RipTide

The gray pup ran in and puased; breathing heavily to catch his beath. He fell on the ground and kept his eyes tightly closed. He had just gotten a death wish from Risen, and now someday she will pay. His eyes slowly opened. He will become strong and seek his revenge on her for that. Still, he was missing something. He sat up still painting heavily and his paws sore from stumbling over many objects as well as his head. What, he thought with such fury and anger.

*Humans*

With a small campsite set up in the Golden Star Valley area of the territory, the two humans were ready to start studying the pack. It was their belief that the mass of attacks on the locals were wildly exaggerated, and mostly to blame on hybrids and wild dogs. Aside from proving or disproving this theory, they were here to simply study the wild behaviors of the pack.

Traveling across the ground, the man and woman carried each a backpack and a large trio-pod for taking photos. Around the man's shoulder hung a black bag, containing a video camera.

When the man spotted the pup in the distance, he and his wife instantly put their bags down and set up their camera and video. This was the first wolf they had seen in the pack. And their first goal was to establish how many were in the pack, and be able to identify each individual. Hoping not to intrude on what the youngster was doing, the couple began to film his trekk, snap some photos, and write notes in their book.

Blind

She moved through the brush, not as silent as most wolves. She knew the place by heart, having walked it many a time. Nightcrawler had been left at the croal mountains. She didn't want him hurt, and she was letting him decide if he wanted to seek the new dark wolves or not. She heard the camera reeling, and her ears flicker. Blind eyes were turned in the general direction of the humans as she stood by the pup. Do not attack them... She murmered softly to the pup. She didn't want him to become wanted like all the others. The blind female lay down, 'watching' the two humans.

RipTide

He sat there and cuaght a smell in the air. A foul scent he never smelled before. Yet one he has heard of, humans. His muscules tightened as she scrambled to his small paws and rumbles began to form deep in his chest. "Why not?" He barked to Blind as she laid down. He knew it was her without seeing her at all. His other sinces had grown rather strong now and so was he. He still painted heavily from his long run escaping Risen.

*Humans*

The presence of a second wolf excited the pair quite a bit, and they scrambled to write more things done. They knew there were more wolves than this in the pack, for they had seen the evidence of paw prints, and these two certainly weren't alphas.

Focusing the binoculars further, they could see detailed enough through the keen lenses that the older female was blind. Her eyes appeared to be clouded over. This was something they were fairly interested in. They were curious to see how the rest of the pack might act around this wolf, and support her with the handicap.

Blind

Her eyes narrowed slightly, as her nares caught the wind. They are unarmed, and mean us no harm. No harm, no foul. They cannot harm us. Her eyes went in the general direction of Riptide and in a soft voice she said to him You are a strong warrior, my son. But, to grow stronger you must learn fear for the things that can do you harm. It could be taken two ways, her words. Become a coward, or learn to respect the humans for what they were and fear the things they could do. It was up to Riptide on how he would translate.

RipTide

He could picture what the humans looked like in his mind as well as blind, even though she could see her as a white blob. He nodded laying down on the earth with boredom at last he had cuaght his breath. "Okay," he barked softly to her. There was something about this female, something different indeed, but all you could really say is that he could respect her for whatever it is, and he listened. He rested his head on his paws looking up at her with a more gentle glare then his normal cold ones.

Blind

Her smile was faint and she knew that he to could not see. Softly she said to him One must look at blindness as if it is a game. So you can't see -shrug- big deal. We can do things others can not. Our senses are hightened beyond belief, we can hear things that others cannot. We can scent things farther away then others. Its just a matter of honing your skills. Listen, Riptide. Can you hear the clicking and whirling of their picture item? Can you hear every breath they take? Do you hear the mouse that creeps closer to see them? Can you hear my heart beat as I hear yours? She was challenging him, giving him the game as she had spoken of. She would teach him to live life as she lived it, as a game. Sure she couldn't fight like the others could, but she could listen and tell you if others were lurking in the brush. She could tell you if a moose was three miles away. A game. She played it as if it were all a game.

The female shifted slightly, her arthretic bones creaking. It was amazing that she had lived this long for being a wild wolf. She was near eight or nine now, and being blind she had problems that many others did not have to face. Her hearing wasn't as good as it used to be, but still very well. She tried not to let the pain show on her face even though she knew Riptide could not see it. Pain was one part of the game that she had never liked, nor understood.