Sacred Grove sidereal zodiac

RE: The northern lights are particularly brilliant tonight.
@Lunas
Personal note: Timeline wise she's heading to Mt. Dire the next day

The soft, spongey moss soothed Spieden's tired paws, who within the past few weeks had covered more miles than she had ever crossed in her previous life. Even though travel was wearing her thin and ragged she wouldn't stop, and even if she did what reason was there to? Kept captive by no one and with none owed her allegiance, there was simply no reason for her to cease. She mused that at this rate she might make it to the end of the world, if even such a thing existed.

While the fading of the day's light might have otherwise influenced her to seek a place to rest for the evening, something had caught her attention. Through the leafy tree tops, Spieden could spy faint curls of light painted over the twilight sky. She kept moving, head craned upwards and hoping that she might find a break in the trees to catch a good view of the aurora. The forest was thick enough that her mission was much easier said than done. The moon was hardly a sliver, leaving only the what little starlight seeped through to light her way as the night fully set in.

Spieden scuffled almost blindly through the forest, trying with great effort to not bump her snout into anything and eventually hearing the babbling notes of a stream. Surely there would be a piece of open sky over water, and Spieden soldiered on towards the noise. Eventually she did make it there, and as she had predicted the forest split open to reveal a dark patch of sky. Tilting her head back, she couldn't help the gasp that escaped from her mouth as ribbons of green and red lit the sky overhead.

Under the flawless sky, feeling alright

Spieden Coho

Careless, not hopeless, you can't bring me down

The copper male seemed to float through the trees. An effortlessly smooth stride propelled him across the ground faster than most wolves could move. But as fast as he was, his stamina was equally great. The man had set off from Willow Ridge just this morning. After meeting Naia of Copper Rock Creek the day before, and learning that a white she-wolf had impersonated as his new friend, Lunas Axxya wanted more information on this cunning stranger.

If he couldn't find her here, at the Sacred Grove, he remembered her scent, and would scout around Northern Eden until he found the imposter and could figure out who she really was. Slowing to a quick walk, the copper man's active sniffer reported a she-wolf was nearby. From the smell of it, she was a loner, and not the wolf he had hoped to find here, but perhaps he could still get some information out of her...

Lunas stayed hidden in the trees and brush for several minutes, trying to figure out what she was doing and where she might be going. But something had captivated the lady's attention. Peering through branches and leaves to get a glimpse at the sky, he noticed that the Northern Lights were dancing through the cold night sky, and were startlingly bright tonight.

Eventually, the man stepped out of his hiding place. After briefly clearing his throat in a quiet manner, he said aloud to the lady, "Goodness, the lights really are something to behold tonight!". He hadn't meant to startle her, so he stayed wary in case she became startled and lashed out in surprise at him, an intrusive stranger.

So entraptured by the aurora's dance, Spieden failed to notice the approach of another. At the sudden cough from the male's throat, Spieden winced, automatically shifting down into a defensive crouch as she fixed her eyes on the wolf. A growl rumbled through her bared set of sharp white teeth, before her mind even had a chance to regiser the benign pleasantries he had offered her.

Recognizing her reaction might have been disproportionate to the current lack of threat, she smoothed her lips over her fangs. She had no idea how long he had been watching her, and the thought that she had been at least momentarily oblivious to his presence made her skin crawl. With her snout reached out she performed an exploratory sniff of the stranger, finding a variety of odors, other wolves included, embedded in his scent.

She carefully eyed the male for a few seconds longer. He was a slight little thing, and at nearly twice his size she could probably crush him to death just by sitting on him. Though that didn't mean he couldn't be a threat. "Indeed, they are." She finally answered, filling the long pause that she had let grow as she scrutinized him. She couldn't help thinking that he had an ulterior motive, one which she was currently having trouble figuring out. Though nothing seemed immediately off about him, absence of evidence was not evidence of absence. "But that can't be all you're out here for," She wondered.

Under the flawless sky, feeling alright

Spieden Coho

Careless, not hopeless, you can't bring me down

@Spieden: Sorry it took me so long to respond!

The female growled to start off, but to Lunas it was hardly a surprise. Most wolves were defensive and growled when an unknown stranger approached them unnoticed at night. He flattened his ears for a second or two to apologize, but he was no more submissive than that. After what the Arctic stranger had done to his friend Naia, he wanted to meet her and tell her exactly what he thought of her imposter act. It was unlike him to be so aggressive, but false identity was not an occurance Lunas wanted this stranger to get away with. A growl tempted to release itself as he just thought about it. The she-wolf presently in his company spoke.

A clever one, she was. It certainly hadn't been impossible to know that he was here on a mission other than to make small talk about the Northern Lights. He quickly thought of the best response he could conjure. His goal was to keep himself secret and gain as much information as he could while giving away as little as possible.

"Quite true." he replied calmly, giving a pause for effect. "I'm seeking a certain wolf. An Arctic female belonging to a pack in this area. If you have any information, I should like to know of it." Lunas felt that he had done well. On the inside, he beamed at how well he felt he had transferred from a submissive and shy wolf to a dominant and mysterious stranger. He was very careful not to smile on the outside though. Instead, he shoved his ears upright and took a step closer so that he was fully illuminated by the ribbons of light twirling endlessly above.

@Lunas

Spieden remained crouched as he responded, keeping her tail curled low along the outside of her haunch. She hadn't expected that he would be forthcoming with his reasons for venturing out late at night, and was surprised when he spoke forth with his mission. 'If you have any information, I should like to know of it' he had said. One side of her mouth momentarily twisted in a sneer, white molars flashing before being quickly hidden again by black lips.

She couldn't help but think back to that scrap of a wolf by the beaver dam, just as timid as she or maybe even moreso. He had mentioned being hunted, and while at the time she wanted to hear nothing of it, she currently wondered if it would have been for her benefit for her to learn just who those "hunters" were. Perhaps this little coppery wolf before her was one of them.

"What makes you think if I had this information, I would like to share?" She snapped. Even if Spieden did know of such an arctic female, Spieden wasn't sure it would be something she would just offer up. For what reason this male was searching for her Spieden did not know, and even if he told her she wasn't sure she would believe it anyways. Perhaps, like her, the female was on the lam for a good reason. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what excuses the male might make up. "Why are you after her?" Spieden asked in an accusative tone.

Under the flawless sky, feeling alright

Spieden Coho

Careless, not hopeless, you can't bring me down

(This post was last modified: Jun 20, 2014, 04:06 AM by Spieden.)

Again, the copper man wasn't very surprised at her reaction. A sneer accompanied her words, but he ignored it completely save an irritated flick of his black tipped ears. "I never suggested you had to share it. I'm simply looking for her for personal reasons, and wanted to ask if you knew her or anything about her. If you have nothing to say, then that is perfectly acceptable." Lunas forced his tone to be flat and irritated. He was slightly ticked off by the fact that no information would come to him here, but the man still disliked acting this way toward others, especially wolves he barely knew.

With a sigh, the Axxya dropped his act and apologized. "I'm sorry, we got off to a bad start. My name is Lunas Axxya. I'm 2nd in the pack Willow Ridge under Angier and Elettra. Who are you?" Lunas's tone remained light, but it had undertones of sorrow, or to be specific, disappointment. He was quite upset with himself and with the fact that he'd been so rude to this so-far friendly stranger.

Carefully observing the scents around her, he sensed that she did not belong to a pack. Of course he already had figured this out, but he wanted to make sure he was correct. Smiling, he wagged his tail gently and flattened his ears meekly to apologize again. It was so very unlike him to be so forward and stiff, and with a twinge of displeasure, Lunas noted that he owed the lady a better apology than that, but it would have to suffice for the moment.