Cedarwood Forest heavens divide

Overcast — Current Temperature: 55° F/13° C; late evening

The woman had grown tired of waiting. She'd grown tired of her own cowardice. These lands were her home, the home that she'd been so crudely torn away from. Why should she fear them now? Maybe because she'd been away from them longer than she'd lived within them...Her tail lashed at her backside as she moved through the dark wood, ears twitching atop her head. She would find @Neades soon, but in the meantime, Aphrodite refused to hover about the fringes of her palace, her safe haven.

But was it really?

Time after time, she'd been torn away from her family, and time after time, they had failed to rescue her. When she needed them, a stranger appeared in their stead. The Cavern wolves, Neades...The yearling could not say that he had rescued her, but had given her an outlet. Her thoughts, muddled and depressed, suddenly had direction when she was in the company of another after traveling on her own, in whatever direction carried her away from those that had sought to harm her. They shared no blood or bond, and yet they'd traveled together for a month. It was the most meaningful relationship she had made yet in her short time on this sphere.

Perhaps that was why she feared these lands. She feared those that lived within and what her own feelings towards them might be when finally in their presence. If they still were here. Elliot, Athena, Ash. Her head hurt thinking about them, wolves that shared her blood and yet she found herself unable to give them the titles that she once had. Brother, mother, father. They were too far apart now. And though she loved them, she was certain that she would disappoint them.

Through her teeth, she pulled in a breath, feeling her ribs ache as her lungs strained against them. There was hardly any fat on her body at this point. The long reaching winter combined with the seemingly endless journey home (and perhaps a bit of stubbornness on her part, refusing to let anyone hunt for her) had left her scraggly and thin. Her winter coat hid her ribs, strained against flesh, but it clearly hung from her, heavy and patchy as the increasing warmth caused her to shed. Aphrodite paused at the mouth of an abandoned den. Fox scent lingered about the entrance, but it was faint, stale. Reluctantly, she retreated within, turning about in the small space to let her head rest near the entrance. For the night she would claim this space and be certain that any and all passerby might see her resting here. Maybe they'd leave her be.

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention

While the small band of wolves Lugh had found himself among was quickly settling themselves into something more permanent, Lugh had too much energy to spend faffing about the den site. While he would be happy enough to spend his time pupsitting his leader's brood, the plentiful herbage of Relic Lore demanded to be picked and stowed for a rainy day.

He was marginally familiar with the Cedarwood so far, having taken refuge there with the resident pack for a few short weeks. While things had caught his eye during their transitory stay, they had much more important business to attend at the time to and it didn't allow Lugh the opportunity to poke around as much as he would have liked. It took him about a day or so of travel from blackberry fields, and he spent the better part of the day meandering about and trying to memorize any points of interest or locations of plants he might collect on the way back.

As evening began to set in, Lugh's eyelids began to feel heavy and his limbs sluggish. Figuring it would be soon time to turn in for the night, and not to keen on sleeping out in the open, he started to poke around for some sort of shelter. While he was just looking for a nook in a tree, or maybe a bush to settle under, the dark opening of a den and the musky old scent of fox caught his attention. It seemed as good a place as any, and with his head ducked low he approached the opening and peeked his neck and shoulders inside.

He was taken aback by the pair of bright blue eyes staring back at him from the darkness, the female's scent he hadn't noticed finally hitting him right in the face. "Oh dear! Sorry, sorry! Didn't think anyone'd be in this ol' thing." Lugh hastily apologized, his ears folding back sheepishly. He shimmied backwards and out of the entrance.

She had only begun to doze off, her mind travelling off to some dream land. Bright golden fields filled with lovely purple flowers. And was that a stream she heard? Or, perhaps a rabbit digging a few yards away. Her ears twitched as she dozed, reacting to the sounds her mind conjured up for her. But the sound of shuffling got louder, and she was certain that it was not a stream or a rabbit. Abruptly, Aphrodite was torn from her slumber as she felt the presence of another right in her face. A huff of breath startled her awake. Her ears pulled back and she scrambled backwards a few inches until the stranger was barely visible, although he was already spouting apologies. Aphie panted, still trying to come to, uncloud her mind after being right on the verge of sleep.

Teeth were exposed as she desperately pulled in air, and slowly pulled herself back forward, coming closer to the mouth of the den than she'd been before. Her watery eyes appraised the stranger as she crouched with shoulders hunched, ready to either make an escape or attack. "It's alright," The girl mumbled hoarsely. Blinking a few times, she felt the urge to free herself from the den, but at the same time, did not desire to get any closer to the stranger. "Are...Are you from around here?" She asked, pale brows coming together over her eyes. Her tongue passed over her lips in a short fit of anxiety before disappearing again.

(This post was last modified: May 24, 2014, 09:06 PM by Aphrodite.)

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention

@Aphrodite Woah sorry for the wait!

Lugh winced as the poor girl looked downright terrified by his sudden appearance. He hated scaring anyone, and even though she assured him she was alright, he took a few steps backwards from the den. As she asked if he was from around here, Lugh settled back on his haunches in an aim to appear even less of a threat. "From here... Hmm, for the time being, sort of, I guess! I wasn't born here, no. Born 'n' raised nowhere near here, actually, but I've been spending my time lately with a pack o' wolves not far up north. Just newly set up, but you gotta start somewhere, yeah?" Well, they didn't have all the accoutrements of a real pack, yet. But what other word was there for a band of wolves?

He tried not to stare less it startled it further, but he couldn't help but notice girl looked young, but just old enough to be at the age a wolf would strike out on their own. It had taken Lugh a bit longer find his own wings, but he was glad he finally had. There were so many new and exciting things going on in the world, it would have been a shame to miss the it all just to stay back in Flaxleaf Moor. Hardly waiting for a reaction from the snowy lass, he kept going. "Are you from 'round here? Or been on a bit of a journey? Now, I wish I had struck out from home sooner than I had. Ya learn a bit more takin' yourself somewhere new, I think." He happily chattered, his tail flopping back and forth against the ground like a metronome.