Zephyr Rill ain't no fairytale, what is in your eyes

@Sachiel first, though I know @Hawthorne is bound to show up xD Dated December 10th

For all of her wandering paws and adventurous soul, Risaela was a river wolf at heart. Which would be precisely why the little wolf was splashing in the frigid waters of Zephyr Rill. It was shallow there, so she wasn't getting particularly wet all over, but even if she had, the young wolf had grown to really love the ice-cold weather that the impending winter was bringing along with it. She was sure that she'd love all seasons, because fall had been awesome, and summer was pretty great when she didn't think about Kisla. Maybe spring would be super cool, too!

Regardless, the pup was holding onto the optimism that she had been born with. In fact, it was pretty much one of the only things she could hold onto at this point. There had been times when it had been difficult to stay positive, and sometimes she had failed at it. But, from experience, she had so much more enjoyed her life when she decided to look forward to the future instead of fearing it.

A soft gasp elicited itself from her maw when a tiny silver fish shot past her down the current, and, tail wagging, the child bounced after it immediately. The water only reached up to her ankles, so it would be easy to dry off later. It wasn't safe to get all wet when there was snow on the ground. Ayti had said so.

The agouti boy had gone much further than he had before and he worried that he would get scolded by his leaders once he returned home. He had gone off in search of loners to recruit, for he knew a pawful of wolves was not enough to ensure they survived through the winter. But he hadn’t meant to go this far, past the lake. The day was still young, which meant he had plenty of time to return most of the way back home without incident. Askan was due to arrive any day now and Sachiel wanted to ensure he got home before he did. The boy didn’t want to push Sir Grumpsalot’s buttons, especially when he had graciously allowed him into his home.

A splash! alerted the boy of another’s presence, his head spinning around at the noise. The corners of his mouth fell into a frown, his brows knitted together. A flash of tawny fur in the distance caught his attention, causing his hackles to raise defensively. But he wasn’t in Edge territory anymore—no, he was much closer to one of the neighbouring packs, which meant that he couldn’t bork away like he normally would have. His nose wrinkled as he offered a soft woof! in greeting, his black-tipped tail lashing out behind him. It was best to keep the interaction cut short—he did have to make it home soon…

for my reference, this is set before the sylva/hawth thread (he came from kingsfall > turtleback, where he saw sylva/hawth)

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

A light bark broke Ris' train of thought and she paused in her splashing to glance over at the bank, where another young wolf stood. He was bigger than her, but much less big than Ayti. Somewhere in the middle, which was nice. Silver eyes met mismatched blue and gold, and her tail set to an easy wag behind her. It was impossible for the little tawny wolf to know whether this was a nice wolf or not, but from her experience in life, if she was nice... they would be too.

"Hello," she greeted, hopping out onto the bank and flicking water off of her feet - making sure not to get any on this newcomer, as well. She turned her mercury eyes back toward him and gave a soft smile, still trying to take in his appearance. He looked cool! Not as pretty as Cyril - obviously - but still pretty, in his own way. Many wolves were. But she particularly liked that neither of his eyes were that wretched green shade. "M'name's Rissy. Wh-what's yours?" she asked, leaning forward to give the stranger a sniff, but did not touch. Lots of wolves didn't like being touched when she first met them - she knew that now.

Her eyes were void of colour, almost like Reyes’, and her fur a brilliant mix of wheat and taupe. She almost reminded him of his mother, but her pelt was far darker than the stranger’s and she had streaks of crimson running throughout the agouti pattern. His lips were curved into a soft frown as she greeted him, her voice much more cheerful than he was used to. His partner in crime, Pumpkin Eyes, had a clipped tongue and a thing for sarcasm. Askan and Reyes were the kings of grumpy. Cottongrass reminded him the most of the girl standing before him, for he had a friendly and sunny deposition.

Rissy. Must be a nickname. He had his own nickname, affectionately given to him by Pumpkin Eyes, but he wasn’t about to share that with the tawny girl. Just because she shared her name with him didn’t mean she was any less of a stranger. Sachiel, he introduced with a low wag of his tail, his head tipped to the side. You from around here? The girl was all sorts of yellow and pink, two colours he normally would have never put together, but for her they worked. 

(This post was last modified: Dec 12, 2017, 04:45 AM by Sachiel.)

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

Sachiel was a really good name. It had a nice little ring, and Sachi would be such a wonderful nickname. Of course, this boy was a stranger, and strangers probably didn't really like when other strangers nicknamed them, either. She filed it away in her memory to keep for later, when the two of them were no longer really strangers. Maybe he would be easier to befriend than some other wolves she had met in the past - at least he had wagged his tail instead of growled at her.

Ris' own tail swished at an even, happy tempo behind her, and she continued to look up at the boy as he spoke. "Uh-huh," she nodded in the affirmative, flicking her ears over to the side, where Hearthwood River was right up the creek. "'M f-from the River up there. Kinda by the lake." She leaned forward hesitantly again, trying to learn a bit more from his scent. "How 'bout you? Y-you smell like other wolves... Oh! You smell like Kana and R-Rey!" she chirped lightly, tapping gentle paws on the ground in barely-concealed excitement. "Are you w-with them?"

The river. The pack that Reyes had gone to visit. He nodded absently to show that he was listening, his black-tipped tail sweeping behind him. He’d like to visit the northern pack one day, to check out the territory and the colours, but for now he wanted to keep his wandering at a minimum. He’d already tested his luck today with venturing up to the Kingswood. How ‘bout you? The agouti was about to respond but the girl continued, steamrolling her way through the conversation and preventing him from answering. However, her words earned an flabbergasted expression from Plant Boy. Kana and Rey. She knew them?! He nodded excitedly at her question, his lips curved into a lopsided grin. Kind of with them, he explained with a nonchalant shrug, his ears cupped forward, they lead the pack I belong to. Shallows Edge. As the words tumbled off his tongue Sachiel’s brows pinched tight together, confusion taking hold. How do you know them? 

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

"They have th-their own pack?" she asked, still patting the ground in a little exited dance with her forepaws. It was sad that they left Aunt Jessie's pack, but she definitely hoped that they would be happy wherever they were. And clearly they had other wolves with them, judging by this boy in front of her. "That's super duper cool!" It really was, too. Even though she couldn't be happy that the Fields had lost members. It was always sad when Hearthwood lost wolves, and she didn't doubt that Jessie would hate it too.

Her brows raised a bit when Sachiel asked her how she knew them, and she perked her ears. "Oh, I met them when I-I was really l-little," she explained with a smile. "I really, really m-miss them," the girl went on, her tail wagging a bit harder at the thought of the two older wolves. "C-can I go see them s-sometimes?" she asked hopefully, her silver eyes brightening with excitement. Maybe they were even closer than the Rye wolves were and she could go say hello.

(This post was last modified: Dec 13, 2017, 05:40 AM by Risaela.)

He gave a single, solid nod in response to her first question. The pack hadn’t been around long—a few weeks, give or take—but Sachiel had never felt more at home among the Edge wolves. Askan had graciously accepted him into the group of misfits; therefore, the boy felt indebted to the grumpy lord. He’d done everything possible to ensure he wasn’t viewed as useless, which included plenty of patrols and hunting trips with his sidekick.

At her response his brows pinched together, another firm nod being given. If she lived close to the lake it made sense that she was familiar with the yellow-eyed leader and his mate. At least she had given a positive reaction to hearing his name. With Askan’s grumpy and unpredictable demeanour it wouldn’t surprise the boy if some wolves were not fond of him. But that didn’t matter. He was an excellent Edge Lord and that was all that mattered. The opinions of those who did not belong to the small pack were meaningless. Unless they were loners looking for a home.

Wait—she wanted to see them? He frowned. Uh, he started, his maw canting to the side, possibly? He didn’t really know how to answer. If you know 'em like you say you do it shouldn’t be a problem. He hoped he wouldn’t get in trouble for that. He wasn’t really sure how close this girl was with his leaders, or how well she knew them. Just no trespassing. They don’t like that.

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others