Hyoue

[i1vet2b]

Personality:
The youngest of his siblings, Hyoue devotedly follows his eldest brother Tristan and sister Astiri. He is nervous in nature, not fond of strange company as trust comes hard to him. While he doesn't openly interact with others, he is polite when he does speak, wise to choose his words as carefully as he places his paws. He feels that blending in with the background, even when surrounded by company, is the surest way to observe those around him with a keen eye. While Tristan is an attention-mongering charmer and Astiri is of spitfire personality, Hyoue chooses to keep to the quieter side of events.
He has a penchant for tracking. Dealing in scents more easily than he deals with others besides his siblings, Hyoue finds comfort in what odors can tell him. He is young, but not naive enough to believe that strangers don't lie. He trusts scents to find the truth.

History:
It was a long night when the flood swept through the valley. The pack had been taken by surprise in the darkness when water rushed into the dens. Before there was even time to react, two pups had been carried out in the swift waters. When the morning came, they found the eldest pup splayed across a washed out tree. Its body lay broken, head twisted at an angle to harsh for such a soft little thing. With fur still damp from slowly receding waters, the alpha female mourned the loss of her pup. The pack had taken up the howl, but it couldn't last for long.
"What have you found?" Tristan asked, watching as his brother's nose twitched wildly and his head swung to and fro like a stallion with flaring nostrils.
"Quiet," Astiri demanded, her eyes blazing as she stepped beside Tristan.
Hyoue was silent, letting his nose do the work his eyes could not. All around, there was nothing to see but rushing water and wreckage from fallen trees or the like. Not wanting to be tricked by lies his eyes could tell him, Hyoue closed them.
His head swung downstream - or what had become downstream where before there had never been water - and his ears rammed forward. "This way," he murmured quietly to his siblings, not wanting his mourning mother and packmates to follow for fear that they may find his little sibling as lost as the first.
Tristan and Astiri followed behind closely, keeping their eyes peeled and their ears sharp.
"There," Hyoue said, his head jerking up and a quiet whimper. Without waiting, he leaped into the still powerful flood waters, paddling strongly to reach the other side of the rushing water. There, nestled between the branches of a half-submerged and near-fallen oak where the water was still hock-high, was his baby sister. Carefully, he grabbed her by the scruff and turned to head back, his legs sloshing through the murky water littered with leaves and branches.
Seeing his success, Tristan rallied the others with strong barks while Astiri sat away from the water, her eyes haunted. "Everyone, he found her! Hyoue found the little one!"
Their mother raced to them, getting there as soon as Hyoue reached the shore. She licked his muzzle and wagged her tail with tears in her eyes and body lowered as if he were the alpha and she his daughter. Unnerved by the change in position, even if it lasted for mere moments, Hyoue stepped away, his tail wagging slowly behind him.
"You did well," his father praised.
"Thank you, father," he murmured, dipping his head respectfully.
The recovered pup's littermates danced around Hyoue's paws happily, yipping with excitement at the return of their sister.
Hyoue smiled, nuzzling each of them before lifted his head to look at their ruined lands.
"What will we do now?" he asked his father, his eyes on his shivering baby sister still held by his mother. He dare not look in his father's eyes, fearful of what he would see there. His father's scent told him enough already. There was worry to be had for their lives.
"We will survive," was the proud response of an Alpha determined to make the best of a bad situation.
And survive they did, but only just. Prey had fled the area - those that had not drowned, that is. After a week of hard living, driven out into the elements with the ground so water-logged and not suitable for den-digging, the Alpha spoke with a burdened heart.
"We cannot stay here, and the pack is too large to travel as one in search of a new home."
They all understood what that meant. They would split up.
"It'll be fine, father," Tristan assured, his tail wagging, determined to keep spirits high. "I'll go North." Looking at his whimpering newest siblings, the wolf smiled softly. "Though I depart from you, I'll always be with you."
"I'm going with you," Astiri said, lifting her tail as proudly as their father.
Hyoue stepped beside his siblings. All knew where he stood. Always and forever, he would be by their side.
And so the pack split, some going alone, some in small groups. The newest litter went with the Alphas, tearfully saying farewell to their aunts, uncles, elder brothers and sisters.
With the pack in tatters, scattered like leaves in the wind, they moved on to survive.
Hyoue kept his eyes forward, never looking back. Scents didn't lie. They told him winter was coming. It was never wise to look winter in the eye, for she could be cruel to the too-proud.

[CloudFish]

I trust scents when picking out clothes for the day. : )

[i1vet2b]

LOL, I bet you do stinky.
Febreeze it to be sure.

[#Uzuri#]

Febreeze all the way. :p

[rexline]

I like it

[i1vet2b]

Why, thank you! Appreciate it. C: