Gladiator

Paws pushed themselves against the beaten ground, placing its own temporal mark into it. Just some information that could only be read by the swift and cunning. A mark which could be easily swept away by the weather. No matter, the controlling beast was not looking for a lasting impression. New to the land he was, but the way he walked and padded about made it fell he wasn’t uncommon to the outside world, though anyone could tell he had no wild blood in him.

A human pet the lupines called it, only to the prehistoric times could one find any wild blood in the male. A pure bred leonberger he was, though not specially bred. His long haired coat was a bit matted, but glittered with a shine of health. The overall stature of the beast loomed above most, an amazing size for one not of the wilds.

The destination of the dog could not be read, but as he paused at an overlooking ledge, it didn’t seem like he knew either. A watching beast could probably tell he was tracking something (or at least looking for something) but there was no sign of things the dog may consider interesting. Will you be the first to greet him?

Aava & Esprit

A big white female wolf pranced up the same mountain, leaving tracks of a dangerous preditor. Clutched tightly and firmly in her maw was one of her pups, Esprit. She dangled as her mother lept up the steep cliffs and giant rocks, but the grip was to well gotten, she didn't slip out.
Aava turned and then seen the dog. She could sense this must be a pet of some sort, a dog. She approached closer with much caution. She had come close to attacking, maybe killing, a dog once. She didn't attack dogs in the wild unless they meant harm or had humans that meant harm to the wildlife. She dropped her pup gently onto the harder ground of rock and sat on her haunches, staring into the dog. Her tail silently wagged near the tip, but she didn't move, nor say anything. She would wait for the dog's reaction.
Esprit looked at the dog, her tiny fangs bared at the animal. She too, could smell dog blood, and human scent, which she disliked clearly. She sat back and waited for her mother to move, or do something, but she kept her small brown eyes on this pet.

Gladiator

Sleek body turned to face the new news the winds were telling the beast. Someone was coming to greet him after all. A wild thing, as he expected it to be, a full blood wolf it seemed. He was much accustomed to wolves and others of the wild canines, maybe the reason he seemed so familiar with his surroundings.

In his greeting he did not try to hide his dogish ways as others did, why bother? Everyone knew there were differences between wolves and dogs, he haven’t met any that didn’t. His tail wagged a bit more fully then the wolf, though not to its full capacity, to the she wolf. She did not seem to want to hurt him, which was always a plus in his book. The pup on the other hand seemed to openly hate his stereotype. Oh well, he was used to those as well. They probably smelt his human anyway, faint as the scent was, he never underestimated the senses of a wild thing.

He stood facing the two, tall though not dominating. His mouth was shut in curiosity, what did they want exactly? Knowing the ways of the wolves’ pecking order, he kept his wagging tail closer to the ground; he was not there to offend anyone. He paused for a few moments, long enough to tell that she wasn’t going to do anything first anyway. So he decided he would.

“Hello there,” just some words he usually started a conversation with. But instead of continuing on right away he paused, studying the beasts before him with a skilled eye briefly. A small dogish smile appeared on his face in a way of comforting the air between them, he never appreciated tight air. “If you are looking for a name and other information all you got to do is ask.” No, the dog was not one to hide a lot of information, but he didn’t give it out without the other making an effort to find it. His voice was deep with maturity, though gentle with his friendly nature.

Stats

Name Gladiator

Breed Loenberger

Height 29.5 inches at the withers and hip

Weight 120 pounds

Gender male

Age 5

Description BIG dog, though he has no help from the wolf breed.

Aava & Esprit

Esprit snarled at the dog when he turned, her ears flinging back in rage and hate. Her eyes shown the hateness. She wouldn't get along very well with pets. Aava didn't either. But if they were in the wild, which was very rare, she would act natural, like she would around other wolves.
She lowered her head and pushed Esprit backwar a bit, wanting her to stop now. She did stop, but kept ears back against her head and had a mean look on her face. Aava smiled a little bit. She wasn't very used to being around pets.
"I am Aava, and this is one of my pups, Esprit. I am the alphess at the Pyrola Fields Pack. May I know your name?" Her voice wasn't warm, but shown coldness as usual. She didn't talk coldly to her mate or her pups, not to mention her brother, but he was always used to differences. Her brown eyes seemed to dig into the slightly bigger animal, she wanted to know about those who she met.

Gladiator

Completely at ease, another attribute one wild thing may find strange in a pet, gaze moved over to the snarling pup, head to the side in curiosity. Strange little pup, he couldn’t call her cute though with the wicked snarl she held. Though accustomed to wolves, he hasn’t seen many pups, and before now didn’t think that such a small thing could compose such a face. Well, look who proved me wrong…

When the elder pushed the pup away he figured he was supposed to ignore her, and did willing, giving his almost full attention to the she-beast. The rest of his attention was given to his surroundings, a important task which most pets forgot about before it was too late for their skins.

The lady spoke, and what information she was giving him. He knew she was important among the wolves, her stance gave that away, but an alphess. He couldn’t say he met much of those by their lonesomes. The pack was unfamilar, but then again, most of the specific features of this place was. He seemed to ignore the coldness in her voice. Pet dog he was, and expected as much from the wolves that created such sterotypes agianst him. He paused momentarily before speaking, letting the two names sink in with the faces.

Yes, you may, alphess Aava he spoke with natural politeness, acknowledging the stance and name of the lady, I am known more commonly by Gladiator, you may call me as such. Over the years with humans he was familiar with many names that was not his ture name, most of which he despised. That was one thing he wished he had that the wolves did, the lack of common nicknames for pet dogs. Some names such as ‘cutie-pie’, ‘sweetie’, and ‘cute thing’ he could not stand, he was so glad that he was not around those type of people very often. Nicknames, such as Gator, were acceptable though. He even preferred to be called Gator many times. Though at this period od time, the beast felt to be a bit more formal and give out his true name, such as he did.

Aava & Esprit

Aava nodded, and glanced to her pup. She had stopped her snarls, but still held her ears back. She wasn't usually like this, but she had no other way of acting. Evenstar, her sister, was very nice and willing to do anything asked of her. Esprit was more strong with her acts and ways, which would most likely get her a name from humans. Aava looked around, her tail stopped wagging. She sighed. She was very bored, nothing to do. She couldn't go to the humans yet, not until her mate could watch the pups. She had killed a couple of animals from their livestock at the ranch, and attacked a horse there. Her bounty was getting higher, and she would be more wanted. Her pups just held her back. This time, she didn't know what to say. She just looked around again, listening to the ever familier surroundings. She stopped looking and turned her eyes to Gladiator.
"Have you a human around anywhere? Or do you live at the ranch with the pets, which I doupt. I smell of no such animals. I went there twice. Both times before I had my pups. I can only stand to be around the humans that have animals that I know..."
She just randomly picked something out to talk about. Her nature was always harsh. She had killed three animals in one day, one stolen, the other two still buried in her caches. She looked around again, and glaced down at Esprit. She had suddenly fallen aspleep. She could tell that her pup was getting bored, even though she was sleeping.

Gladiator

Floppy ears rose slightly as she began to ramble. He was never good at first impressions, he too never found anything interesting to talk about. As she spoke though he began to try to figure out the wolf. Was she one of the killers he heard his human talking about? She seemed to enjoy the ranch nearby anyway…

He shook his head softly, No; I am not from the ranch. Not yet seen it yet actually. His gaze momentarily inched to the pup, who was actually sleeping. His smile spreaded, funny creatures pups were. They were always jumping around one moment, sleeping the next. Not too long later soft brown eyes found the she wolf again, giving her the head on look of his pleasant face again.

He searched though his mind for something to say, he could tell the two were getting bored, but he was extremely worried by that. He wasn’t there to entertain them, though fellowshipping they would probably be best. Out of complete curiosity, what is the man’s role here? How is he veiwed? he was hoping he could get an answer if she was actually one of the killers or not, that would help his human much in his study.

Gladiator did purposely not speak of his human as of now for that reason. Though not considered at all a house pet, he trusted his human friend, and felt a need to give him some protection. Though he never even laid an offending hand on a canine’s hide that did not matter to some killer wolves. Though gentle (but firm) in all his ways, there were always those opposes that seeked for trouble by the humans. Before too much information was given out at this time about his human, he wanted to able to at trust the wolf slimly.

Aava

Aava listened. She knew most have never been to the ranch. She personally didn't think of it as all that great; just some ranch dogs that protect. She knew they had some wolves around that also helped protect. She wasn't very fond of them.
"Man is pretty much viewed as a killer. To wolves. I don't know about the other animals. Humans aren't safe at all in the wild. I have seen many, many humans get rampaged by wolves."
She thought back to a time where she had watched a couple of humans and some wolves. She could clearly remember it, or at least she hoped.
">b?Wolf kills man, man kills wolf. Thats pretty much how it works. A wolf will usually look for any reason to attack. I, however, am not like that. Sometimes though. If I see humans, I usually pass without any bared teeth. The biggest kills are usually out here in the wild, where there is really no protection from preditors."
She then thought. She wondered if she was talking a little to much. She didn't exactly know, but she knew that most wolves thought of humans as 'a way to get a higher bounty placed on your head'. She looked to Esprit. She was still snoozing.

Gladiator

Gladiator seemed to soak in the information, looking down and to the right, listening to her completely. The information was almost scary. His human was coming, or maybe even here now as they spoke. He knew his intent, and knew he was skilled with the wolves. But he never liked this idea of venturing in the heart of wolf killers.

He nodded as she concluded, eyes drifting back to hers. Thank you of the information, and thank you for your views. It means a lot to me that you are not one of… them. His voice did not give off any hatred to the killers he spoke of. There was one reason for that, he didn’t hate them. He knew how it felt to hate humans, think them as the killers. And yes, some were. But not all, especially not his.

The beast shifted his weight, obviously anxious to be off. He smiled and wagged is tail once again at the wolf. thank you again. For the information and not trying to rip my head off. He spoke with humor in his voice, a larger smile to prove it. He nodded curtly and began to walk forward, towards the bottom of the mountain. He paused before passing the wolf, I assume you don’t care to join me? Gladiator did not at all mind company, but they were not exactly friends so he did not expect anything out of her. His body motions showed all this freely, just politely inviting her he was.

Aava & Esprit

Aava looked a bit joyfull. She enjoyed many strangers once she got to know them a bit. She nodded her head, and then woke her pup up. She was rather startled by this, but shown no anger to Gladiator this time. Seeing as how her own mother seemed to be getting along with him, she would try to play along. She let out a long yawn when her mother picked her up by the scruff.
"I could join you. Where are you going?"
Her voice was a bit muffled because of her pup in her maw. She always liked to go places, and now she didn't feel so... Wierd. She actually had a small conversation with someone other than her pack members. She stepped forward and waited for his answer.

Gladiator

Surprised hardly described the initial reaction at her nod. Sure, he didn’t mind company at all, much better then being alone anyway. But he didn’t think the wolf would reply such a way and so readily too. She aroused the pup, and he was happy that the pup seemed to accept him, for now. He was able to replace the surprised look for a happy smile before she turned back to him, tail wagging in anticipation.

Where were they going? Hrmm... He didn’t even know. His human was passing through the wild lands for a day or two, he could tell that by his progress, and he wanted to make sure he was with him, if the wolves are as bad as Aava said they were in the wilds. He wasn’t sure of the names of the places yet, but he thought he had a pretty good idea of where he was supposed to go.

He turned slightly to face her full on as he spoke, I most tell you, I am going there for business of my own, I don’t mind your company, but if all possible I don’t want a whole pack of wolves hanging about in the next several days. Can I trust you not to tell others, especially your own pack? His voice had a bit more serious tone to it; he really meant what he said. He didn’t really want his human and friend to be attacked on day one. He added another few words, a bit softer then before, I want to be able to trust you…

Aava

She looked at him, kinda surprised herself.
"I will tell no one."
Her eyes seemed to study him, compltely unsure but confident. She didn't intend to attack or anything, she simply wanted to tag along somewhere. She was never quiet, but could keep something locked up forever. She stared at him, waiting to leave the bitter coldness, for they were in the high mountains. Holding her pup still, she looked around.

Gladiator

Gladiator too studied her, tail wagging in glee. Maybe this will work after all… He had to admit, he thought his master was crazy when he realized he was going willing into a land with killer wolves, but there was still hope as Aava just proved. His whole body seemed to relax, maw forming into a doggish grin.

Thank you, the large canine turned sideways to face the bottom of the mountain. I am traveling to the flat lands, the Eskers I think you guys call them. He too wished to leave the mountain, but not because of the cold. He preferred cold over heat and still had most of his winter coat adding onto his long haired body, he was almost as warm as a toaster.

Another grin escaped him before he turned completely to the direction of the Eskers. His gait was long and even, an easy pace to keep for days if needed. His fur seemed to be in a middle of a war as they were tossed to and fro whenever he extended or flexed his muscles. His tail fanned out in a slow curve, lifted slightly so it would not clash with his hind legs. He was quite a magnificent creature, that is, if you don’t mind the common mud spot.

Aava

Aava nodded. She liked the cold as well, but since it was spring now, her thick coat was turning dull and she was losing the many peices of fur. She could always watch after the human if she ever would know the human. She quickly and quietly padded across the ground, she was pointed straight there too. Her tail was held high, signaling that she was an alphess. She quickly disapeared and headed for the eskers.