Viesa's Den ~

Viesa reluctantly climbed through the mountains, feeling a bit pitiful for digging through these wolves' old homes. She had no part in the famine, neither did she lose any loved ones in it. Most of these wolves had. In a strange, peculiar way, she felt unbearably lost. However, Viesa acknowledged the fact that she barely would socialize with any of the others anyways, so each time that emptiness built up in her heart, she pushed it away.

The timber wolf finally found a collection of huge stones that created a small hole. She grinned, knowing the den had been meant for her. She was a bit small compared to her packmates, and it was only she who could possibly fit inside this burrow. She lowered herself to the rocky surface of the mountain and squeezed herself inside. It was quite comfortable, and as she was squirming inside to look around, she saw a small tunnel that led to some sort of underground basement. Viesa's ears perked with curiosity, so she pulled herself through the tunnel. She was about to step out when she suddenly fell from the tunnel. She landed on more moist ground, and as she glanced downwards, she realized that the entire floor was of moss. She lifted her neck upwards and became aware the ceiling was two or three heads above her. Viesa grinned uncontrollably. She found probably the best den of them all. Now she had to mark it so nobody else could take it away from her.

She marked the tunnel and the eastern and western sides of the small room before she started to climb outside. The fresh air felt a bit different compared to the somewhat compacted air inside the room. Viesa, however, knew she would be able to sleep, since she had strong lungs.

Lycaon was just walking back to camp when he smelt Viesa's scent but he couldn't see her. Where is she? He thought to himself. The scent was fresh so she couldn't be far. He kept walking and looked around for her a bit more but didn't see anything.

Viesa popped right out of the den, stumbling and falling onto the rocky mountain surface. When she realized Lyacon was looming over her, she quickly regained her balance and stood up, glancing towards him for a moment before sitting down, her tail wrapped comfortably around her paws. She absolutely refused to look directly at him, even though she knew he would began speaking to her.

Lycaon blinked and was speechless to say the least. He never knew anyone could fit in that small den. Looking from Viesa to the den he blinked somemore and then gave her a small smile and said. "Looks cozy."

"It is," she responded awkwardly, sitting with him in the uncomfortable silence. That same tug in her heart made her speak. Somehow, each time this little tug worked its magic on her, nothing too bad happened. Viesa looked up with an unusual bright smile.

"There's uh, some, secret..." she began to say, but she found herself lost in her words. For a few moments, she simply thought if she should go on. But she huffed and did anyways. "Room in there. You could probably fit inside, it's probably just a tight squeeze at first," she suggested, trying to keep the coldness out of her voice. Viesa was simply no socalite, and unfortunately, each time she spoke, it sounded like she was debating on attacking the other participant of the conversation.

Lycaon blinked again and looked at the small opening and said. "I don't know I think I might be a bit big to fit in there." He looked at her looking her up and down. This was the first time he had ever been this close to Viesa before. She looks nice, he thought to himself as he saw the way her coat of brown and red blended together in interesting patterns on her body. Even the scar mark on her muzzle added to her look, almost like a sign saying I"m tough so just try and mess with me. He smiled at her as he caught her amber eyes in his gaze.

Viesa chuckled. "You'll be fine, try it, vicious brute." She watched Lycaon, and she inhaled quickly when he caught her eyes. She knew he meant it on purpose, probably attempting to tease her or something. She sat down by the den entrance, immediately knowing that this would be quite a day.

(Sorry for replying late, I'll be replying more quickly now)

Lycaon heard her challenge and tilted his head a little thinking and then said. "Why not?" Shrugging he lowered himself onto his belly and looked down small entrance looking at her and smiling he said. "Well here goes nothing." He slowly slid himself in to the den making good progress when about half way though he got stuck. He huffed to himself and thought great I lose a few pounds over winter and I'm still not thin enough to get through. Well now what? He asked himself trying to squeeze through to the exit.

Viesa looked into the den and saw that he was only inches away from the drop of the basement. "Just a few more inches. You're right at the edge. You're going to fall, so don't be afraid," she said, shifting her weight on her paws. She kept looking inside, keeping a straight face. He looked a bit stumped.

He squirmed, wormed and then,

Thump!

As he fell out of the entrance right into the den. His ow! resounding through the cave. As he rolled over onto his stomach. "Are you gonna join me?" He asked looking at were he had just come from. Moving a bit to give her room to come in.

She nodded, but then rolled her eyes at herself, realizing Lycaon couldn't see her head. Viesa squeezed through the hole much more easily than the male had, and as she came to the edge she looked down. Viesa was too far up for Lycaon to see, but she could see him patiently staring into the hole. She fastened her claws on the edge and propelled herself forward, letting go of the edge with good timing. She landed roughly on her feet, but as she did, she gave herself a small smile and sat down in front of Lycaon.

"Isn't the ground so moist and squishy? I'll be sleeping so comfortably," she bragged as she pressed her paw into the ground. Viesa saw it made a faint pawprint, but then the moss slowly formed back to its original shape.

Lycaon nodded looking around and said. "It seems quite nice and quite roomie to. Planning on starting a family soon Viesa?" He gave her a wolfie grin as he walked around the area that they now inhabitted.

Viesa's face froze when he asked that question. Her body immediately tensed up, unlike before. "Umh.. no.. No," she said with quite a bit of hesitation at first, but then she directly stared at the wall and nodded. She was not sure she wanted a mate yet, or pups. She wanted to live at least another year without all that responsibility. But no matter how confident she sounded, she still was uncertain.

"Do you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know." He said laying down on the moss head on his paws. "I haven't really thought about it." He told her looking her way. "Seeing the way our lives have gone who knows if it is a smart idea to have pups now or not. I bet some are still worried about the famine." He didn't deny to himself that the idea of having a mate and pups gave him a warm feeling and would be nice. Something to come back to now that most of the pack had died and as he grew older he knew that he would be less and less likely to be able to help produce and teach pups. He had hoped to be mated by now but. He stoped the thought the mate that he had tried to hard to get before was gone. He wasn't going to dwell on her now. He smiled lightly at Viesa and said. "Sorry didn't mean to intrude and harass you like this. If you don't mind I'll take my leave before I embarrass myself anymore." He felt bad for coming into Viesa's den and asking her such a personal question, so he stood and walked toward the way out. Thinking, I hope I can get out.

Viesa suddenly felt bad for making such a big deal. She was overreacting - he had done nothing. "Don't leave," she said softly. "I've never had a friend before," she added in a whisper. She glanced towards him, hoping he'd turn back. Last time she was in the room, she had that strange emptiness in her heart. But now it was fulfilled with somebody around to talk to.

Lycaon stopped and looked at her a warm feeling entering his heart. "You really want me to stay?" He asked.

"Yes," Viesa responded whole-heartedly. She tried to not sound too desperate, but it had already leaked out. She shook her head and sat a bit closer towards him. "Why not play the question game? I ask a question, you answer it, and then you end with a question. We don't know much about each other," Viesa suggested promptly.

"Alright." Lycaon said sitting down looking at her to start. What am I doing? He asked himself. Do I like her? Why am I staying when I've already probably offended her. She just looks so lonely...so he waited for her question to start this game.

"Okay, so, uh..." she raised her head in thought, gazing the ceiling above. She saw a pattern of dirt on the rocks above that almost looked like a twilight sky filled with dozens of stars. Then she abruptly looked back towards him. "Do you like stars?" Viesa implied.

Lycaon blinked that wasn't a question that he thought that she would ask but he tilted his head to the side a little thinking and said. "I think that they look nice and I've been told that some stars are the spirits of our ancestors. But that's just some old story." He snorted wondering why he had even told her that.

Viesa's face lightened in surprise. "An old story? That.. that sounds magnificent. I bet my father would be up in the stars. Do you think your father would be too?" she asked him, not bothering to nag him about playing the question game wrong. But she didn't care at the moment. Viesa was absolutely intrigued with the idea of stars as her ancestors.

Lycaon blinked, shrugged and then feigned indifference. "Who knows." He said soloumly. "It was just some story that I heard when I was a pup and a loner had been passing through." Lycaon instantly felt bad he hadn't ment to sound like that so he finished his thought. "I never knew my dad." He whispered. "He was a loner and left before I was even born. So..." He looked at her. "What is your favourite season?" He wanted to at least try to play this game right.

Viesa nodded slowly, looking at him with apologetic eyes. She hadn't meant to bring up bad memories for him. She hoped he'd understand. As he asked what was her favorite season, she immediately thought of winter - the season she was born in and the same season both of her parents had probably died in. She shuddered a little and thought of spring. "I like spring, because it's like a person. It can have so many different personalities. Like the flower means it's a happy person, the new pups mean it's a jumpy person, and the pollen means it's a mean person," she explained casually. Viesa truly did adore spring.

Lycaon nodded soloumly and agreed with her. "Spring is a nice season, the season of new, births and new romances." He found himself going off topic a little and stopped before he said anything really embarrassing.

Viesa laughed madly before she playfully swatted him on the shoulder. "You must be really desperate! Anyways, what's your favorite type of land? Mountains, hills, prairie?" she asked, easily shrugging the uncomfortable topic off. Even though Lycaon was a friendly wolf, he tended to make conversations too awkward.