Willow Ridge Binah

All welcome. Just outside of WR territory
Winter Solstice RE:
The strongest trees are rooted in the dark places of the earth. Darkness will be your cloak, your shield, your mother's milk. Darkness will make you strong... The trees and forests of Relic Lore provide decent protection from the winds but still allow the snows to filter through and chill it to its roots. When the sun sets and the frost makes the trees creak, what unimaginable dangers have come under the cloak of night?

Skana Coho
I caught a glimpse now it haunts me

Midnight — Light snow — -11° F/-24° C — Spoopy music

Outside the wind groaned, a deep and hollow noise that encompassed the entire forest. Snowflakes, small and delicate, each a pinprick of frost drifted down through the sky. Some wayward flakes even made it past the high opening to the den, falling at Skana's gnarled paws. It was hard to see them, her vision dull and the dark night long with dawn and dusk far on either side, but she could feel the cold seeping into the den none-the-less. Skana often took the opportunity to fill the long, nearly unending nights with sleep, which usually came far too easy to her. But there was a charge to the air that had her hairs standing on end, a foul tone to the wind's groaning that didn't settle right with her, and so she sat awake, staring nearly sightless into the pitch dark of the deepest of midnights.

Skana told herself that it was just the storm, a feat of the weather, and nothing to be worked up over especially since there was nothing anyone could do about it short of the pack sprouting wings and flying south. Even telling herself this though, the unnerving feeling, the sense of being watched wouldn't dissipate. With a huff she slowly stood and took tentative steps into the ankle high, then knee high, then chest high drifts of snow. It was slow work, and it hurt her to do so with cold seeping into her sore joints and old bones, but she just had to know what was out there.

Despite the darkness she could more or less tell where she was. The tangy, familiar scent of willow bark, which often lingered on her own breath, still surrounded her, and she could still smell the signs of her packmates. None of the prey animals could be scented, but she had known they were either long gone or wisely holed up for winter.

She waited a few minutes in place, before deciding she had been worried over nothing and turned back to return to the den. A branch somewhere in the wood snapped with a loud crack that set Skana's hair on end, and suddenly the howling of the wind stopped, leaving only dead silence behind. The old wolf whirled about, peering uselessly into the dark with lips pulled back over her teeth in a thread no one could see. "Who's there!" She demanded.

(This post was last modified: Dec 18, 2013, 07:15 AM by Skana.)

It was cold. Almost colder than it was when he had once swam when he probably shouldn’t have. Nothing in his life would have ever prepared him for this winter. Something was different…and in his mind that meant that something was definitely wrong. Taking a shaky the Guardian watched the borders, his golden amber eyes trying to find any sign of a familiar russet coat in the wind. His sister had once again disappeared, causing the man to worry to a far larger extent than normal. Why would she leave…again, especially at this time of year? …as usual, his questions went unanswered, but it also didn’t affect him. He was the one that carried out tasks without question and this would be just like that. Elettra had entrusted him with her pack as a Second and Head Guardian and he would go to hell should he desert her, especially at a time like this.

Today, the borders seemed calm, no signs of life and no nosy loners sneaking around. It was relief and a blessing to him. All seemed to go perfectly fine today, until he heard a call from a familiar voice in the willows. Her words rang an alarming bell through his mind and he moved as quickly as he could through the high snow, looking for the older woman. He held onto the hope that nothing had harmed her. He approached her from behind, letting out a stiff, low growl to let her know of his presence. Scanning the area attentively, he had to squint to see if anything was truly out there as he stood by the woman’s side. Confusion passed through him when he couldn’t detect anything wrong in the area. Looking back down at the pack’s trusted advisor, he spoke loud enough so that she could hear him, "What is the problem, Skana?"

Pillar of Strength

Though he'd never experienced a winter before, this one was making quite an impression. He'd been told that it was beautiful- cold, yes, but beautiful. While at first he'd been enchanted by the gentle snowfall and the way the land glistened at night under the light of the moon, he'd soon become tired of the difficulty winter posed, and now he wasn't even sure he felt safe. Was every winter like this one? The older wolves spoke of it as though this was like nothing they' ever seen...So a normal winter would have been much better, he supposed, but he'd only be able to hope that he lived to see a better one. Most wolves were going hungry- while he and the other pups were often seen to first, he couln't help the empty feeling in the pit of his stomach which rarely ever went away.

His habit of prowling around the borders, even at night, hadn't left him, and he found himself moving through a darkness which became exceptionally bleak and thick. He only really notice how dark it was when he found himself crossing the old tracks of a rabbit, having not been able to see them as easily as he usually would in the darkness. The prince lifted his head, as though to accuse the moon of not shedding enough light- when he noticed that it was, in fact, completely absent. This in and of itself was not a great cause for alarm, for there were other nights when he did not see the moon at all.

And at first he thought, well, maybe it's just because there's cloud cover...But there were no clouds. And more alarming than that, there were no stars. Nowhere. Not a twinkling light in the sky, nothing beyond the scraggly branches of the trees. When one snapped he shrank against the ground in alarm, only to find his hair standing on end when a female voice called out into the darkness. It belonged to Skana- and she was alarmed. As frightened as he was, he picked himself up and moved forward, spotting her in the distance- and Guiness as well. He took comfort in seeing the guardian, and felt much better knowing they were there. "Skana, Guiness," He said, by way of greeting but also in a way which expressed that he wasn't done talking and had a question to ask- one which followed soon thereafter. "...Where are the stars?"

Avatars by Allie <3

Skana Coho
I caught a glimpse now it haunts me

Skana stood on edge, anxiously waiting on the tips of her toes for a response to her call. The sound of something crunching through the snow behind her caused her to whirl around, a deep snarl already rolling from her throat before she could smell Guinness, his hulking form just barely outlined in the darkness. She eased with a sigh, glad it was just Guinness, but still on edge for whatever lurked out there. She trusted him, and as guardian he could keep her safe, or so she told herself.

She kept thinking of the howling of the wind, the loud snap and sudden calm, the engulfing darkness. Logical explanations could be had for any of these, but none were entirely convincing and her mind couldn't help but reel back to rites she'd long since abandoned as absurd superstitions practiced by her delusional parents. Strange solutions to strange problems. She peered at Guinness, trying to see if he was as equally perturbed as she was, or he really had no idea what had her so riled.

"Can't you feel it? It's going to be a harsh winter, that much is clear. But tonight, I feel something isn't right..." She said to him, hoping for any reasonable explanation for the hollow night. A voice, small but unmistakable, reached the pair through the inky blackness, and Skana looked towards the sound, finding nothing but unsure if it was the eerie night or her own already poor vision failing her. She made her way towards him, feeling through the snow as she moved with nose outstretched, finally seeing the boy who was already dark enough to be difficult to find on normal nights.

Part of her was relieved, having evidence that more of the pack was indeed safe, but the other part of her worried that by Asriel being out and about in this dreary night rather than at the safety of the den. She held off on considering his question until she prodded at his face with her snout in a coddling fashion, snuffing until she was sure he was fine, whole and unharmed, and stepped back to give him room. She sighed and gave a stiff shrug as she gave what she could, "I wish I had an answer for you. If you believe in any gods, I would say they are scheming."

The Guard had not meant to startle Skana, and dipped his head politely to his partner when it was clear that she had originally not known it was him. It was his job to protect her from whatever had spooked her, but from what he could hear there was nothing out there that they would have had to be concerned about. None the less Guiness kept close to the Advisor’s side, his watchful eyes scanning the area every few seconds to check for any immediate movement. When he heard a small rustle nearby, he instantly stood protectively in front of the old member, his lips pulling back into a snarl. But when the smaller form of Asriel popped through the snow, Guiness’s body relaxed slightly only moving when Skana was slightly ahead of him. He moved at her shoulder, his body ready for anything to job at them, to give itself away, and for him to annihilate it.

He drew his large frame closer to Elettra’s child, his eyes snapping back towards Skana when she spoke, a low growl resonating through the air in agreement. This winter…it was something different than he had ever experienced…and in his mind that was bad, extremely bad. He didn’t like that both of his pack mates had been out here alone, especially Skana with how cold it was. This cold weather couldn’t have been pleasant on her joints and Gui felt bad for her, but did not comment. He didn’t know how angry she would have gotten if he had mentioned it, so he had decided not to because it was definitely important not to anger her. Snorting softly he continued to look around, his eyes settling on Skana to speak to her, "Should we…find the others…?" Hopefully his voice was loud enough to hear because he wasn’t speaking very loud, but his question was an important one and only a question that he was sure the advisor would answer.

Pillar of Strength

Though it'd been established that they were all more comfortable when no one was surprised by the presence of another, neither Skana nor Guiness seemed to calm down even when they drew closer to each other. Both were tense and nervous, and this did not help settle Asriel's nerves. When at first he'd been more curious about the disappearance of the stars, now he felt worried. Had this never happened before? Would it mean they would never come back? He'd asked about them before, and he knew that they were used to help with navigation, but were stars useful for anything else? Did they absolutely need for them to come back- or was this simply a sign of something far worse to come?

His questions were answered when Skana spoke. She was the pack's adviser, and it was her opinion that the Gods were scheming. He wasn't too sure how he felt about this- some greater power having control over them- but he did interpret this to mean that something worse was going to happen. Guiness, who was normally so steadfast, seemed shaken- and looked to Skana for advice on whether they should gather the pack or not. This seemed terribly extreme to Asriel, who frowned. "But they're just stars. They'll come back," He said, taking a glance up at the sky. Surely they would- though the doubt showed in his voice. He had never been particularly interested in stargazing, and didn't find his interest piqued now that they were gone, given that they'd been of little use to him before. He shook his head. "Does this mean everyone will get lost? When traveling at night, I mean. Is that what it means? We'll all be...lost?"

(This post was last modified: Dec 21, 2013, 02:20 AM by Asriel.)

Avatars by Allie <3

Jeez Louise sorry for dropping the ball guys! One more round and then I can wrap up for 10 posts?

The old wolf turned a notched ear towards Guiness, momentarily considering his question. She wondered what the rest of the pack was doing, whether it was sleeping in the assumed safety of the den or wandering about just as blindly as they were. Skana had to admit she didn't know, and that they wouldn't be much better off bumbling about in the dark looking for everyone else. "I should think they will be alright for now. If we can hold out until morning, things might be okay. Assuming that we get a morning at this rate."

Skana couldn't help but smile at Asriel's innocent question, the small upturn of the old wolf's lips all but hidden by the shroud of darkness. Without years of starry nights to compare to, their absence just one night wouldn't seem so terrible to a youngster. "Not lost, no, we wolves fortunately have more than our sense of sight to rely upon." She assured him. With Skana's steadily failing vision, she had to put her trust in her her full array of senses more so than others might.

The wind had picked up again, howling down the mountains and rattling the hanging willow branches. Again a branch snapped, but Skana was more prepared for it this time and didn't even flinch at the thud of it landing, the vibration traveling up her paws. "I think I'll be heading back to the den before one of those lands on my head. Asriel, you might do the same, I think your mother might like you in one piece. Guiness, do what you will, but please, be careful."