Spectral Woods all of the other reinDEER

For @Darrah

Speech

Seraphina had not yet trekked through the eerie Spectral Woods, but as she crossed into the woods now, she was not put out by the eerie silence or the freezing fog. Phina had not been able to sleep and had decided to hunt under the light of the Moon, hoping that the Moon would guide her and bless her with a good hunt. So far things were going well. Phina had quickly picked up on the scent of deer and it had not taken her much longer to find the tracks. The amount of tracks she was following led her to believe a herd was up ahead. The tracks had led her into the forest and Phina assumed that the herd had to be taking shelter somewhere in the eerie woods.

Even if she wasn't able to take down her prey, she was happy just to have found such a place. The fog covered her legs and made her feel like she was wrapped in an icy blanket and with the Moon overhead and the emanating silence, Seraphina felt completely at peace. The Moon knew that she needed a moment of peace. The rank challenges in her pack had finally settled down, only for a confrontation with her cousin to come up. Flyn! Taking shelter in the pack next door to hers! Phina could only imagine the type of trouble he was planning for her. To think that only a week ago she had been grateful to him! Well now she remembered just how annoying her rebellious little cousin could be.

With a sigh Seraphina tried to clear her head. The forest was serene tonight and she didn't want to ruin her moment of peace with thoughts of Flyn or any other family members. Instead, the dappled Faye focused on tracking the herd. A task that would not be easy since she couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her.

Darrah was having a particularly hard night. Nightmares of his mother haunted him more than the normal and he was beginning to go mad. 'I just... I need to go on a walk.. I need to get away from here.. I need...' He began to cry. "Mom why did you leave?" he whimpered as he left the den. Spectral woods would be his destination tonight. It was quiet there, nobody would bother him... Plus, the way the moonlight played on the fog was absolutely enchanting. He needed something to free his mind of these dreadful memories.

He trotted through the woods in search for a place to spend the rest of his night at, but nothing looked good enough for him tonight. Normally he could just find himself anywhere and be content but that just didn't seem to be the case for him now. ' I just need to keep looking.... Who am I kidding why does it even matter? All I'm going to be doing is sitting! It doesn't matter where!' the prince was becoming frustrated, and quite fast. He took a few more paces forward before accepting defeat and plopping down next to a random old tree. 'Nothing matters anymore. Why did she leave us? Who's to say everyone else won't just leave me too! My sister.. My Dad..' before the boy knew it, he was crying again.

He had almost dozed off before a small amount of noise spooked him back into reality. It was moving, but what was it? He lifted his nose to catch a scent, and while he was hoping for a deer.. It smelt more of a wolf.. 'If it is a wolf... It's not from my pack..' He slowly stood up and tried to tuck himself between the trees in attempt to be hidden, though it was his scent he should of been worrying about. If he could smell them, they could smell him.

Speech

Her tracking was progressing slowly, but she was not one to be easily deterred. However, the smell of another wolf from an unfamiliar pack was enough to distract her from her mission. The smell made her pause, but the sound of rustling in the trees made her spin around. The wolf had hidden well, Seraphina's intelligent brown gaze could not make him out, though she knew for sure that he was near. She certainly couldn't continue on her hunt knowing someone was out here, possibly following her. Before she could continue tracking the deer she needed to deal with this new obstacle.

"Come out. I know you're there." Her tone was flat and firm and as she spoke, she raised her tail so that it arched over her darkly colored spine. She did not bare her teeth, however. If the wolf was hiding he was either planning a surprise attack or afraid of her. In the first case, she would stay alert and make her dominance clear in posture and in tone. In the second case, she would prove that the other wolf had nothing to fear from her as long as he didn't pose a threat to her or her pack. Seraphina took deep breathe and looked up to the Moon as she waited for the stranger's reaction. The longer this meeting took the further away the herd would get and the harder it would be to track them. She exhaled heavily and in a softer voice she added,"If you prove that you mean me no harm by revealing yourself, I promise you that you will be safe." Silently, she urged the wolf to reveal himself, eager to get everything out in the open and get back to her hunt.

I took so long omg I'm so sorry!

The unfamiliar wolf promised his safety if he'd peacefully reveal himself. She sounded genuine, but he was brought up to not trust just any random stranger he came across. He knew better than to show his face to her, or.. Did he? 'If I stay here she might think I'm dangerous... She'd find me easily and attack... But if I show my face.. She might attack.. Both could turn bad.. But maybe I should just stay positive and take the chance? Oh why do I always wander off like this. I'm so stupid.' The prince took a step forward, towards the wolf. He made sure to keep his head bowed, he didn't want to pose a threat with any accidental eye contact. 'This was probably a stupid idea.' He winced a bit at the thought of what could happen to him next.

"U-uhm.. I'm Darrah Tainn, Son of Triell Tainn, Prince of Oak tree Bend.." He tried to manipulate his voice into something pleasant and polite, but somehow it twisted into fear and uneasiness anyways. "I mean no harm I just.. I wandered out here on accident and then I.. I smelt another wolf and I know you aren't from my pack so I got a little..." No. Telling her he was scared might give her some sort of advantage, or at the least make her think he was some sort of fool. Princes don't get scared. Right? "I mean... You caught me off guard, and I didn't want to scare you or anything so I hid..." what a lame cover up, he knew she wasn't stupid enough to believe that bull. Nobody would. 

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.