Umbra Copse divine storm

RE: Violent thunderstorms overtake Relic Lore.

October 8th; Early afternoon; Overcast Clouds; 55.4 ° F, 13 ° C.

In all the days and evenings and nights that Niles had been patrolling, nothing had been out of place. No broken branches, no mucked up paths, no stones out of place, no foreign scents, and nothing strange about in general. So, why today of all days did something seem so... off? Since he had gotten up this particular morning, he had done nothing but fret. The anxiety had crept from the darkest corners of his being, snaked around his limbs, hung about his shoulders, and seized all that was in his chest. If he had not been so hyper-aware of the beating in his chest, he might have believed himself a ghost, that something had happened in the middle of the night and his worst nightmares had been perceived.

He peeled away from Castel's trot about the territory and headed towards the northern borders, hot on Larkspur's trail as it threatened to drag Niles into the depths of the Deep Forest. The last time he had been up here, he and Castel had gotten tangled with a duo of coyotes. His nose wrinkled, the boom of thunder overhead stopping him in his tracks. It was surely none of his business to go after his superior and nose about in the brute's comings and goings. As much as he knew, they had loathed one another, the elder scolding the youth for his foolhardy ways and the youth doing nothing but shrugging off the older man's scorn. Even if for safety's sake, Niles chose not to go after the Ritter; the Leader could fend for himself (for, surely, he was bigger and heftier than Castel).

Instead, the dark Lyall shivered, taking in the lands around him and trying not to worry about what circumstances would unfold if he opted to face the shadowy reaches of the northern woods. Opinions and standpoints aside, Niles knew that Larkspur probably shouldn't have gone far with Laurel seemingly gone missing for the past few hours.

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!

Hope you don't mind Mari popping in! Again, she has a potty mouth!

Thunderous weather like this had been pretty damn common back home, it seemed like every other day a storm would rage in the sky above. That wasn't to say she liked this sort of thing, hell she loathed it with all she had. And yet it seemed that storms-both literal and figurative- would always be a constant in her life. That no matter how far she ran they would always follow.

At that point her mood was already as gloomy as the sky. Which wasn't at all unusual, considering she was usually angry about one thing or another. But as of late it felt as though the world was out to get her, that it was determined to rub her face in the dirt for as long and as hard as it could. First she'd gotten lost in these Godforsaken woods and now the sky was getting all angry and loud, like Gabi on a bad day.

She would have laughed, cause that was such a fitting image- and he would have hated it-but again it was hard to feel anything good when she'd been wandering around in this doom and gloom for what felt like an eternity.She didn't even care about going north anymore, anywhere but here would be great. Anything but this awful dark tangle of trees.

"Fuck's sake."She grumbled, for what was probably the thousandth time in the past few days.

If it got any worse she'd have to hunker down and wait for it to pass. But where? All Marisol had seen was muck, trees and the occasional rock.

Mari has left Relic Lore. I'm in the process of finishing off her threads, those I don't finish will be deaded!

Somewhere in the underbrush where he couldn't see, something rustled and Niles had to steel himself. His nostrils flared and his bottle-brush tail bristled, making it seem fuller than it really was. Head lowered, he prowled forward, already half-certain that the coyotes, mangled and worse for wear as he and Castel had left them, had not quite learned their lesson. He held back the growl in his chest, not wanting to startle the creature if he could help it. For all he knew, it could have been some poor lame thing and all it had wanted in its last hour of living was to die in peace. On the furthest reaches of Quaking Vale's lands, Niles, to code, would have allowed such a thing.

Curiosity aside, though, his eyes squinted as he peered into the darkness, discerning shapes where the barely filtered sunlight dared to reach on the edges of the Forest. Something was afoot. He could sense it. His teeth clenched as he thought he heard a voice, something that vaguely sounded almost like "Fuss cake," which, really, actually didn't make sense at all (and it almost could have been something that Castel, herself, could have said in frustration).

He scowled now, merely watching and waiting for the rogue to make an appearance.

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!

Bending down, Mari picked up a twig between her teeth and with a whip of her neck she threw it as hard as she could at one of the many, tangled trees that surrounded her. She was sick and tired of these woods! Sick and tired of doing the wrong thing at the wrong time! And sick and tired of it all!

Yelling-or rather screeching- she quickly sought out another stick and gave it the same treatment. Over and over till there was scarce a branch on the ground.She then turned her attention to the stones and the pebbles that layered the floor, nothing could escape her anger and frustration. This whole forest would soon learn how much she hated it here, how much she just wanted it to all burn. Maybe with her still inside.

"Stupid trees! I hate you!"She bellowed, her voice as bitter and acidic as it had ever been.

She yelled and screamed till her voice was hoarse and sore and then...She started to feel more than a little silly. Childish really. If Gabi or her Mamma were here they would have no doubt told her off, reminded her that she wasn't a pup anymore. That she couldn't get away with acting so petty. Well, she didn't care what they would have thought. She was alone and they were long gone,  her Mamma rotting in the ground whilst her brother was who knows where, doing who knew what.

Damn it. She missed them like hell, and it hurt, real bad. And yet, all she could do was pant and glower because nothing ever ever went her way.

Mari has left Relic Lore. I'm in the process of finishing off her threads, those I don't finish will be deaded!

Niles' large ears perked up and, as if on cue, the ruckus and screeching commenced. Something clacked and thudded and crashed in the forest just out of sight, but the words were heard loud and clear, "Stupid trees! I hate you!" His lack of interest morphed into a tidal wave of annoyance and "donotwant." It was one thing if the coyotes were yipping and screaming like they were in heat or fighting to the death; for a wolf, with a missing pack cub, it was a blaring signal for any larger predator to come his way.

He needed to silence it.

The shrieking and yelling did not cease even as he drew closer to the sound of obvious distress and disappointment. By the second, it seemed that the individual in question was going to lose her voice altogether. For Niles, that would have hardly been a problem (seeing as he rarely ever used his words as an initial source of communication), but for this woman, maybe it would be and then she would pay the price for it by waiting for her chords to heal.

Around every tree, he peered about, looking for any wolfish sort of shape and listening for the eventual sound of breathlessness. He had just gone around a gnarled fir when he saw her there, panting in the center of a collection of scratch marks in the dirt. Overhead the thunderstorm rumbled and Niles had to wait until it ended to address the hazard of a rogue. His tone was accusing, every note in his words relaying that he had had enough of her making a racket, "The hell is yer problem?!"

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!

Marisol wasn't expecting company, for if she had she probably wouldn't have thrown such a pissy fit. That wasn't to say she was ashamed of her emotions, after all she felt completely entitled to feel the way she did. The world had been awful shitty to her since the start and by taking it out on the trees, well it was better than internalising it as she usually did. Or at least that was her brief line of reasoning.

Spinning around to face the new comer, Mari sent her the most scathing glower she could muster. One that was just as venomous as the snakes that slithered about in her homelands.

What was her problem? Oh she had so many problems but she weren't the sort to spill her secrets at the drop of a hat. Especially not when he asked so rudely, like she owed it to him somehow. Well she owed this giant jack-shit so she weren't gonna tell him nothing. Not even if he took back his snappy words.

Silver eyes scanned him for a moment, idly wondering what he'd do he she gave his face a wallop. He'd probably kick her ass is what but a girl could dream, right? Or at the very least picture it in her mind for a moment or so.

"I'm angry, that's what!"She hissed, as her tail stood stiff behind her."What's it to ya, patan? You always shove your nose in places it ain't wanted?"

Mari has left Relic Lore. I'm in the process of finishing off her threads, those I don't finish will be deaded!

Oh, the lass was pissed. Though, it was not like Niles as too thick-skulled to figure that out. "I'm angry, that's what!" The brute steeled himself, watching with narrowing eyes as she faced him, tail straight and eyes wild. If the circumstances might have been more lax, he might have laughed... told the woman how much she reminded him of his mate: a small thing with sooo much emotion and spunk and gumption that she couldn't entirely contain it all.

"What's it to ya, patan? You always shove your nose in places it ain't wanted?"

"I'm tryin' ta look fer someone an' yer makin' a scene!" he spat back, his hackles drawing up into a clump of spikes. Then, without much forewarning, the clouds above threw down the storm in sheets of rain. Already irritated, Niles had to shrug and roll his eyes. Not even a shake of his head could keep the rain from dripping into eyes or ears.

He scoffed at her, "Ya doin' a coyote call, a rain dance o'er here er what?" His shoulders relaxed but he still held his ground, "The coy-otes 'round here bite I'll let ya know."

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!

A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity

She was making a scene? Huh. Yeah, she could get behind that, because she was. But what else was she supposed to do? Sit down real quiet and suffer in silence? Fuck that. She weren't some meek and mild lady who bit down on her tongue and just dealt with shit. Was that the sort of woman he preferred, was anything else an oddity in his eyes? A broken sham of a woman who needed to be shown how to act all nice and proper?

The thought made her hackles rise along the line of her back. Two could play at the prickly game, if he thought he was the only one who could get all spiky like a pissed off porcupine then he had another thing coming. He easily outsized her but damn it, she'd do what she had to. If it even came to that.

"Did I ask? You can shove your life story up your ass, I don't want it!"She snapped, her teeth clicking as she lunged at empty air. Maybe that was too much, maybe she was pushing too far. So instead she scoffed, as her tail flicked in obvious and obtrusive irritation. "I ain't doing shit, like I said. I was mad, was tryna get it out of my system. Can't bottle it up like that."

As for the coyotes, well she was pretty sure she could take 'em. Still, she supposed it was good to know. Maybe this guy wasn't the worst.

"I ain't planning on hanging about. Hate it here. It's too...shit."

Mari has left Relic Lore. I'm in the process of finishing off her threads, those I don't finish will be deaded!

"Did I ask?" she retorted. "You can shove your life story up your ass, I don't want it!"

Inwardly, Niles cursed to himself, even as the rogue gave a false charge, her banner of a tail waving about in the rain like bait. The Lyall was frankly unimpressed. All he wanted was for her to take her temper tantrum elsewhere. He wanted it all to be quiet and still as possible - as tranquil as Mother Nature and the Old Gods would have it amidst an autumn rain spell; he needed any help he could get to bring Laurel back home. At the base of it all, also reminded himself that he was doing this all for Castel.

"I ain't doing shit," the woman rambled on, "like I said. I was mad, was tryna get it out of my system. Can't bottle it up like that."

Niles didn't want to waste his words anymore if the woman wasn't going to heed them. He turned his head, casting a side-eyed glance her way while doing everything in his power to just not leave her there in her hissy fit of a mood. Given Niles' luck, he was partially certain that if Laurel had heard the ruckus, the boy might have made himself scarce.

"Then, leave," he practically thrust the idea at her on a silver platter, even if his aggressive display relaxed primarily about the shoulders and spine. His tail remained stiff, his posture unmistakably possessive. The sooner he got her away from the Vale, the better. Then he could continue on his patrol and quest. "There're better trees to take shelter under to the west." The direction had been spat out at random, but hopefully it hinted at her that he still didn't appreciate that she was still close to his pack's borders.

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!