It was strange to Inhliziyo that her view on pack life changed as soon as Oni joined the pack. She felt like there was always something missing in her life, but she could not put her paw on it. When she met Oni she felt like the lioness fit perfectly with her. She selfishly wanted Oni to stay in the pack, but did not feel comfortable asking Oni to stay in case the lioness wanted to travel else where. The day Oni said that she was going to join the pack was Inhliziyo’s happiest day while living in Okuphelele.
Once Oni did her official hunt, she was allowed to join the pack. A couple days later, they attempted to become ‘whole’. There was a string tied to them and they had to spend the whole day like that, making sure the string never broke. The two of them had to be careful and move as one. But they did it and the two of them could not be happier. Since then Oni rarely left her side. So if felt weird for Inkliziyo to be walking the pack lands without her lioness.
When she last talked with Tlanextli, the pack leader had mentioned a new wild dog that joined. She was curious about the new arrival. Tlanextli said that he hadn’t talked much about himself but happily joined the pack and had a successful hunt. New pack members interested her. She enjoyed learning about their life before they joined and why they joined in the first place.
She walked around, eyes on the lookout for the new wild dog.
Mirie hardly ever did anything on a whim. Most of his life was spent making well thought out decisions and acting in his best interest. However when his old pride had been destroyed, he realized that all his planning did not make a difference out in the rogue lands. He was facing an unpredictable life where he would have no idea when he would eat his next meal or who he would run into next.
He craved finding the perfect home where he could live peacefully. When he happened to cross Tlanextli, he learned about Okuphelele. Before it would have taken him days to figure out if he should join the pack. But for once he joined the pack without much thought. He had stumbled upon it and it felt like a natural fit. Plus he would not have to worry about food. The pack was full of hunters. He doubted they ever had to worry about going hungry.
It was a different pack then his previous, he thought as he passed the dens. His old home was about protecting the weak and this one was proving your worth by hunting. When he first started to explore, he noticed that there were only wild dogs and lions. He asked about it to Tlanextli and she told him the pack’s story about lions and wild dogs becoming whole. It was interesting, but he wasn’t sure if it truly resonated with him.
As he walked, he saw another wild dog out walking merrily. He walked away from her, not wanting to disturb her walk.
There weren’t too many pack members walking around yet. She wondered if the new wild dog was enjoying his rest. Living in the rogue lands could cause some erratic sleep patterns. She knew her first few nights sleeping in the pack lands was the most restful sleep she had gotten in a long time.
Inhliziyo noticed a purple wild dog on her walk. She walked toward him, but he suddenly changed direction. Her head tilted as she wondered why he would do that. Instead of moving on, she decided to follow him. She was pretty sure that he was the new wild dog and she wanted to know why he was avoiding her. Usually other pack members would greet her when they saw her.
Mirie planned on going to the pond to get a early morning drink. Because of his change of direction, it would take a little bit longer to get there, but it was worth it to not disturb someone else’s morning walk.
When he glanced behind him, he saw that the wild dog he had avoided was steadily catching up to him. He looked away and kept his focus in front of him. He worried that maybe she thought it was rude of him to go a different direction. All he wanted to do was not get in her way.
“Hold up!” Inhliziyo called out, walking quicker. Whatever this wild dogs issue was, she wanted to make sure she hadn’t done something wrong.
Mirie decided to stop. He realized that running away from this strange misunderstanding would not work out. They lived in a small pack and the two of them were bound to run into each other again. When he looked at the wild dog that was chasing him, he saw she was pink with white markings.
From what he could tell, she did not seem angry or upset. In fact, when she stopped in front of him, she had a huge grin on her face.
“You are the new wild dog correct? I wanted to welcome you to the pack.” Inhliziyo said in her most friendly voice. “Sorry if I scared you. I guess I can come off as a little intense.”
Mirie relaxed. He hated how awkward he could be in new situations. Ideally he would have gotten some time to adjust himself to this new pack and then he would learn more about his new pack mates. However he was not going to make this situation any worse then he had already made it. This wild dog seemed friendly and he wanted to give her a better impression then what he had done so far.
“No, no. It is me, not you. In unfamiliar situations I tend to be more anxious and I don’t think my actions threw.” Mirie explained. “And I am new to the pack. My name is Mirie.”
Inhliziyo listened and nodded. It seemed that she did absolutely nothing wrong! The fact made her proud of herself. If she had scared a new pack member she would have felt horrible. “My name is Inhliziyo! My friend Tlanextli told me about you. She said that she found you hunting and brought you into the pack. I heard that you also did your joining hunt quickly. That is real impressive! I know that it takes some new pack members a little while to know for sure they want to join as well as be able to do a hunt.”
“Uh thank.” Mirie responded sheepishly. He hardly got complimented. It felt good. Hunting was something that did not come to him naturally so he felt like he had to try extra hard to catch something decent. When he looked into getting a different task then hunter, he found out that he could not be anything other then a hunter unless he found his other half.
“So are you heading somewhere?” she asked curiously.
“To the pond. I wanted to have a morning drink. If you are interested, I would not mind having you along for company.” He said, trying his best to make up for his previous awkwardness.
“That sounds delightful. Maybe you can tell me about your life before you found Okuphelele.” Inhliziyo suggested. “I spent most of my life outside of Okuphelele so I know a little of what it is like to be an outsider in this pack. It is one of the reasons I wanted to welcome you personally.”
She hated the idea of any new pack member feeling lonely. When Tlanextli became pack leader she felt like her one friend had abandoned her and she had no one. She did not want anyone to feel that way.
“I have a few stories I could tell,” Mirie said, thinking about his adventures both in prides and outside them. He was sure that he could tell Inhliziyo a couple fun stories. “Maybe while I talk about my past, you could give me some tips on pack life?”
“Sounds like a plan!” Inhliziyo said with a wink. And the two went off to the pond.
WC: 1,374