Broken Timber Pines There's no comfort in responsibility {BWP}

<i>A recent heat wave has left the forest drier than usual.</i>


It was hard to sleep. Tucked among the broken timbers and lush foliage, a pair of orange wolf eyes stared into the empty forest. The moon was high now and it'd been hours since she settled down, but she hadn't slept. All day she'd waited for sun-down, dragging herself around the abandoned Pines and practically melting into the forest floor.

And now? Now that the sun was down?

Now it was hot and muggy. Bracken left out a muffled expletive, damp ferns rustling as she curled into a different position. It was only one more night. There was nothing left to learn. She'd learned precious little to begin, if she was honest with herself. It was far from the home-coming she'd expected. She'd expected growls and teeth, anger and disappointment - certainly not this. Bracken would be overjoyed if her family appeared in the moonlight and began scolding her. Bracken rubbed her damp cheeks on her paws. While she'd been away on her high and mighty adventure of finding Koda, something had happened. Something bad enough to make the entire pack leave. Maybe she hadn't caused it, but she'd been damn useless to her mother and sister.

Morning eventually came, thin rays of sunlight filtering through the broken forest. Bracken blinked awake, surprised that she'd manage to doze off. The temperature was already climbing. The gray-smudged wolf could feel the perspiration on her paw pads as she left the forest she'd been born in.

(This post was last modified: Aug 15, 2018, 02:58 PM by Bracken.)

She was miffed at everything.

Miffed at the coyotes, miffed at herself, miffed at the awful weather that had swept through the lands.

So the stranger she came across was not going to be spared her awful mood. It was already early and the heat had gripped her. Swimming in the Shallows only cooled her off for so long. She had hoped that going off to the falls would provide a more cooling atmosphere. The Selwyn seemed to be awfully wrong, though.

Hey! She barked at the stranger up ahead. Orange eyes narrowed into an unfriendly glance. Who are ya? The yearling looked a bit unruly with her spiky fur amplified by the humidity. There was no doubt that she looked more like a fiendish rogue than the refined guardian of the Edge she was trying to become.

Several coyote abandoned a half-eaten deer. But before you can take a bite they reappear.

She needed a direction to go, a direction to start her search in. For several moments the Reinier moved thoughtlessly, following the Pines' route by rote memory. Eventually the sound of distant water reached her and she paused, ears pivoting in consideration. It was a good a start as any, perhaps better than most in this heat. Her path altered and the wolf pushed though the undergrowth of the forest, using the crash of water as a beacon.

"Hey!"

The voice stopped her cold, eyes wide and ears swiveling to find the source. A part of her hoped... perhaps not everyone had left... and this was not a stranger? Finally she caught sight of Hawthorne and her ears sank onto her skull. "Bracken," She called out to the younger wolf. Carefully she started to close the distance, her nose twitched at the scent of deer. She slowed, looking into the forest around them. "Is that your deer?" There was something in that scent that made her unsure, but she couldn't be sure what.

I hope you don't mind kana hoping in, seeing as Hawth has gone inactive, I figured it was better than letting the thread go dead!
Becca gave me permission to PP Hawth out of this thread!

I don't care if heaven won't take me back

If Hawth was miffed than Askan was doubly so. What had he told her and Sachiel? That they weren't supposed to go wandering off on their own. Now, the Selwyn didn't like to lord himself above others, he wasn't as bossy as some likely assumed but he meant what he said. He wanted them to stick together for their own safety, the last thing he wanted was for them to get mauled. Stomping onto the scene, Askan flicked his tail high as he shot Hawth a sharp scowl.

"Go home." He wasn't yelling, nor did he sound particularly angry, but she would be wise to do as she was told

Which she did, with relative ease, though he was sure she would give him some backtalk later. Hawth was no simpering maiden, she would never take something on the nose. Askan admired that about her, but he wasn't going to say as much, not after she'd gone against his orders.

Askan turned to the stranger then, a tawny shewolf, who was unremarkable at best. He hadn't even noticed that there was a carcass present, but the same couldn't be said for the coyotes who soon appeared to claim it. Wonderful, just great.

"No...I'd assume it's theirs." He nodded in the beasts direction as the stomped out of the trees, their hackles raised and teeth bared.

Askan wasn't at all fazed by their bravado and bluster, they weren't nearly as tough as they seemed to think. Though, he supposed if they did get any closer, or agitated it might be a good time to vacate the area. For now. Not like he'd ever flee, more like a....tactical retreat.