You have aWaykened the Valentine within

[Magick]

The soft touch of a fleshy paw-pad against moist ground whirled around the area like a ribbon of mist, curling around a silent female as she padded quietly across to the creek. Her head dipped down towards the water, her tongue quickly zipping out, pulling the icy liquid into her mouth. She sighed softly, before throwing caution to the wind.

Her paws rose from the ground, as she leapt up, then, touched down into the cold water of the creek. She gasped for breath briefly- the water had been colder than she had imagined. Cream paws brushing at the water, sending it spiralling away from her and leaving a stream of bubbles in it's wake, cream tail flicking calmly from side to side in the water; Valentine was a good swimmer, believe it or not.

Pink eyes peered into the darkness, watching for anyone who might attempt to sneak up on her and suprise her as she swam, before she wrenched her gaze away from the land and onto the waterfall. More than anything, Valentine loved how powerful, yet peaceful, the water could look.

She gazed at it for a few moments, before giving her head a quick shake, and paddling over to one of the rocks in the water, paws scrabbling at the stone, cutting the pads slightly, as she pulled herself out.

Cursing softly, under her breath, she gave her soaking fur a shake, though that didn't reduce the dampness at all- dark-brown chest and underbelly looking even darker with all the water clinging to every single hair, ears, her right cream and her left white, perking up now- she'd had them flattened against her skull so as not to let any water enter them.

The rest of her body, covered in the same shade of cream fur which was on her right ear, was just as water-laden as the rest, and, thankfully, the single strange marking she had wasn't glowing- a small, pink, heart-shaped marking on the left-hand-side of her muzzle; even though it only turned red and started glowing when she was happy, that fact didn't stop her peering at her reflection, nervously, at every given opportunity- though some of that could be because of her vanity, too.

She needn't look at her reflection now, though- she knew that, without a doubt, it wasn't glowing- she was feeling slightly depressed, actually, rather than happy; which was the glow-trigger.

Tail flicking simply to get the beads of water at the tip off of it, she lifted her gaze once more to the bank, before sitting down atop the fairly large rock, pale-pink-eyed gaze roaming the bank; she was definitely wary of anyone sneaking up on her, that's for sure- most undoubtedly her older sister's, Cytheria's, fault- the other pup had constantly terrorized her- jumping out of bushes mere centimetres away from Valentine, then running off, and running straight into Valentine a few moments later, in a different place.

Cytheria was one of the reasons Valentine was glad to have left her birthing pack, though the three year old female definitely missed her twin sister, Jayashri, though Valentine, and some others, had simply called her Jaya.

The female sitting atop the rock, amidst rushing water, hadn't seen her twin in eleven months- and was more than just a little worried at the thought of trouble touching her precious sister- who was as shy as Valentine was outgoing.

[Ookami]

She lowered her white muzzle into the crystal clean water. Her head buzzed with a frostbite feeling within. She lifted her head to full height and slowly padded over to a big rock. Her black 'socked' paws carried her as she layed her frame, heavy with white fur, on the rock.

She curled her long white tail around her body. The black tip of it brushed against her pink nose with black spots. She closed her icy blue eyes after a slow survey of the area. Her furry black eyelids blended in with the splotches of black around her eyes.

Her breath slowed to a rest. Her heavy, fluffy fur heaved slowly. Up, down, up, down. She was quite happy considering there were no other wolves around. Or at least, that she could see. Her shyness made it hard for her to get along with the others.

She hoped no one would try to scare her. She truly hated all who did. Wayke was slowly falling to a light slumber...

ooc: Short sorry, I have an off day.

[Magick]

Muzzle turned towards the white female, Valentine felt her ears, both the cream and the white, prick up, her lips rising into a silent snarl for a moment, before she dismissed such thoughts from her mind, head tilting almost comically to one side as she watched the female move, looking around as suspiciously as Valentine had, over to the rocks she now lay upon.

Valentine's tail uncurled from around her body, and, slowly, she lifted herself into a stand, stretching for a moment, before yawning, silently again, and leaping from her rock to the bank, only just managing to miss hitting the water surface again.

Droplets of said water dripping down from her fur, Valentine padded quickly, though less quietly now due to the near-constant dripping of beads of water. Her ears now flattened back against her skull as she surveyed the female, all the whilst edging closer. It had been eleven months since she had come into contact, on her own terms, with a female- though she hadn't actually /seen/ one for two or three months; they tended to get the message that she didn't like them one bit, and tended to stay away because of that- which suited Valentine just fine.

Her tail rising, curling up her back like a snake responding to a charmer, Valentine suddenly ceased with the dominant posture; she'd realised that the female had fallen asleep. Head cocking to one side again, she slunk closer, nose twitching, tail flicking from side to side like a blinded snake lunging at prey on the left of it and on the right.

Pale-pink gaze upon the white female, Valentine further studied the female's appearance- slender build, white all over except for black patches upon her eyes, a black tail-tip, and black 'socks' coming up to her ankles.

Curiously enough, the slumbering female reminded Valentine of her sister, Jaya- despite the fact that Jaya was nearly the opposite of this female, in colouring at least. Jaya's fur had been a rich dark-brown, with white where this female had black, except for the splotches aroudn the eyes- Jaya had not had them, though she had had a few splotches 'pon her back and flanks.

Shaking her head as if to clear all thoughts of the past from her mind, Valentine pawed at the earth much in the way that a nervous horse would, though Valentine did the motion merely because it was familiar to her- and how, exactly, to react to this female was almost the total opposite of familiarity.

Ears standing erect 'pon her skull again, she gave another few sweeps of her tail, before the movement became shorter, softer, even- friendlier. Her nose twitched again, and she prowled back away from the female, sitting down at a respectable distance away, and giving a simple, soft bark to announce her presence.

Valentine, for once, felt in the mood for some female company- a rare thing indeed, since it hadn't happened in eleven months.

[Ookami]

Wayke's ears twitched as the familiar feminine bark met her ears. Her eyes flickered open, the closed. Her back right paw wiggled slightly before her huge muzzle opened up in a yawn. Her long tongue merely rolled out of her mouth then back in.

She scratched at the side of the rock as she tried to stand up on all fours. She put her left back paw on the ground slowly, warily.

She pulled herself off the rock drowsily and managed to stand up. She shook her whole body as if to get imaginary water off.

Her delicate ears slapped the sides of her small head. She opened her icey blue eyes. Wayke's focus was blurred for a dull moment before snapping back into regular view.

She motioned her body slowly toward where she heard the bark. Wayke's ears transfixed upon a beautifully cream color wolf. She whimpered softly, her shyness showing through.

Wayke knew she had to show this wolf she was kind. Wayke let out a squeaky, but friendly, bark.

[Magick]

When the white female awoke and performed the usual just-woken-up motions that any and all wolves did, Valentine just stayed where she was, silently watching the female, observing, narrowed eyes catching every movement, every wave of a hair, every twitch of a muscle.

Such scrutiny was neccessary for Valentine; to determine the characteristics of this wolf. She was, however, in for a startling shock when Wayke whimpered softly, then barked- the high tone making Valentine wince slightly; seeing as though she spent most of her time around males, she wasn't used to the high pitch of female barks- her own might have been very feminine in itself, but she didn't notice such trivial matters.

Valentine was, in fact, pretty shocked to see how much like Jaya this female was. Tilting her head, she rose to a stand again, tail lowering to a 'relaxed' posture; pointing down, with a slight curve towards the end which ended in the tip of her tail curling up slightly; showing that she may be relaxed enough around this female, but she sure as hell wasn't going to be at all submissive.

Edging forwards, Valentine gave another characteristic tilt of her head, curiously inspecting the female. Despite the changes in colour of the fur, and markings on said fur, Wayke and Jaya could almost be the same wolf- Wayke appeared, thus far, to be as submissive as Valentine's twin.

"Who are you?"

Her voice wasn't sharp, as was normal when she spoke to females (which in itself was rare), but soft; as though she was speaking to a younger wolf or a pup- trying to show that she was friendly, though the pricked ears and slightly narrowed gaze could say otherwise- though these were simply actions that Valentine was taking to be careful; Wayke, so far, did appear submissive- but she might turn out to not be, for all that Valentine knew.

Mouth opening, though not in a snarl or growl of any kind, Valentine breathed in deeply, an action followed by a simple yawn, and gave a single flick of her tail to further calm the apparantly-shot nerves of the other female.

Mouth closing again, she pulled her lips back- though not in a snarl or growl, as aforementioned; she was merely shaping her lips into a lazy half-smile, eyes half-closed; other signs that she felt relaxed around the female, which was definitely weird for her- she never, usually, even cast a look to other females; she tended to view them as a threat- simply because, whilst her power had such an effect on males, it had none at all on females; something she'd learned as an adolescent, after meeting with the first male she'd ever seen, and had suffered both verbal and physical attacks- with an array of names being shouted at her.

In short- she viewed females as a threat, because she knew that they could hurt her.

But she didn't feel as though this female, Wayke, was a threat.

[Ookami]

Wayke lowered her ears a bit. Not to show anger or threat, to show that Wayke believed Valentine was stronger. Wayke lowered her tail down, to show that Valentine should feel no fear.

Wayke knew she did not want to fight. Only to be friendly.

"I am Wayke." The words forced from her lips, her tail was between her legs.

It's not like Wayke liked being this way, she just was. It was like the earth pulled her tail like that and nature made her whimper like that.

"You are?" Wayke managed to say.

Wayke then managed to make her small frame even tinier. She pulled herself together. Showing she was even less of a threat.

[Magick]

Valentine's muzzle twitched slightly with every movement that Wayke made- it was like the shy female was a clone of Jaya. Ears staying erect 'pon her head, she gave another few flicks of her tail, relaxing further, and, this time, allowing for her tail to continue sweeping from side to side in small, quick sweeps.

"Lovely name."

Never one for compliments, Valentine's comment suprised even her. She cast a single, careful look towards the water close by, seeing her reflection, and noticing that the heart-marking on the left-hand side of her muzzle wasn't glowing, thankfully- she didn't particularly want to deal with any males at the moment.

"Me? I'm Valentine."

Another lazy smile stretching across her face, she found herself thinking about how strange it was that this female so much resembled Jaya- in her personality, at least.

Nose twitching slightly, she gave a simple flick of her ears, tail still waving from side to side, before she sighed softly, sitting back on her haunches, head tilting again as she, once again, carefully studied Wayke, curious as to why the female so much resembled her much-loved twin.

"What brings you all the way out here, Wayke?"

Silky voice as soft as water rushing over rocks, Valentine gave another lazy smile, then rolled her eyes in a teasing manner as Wayke tried to make herself even smaller.

"Look, Wayke, I'm not going to hurt you."

[Ookami]

Wayke relaxed some of the muscles in her body. Her tail perked up a bit more and her ears erected to the top of her head. She tried to put a weak smile upon her more relaxed face. It worked, kind of.

"I came here to relax. Maybe talk a bit."

Wayke smiled a bit more, but her shyness was still telling her to turn around and flee as fast as her small frame would take her. Wayke wouldn't let it take over her. She would at least try to be as friendly as she could.

"You?"

Wayke asked, the smile still appeared. Her strength over her shyness was still shining through.

[Magick]

A smile didn't align Valentine's muzzle, but a half-smile did; a different expression from her usual one of disgust whenever she had to speak to females- even though, she'd chosen to speak to Wayke out of her own free will.

"Came for a drink, and a quick swim."

Her reply was simple, direct, and truthful- three things that usually didn't occur with Valentine, who almost never spoke to females; she had fairly long-winded, flirty talks with males, but hardly ever even looked at a female these days.

Unless that female reminded her of her twin sister.

Which was exactly the thing with Wayke- she reminded Valentine so much of Jayashri, and, for that reason and that reason alone, Valentine would tolerate the female's company- for today, at the least.

Feeling her fur beginning to dry in the heat of the midday sun, she lifted herself to a stand, shaking vigorously for a moment, and sending beads of water in a near-graceful arc across the ground, before she sat back on her haunches, tilting her head and studying Wayke intently.

"You know- you remind me of my sister, Jayashri."

[Ookami]

Wayke sat down. She kept her font legs close to her white fuzzy chest. Her nose wiggled a bit, thinking over what Valentine had told her.

"Your sister?"

Wayke smiled a bit. That was the first time, the very first, that someone had tolerated Wayke's shyness for so long.

"How?"

Wayke was a bit curious now, something that did not happen alot. Valentine AND Wayke were acting different today. They both were doing something that they /both/ did not normally do.

[Magick]

Valentine then allowed for a true smile to align her face, at Wayke's curiousity of her comment- it was the same curiousity that would have ingulfed Jaya, and Valentine realised, with a jolt, that everything Wayke was doing was almost an exact copy of how her beloved sister would do, and that thought made her heart ache with love for her twin.

"Well- for one thing, you're as shy as she is."

She smiled again as she spoke, levelling out the differences between Wayke and Jaya, in her mind. So far, she could only think of their fur colours in the differences column- apart from that, Jayashri and Wayke could, easily, have been twins- unlike the almost-opposite Valentine and Jaya, who hadn't been thought of as sisters, let alone twins, as they were so different.

"And you act very much like she would."

[Magick]

OoC- Removing Valentine from here.