home.

Paddfoot found himself squirming uncomfortably in the pack den. He had learnt as much as he could from the wolf dogs yet he didn't feel happy or relieved. He could not relax in the comfort of his home and that what was the thing that scared him the most. As he gave up with the restless nights sleep. Paddfoot walked out wearily, his mind somewhere else entirely. He eventually noticed the lack of his pack mates who must of crumbled with a proper leader to command them. He sighed and was about to let out a howl when he remembered the wolfdog that seemed so attached to him.

I can't let her find me again, he thought. Begrudgingly he sat down and waited, hoping that a few still called this den their home.