Chanting Chase Ghosts at my heels

His head wouldn't stop spinning. The whole world seemed to tilt and reel uncontrollably around him, disorienting the newly born castaway even further. But it did not matter. Ever since that terrible day so long ago, he had only one basic instinct. Run. Run and never stop! He had no sense of direction, no idea where he was going, and he didn't care. His mind was too wired with raw fear and panic, likened to an open wound that refused to stop bleeding. His only real physical injury had healed some time ago, but the two notches carved in his ear still stung against the bitter air. 

Caught in the midst of a newly spawned episode of hysteria, the lumbering young male barreled through chest deep snow at a break neck pace. The cover of darkness shielded the land, making traveling even more perilous than usual during the day. Obstacles such as stones or logs hidden beneath the snow were a real hazard to a panic stricken wolf such as himself. Jaws clenched so tight that his teeth began to ache, lips pressed firmly together, Shunka recklessly bounded down a steep slope. Just as suddenly, the ground seemed to level out, and he found himself more sure footed once again. Out of breath and panting exhaustively, his breath coiling into thick ropes of mist in the air, he had no choice but to stop.

Wide eyed as usual, he calmed down just enough to get his bearings for a look around. In the darkness, he could just make out the elegant, towering trunks of many dozens of great timbers. Where was he? He backed up whilst he gazed up at their height. They seemed to form a ring around him...closing in. And the way that ever so faint breeze made their branches sway from side to side...he didn't like it. No, not one bit! His mind began to go wild with ideas and paranoia. The spirits of his ancestors...his family...it must be them! Communicating to him from the other side! Bad luck, bad luck! He was next! With a sudden jolt and a screech of a whine, tail between his legs, he turned to find the quickest way out of this place.

(This post was last modified: Jan 24, 2017, 04:20 AM by Shunka.)

Cas wasn't sure why on earth she'd decided to go back to Stonewatch Timbers. She didn't even like it there, per say. She didn't actually hate it, either, though. In fact, she'd set up a makeshift den there when she arrived at the Lore. She'd barely used it, she'd traveled so much, but the value of it being the first place she'd seen in the Lore was not lost on her. So, her jittery paws had taken her through the night wherever they wished, and that place just happened to be Stonewatch Timbers. She'd actually been expecting to have a nice, peaceful night alone, away from her new packmates. She loved them, but she wasn't used to so many wolves all in the same place, and being confined was less than appealing to the little wolf. At the moment, being stuck in the den with the others was less bearable than wading through chin-deep snow on an impromptu adventure that she wasn't even sure why she was going on it. A loud whine assaulted her ears, and she pinned them against her head, looking for the source. Blue eyes searched anxiously, wondering what could have caused that sound to come from a wolf, when she spotted a large figure in the snow ahead of her. For a moment, she thought it was a bear - its tawny back sticking out from the blue-tinted nighttime snow, but then she caught wind of a distinctly wolfy smell. She set her tail to wagging, noting the male's fear, and approached slowly. "Hello," she called softly, her voice schooled into a gentle tone, not wanting to scare the wolf any further. "I know. These things scared the hell out of me at night, too. Too many moving branches." She shuddered melodramatically, trying to put his nerves at ease.

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

Before he could high tail it out of here, a voice called out to him in a simple greeting. His body went stiff instantly, all movement ceasing as if the snow had frozen him in place. No no no! It was the spirits again, speaking to him from beyond! Shunka was much too scared out of his skin to think straight, to realize that it was just another wolf in the flesh. He swallowed a hardened lump in his throat, managing just enough courage to crane his head to the side, where he could see her approach.

Even with Castel's slow, gentle movement toward him, the much larger male still resembled more of a deer ready to bolt. The first thing he noticed were her eyes. The exact same shade as his, likened to a summer sky. He held her gaze for only a moment, before his mirrored eyes went wide with horror. He was seeing things! Was she one of his ancestors? Perhaps a long dead spirit manifested in the flesh, come for judgement? As if his ears hadn't been far back enough, they now seemed to have vanished from his head completely, from being pressed so flat. 

One step too close was enough to send the tawny male scrabbling backwards in a most ungracious fit of flailing limbs and fur. A soft thump and his back met the cold trunk of one giant timber tree. There he huddled down low, trying to make himself appear as small as possible. Tucking his muzzle down in the crook between his front legs, the tip of his tail quivered submissively. Shunka was by no means de-wired, but in the midst of such an elevated state of fear, he had reverted back to a somewhat more...feral mindset. Bless her heart if Castel had the patience to deal with him.

Confusion was the small wolf's first reaction to the sight of the much-larger wolf cowering before her in fear. Cas had never been a very intimidating specimen at all, and the fact that he had just cowered down like a scared rabbit was... well, it was almost comical. Or, at least, it would be, if it weren't so strangely sad. So, the little wolf made herself even littler by crouching with her belly to the ground as she approached, meeting his matching eyes to the best of her abilities. The silver-dusted girl touched her nose to his and licked his muzzle, being as gentle as possible. "Silly," she teased lightly, getting down with her chest to the ground and her tail wagging. "You're, like, twice my size. Why are you scared of me? I'm not gonna do anything to you." Both statements were true, not to mention the fact that the big male could probably beat her in any altercation whatsoever, especially with her ill health. Cas decided to take it a step further, and rolled onto her back in front of him, placing her head lower than his, but there was a smile on her maw and a wag in her tail. "My name's Cas. I won't hurt you," she assured, then tilted her head from where she was laying. "What's your name?"