Astragalus

T3 G4 9M badger merle

blacklight (#131787)
@Aqualia (#132012) astragalus. it means anklebiter in greek XD idk I thought of that

Astragalus is his name now, I ain't changing it

...asparagus
He is canonically 60cm tall when standing on all fours therefore he is a short anklebiter

"Astragalus remarks that they hope your day is as pleasant as you are with a smirk on their face. Is that a compliment...?" Goddamn this kid

LOREAstragalus had little in means of structure in his puphood. He was, quite unceremoniously, outcast from his pack as an adolescent.
His youth implied an innocence that did not quite match the shade of his eyes as he casts a glance on you; more of a faint used suprise that anything, an air of anxoius nonchalance is unaviodable in his presence. A glare, a frantic fleeting blink at the middle distance, a sweeping of the ear, it was all one to Astragalus; his wolfy body language, so much more varied amongst his packmates, in him meant one and all: I do not trust you. You are unlike me.
Astragalus, ever the unwilling to cooperate, was not one to differ as a tuffy, black-eyed, haggard shee-wolf with an irritating sweetness and unwavering optimism found him on Alsace's border. In reality, he was extremely lucky that his founder was Geneva, as ayone else would have undoubtedly given him another shredding of his ears and dunked him in the river for a farewell. Or perhaps Gevena saw a little of herself in the pathetically tiny but massively scornful child; either way, she half-dragged him back to Alsace's camp (which wasn't hard; Astragalus had always been small and would remain so [lol]) where Fenris, after much cajoling, accepted him.
Astragalus saw little of this, but equally was wise enough to not make an enemy of this lenience. He did, in fact, refuse to stay at camp, and rather lived on the outskirts of the bordelines of Alsace, always swaying on the edge, exploiting his protection that Geneva had bestowed on him and the majority of the pack agreed to. They pitied him! He would return their pity when they realised their own foolish gullibility. Fenris and much of her older, closest friends and advisors did very much understand Astragalus' tactics, who would be sighted on a scouting every once in a while by Geneva or her scouting partner Sage, however both of them had by now a view of Astragalus that was so endearingly comical when he tried to hide from the pack that had accepted his presence on their territory, that Alsace collectively decided there was no point in antagonsing, and simply accepted the entertainment.

Astragalus was not one to love. Sure, a platonic fondness; but the standard mating call was not his. Well, this is what seized him bythe throat in a softly threatening affection when he encountered Magpie, a son of Sage's best friend Minerva, was spotted on a hunting patrol. Young and foolish, Astragalus spotted his badly-concealed white rosettes from a kilometer away.
"Hey! Birdshit!"
Magpie, ever one to tense up fast, spun round with a snarl and a fire in his eyes.
"How creative. That's a long, eloquent vocabulary for a short pup, y'know? Learnt those by hiding like prey from the rest of us?"
Astragalus was slightly floored by this. Magpie, considerably wiser, caught on.
"You thought the rest of us weren't aware of your petty existence as you scrutinised us from afar? The only reason you're living on our land is because a scout felt sorry for you."
Not much was gleaned by either side from that interaction. Over time, Astragalus came to his senses and tasted the pack-animal loyalty that he had for so long rebelled against, he had entired abandoned its idea. Magpie, too, sensed this, and as the more considerate of the two, wished that perhaps Astragalus would realise that care could exist in the world.
The final straw was the realisation, one day, when Magpie left camp specifically to seek him out and talk to him, that he in fact was not unlike the rest of his kind. He admired the malicious loyalty Magpie had to his wolves. And Magpie did refer to them as "[his] wolves", whever this was out of greed for a future power, or an unorthodox way of expressing his closeness to his packmates, he did everntually grow out of an egotistical mindset, a growth that begun from his care for Astragalus.

"Fenris bids you come."
"To your camp?"
"Yeah, bird-brain. Our camp. Key word here: "our" ", Magpie started yapping faster now, his curt tone
and clacking of teeth more obvious than ever. "I've always wanted to know why you refuse to acknowledge this pack as your own. It's foolish to think you're taking advantage of Alsace's kindness by staying here rent-free,"

(Do wolves know what rent is? No. Do I care for the purpose of this? Also no.)

"You're not smart, or resourceful, or funny for distancing yourself from us. You're stupid. You look stupid, you know? Grow up. Either leave this pack and stop avoiding your packmates, or grow up."

Astragalus was certainly smart and resourceful enough to realise that, even if it seemed that his status as packwolf had been forced upon him, it had not been so. He did enjoy interactiosn with Magpie under the spruce by the border. He was filled with a craving for a togetherness that was part of his species.

Did he accept his life and duties as a packwolf for Magpie? Partially. Maybe mainly. Maybe. Probably.
Well.
He certainly didn't regret it.


https://www.wolvden.com/wolf/9224672 Astragalus regards you thoughtfully from Alsace, care to join him? T3 G4 9M badger merle, 1 / 190