Iridescent Lagoon Strange reflections

: Early morning, a moderately thick fog is rolling in. :

She held her breath, steadily staring straight into the water her two front paws were submerged in. She was so hungry, she simply couldn’t stand to keep messing this up any further.

Finally she saw a few fish beginning to come closer to her. Which was good since one can only hold their breathe so long. When one had come closer that was about the size of a mouse, she couldn’t take it anymore and had to lunge.

I got something! I finally, finally, FINALLY caught something! Take that Mom and Dad! I am on my own and totally capable without your help! Victory! Juicy, juicy fish! Hey, this is a pretty tough fish. This doesn’t feel juicy at all. Its hard. Wait. Tastes like…. Oh come on!

Frustrated she spit the rock out back into the water with a considerable amount of force, causing a big splash and consequently scaring away any lingering fish that were even close to considering swimming back in her general direction.

Angry she stomped about a few times before sitting down at the edge of the water, defeated. Maybe she should just resort to becoming a herbivore. Plants appear to have a considerably harder time running away.

Surprisingly, food had escaped her mind when she looked back down into the water and saw her own reflection staring back at her, not initially recognizing the image. Was that really her? It was always a strange sensation coming to terms with the fact it was. The view of the scar on her right cheek was all too real and with it the memories. She began to get a little bit lost in thought.

(This post was last modified: Feb 15, 2013, 04:49 PM by Ice.)

Cisco had haunted the borders of the Ridge pack, wanting to always be available if Koda needed him or had questions, but right now he was pretty much sequestered in the Healer's den. He decided to head back to his old den for the time being. He'd enjoyed his time by the beautiful lagoon and it seemed as good a place as any to pass some time while Koda healed. He had so many questions for him, but for now all of that simply had to wait.

He'd spent the last two nights outside the pack borders, unable to sleep for worry and discomfort. His old bones needed more than the hard snow-covered ground these days for a restorative rest. He figured that he'd head to his cozy little den for the day and return to Willow Ridge tomorrow morning for news. Despite the early hour, he looked forward to some quality sleep. The last week or so had been tough on him, mentally and emotionally as well as physically.

The lanky male's stride picked up slightly when the large body of water came into view. He was almost there. Then he saw a sight that made him falter and slow to a walk. There was a wolf standing in the water with their head held below the water line. He tipped his head to the side at the curious behavior. What was it doing? The wolf moved suddenly and came up with something in it's mouth. So....they were fishing. He'd never seen that particular technique in all of his years. Then the wolf spit it's catch out and what appeared to be a... rock?... landed back in the chilly water with a splash.

Seeing the brown wolf stomp out of the water with obvious frustration, he chuckled to himself and altered his course slightly towards the smaller dark wolf. The wind shifted in his favor and carried the scent of the other wolf to him. Female, and a loner. By the looks of her, now that he was closer, fairly young. Perhaps a coming two year old. He approached her with his stance neutral and nonthreatening, with his thin tail waving slowly behind him. She didn't seem to be having a good time of it and he didn't want to scare her. With a smile he offered, "Hello there, young lady. No luck this morning, eh?" He kept his tone light to try and lift her mood. She seemed a bit lost in thought and he worried that she was still upset at her... ummm... miss.

Her disconnected daze was interrupted with the sound of an unfamiliar voice. This time a voice she truly hadn’t heard before, not just one she had momentarily forgotten about. She jumped up a little bit, startled and seemed to freeze for a second.

…."Hello there, young lady. No luck this morning, eh?" asked this new wolf. From his appearance he was definitely much older than her. And of course, this was a male wolf - a gender in the past that she had not had a lot of positive experience interacting with, which only made her freeze up more.

This was embarrassing. Putting it together, she realized this wolf must have seen at least part of, maybe all of her most recent failure. Wonderful. She didn’t have time to keep thinking around in circles of this though, she had to respond with something. She had to pull something out of her mind that was currently blanking.

She straightened up her stance, glancing back at the wolf speaking to her before diverting her eyes to whatever was in front of her, facing the water. Meeting his eyes would only call on her for more strength. It took enough strength to put up and keep up these defensive walls.

Finally, after much quick debate, she uttered something. “…No….”

Great. Very articulate. Good job.

The fae seemed at a loss, possibly embarrassed by her failure, but honestly, when it came to hunting there were far more failures than successes. She glanced at him, seeming nervous and then quickly averted her gaze. He smiled sympathetically when she finally murmured “…No….” to his question. He wanted to help her relax and thought that perhaps an introduction would help.

"I am Cisco. Cisco Moriel and I'm very pleased to meet you Miss.' He paused for a moment, wondering how else he might set her mind at ease. "I wouldn't worry to much about not catching anything. Fishing is a game of patience and takes much practice to excel in. Perhaps you wouldn't mind a few pointers from an old-timer?" He didn't want her to take offense to his offer, so he left it at that and waited to see how she reacted. Hopefully, she wasn't one of the foolish young ones that would throw an offer for help back in one's face, for his offer was made in kindness and nothing more.

Deciding to take a bit more pressure off of her, he moved over to the water and slowly drank his fill, his soft brown eyes now watching her reflection rather than her directly. When he was done, he sat down, his lanky frame all lean angles and plains, his tail still thumping the snow behind him occasionally as he looked out over the water.

To her surprise what she received in return for her remark was less of a jeer and more of an offer of help.

Why is he offering to help me? What does he want from me? He doesnt seem to be imposing a lot...but just because he wasnt outwardly pressuring me doesnt mean things are what they seem...

She tilted her head in the opposite direction of this other wolf, glancing down at the water he was now taking in, thinking this over.

Always on guard, always wary. She'd been tricked far to many times. At this point just about every interaction could be some manipulation to walk into and become vulnerable. She hated, hated, hated the thought of having to rely on someone else to get by. That's just asking for hurt.

There goes those hunger pangs again.

Oh. Right. Food.. I need that. Apparently I can't cure hunger with sheer will power. Plus, hunger brings weakness, which I can't afford. I guess I'll have to take this chance. I'll just need to keep on my guard, ready to split or bite back. He seems so much older anyway, if he's actually alone it shouldn't be too hard to fight back or escape. Just in case...

She stayed stiff, her muscles tight and ready to spring and get away.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt"

She was so used to twisting her words to contradict what she was trying so hard to hide.

(This post was last modified: Feb 09, 2013, 07:36 PM by Aeyla.)