Roamer's Rest 'cuz my body still gets tense when I walk home

All welcome!
Mid-morning, broken clouds, 55F/13C

I’m Done Putting Out The Fires You Start

It had been more than a full moon since Marrah had left her birthpack, and was quickly approaching about a moon and a half. At first she had been so unsure about her decision, but almost a week after she had run the rains had come, and they hadn’t stopped this time. The world slowly came back to life, ponds filling and rivers flowing, trees and grass blossoming green once more. It was the world's way of telling her that this was what had to happen, the teen was sure of it. It was like Chan has said, she could fill life with scorched earth or flowers, and clearly the universe has decided that everyone would be punished if she stayed in the chasm.

But, she had meant what she said that night, she wanted to fill the world with good, and so she would stay gone. No matter what happened she would not go back, no matter how lonely she became, and she was, lonely. Marrah had never been on her own for so long before, and it had been weeks since she had talked to anyone. Anytime she had run across a strangers scent trail she had changed directions, wandering aimlessly.

Eventually she had ended up here, and for the last week she had been making this her home. A tree split wide enough for probably two of her to fit inside, protected from the elements, and hopefully any threats that may be about. Leaving her makeshift den this morning amber eyes had watched the sun break through the clouds, lighting up the tops of the trees that were just beginning to shift to orange and red. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, she was just existing at this point.

When The Cranberry Vodkas Hit A Little Too Hard

Her ventures had taken her away from the biting chill of the peaks to the west, bringing her over the land only to be faced with… more mountains. She caught their imposing figures in the distance as her nose wrinkled in distaste, little desire to scale the heights she had been used to in Saivo. The mountains had become something of a bitter reminder to what she had lost, of the cultural practices she followed but had come to distain… and yet, still practiced as she moved across the continent.

She had began her quest later than she might have, if only to delay her reach of the jutted ridges of the foothills after all. It appeared, if the scents on the wind were enough to go by, she might be able to delay such a venture even further. The scent of another crossed her, caramel eyes peering around as she tried to place where the scent came from, moving towards the other girl who was uphill, her head tilting to the side.

It was a den, the sun breaking through the clouds like a refraction, pointing her more towards the woman as if it might be a sign from the heavens. “Hello?” She called out, thick northern accent rumbling from the back of her throat despite the timbre of her voice. “Is someone there?” She asked again, despite knowing the answer already to her own question.

I’m Done Putting Out The Fires You Start

The Maceio-Tainn girl was not thinking anything in particular, but still felt jolted out of her thoughts at the stranger’s voice. Dark ears swiveled in the direction it had come in, and her whole head was slow to follow. The whole month had felt like it was blanketed in a thick fog, she was just getting through day to day and hoping for the best. Sooner or later she would need to prepare for winter, but for now this felt like enough.

It was the approach of the tawny girl that shattered that illusion, and for a long moment Marrah just stared at her. She was half expecting that this was actually just some kind of illusion. Eventually though she opened her mouth, and no sound came out, clearing her throat the yearling tried again. A little raspily she said, ”Oh um yes, I’m over here.” When was the last time she had spoken? It seemed like ages ago, and her voice was a little rusty from misuse.

Marrah wasn’t sure what to expect next, and so she just watched the stranger approaching her. Maybe a more defensive wolf would have prepared for attack, and a more social wolf would have introduced themselves. But, the yearling just did basically nothing at all.

When The Cranberry Vodkas Hit A Little Too Hard

The girl responded, her voice seeming rasp as Ayashe headed towards her with an interest as to what plagued the woman to make her voice sound like that. As she approached, she offered a friendly desire. She always did her best to prepare herself, to open herself up for something calm. She did not want to start fights, though she had no problem in ending them should they arise. Her tail offered a calm and content wag to further attempt to show her friendly demeanor, her head tilting to the side for a moment as she looked at her.

It was nice to just have some measure of social interaction, for there were very few she had seen recently. The most recent was the young girl in the peaks, and before that was a young traveler to the north. They had travelled together for some time though they had separated when he opted to remain with a nomadic pack and she had opted to continue onwards by herself. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Ayashe.” She would introduce, a light dip of her head that was meant to be a friendly greeting as her thick accent hung over the air between them.

I’m Done Putting Out The Fires You Start

The stranger, who introduced herself as Ayashe, appeared to be around her age and friendly enough. Marrah blinked at the sound of her accent, a slight intrigue breaking through the fog that she had been living in. Truly, this was the only noteworthy event that had happened to her since she had left home. Maybe it was the lack of social interaction, but all sign of politeness went out the window when she blurted out, ”I’ve never heard anyone with that accent before.” It wasn’t even a question, just an observation.

Then, coming to her senses slightly she added, ”I’m Marrah, I’m from east of here.” That was all she was willing to say, not wanting to link herself back to the Chasm pack. She had severed her ties and was slowly learning how to live with that, but bringing it up and talking about it would not help her move on. She did miss them desperately, but this was her life now, and would be for the rest of her future. Maybe eventually she would make a friend or two, but she could not see herself living in a pack again.

When The Cranberry Vodkas Hit A Little Too Hard

Ayashe blinked at the woman’s blurting nature, unsure of how to answer as she cleared her throat, physically withdrawing a few steps as she shrank lightly… she had never had someone be so blunt with her, and it merely reminded her that she was alone… her pack had cast her out, and now she remained, uncertain of where she was supposed to go next from here… even as she developed a vague idea, it all proved to be quite… lacking… in the end. “I am not from here… it is the accent of the north.” She stated simply, wondering if her accent had somehow offended the girl in front of her.

Marrah. She was from the east… were all of them so bluntly obvious about the tenor of those voices around him. “I am from the North… as I said.” She would state back, taking this opportunity to be the blunt one, restating her earlier point as she shifted rather awkwardly. “If you are from east of here, what are you doing here?” Ayashe merely assume that everyone besides her belonged to a pack unless otherwise stated, even with a lack of scents. She recalled how scouts would sometimes disappear, and return with no scent of pack on them because of how long their journeys were so she never assumed based off of scent alone.

I’m Done Putting Out The Fires You Start

Ayashe appeared to recoil slightly after the yearling spoke, causing her to chew on the inside of her cheek in worry. It had been so long since she had spoken to anyone and this did not appear to be going very well. She licked her nose a couple times in an attempt to appease the new acquaintance and only nodded her head in response when the girl repeated a second time that she was from the north. Well, that answered that question she supposed.

Marrah was visibly a little surprised at the next question, what was she doing here? Wasn’t that the question of a lifetime. Inhaling sharply she responded, ”Oh, um. Well. I left my birth pack and now I’m just…” She trailed off, trying to think of an explanation of what it was that she was doing, ”Now I’m not sure what I’m doing.” There really was nothing else to say about it.

If she remembered her manners she might have asked Ayashe why she wasn’t up north anymore either, but it had been a long month. Having a conversation felt so foreign to her, and Marrah was not sure how to keep it going.

When The Cranberry Vodkas Hit A Little Too Hard