Welcome to Canis Major

a wolf and animal rpg (role-playing game)

Canis is a writing community for play-by-post (forum-based), freeform roleplay set in a fictional dream world in the intrusion fantasy genre. Most characters on Canis are wolves; many play elements are focused around wolves and canids, but the world makes room for a large variety of other animal characters such as dogs, horses, cats, bears, deer, and many, many more.

Our community is focused on flexibility, creativity, and collaboration. That boils down to a few important features:

  • There is no set activity requirement to write
  • The setting and plot are member-created and staff-supported
  • The game is continuously improved to increase fun and decrease stress

Learn more in our Rulebook!

P
Something Different


Evening Sunny/Clear
#1
P
04-12-2021, 01:36 AM
The light stirring of a breeze upon dampened fur woke the man, making him raise his head and open bleary eyes. He squinted against the light, frowning in displeasure at it. Water wrapped around his hindquarters, tugging at his tail like a playful pup, caressing his legs like a lover. Rhelenso looked around, confused as to where he was exactly. The last he remembered, his head had plunged beneath icy waters of a mountain river rushing violently in the torrent of a flash flood. His ears twitched, feeling as if he remembered two voices calling his name.

’The girls.’ the thought crossed his mind after a moment, making him jerk unsteadily to his paws, gaze flashing around almost in sudden panic. Where was he? And why was it so different from where he’d been? The man gave a cough, feeling phlegm coat a hoarse throat thickly, making it sticky to swallow.

”Hello?” Rhelenso called out, ears angling themselves forward, curious but cautious as to this new location that he found himself in. It was strange, and stranger yet his memory of before. He felt he had been searching for something – someone, perhaps – but could not quite place who, what, or even really why. Confusion muddled his thoughts, causing his lighter-hued brows to pinch towards each other in frustration. Shaking the water from his pelt, he turned his icy gaze towards the trees around him, taking them in. They… were similar to any tree he’d seen before, but yet… something still felt… different.

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#2
04-12-2021, 05:44 AM
[narrow width=700]Having found most of their packmates already, it was time to set out and scout the surrounding lands - they had agreed to split up for now, as much as it pained Valeska to be away from her newly rediscovered friends, but it was necessary if they were to thrive rather than merely survive here. The plains were vastly unsuited to their way of life and to say that she was eager to find somewhere more shaded, with a little bit more food, was an understatement.

The sound of water lapping at a nearby shoreline drew her attention, and she veered off-course to investigate. It wasn't too long until she reached its source and marveled out at the vast surface - she could distantly see the other side if she focused, with great towering mountains looming out of the fog like monoliths from an ancient civilization. Valeska breathed softly, remembering the mountains from home. Father... mother... Harper. Their two siblings. Life had not always been good to them, but like a firebird from the ashes, the sisters had risen from their despair and forged a new course for themselves; though recently washed away in a thundering cataclysm as it was, she wouldn't give up now. They would make a new home, again. Together.

She would find her.

She gave the great stone mountains a final, longing look, then moved to turn back toward the path she was on - and stopped. 'Hello?' a familiar voice called, low and deep, quite unlike the other wolves of her pack. He had never joined them, choosing to stay behind and soothe the ruffled feathers of his impulsive leader, but their brief dalliance held a special, secret place in her heart. It couldn't be real. Why would he be here? The earthquake surely had not extended so far as to Halcyon's land, and yet...

Valeska moved closer, carefully, slowly. The enthusiasm she had greeted her packmates with was restrained here, almost fearful. He looked tired and waterlogged, but by all accounts, he was here.

"Is it... are you... Rhelenso?" she returned, voice wavering with the shock. "Oh, Rhelenso... knew you were older, but did not know so close to the dying... gods, Valeska hopes it was peaceful. Welcome to maybe-Purgatory? Do not yet know for sure, but am starting to think am dead."
Mistakenly, Valeska assumed age had taken him in the way that she assumed the earthquake had taken the Elysium wolves. If this was where all went upon death, stoically awaiting judgment, she distantly wondered if she would have to ever see Levi again when his time came. She grimaced, but when he coughed, she crept closer and knelt to gently and reassuringly press her muzzle into his cheek. "Are you... alone?"[/narrow]

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#3
04-12-2021, 12:16 PM
A familiar voice split the silence. It filled his head with worries, and his heart with joy and regret. Valeska. The usually stoic man felt something of a tear begin to sting at the corners of his eyes, slipping along the rim, before threatening to spill over.

”Is it… are you… Rhelenso?” His icy gaze came to rest upon her familiar tundra hued figure. He felt a light in his heart flare up, and admittedly, the man had to restrain himself from rushing forward. He couldn’t explain it, but something felt undeniably complete in that moment, as if some mission he’d been on had finally come to an end. He almost started to pant, feeling the air get sucked out of him. He didn’t, but he could not help the relief that flooded his icy gaze at the sight of her familiar features. Why couldn’t he remember what he had been doing? He wasn’t sure, and that frustrated the Salvatore man to no end.

”Oh, Rhelenso… knew you were older, but did not know so close to dying… gods, Valeska hopes it was peaceful. Welcome to maybe – Purgatory? Do not know for sure, but am starting to think am dead.”

Rhelenso squinted, confused. Dead? Surely… surely he wasn’t? Surely Valeska wasn’t? He swallowed hard before taking a breath to speak.

”Wait, dead? I’m dead?” He blinked, before fear touched his gaze. ’Does that mean the girls are here somewhere too?’ He asked himself, fearful to even speak the question – the possibility – into existence about his precious daughters. A blurry flash came to him, of him pushing them onto a rock, scrambling desperately himself to get onto it, before he was dragged off, and down by the current. Those brows furrowed, his head slowly shaking. ”It… it can’t be.” Rhele murmured quietly.

He jumped slightly at touch, but turned into it regardless, almost sighing at it. ”Are you… alone?”

”I… I’m not sure… It wasn’t old age that got me, baby girl. I… I think it was a flood. If this is death, I wasn’t ready to give up. I… I think a flood. I… I’m struggling to remember, to be honest. But now… Now I’m worried that the girls might be here too. We… we were looking for…. Something. I cannot remember what.” He pushed himself up, shaking his head slightly. Trying to remember was beginning to give him a headache. The fear that was beginning to grip his heart was almost palpable. Between it, and the obvious panic he felt in his heart, it was almost easy to distinguish the two beginning to mingle within his scent, threatening to twist it and sour its usually pleasant musk.

Rhelenso grew quiet for a moment, reflective as he thought, trying hard to push through the headache that was beginning to give his vision a blackened hue. He heaved a sigh, and decided that at least for the moment, take the small blessing in the fact that he was with Valeska again.

”Why are you here, my beautiful? Where… where did everyone go?” He remembered enough to know that Elysium’s land had been… abandoned, their borders faint. He felt, with some certainty, that his daughters and he had been searching for the lost pack. Had he left Halcyon…? Or had Leviathan sent him on some mission to their allied pack? Rhelenso couldn’t remember, and perhaps none of it mattered. Something about his life had clearly changed, and while he had Valeska back, he now had lost his daughters.

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#4
04-14-2021, 03:30 AM (This post was last modified: 06-01-2021, 10:08 PM by Aso. Edited 1 time in total.)
[narrow width=700]He was so disoriented, she felt helpless next to him. Rhelenso uttered broken phrases, speaking of a flood, of giving up; of looking for someone. The pain in his eyes as flashes of whatever had happened danced across his memory, broken and scattered, and she knew what it was he now experienced - she herself had already abandoned the hope of understanding her last moments awake in the Other World already, every time crashing against the invisible wall that barred her from them. All she could do was lay next to him and press her warmth against his, hoping to comfort him with at least that much.

"Kye said she thought Purgatory would have less grass. Am inclined to agree, but cannot explain why we are here. Have had Bad Herbs before, but nothing like this - everything so lifelike," she said, prodding him teasingly with her muzzle as if to test the theory. "Have found some others of Elysium here, but not Harper. I have hope she will appear, if everyone else can. Even you are here, and you are not Elysium!"

He had promised her once that they would meet again, at the onset of the new year, but unfortunately it was not meant to be in that world. She regretted the impression they'd left on his pack, Halcyon, and their hotheaded leader - but it was a necessary evil. The gods had called her for a greater purpose, even if it now lay in ruins at the bottom of a chasm somewhere.

Valeska looked up at the evening sky as streaks of red and purple bled through the scattered clouds, the sound of distant birdsong breaking the silence between them. It was beautiful, even for an alien world full of familiar things. 
"I do not know what happened to your girls, but have not heard or smelled them, if it soothes," she said quietly, knowing how deeply he cared for them. "Our temple was destroyed, I think. Earth opened up and swallowed us whole, though did not see all that happened. Last thing I remember is bonking head very hard on rock face, and many bruise and cut on back. Woke with some; some were gone. Cannot... explain."

As he rose halfway, Valeska leaned in to steady him, knitting her brows in concern. If he exerted himself too much he might die a second time, and who knows what that implied here - if it was permanent blackness or the true final judgement. She didn't want to take any chances.

"Where will you go?"

[/narrow]

+1 Formation Points

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#5
04-18-2021, 12:07 PM (This post was last modified: 06-01-2021, 10:13 PM by Aso. Edited 1 time in total.)
 Rhelenso was grateful for the company – the comfort. At least, in this strange new place that he suddenly found himself in, he wasn’t alone. Although, if this was the afterlife, the sad fact struck him that both Valeska and he were dead. But, perhaps it was not, perhaps it was some… just something else. Maybe a world in the center, that they could get out of. Although, part of him didn’t believe that. But, it was almost easier to believe, for him, than an afterlife.

An afterlife was something Rhele had never considered, never thought about. The Salvatores were not a religious family. They were quite atheistic, in fact. Their family belief systems did not leave room for religious ideation and thought. The Salvatore family oft thought themselves gods among men, and to anyone who knew the family would probably not be quite so surprised. But, regardless, Rhelenso had never truly considered a religion in his seven years. He’d never put much thought into what might come after his untimely – or timely – demise. He twitched an ear slightly at the discomfort of the thought.

”Kye said she thought Purgatory would have less grass. Am inclined to agree, but cannot explain why we are here. Have had Bad Herbs before, but nothing like this – everything so lifelike. Have found some others of Elysium here, but not Harper. I hope she will appear if everyone else can. Even you are here, and you are not Elysium!” Valeska stated. Rhele pondered her words for a moment before nodding.

”I suppose I never had put much thought into what… after would be like. But, if this is the afterlife or some part of it, I’m not complaining. The girls and I... we had set out to find Elysium – find you. To join fully, instead of trying to do this. We’d grown tired of Leviathan’s rule, and the foolery that was he and Nicharion’s style of leadership. And we… found a hole instead. Not wanting to believe what could have been, we set off in search of where you and the others might have gone. But then… I… My memory’s a little fuzzy, but I remember pushing the girls up onto a rock while trying to fight a current in a flood. I remember getting swept away and pulled under and that’s. That’s about it,” Rhelenso stated.

I do not know what happened to your girls but have not heard or smelled them, if it soothes. Our temple was destroyed, I think. Earth opened up and swallowed us whole, though did not see all that happened. Last thing I remember is bonking head very hard on rock face, and many bruise and cut on back. Woke with some Woke with some; some were gone. Cannot… explain.”

He nodded slightly, further pondering her words. At least, in some regard, there was hope for their lives having been spared, if they had not appeared as he had. He wondered how much time had elapsed since then. How much… how much time had passed in their former world? He almost voiced the question but decided to remain quiet about it for the time being. He didn’t want to cause any anxiety in the woman beside him.

”Where will you go?”

”I’ll follow you if you’ll allow me.” He stated quietly, wondering if it were even an option anymore. Were her feelings still there, or had their distance dampened them?



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#6
04-18-2021, 11:44 PM
[narrow width=700]The memory brought her pain; they had met by chance in a small, shaded glen, two strangers who passed one another like comets through the sky and lit the night aflame with their passion. She had fallen for him hard, it being her first experience in the realm of romance, while he had been older, more jaded and experienced. He had professed his fondness for her and brought her back to his home, but the alpha had proven harsher and more unyielding than she wanted for herself and her sister. They had left them suddenly to form their own pack, led by the gods to create the utopia she envisioned.

Unfortunately for the star-crossed lovers, Rhelenso had been bound by honor to his leader. Their dalliance had ended as swiftly as it began, as night after night she cradled the older wolf's promise to meet her again to her heart, but it had not come to pass. He remained a fond memory, a reminder of the first blush of youth and how grand, how wonderful it was to love.

He went on to describe a flood, of pushing his daughters to safety; had they made it? She wouldn't dare pose the question aloud, not wanting to upset him further. Would he discover them here, and find his efforts in vain? She couldn't begin to imagine his grief. Valeska hoped and prayed they remained in the land of the living, or wherever they had been before - he didn't deserve such pain. He had already given his life for them, though she knew he would do it again if he must. He was so good, always.

'I'll follow you if you'll allow me'. The words she had so longed to hear before, words she had spent countless nights awake waiting to cross his lips - she worried they would seem dull, now, losing their meaning in the ever-flowing passage of time that yawned between them, but she still felt the corners of her mouth lift into an enthusiastic smile. She would like to spend time with him again; to see if maybe they still had the spark that lit them on fire for one beautiful night and many thereafter before.

“Would never turn you away, Rhele,” she said gently, brushing his cheek with her own. “Never did get to meet Elysium-friends. Come, we will find them.”

Valeska turned to leave, and with a guilty pang, she wondered - and worried - what Amaranth would think.


[Exit Valeska]
[/narrow]

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#7
04-19-2021, 12:16 PM (This post was last modified: 04-19-2021, 12:17 PM by Rhelenso. Edited 1 time in total.)
 Rhelenso remembered their time together fondly. Kept the memories close to his heart. They held an esteemed place, as did Valeska herself within his inner workings. He regretted many things he’d done in terms of their relationship, and he hoped that his foolishness to try to follow Leviathan had not ruined it, had not dampened the little flame that they’d created. Her touch, her scent both calmed and thrilled him, and he wondered how she felt.

”Would never turn you away, Rhele.” Valeska stated, brushing her cheek against his. He leaned into the small touch, turning his head slightly to give her a small kiss near her ear.

”Thank you, Valeska.” He said quietly, thankful that at least his stupidity hadn’t been enough to turn her cold towards him. Although, he could have guessed that from the fact that she’d come to him instead of attacking him in his confusion.

”Never did get to meet Elysium-friends. Come, we will find them.”

Rhelenso nodded, standing slowly, shakily. He took a second to find his balance, his composure before beginning to pad after her, his joints stiff from the cold of the water, and the thrashing he’d received before being deposited in whatever new land this was that he found himself in.

’I won’t make mistakes again, not about this. I’m too old to afford them,’ he thought to himself.


[fin]

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