Heartleaf Creek Aha! When I find a clue...

Laurel huffed in frustration. Here she was- at a cross roads. Taken up by curiosity this morning, the dark wolf had decided to follow the trail of water that flowed away from Bramble Falls. All day she had traveled in pursuit of it's flow, battling briars and tangled trees that saw fit to get in her way. Lunch had been a pleasant break- the river was kind enough to provide delicious salmon. Now evening was nearing and the stream had thought it was a grand idea to split into two- leaving Laurel with a difficult trio of choices; Go back home to the falls, travel down the southward branch, or travel up the north.

Both of the latter involved getting close to a beaver's dam, and Laurel was in no mood to have another battle with the deplorable creatures- but to go back meant a whole day wasted. She had been hoping to find another wolf along the river- hopefully one who could tell her about the strange grove south of the falls. The southward path most probably lead towards the stream in which she had gone fishing with Kato- if she followed that one, any wolves who might live along it would know more than if she went northward. But northward would provide new territories for her to comb over-

"Arg!" Laurel growled into the twilight air. I might as well settle down for the night- the female thought grumpily, There's bound to be hardly anyone out here in the middle of woods at this time of night.

(This post was last modified: Aug 17, 2014, 03:41 AM by Laurel.)

Hover your mouse over the words for a translation!

a loyalist sticks until the end

sif xanilov

i just couldn't pull it off

There was, in fact, a wolf crazy enough to be out as late as it was. That crazy wolf would be Sif, who was meandering his way down the bank of the stream. That had basically been his travel all day, starting at the base of the mountain near Bramble Falls and working his way down. He was pretty proud if he did say so himself, to have made it that far. However, at that point he may have looked like he was walking on a thin tightrope or was intoxicated by the amount of wobbling he was doing. He could hardly keep his heterochromatic gaze open, which was when he knew it was time to rest. His only problem was that he didn’t quite know where would be a good place to rest, but if he didn’t stop soon he’d be liable to pass out right where he was standing.

Blinking rapidly, he couldn’t hold back a giant yawn from escaping his jowls. He was so tired, Mozhet byt', ya prosto vzyat' bystryy son...he thought, his head drooping. Suddenly, he hit the ground and jolted awake. He’d managed to fall asleep standing up! Cursing in Russian he marched himself over to the creek, splashing noisily into its waters. That definitely woke him up that time. Thankfully, his pelt was thick enough to keep him from getting hypothermia from the frigid waters but it didn’t mean he still didn’t feel a chill. Stumbling out he looked around, now desperate for some form of shelter. He may have been woken up then but who knew what would happen in the next few minutes. Sighing, he meandered forward with a sweeping gaze in search for a suitable den to rest for the night.

(This post was last modified: Aug 19, 2014, 04:38 AM by Sif.)

Something startled Laurel- yawning. Or at least, that's what it sounded like. She brushed it off as the sounds of the creek and continued to search for a suitable resting place. Yawning herself, she surveyed the area around the creek- somewhere dry would be preferable. She poked her nose into a tree, but it was already occupied. Nearly losing her snout by badger claw, Laurel trotted away at clipped pace, hoping the grumpy creature would be too tired to follow.

There was a patch of soft grass in the shade of a short tree with low hanging boughs- the rising moon made the shadows grow longer, giving the perfect place for her to hide in sleep. For the twenty-sixth time in her life, Laurel was very glad to have her father's dark overcoat- in the cover of shadows, she would be hard to see. The tri-colored wolf was about to snuggle in and get ready for the night when she became aware of a splashing figure coming across the creek.

She froze, tail stiff and hackles raised- maybe it was a bad idea to come down the stream. She didn't know the wolves here- Heck, if Kato wasn't such a kind soul, Laurel thought worridly, If he had been any different, I might've been dead. Curse her curiosity- she didn't want to die out here. Trying not to let frightened growls into her voice, Laurel called out to the growing figure.

"Who's there?" she tried to sound commanding. "And what are you doing here?"

a loyalist sticks until the end

sif xanilov

i just couldn't pull it off

Sif was dripping wet and half asleep, so tired and slightly aggravated that he almost hadn’t heard the young woman’s voice. Pausing in his tracks, his large ears swiveled this way and that to catch the sound that echoed around him. Who's there and what are you doing here? they’d questioned in a voice he’d thought for a moment to sound like a real threat. His heterochromatic gaze had narrowed slightly at the threatening tone, but, then, the slight waver in his hit him. This wasn’t a girl trying to defend her territory or start a fight, she was trying to act tough when she was deep down afraid.

Squinting his gaze to sharpen his vision he looked around, small puddles forming beneath his massive paws as he searched for an sign of the figure from which the voice had come from. He had to do a quick double take, but then the physique of a smaller female than he began to take shape in the darkness. He himself probably blended in like a creature of the night with his obsidian pigmented hide, but he was also out in the open and moving. His bright gaze would have been a give-away in the darkness anyhow, as they were quite vibrant in color. “Chto vy imela v vidu..” He’d began, but quickly realized that he was speaking in a language he doubted that the woman spoke.

Quickly clearing this throat, he spoke again. “I am Sif Xanilov. I walk down river from mountain and look for brother. Perhaps you have seen?” He inquired, his voice baritone and hesitant in phrasing. Hopefully, she understood what he was saying. Sometimes, he’d found that others had a hard time understanding his choppy English. He was still learning the language, which was surprisingly more difficult to speak that most would think. However, he was better than what he had been in the beginning that much was for certain.

He is huge. was Laurel's first thought when she spied Sif in the dark, the moon highlighting the water in his pelt and reflecting off his oddly-paired eyes. Bigger than me! Her ears wanted to swivel back and pin themselves against her skull, but she didn't allow for it- she couldn't show fear. Fear would let him know that she wasn't in control of the situation. Or her racing heart.

And then he spoke, first in a strange tongue, then in horrendous English- her brother Nightshade would have flown into a rage if he were here, screeching about the bad structure and the intricacies of grammar and what not. "You mean, you came over the mountain east of us?" Laurel turned her head in the direction of home to clarify, then snapped it back, almost loosing the black stranger's figure. If he did come from over the mountain, then that meant having pack borders up against it wouldn't keep that side of territory completely safe- she'd have to tell Kato.

If this Sif guy Laurel reasoned with herself, is just looking for his brother, maybe I'm not in danger. He certainly doesn't have enough practice with English to have a way with words. But a wolf can lie just the same. She cocked her head slightly- "Does your brother look like you?" As her eyes took in more light from the off angle, Laurel noticed that the other wolf looked tired. As well as humongous. Not as huge as her other brother, Redwood- but still big enough that it made her nervous.

a loyalist sticks until the end

sif xanilov

i just couldn't pull it off

Try as she might to make it seem that she wasn’t worried, he could see it in the widened set of her eyes. However, it did seem that she was doing a good job of not allowing it to be shown in her actions which was impressive. It showed courage and determination, which was amiable in his eyes. He dually noted her looking him over with a wary look, something he was used to by now. His size was massive to say the least, sturdily build with a rounded chest and well-formed muscles beneath a slightly shaggy pelt gave him a rugged, mean look. It was an image he prized, as he wasn’t one to show too much emotion. Or, at least he tried not to. Sometimes his temper got the best of him, but it wasn’t often and despite his appearance he really wasn’t a bad guy.

His large ears swiveled forward as she mentioned the mountain, questioning a confirmation of his travels. He gave a strong nod in affirmation, and felt a bit of curiosity at the reproachful look she formed. Had he possibly caused a problem by doing so? There hadn’t been any territorial markings that he had scented, as he’d been careful to avoid them, but everyone made a mistake sometimes.

Then, she asked about his brother’s appearance. He looked back to his memories of his brother, and decided that while he was sturdy like Sif, they were quite different and one probably wouldn’t be able to tell they were brothers at a first look. He shook his head, “No. Kassander smaller than you, fur is tawny. We not very alike,” He replied, cringing slightly at the ending. The thought of his brother and their differences made him feel strange, as if they were completely apart. Though he didn’t want to admit it, Sif had always known that Kassander was stronger than him in will power, and while he had wanted to always be a leader because that was in his personality, he knew that great will power was needed to be that sort of position.

"I'm sorry," Laurel's voice grew gentler- "I've never talked to or seen a wolf named Kassander..." She felt saddened at her admittance towards him, but the only other male wolves she'd seen in her travels towards the falls were Atlas and Kato- and both didn't fit Sif's description. She didn't lose the awkward air of command, but her eyes did soften towards the bigger male. Though his explanation was short, the cringe at the end made it clear that this was not a false quest- something very personal was going on, and Laurel's failure to help had hindered it.

The very least she could do was introduce herself. Her posture only relaxed the slightest bit, still wary of his stature and oddly paired eyes, but the dark female could sympathize with a need to be close to family. "I'm Laurel Boughinn-" a brave step forward followed her name, "and I've also come downstream from the mountain-" more or less- "but I know of a pack north-west from here, in a field of blackberries. Perhaps you can start your search there..." she sniffed, wondering if that information would be of any help. One thing that Laurel knew for sure, was that a wolf could not go running about in the woods when he was tired.

Her inner angel sang of sharing the somewhat secure hiding place, but- but it's mine, and he's bigger, and he could still kill me! However, it wasn't in Laurel's nature to be coldhearted to another wolf, especially one involved in a situation she could relate to. It was one of the reasons her family had loved her. Keeping her warring emotions away from her face, she risked it, hoping a random act of kindness wouldn't end up being taken advantage of, like so many month ago; "Um... If- if you need a place to rest for awhile tonight, I found a patch of grass right here, hidden by the tree branches. If we slept here, no one would notice-" she hesitated- "us because of our dark coats." Now that she was voicing her discovery out loud, Laurel thought it sounded really stupid.