Dogwood Strath amar pelos dois

July 1st; Sunrise; Broken Clouds; 66.2° F, 19° C

Chimera snickered as he walked. It might have been a little too early in the morning for his tastes, but he had a few good reasons to culture such a good mood.

1. He had managed to stomach one of the small mice that had been harassing him since the trio had arrived to this part of Relic Lore.
2. He was given verbal approval from Niles to explore the surrounding areas from their designated rendezvous site.
and
3. He had just deposited a dead blackbird - ever so carefully - on Mouse's tawny, masked head as he slept in.

So suave. So smooth. So slick... He knew for a fact that he was gonna catch hell from Niles later, but it was going to be oh so worth it. With his tail waving about behind him, he leisurely ambled through the grove. Head down, eyes wide open, all four paws happily kept up in a skip-step sort of rhythm. The still-crisp morning air felt chilled in his lungs and the new day, Chimera was certain, held something curious and quite possibly...new. The prospect of this easily enraptured him and held captive a sense of wonder within him.

The exhilaration, however, didn't last. The Grove gradually grew thicker and all around him the delicate white blossoms sprung forth from even the darkest parts of the forest. His footsteps slowed before stopping altogether. Amidst the lodgepole pines and dogwood flowers, the ground beneath him demanded his reverence. In awe, he observed the silence with his eyes fixated on the blanket of snow-white petals before him. In his third eye, he saw himself, the red-crowned Hound, held aplomb before the judgement of a grand council. He had spent so much time away from home that he had not even considered until now if his absence had been worth it at all.

A hushed breath fled from his parted lips, seeing but not fully seeing everything before him all at once.

I'm so rusty, but this felt so nice ;-;

Nellie woke just as the first rays of sun flashed across her eyes. Not again. The forced air of a sigh fell into the air, billowing like a puff of smoke as heat met the early morning chill. Another sleepless night had passed her by, and once more she told herself that rest would find her eventually. Maybe tomorrow, or the day after. Maybe once she made a decision about her future. Maybe.. maybe she needed to start asking herself how many days she would lie to herself.

Shaking the sleep from her gaze, and the morning dew from her coat, the Archer-Lyall set off southbound. Like all the days that had come since Pookastone had up and moved, she had no real plans or destination in mind. Maybe she'd make her way to the Ridge to see her aunt, or perhaps she would finally make her way to wherever Tilly was headed. She trusted that fate would take her wherever she needed to be, and if not fate, then surely instinct would begin to take over.

Initially, it was the sound of water that pulled her deeper into the grove, up the rise in terrain and through the blossoming trees. Then it was the scent of another that caught Nellie's attention. The wag of her tail echoed in her gait, as bright eyes searched the treeline. That's when she spotted him up ahead, dark against the bed of petals at his feet. He was still, and for a moment she thought to be concerned that he had been still for a reason.

"Hey, yer alrigh'?"

(This post was last modified: Jul 03, 2020, 12:55 PM by Nellie.)

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The grand vision of the naturally-formed cathedral, complete with sun-kissed dogwood florets and falling white petals, fell away as soon as a voice called out to him from somewhere out of his immediate range of view. The morning sun's rays softened and the world around him grew a little darker. The ethereal wolves that had made up the imaginary council faded into the darkness of the pines until he comprehended that he was all alone. Alone apart from the newcomer.

Chimera's full body slowly turned around, his plume of a tail curving about so that his whole being seemed to form the shape of a circle. He stopped as he came to face her, face fully in view and ears cupped forward. His eyes grew wide and round as he blinked, drinking her in.

She was definitely a bit taller than him (which wasn't all too surprising since most wolves usually were), but it amused him greatly that she... well... she looked like him!

His nose began to twitch but nothing about her or in the air told him any information as to who she was. At this point it was probably better to just ask. He half-squinted at her, as if trying to recognize anything familiar about her, "Yeah?" His initial response came out as a question and he groaned at himself in his head.

He decided to ask a proper question to save his hide."Were you following me?" His russet-touched head canted to one side in sheer curiosity. It had been ages since he and Niles had met another wolf apart from when Mouse came along. "I mean, nothing wrong with that, I just thought I was alone." A small wag set his tail into action. In his head it sounded exactly like something the Red Hound would say.

we can be blue as a neon light, singing them sad love songs all night
Niles is currently traveling with Chimera and may hop into this IC thread!

Interest danced across Nellie's features as the stranger curved to meet her. From the tip of his nose to the plume of his tail the resemblance was uncanny. The color of his coat, his eyes, his mask... it all matched her's so well. If she had been human she might have equated this feeling to looking in a funhouse mirror, or through a camera filter.

"O-oh. Well tha's good. As long as yer not listening fer a ghost or bein chased or somethin'." She blamed the stutter on the fact that she had been caught offguard by the stranger's appearance, though she knew that was a lie. More than anything the woman should have blamed her own lack of contact for the stumbling of her tongue. It had been moons since she'd run into someone, though that was likely her fault. She could have gone with her mother, or set her sights south for Ravenna, but she.. hadn't. Nor had she really asked herself why she chose to stay behind, and isolate herself like she had. There would be time for all that some other day, like tomorrow, or a moon from now. There was no rush, was there?

The smile on her lips flickered from friendly to playful as he questioned her further, and the broad wag of her tail picked up speed. "Yeah. That's why I asked if yer were alright. I wasn't sure if yer were bein' chased or not, and I did'na want to 'ave any competiton." The laugh that fell from between her lips was full, and warm. It felt good to use her voice again.

(This post was last modified: Jul 04, 2020, 04:07 AM by Nellie.)

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The mention of listening for ghosts or being chased piqued his interests, the imaginative side of him rearing its googly-eyed face and wagging its floofy tail. She had simply wanted to be sure that he was not being pursued; and, she had wanted to be sure that she didn't have anyone competing with her... for what, though, Chimera was not entirely sure.

Upon hearing her laugh, a more playful, perhaps even mischievous, expression inched its way onto the man's dark-furred face. "Wait a min'," he grinned at her, tail waving to and fro in the air behind him. "Hold up... Mouse didn't put you up ta this, did 'e?"

His whiskered brows rose as he chortled at her. "I mean, where'd you even come from?" He simpered at her in a way that seemed like sunbeams could have burst forth from his face. He easily mirrored her body language, her easy-going nature awakening parts of him he thought he had lost somewhere along the way when he and Niles traveled to and from the Lore.

we can be blue as a neon light, singing them sad love songs all night
Niles is currently traveling with Chimera and may hop into this IC thread!

His body language was warm and inviting, matching her own with unexpected ease. Perhaps she had forgotten how nice it was to just be with someone, even if that someone was a complete stranger. At the very least it satiated the dreadful feeling in her stomach and for that she was thankful.

Nobody had ever told her just how hard it was to be alone, or how the loneliness somehow finds it's way into your soul, taking away parts of you that you'd much rather keep. For Nellie it began the day they left Torbine. One by one, her siblings disappeared, all four on to lives of their own. She filled the void with Macha, with Pookastone, but it would seem that even those moments were meant to leave her.

It had just been a strange, creeping sensation gnawing at the edges of her conciousness then. She'd much prefer that to the current smothering weight that seemed to be able to sweep through her mind, finding echoes of itself in her memories, constantly insisting that perhaps she was meant to be alone.

"Wait a min',"

Her body stilled as her ears pushed forward, though there was no stopping her tail, which continued on it's path of broad strokes.

"Hold up... Mouse didn't put you up ta this, did 'e?"

Bright eyes narrowed in consideration, and her head tilted ever so slightly to the right. The context of the sentence told her that Mouse was indeed a name, and not an honest to goodness mouse, though perhaps it could be a mouse named Mouse? A small snort of amusement puffed into the air at the thought. "Why? Yer do somethin' ter warrant it?" Mischief played across her features as she left the question unanswered. Maybe it was just the suspense, but for the first time in a long time, Nellie felt almost giddy.

When the man asked his next question she considered dragging out the fun, but decided against it. "But yeah, nah, I was headin' south, and caught yer scent on th' wind. First trail I've come across in a while, so I couldn't 'elp but stop."

"What about yer? Where'd yer come from?" The words left her lips with a coy smile to match the playful suspicion in her eyes.

(This post was last modified: Jul 05, 2020, 07:56 PM by Nellie.)

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A part of him was stock still, waiting for something akin to the punchline of a joke. Maybe Mouse had set him up... Just maybe. Chimera continued to grin at her, sliding down into a play boy in one fluid move. His new playmate of sorts quipped back at him, asking him in turn if he had done something to have her follow him into this part of the Grove.

His tail draped over the small of his back, still curved about like a banner waiting for the wind to pick it up again. He was trying his hardest not to giggle and snicker out loud. Why he suddenly their meeting was suddenly so funny, he couldn't yet say. Something within him suggested maybe it was because he had barely had playtime with his own siblings, that he had grown up so fast despite having a safe haven to call home. Niles' companionship had done nothing but smarten him up and build him into something of a well-traveled man. Mouse's inclusion in their little band of bachelors, however, had started to entertain this youthful side.

"I'm from the Fields," he revealed, his smile becoming tame in his honesty. "North of here, but I've traveled about since I've left." His rump finally fell to the ground, leaving his stout body positioned like a loaf-like sphinx with burly, outstretched limbs. It was a wonder how no one had come across this area and established it into a denning ground. The flowers were soft underfoot and the surrounding forests provided a great buffer against the descending mountain winds and wide-sweeping breezes that raced across the south's open meadows.

"It's been a long time since I've been home... been here... so this place is new to me." He took a good glance at her now, trying hard to not feel like he was glimpsing into the reflective surface of a vertical pond. They could have been the same age though, that much he could tell or possibly assume. Their spirit and energy were easily exchanged - give and take, give and take. "Were you born here too?"

we can be blue as a neon light, singing them sad love songs all night
Niles is currently traveling with Chimera and may hop into this IC thread!

A young fawn has gotten separated from its herd. Hunt Opportunity, +8 Health

To be honest, she hadnt realize quite how well this meeting would go. Maybe she had allowed herself to lose a little too much faith in other wolves, or perhaps this man was just particularly eager to meet someone new. She could smell others on his coat which meant that he wasnt alone, so she doubted that it was loneliness that forced his actions. How unexpectedly.. wonderful.

Nellie watched with bated breath and youthful excitement while the man's front half shifted downward, as if he were inviting play. Perhaps it was a leftover from the time she had spent with her siblings, but her head instinctively dropped as her body turned slightly to the side, and her weight shifted with a bounce from one paw to the other. It felt good to just let herself be young, and dumb, and silly. To stand here, laughing with someone she had just met, to have no expectations, no responsibility, no weight on her shoulders. The feeling was so unexpected and new, and she was sad that eventually it would have to end. He would be on his way with the wolves he was travelling with, and she would be alone once more. The Archer-Lyall refused to waste this precious time thinking about that though. Instead, she would soak up the warmth that he had to offer.

"Ah, I've seen the fields North of here. Jus' passing through though." They seemed to stretch on for ages. "I've been travellin' ter." If aimlessly wandering really counted as travelling. She had initially made her way back to Torbine to finish her training, but it had been moons and moons since she'd left.

Nellie offered an amused snort as the man finally plopped himself onto the ground. She wasnt quite sure why it amused her so much, but she chose to drop her rear end down in return. "I know how that feels. It's like... everything's different now." Maybe it was just her... maybe everything was the same, and she had simply changed.

When he asked about her birthplace, Nellie felt the beat of her tail slow just a little. She did her best to shove away thoughts of home, and of the past, but the familiar longing in her heart would not be so quick to allow it. "Ah.. this felt like home once." She was sure it had.. in the beginning.. once.. "But nah, I wasn't born 'ere. Not sure if you've ever 'eard of it, but I was born in a place called Torbine. It's out by th' ocean."

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