Thicket of Secrets A soft Murmur

The small black shape trotted out along the densely overgrown trail. Soft brown eyes constantly drifting toward the canopy overhead, the dimly lit forest reminded Sylva of the Ghastly Woods, the first place she had visited when she came to these new regions and now, her pack was moving away. Unsure when she might be able to come back and try to explore these mysterious woods, the yearling’s curiosity won over as she found herself walking the paths of the Thicket of Secretes.


As she measured along the trails, her muzzle was constantly swaying as she sniffed the thick overgrowth. Ever since she had decided that one day she would become a healer the small wolf had decided to devote her time to try and memories all the scents of the plants. A massive, unattainable goal for one of her age, but she had dreams and she was determined to see them through.


Sylva paused as she found herself muzzle first in a small shrubby like plant, She cocked her  head slightly as she took note of the broad fan shaped leaves. “Hmm...are you useful…” She mused to herself, unaware that the flora was Black hawthorn. She lowered herself closer to the plant, her ears pricking as though she heard a voice “hey! you don’t have to be so prickly about it sheesh!” She giggled a little before settling down on her haunches by the bush.

Thought
dialogue

(This post was last modified: Mar 15, 2016, 01:14 AM by Sylva.)

Sorry I took so long, this was a real teeth-puller

She was feeling prickly too, though it seemed like a different kind of unease than the one that had plagued her a week earlier. The fire that had burned hot in her blood had dwindled, quelled by Miccah's touch, but she was still irritable and restless. So she continued her regiment of keeping on the move, largely avoiding her pack mates, which meant avoiding the core of their territory. Instead she skirted the borders, looking for medicinal herbs poking through the snow. It was still early for such work though, and the former medic found her frustration growing steadily as she passed only the older, well-known plants, most still in their winter-hibernation; What's the point?! She had little else to do though, the borders were well maintained, and she would be as bad company for a potential joiner as she would any of her current pack mates. Grumbling to herself, the fire-pelted wolf continued on through the snow-covered thicket, veering away from the Woodland borders to circumvent a particularly dense clump of shrubbery.

She was about to curve back, trailing the line of one of the few, small creeks that snaked through the Thickets, when the sound of movement made her freeze, rusty ears perked. The lightest rustle of the underbrush revealed a nearby creature; Another wolf? Or perhaps a careless rabbit; A quick hunt would be great right now! And give her something meaningful to do too. Crouching low, the vixen shewolf crept forwards, careful to tread ever so lightly in the snow. A good, fat rabbit would be just the thing to cure her ill mood. Hidden by the bramble, she approached, doing her best to breath noiselessly. Just a few more steps, and she could peak between the branches. Then the rustling stopped and the hunter did the same, holding her breath. Just stretching to look over the edge of the bushes, she readied to pounce… When she heard a voice.

Aideen straightened up with a jolt, glaring across the shrubbery separating her from a small, black shewolf, sitting comfortably among the bushes, her nose seemingly half buried in a mass of thorny, grey brambles. The reddish lass sighed heavily, brows furrowed as she stared at the younger wolf and the plant she was studying. In an unusually gruff voice, she remarked: "You better be careful, those thorns have quite the bite." Casting a quick look along the dark girl's thing frame she added: "And it's not worth eating, unless you're ill."

Word count: 415

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OOC! For @Aideen ! Sylva’s trying <3

The small chocolate wolf’s maw hung open in shock as a voice suddenly spoke. She hadn’t thought to look around just yet, as her attention was focused on the thorny shrubbery before her “S-sorry.” She murmured quietly toward the plant, a little confused as, for a moment she did think it had actually given voice in return to her curious sniffing. “Thanks for the advic-” her brown eyes widened a little as she happened to glance over her shoulder, behind her stood a reddish female, what shocked Sylva was that the wolf was actually close to her own height. It slowly clicked to her that the voice must have come from her and not the foliage. Whoops. she thought quickly as  she took stock of the new arrival.

She turned in time to catch the other wolf’s second comment and she cocked her head slightly to the side. Why would I try to eat...wait… her curiosity became piqued at the crimson and brown female worded her statement. Unless you're ill Did that mean that this wolf knew about plants and herbs? Sylva’s tail started to wag happily at the thought. She opened her maw, about to let loose a flood of words when @Raela ‘s words came back to her and she parroted them out loud “Right! Don’t wanna talk her ears off do we, Sylva?”

Of course, no one answered as the young wolf was speaking to herself, she took a deep a deep breath “Hi there ma’am, I’m curious, how did you know about the plant? Oh! Almost forgot, We’re Sylva!”The smiling female had a genuine grin as her earthy gaze looked Aideen over more carefully, her tail wagging behind her, displaying her clear excitement at meeting yet another wolf “Woah, your small too!”

(This post was last modified: Mar 25, 2016, 07:19 PM by Sylva.)

Rather than turn at the words, the dark girl seemed to direct her reply at the bush before her, prompting Aideen to knit her brows even further. Then, as if on a delay, the small creature finally did turn, a pair of bright, bronzy eyes widening at the vixen wolfess. Aideen widened her own eyes, a little pointedly, studying the stranger in silence while she waited for a response. She was the smallest wolf the Woodlander had ever seen, yet undoubtedly passed the first year, where most growth happened. In her healer's mind, Aideen couldn't help but wonder if some ailment had stunted the girl, leaving her this short and skinny. Or she's just like me… The woman reminded herself, growing up in the high north and with parents on the smaller side, she'd naturally become petite of stature; Though I'm not THAT skinny..! Especially not now, when she'd started building up fat reserves to aid the litter she hoped to be carrying within. Skinniness was not so strange though, many wolves went hungry this time of year, particularly loners.

Aideen was about to sniff the air, to confirm her last suspicion, when the stranger finally spoke. Rusty ears prickled, grey-dusted brows furrowing at the words; What..? She could find absolutely no sense in the statement, and was about to say as much, when more words tumbled from the dark lass' maw. Still frowning, Aideen's head tilted, a light prickle of pain starting to spread across her forehead; Jeez, do I sound like that?! She knew she had a tendency to ramble, or used to anyway, but she'd like to think she at least made sense. Once the stranger fell quiet, Aideen allowed herself a slow, deep breath, never taking her eyes off the other. When she started her answer, she began with the easiest part: "Yes I'm quite tiny, though not as small as you, hm?" Her voice was definitely sharper than usual, through she tried a friendly teasing smile at the comment. Though it faded into the confused frown that dominated her face when she continued: "I'm afraid I don't really understand the rest… Who are 'Sylva'? Is that your name?" Then why had she said 'we'? And hadn't she spoken to a Sylva before? Oh PLEASE tell me she's not seeing things! The healer was in no mood to deal with a mental case today; Any day really..! She'd also mentioned knowing 'about the plant'… Aideen shook her head, adding, rather meekly; "I didn't come for the plant. I just… It's Black Hawthorn, you shouldn't eat it unless you know what you're doing, that's all I meant."

Word count: 440

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OOC! OOC Note<3

The ebony female settled down onto her haunches as the rust and grey flecked female slowly took a deep breath before she started to respond to SYlva’s inquiries. A small giggle escaped the yearling when Aideen commented on her small stature. Sylva had yet to meet another wolf that was smaller than herself, and that hadn’t really bothered her, it wasn’t something she could have controlled. What had concerned the small girl was Aideen’s confused look and the next statement to leaver the slightly larger woman. Didn’t understand...what? We were pretty clear weren't we?

She opened her maw, ready to re explain the situation for clarity but before she could, the confused reddish wolf asked if Sylva had been her name, now a look of confusion overtook the dark furred girl this time around. “Yes..?” She asked slowly, cocked her head to the side “I’m Sylva,who..else would it be?” She asked slowly, her ears pricking a little as Aideen shook her head.

“Black Hawthorn..I’ll have to ask Gent about that later….” She murmured as her attention drifted away from Aideen and focused in on the plant as she gave it a careful sniff in order to try and memorize the plant’s scent. After a few moments she glanced back toward Aideen, The young girl started to get a nagging feeling that she may have missed some social cues, unaware that bluntly, her actions were giving the impression of a rather sanity lacking wolf, she paused for a moment.

Wait...oh...we confused her….whoops… A small grimace formed on Sylva’s maw as she realized that she HAD broken something on a social level, maybe she sent the wrong signals? Or a mixed message? “Ma’am...S-sorry.” She quickly apologized, her tail swishing in embarrassment as she quickly added “I was wondering...if it’s not too much trouble...where did we confuse you? I-Im trying to learn so I don’t do it again..”

ThoughtDialogue

The dark lass was looking back at her with furrowed brows, seeming as confused as Aideen felt. She answered hesitantly, speaking slowly like it was the Woodland wolf who wasn't quite well off. Then she went on to look back at the bush, again mumbling as if talking to someone else, though there was no one. Aideen sighed lightly, trying to think of a way she might get out of this conversation, her tired mind in no shape to attempt and keep up with a stranger who talked to the air and wondered if she was crazy. However her ears caught on to a word in the stream falling from Sylva's maw; Gent? The name rang bells of familiarity in her mind, though she'd never met the man personally, she knew of him from Nina, as the two had had plenty of meetings concerning the shaky relationship between their packs. Now that leadership had passed to her, Aideen was naturally even more curious about the dark alpha and his pack. Could it be that Gent? She tilted her head, wondering the possibility, though she had no basis for who would or wouldn't be friends with him.

Finally, the russet woman took her time to examine the stranger's scent and she was slightly  surprised to find it laced with those of others; So she IS a pack wolf..! Their eyes met as Sylva's attention turned back from the Hawthorn, an almost haunted look in their brown depths. Perhaps Aideen's morning-mood was finally starting to thaw, at least she managed a smile at the younger wolf, her gaze warming. Whatever her case may be, she was just a girl, and a polite one at that, so much she proved again with her next statement. There's that 'we' again… The Woodlander noted, ears flicking at the strange speech pattern, but her smile widened, a light shake of her head dismissing the youth's concern; "It's nothing dear. I'm just a bit tired that's all, my apologies." She nodded a small recognition to her new acquaintance, sitting herself down across from her, tail wagging faintly. "My name's Aideen, it's nice to meet you Sylva." It was about time she started treating this lass with proper courtesy; "What brings you to the Thickets this morning?"

Word count: 379

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There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health

The smaller girl gave a small sigh of relief and visible relaxation as The larger of the two, if you could really call it that considering that they were almost the same hight, settled down, a small smile forming on her own lips. “Aideen…” She quietly parroted as she closed her eyes, trying to memorize the wolf’s looks and scent to match with the name the next time she had to draw upon it from recollection. “I-it’s nice to meet you too ma’am.” She squeaked. It was an odd feeling for the young wolf, most of those outside her pack seemed to become quickly irritated with her, for one to find her company a pleasure...it sent a small tingle down the girl’s spine that caused her to visible twitch a little.

Sylva’s ears perked forward at Aideen’s next question, asking why she had come to this heavily overgrown thicket. “Well.. she paused for a moment, should she be telling other wolves that Round Stone Crest was moving? It was why she had come out this way after all, to explore a little before they moved to who knew where far to the east. Well she asked….it be like lying if we didn’t tell her….{i}

“Well...My pack’s moving soon and I wanted to explore a little before we leave the mountain, I hadn’t gotten a chance to learn much about the herbs out this way, so I erm…” She paused again, though the motivation this time was different than it was for the last gap in words. As she thought it over, it did seem a little silly but she continued “So I came to try and memorize all the plants…”

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She was an odd one, that was for sure, closing her eyes and seeming to twitch as she repeated the name and stammered a reply. But she was polite and seemed harmless enough; A little strangeness is hardly something to get in a bunch about! So she was a bit different, no big deal. Aideen shook her head lightly, smiling encouragingly at her new acquaintance. "Just Aideen, please," She corrected in a kind tone; Ma'am… It made her sound old. She snickered to herself, but her gaze remained warm, ears attentively perked. Sylva seemed to be thinking hard on the question, like she couldn't remember why she had come; Which wouldn't be surprising… But finally she gave an answer, and it was far from what the redder wolf had expected.

Aideen visibly perked up, tilting her head a little at the explanation; Pack… Moving? That in itself seemed an unusual thing, but what was even more interesting was the implications, if she wanted to explore before her pack moved, it meant that they currently lived close to the Thickets. It has to be then… The Woodlander pondered, but before she had time to finish, the dark girl spoke again. Aideen couldn't help but chuckle, though it was a lighthearted laugh, in no way meant to mock the younger wolf. "All of them? That's quite a lot, dear," She trilled, shaking her head a bit. But her smile remained friendly, eyes straying for a moment to travel over the rich vegetation around them; She didn't even know all of it. When she looked back to Sylva her expression was overbearing, but there was genuine interest in her voice as she asked: "But you are interested in herbs then, for healing? Are you training under Gent, up in Round Stone Crest?" That seemed to be the only possible conclusion, too many coincidences otherwise. That did prompt another question though: "They're moving?"

Word count: 319

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