A Pin Drop

[Boyce]

It was extremely rare for Alice to be awake in the dead of night. The darkness terrified her deeply, not that her fears were completely unfounded. All the shadows that were cast on the ground were avoided with caution and grace. The black-and-white female's yellow eyes flickered every which way and her ears were constantly moving. She did not wish to be caught unaware by anyone or anything. A shiver ran down her spine as she pictured someone materializing from the dark and taking her away. That was not something to be desired; she sped up as the sound of voices grew louder.

It seemed that Eligius had returned from whatever secret mission he had set for himself. The others of the pack had gathered around him and spoke of alliances and war. A small smile born of her insanity grew on Alice's lips as she thought about the thundering of paws from both sides as they met in the art of war. It wasn't that she approved of war but she knew that once someone's mind was set, then it was difficult to change that. Especially when it came to violence and bloodshed. For a moment, a brief window of clarity presented itself to Alice and attempted to entice her to walk through. That window wanted for her to speak with Eligius about perhaps reconsidering the attempt at a full scale war. However, Alice turned her back to that window and hid behind her madness.

She approached Eligius and the others with a complete disregard to the seriousness of the situation. It mattered not to her that they could possibly experience a battle so soon. Rather, she wished for the others to lighten up. After all, thinking about it was a harmful thing for anyone to do. Alice went right up to Eligius and lightly batted at his face with her petite paw. Like herself, Eligius was young but he wasn't inexperienced. He knew of her madness and yet he allowed her to become a part of his pack, his family even if she couldn't serve any purpose. In a way, he saved her from a certain destruction. Such was a difficult thing to comprehend but Alice was certain that Eligius had rescued her.

"Eli, you look so worried about something that has yet to even crest into a war. You don't even know that it's going to happen for sure." She tilted her head as she spoke and took in his appearance before she slipped deeper into her insanity. "You have such lovely fur. It's so earthy and wonderful and I want it." She started to jump around him and leaped onto his back when she ended up behind him. To the others, she probably appeared disrespectful but it worried her not. Eligius knew how she was; she was certain he wouldn't harm her. Well, hopefully. "Can you make the shadows go away, Eli? I don't like them, they seem like they could eat someone." She pawed at her superior's ears with a single paw as she laid on him. "I want to eat a whole wigglyworm. I bet they'd taste good, better than elk even."

She looked at the others and smiled. Alice didn't know any of them very well, but that didn't matter. They were all in the same pack; she saw them all as her own friends and yet not. It was a strange concept. She wanted to trust them all and yet she feared them. Nothing was at it seemed in her world; she was cautious about putting her trust in others.

[Eligius]

"Eli, you look so worried about something that has yet to even crest into a war. You don't even know that it's going to happen for sure."

It took a quick moment for Eligius to realize who had just pawed him directly in the face, disrupting the flow of the conversation he and the others had previously engaged in together. The disruption however, came as a bit of a relief as far as the off-white male was concerned. And so neither disappointment nor anger came to claim his facial features and twist them away from the currently calm one that he now had out on display. No, instead he merely gave the madding Alice a soft smile and released a mighty yawn, that forced his head to shake left and right...out of sheer habit...until the yawn existed no more.

"Whether or not it is to happen is still unclear, but it is important to plan things out ahead of time and be prepared for what may come instead of not prepared at all and struggle to win something that we can not afford to lose." Eligius said softly as he moved only inches away from the small group of wolves only to be met with another statement from Alice. She was an odd one, but she was funny and provided endless amounts of entertainment for Eligius which he enjoyed very much. And as to why exactly he had allowed such a mad creature into his pack, he was not quite sure of the answer himself...but he was sure that when he did find the answer it would be a good one.

"You have such lovely fur. It's so earthy and wonderful and I want it."

With those words Eligius could practically feel Alice ripping the fur right of her back with those words alone, but instead of seeing the comment as creepy the leader of Animos decided it best to see the entire thing as a compliment and so he fixed his response to show such things.

" I see, well thank you for the kinds words. If I could by any means share my fur with you I'd do so Alice, but I think you look good in your won and so perhaps it is best to keep the one you currently have.." He said his tone rich in what seemed to be playfulness as the female proceeded to ask more questions that he was sure had some odd meanings.

"Can you make the shadows go away, Eli? I don't like them, they seem like they could eat someone."

"Hmm, I believe you'd need to cast the entire world into darkness before you could rid yourself of any shadows. And last time I checked I lacked such a power.." Eligius responded quietly though his attention never left Alice's figure, as their crazily absurd conversation continued to take its own shape.

"I want to eat a whole wigglyworm. I bet they'd taste good, better than elk even."

"A wigglyworm?" Eligius muttered aloud before releasing a hardy laugh into the air as he pictured the image in his head. He had seen plenty little worms inching about the ground or on the trunks of a tree, but never had he considered eating such a thing. Although, he actually couldn't seem to persuade himself enough to decide that if given the chance, Alice wouldn't just ahead and chomp down on a few wigglyworms just to see how they taste. "Perhaps, we can arrange such a taste testing for you one day then Alice." Eligius smiled as he said the words..

[Boyce]

"Whether or not it is to happen is still unclear, but it is important to plan things out ahead of time and be prepared for what may come instead of not prepared at all and struggle to win something that we can not afford to lose."

"Well, let's hope that this isn't going to be the end of all that we know." Alice replied, her yellow eyes clear and focused for a moment before they turned unfocused once again. Such lapses in her insanity only happened for a few moments at a time and were growing a little more frequent now that she wasn't alone. However, the crazy side of her always pulled her back before she could cause any sort of damage to herself or others.

She started to bat at Eligius' ears once again, contentment painted clearly on her face. The young female enjoyed "torturing" the lead male for it brought her all sorts of entertainment. What made it even better was that he seemed to hold endless patience for her antics. Whether she was chewing on his ears or making him help her find some sort of plant to cure the "sergals", he did what she asked. Maybe there were some good sides to being completely and utterly insane.

" I see, well thank you for the kinds words. If I could by any means share my fur with you I'd do so Alice, but I think you look good in your won and so perhaps it is best to keep the one you currently have.."

"Maybe I can help with that!" Alice said after a moment of thought. She rolled off of the male and stood up, her head tilted at its usual angle. Leaning forward, she grasped Eligius' scruff in her mouth and began to slobber on it. In her mind, doing so would loosen it from his skin and she could claim it as her own. Of course, the male wouldn't know that; she released it for a moment so she could explain properly. "I'm going to make your fur all wet so it'll come off easier. That way, I can have yours and mine!" With that, she grabbed his scruff again and began to happily slobber on him once again.

"Hmm, I believe you'd need to cast the entire world into darkness before you could rid yourself of any shadows. And last time I checked I lacked such a power.. A wigglyworm? Perhaps, we can arrange such a taste testing for you one day then Alice."

Alice had been so busy with slobbering up her superior that she had missed most of what he had said. She stopped what she had been doing for a moment and reached back into her memory to pull out his words. Searching.. searching.. searching.. search-- Ah, there it was. She stiffened slightly and her yellow eyes turned into the saucers as she looked at Eligius' face. If he couldn't make the shadows go away there was no one who could. In her eyes he was the strongest, bravest wolf and he had the power to do anything.

"I think you should eat it, Eli! That way if it's not good then I can stick with elk." She answered as she started to bounce around again. Alice couldn't remain unhappy for very long; she always seemed to be in her happy place. Of course, no one could really determine if she was really and truly happy. After all, she was insane. One can never be sure about what they're really feeling. "Oooh, what if someone catches the sergals again? I think we should go herb hunting. You never know when you need them." She sat down in front of Eligius though she couldn't stop her body from quivering. Too much energy hummed beneath the surface.

If Eligius knew what was good for him, he would honour her request.