Story Time (Part 1) - Charaka and Rhaegan RP

        It was chilly this evening. Charaka shivered a bit as a stray wind blew through her fur. Unfortunately her coat wasn’t keeping up with the cold. However, Charaka was confident her fur would fluff up eventually. She was fine when she came to this land in midwinter after all. Until then though…

        Charaka stuck her head inside the elk carcass she had killed earlier today. She had already gorged on the organs leaving a sizable cavity. One big enough for her to squeeze into. So she did, wriggling and maneuvering herself so she fit neatly inside of it. She had often slept like this on cold nights. It had the advantage of keeping her warmer; however, the downside was that other animals often tried to scavenge from the carcass since herself and her scent was hidden.

        However, that didn’t bother her. More than often a surprise attack from within her hiding spot scared off most scavengers. Still, Charaka kept her ears alert as she settled down for doze. It never hurt to be careful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Hunger. That was what had driven Rhaegan from his vigil within the safety of the den. Days had passed, each colder than the one before, but still Reicher and Father were nowhere to be seen. When Rhae had first woken up and found half his family missing, he’d thought Ivan was showing his brother the outside world, and would be back soon enough. The cub had paced the entrance irritably, unhappy to be left behind but knowing better than to stray from the cave without Father’s permission.

        But when noon turned to dusk, and dusk to darkness, Rhaegan’s indignation gave way to uncertainty. He was used to Ivan striking out alone and leaving for days. Weeks even. But he’d always left plenty of food, and he’d always gone alone. The sun was setting for the fourth time since Father’s leaving when Rhaegan finally decided to strike out in search of food, and maybe some sign as to his brother and father’s whereabouts. By now he was certain something was wrong. Father would never have taken Reicher away so far, and for so so long. Not without bringing him and Aleksey too. Would he?

        As he walked, the chill air cut through Rhaegan’s short cub-fur easily, and soon his paws were numb and he was shivering. Having never truly felt winter’s breath, the sensation of true coldness was perplexing to him. Strange birds screeched at him from the treetops above, their harsh shrieks hurting his ears. He sniffed the air instinctively for anything remotely familiar, halfway surprised when he recognized the scent of elk. Hoping he had his direction right, the cub plodded toward the smell, a growling in his stomach urging the young wolf onward. Soon he caught sight of the carcass, a massive heap of meat and bone lying, apparently, unattended. Rhaegan approached slowly, ears pricked forward. He could pull a nice meal from this, and bring some back for Aleksey, too. Seeing nothing else around but the kill, the cub circled around to eat at it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Sure enough the sound of fallen leaves being crushed underfoot stirred the tan female from her cat nap. Charaka blinked lazily and peered out from the crack she had made from ripping open the elk’s belly. Normally she would have sprang right then and there, but something about the sound made her pause. It was… careless? Whatever made them sounded as if they were light of either step or body, but no cat nor small animal was this nosy. Charaka’s brown eyes kept staring through the crack waiting for whomever this was to show themselves.

        A… pup? A dark-furred pup was there, circling and chewing at the carcass. But where did he come from? With one steady movement Charaka slid herself out of the carcass as the pup passed her. She didn’t bother stifling the sound as surprising the pup would be a jerk thing to do. Plus she didn’t want to scare it off if it was in danger.

        Shaking herself slightly to rid herself of some of the excess elk blood on her fur, she laid down to meet the pup at his eye level. “Hello. Where are your parents?” she asked in a calm soothing voice. She smiled at him but at the same time twisted her ears around to try to detect if any other wolves, possibly his parents, were around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        The flesh still held some warmth, and the taste of a fresh kill was intoxicating after days living off nothing but the occasional insect. Rhaegan abandoned any pretense of caution, and he’d halfway pried a sizeable morsel from the elk’s ribs when suddenly the carcass began to move. He jerked back, thinking for a moment that the thing must still be alive, when another wolf emerged from its innards.

        Rhaegan bristled, short little tail held high as he squeaked out a low growl. This big, bloody female was a stranger to him. Strangers weren’t allowed. He met her gaze evenly as the fawn female crouched down. There was a friendly expression on her face, one he didn’t feel compelled to return. An ear flicked back ever so slightly as he thought about how to reply.  Ivan had told him outsiders were dangerous. She mustn’t know he was alone. “Father’s coming.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        There wasn’t anyone coming.

        Charaka sniffed the wind once more to be sure but there was merely the stench of coyote nearby. Plus she could smell the little one’s scent in full now in the open air. He had the scent of other wolves on him; however, most of them were faint. Only one scent remained strong and that belonged to another puppy. Where did his parents go? Where they killed? Did they abandon them? She doubted she would ever find out.

        Charaka sighed and laid her head down on her paws. The pup’s skin was hanging slightly loose on him although he was large for his age. She could have sworn she smelled the scent of starvation from him too. She wanted to take a closer sniff but it only took her one time prodding her younger sister to know how sharp a pup’s teeth were. Besides, she didn’t want to spook him.

        “You can have some.” Charaka said jerking her head towards the elk. “I am full and driving you off would be a waste of energy.” Not that she would ever have the heart to refuse a pup in any condition, but the pup was raised to be wary of strangers. Kindness from a stranger seemed more dangerous than simple indifference. Then she added, “And I would advise against leaving. I’ve seen a coyote kill far more ferocious things than you. Take a sniff over there if you don’t believe me.”

        Her head still on her paws she glared at the spot she knew the coyote to be hiding. It would most certainly attempt to kill the pup if given the chance, and his sibling too. Worry spread through her at the thought of a defenseless pup at the mercy of anything that crossed. However, her tracking skills were still scorn-worthy. She would have to try to get this pup to lead her back to his den.

        “My name is Charaka. A loner, meaning I have no pack. Would you like to share your name?” she asked in warm voice, her eyes and ears still focused on the coyote. However, she did start to groom the blood off of her face. The flies were starting to bother her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Rhaegan hesitated, eyes trained on the she-wolf for all but the split second it took to sniff in the direction she’d indicated. He had no idea what a coyote was, and everything about the outside world smelled so strange and stark... He couldn’t really be sure what scent she was talking about. Maybe she’d made it up. And if not, why would something so dangerous be hiding? The tawny she-wolf didn’t seem worried about Ivan coming to chase her off, either which the cub found strange.

        Slinking a good many strides away from the stranger, Rhaegan hovered next to the carcass and studied her. After a moment of thought, he replied. “Rhaegan… My family’s my pack.” Charaka’s offer was just as perplexing as the rest of her. Not wasting energy to chase him made some sense, the cub supposed. He’d often let his brothers scavenge leftovers. But actually offering the meal to another was an alien concept. You never flat out gave away what was yours.

        Did she pity him? Father had said pity was for the weak, did that mean Charaka thought he was weak? A quiet warning growl squeaked out of the young cub. She needed to know that he wasn’t afraid of her. Better sense told him to leave. Ivan obviously wasn’t here and this kill had been claimed. But the hunger in Rhaegan’s gut outweighed the unease. He began to nip at the elk, still watching Charaka out of the corner of his eye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Family… What a nice word… Instantly memories from her life with her own family flitted through her mind. What she wouldn’t give to go back in time to those happy days. Then a small growl distracted her. Charaka tilted her face around to scan Rhaegan. Was that a warning growl? It seemed a little out of place considering he already gave his name. Deciding that it would be best to ignore Rhaegan’s anxiety for now she turned back to continue monitoring the coyote.

        Except it wasn’t there anymore.

        Charaka slowly rose, her nose and ears seeking out where the carnivore might be. But there were no strong traces. It must have left to come back at another time, she reasoned. However, she started to slowly pace in a wide circle around Rhaegan and the elk, making sure the coyote had left. “I don’t have my family or my pack anymore.” she said a bit sadly, continuing the thread of conversation. “How long has it been since you’ve had a full belly?” she asked. Out of all the questions that flitted through her head to try to make friends with the pup, that one was probably the safest one. At least it was better than just bluntly saying, ‘you are starving’.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        He grew more relaxed as the she-wolf got up and ceased her hovering. While Charaka circled the kill for… whatever reason, the cub tore into the elk with a fervour. Warmth spread through him, and a strength he hadn’t felt for many days began to return. There was plenty here for him to have his fill and then some. He remembered what Ivan had said about gorging himself, though, and forced himself to slow down.

        Charaka continued her line of conversation, which Rhaegan listened to carefully. Why didn’t she have a pack anymore? Had her father deserted her, the same way as Ivan? Swallowing a half-chewed hunk of rib-meat, Rhaegan turned to look back at the fawny female. Intentionally ignoring her question about his diet, the dark cub asked, “Why don’t you have a family? Did they leave?” His voice was flat, but his head tilted with genuine curiosity. Maybe the same thing had happened to her, and he could figure what he was supposed to do to find Reicher and Ivan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        The pup’s question, innocent as it was, hit her like charging bull. Visibly wincing as the question and her family’s screams echo’ed in her head. She could not answer that question! She would NOT answer! She shouldn’t have even brought it up! But she did. And now Rhaegan was looking at her expectantly.

        Sitting down gingerly, she turned her head and studied a point a little past Rhaegan as she wondered just how much to tell him. “Yes. Yes they left.” she said finally. She decided she would talk about her Morrow family instead of her biological one. She could handle that. Suddenly depressed at the thought she scowled. “They didn’t have to leave… They didn’t even tell me where they went…” she said sadly. The small bubble of fear and jealousy welled up from her heart and her face twisted into one of pain. “And they even chose to be in that damned pack instead of staying with me!” Her voice cracked at the end as jealousy and the emotional scar momentarily overtook her. She had forgotten Rhaegan was even there.

        Some vague voice her in head warned her her emotions were going out of control again. She couldn’t burst now. Not now! She was doing so well containing it. If she cried now, she wouldn’t be able to stop! Biting her lip, Charaka furiously blinked away the wetness in her eyes. Willing herself to pull together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Flicking an ear back, Rhaegan narrowed his eyes at her words. Charaka’s story seemed similar on it’s front, but he doubted his father would have joined a pack. No, father hated the pack; he’d said they were all traitors. That must mean Charaka’s family were traitors, too. 

        Wait… what was wrong with her face? Was she… crying? But there was anger in her voice! He’d only ever seen Aleksey cry, and it had never been with anger. Ivan had never tolerated it, but Reicher always tried to make their brother feel better somehow. “Father is going to destroy the pack. I’m going to help.” The cub replied, thinking the idea of revenge might comfort the she-wolf as it comforted Ivan.

        He returned to the carcass, using his claws to dig at the exposed bone. He liked the taste of marrow, but had trouble breaking through the tough white shell. It would have been easier if Ivan were around to crack it for him. But the sooner he learned to do it himself, the better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Swallowing hard Charaka just managed not to cry although she could still feel the wetness on her eyelashes. Then Rhaegan spoke.

        She started and stared at him in surprise. She had completely forgotten he was there, lost in her own emotions. Mentally she chided herself. She shouldn't show a pup such a shameful sight.

        Also, what did he mean by his father was going to destroy the pack? Did he mean Butwalled? Surely that was the only pack she could think of that would be worth destroying. Briefly, she envisioned Stallion lying dead under the pack's shadowy trees and HIS pack coming back to her. And Gypsee and Caiden... Surely Gypsee would have had her pups by now...

        The thought depressed her even more, for that future was never going to be, so instead she decided to focus on the pup in front of her. "Here... Let me show you." Charaka said. Ignoring whatever the reaction the pup took, she walked over and yanked one of the smaller leg bones free. It seemed obvious to her that Rhaegan didn't know how to break open bones. But perhaps he would like to know how?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Rhaegan stopped gnawing on the ribs as Charaka came back up to him. He flattened his ears as she offered to help. She didn’t owe him anything… What was this charity for? Still, he couldn’t help but feel some gratitude.. If Ivan never came back - a possibly Rhaegan had been made aware of many times - then he was going to have to learn the skills to survive somewhere else. But rather than thank her, he remained quiet.

        After a moment of hesitation, he sat down to watch. Perhaps she could teach him more than just how to crack open bones. Perhaps she could teach him the things Ivan had said he was too young for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        She didn't hear him reply, but his actions told her his answer anyway. Since she had his full attention, she braced one end of the thin leg bone under one of her wrists and rested the other end on top of the other. "First, make sure you hold it steady enough. Then slide it to the back of your mouth. The middle of long bones like this one are weaker in the middle. And make sure you've got the bone in between your back teeth." She showed him by baring her teeth enough to show the crushing back molars, the tip of one of them directly in line with the bone.

        "Then you bite down steadily and-!" she said before her teeth split the bone in half with a loud crack! Letting the free half fall, she maneuvered the other one between her front paws, broken end up. "But if you want to get the marrow out it's best to split it lengthwise. Like this. Oh! And you use your molars for this too."

        Angling her teeth down the leg bone half, she kept her teeth visible so Rhaegan could see that her canine tooth was out of the way. Then deftly split the bone in half. However, she had to physically separate the two halves as they were still connected at the end.

        However, she didn't offer the newly exposed marrow to Rhaegan. Instead she started to nibble on the juicy treat herself. Jerking her head at the other fallen piece of leg bone she said, "Now it's your turn." The half of the fibula was lying about a foot and a half away from her right shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Scowling, Rhaegan watched the she-wolf carefully. His ears twitched as the bone cracked, skepticism turning to excitement. His mouth watered as she chewed the marrow, and the young cub wasted no time picking up the unclaimed piece.

        His mouth was smaller than Charaka’s, and holding the bone between his molars forced Rhaegan to open his jaws wider than was comfortable. Growling, the pup clamped down on the leg bone with as much force as he could muster. It felt like it was bending - but the she-wolf had snapped her piece more cleanly than this! Rhaegan put his paws on either side of the bone, using his shoulders for added pressure.

        After several seconds of infuriating nothing, there was a faint a cracking noise and the bone snapped. It wasn’t as nice as the lone female’s break, just the same Rhaegan let out a bark of pride as he set to hooking out the tasty red marrow. His mouth hurt, but the prize was more than worth it. With practice, he could sever even bigger bones!

        Licking his lips, the pup nodded seriously at Charaka, his own way of saying ‘thank you.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Charaka watched carefully as Rhaegan tried to crack open the bone. Perhaps she should have chosen a smaller bone? But the smaller one didn’t have much marrow in them. She was just about to suggest he try another when he finally did it. She let out a small sigh of relief as the pup dug in the the treat.

        She smiled as he nodded in thanks and said, “Keep gnawing on bones. It’ll help your bones and teeth grow strong.” It was one of the things Mom often said to her and her siblings. Then she would always go on about a story that had nothing to do with bones and more about hygiene and plants and other icky tasting stuff like the one’s Gypsee liked to smear on wounds. Charaka was always bored during those stories, but her mother always made her pay attention anyway. Dad and Uncle had the best stories though! Dad’s were always funny or filled with heroic stories! And Uncle’s were always cautionary tales and ones of past battles and fighting! It was hard to tell which of the two were better.

        Suddenly curious, she asked, “Which stories do you like better? One’s of valor or one’s with wisdom?” before gnawing the broken end of the bone to a sharp tip. Actually there was another story of Uncle’s where a pack used sharpened bits of bone to injure their prey’s feet. And then there was another where…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Despite his hunger, Rhaegan set to gnawing at the marrow with a careful precision that was somewhat surprising, given the less-than-refined manners of his family. At the female’s encouragement he flicked an ear, thoughtful. Yes, he would have to learn to hunt for himself, and keep growing bigger and stronger, in order to survive. Ivan had often told him and his siblings how important it was to be more powerful than the enemy, the Pack. And this was a good, big step.

        The question Charaka next asked perplexed the cub. Twisted his ears back, he tilted his head and scrutinized her. What was valor? What was wisdom? The few stories he knew were of strength and anger and vengeance, Ivan’s tales of his and Roman’s great deeds. With a quiet ‘hmph’, Rhaegan replied, almost petulantly, “I don’t know what those are.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        In retrospect, perhaps it was too much to expect a pup to know what those words meant. Even with her parent’s help it still took her a long time to understand the concepts when she was a pup. “Valor is great courage in the face of danger, especially if it’s in a battle. And wisdom is the use of experience and knowledge coupled with an optimum judgement of a situation, and using it to successfully complete goals.” said said, trying to simplify it the best she could. “Basically just choose between a story with fighting in it or one where you learn something.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Her explanation made Rhae scrunch his nose up even further. What use was a story if you didn’t learn anything from it? And why was she so eager to share with him? Rhaegan began to wonder if this was some sort of test. Could Charaka be a friend of his father? Ivan had many friends who weren’t allowed in the den, the cub knew that much. Perhaps she owed him some loyalty. After all, that made more sense than sharing with a stranger.

        After a moment of thought, he replied, “I’d like to learn something.” And then he added, “Do you know The Black Butcher?” That was something he’d heard Ivan called before. Uncle Davis had called it his… his reputation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Charaka tilted her head in thought. "No. No I haven't heard of The Black Butcher. What kind of story is that?" she said. It wasn't really much of a surprise she hadn't heard it before. There were no pups in Morrow to tell stories to nor did she interact much with other packs or loners. "I know the story of The Brown Butcher if you want to hear that instead? Perhaps it's similar?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Rhaegan sighed. He supposed it had be too much to hope that this was all some construct of Ivan’s. Having had his fill of marrow, the pup tossed the fractured bone aside with one paw, licking his lips and enjoying the feeling of a full belly. “It’s a story about family…”

        But the brown butcher, that was something he’d never heard before. Small ears perked up as he looked down on his own fur. It might be nice to learn about a wolf who looked like him. With a nod, the pup agreed. “Tell me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

TO BE CONTINUED