The Cougar Eye I Solemnly Swear that I am up to No Good

For @Eek I was thinking, if it fits? :3

- Just after night fall, Partly Cloudy - 64 ° F/18 ° C

As the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, and the first stars began to flicker on, casting a diffuse light over the cooling earth, a grey shadow slipped through the trees, unseen as always. Today had been a hot one, all traces of winter now undoubtedly gone as  a blazing sun shone from a cloudless sky all day long. Under such horrid conditions, it was hard to understand why anyone would be out and about in the daytime, though some even seemed to like it . Not Nalda though, oh no! The now year-old shewolf had pretty much reverted to a nocturnal schedule, spending the warmest hours of the day, safely tucked away in the shade, napping peacefully. This left her exploring to the nighttime, something that had proved to be fortuitous, as it opened an entirely new world to the intellectual youth. She had learned how the land changed entirely, come dark, half a biome going to sleep while another woke up. a whole new set of wonders for her to investigate.

Tonight she'd gone north, possibly further than ever before, though it was hard to keep track of anymore. She'd started before sunset and now, as the air was finally reaching a bearable temperature, she was starting to feel the effects of her trek. Panting noticeably, she slowed from trot to walk, veering her head to look around at where she had ended up. The forest appeared no different than it was closer to home, pines and firs standing side by side, no real underbrush beneath their evergreen branches. A small sigh fell from the young wolf's lips, brows furrowing in frustration at having travelled so far to see so little change. But she was here now, and as she breathed in the scent of cedar in long gasps, she became acutely aware of the dryness on her tongue. Water… She mused to herself, perking large, reddish ears to seek out the tell tale sound of trickling water.

A distant bubble drew her attention, and the young wolf turned her nose in the appropriate direction, walking at a steady pace. The sound quickly grew louder and she smiled to herself, pleased that at least she would be able to sate her thirst. Clearing the last trees, the yearling was about ready to jump face first into the water, though the sight that met her was enough to stop her in her tracks. There was indeed a pond, only a short way from the tree line, and the hollow, gurgling sound seemed to come from its depths. It was however, nothing like any lake she had ever seen before, the water a deep shade of blue at the center, seeming to glow bright azure under the moonlight, and ringed in what appeared to be bright golden sand right at the water's edge. As she breathed in a surprised gasp, the first hints of the stench finally reached her position opposite the wind, and her dark nose wrinkled. Yes, she had found water, though her nose was strongly advising her not to drink it.

Word count: 512

"Speech" Thoughts

Omg I'm so sorry this took so long ;_; @Nalda

It had taken her a while to wrap her head around the younglings in the pack. Not all belonged to the leaders (current and former) and now one mother was dead and the other had vanished. There was also a missing child that nobody seemed too intent on tracking down but she supposed with three other growing mouths to feed perhaps they just placed less value on each individual life? It was enough to make the barren woman sick in her coal black heart. What struck her as more odd was after such a boon of children (who for the most part could have been presumed to have survived) the previous year, was the total absence of even one litter this year. Had she been in @Iopah's shoes she would not have hesitated to deal with the absence of her partner, damned be the consequences, never mind why hadn't @Eirian stepped up to the plate... But apparently the current leader cared even less for the future of this pack than she did about her missing child. It only made her more intent on succeeding in her dastardly plans.

With an eye to the future in mind, Eek had set out to the north under the cover of dark, hoping to track down some cowbane (a plant that could easily enough be disguised as yarrow to one untrained). Her course was only diverted as a familiar scent passed under her nose Now what was this one doing so far out?

Sulphur soon drowned out the trail, a low, questioning chuff sent forth to try and gain a bearing on her quarry. The wriggling of her rump spoke volumes she didn't bother to issue forth with words. This one was young yet. Safe from any ill will Eek might muster for the rest of their so called pack.

The stench was horrid, enough to make the girl stick out her tongue in disgust - only to quickly retract it as the sharp, metallic taste of the gasses it her tongue; Yuck! She sputtered, taking half a step back. Her mind was torn, one part overtaken by her ever present curiosity, wanting to investigate this strange new phenomenon; While the other preached caution, warning that the strange coloring and harsh smell might stem from something poisonous or dangerous in another way. Before she had time to make a decision, a call sounded from the forest, making her spin around on the spot, ears flat and tail tugged. The voice had been unfamiliar, but the dark figure, slowly loosening itself from the shadows, wasn't, not entirely. Nalda breathed a tiny sigh of relief, flicking up one ear as she took the black woman's announcement of herself as a good sign.

She was the newest figure among the Pines – Eek I believe they call her – accepted by Eirian, which naturally made the young girl a little more trustful. The name might be a little odd, but Nalda wasn't one to judge, neither did the rather wild appearance rub her wrong, she'd never bothered much with the physical herself, in fact her fur had looked quite dreadful until it all shed. What mattered was actions and intentions. Of the first, the yearling knew that Eek had busied herself from the beginning, which in turn made the later much harder to discern – she had yet to study the woman at length. Now here she was, and while the young girl would have preferred quiet observation to conversation, she wasn't gonna outright dismiss the approach; Rude… And as she had learned, it was better to at least feign manners, usually that elicited more information.

So she cleared her throat, raising her tail to wag lightly about her hunches in response to what she assumed to be a similar movement in the other; Though it was hard to tell without an actual tail. "Hi," She piped, striking up a friendly tone; "'is Eek, right?" Asking a question she was quite sure of already, it was all part of the game. As was the open, welcoming expression on her face; The game of information.

Word count: 378

Thoughts ”Speech”

Because of work, my activity will fluctuate every other week. For more information and OOC preferrences check out my profile

The cover of night was a blessing and a curse, almost stumbling onto the young girl before she spotted the pale fur that marked her face and the tell-tale glint of eyes caught in the first flickers of starlight. It would be a lie to say it wasn't a chore to keep the sweet and innocent act up. Her frequent trips away from the pack offered her some solace, if only she could stop bumping into pack mates outside of the borders. Heaven forbid they catch one of her slip-ups for she barely had the energy to pretend right now. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if she did (as long as it wasn't Iopah or Koda who caught her in the act).

Her smile might only be discernable from the pale glow of her teeth but she gave it none the less when the girl questioned her name. "It is. And you are @Nalda?" @Eirian seemed fond of the girl so she faced no threat from the inky Lieris, it was phrased as a question but meant as a statement, and so she continued on before awaiting confirmation. "Don't get too close to the water dear, it'll burn the flesh right off your bones and then what would I tell everyone back home? Unless you're here to hide a body we'd best be moving away," it was an odd statement for a normal wolf to be making for sure, not even laced with a hint of humour despite her waving rump. She was interested to see what the younger wolf would make of such a statement.

@Eek - Did NOT mean to let this die, we need to explore this relationship <3

Black on black, the woman's silhouette was almost indiscernible against the forest backdrop. Her smile lit up as a thin stripe of white though, and the clear silver eyes shone lightly in the moonlight. She confirmed Nalda's question, as she'd expected, and then asked a similar one. The yearling raised one shoulder as validation, and it seemed enough as Eek continued to talk, spilling a stream of words that inadvertently made russet brows knit tight, and then lift high above goldenrod eyes. She'd never been much for chit-chat, whenever you opened your mouth, you risked divulging too much information, even with otherwise meaningless small-talk you might slip up. Though this, she wasn't really sure what to do with this; Are you serious?! Her voice was so pleasant, face seemingly earnest, though it was a bit hard to tell in the low light. And yet she spoke of 'burning flesh off bone' and 'hiding bodies'. Nalda was left to stare wordlessly.

Her knowledge of this stranger was so very limited; She worked with herbs, a medic, which might suggest a compassionate character, though Nalda was a skeptic when it came to caring for others, there was always something in it for the other party. So far there had been no illness in the Pines though, so what could they even say of this woman's skills. Again the young wolf reminded herself that it had been Eirian who brought the medicine woman into the pack, something had made him trust her enough to allow her practice of her knowledge on the wolves of Broken Timbers. So Nalda would give her the benefit of the doubt, even if she spouted weird comments about burning water.

Though, that might mean she knew something about the odd, smelly pond. Russet marked head turned to glance over a slate-grey shoulder, oversized ears perking curiously; I need to know! So she looked back over at Eek, tilting her head slightly, an innocent expression masterly applied to her features; "Could i'really burn up an'ntire body? How?" She was the image of honest curiosity, tail even wagging slowly as she asked. Her interest had shifted, but the game was the same.

Word count: 362

Thoughts ”Speech”

Because of work, my activity will fluctuate every other week. For more information and OOC preferrences check out my profile

With the darkness wrapped so closely around them, Eek would have had to draw much closer to get any sense of what exactly was going through the younger wolf's mind. If she had to guess she would say the child seemed surprised and that was only fair. It wasn't every day the quiet harmless medic came out dripping dark words of death and deciet. When the questions finally began to tumble from Nalda's mouth what little light the moon had offered dissapeared behind a cloud and she smiled once again. How sufficiently spooky for such a morbid conversation. She embraced the darkness that surrounded them, revelling in the the freedom to drop the bullshit act she had been carrying around for so long.

She considered how best to answer the question, measuring what little she knew of the common ground that stretched between them, abandoned by one parent, foresaken by another. She very much doubted the harsh realities of the world would make this one squinch like they did to Zeta. She would indulge the fascination with a fanciful tale loosly based in truth, though her own tone would never let the fantasy seem any more than fact. "When I was younger, I joined a pack that lived by such a pond. Despite the dire warnings of their medicine man, the yearlings let the children play by the waters edge. One of their puppies went missing..." though whether it was through her own incompetence in trying to raise the child as her own or not, she would never truly tell. "We searched and searched for days until finally, when the night without a moon rolled around... up with the bubbles came a little, fleshless, tiny puppy skull." She let the words sink in, daring the girl to call her a liar, or claim the tale to simply be some spooky story told to keep children in line. 

"They began to worship the pond as some great god, dropping in scraps from a kill here, a pretty stone or stick there... but then it took another... the child's own mother," who may or may not have charged at Eek with accusations and teeth bared... "and they came to realise what the pond desired..." She wondered if the girl would come to the conclusion on her own. If not, there was more to this twisted little tale yet.

The darkness grew tighter as silence stretched between them, shifting clouds blocking out what little light had reached the round before. Nalda blinked against the blackness, slowly gaining her bearings as her eyes adjusted. Eek stood unmoved, her bright eyes staring straight ahead, almost looking to see right through the young girl as she slowly began her tale. Surprised, both by the nature of the answer and the fact that she was given one at all, Nalda listened silently, trying to hide her reactions, yet golden eyes widened as the story unfurled. It seemed clear early on, where the anecdote was headed, and yet as the graphic details were revealed, the yearling felt her tail still, mouth opening ever so slightly.

Russet brows furrowed as the dark woman spoke of worship, her assertion that the pond had claimed a wolf making the young snout wrinkle. Water, no matter how corrosive, was not a deity, it did not desire anything. She couldn't help it, the distaste showed clear on her face, eyes narrowing as she breathed: "Tha's mad!" One thing was accidents, even multiple ones, but what Eek was implying; They did it on purpose?! A shiver inadvertently ran along her spine, slate hairs puffing up around her neck. She cast a quick lance over her shoulder, staring at the pond that looked so unassuming in the dimness of night. When she looked back to Eek, her eyes were narrowed, an edge of skepticism in her voice; "Wha'did.. y'do?" She couldn't help but doubt the legitimacy of the story, it seemed to crazy to be true; Even if there ARE some crazy wolves out there… But a whole pack of them? Twisted enough to throw each other into the pit to satisfy some unseen idol; It can't be right! She had to be lying, that was the only conclusion the studious girl could come to; She's messing with me..!

Word count: 318

Thoughts ”Speech”

Because of work, my activity will fluctuate every other week. For more information and OOC preferrences check out my profile

Teeth flashed, a hint of a smirk in the dark, "Oh mad indeed, but belief does strange things to people. Faith is a crutch some cling to, it was meant to happen, it was part of a bigger plan, they're in a better place... It's all the same waste," her own thoughts on the matter clear with the dry huff of a laugh under her breath. Idiots.

The next question she thought should have been obvious, "Well I left of course, lest I be the next thrown in." Would anyone remain and risk their own hide for the fanatical beliefs of a few? Well, more than a few had... and on every journey past, the scents grew fainter and fainter until only a handful remained. "They were poisoning the caches so wolves wouldn't fight back when it was their turn." A dark tale for a dark night indeed. "Always keep your own food separate from those others feed from. You'll live longer for it." Perhaps was she giving too much away, but this was a tale of a distant pack, one that probably ceased to exist years ago. "Should we head back do you think?" She finally questioned @Nalda, colourless eyes turning to the sky and wondering of they would make it back before the sun rose again.