Red Fern Forest empty thrones with misplaced masters

There are two sorts of people

mapplethorpe

The players and the pieces

April 5th; Late Afternoon; Partly Cloudy; 16° F/-9° C

She sent the Advisor out to retrieve the crown prince. She sent the Advisor out to retrieve the crown prince... Naira had sent the Advisor to retrieve @Datura! Mapplethorpe just could not believe the unconventionality of it all; and, he did not possess the gall to bark back or snap at his superior. Now, Mapplethorpe was unsure whether @Naira's hormones were ones who were talking or the Queen, herself, in her maternal ways but either way, the rugged man was at the very end of his wits (something he had not anticipated in a very long time). He had searched through the territories immediately surrounding the Pass; high and low, he had scoured every tree, every rock, every speck of dirt for her son's musky scent. @Adonis, upon first impression, seemed to have been as stumped as he was, but Mapplethorpe was not ready to let his monarch down.

She had asked him to retrieve her first-born son, and he would do as he was told... or, at least, try to.

It had taken a good chunk of his time to climb back up into the pack territory and cross it without being seen by anyone else. Why he attempted to keep undercover, he wasn't quite so sure, but he presumed it had been for the best to stay out of sight while he crept over his Leader's eastern markers and advanced his search into the mist-shrouded forest on the other side of the mountain. Following nothing in particular, he ambled onward in an aimless fashion. Nothing around here even suggested that Datura had come this way and yet... here he was, guide-less, frustrated, and obviously discombobulated.

He frowned as he stood tall between a pair of stately trees, adorned with fire-red leaves. This was the sort of job for a Guard, a pup-sitter, or a maybe even woman underneath his Queen's command. His job as Advisor should have placed him at the top of the hierarchy in all this, meaning that he would have been the one advising Naira while she assembled her search teams. Whatever he proposed should have sent those teams into the Ghastly Woods, to the Secluded Springs, to the base of Brambles Falls, up the Mountain of Dire and, here, through the Red Fern Forest. This, as far as he was concerned, was not supposed to be a part of his job... but he had already come this far and hunted for far too long to come back without news or empty-handed.

(This post was last modified: Apr 06, 2013, 03:01 AM by Mapplethorpe.)

That’s what ruling is.Lying on a bed of weeds,

• NAIRA AQUILA •

ripping them out before they strangle you in your sleep.

It may have been seen as an over-reaction to one who did not understand the hair-trigger that was linked to her brother’s scent, and to find it laced with such a taint and her son’s trail rapidly fading only left her further on edge. It was history repeating in the worst way possible and this time she promised herself that the golden head would be removed from Kanosak’s battered body before she would turn her back on him again. She would personally scatter his remains to the furthest reaches of relic lore to prevent him from ever rising again to harm her family. Her mother had always warned her, even with it’s body removed a snake was still deadly. Why hadn’t she listened?

She hardly allowed herself a moment before firing off orders. Mapplethorpe had departed quickly, going ahead (although her instructions had been unclear that she would try to join him as soon as she could) and she had made her way to all the usual haunts to send @Rais to scout the top and bottom of Bramble Falls, @Valiant to case out the Ghastly Woods, and even @Rhysis she asked to travel in the direction of Poison Path and the Lost Lake, just in case. With all the usual bases covered she set out, following the fresher trail of her advisor, down, down, down.

She ignored the deep feeling of foreboding that crept over her as the ground began to level and she walked once again between the trees, with the blood hued ferns about their feet. She flinched at unexpected noises in the distance and her hackles stayed on edge, her lips drawn tight across her muzzle as growls sounded to small disturbances in the distance.

Finally, up ahead, she saw him. Loosing a slightly more frantic than anticipated bark, her feet picked up as she loped towards him, golden eyes frantically seeking, searching for any sight of her son where none remained. Distress was clear on her face as she approached the familiar form of her advisor, taking a moment to bury her nose into the fur at his flank and draw comfort from the familiar scent of warm wood musk and cool scrub pine, scents of home. Scents of safety.

“Do you think it could be them? she questioned in hushed tones. He had been the one to attend the meeting and it had been he who had learned the most of the strangers that came from these lands. Her own memories of this place were hazy at best, but something was pulling her south.

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There are two sorts of people

mapplethorpe

The players and the pieces

The sound of someone approaching tore his eyes away from the river not too far from him and he whipped his gaze over his shoulder as soon as her bark called out to him. Her scent should have caught his attention but at the time of her descent into the forest he hadn't been using olfactory senses at all. Mapplethorpe should have smile, set his tail into a gentle and pleased wag but he merely stared until she stepped up beside him. She pressed her nose into his pelt and he held still, returning his stark yellow eyes to the forest around them. It was too quiet here, and the quality of silence was nothing like the one he was accustomed to in the Ghastly Woods. Apart from the rare occasion of a songbird passing overhead, this red-tinted forest seemed simply... empty.

“Do you think it could be them?" Against his strained eardrums, her hushed question came over him like a gust of wind or the rolling of thunder. The Advisor exhaled softly, inhaling deeply once then pushing his breath through his nostrils. "For precaution's sake, Your Grace, it wouldn't be out of line to assume so." The rustling of some low-lying brush caught his attention and eyed a terrified chipmunk as it hastily tried to make itself scarce again underneath the layers of brown and red leaves that coated the forest floor.

He replayed in his mind what he had heard from the meeting of Leaders and recalled what he had told Naira. As they were situated on the Mountain of Dire, or within its mountain range, they ought to have exercised a sharper, more vigilant kind of caution. Every strange scent and every questionable occurrence was to be questioned. Nothing was supposed to slip past them but it had. Datura had...

"The boy knows how to take care of himself," he tried to console her, the drop in his voice making his tongue touch upon the tones of his Latin-based idiolect. "He should turn up soon. It's not unusual for him to be gone for a few days; when he's ready to come home, he'll come home." He took another breath in attempt to ward off the worry that was starting to creep up in his throat. "In the meantime, looking for him is not a bad idea."

(This post was last modified: Apr 07, 2013, 09:19 AM by Mapplethorpe.)

That’s what ruling is.Lying on a bed of weeds,

• NAIRA AQUILA •

ripping them out before they strangle you in your sleep.

The tension was so thick in the air that you could slice it with a blunt claw. The trees were thick, oppressive almost. It was impossible to smile in such a place. Where the Ghastly Woods had always seemed welcoming to her, this place was different. Tainted somehow. It stank of death, and it made her skin crawl.

His words confirmed her fears and her lips drew tight over her muzzle as she fought down a whine of distress. Now was not the time to go loosing her cool, there was a job to be done, so she attempted to square her shoulders and get on with it. His attempt to console her did little and she was relived when he said that looking for him was not a bad idea. With a determined nod and drawing a deep breath in, she took another step forward - and then another. He was only young. He wouldn’t have gone far.

Trusting the advisor would continue to follow, she lowered her head to the ground and cast about, her nose pushing snow aside here and there but revealing no sign of her errant child. Deciding one direction was as good as any other, she set out, her head held high to better catch scent of any scent borne on the wind.

Far from lessening the scent of death, she found it growing stronger. Rather than the alluring smell of something herbivorous, this was much less pleasing, but she could not turn away. Her hackles began to stand on end as all the possible scenarios began to play through her mind... and up ahead, a pile of fur could be seen beginning to poke through the snow. Her heart caught in her throat as her movements became stiff. The sun glinted of a silvery hued pelt and relief washed over her.

As she drew closer she could see the lifeless body was much too small to be her son, or even the missing daughter of the man at the Hollows. The disfigured face and contorted form left little doubt in her mind as to how the poor child had met it’s demise and her heart broke a little for the life that had been cut so short. For a moment, she couldn’t help but stare. After all this time she was still here, the deep freeze of winter refusing to give her back to the earth until the springs rain came and washed the last of the snows away. Concerned eyes feel to her advisor, steeling her resolve. "We have to find him." Her voice was soft, but her mind was set. She had found Adonis, she would find Datura. Nobody would keep her son’s from her.

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There are two sorts of people

mapplethorpe

The players and the pieces

Mapplethorpe didn't even have to look at her to know that she was in distress; he could smell the faint trace of worry that had woven itself into her pelt. He had meant to look at her but she moved forward instead, bringing his gaze with her. She shuffled along, nose to the ground with her instincts all on high alert. He went after her, his own gait matching hers until the reek of death stung his nostrils. Immediately he searched the ground, his eyes darting back and forth about the snow and mud until Naira found the source of the stench.

He opened his mouth to say something along the lines of "wait, Naira" or "step away from it" but he noticed at once that the corpse she had uncovered bore a pelt of tawny hues, accented with hints of silver - a distinct pallet that belonged to an ordinary Timber wolf like him. This child that his monarch had found did not even come close to resembling the missing prince. He stepped to her side, looking to her face in hopes of finding the disquiet that had befallen her gone. She gazed to him then and he held his tongue, anticipating her to tell him something, give him a command, or assure him of something. What he found in her face was something he had initially expected. Her fiery irises were no match for his and he dropped his eyes to her shoulder and throat, listening as she heartened him with an unwavering affirmation.

"We have to find him."

The Advisor nodded without question. "I will," he answered, risking a hard glance at her. "My liege, we cannot risk your health in such circumstances." Though he looked even more distressed under the silver hairs over his brow and under his eyes, his tone was calm, tranquil as it always was when he tried to persuade her and sway her into his words and opinions. "Let me search for him. I will bring him back home to you in one piece."

"Trust me, my Naira Regina, " he half-cooed, resisting the temptation to reach out and nose her shoulder in a comforting, familiar manner. "Trust me as you always have. I will see to it, myself, that he will not come to any harm once he is under my watch." Though he longed to hear that his monarch would obey his words, to stay home and await his and her son's return, he had thoughtlessly overlooked the fact that she would be alone after actually having sent the search teams to re-check the territories he had searched. Quietly, he gazed to her, his ears slightly twitching every now and then as he waited for her decision.

There is no shame in fear

• NAIRA AQUILA •

What matters is how we face it

His words and hard glance left her ears pinned back to her skull, and her eyes large as her head lowered to look up at her advisor, the very image of well rebuked child. Had she not been a wolf, her lower lip would have dropped in a pout as the reality of her situation weighed heavily on her ever expanding flanks. His tone was calm but his words were clear, even to her stubborn ears. Go home, they said. Rest, they pleaded.

Her heart hammered in her chest as the young inside her squirmed. She was hungry and tired. He was right. Of course he was right. She was visibly distressed as her eyes scanned the trees around them, hoping beyond hope that her son would simply appear before her eyes because that was what she willed. It wasn’t like when Adonis was taken, and yet it was just the same. A nervous whine left her chest as her sides began to heave.

She moved away from the torn remains of the young wolf, she would be returned to the earth when the snows melted and there was nothing they could do for her, but even being in the corpses presence was enough to add another layer of darkness to the towering trees. As the air cleared she convinced herself she could push on, until a more forceful kick was delivered to the bottom of her lung, causing her to visibly flinch.

Warm golden eyes fell back to Mapplethorpe, locking onto the depths of his own citrine eyes, conveying more than her words ever could, just how much it hurt her to be unable to go with him. “Just a little further. Just in case.” ...and then I will return... The words were left unsaid but her compliance was clear. Her nose dropped back to the snow to try and catch any hint of her missing child, not thinking for even a moment that the girl that was missing from the Hollow may have come this far as well.

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There are two sorts of people

mapplethorpe

The players and the pieces

He anticipated her gaze upon him but what he found on her face, in her eyes, was not something he had actually expected. His head tilted slightly to one side, empathy threatening to give him away. She seemed to understand though, that he was right and, for that, he was relieved. Truth be told, he could not even stand the idea of Naira toiling over and ransacking the land in search for her son... not when she carried in her womb the legacy that would be the first to grow up in the Pass and learn its ways firsthand. The concept of loss threatening to make itself present yet again in Nomad Queen's life was something Mapplethorpe would not stand for... so here he stood.

Then, she whined; the sound was so foreign to him that it was with a delayed chuff that he acknowledged her nonverbal reply. Her eyes went to the forest around them but he kept his trained on her, still watchful, wary, and even a tad concerned. She had, after all, had just discovered a young cub, and it was a given in his mind that all her maternal instincts had gone haywire over the fact. He was glad though when she moved away; he did not want to tell her that he harbored the belief that this cub was the one that Swift River had lost.

“Just a little further. Just in case,” Naira said, and the Advisor quietly and gladly dipped his muzzle downward once more. He stayed in his place, allowing her to leave his side with her nose to the ground. He did not want to dishearten or criticize her for at least trying, but he had a feeling that Datura would either have gone farther than expected out of adventurous whims or fallen victim to something powerful enough to overwhelm him. As not to raise any questions or subject himself to her questions or doubts, he also lowered his nose to the ground and began to quietly sweep it across the forest floor, heading off to her left while half-hoping that she would not find any indication of her son's whereabouts. If she did, he knew it would take much more than weighty words and crooned sentiments to keep her in the Pass.

There is no shame in fear

• NAIRA AQUILA •

What matters is how we face it

The crusted snow made tiny crunching noises as her nose plowed through it and her feet broke the pristine surface. It sounded to her distressed ears like so many tiny bird bones breaking underfoot and the fur on the back of her neck stood on end, poking out in all directions like a small mane that swayed with her heavy, deliberate steps. Occasionally, she would loose a sneeze to release some of the built up cold and wet, to clear her nose and to try and allow more scent through, any hint of the familiar... but it never came. She roved from left to right, back and forth, stopping here and there to scratch away and turn over the earth, revealing plenty for a hungry hunter, but nothing to ease the tension in the movements of the distressed mother.

It felt like only moments had passed, but as the shadows moved across the earth she knew she would need to leave soon if she wanted to make it back to the Pass before the sun fell from the sky. Her lower jaw trembled as she finally ceased her movements and waited for her advisor to draw close again. She breathed in deeply to steady herself, knowing that Mapplethorpe had been beyond patient and to search any further together would only slow the advisor down. Her eyes fell on him, full of defeat, but she knew that if anyone could return her son to her, that he would be the one to do so. She took a moment to bury her nose in the thick fur at his neck, breathing in the familiar scents of cool scrub pine and all the mingled scents of home. “Go.” she bid him in a whisper, rooting her paws in place. She would go no further.

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There are two sorts of people

mapplethorpe

The players and the pieces

Mapplethorpe didn't go too far in his search and when he came to look up again, lift his head from the little trenches his nose had made against the snow, he saw her pause. Quick steps brought him back to her, just close enough to feel the tufts of his pelt touch and brush against hers. He had missed the quiver along her jawline but he could read the pain in her facial expression as clear as day. The Advisor kept quiet, not wanting to upset her further. Instead, he waited for her break the silence between them.

She drew near to him, and he felt her nose tousle the fur along his nape and ruff. He shivered briefly, but when he looked to her fully he offered an assuring smile. Then, he heard it, a single-syllable command that spoke in much deeper volumes than a detailed order.

"Go."

Inhaling deeply and slowly withdrawing from her, he gave her one more dutiful bow of his head then scanned the forest around him. He exhaled as soon as he found a suitable direction. Away from the Pass ought to be a start; he could always revise his path along the way until he found the lead he was looking for. Checking over his shoulder, as if to make sure the cornice of Mount Dire was still in the right place, he made his decision. Without any further sentiments, questions, or even a farewell, the Nomad swiftly bounded through the trees, only finally leaving her sight after disappearing through the dried fronds of two dead fern plants.

That’s what ruling is.Lying on a bed of weeds,

• NAIRA AQUILA •

ripping them out before they strangle you in your sleep.

His smile gave her hope. Hope that there was not another pile of fur and bones left for the crows to pick at once the snows receded. Hope that her son had just willingly wandered off on his own, to have an adventure - just like the time she had found him in the Ghastly Woods. She breathed deeply, willing herself to stay as her advisor moved to follow her command, her eyes glued to his retreating form long after the dead fronds swayed closed like curtains behind him, obscuring his tawny coat from view. In the distance, a crow cawed and she suppressed a shiver as the small hope she had fled with Mapplethorpe. She wanted to prepare herself for the worst, and yet couldn’t bring herself to think on it.

She stood in the one spot, for what seemed like hours, waiting for her advisor to return with her golden son on his heel, but as the sun began it’s steady descent towards the horizon, she knew she could linger no longer. Finally tearing her eyes from the curtain of ferns she turned to face the ever present mountain and began the long walk home, with only her thoughts and fears for company, it was going to be a very long journey indeed.

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