Mountain of Dire Nothing is as it has been

Karina had been simply unable to sit still in Dragonveil a moment longer. Energy was coursing through Karina’s limbs, and stretching her legs was pure bliss as she traversed across the Great Mountain. She had convinced herself that the vitality was gifted to her from the Mother, as a sign that She was pleased with Her priestess for following Her command and accomplishing what She would undoubtedly consider the highest act of worship; motherhood itself.

It was more likely that the girl’s newfound health was due to the fact that she was eating meat again, supplied by Kjors whenever he visited. It had been over a year since meat was a consistent part of her diet, as under normal circumstances the thought of consuming another creature’s flesh made the softhearted girl’s stomach roil. It was different now that her womb was full—if she fed her unborn children deer food then they would certainly grow into deer, but the Mother wanted dragons! So it was dragon food she would consume, as unpleasant as it was.

“Mother above, praise,” Karina sighed, halting in order to address her higher power. Her crystalline eyes fell closed as she tilted her maw heavenward, into the sunshine. “Thank you for granting me the strength I prayed for,” she murmured. As her energy focused into the prayer, her aura strengthened and spread, slowly creeping across the rugged landscape. Karina became aware of a watchful presence nearby, and a small smile played across her face. Breaking off her prayer, she turned to address the stranger, humor in her voice as though she were sharing a private joke. “..Truly it was strength of resolve I had wished for, not strength of body. Always be specific when you petition a deity..”

OOC! OOC Note<3

Sylva stepped carefully out over the small and narrow trek she had been following. Her breathing coming in tired pants as she worked her way up the infamous mountain side. She had seen this very mountain from White Fir Notch’s old territories and it had inspired so many fantasies within the young wolf’s head. She had spoken to @Raela before she left, asking, no begging for permission to explore the surrounding territories of their new home. She hadn’t originally planned to come this far but, one thing lead to another, She followed the wind, the gentle rustle through the trees and the thumping of pebbles as they fell down around her. Her plan had been originally just to be gone a day or two, trying to satisfy her curiosity...that had been two or three days ago. She wasn’t sure, she had seen so much in the past couple of days that she lost track of time, though her stomach hadn’t. She hadn’t heard his whining for quite awhile now.

”Come on, just a little further, then we can go hunt.” She said, her gaze drifting briefly down toward her belly as she picked up the pace, though that may not have been wise with her constant habit of flying head over heels down ridges, though she chose not to think about that as her eyes drifted down the side and a small gulp escaped. Below her, the land laid out like a map, she could see the dark, almost otherworldly blotch of dark green that was the Ghastly Woods, the occasional wisp of fog drifting up from between the heavy woven canopy to dissolve into the evening sunlight.

She stood, in a trance as the sheer beauty and size of the world around her enveloped the young wolf’s mind, though, her stomach remembered her words and it was at that moment that a low rumble emitted and snapped the female out of her day dreams. “Spoilsport.” She grunted as a small chuff of air escaped her nose as she huffed and turned to follow the rocky outcrop.

“Mother above”

Sylva paused, her right forepaw raised in the air as she froze mid step, her ears pricking as she heard something. Was that the wind or…. That hope was quickly demolished as the voice picked up again.

”Thank you for granting me the strength I prayed for.”

”What was that?” Sylva whispered quietly as she moved more slowly toward the source of the noise. As she rounded a small corner, she found herself facing the back of a salt and pepper furred wolf. She was about to open her maw to call out and announce her presence when the wolf turned toward her and spoke.

The chocolate black yearling’s mouth hung open in confusion. After a few moments though, she found her voice. “A deity…..resolve? I'm sorry ma’am, but I don’t know what you mean?” Sylva’s head tilted a little to the side as her head started to itch and she raised a hind leg to quickly scratch. Her curiosity, though was aroused by this wolf’s strange words “What...do you mean by a deity?” Quite recently Sylva had been wondering and longing for anwsers to some very hard questions, she had sought out Raela first, but for the first time, the agouti alpha’s words hadn’t been able to sooth Sylva’s burning desire for knowledge. “Did something draw us up here? Maybe the wind led us….” usually SYlva would have thought this type of things privately, but she hadn’t really learned to break her old habit of thinking out loud and the words could easily have been taken as a question.

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Karina simply nodded at the newcomer’s confusion. Through the Baranki’s clouded eyes the stranger was no more than a blurry chocolate smudge against the rugged landscape, but from her voice Karina could tell her companion was young. The girl pressed once more for answers, and the priestess was more than happy to oblige her. Judging the stranger as much more curious than afraid, Karina drew nearer to the inquisitive girl, halting when they were close enough to speak at a normal volume.

What was a deity? The air you smell and the stars you follow, the rumble in the sky and the thoughts in your head.. Mother above, the better question would be what wasn’t a deity?

“Have you ever felt led or guided, to somewhere.. or someone, perhaps? Or.. as if a particular occurrence was meant to be?” Certainly she had! All mortals are subject to the whims of the higher powers and whether they believe in a deity or not, everyone has felt the uncanny sensation of supernatural influence. “..Who do you believe does the guiding? Who decides what is meant to be?”

Karina reclined to her haunches with the barest flicker of a knowing smile. She would not shove knowledge down the throat of an unwilling student, but she was hoping her words would take the girl’s initial spark of curiosity and ignite an inferno.

Just as she anticipated, more questions fell from the stranger’s curious tongue, this time a little more timid.. a little more vulnerable. “Of course,” Karina reassured the girl, lowering her head in assent. “Of course you were drawn here, to me. I am Karina, the All-Mother’s Priestess.” The salt-and-pepper lady fell silent for a moment, tilting her head as she studied the girl before her. The stranger’s aura was quiet but certainly active, a thick chocolate tide churning, ebbing and flowing about her center. Vestiges of the Mother’s influence clung to the child like burrs in her pelt, and it was obvious to the priestess that they were destined to meet.

“I am not surprised She brought us together. You are highly gifted.. She expects great things of you.” Karina’s voice was matter-of-fact as she imparted this, her tail swishing as she awaited the inevitable torrent of additional questions.

OOC! OOC Note<3

Sylva tilted her head a little to the side, she watched carefully as the larger female moved closer, her posture wasn’t threatening, so Sylva wasn’t really afraid nor tense, as Karina settled down, the yearling followed suit and plopped down onto her furry hindquarters as the ‘priestess’ started to answer her questions. Soft brown eyes started to widen as she asked her if she ever felt tugged into a particular direction or toward a specific person. The young wolf had a lot of impulsive ideas that sometimes work, though most of the time it resulted in chaos from being half thought out at the most.

What...what if that was this..mother thingy? Sylva tilted her muzzle even further to the side as her ears pricked, she was interested to hear what Karina had to say at least, especially with all of her recent questions about life and such, was this a meeting orchestrated by some power she couldn’t see? Some wolves may have thought of this self proclaimed priestess as being insane, but Sylva talked to plants, for her, this was fairly normal and easy to not dismiss as the ranting of a wolf her hit her her head too many times.

“Well, Recently..the River… She paused for a moment, for her, it seemed so right, she had grown up beside a river, that very river had guided her to her new home, and now, her pack sheltered near it, there had to have been some kind of influence in that, such coincidences couldn’t just happen right? Her chat with @Raela on the subject had ended up cementing that belief that some kind of spiritual river guided her.

Sylva’s ears pricked yet again as the salt and pepper colored female gave her name. “Karina… SYlva parroted the name as per usual as she tried to memorize it, names meant something between friends and she wasn’t hesitant to return the greeting with her own name “I-I’m Sylva.. She was going to go on to ask how Karina was doing when her companion’s next few words caused more confusion to stir “All-mother?”

She wasn’t sure what to think, Could there truly be some ...presence that guided and watched over her? It could explain so much, but at the same time, Sylva was a little reluctant to jump onto any bandwagon, Raela’s caution echoing within her mind. What if she did something though that could ruin her status in her new pack? The fear was a little stronger than her desire for knowledge and Sylva opted to listen, and think on this unusual encounter later, but before she could, Karina’s next few words caught her off guard.

The chocolate black Yearling wasn’t sure how happy she was that something she hadn’t heard of expected great things from her, but at the same time, she could use that to keep her pack safe, what if she was meant to do something to serve the wolves as a whole? The feeling of being so important in a divine conspiracy sent a warm tingling through the young wolf’s veins, she had a feeling that she knew exactly where it would begin

“I-i..I m learning to heal…” She replied, her tail wagging a little happily at the thought, she could help Raela, Gent and all of the wolves she had met so far, in more than just one way, but first the naive girl needed to know one thing “What..what does she have planned?” She was still a little cautious at the thought of this ‘All Mother’ but it didn’t hurt to hear what it may have had planned for her...right?

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The priestess nodded her head encouragingly at the girl’s hesitant answer. Karina had found her spirit guide in a creature—the deer—and most often received the All-Mother’s messages from the mouths of her lupine couriers, but she supposed that other natural elements could guide Her children as well. Karina imagined one would have to be quite devout and listen very carefully to receive a message from wind, water, plant or stone… this stranger must be special indeed, if she could glean guidance from a River.

The onyx girl introduced herself and then went on to speak the deity’s name, the words coming from her lips as a question. Karina nodded again. “The Mother of all creatures, wolf and mouse, snake and bird.. Everything that quenches thirst at your River, She created. ” Karina smiled as she spoke; it was always inspirational spread knowledge of the Mother and Her will to one who had never before known, especially one so obviously blessed as Sylva. The Mother had great plans for the umber-eyed youth, and it was only fitting that Sylva should come to know the deity that had attended to her with such concern.

The girl imparted that she was learning to heal, and a wistful look stole into Karina’s crystalline gaze for the briefest of moments. Healing had been her pursuit as well when she was Sylva’s age, but she had set aside her study of medicine when she was drawn to a different sort of healing.. the healing of souls. She still knew quite a bit more about medicine than the average wolf, but she had been such a precocious student that she sometimes wondered if she might be more skilled than Lachesis himself by now, if she hadn’t chosen a different path for herself.

”Oh..” Karina sighed at Sylva’s final question, amusement twitching at the corners of her mouth. “Would that I could see the future, but I’m no fortune teller.” On second thought, it would likely be a heavy burden indeed to know the future with certainty, and Karina was glad that was not a gift the Mother had bestowed upon her. “But I can see your potential, and yours rolls off of you like fog down a mountainside.” Karina cocked her head, studying the girl. “Perhaps you have certain.. innate talents you’ve discovered? Things that others don’t understand? Those are most certainly your Gifts, and they will be essential to Her plan for you.”

The young wolf deflated a little as Karina revealed that she didn’t and couldn’t know what this “All Mother” had in store for her. It was a little disheartening but at the same time, Sylva felt a little better at the priestess's next few words...She had potential. She opened her mouth to comment but quickly hushed up as the salt and pepper colored wolf made inquiries about any gifts or talents that may have been out of the ordinary.

Sylva paused for a moment, trying to think over the things that she was good at. Well, we can run….memorizing….maybe she means more li- A small squeak escaped the wolf as she bounced upward and landed on her hump with a soft grunt. Her tail wagged like a flag in a hurricane as it hit her like a brick wall. Things were starting to make sense as she opened her maw.

“Raela said they could make use of the fact that the plants talk to me! It’s part of why I became a healer! She paused for just a moment, sucking in a deep breath in order to collect her thoughts before she continued “I-I’ve had an idea…well.. T-the gleaming of an idea… She stopped for a moment, unsure if she wanted to reveal it just yet. She was scared that if she exposed her plan, then maybe it wouldn’t come true, it was something she had been thinking about for a month or so now and she wanted to try and get it as organized as she could before letting full word of it slip.

Thought
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Her companion literally jumped for joy when Karina spoke, and Karina couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s reaction. Being the Mother’s priestess put so much weight on the Baranski girl’s shoulders that she sometimes forgot that the job came with happy moments like this too; when she was able to tell an eager believer of the Mother for the first time.

Words began to tumble out of the girl like water over a dam, and Karina’s ears flattened in surprise when Sylva glazed over the fact that she could speak with plants. Crystalline eyes widening slightly, she said with awe in her voice, “You are greatly blessed, Sylva.” How many times had the diety actually spoken aloud to Karina? Once, twice maybe? It had certainly never been a conversation either. The young girl mut be very special to have been blessed with such a gift.. Perhaps Karina had stumbled across another of the Mother’s divine messengers.

As soon as she thought it, Sylva revealed that she had been gifted with an inkling of an idea. A message, Karina thought, anticipation welling in her chest. “The Mother often whispers to us through our dreams and ideas,” Karina encouraged, “..Perhaps it is a message from Her.” Sylva seemed hesitant to share whatever she had dreamed up and as curious as she was, Karina would not push her. It would come out eventually, if it was the Mother’s will that she know.