That Spring, that Summer, open

[Faith]

So... Spring huh? All the snow had melted away, birds were chirping, flowers blooming... granted it was late spring so a lot of the prettier flowers had already died, but the summer bloom flowers would be out shortly. Faith was an expert on flowers, being born in White Flower Canyon. Maybe she'd be a florist or something when she grew up, if she ever decided to leave Timber Woods. There wasn't really anything holding her here in the first place... other than Bailee had dropped her off here and Hayden had been nice enough to take her in. Right now she was only staying because she didn't have any place else to go... and Hayden needed members here the way her Momma and Daddy had.

Sighing, the girl flopped onto the ground in the grass, wishing she could be in White Flower Canyon right now, in the flowers. Her daddy always used to tell her that she smelled just like the flowers, that it was embedded into her scent, because she was born among the flowers and always played in them, picking them, braiding them into her hair... she loved those flowers a lot. And now the White Flower Canyon pack was gone, her daddy was gone, and so were the flowers she loved so much.

Faith sighed again, stretching her arms before putting them behind her head, watching the sky through the tall grass of the plains, nearly hidden there. Sunlight streamed onto her face, and though she tried to keep her attention at least partly on the sounds around her (since she was deaf in one ear if she didn't focus on what hearing she had she wouldn't be able to hear anything coming) it wasn't working and she became lost in a daydream of fluffy clouds.

[Sheeba]

Sheeba snooped around amongst the flowers, her hindend hopping slightly with her one leg becoming slowly stronger. She'd gotten a little bit bigger in the past few weeks, but she hadn't gained much weight. She lifted her head smelling a scent that mixed human, dog, and flowers all into one. She let her nose lead her to it and was soon sitting about ten feet from a small girl.

Sheeba tilted her head to the side. She could smell that there was a very strong canine scent to the girl, so she must be like Hayden and can change back and forth.

[Freelancer Tex]

Alison found it easier to take her true form when in the woody pack-land, and she had to say she was getting quite used too it. She'd never been much of a fan of the whole 'wild wolf' thing but she could see how some would rather be this way. She felt as if she was part of this territory, the wild thing that controlled all the other wild ones. She'd always been independent, but now there was technically a few who were codependent upon her. She liked this feeling, it gave her a reason to be here, it was no longer just 'because'.

Her favorite part of the terra was the plains, beautiful grass rolling in the wind as far as the eye could see. She took in a deep breath, meant to draw in the luscious, fresh scent but instead she caught wind of two she had not met before. Her pace quickened as she cut through the tall grass, stopping short of the first scent she had gotten wind of, a younger female. She held herself high, the fact that she was the new alpha was unmistakable. "Hello you two.." she said with a conservative smile.

[Sheeba]

Sheeba lay down, her ears laid back as she looked up at her. "H-hello." she states softly, looking towards the alpha as she smelled of it, strongly too, that and her mighty posture.

[Faith]

Faith let herself be captivated by the white, fluffy clouds floating far above her head, up in the sky where if she closed one eye and tilted her head a little, she could put up one arm and pretend to grab a cloud. She imagined it had to feel like cotton candy... it certainly looked like it. She closed her eyes and started daydreaming she was back on the White Flower Canyon terra... when the white flowers were all in bloom. For a moment she was so deep in it she could even hear the sounds of the birds of that season chirping shrilly, and the scents of the flowers were all she could smell for at least a mile all around as she laid among them, running her fingers through the soft petals of a flower from a bunch she had lying on her stomach as she watched the clouds float above overhead... she took in a deep breath...

And then two unfamiliar wolf scents hit her nose.

Faith's eyes flew open and she sat up, turning around. Two others -- one small like her if she'd been in wolf form, though probably younger, and another who was much larger than her and who was holding herself like she was the Alphess, which Faith wouldn't know or not because she hadn't talked to Hayden in awhile -- were standing off to the right and behind her. She hadn't even heard them come up, or smell them until just now... she really had to pay more attention. Focusing on the sounds around her helped her hear better, but her attention was still focused elsewhere so she had to resort to reading lips. Luckily, the younger one had just finished saying something... like 'Hello', though whether to her or the woman she didn't know.

But Faith was used to having to explain to others about her hearing problem and having them repeat what they'd said by now. She lifted one hand and pointed at her left ear. "Sorry... I can't hear out of this ear, did you guys say something?"

[Sheeba]

Sheeba umped just slightly at the young girl's voice, and turned her head towards her. "I said hello to the older female." she states sternly and slowly stood, showing her own diability of having just three legs.

[Freelancer Tex]

Her eyes wandered back and forth between the two younger females. The youngest seemed rather frightened, so she lowered her slender frame closer to the ground, to appear less intimidating. Upon hearing the slightly older pup speak out finally, her bright gaze flicked in her direction. Hearing what she had to say a sympathteic look crossed her mug. "Oh.. that's terrible.."

Standing up slowly she looked back and forth from the two.. "I'm Tex, the new Alpha around these parts. How long have you two been apart of this pack?" she inquired this warmly, wanting them to feel just as welcome in this pack as they always had been.

[Noble]

Sheeba smiles at the older wolf and stood up before slowly sitting down once more. "I haven't been here but for a few weeks." she states.

[Faith]

Faith's gaze slid between the two other females, finally jerking to the younger female when she spoke first. She frowned a little at her tone. Jeeze, she didn't have to be so... stern about it. She was only asking if they'd said anything to her... it wasn't her fault she couldn't hear, only that she hadn't been paying attention. She glanced at the female again... and saw three legs. Not four, three. That was weird... was she losing her eyesight too or was she missing a leg?

The brunette then switched to stare at the female on her other side, easily able to hear her because that was her 'good side'. She glanced down at the ground as she straightened up, shifting her weight to sit back on the ground facing the two newcomers, crossing her legs indian-style. "Eh, it's not that bad... it's been that way all my life, I don't know anything different." Faith shrugged and then looked back up. "I've been here since the beginning of winter, after my family's pack was lost." She usually didn't talk about what happened with White Flower Canyon to others, but... it didn't much mattered if she mentioned it.

[Freelancer Tex]

Looking between the two young girls, she noticed that both of them had been dealt hard hands by life. She felt an overwhelming feeling of sorrow consume her as she heard the half-deaf girl speak to the three-legged pup, then again to herself. Swallowing hard, and using her ability to act rather well she smiled softly. "I'm sorry to hear that, I hope you can see this place as a good replacement home, though it is bold of me to say such" she remained in her wolf form, sitting down slowly looking back and forth between the two. "Have either of you ranks from Hayden?" she inquired, wanting to get the business part of the meeting out of the way quickly.

[Sheeba]

"I do!" she says enthusiastically, "Hayden's my friend, she made me a soldier." Sheeba states, bouncing lightly on her front legs, her tail wagging back and forth quickly, a happly little pup at the moment.

[Faith]

Faith only shook her head lightly when the older female addressed the two of them again. To think about it, she wasn't sure what the other pup's name was... she never met her before. She said she'd only been around for a few weeks at best, so there was nearly no chance of Faith actually knowing her, even by sight -- she hadn't seen anyone around the pack land in about a month. This was a rather large gathering for Timber Woods at the moment. She glanced at Tex, the new Alphess of Timber Woods, when she spoke, before her gaze slid back to the younger pup, a small smile on her face. Then the brunette addressed the two of them. "I'm Faith, by the way... and I didn't get a rank. I was still a pup when I came in, so..." She rubbed the back of her head. "I'm still just a pup now."

[Freelancer Tex]

She nodded her head slowly to Sakura, finding it easy to transfer her rank quite obviously. When Faith spoke, she came to a dilemma. She'd have to leave her at the rank of Soldier until she could gather her thoughts on what she was going to do in concerns to the ranks. Oi, that was a headache and a half in itself. She didn't even want to try and start working things out just yet. She had to get to know each of these wolves just a little more before she could come to any permanent decisions.

"Well.." she said rather cheerily, a small smile on her lips, "I'll be calling everyone together here soon.. and we'll discuss that further then. I'm glad you chose to remain apart of the pack.." she added the latter with a slightly broader smile.

[Faith]

Faith shifted a bit uncertainly as she watched both the younger female and then Tex closely to make sure they weren't speaking, as the small gathering of people and surely and swiftly descended into silence. Silence was a normal thing to Faith, for the most part - she was half deaf after all, and when she didn't pay close enough attention to things (as children often did) she wasn't able to hear anything at all - but it was a little awkward as everyone had had something to say before she talked and now everyone just stopped. Was it something she said? She hoped not.

Then Tex began talking and it slightly startled her, expecting the silence to extend. The slightly nervous/worried look on her face faded into a more relieved smile and she nodded slowly. "Kay, that's okay with me..." Faith looked at the younger female, who still hadn't said her name, before looking back at Tex. "So... what happened to Hayden Miss Tex?" She asked innocently, wondering where the woman had taken her into the pack had gone if Tex was now Alphess.

[Sheeba]

Sheeba wondered that herself. She realized that when she was first found here that Hayden was the alpha of the pack. "What did happen to Hayden?" she asks lightly. She was curious, and a bit confused.

[Freelancer Tex]

She smiled to the two younger ones softly. At one point she hadn't thought she'd ever want kids, being that she hadn't the patience for them, but now she didn't mind them at all. In fact, the smallest one was even rather adorable. She gave a light laugh as she settled her slender frame in to get more comfortable. "Well, she's still apart of this pack, she's just ceded the rank of alpha to me" there was oh so much more she could have said, but she didn't, keeping the placid smile across her muzzle all the while.

[Amora]

ooc: i know it's my turn to post and it's been awhile... but should I even bother? :P I have lots to catch up on, so i wanna know if it's been too long since anyone posted before i get working on it... i dont wanna take a while working on a post only to have the topic shut down because it's been too long and no one else wants to reply xD