Edge Stone Pool ain't no confusion here, it is as i feared

It had rained for what seemed like days. To think that her venture into the Lore had begun with snow for days. Vesper felt about as numb as she really was, a damp creature wandering the proverbial edge of the world. She'd thinned out over the scant few weeks that had passed, not that she hadn't been thin from the winter to begin with. Utterly directionless, she had plodded along at a slow northern course because at that point, all the hope had gone out of the world. Perhaps not entirely though, there were the fast firing few synapses that reminded her she had options. There were packs here and surely one of them would take pity on her, or maybe she'd have something of interest to offer them.

But the question now was whether or not she was truly ready to give up on her own ventures of reconnecting with the family that had seemingly left her in the dust. She had gone through a range of emotions, spanning from the disbelief to the anger, and eventually now sunk firmly into the territory of a rather depressing acceptance. If there was the shred of hope left to linger in her, it was maybe the possibility that she'd somehow stumble across just a whiff of familiarity. A tuff of fur caught in a low hanging branch, a bramble, something. But there had been naught to show and with the rain that had come, she had been even less inclined to try and track them now.

Everything was muddy. This place was more of the same that she had seen, bleak and dirty. She was dirty, but that came with the privilege of being out on her own and blind and numbly stomping around in the mud. Well, maybe not stomping as Vesper was not quite one to go playing in puddles in such a state, but she had succumbed to a few. The earth as of late had made a habit out of being less firm than it was supposed to be. At least it was warmer now, things in bloom and so on, but she did not see the beauty in the world around her.

The glint she normally carried in those eyes was now replaced with a dullness.

Running entirely on automatic, she had bent at the edge of the pool to drink from its depths. Though the disconnect was apparently in her disheveled appearance, she remained aware of her surroundings out of necessity. This place too was uncharted territory, as the thought to maybe turn around and go back south hadn't entirely occurred to her. Perhaps later she would entertain the thought, but it would more than likely end up the same loop, the same cycle of emotions that had rendered her a pale if not dirty tawny wraith crossing the countryside.

Despite the light mist of rain he had awoken to, the agouti male decided to set out on a trip towards the lowlands that spring evening. With no less than five pups to feed in Hearthwood, and with the recent departure of the pack’s male heir, the healer now took it upon himself to provide what he could to those loyal few who remained. Lorcan had noticed over the past few weeks that their caches had been filled primarily with small prey, rabbits being in greatest abundance, and the subordinate craved for meat which resided on the darker end of the scale, something a bit more substantial. No doubt his fellow pack members would appreciate an alternative taste also.

With a determined glint in his golden eyes, Lorcan had moved swiftly through the maze of tall sequoia trees which stood as a natural shelter and defense against the harsh weather which swept across the more exposed flatland of the tundra. It had taken him practically all night to finally reach the firm grassy terrain of the lowlands, but the sight of the beautiful sunrise as it cast fiery tendrils of red, orange and gold across the early morning sky was enough to make him dismiss the length and trouble of his journey.  

Aching limbs encouraged him to seek a safe place to rest and recover before setting out again in search of the larger prey which he knew to roam the vast tundra expanse. His mind recalled of a spot not too far in the distance, of a small pool where he and none other than Piety had worked to patch up their relationship after he had somehow offended her. Lorcan felt his heart sink at the bittersweet memory but he traipsed onward regardless, his fur still damp from the rains which had persisted through the night, as he adjusted his path in direction of the landmark. 

It didn’t take him long to reach the rocky area where he knew water to be concealed, but instead of rushing in, the agouti male slowed his pace as he scented company in the air. Hot, aching paws stepped forwards tentatively as he clambered over the large boulders which sheltered the smaller fresh water pools beneath and his russet ears pressed back anxiously against his head as he spotted the disheveled tawny coat of a young female lingering at the water’s edge. Golden eyes traveled up the length of her back, in search of her face, as he continued tentatively in his approach. “I hope you don’t mind me joining you?” He finally asked, his voice a little coarse after travelling such a distance. 

RE: Flash flooding has caused local landslides.

(This post was last modified: May 24, 2017, 10:35 AM by Lorcan.)

# P O R C A N

sometimes, two people have to fall apart to realise

how much they need to fall back together

Her tongue had no more hit the surface of the water when a cold chill rolled along her spine. It was enough to momentarily make her hackles prickle. Being out here in the open, in the grasslands was not unlike her introduction to the Lore, where the sprawl of the meadow had been under a gentle dusting of snow that had turned into so much more. She longed a moment for the cover of the trees, where perhaps the wind would not have bothered her so. The low point she had along the sink of the mountains into valleys and into this was nothing compared to the almost shallow optimism she had. And that optimist so far only carried into her likelihood of snagging some hare in the brush unaware, or perhaps finding some morsel left behind to sate her ever-gnawing hunger.

But as it were, she was not to be alone for long either, as had been customary in her venture from stem to stern. She heard the footfalls over rising grass, the tell-a-tale signs of feet across the loose and landlocked stone nearby. Caution lent to her the sense to turn an ear to better locate the source, which by that point the sounds had ceased long enough to draw her attention away from the pools altogether. As she licked after those final drops of water, her gaze spotted him as he called out to her. With it her body language changed towards something more neutral. Not quite as lax (or lack thereof) as she had been, but enough that it would match up with the words soon to leave her.

"No, not at all." Though it may have been unnecessary, Vesper shifted away to the side of the pool to open up the spot where she had been drinking from. She felt it was a nice gesture to make; she wasn't keen on ruffling any feathers or fur in the wrong way still. Even if she wasn't sure how well she was going to take to the chinwag to come. "As far as I know, this doesn't belong to anyone, I think," she went on to say, thinking about how there were most definitely packs somewhere nearby. Howls were hard to miss, as were the worn in paths that crossed here and there through the plain. If she had to guess, and she was, he probably belonged to one of them.

Russet ears pricked up as the agouti male observed the female turn her head, quickly noticing the water which trickled from her lips and then the similar golden colour of her eyes. Salmon pink tongue swept across his own muzzle as he watched the droplets glide off her tawny face, the sight working only to further fuel his thirst for the water which settled within the rock pool. The posture she held matched the neutral tone of the words she spoke, and in light of that, Lorcan dared to step closer and placed his hot aching paws along the smoother surfaces of the rocks as he clambered down cautiously towards the familiar body of water.

He offered her a polite smile when he finally stepped into the space which she had for him alongside her. Glancing across to her briefly, his russet ears remained cautious against his head as he lowered his head to drink. His tongue had barely pushed out from between his charcoal lips when her voice echoed from beside him, causing the male to lift his head again to meet her golden gaze. “No, you’re safe here.” He confirmed, before his muzzle turned to peer out across the lowlands. “The nearest packs are to the west and north-west of here.” He state, gesturing to their direction with his muzzle before his golden gaze settled back on the female. “I used to serve one of them before I relocated to another pack to the east.” He added, a slight sadness flickering within his gaze as he spoke quietly.

Glancing back down to the clear water, his golden eyes stared at his warped reflection for a heartbeat or two before he finally lowered his neck again to drink. Salmon-pink tongue lapped greedily at the water’s surface, sending a ring of ripples out towards the centre of the rock pool. The chill of the water helped to soothe his dry throat and the male found himself pausing for breath, nostrils flaring wildly as he did so, before he continued to quench his voracious thirst. The presence of the female was for a moment forgotten as he indulged in the cool refreshing liquid to rock pool had to offer.

(This post was last modified: May 31, 2017, 09:53 AM by Lorcan.)

# P O R C A N

sometimes, two people have to fall apart to realise

how much they need to fall back together

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

Safe here. Folks had been keen to tell her that a time or two and somehow, it stuck out in her mind. Why exactly it did she couldn't have said and for all the things that she had felt, being in danger was not particularly one of them. Surprisingly what smarts that had been imparted to her in that long journey to what was the Lore had kept her out of trouble, at least for the most part. She had gone hungry a number of times, had no doubt thinned out more than she cared to consider, but the winter had ebbed away to a late spring. The greenery had come back swiftly and for each day that went on where she found herself utterly on her own, she came to the swift conclusion that she would have to make decisions for herself.

But instead for now she was left to track the gesture of the other wolf's muzzle to unseen points. She had encountered one of those packs to the west (or was it northwest?) in name alone though she didn't quite recall it on the spot. She couldn't forget Askan that easily though, since he had thought her low enough to go buying a one-way ticket to the quickest drop-off point. There were a few faces she couldn't forget and for some, there were offers attached to them as well. Her gaze dropped to the surface of the water as he drank and uselessly, Vesper tried to see her own reflection past the ripples that scattered across.

"There's a lot of packs here," she said after several lengthy moments in silence. It was an intentional pause; she didn't want to go about interrupting his opportunity of quenching that thirst. But her observation was double-sided too – she needed to be curious of those packs that were out there. Granted they seemed to be far and few between too, spread out enough that they weren't suffocating each other. It was strange how much her world had expanded in such a short amount of time.