Stonewatch Timbers Should I Tear My Heart Out Now?

Wild Rye Fields. The name did nothing for Rayza, who knew little of this place beyond forests and swamps, which apparently had an affinity for slowly constricting wolves to death. Or at least, disabling them enough to die somewhere else. But direction he did know. "East," and his smile twitched. Go figure. "Yeah, perfect. I was headed east."

A few days, though. Cloudy didn't need to say a thing more for Rayza to know the idea to come, and yeah, the stranger was right. Though he gave the opportunity to choose, the decision already felt made. The Delaney splayed an ear to the side. "Alright. Yeah. if you say stayin' the night's the best thing, let's get to findin' this old den y'know."

The stranger approached with a skitter of a dance, and Rayza eyed him with a dubious glance. To lend himself to Cloudy's anxious movements seemed hardly a better choice than walking himself, but the wolf had already bent to the ground to offer his help. Rayza found his mind went to Elyan. Another wolf he hadn't thought could help a fly, but the pup had proven himself more capable than the Delaney's flash judgments. So while scepticism showed in a beat of hesitation, well, maybe he was wrong about Cloudy, too.

Rayza pushed his forepaws out before him and slid his good leg behind to bear the weight of lifting his rump from the round. He grunted from the effort, whole body a quiver from legs still weak from passing out. His bad leg kept flinching up and down as if it still thought it wasn't useless, but Rayza only needed a small tap against the ground to re-convince the paw that it definitely was. Finally, after a shaky and prolongated ease from the ground, he stood, and let his side lean against the solid mass of the stranger. "Thanks," he said upon gaining balance. The other was large, but so was he, and he wondered how well this plan would work once they tried to move. He doubted they'd be quick, and once tomorrow came, with the effects of his black out completely slept away, Rayza planned to try hobbling to the healer without the stranger as a crutch. But tonight this would do, if only to satisfy the other man's help. Whoever this stranger was - the Delaney glanced at the man. "M'name's Rayza, by the way. Or Rave whichever's best to you," and tacked on with a crooked grin, "An' I've been callin' you Cloudy in m'head. But I reckon you've a better name than that."

(This post was last modified: Sep 02, 2017, 11:24 PM by Rayza.)

You could probably fade with your next post if you wanted to~

Everything about this was a mistake. There was no convincing him otherwise. But he wasn't about to blurt that all out when the stranger was already shuffling to their feet and leaning against him. He didn't know what he was doing. It was an impulse that drove him out into the middle of nowhere and it was impulse that told him to play the role of hero. And maybe—just maybe—if he kept moving forward in the world something alright would happen.

His ear twitched at the man's comment and he mustered a weak smile. He even managed to get his tail to wag along for a few moments before it stuttered to a halt.

"Nice to meet you, Rayza." He mumbled. And there was a few awkward seconds where he shuffled on the spot, trying to figure out the best way to support the other man before he realized that he should probably give his own name. "Cloudy's good." He was pretty sure he never heard Cloudy before. It was better than being called a ghost. Way better. There was probably less of a chance for Rayza to go back to thinking he was dead if he kept calling him Cloudy.

"But I think Cottongrass is better." He added with his own smile. And because there was no time like the present—he stepped forward and hoped to whatever existed above that Rayza would follow. It would be really awkward if he didn't. "C'mon. The den should be nearby." He chirped with one last attempt at an upbeat smile.

Sounds great, fading here! I'll get on our new thread as soon as possible, it's been an unexpectedly crazy month!

Truth most honestly told, Rayza didn’t bank much confidence in this decision himself. The arrangement came from necessity, the need to live, and the clear understanding that right now, the only thing he had going for him rested on the awkward shoulders of this stranger’s unmerited kindness. He didn’t really have a choice, and only hoped the trust he offered the man didn’t come back to slap him across the face in the likes of an early grave.

<b>“Cottongrass,”</b> Rayza parroted. His face reflected none of the uncertainty he harboured against the broad stranger. Though most of his outlook erred to the side of dark and dreary, enough had gone wrong tonight that he wondered if it could really hurt to give the man the benefit of a doubt. If doubts had any benefits at all - <b>“Yeah, I can work with that.”</b> He said and silenced his roving thoughts.

Cottongrass stepped beside him, and Rayza moved in delayed tandem with an awkward and gimpy hobble. This wouldn’t be easy, and he turned a half-glance at his paw and curled his lip. <b>“The closer the better.”</b> He mumbled, and his own face, for once, sunk from his Cheshire grin into a long and tired frown he couldn't quite shake even when he caught the small quirk of Cottongrass' face, and he took the initiative to step again and shuffle them both toward the East.

{fade out}

(This post was last modified: Oct 31, 2017, 11:28 PM by Rayza.)