you don't want to be -- alone [open]

[Chestnut]

  The sun was unbearable this late in the day. Absolutely torture for long furred dogs such as herself. Niamh trotted into the shaded building, sitting down under one of the massive arches that kept the building standing proud even in it's crumbling state. The Native American dog, although have come accustomed to the weather, was not built for it. Niamh laid down after sweeping over the area with her gaze and smelling faint scents of long past travelers. She'd been running around in this unforgiving heat all day, especially now that she was pregnant and they'd be due any day now, not that anyone would have known with all the fur that cloaked her body. She had no clue of where the father went, but what she did know, was that she was on her own now. Her fierce determination and pride refused to let her give up, and all the little lives she was carrying.

Although she didn't show it, she was terrified. She needed a safe place to store them away when she went out to hunt or someone to watch over them while she was out.  Sighing, the female closed her eyes, resting her head on her paws and letting the distant chirping birds and the small breeze that had begun to pick up to calm her nerves, letting nature surround her senses while her mind took a break from fretting about what her next move was going to be.

She needed a miracle for her pups, but with the... charming residents of the town, she wasn't sure if she could coax another dog to help her, even if it was another female, they could be, if not more, untrustworthy then the males. The cold cement under her body cooled her off considerably, energy starting to reflow through her veins as she rested her weary head. The monochrome canine flicked her ears to pick up different sounds around the station, she knew it was unwise to lay bare in the open like she was, but she was too tired to search out a safe room, especially when this building could fall any minute. She could at least have a chance of escaping this way. Niamh suddenly lifted her head, making her eyesight a little blurry from the quick reaction. Once her eyes adjusted, the amber iris's glared at the soft clicking of nails on the concrete, alerting her to their soon to be made presence.


notes: jump in anybody!
muse: it's there

[Haiku]

Posting with Raeburn. Link to pic in siggie. Nice to meet you!

Raeburn sloped through the glaring sunlight with ease and comfort, his jaws slightly parted and the tip of tongue poking from between his dark lips. Unlike the female he would soon be discovering, Raeburn was more than built for this weather. His ancestry lay with the hunting dogs of Africa and his coat was nice and short - but dark enough not to burn under the harmful rays. He wandered in this heat of the day the same as he would in the cool of the night - aimlessly and without purpose. He was alone in this desolate land. Once a constant companion, now he was a loner - and he didn't care for it.

Smoldering amber eyes flickered among the brush, resting finally upon a building, still some distance away. The structure was unstable, a single glance could see that the slightest sneeze might bring it down. Under normal circumstances, he would have passed right by it. He was not, after all, one for meaningless risk. Instead, as he neared, a scent wafted to his nose and his flopped ears rose in sudden interest.

Someone had gone inside. 

Curious, were they blind? He was sure no fully-sighted canine would wander into such an obviously hazardous building. They must have been sick - or something. Either way, he had to investigate. The problem could have been more serious than he could imagine and while he acknowledged that it was not his business, he could not in good faith leave whoever it was alone. Well aware that he might not find a pleasant sight once inside, the Ridgeback entered the building and had to pause for a moment for his eyes to adjust.

Once he could see a bit better, he continued following the scent trail right to the dog who lay on the cool floor. She was blotted in black and covered in white. She was unlike any breed he'd ever seen - not that he was well versed - and he thought, perhaps, she was not a single breed at all. He stood for a moment, a small distance away, his eyes resting easily upon her. Her scent drifted into his nose and he did not recognize the strange tang that came with it. After awhile, he spoke quietly, in his classically deep tones - "This isn't the safest place to rest, I think."

[Chestnut]

Niamh watched as the sun casted the stranger's shadow against the brick walls. From what she could tell from her stand point was definitely a working dog, he didn't seem to have long fur, and built. She felt the threat overwhelm her. Even if this dog wasn't looking for a fight or a cold-blooded murder to pass the time, Niamh wanted it to know right away that she had all the energy in the world to bring him down.

This isn't the safest place to rest, I think His deep voice danced around her ears, it was calming, obviously not looking for a fight... but Niamh knew better, a lot of dogs out here wore charming facades, only to turn around and bite your neck in seconds flat, "Perhaps not," She began, eyeing him warily, "But it is the coolest." Her thick pelt, built to substance freezing temperatures and all the elements nature threw at her, was not suited for this weather. Despite growing up in Oklahoma, Niamh never fully got use to the heat. She tolerated it at best, but no matter how much time she spent outside, her breed was just not made for it.

Niamh picked herself up, her long limbs stretching to their full heigh. Niamh was well around the height of a wolf, even more so to some wolves that pranced around. She'd use her size to intimidate others when she felt threatened or unsure of them, most of the time, her body language was relaxed. But now it was tense, the fur on her neck raised slightly. Even in this state, she was still visibly pregnant, which made her look like a large penguin on four legs with a thick coat instead of a dog.

[Haiku]

He could see it - in her face, in her posture. She was wary of him. And, he supposed, she had every right to be. He was a stranger, a particularly large one. His eyes were quiet, observant as he watched her - nonreactive to her mild hostilities. Raeburn would not allow it to escalate into a fight, she needn't worry and neither should he. He had learned long ago that it never did much good to say these things aloud, so he would show her, instead. Sometimes that fared a bit better.

"Perhaps not. But it is the coolest."

She was burning up. Her pelt was thick, a concern that he did not have. He had felt the change in temperature between the inside and out like a clear, crisp wall of cool verses heat. She, likely, didn't get as much relief - and certainly not as quickly. He saw her suspicion deepen and as she stood, he also saw that she was not the size he had originally thought her to be. She stood tall, built well - and she was round, right around the middle. Raeburn understood immediately, although he had never once met a pregnant female. It made sense in an instant and with a deep politeness in his gaze, he took a step back - and sat.

"True." He admitted, weighing the situation before him. He did not want her to feel too stressed by his presence, and yet he was not terribly keen to let her stay within the crumbling building either. At least, not without voicing the obvious, first, and attempting a decent argument against her staying there. "But if something were to give, it might not be worth it - in the end."

[Chestnut]

As he sat back, Niamh relaxed her tense muscles considerably, but still on alert. She wasn't risking anything, no matter how calm the male acted. True. But if something were to give, it might not be worth it- in the end. Niamh felt agitation begin to crawl, she didn't have to justify herself to this stranger. She knew this wasn't the safest place to rest, but what else was she suppose to do? She could've gone to a tick underbrush somewhere off in the forest and dig herself up some cool dirt, but she wasn't in the mood to meet a wolf pack. Not in her state, and definitely not by herself.

"Although I appreciate your concern, it isn't necessary." Niamh's pride wouldn't allow her to be submissive and just openly agree with everything he was saying. His fur was short, his breed obviously coming from a hotter terrain. That pissed her off considerably, how would he know the severe overheating she was feeling? She had pups to think about, they needed this coolness just as much as she did. Although they didn't have a way of telling her they were hot, she knew instinctively too much heat was a hazard.

Taking a look around the station, she took in its state once more. It wasn't that bad, no matter the crumbling walls barely holding together by a thread, it wasn't about to give at any moment. If it were, it would've blown away at this point. The constant dust storms that were beginning to rage through town were enough to send the roofs of the abandoned buildings that laid out the town should've been gone by now, but they continued to be stubborn, holding fast to their foundations.