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a tough act to follow — Wild Cherry Orchard 
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Played by Grey who has 512 posts.
Inactive Deceased
Borden Lyall
<blockquote><i> I am not a pattern to be followed. The pill that I'm on is a tough one to swallow. I'm not a criminal, not a role model… Not a born leader, I'm a tough act to follow. I am not the fortune and the fame, nor the same person telling you to forfeit the game. I came in the ring like a dog on a chain and I found out the underbelly's sicker than it seems; and, it seems ugly but it can get worse 'cause even a blueprint is a gift and a curse…</i>
- Linkin Park, “When They Come For Me”
- - ♠ - -

The rank odor of death clung to his thin frame; all around his body where his pelt should have been downy from the acquisition of his winter pelt, tufts of fur were matted together and sticking up where the ought to have laid neatly. His left wrist hindered his stride; if one looked close enough, it seemed like he had almost lost the ability to bend it, let alone put weight on it for a long time. His eyes were distant – starved and yearning for something familiar. Every so often his nose, dry from traveling and the change of season, twitched and he blinked. Time had been cruel, leading him in constant circles and blurring the days together into a string of endless thoughts, lightness, darkness, and the vague moments in-between.

During the first weeks of his disappearance, the ex-leader of Cedarwood Forest had been obsessed with finding his first-born son, whom he realized was missing the evening the pup did not return to the den when Jaysyek called. In time the craze from keeping his hopes up turned the Renegade into something not unlike a soulless corpse.

His flight of ideas went on and on in strings of jumbled words: <i>search, search, search... Was he here? Could he have gone this far? Did he drown? Would the River wolves take him in if they found him? I should have prevented this from happening. Maybe I could have saved him. Let's search here… Maybe this… Perhaps that... This was my fault. I am being punished. My pack is suffering for my inadequacy... This was my fault.</i>

For days he had followed the river until he had persuaded himself that Grizzly Hollow would do best without him. Kiche had been right and he had been stupid to think otherwise… to think he had left <i>Hell</i> behind. He had brought it with him from the Mountain! Wickedness had trickled into the workings of his pack; that was why the rust-pelted preacher had come to join their ranks. Traveling north had been the <i>right</i> thing to do; if he stayed away his children would grow up as they ought to, untainted and guided by better role models. If he stayed away, Grizzly Hollow and Relic Lore as a whole would do best without him… and, in time, forget him completely.

The latter seemed to be incorrect, however; and, it seemed that every so often the crows overhead, perched high above him in the bare branches of the Orchard, remembered. They twittered amongst themselves, scolding him with a harsh cry before he left their sight. Growling to himself, he trudged on at an uneven pace, simply listening to the sounds of the place that used to be his home.</blockquote>
Played by Katsuma who has 5 posts.
Inactive No Rank
Chito Ahani

OOC: Founds a lonely threads! 8B

Where was she? A sigh puffed air from between black lined lips as the she-wolf made her way down...some path or another. Her triangle ears were alert - focusing on the foreign scents and sounds of this land, her black nose twitching constantly. The going was slow, jerky as she kept stopping to constantly check the area around her, then continue on. Dark brushed cream fur smoothly slid between the darker tree trunks around her, golden eyes shifting first left, then right for anything of interest to the female.

Lowering her nose to the ground, a clump of fur caught her attention and she spent some time sniffing at it to get whatever knowledge she could about the being that left it. Near the fur, she found another scent - the smell of someone having relieved themselves. This was a plethora of information - including the gender of the wolf that had left it. Interesting. Twitching her ears, she lifted her head and scanned the area around her, fluffy tail tucked nervously in next to her hind leg... her stance slightly crouched and poised to run.

The sound of a twig cracking whipped her head towards the noise, eyes, ears and nose all training on the one spot.. until she picked out a form filtering through the trees.. uneven.. seeming to not really have a heading. With trepidation, the female followed, her head aligned to her spine, tail remaining near her hind leg nervously. Perhaps he knew where she was.. could tell her a bit about this place.. but the closer she got, the more she realized that the wolf was injured.. thin... unkempt. Certainly no pack wolf.. was he? Or were times that hard in this new land she'd stumbled on?

Picking up the pace, the canine noticed she was smaller than the male ahead of her - both in size.. and in weight despite his malnutrition. Even so, she tagged along behind him, not wishing to stop his progress.. or impede his trek.. but wanting to know more about him. She hung back, paws following his own steps, her form blending into the trees in much the same fashion - but not nearly as...erratically as he.

Played by Grey who has 512 posts.
Inactive Deceased
Borden Lyall
<blockquote>Ambling along, the brute would have continued on his way south, toward where he thought Cedarwood Forest would be, but the curious feeling of being followed or watched slowed his pace. His muscles tensed as he drew in a couple of deep breaths, trying to assess if he could pick up the nuisance's scent. He snorted and glanced back to see a small, rather youthful female tracing his steps. She could follow if she wanted, though he wasn't sure why she would want to, especially when he was such a haggard state.

His head went back to the land in front of him and he strolled for a while longer until he was certain he could have lost her. When he turned to look over his shoulder, there she was. Still. He stopped in his tracks, turned around to face her and squared his bony shoulders. If she had wanted to <span class='word'>rankle</span> him, she had succeeded with flying colors. His tail rose over his back and his ears turned forward as a thunderous growl rumbled from his throat. <b><i>"WHAT DO YOU WANT?</i>"</b></blockquote>
Played by Katsuma who has 5 posts.
Inactive No Rank
Chito Ahani

OOC: B'aww...D: Poor Bordenses

At first when he glanced back at her, she moved as if to run, but when he made no move to send her away, she continued following. Though Chito remained far enough back that he wouldn't be able to bite her right away, the fact that the male spun around and met her with a snarl caused her to freeze, seeming to shrink into herself a moment. When it became apparent that he had no intentions of attacking her outright, the dusted female straightened, watching him with a quiet sort of curiosity.

"I hadn't meant to upset you. I was just trying to find my way around - and you seemed to know where you were going...So I followed you." Her voice was quiet, just loud enough to carry across the distance separating them.. "I'm sorry.. I'm just a little lost - that's all..I figured...maybe following someone would lead me to water - or food...?" She sounded oddly hopeful when asking about the food and water, but remained standing right where she'd been before...not having moved an inch since recovering from his earlier snarl.

Played by Grey who has 512 posts.
Inactive Deceased
Borden Lyall
<blockquote>The Renegade waved his tail in the air, snapping his jaws once in the middle of her apology and explanation. <b>"I'M LOOKING FOR MY SON!"</b> he bellowed. <b>"Get lost!"</b> Hopefully that would get his point across that he was going to be of no use to her. She should have used her nose; she was a wolf, after all.

His muzzle smoothed for a moment before wrinkling back up to bare his teeth. Despite his malnourished build, he was hoping to discourage her from following him any further than the Orchard. His hackles rose and he firmly planted his forepaws into the dry ground. If she thought otherwise, he was certainly going to make sure she didn't. The last thing he needed was some nosy youngster who hindered his journey towards home.</blockquote>
Played by Katsuma who has 5 posts.
Inactive No Rank
Chito Ahani

OOC: D:!

His angered shout had her taking a step back, her ears folding over her neck as she lowered her head quietly. Looking at him - it was obvious that he was in no state to care for a young wolf if he DID find him... "And how do you intend to find him if you can hardly walk straight?" It was a dangerous line to walk, almost taunting the larger male.. but she did feel for him - and if she could calm down his.. temper enough to force him to see the bedraggled state he was in... she might manage to learn something of this place..And possibly garner a new friend in the process.

"Look at yourself. You're hardly able to stand let alone walk to find your child. If you were any skinnier, your fur would be falling out....Tell you what..I'll get something for you to eat.. you tell me a bit about this..place.. take a little while to rest.. Then we'll part ways.." She was uncertain of the idea - or if he'd accept her offer .. or send her packing with teeth on her flank. But it was something she couldn't simply turn a blind eye to. He didn't.. *smell* like pack.. or really seem to have anyone to care for him, and with as injured a leg as he had....she knew he wouldn't be able to hunt for himself.

Besides...maybe in showing some kindness to another - she may one day get the same in return. Doubtful, as it was a dog-eat-dog...or every-wolf-for-themselves world anymore it seemed.. but it was worth a shot. Golden eyes watched the darker form, though she did manage to hold her ground after taking the initial step backwards.

Played by Grey who has 512 posts.
Inactive Deceased
Borden Lyall
<blockquote>His body quivered and almost instantly his mind told him that he was fine. Of all the times he was determined to make use of his traveling time, this woman decided to skulk about behind him. Borden dug his claws into the cold soil before withdrawing his left paw, his eyes lifting exasperatedly to the cloudy afternoon sky. <b>"I'm. <i>FINE,</i>"</b> he grumbled when she said that he could hardly walk straight.

She went on to tell him to <i>look at himself</i>, to realize that he could barely stand and that he was basically skin-and-bones. Another growl crept up from his chest. He would eat as soon as he found his first-born child... At least, that is what he had been teling himself for the past few weeks or so; every second and every minute was to be spent searching for Prosper and any other activity was to be held off until then. If given any opportunity to save the pup in question, he was going to take it and he had to be ready. Hearing her offer - food for details about the Orchard - he shook his head and slowly placed his left forepaw back on the ground, though he didn't dare to put his weight back onto it.

<b>"It's an orchard,"</b> he bluntly stated. <b>"It's rogue territory."</b> He held his tongue at the end of his sentence. Perhaps if he told her to <i>beat it</i>, she wouldn't hang around for much longer. He turned slightly around, as if to signal that he was ready to trek on, weary with wasting his breath. <b>"I'm busy, so if you'll <i>excuse me...</i>"</b> he finally barked with an edge to his words, hobbling a few steps forward.</blockquote>
Played by Katsuma who has 5 posts.
Inactive No Rank
Chito Ahani

OOC: Poor little Chito D:

Why was she here?! His anger made no sense! All she wanted to do was figure out where she was.. but then - she supposed he had told her.. Rogue territory .. Orchard.. But.. he didn't seem to want to listen. A soft whine curled from her throat as she took a step back, intimidated by the flashing fangs from the male. "I'm sorry...I'll...just..." Leave.. He was a rogue - she was a rogue.. or at least he didn't smell like he belonged to a pack - so why wasn't he nicer? Two mouths were easier to catch bigger food than one.. Especially with the bite of cold in the air.

Played by Grey who has 512 posts.
Inactive Deceased
Borden Lyall
<blockquote>Shrugging and wincing all the while he had his back to her, he staggered along. If he could put the Orchard behind him, he could call it a day. As it was, he had practically just stepped into the grove when Chito had stumbled by. Silently he counted the steps he took.

One... two... three... four... five... He strained his ears to determine if she would continue to trail along behind him. Then, without a second thought, he glanced over his shoulder one last time. <b>"And <i>DON'T</i> follow me,"</b> he warned gruffly. <b>"If I <i>ever</i> come across you again, I will be the very last thing you'll see."</b> His fur bristled as he hinted that he would not hesitate to attack her if they crossed paths again. Hopefully that would be enough to keep her away. He had a family to get back to...</blockquote>