[Smalltalk]

[[ Smalltalk and her kids are here but anyone interested in joining is is welcome to pop in! ]]

Today was going to be the day, she just didn't know it yet.

The little family had trekked from the mountains to the canyons to the desert, stopping often along the way as the mother and the young children took their time not too push themselves too far. Smalltalk with her tripping steps and the kids with their tiny legs could only cover so much ground before someone needed to be carried or needed a nap, and the kids were adamant about it not being fair if she were the one that wanted to be carried because Mom!! You are too big for us!!! And no napping you snore SO loudly!!!

So now as they came upon an elephant graveyard that Chickadee had screamed in terror at as her mother Oo-ed and Aw-ed over how freaking cool it was, they took another chance to rest. Smalltalk planted her ass up on top an old tusk and the rest of her followed with a flop like she was made of spaghetti, her groans and moans loud as she kicked out her aching feet to hang off the ledge. "I'm SO TIRED I feel like I've been in labor but for YEARS," she complained to her kids that were clearly born, though she wouldn't be surprised if they didn't pay her any mind. Her obnoxiousness was probably like water off of a duck's back so used to their mother's antics they were by now, and she had just been their only companion for a while now. "Who's hungry? I'm freakin' starving. I feel like we've been walkin' FOREVER!!"

Flexing her toes and listening to the bones crack, Smalltalk shifted on her tummy and twisted to pop a kink out of her spine. She was too fucking old for all of this... probably. Wolves much like their writers don't keep track of how old characters are because that's madness, so she was going to guess that being middle-aged like she probably was not was entirely too fucking old. She cracked her neck with another noise that made at least one of the boys wince.

Normally the squabbling among the puppies was enough to keep the thoughts of a lost family unit and a missing husband at bay, but perhaps it was her exhaustion that loosened the fastenings on the musings to let them slip free. It had been too long since she had had any communication with Northwind, separated as they were by a terrible sandstorm that raged for days and changed the landscape of the Red Mountains. He had been out hunting as she hunkered down with the little ones, and she had dug them all out when the air was all clear to find hardly any trace of him. For too long she waited with the babies as they squirmed and chirped, calling for him or Warborne or Enamor with no luck, but the time came when she had to put on a brave face and move on for her kids' sakes. Her throat flexed with a swallow as she watched her children trip and sniff after lizards, a tightness to the corners of her lips as she stood to shake the dust from her fur.

She hoped it would be a while before any of them asked. She had yet to come up with something to tell them and, as talkative as she was, that was a conversation she was not quite ready for.

Scruffy head turned to consider a familiar star on the horizon, the same one she had had them following for weeks. She had never been so lost in her life, and had sought its amused winking as an anchor to that vagabond soul of hers. She needed to get them to the Outlands to give them a family and not totally fail them out of the gate, and they had been traveling in search of the Oasis in her memories.

"What do you think my Boobie? Time for us to settle down like a bunch of LOSERS?" she cackled like the wild thing she was as she leapt from the tusk and danced out of reach in hopes that they would chase her. Get them moving, get them moving! She seemed half of her age of infinity as she darted through the arching rib cage of once-great elephant and weaved through to snatch little squealing Chickadee who was having trouble keeping up into her jaws. Weathered paws beat the earth as she ran, and she set down her youngest to call back at them with thunder beating madness into her veins and a new terrifying life threatening to nip at her heels. "CATCH ME IF YA CAN!"

She had yet to recognize as it all, echoing with an emptiness it never had before, but her body knew the land for what it was.

Home.

[Smalltalk]

BOARD INFORMATION
Pack Board Name: The Outlands
Pack Board Description: Laughing, cheerful spirits call your name as they dance like licking flames among constellations and desert dunes as old as the world itself. Massive bones of elephants long gone twist and curl alongside a familiar oasis, their tusks painted and wrapped in festive banners as fireflies lend their glow to the night. You know this place, the home of the caravan wolves, and as you reach for the warm, outstretched hands of the spirits you realize that you also know all of their faces. Welcome to the Outlands- welcome back home.
Moderators: Smalltalk and Kookamunga

Subboard #1 Name: The Oasis
Subboard #1 Description: The Oasis is the life source for all who call the harsh desert home, and the driving force behind the caravan’s nomadic lifestyle. Here is an OOC board representing the landmark and is home to our codes, maps, and other information about our way of life.
Subboard #1 Moderators: Smalltalk and Kookamunga

Subboard #2 Name: The Man Villages
Subboard #2 Description: The smell of salmon and other smoked meats hanging from wooden racks fill your senses as the sounds of singing come from elsewhere in the village. There is a heart here and beats in a strong rhythm painted by laughter and hard work as our old allies return to us. Once destroyed by a hurricane that ravaged the coast, the village has returned in the form of small, simple homes that often move to follow migratory patterns of Great Beasts. Here you can prove yourself by hunting said beasts, and earn trophies and the tattoos that mark the faces of the Outlands’ great.
Subboard #2 Moderators: Smalltalk, The Narrator, and Kookamunga

Link to Banner:
https://i.imgur.com/thjiwqr.png

[Chukar]

     They had traveled so far, and my god Chukar was little. When they would take a break, he kind of prayed mama didn’t sleep because it was so hard to sleep with her snoring. Papa had gone missing a while back, it felt like so long ago. But if Mama wasn’t concerned, then he wouldn’t be either. He’d be a good kid, follow his mama wherever she went. But as the tiny group stepped into the bone area, even Chukar was oo-ing and aw-ing like his mother. "I'm SO TIRED I feel like I've been in labor but for YEARS," He didn’t pay attention to her words. He went up to the closest bone and sniffed it, giving it a quick, cautious lick. He should have suspected it would have a dust taste, but it still gave him a surprise. "Who's hungry? I'm freakin' starving. I feel like we've been walkin' FOREVER!!" He wondered...he took a nip at the end of the bone, and decided it was not edible.

    While his mother did whatever it was that made her sound weird, he kept sniffing at bones, occasionally stopping to look at the little critters that ran about. If it was alive, it was edible, right? The growl that came from his belly made him decide to give it a shot. Chukar smashed his paw down onto the tail of a lizard, and while trying to only take a small bite of it, accidently instead just ate it whole. Oh god, oh jeez. He started coughing, while the ‘food’ went down his throat. He took a big swallow, feeling his fur go on end at the taste and texture. He had messed up and now he was paying for his sins.

    "What do you think my Boobie? Time for us to settle down like a bunch of LOSERS?" He turned towards Mama, watching her start to run and jump. The tiredness seemed to fall away and Chukar yipped happily, running towards his mom and siblings. "CATCH ME IF YA CAN!" The little family was taking off, running between the bones of the long dead elephants, which Chukar didn’t actually know. If Mama had told them about elephants before, he didn’t remember. All he knew right now was that they were making the perfect playground.

[Arkana]

(Land claim granted, your boards are active! Please post here if you have any further updates for your boards, as well you can post information about your pack so it can be added to the monthly rotation.

Enjoy!)

[Kookamunga]

[[ THANK YOU ARK!! will do!! <3 Thread is still open for any party animals that want to be part of this first group ]]

[Dahlia]

Her searches so far had proved fruitless. So many locations marked off the checklist, but every time she could only wonder if perhaps she was going in circles. What if father was simply one step ahead of her this entire time? What if he had moved back to one of her previously-searched areas after she'd left already? Try as she may to be strategic with her methods, there was no denying that Dahlia was simply looking for a needle in a haystack, and these anxieties brought questions with no answers. It was cyclical, and it was exhausting.          The only thing she could do to push on with her motivations was to move on to the next place - the deserts. If father were nostalgic he'd venture there, she was sure of it. All the tales that mother had droned on about the two of them, apparently the desert was where they'd had the deepest heart-to-heart. The details were unknown to the two sisters, but if it was important enough for mother to bring up, quite frequently, maybe it meant enough to father to return to. Weary paws on the dainty girl tread day in and day out, resting where she could and moving for the rest of the time. Looming shadow figures had initially worried her, but as they failed to move she thought it safe enough, and so she pursued her efforts.          Upon closer inspection, the shadowy figures had been skeletons - some whole, some in bits and pieces, but nearly all of them of massive elephants. Trunks loomed and twisted, and aside from the eerie presence of death, it was quite beautiful. Wide eyes and attentive ears took in her surroundings before the yelps and cheerful yips of others caught her attention. Freezing in place, Dahlia took a deep breath before recomposing herself and curling around a nearby skull to peer out at others. An adult and a child, though it sounded like others might also be near. And they were bigger than her, a worry that scratched at the back of her mind though her curiosity drove her forward.          "Um, excuse me miss." Her voice scratched as she cleared her throat. Approaching slowly, the young lady would dip her head before donning a soft smile, "I, uh, I don't mean to bother you. Or your... Boobie... but I was wondering if perhaps you had seen another wolf through here? He's grey, with some darker greys and blacks. His eyes... they're the softest of blues..." Or so mother had said. And mother had said lots.          It was likely a fruitless effort, but it was an effort worth taking.

[Tit]

She was so tired, but the exhaustion was nothing compared to the excitement that bubbled up inside of her as soon as her little feet touched the ground of the bonelands.  Mother had been quite adamant about leaving their old place, and so they did, and man it was SO LONG.  Like, they walked for a gabillizillion steps or something, mother said about it feeling like being in labor, whatever that was.  

"I'm SO TIRED I feel like I've been in labor but for YEARS," 

"Ya, LIKE LABOR FOR SO LONG, That's how long we've been walking, so many LABORS."  Tit piped up from the back, a sneezing fit plaguing her tiny body after her yelling about labors, sneeze after sneeze, until it caused her to fall over.  This caused her a bit of grief, but it quickly was replaced by curiosity as her brother seemed o be eating one of these white things peeking out of the ground.   

"Who's hungry? I'm freakin' starving. I feel like we've been walkin' FOREVER!!"

Wiping her nose, she stood and walked over to the thing, and repeated Chukar's idea.  But, you know instead of nibbling like her brother, she just opened her mouth wide and bit into it. Tugging and pulling, and growling, before wrinkling her nose and pulling away.  Well, that was obviously NOT EDIBLE.  But then, Chukar again to the rescue! Tit turned in time enough to see him find a wiggly green thing, and put it in his mouth, and swallow.  So there was food around here! Aha! Tit scanned the ground, and immediately saw another thing scurrying away, and she gave chase, biting at it as it ran.  She gave no mind to Chukar almost dying after trying to eat this thing, the rumble in her tiny tummy drowned out Chukars gagging, and Mothers cracking of old lady bones.  "I'm gonna getcha, IM GONNA GETCHA.. I'M GONNA GETCHA.."  She said in a sing songy voice as she gave chase, until she finally was able to get it in her mouth, and crunch and munch, mouth wide open like a heathen.  "AYE SHUKAR- DIS FING ISH GOOD."  If she could give a wolf thumbs up to her brother, she would, but a tail-hanging-out-of-her-mouth smile would have to suffice.  

"What do you think my Boobie? Time for us to settle down like a bunch of LOSERS?"

Oh A new game!  Tit slurped up the remaining tail in her mouth, and with a determined smile on her face, gave chase after her mother, and other siblings.  Her little puppy legs starting to carry her as fast as they could go until, another voice popped up from between the bones.  Tit skidded to a stop, kicking up dist and sending her into a whole nother sneezing fest.  

"Um, excuse me miss. I, uh, I don't mean to bother you. Or your... Boobie... but I was wondering if perhaps you had seen another wolf through here? He's grey, with some darker greys and blacks. His eyes... they're the softest of blues..." 

Tit tilted her head, after her fit had passed, why did she think mother had seen this guy?  "EXCUSE ME!"  She yelled, "Can't you see we're in the middle of another Labor??  We're trying to be LOSERS, thank you very much."  She said, very matter of factly as if she had any idea of what she was talking about.

Besides, Mother couldn't even find Father - - so she obviously couldn't find this grey and black blue-eyed guy.  

[Akaika]

He always came back to the dust. It had coated the bright red of his fur in his childhood, and such treasured memories he returned to again and again to reminisce. Perhaps also, he returned in hopes of seeing her... or any other really who's face was tied to these memories and these names. He never wandered the wastelands long; There was nothing to keep him there. He would do a lap around the desert, a test of time, then visit the gnarled tree under which the bones of his mother, father, and brother lay. He would sit there, catching his breath, then tell them all about what had happened since his last visit. It was silly, this he knew... but it was the only thing he had to come back to. Wherever he went, he only went in search of a good fight. He would join packs on the verge of war, then disappear once the battle was fought. The red wolf never stayed long enough to remember the names or the faces of those he fought alongside. It didn't matter to him. Or perhaps he thought there was no point in remembering those who might die in the coming events, he wasn't sure.

The red soldier was on the move again, returning from god knows which pack war he'd sneaked his way into once again. Tracing a path through the desert, his white toed paws kicked the sand behind him as he ran and his eye were kept focused on the path ahead. His goal was the same every time. To make it from one end of the border to the other without pause. The years piled onto his shoulders like stones and much as he tried to keep himself fit in order to carry them, time was slowly catching up to him. He wasn't as old as Warbound had been yet... surely not. How old had the old geezer been anyway? He'd long ago stopped keeping track of such things. It mattered little to him. He knew one day he would reach the end of the road as all living beings did. The outcome was the same for all, regardless of the time it took each to get there. At least he had lived a life longer and better than his brother Nimbus, spirits watch over him.

Akaika grinned as the elephant graveyard came into view. Running parkour on the bones was his favorite part of the trek, the rest of it mostly being sand dunes, it didn't take much to make things interesting. He would jump onto a mammoth skull and run down it's spine then jump onto another, sometimes sneaking through a skull's eye and coming out of it's mouth before jumping up and biting onto the tip of a tusk to give himself a swing and land up on another skeleton. It was always fun until some old bone cracked and forced him to reconsider his planned route. It was always quiet and calm here, other than the sound of carrion birds and the wind and his claws clicking on the bones as he ran and.... voices? Why was he hearing voices?

"CATCH ME IF YA CAN!"

It wasn't just any voice, it was a familiar one. It brought back a flush of memories; laughter, joy, and mischievous looks from eyes the color of sea foam.

"Smalltalk???"

Distracted, the red wolf only needed one missed step (his back left paw catching on the ridge of the skeleton's spine he was running on) to tumble over and fall into the carcass. "WAAAHHH NO NO NO NO NO!!" Jaws would catch onto some strip of dangling leather (leftover sun baked skin hanging from the carcass), hoping to halt the fall, but it only caused him to swing sideways until the piece of leather snapped. Akaika found himself landing on the inner ridge of one of the carcasses great ribs, the momentum of his fall carrying through to make him slide all the way down to the ground and all the way to Smalltalk which happened to be right in the path of his uncontrolled drifting. 

"INCOMIIIIIIING!!!"

*insert big cloud of sand and dust going up in the air at the moment of impact. He had a lot of dust and sand in his fur from running in the desert.*

He would cough, once the dust had settled and grin at her. Boy was he glad to see a familiar face! 

"I totally meant for that to happen..."

It was worth a shot. She might believe him. She was a chick after all, and chicks loved flashy entrances.

[Smalltalk]

A soft voice hardly heard over the sounds of their screaming and laughing made the mother's ears twitch. Her hopping steps came to a stop as she paused to catch her breath and consider this stranger. There was something about the way she held herself that seemed familiar in a world that turned oh so long ago, but the mutt could not place her with all the faces she had seen over the years. Eyes flickered to her sneezing little firecracker that was wandering too close to the shy woman, but she figured that if this person really wanted to kidnap one of her kids she would have already gone for one less likely to punch you in the crotch.

"I, uh, I don't mean to bother you. Or your... Boobie... but I was wondering if perhaps you had seen another wolf through here? He's grey, with some darker greys and blacks. His eyes... they're the softest of blues..."

"Grey, huh?" She shook out her pelt, trying to remember if she had seen anyone that matched that description. Northwind was a pretty close match, though the girl hadn't mentioned any browns and had saved herself from a bloody nose. Her tongue clicked against her teeth. "Sorry lady, can't say that I have." She moved to turn back to one of her kids snapping at a lizard tail, but she couldn't help it. She was a supreme sucker with a bleeding heart. Warming up some of that frosty exterior that came with being a protective single momma, Smalltalk bit her lip and smirked. "But you look pretty chill I guess- if you were looking for a place to stay you can hang with us. You can babysit that one over there." A wild grin as she patted Chukar on the head. "I think Titty likes y- OOF"

"I totally meant for that to happen..."

Flat on her back, she groaned at the red figure overhead as her head spun. What... year was it? She blinked to try to clear the fog out of her eyes. Did that white dog over there have tentacles for legs? Was that a kangaroo made out of... fruit?? Smalltalk squinted and rubbed at her eyes to see-

"KAI???" She absolutely swooned onto her fainting couch (though maybe it was the mild concussion that did it), stars in her eyes as she threw out paws to smush his handsome face with. It did not matter that she was leaving dusty paw prints on his cheeks, she was so happy. Was he really here?? It had been so long! The last time she had seen him was when she had last seen both her sister and her father, and the time before that was when they were coming back from chaperoning the hunt at the Man Village and that boulder-

"P-P-POPPA!!"

Dizzily, Smalltalk was ripped from her thoughts and looked past their tangled legs where her youngest was trying to curl into the side of the red dog's leg like she was a flea. Her face broke out in a ridiculous grin. "We've ah-" the girl wheezed, the air firmly knocked out of her lungs, as bright, hiccuping giggles began to bubble from her belly. Holding his face in her paws she laughed and laughed and laughed as tears began to prickle at the corners of her eyes and she moved them down to press against his strong chest. Oh, how much she missed him! "W-We've gotta stop meeting like this!!"

[Akaika]

"KAI???"

She broke into a radiant smile and reached out with her paws to knead at his face like she was trying to mold play dough. She might have been leaving prints all over the white fur of his cheeks, but the truth of the matter was he'd already been covered in sand from head to toe and she was most probably just displacing the dirt rather than adding it in. The boy laughed as she squished his cheeks together and he pursed his mouth into fishy lips for comedic effect.

"Yeeesh, ish meh!!!"

Boy was he glad to see her. She brought back so many memories of his home. He felt a twinge at his heart as he realized he missed some of those days. No other place had ever really felt like home, no matter how hard he'd tried to find one. And the desert? Well, as much as the boy enjoyed his alone time, he wasn't quite ready to settle into full hermit mode quite yet. Akaika opened his mouth again to speak, to ask questions, to talk about everything and anything. Why was she here? Where had she gone? How was life treating her? Had she found a mate yet? Not that that was any of his concerns... but before he had the time to speak out again, he felt something latch onto his back leg and speak in a high pitched voice.

"P-P-POPPA!!"

Turning his head back to look, at exactly the same time Smalltalk raised her head to look, Akaika's eyes settled on.... a child? He'd raise his paw to try and free it from the little pup but found that she'd wrapped her front legs around his ankle and was pretty much glued to him. Shaking his foot a little to try and get her to come off confirmed the fact that she was totally, and completely unwilling to let go.

"We've ah-"

"A kid?" He'd turn his head to look back at her with eyes wide. "You've got a kid? You MULTIPLIED???.... Wait... what did she call me?????"

That's when she began to laugh uncontrollably, and Akaika found himself staring at her. There was something in the way her eyes squinted when she laughed.... Something in the sound of her laughter and how it came from deep within her belly, that stirred more memories in him. It reminded him of her, and he found himself grinning. "You know, I don't even know if I can handle one of you.... and now there's more of you?" By now she was crying from laughter and pawing at his face again. It was contagious, this laughter, and he joined in with his own. In this moment of ridiculous fortitude, he forgot about the world for a moment and about his quest for a home. In that moment, that ended much too soon, Akaika felt like he was home.

"W-We've gotta stop meeting like this!!"

"Hmmm your mouth says no... but your eyes say- OW! OkAy! wHiCh OnE oF yUo LiTtLe MoNsTeRs BiT mE?"

He'd jump over Smalltalk and head for the pups, pretending to be on the prowl for them. Once one of them was caught, he'd promptly announce his victory with a loud "Ah-HA!" and flip them over to blow a huge slobbery raspberry on their stomach. He assumed the rest of them might want revenge for their fallen sibling, and if attacked would react accordingly by pretending to succumb to the puppy onslaught.

"Oh-Oh no! I should learn to pick my battles! I'm done for! Small, remember me! Goodbye cruel wor- OW! Okay which one of you is the biter....because that's not cool."

[Tit]

t i t //

Her attention was very quickly diverted from the other girl that had almost ruined their fun to this, big, red guy who had also just ruined their fun.  How many times did Tit have to tell these people that they were very busy making labors, and becoming the best losers?  Apparently she had to tell EVERYONE, because if she didn't they wouldn't know about their plight.  Narrowing her little eyes, she stomped over to the red guy laying next to mom, which was HER SPOT, by the way, growling a little puppy growl and ears pinned back as far as they could go.  Little paws trying to stomp as loud as possible, but getting drowned out by the giggles and laughter flowing out both these adult children mouths.  

She turned at the last minute to address the new girl, "You hold on, I'll deal with you in a minute, first I gotta deal with this... barfbag."  Scraping her foot underneath her like an angered bull, Tit charged with all her might, little mouth opened wide, going for the closest thing that she could get her little fangs wrapped around, which seemed to be his back leg.  And when she got her teeth around it, she bit down HARD.  Incredibly proud of herself, she let go and strutted back to her siblings and the new girl, head held high chest stuck out like a champ. "I sure taught that guy to mess with us losers."  She sat near Chukar, bending down to take whatever scraps he'd left behind, slurping them up in her mouth, before almost choking on them as she saw the big red guy stalking them.  STALKING.  THEM.  HOW DARE HE!!  After she had mortally wounded him and everything! The NERVE!

And THEN he had the absolute AUDACITY to attack one of her siblings!  Apparently her wound did not harm this guy enough, and she'd really have to teach him a lesson now!  Spitting out whatever left she had in her mouth, she charged at the barfbag again, same as before tiny puppy growls, and snarls erupting form a teeny tiny mouth, she snapped at the air as she charged, making herself look as ferocious as possible, with of course was not possible for this little thing that was charging and had to stop multiple times to sneeze as she charged.  Every sneeze followed by a snarl, which induced more sneezes, until she sneezed so hard, she fell into the barfbag.  Teeth clamoring to get a hold of anything, and so they did, a nice fresh tail.  She clamped down, and held on.  Tit wasn't no chump, she was a champ, and she was determined to show this guy that if he messed with the bull, he'd get the labor!