Red Fern Forest freeze-dried rose

if I listen to, the sound of white

Naira

To anyone who had been watching the aging wolf in the last few weeks, it would have been obvious that something wasn't quite right. She would drop off in conversation mid-sentence, her eyes taking on a vacant expression for a few moments before she picked up where she had left off like there had been no pause at all. As the days passed by, the time between dropped words increased, and yet, it could just as easily be passed off as a moment of doderiness so it was doubtful anyone was particularly alarmed.

So with little knowlege of her fragile state, she had headed north, only meaning to be gone for the day. The distant tinge of red vanished among the misy trees, which in time gave way to the ferns died the colour of dried blood on stone. It started like the others, a vacant expression, her movements paused... but this time it was something more. Anxiety crept in, the feeling of wrongness flooding her mind. Confusion reigned as she started to pace, jaws opening and closing on air as she found herself walking circles with no intention to do so, the uncontrolable twitch of her thigh bringing her right steps up too short to manage a straight line.

And then she stumbled, anxious whines filled the air as the shakes took over. Time and space were limited to a series of flashing lights and finally her eyes rolled back in her head and all was still, the steady rise and fall of her chest telling of the sleep she now found herself in instead.

When her eyes finally cracked open, she found herself in another time, but in the same place, nose twitching at the absence of a scent that set her heart to pounding. "Adonis?" she called out sleepily, slowly rising with a wince, since when did her hips begin to hurt so bad? the flickering memory of a stormy night and a fall from a cliff reminding her of what had taken place. Her voice rose in pitch, laced with more anxiety as she called again, "Adonis!" Her nose dropped to the ground to seek out the small pup. They had to get home, they had come this far, she couldn't have lost him now.

(This post was last modified: Nov 25, 2016, 10:41 PM by Naira.)

Things were awkward, to say the least. The little yearling Spieden had turned away had made a sudden, unexplained appearance within her territory. Or rather, she could guess at the explanation; her co-leader had come across the Donata girl on his own and brought her into the fold. To Spieden's surprise her previous run-in with the girl hadn't been brought up, everyone seemingly content enough to mind their own business. Spieden had to wonder, had Lena told him that she'd run into her? And if she had, had she mentioned Spieden's lapse in recalling that Oak Tree Bend was in fact home to a Donata, one who was the leader, no less? And if Serach knew, had he decided it wasn't worth mentioning, figuring she'd had a simple lapse in memory of his surname? 

Spieden sighed, heavy paws crunching over snow as she ambled through the forest, putting space between herself and her territory. She needed some space to mull where she might not come across the little tawny girl she had lied to. It was easy enough to pretend that everything had been swept under the rug and forgotten. But she knew her pack well. As easy going as the Bend wolves could seem, they were prone to rumination, enough so that problems simply smoldered under the surface until gaining enough heat that they could spontaneously burst into flames. Still waters ran the deepest, she supposed. She could only try her best to keep her paws out of the current.

The tension in her broad shoulders melted away as the scent of the pack lingered far behind her. Alone. She exhaled deeply, watching her breath swirl in the frigid air and enjoying the quiet sounds of the forest. Like a knife a shout broke through the silence, her attention immediately shifting with ears perked to hear the voice cry out a second time. She swiftly recognized the source, though not the name the older woman was calling for.

"Naira?" She asked, quickly trotting over towards where she heard her. "Naira, is everything alright?" She asked, concern evident on her furrowed silver brow. "You lose something out here?"