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!

I'm on the edge


Late Evening Partly Cloudy
#1
Nightwalkers
07-10-2021, 12:20 AM
For @Vengeance and @Grumble - takes place after the other thread with Grumble


The way back had been... challenging to say the least. While the two were only a bit away from the Reach, the journey there took the entire evening. If at all possible, Almight had bags under the bags under his eyes as he tried to get them home before midnight. He could only hope his father had some kind of idea as to what to do with Grumble, as she so eloquently had named herself, because it had taken a lot of effort just to get her to the borders.

Before he called for the Warlord though, he warned Grumble; “You will meet my father now. Just be nice and everything will be alright.” Yeah, right. He'd been nothing but respectful, if a little touchy, to the dude and he'd still threatened him with death. He just hoped he wouldn't be in too poor of a mood.

He then tipped his maw skywards and let out a call for Vengeance, letting him know he'd found something interesting while he was away.

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Caution! 3-3-3 character
#2
07-10-2021, 12:42 AM
Grumble still had plenty of energy, not phased in the slightest. She had quite a lot of fun as a matter of fact. It had been a long time since she got to socialize, and in such a positive way (the whole interaction in a nutshell even with the squabble was still more positive to her than most of her other social opportunities). She was surprised when they came to a halt. She had never seen so much mist before, and she was finding her attention-span wandering everywhere as she could not get over this dark environment. Imagine all the things she could sneak up on and steal from here.

Only when her companion spoke did she pay attention, Swiss-cheese ears straight up and alert. “You will meet my father now. Just be nice and everything will be alright.” She found herself tilting her head as she processed the words. He had a dad and yet his ears were fine? She was almost skeptical for once. But whoever was coming was not a vessel to bring or get food it seems. She flashed him her first big smile. "Your friends are my friends, Sir!" She exclaimed as she started to nuzzle him again with happiness, trying to slip in the occasional nibble and or kiss. She was starting to get excited at the idea of meeting another new wolf.

As the black wolf howled, Grumble found herself mimicking, tilting her large head back to let out a deep howl alongside his own. Once the howl was finished, Grumble just found herself leaning all her weight on the male, waiting for someone to pop into view. She wondered briefly what they looked like.
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#3
07-10-2021, 01:01 AM
^^
It wasn't often that he was called to the borders - however it was happening more and more lately. They were getting busier, their name was spreading on the wind with every passing day and eventually they would be a housepackhold name whispered among friends and family. Watch out for the Bogeyman for his mist might swallow you up and never be seen again.

Heavy set paws marched forward toward the call that grew with another calling out to him in tandem. One sounded like Almight, the yearling he had forced to join them, the other... well he supposed was someone he was about to meet.

What he saw waiting for him was not a sight he expected. With a flat gaze contradicting the humour curling his lips, he cut through the mist and shadows to greet the shadowed man and his companion. “Hmm.” Sombre vocals rolled out casually as he eyed the two. Almight seemed fatigued while the equally large woman who was all over him seemed to still have energy to spend. 
 
“Almight,” Tossing his callous glance over to the younger boy the moment he was addressed. “Who is this?”
^^
the staff team luvs u
Vengeance is a disgusting, terrible character. I do not condone anything he does or thinks of IC, and though I enjoy writing him, he also disgusts me often. He is a villain and nothing more.
#4
07-10-2021, 01:15 AM
Friend? No, Vengeance was anything but a friend, but he couldn't be pissed to correct her. Or was the phrase "could be pissed"? God, he was just so tired. Normally he couldn't sleep within the mists of the Reach, but now it felt like he could fall asleep standing upright. That did mean Grumble was useful; useful at being exhausting was still useful for the insomniacs among them.

And there the bogeyman came, stank and all, but even that didn't bother the titan anymore. He was here to deliver this package, get some kudo points, and be on his way. He rolled the shoulder the woman leaned on, perhaps with a slight hope she'd stand on her own, but also because his muscles had become a little soar with her doting on him and fluttering about like a wee pup. Almight raised his brows to appear more awake than he really was, blinking slowly before speaking.

“This is Grumble.” He answered matter-of-factly. “She wishes to know how to hunt, in return for her services.” The boy winked with the eye facing away from Grumble. He hoped that combined with her general way of being would make clear he'd found a nutcase, but a nutcase with brawn and a clear devotion to whomever was kind to her. Services could entail loads of things - he was quite sure Vengeance would find a use for her, twisted as he was.

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Caution! 3-3-3 character
#5
07-10-2021, 01:41 AM
Grumble was able to smell him before she saw him. All of her instincts were trying to warn her of the wolf that approached, yet she couldn't understand why. Maybe she just had daddy issues? She really wasn't sure, but she found her breath being practically stolen as he appeared. A large dark brown wolf with red eyes, the air of danger was all around him. She found herself pressing harder into her companion. She couldn't get a read on the stranger, and it did make her the slightest bit of antsy. As he spoke, the tone of his voice made her think of home even if it was not truly that similar to it. How to say...it reminded her of the cold. "Almight," Grumble found herself blinking. So was that her companion's name? It felt odd to realized he had a name, but if he had a dad then he had a name, right? "Almight, Almight...Almight..." She found herself practicing the word, putting Slavic-like strength on the i.

She could feel Almight move his shoulder and she growled a little in protest, wiggling to get comfy on him again as she boldly made eye-contact with the father. Light blue eyes a sharp contrast to those bloody-red orbs of his. “She wishes to know how to hunt, in return for her services.” She was shocked when Almight spoke this, tail beginning to wag in excitement. She never got enough time to learn from her pack before the incident happen. Was she getting a chance now? Truly?! She could catch all kinds of food then! "I will hunt the world for you and kill all who oppose if you guys teach me! None shall ever touch your food!" She vowed as she found herself drooling at the thought of food. She meant every word too. Missing the wink from Almight, even if she knew about it she wouldn't have cared. This was an amazing opportunity.

Beyond excited, she suddenly stood back up on all fours and skipped the distance over to Vengeance to give his face a big lick/kiss before attempting to nuzzle him. Not pondering if this would upset the stranger, that others might not be as kind as Almight. Parents were pretty scary after all.
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#6
07-10-2021, 01:56 AM
^^
The meeting began relatively well. The woman at Almight's side seemed relatively... well. For a lack of words or any kind of knowing who she was. She seemed completely enraptured with the young man even if he seemed to be trying to distance himself. The two must have just met, not yet setting boundaries between themselves as she protested against the space being demanded between her and the young man.

Almight seemed soft still. Too accepting and not yet hardened to the world. Something that Vengeance had to break in him if he were to remain a Nightwalker. To learn to enjoy his time here and blossom like the Rache he claimed to be. Already he was shaping up quite useful. Bringing back a potential follower to add to their ranks - one who seemed more keen on hunting than any of the other creatures who lingered in the mist. She was quick to claim willing to kill those who would try to steal their food as well.

Well, that was a step in the right direction at least. 

Before he could part his lips to speak again, to clarify who they were, what she was expected to do —

Grumble bounced over.

And the matted hairs along his spine rose in warning, a growl bubbling up deep within his throat but it all seemed to go relatively ignored by the girl. Like a child new to the world, she tried to lick his face and nuzzle to show some kind of affection; and he was quick to snap.

Yellowed ivories clicked against the other as he aimed to correct her behaviour the only way he knew how. A bite here, a loud thundering roar to chase her off of him. He was not Almight. He was not soft like the boy was to let her show such affections.“Would you kill on command?!” His tone rose, commanding, booming like thunder as he lunged toward the girl wherever she might have retreated to - or bite her again if she chose to remain too near. 
 
“We are not a soft family unit, I will teach you to hunt provided you hunt all - and not just food.”
^^
the staff team luvs u
Vengeance is a disgusting, terrible character. I do not condone anything he does or thinks of IC, and though I enjoy writing him, he also disgusts me often. He is a villain and nothing more.
#7
07-10-2021, 09:12 PM
He couldn't say that he'd expected her to bounce over to Vengeance in a show of affection, but he surely wasn't surprised. He moved to come between the two, in case it was an attack rather than what he thought it was, but he'd reacted just a tad too late due to being fatigued and generally out of it. As a Nightwalker, he supposed it was his duty to protect his Warlord, even if the man could handle himself just fine.

He then acted as a wall between Grumble and the outside world, any attempts made to cower behind him shot down with clicking teeth and nasty snarls. She had to face Vengeance if she had any shot of making it here - he accepted no cowards, that much was clear.

Not a family unit - yeah, no kidding, dad.

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Caution! 3-3-3 character
#8
Content Warning
07-10-2021, 11:03 PM (This post was last modified: 07-10-2021, 11:09 PM by Grumble. Edited 1 time in total.)
All parents were the same it seemed. Grumble had not expected the reaction that befell, did not pay attention to the warning growls as she was so use to others making that sound towards her. That's why she named herself Grumble after all, because of all the growling that emitted from wolves throats when they looked at her, she associated the very noise with her identity. His body-language had puzzled her a little bit, in hindsight she should have thought about that observation more, hesitated.

The bite met with her cheek, a little under the right eye. The incisors cutting through her skin with ease, so fast that it took several moments before blood could make it's way to the surface and pour out. Perhaps it was a cruel reaction to her advances, but blunt interactions were what Grumble understood best. She immediately got the idea, with a surprise snarl, she quickly backing up, as the father boomed noises of protest at her actions. As she tried to keep quickly backing up to put up some distance between them, she felt a sudden blockade behind her, it was Almight. She did not hide behind him but look up at him momentarily for assistance, and realized from his behavior none would be given. Suddenly the father leapt in front of her, closing much of the attempted distance. Grumble found herself flattening her ears as he spoke. “Would you kill on command?!” His words so loud she could feel vibrations. Her pulse quicken and she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She had never killed anyone, could she do that?

The memory of her jaws clinging to her sister's swollen head, digging her fangs in so deep that the pressure caused the eye nearest to Grumble to pop out, hanging from the socket. Her wailing not phasing Grumble in the slightest, but that eye so similar to her own...as it hung limply and stared at her...

Never killed anyone.

Grumble hanging in the outskirts as the leader of the council of elders spoke to her parents, eyes clouding with cataracts and yet they sliced right through to their cores it seemed like. "Oh I am sure Ouroboros must be laughing at our Goddess, Marzanna. What you two have brought into this world and nurtured is a savage, a menace to society. Your bloodline is cursed. I sentence you, Anastaiya, Vlad, to death. Your savage daughter to exile, and castration or exile as well for the rest of your offspring."

Suddenly with those memories, an epiphany entered Grumble's brain. That look her parents gave at their sentencing. She did not understand it then, so calm and yet strong. It was defiance and conviction combine into one. No regrets but acceptance of their future. These thoughts and memories only took seconds of time away from reality. “We are not a soft family unit, I will teach you to hunt provided you hunt all - and not just food.” Almight's father soon added. The normality of society...was weak. Was that what he meant by a 'soft' family? Grumble could almost laugh at this situation suddenly, almost. This event, this temptation of pack-life was chipping away at the wall of ignorance she held so dear. Adults really are the worst, she vowed silently to never become one as she tried to fix her precious wall.

Grumble found herself making eye-contact with the terrifying father again, paws digging deep into the ground, her body lowered in an attempt of submission. She did not know it, but she was wearing the same expression of her parents on their final day. Whether he saw conviction or defiance in her eyes was not up for her to decide. She wanted to convey it, this feeling of hunger left by the anger and frustration of her entire lonely pathetic life. She wanted to bleed the world of everything it had for the rest of her life. She was no Ouroboros, there was no repetition or saving she understood or expected, and she didn't care to learn of those concepts either. These feelings were what allowed Grumble to endure and survive up to this point.

"I will consume everything without question. Teach me how to hunt Sir, teach me what a strong family is suppose to look like. Give me a purpose." She said, the words seeming to spew out of her maw without thought. She didn't even recognize her voice. Looking up at him, she remained in place, prepared to embrace any new lashing. She would not run.

 

Ouroboros = Serpent of ancient Egypt and Greece represented with its tail in its mouth, continually devouring itself and being reborn from itself.
Marzanna = Slavic Goddess of winter and death

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#9
07-11-2021, 06:49 PM
^^
Almight moved, not to help the woman he had brought with him - perhaps it was to assist the Warlord in teaching boundaries. Which with his tardiness was not necessary, instead he provided a wall against for the woman to cower. With lifted lips and a threat on the tip of his tongue as she cowarded with clear submission, learning quickly what had happened instead of turning to make an escape.

That alone was enough to give him reason to back away - to reward good behaviour with distance and some sense of safety against his wrath. A slow run of his tongue against teeth that grazed her skin taste the blood she left behind. Wrapping around the ivory, he drew in the red that stained his teeth and swallowed the small taste of her just as quickly as it vanished behind drawn curtains.

Defiance burned in her eyes as she gazed at him, the fear not quite settling in but perhaps it was all for the better. Fear only got him so far, but when they had that desire, that burn to do more - just as Almight did - he was certain they would prove to be more than just useless pawns to be sent to war. 

With a long drawn out breath, mist curling around his thick stained muzzle as air forced itself out. Rubies tearing away from Grumble and onto Almight, seeking the attention of his silver hues. “Show her around, give her something from the caches. Tomorrow I will take her on a hunt.” Was his way of accepting the woman into their ranks. She was a Nightwalker now, just like Almight. Bound to the mist and to Warlord who calls it home. 

Leaving the two to speak about the new circumstances she found herself in, Vengeance would find Grumble tomorrow to see her abilities and refill the caches she'd eat upon her arrival
^^
Exit Vengeance <3

the staff team luvs u
Vengeance is a disgusting, terrible character. I do not condone anything he does or thinks of IC, and though I enjoy writing him, he also disgusts me often. He is a villain and nothing more.
#10
07-12-2021, 12:37 AM
Strangely enough, he felt no pity as Grumble looked up at him from her hunched position. There was a lesson to be learned here, one he wouldn't interrupt. He almost thought she'd turn tail to run, a childling as she was, but she sought and found the approval of their Warlord somehow. Her words were ever so sweet to ears as twisted as his father's, surely, but had she meant it? He'd have to ask her when they were alone once more, he didn't want to put her on the spot like that after Vengeance had already accepted it.

It was then his father looked upon him and he raised his chin like the warrior he wanted to present himself as. With a firm nod he accepted his fate as her chaperon, dreading the choice to not send her up here alone. He'd go straight to bed after they were done, that much was certain - SURELY the woman did not wish to sleep with him.

With a motion of his head and a few steps set over their borders, he inquired Grumble to follow him. His silver gaze never lifted off her form, just in case she'd wander off. As soon as she joined him, he'd start walking, looking around to make sure their Warlord was out of earshot. He'd then whisper; “See? That wasn't too bad. He went a lot easier on you than he did on me, trust me.” with the hint of a smile on his face.

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Caution! 3-3-3 character
#11
07-12-2021, 06:15 PM
Grumble found herself only slightly encouraged when the wolf gave her some distance. The air of danger had been made clear to her now to an extent. All she could do was continue to stare. It felt like air had gotten lost in her lungs as she took a deep breath she didn't know she was holding when he looked away to talk to Almight. And then just like that, he was gone. Grumble was still processing his words. What the hell was a caches? Could she eat it? She did understand that they were going to go hunting tomorrow apparently. So did that mean...she was accepted?

Still a bit shell-shocked, she became reanimated as Almight motioned to her with his head, attention to him as she mimicked his movements after him and began to follow, not wandering for once thankfully. Her blue eyes kept close to all Almight was doing. After having him blocking her in like that during the confrontation, she did not understanding his intentions for it, and thus found herself trying to figure out the male. Not understanding if he was mad at her.“See? That wasn't too bad. He went a lot easier on you than he did on me, trust me.” As Almight whispered to Grumble, she found herself looking at him in surprise from his words. He was right. It had seem like it was going poor the moment her cheek stung but her ears were fine. No one was hurting her ears... these truly were the nicest wolves, and she had convince them to give her a chance. She decided to process this as praise, and found herself puffing out her chest with a new pep in her step and some odd happy grumbling noises from her throat to accompany the walk.

"Yes, you two are truly kind." She said and meant every word, her tail now wagging as she was beginning to settle back into her original mood. Caution evaporating as she got close to Almight's side once again, allowing no space between them. "Now what, what now? Do we sleep? Do we fight? Do we search?" She probed, showing she still had a lot of energy and was excited for whatever was to come now...and that the 'we' she continued to say meant that she was not going to leave him be from anything.
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#12
07-16-2021, 03:10 PM
Kind? Them? He was afraid Grumble did not know what kindness was, but he wasn't about to break her chains and open up her world. He was a Nightwalker now, just as she - their relationship was best of as teammates, associates even. With her constant bouncing and talking, he'd almost hoped Vengeance would've taken her over from him. Perhaps it would humble him.

“I'll show you our forest, and then I'm going to bed.” He informed, walking ahead. He made sure to put special emphasis on the fact he himself was going to sleep after he was done with the task given to him. Any sane person would pick up on him wanting some alone time after an awfully long day, but he was dealing with the loonies in this forest. It could very well be that the next time he'd get any rest would be when Vengeance would take Grumble with him to hunt. Perhaps he could hide before they came back or sneak out somehow?

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Caution! 3-3-3 character
#13
07-19-2021, 10:34 PM
Grumble somewhat caught his words and yet did not at the same time. She tried to press into him even more. "No, no! You're my best friend now! Let's have a sleep over tonight afterwards!" She chimed, being pushy as usual. For one who spent most of her time in solitude desiring attention, this has been pretty amazing so far (if we dont count the part everyone was snapping at her). If they tolerated her this much they must already be family now! Grumble was already viewing Almight as a best friend, cause he was her only and first friend right now! She wanted to spend all the time with him! At this rate she was basically just going to crash hard when her body demanded sleep. Like a child ramped up on caffeine. Perhaps if others saw them together they would think Almight had a lady quite fond of him. Albeit half true, it was quite platonic. The concept of love was too warped for Grumble at the moment and she did not seek it how others would. She just wanted what others took for granted. Just every day interactions. For those were taken away from her as soon as she was tossed into the dark woods.

Despite her pushy self, she became quiet and not 'as' touchy during their exploration of the land. As she wanted to check out and memorize her new home to the best of her abilities. She could always glue herself to Almight later. As she explored, she found herself mumbling out-loud, neither to herself or Almight. Odd little tidbits that were just too low to hear, except for one. "If I just killed them, would I have gotten here sooner? Would I have avoided the hell of rejection?" Her voice monotone, as if she was trying to figure out a riddle. Something so pointless but fragile, so vulnerable, and yet dangerous, was laced in those words. A premonition that would someday be foretold in a future she had no understanding of. If she had ponder more on those words, maybe even address Almight with them, her path might have diverted to something quite different. It's funny how one thought you voice out can change your entire life. She was a Nightwalker now, but even before that, since she was given the gift of a memory. She had always been a wolf that had walked through the night by herself. Would this really be any different?
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