The Starting Place (Open to all)

[Deleted]

So this is where it all began...

Nerah stopped at the edge of the orchard, glancing around at the trees, some of which held pods that would eventually drop and release more beings like her and her friends. It felt weird to be back here after all this time. She had grown so much, physically and mentally. She had met her pack here, and produced a pup. And now...she wasn't sure what she was doing here, but she had roused that morning with a strong desire to return to her birthplace and see what she could see.

The large, multicolored canine took a deep breath and headed into the orchard, making her way to the tree that had nurtured her at the very start of her life, when she had been a small(er) solid brown creature. It seemed so much smaller, now. Granted, everything seemed smaller now than it had before. Everything seemed different in many other ways, as well, though she couldn't name specifics. Maybe it was just a part of living for a certain amount of time.

Nerah turned and looked around, hoping to see someone else nearby - old or young, canine or feline or other, any sort of creature that would talk to her. She then opened her mouth, forming the word she had first formed with her oldest friends so long ago.

"Hello!"

[poppy]

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[atrb=background,http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh52/warriorcat12345/fennelfiller.png] It feels good to be back at home, thought Fennel. After all, though, he had not been gone long at all. The tri-colored canine had explored the river garden and maple forest only briefly before returning to the comfort of his birthplace. I wouldn't mind staying here forever, he thought, but of course his friends were all off exploring new places and sights, and the idea of being alone was a highly disagreeable one. He breathed in deeply and exhaled loudly. The air was sweet. A pleasant female voice called out from his left, and Fennel turned his head to see another tri-colored canine with a coat in shades of tan, chocolate, and white. "Hello!" he greeted her in return, trotting to her side. As he came closer, he could see that she was not quite like him: The canine was far taller, her bone structure more wolf-like. The extra height and more muscled build did not intimidate him, however; she exuded a cheerful air. "My name is Fennel. I don't believe we've met before. What is your name, madam?"

[Deleted]

((I couldn't sleep, so here you go. ^.^))

It didn't take long for someone to answer. Nerah's tail wagged as a canine trotted toward her, returning her greeting. His shape was what she had come to refer to as the first form, since she and Silva and every canine she had ever met had started out with a similar shape and height, and everyone she had ever seen save for herself and Silva had remained in that form even until now. It was weird, at first, to tower over the other intelligent creatures she encountered, but he weirdness wore off months ago, except for the cases when she intimidated her companions. Thankfully, it seemed that this would not be one of those times. Her size didn't bother the male at all, that she could tell. He seemed happy, friendly, and polite. The best kind of personality, as far as she was concerned.

When he stated that they hadn't met, she shook her head. "We haven't, and it's nice to meet you, Fennel. My name's Nerah." She looked around. "I hope I'm not intruding on your territory or anything. I just felt a visit here was overdue. I started life among these trees..." She yawned. "Seems like a long time ago."

[Meesh]

How long had it been since Silva had came to the orchard? Seasons, maybe, or even years. The canine padded softly through the trees, pausing, a moment, to nudge her own birth-tree, dipping her head in respect for what was, essentially, her mother. She had never known her parents, Silva reflected, and she only now realized the oddity of this fact- Nerah had certainly been more than willing to spent time with her son when he was born. After dipping her head one last time to the ancient tree, Silva moved one.

She wasn't really sure what had prompted her to come to the orchard today. Maybe it was nostalgia, or loneliness, or both. Granted, Silva was appy with her three best friends in Starpack, but something in side her felt restless, eager to travel. Not that silva would ever leave Starpack permanently- it was her home and her heart. It was just nice, sometimes, to get out and about.

The canine's glossy nose twitched as she realized she had unconsciously been following the scent of her friend. She chuckled slightly to herself. Lifting her had, Silva gave a quiet yip of greeting, the sound echoing itself through the unusually quiet orchard, with not even a breeze to hide the sound. Nerah would probably hear that, as would anyone else who was in the orchard. Now just to follow her nose to her friend.

It did not take long to find Nerah, and another canine who Silva hadn't recalled meeting before. Silva paused a moment to nuzzle her friend in greeting before turning and nodding to the much-smaller stranger. Silva was considered petite for her species- the same large wolf-like species that was er third form since she was born- but still managed to tower over the first-form canine. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything? I was feeling a trace of nostalgia, and came to visit the orchard" she dipped her head "I'm Silva"

[poppy]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=background,http://i49.tinypic.com/16itg0y.png,true] Fennel dipped his head politely at the larger female canine. "It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Nerah," he replied, ever the gentleman. I wonder how long she's been out of the orchard, he thought to himself. Must have been quite a while if she's grown so much. Fennel had to admit that he was slightly envious. Maybe if I were that tall, I'd be able to catch prey more easily. It was a tempting idea. Still, though, all the creatures who spoke and thought the way he did (prey animals didn't count, did they?) had begun as tiny pods in these trees of life, and the orchard represented comfort and home to Fennel, even though the rest of his peers and friends had left the trees to go exploring almost as soon as they could walk and talk. He was working up the nerve to ask Nerah about her different form when he heard the footfalls of another creature coming closer, muffled slightly by the soft orchard grass. Fennel turned to see another female canine of the same size and build as Nerah; both girls were possibly more than a full head taller than he. He looked over her, noting her pure black pelt and yellow eyes that were nearly the same shade as his own. As it turned out, the newcomer was already acquainted with Nerah, and the two were close friends, by the looks of it. Am I the only one here who doesn't know anyone else? he wondered. It seemed to be like that quite often, in fact, where he was the only one left out of a group. Fennel recalled an image of himself standing in the center of a Cult meeting while the rest of the members danced around each other, laughing and sharing prey. "Oh, yes, Fennel, you'll fit right in," he thought bitterly. As if I could fit into a pack dedicated to females. To be honest, he wanted out, but there was just no way to break it to them gently. The black canine introduced herself as Silva, and Fennel's thoughts were cut short. "No, you're not interrupting at all," he said, conjuring a warm smile. "I'm Fennel. I take it you two know each other?" Taking another good look at both new acquaintances, he realized that they positively towered over him, but he didn't recall meeting any canines that didn't have his build, more or less. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you both so much . . . erm, taller?"

[Deleted]

A yip sounded from somewhere nearby. Nerah might have mistaken it for a canine being "born", except that she recognized the voice. How odd that Silva would be here, of all places! It wasn't a bad thing, though. Nerah was always glad to have a packmate nearby, even - and perhaps especially - outside the territory. She returned the yip and wagged her tail. An old friend nearby and a new friend right here with her. This was a very good day!

Silva found the two and asked if she interrupted anything, and Nerah shook her head as Fennel responded. When he assumed they knew each other, she nodded. "Silva's a packmate. We occupy a forest not far from here, at least when we're not wandering around aimlessly." Well, when she wasn't wandering around aimlessly, anyway. For all she knew, Silva had a purpose to her travels when the two weren't together. Nerah usually picked a direction at random and waited to see where she'd end up.

When he asked why they were taller, she shook her head. "I don't know about Silva, but the answer to that eludes me. I mean, it could be any number of things that caused it. We just changed at random one day, and again a while later." She glanced at Silva, wondering is she could tell more than what Nerah knew.

[Meesh]

Silva grinned at the answering yip. Wandering around with absolutely no purpose was fun at times, but it could get lonely at times. It might have been just her imaginations, but Silva felt that the numbers of canines and felines in the area had been decreasing since the day her pod opened. Certainly there used to be a lot more activity going on. Now, the lands seemed lonely, abandoned. So it was great to see her friend and this new friend in the same day!

She nodded her head at Nerah's explanation to their presence, adding. "We were both born on the same day, so we've known eachother for awhile. The two others in our pack- a feline and canine- were hatched on the same day as us as well" Well, perhaps that was a bit too much of an explanation, but it wasn't like they had any secrets about the pack to begin with.

She took a moment to glance at the stranger. Though he was smaller than she was, she had a feeling that he would have towered over her first form, which, to be honest, was also considered petite. His fur was in the tricolored pattern that Silva had admired so much as a hatchling- white, brown, and black. His eyes matched her own in shade and intensity. She took a moment to dip her head once again to the canine "A pleasure meeting you, Fennel"

At Nerah's explanation, the female nodded, adding her own words once again to the explanation. It was just kind of random- I was just walking around when my fur suddenly got really itchy. I just collapsed. When I came too, I was nearly twice the size of before. The same thing happened to Nerah a few hours before mine. Then it happened all over again just before we found our pack territory. With me, I've stayed pretty much the same- apart from size and build- during each transformation, but Nerah's coat color changed entirely" she shrugged, fur rippling in an odd way. "We still have no idea why this transformation happened." Turning to Nerah to make sure the explanation was accurate.

"Oh! There is one thing though!" Silva suddenly remembered. "The transformation- each time we changed, so did our instincts, a little. In my second form, I was afraid of water, though normally I loved swimming- that's gone now, thankfully. Now I can't stand to be underground" she shivered. "We also gained new- powers, I guess you could say, with each transformation"

Blushing slightly under her fur, the female realized she had started rambling again. Eager to change the topic, she asked quickly. "Uhm, do you have a group you live with? A pack of some sort?"

[Deleted]

((I hope Poppy's still with us. Also, sorry about the length.))

Nerah nodded at Silva's explanations, blinking at the part about the instincts. "Yeah, it was really weird. I think our first time was near a river and we hated water after that, and the second time I evolved I was in a place my current form doesn't like. I wonder if there's a connection..." Probably not, but it was something to think about. Then there were the abilities that Silva mentioned, but the other female canine had changed topic, so Nerah didn't contribute to that bit of the conversation.. Instead, she listened as Silva asked if the male had a pack or some other group he belonged to. Her tail wagged as she added, "If so, that's good, but if not there's always room in ours. We have a den, and everything!"

[Meesh]

Silva nodded in response to Nerah's explanation. "It's a good place" she commented, tail wagging as she spoke. "Maybe you can join us if you want to- we live in this biiiig clearing near the center of the forest. There's a path there that most can find pretty easily if you look for it" she paused a moment. "Speaking of which, I'm getting a bit hungry right now" Well, maybe that wasn't related to the subject at all, but close enough, right? "Okay, maybe not speaking of which" she admitted with a chuckle. "Anyhoo, I'm going to head off to hunt now, but I'll see you at the den later, 'kay Nerah? Nice meeting you, Mister Fennel!" with a final nuzzle to her friend and a quick grin to the new friend, the canine dissapeared, teleporting to her home and den.

((142 words is short- anyhoo, this hasn't been posted in for a while, so I'm leaving it to clear up some thread space <3 Sorry al, and bai!))

[Deleted]

Nerah nodded at what Silva had said. "We're always happy to have more friends, so...you know...any time. It's a really nice place, with easy access to everything you might want or need." At least, it had everything she could dream of wanting nearby.

She nuzzled Silva before the darker canine teleported off, and smiled sheepishly when her stomach growled. "I suppose I'd better be going too. Come look us up, though, definitely." She wagged her tail and set of, trotting away rather than teleporting. If she was going to hunt, it'd be better to do things the old-fashioned way rather than popping into an area suddenly and risking scaring everything off.

((Sorry, Poppy, but you kind of haven't logged in for a while. :/ I hope you come back soon...))