Riddle Heights fire above, ice below

For @Lachesis and the random event of the aurora, woo~

A most bewildering sight occured once the last fragments of twilight had begun to recede from the horzion. It was as though the sky had erupted in vibrancy, waving colors end to end through the canopies of forest below. It had placed Shrapnel on edge, his molten eyes having never seen such a thing. His hackles had risen in ridges along his body; his body tingled with energy he hadn't felt in several days. Without any sort of lyceum around to simply pilfer for information, completely alone without a soul in sight, he didn't know what to make of it all. It wasn't like the fire that had rained down from the skies above, and it certainly wasn't anything like the sunlight that had been there only hours ago.

From a vantage point along a thinly wooded area, he watched in awe, standing stock-still with his muzzle pointed skyward. He didn't know whether or not to be afraid or simply take it for what it was -- a lightshow. Regardless of that, it was almost as though there was a blanket draped over the sounds of the world around him. Everything had come to a hush, all except the tiniest of bugs that hummed and clicked around him, and occasionally the distant chuff from some sort of predatory delight. Eventually though, his body grew tired of simply standing still in one place and he paced onward, trying to gain a better vantage point to survey just what the sky was doing, and whether or not it was something to be worried about.

If fire and brimstone came raining down from above, Shrapnel definitely wanted to make it for cover.

i missed reading your posts. <3

The long-legged spider hardly considered himself nocturnal, but with the strange colours still possessing the night sky he could not be contained to the confinement of the Trail. His curiosity had consumed him and with the excuse of patrolling the newly established borders, XIX set force to find the perfect spot. Typically he would have sought out the presence of either Anastasia or Capella, but tonight the yearling found himself wanting to be alone. His mind was on over-drive, filling his head with unwanted thoughts that made it difficult for the ghost to fall asleep. Lachesis was still adjusting to the life of real pack wolf, as his former pack on the Reserve had no structure; no rules. The lessons from his travelling partner had only prepared the boy so much, and he still had much to learn.

It was the scent of another that caused the boy to change course – with two young puppies hidden in the depths of the Trail XIX was cautious when it came to strangers close to the border. The threat of another pack had caused them to move once already, and the alabaster yearling was not keen on having to travel any further.

As he stalked out from the shadows of the Fen his pear eyes stumbled upon the tawny shape of another, a frown creasing his licorice lips as he took a hesitant step forward. Uneasiness rippled off the stranger, but he pressed forward without a single word falling off his tongue. Maintaining the distance between them, the boy lowered his hindquarters to the ground without glancing over at the older male. His gaze was focused on the array of colours thrown across the sky, the wave-like movement holding the boy’s attention.

stick with those who stick with you

Aw, my posts aren't as good as they used to be, I don't think. I haven't had much time at all to even think about writing in the last couple of years. It's good to thread with you again though! <33

It was hard for him to disengage all his senses properly, even with a sight like he was seeing. Shrapnel had come to a stop again, this time at the seemingly abrupt shift in the night sky. The waves of color felt like they should have been more violent, but they rolled just as steadily as a field of grain. And that was just it, they were steady, pulsing and pushing their way through the very layers of the sky in ways he had to stop and study. But the study seemed to ebb like the occasional vibrancy, this time it having to do with the feeling that he briefly had the notion of eyes on him. And it was just that; brief and fleeting, like a moment where he was considered important but cast aside for the illusionary display above them.

His eyes were set to wander as much as he could tell himself to allow, taking several moments to spot the youngster paused behind him on the path. His body seemingly adjusted skyward as well, astutely reflecting what he saw imperceptibly. He wasn't close enough to warrant concern by Shrapnel, but he still spoke out towards him. "I like my stalkers to say hello," he rattled out, more roughly than he had intented to. Still, he attempted to save a little face: "Though you seem a little young to be stalking." His expression stayed flat, leaving the only action to his body to slightly turn himself towards the polar-hued youth. Downwind from the pack that had settled, he hadn't even realized where he was. It was the sky, this time the siren was in the sky wasn't it?

He withdrew his gaze entirely from the lad, casting it heaven-bound once more.

What was that nonsense above them?

Replying on my phone because I completely forgot we were going to spree, sorry! <3 please excuse any typos as iPhones are not known for their exceptional keyboard :/
I took a year or so off after leaving WWS and just got back into rping a few months ago. I'm glad that you found RoW!

The yearling was fascinated by the strange colours painted across the sky. He had thought that after witnessing their beauty while in the company of Anastasia that he would not come across the strange phenomenon again - but here he was, bewildered by the sight before him. Until the stranger spoke, XIX had forgotten that he was not alone - and that it had been his choice to approach the agouti male. He had respected the distance between them, as the stranger was older (and definitely stronger) than the lanky teenager, but had approached him nonetheless. A faint smile worked its way across his dark lips at the makes comment, although his gaze did not stray from the night sky. "I'm s-sorry," he started, voice barely above a whisper as Lachesis worried that his voice might cause the strange lights to disappear. "I was a b-bit distracted." He hoped that the stranger didn't take his comment the wrong way - it was the ghost's (failed) attempt at a joke.

His gaze was unwavering, brows narrowed deep in thought as he focused his attention onto the strange sight before him. XIX couldn't help but wonder if Capella had seen the colours in the sky yet, and found himself wishing to find her to show her the beauty of the lights before they disappeared. Without glancing over at the older wolf, the ghost spoke once more, his question staining the silence that had settled over them. "Do you know w-what they are?"

stick with those who stick with you

Lol well if it makes you feel better, 90% of my posts are done with an iPod so I totally know how you feel. And I'm glad I came back here too! The last time I played here was before I had my current job so were talking like almost three years ago. RoW was a baby then! :D

With the distance between, he didn't quite hear what it was that the younger wolf had to say. It sounded like an apology, but maybe it wasn't quite that. Given what followed it in those hushed tones, Shrapnel couldn't help but smile knowing his humor had at least been somewhat received. He hadn't scared him off at least, and for the most part there were no huge changes to their postures to be needed. He considered that a good thing, more importantly better that he was dealing with someone who lacked the confidence to put up a negative front towards him. If the situation was any different, he might have started to gently pry at the boy for information, but truth be told he also knew that it was probably unlikely he had a young encyclopedia before him.

And besides that, there was the more pressing issue of the lights above them. "I don't know what they are either," he told him, laying his ears flat with defeat. It was a confusing sort of things, another bizarre occurrence to Shrapnel since his introduction to the Lore. "Could one of the packs have done this, do you think?" he gently queried then, though it seemed a silly question. But he has seen fools before who thought they could will on destruction or eternal peace, so why not some effect in the sky?  Even darker, perhaps they had been poisoned by something. That thought he kept to himself though, if only because he barely knew anything about poisons and the like. Too farfetched. Still, he took another glance to the youth, this time as a vivid green rolled seemingly over the mountains they were near. What did he think?

I'm amazed you do so well! I was getting so frustrated XD I remember RoW when Tara was developing it, but I took a break to focus on work and school. And then kept stalking WWS (before it closed) and RoW and forced myself to join :3

The sudden arrival of the strange lights alarmed the yearling – he had remembered seeing them once before, when he was younger, prior to him leaving the Reserve behind. How had they managed to move South to appear in the skies of Relic Lore? The colours had not been explained when he was younger, and were shrouded in mystery as the boy’s curiosity increased with each moment that passed. Perhaps, like the tawny stranger had suggested, they were called upon by another pack… but for what purpose? Was it a sign that something good – or bad – was going to happen? Questions bombarded the youth’s mind as he struggled to find an answer, desperation bubbling within his chest as he glanced over at the older male, hoping that another suggestion would drop from his lips.

When no more words came from the stranger, XIX frowned slightly, the crease in his dark lips masked by the darkness that surrounded the two. “It’s p-possible. Maybe it’s a w-warning…” he proposed lamely, ears pinned to the back of his skull as he tried to come up with another explanation for the lights. “I r-remember seeing them before when I w-was younger, but my parents d-did not know either.” XIX was filled with an infinite supply of useless information, and surely the tawny stranger would grow tired of the words that fell from his tongue.

stick with those who stick with you

It's more of a necessity thing than how well I do it, haha. I make so many typos sometimes I'm all ARGH WHY and want to throw it across the room. Plus trying to do anything more than a blockquote table is suicidal as far as I'm concerned. x__x

A warning? Shrapnel could have gone with that. But a warning of what? His mind was willing to almost churn as much as the youth left in him would allow it, but he fumbled with going too far with it. He could have speculated all night if he wanted to. At best though, he merely nodded in agreement with the proposal. And maybe it wasn't even a warning, maybe it was some sort of guidance laid out for all of them, just in a way that they couldn't even comprehend. And maybe, just maybe, it wasn't even meant for them at all. Regardless, he sighed to himself, listening in carefully with the next little bit that came forth from his nighttime watching companion.

“You came here with your parents, did you?” he opted to ask then, curious that some families did in fact uproot. He had seen such things before, but had never really put any real opinion into it. There had been times when he simply wished that he could have willed his father's pack away from where they were, at least until he had embraced the way things were simply going to be. And it had been a long, long time since he had bothered to sink his teeth into someone else's hide, at least with good reason.

autocorrect is the best and worst thing that's ever happened to me. took so long to write up that itty bitty post XD.

The question that came from the stranger had caught the alabaster yearling off guard – he had expected another question about the strange lights, but not one regarding his parents. A frown settled across his lips as he redirected his attention back to the array of colours before them, brows narrowing softly as he collapsed into his thoughts. Typically he steered clear of strangers, as most only led to confrontation that XIX did not like dealing with, but he knew this tawny male was not one he needed to be cautious around. If the male had not wanted Lachesis’ company he would have either already left, or told the boy to leave him alone – instead, he had welcomed the ghost’s presence.

“No,” he started, pausing for a moment while he debated on whether to continue or not. “I c-came here with my traveling companion, Anastasia.” Pause. XIX wasn’t sure how much he felt comfortable sharing with the stranger, so he gave out no more information on his past aside sharing his name with the tawny male. “My n-name’s Nineteen, by the way.” There were only a few wolves who knew where the yearling had originated from, and XIX liked to keep it that way. Being raised in a reserve had left the boy socially awkward and unprepared for the wilderness outside the boundaries set in place by the two-legs. Even with the lessons that his traveling partner had given him, Lach knew there was still much to learn about being a real wolf.

stick with those who stick with you

Pretty sure everyone has a love/hate relationship with autocorrect. Makes for annoyingly hilarious corrections and sometimes ones that just make you go "wat". Also, I have no idea where on earth Shrapnel is going as I write for him. PLAY UP CRAZY ALLEY, MAY AS WELL.

Maybe if he had cared a fraction more, Shrapnel's brow would have furrowed at the fact that the boy had come there alone. Or really, not so alone, but with a travelling companion. It was the fact that he used the word companion that made Shrapnel feel he was more of a man than a boy, no doubt having grown up enough to make logical use of what someone was and wasn't. Still, he was awkward and gangly, stumbling this way and that over his own words. That alone would eventually test his patience, leaving him to wonder why exactly there had been some tumultuous thing to make him so subordinate.

Not that it was a bad thing, anyway. He was still leery, which was good on him. Good that he was leery of the beasts that roamed the countryside, because Shrapnel knew there were many like him. There were probably many more like him, given all that he had passed by sight and scent in days prior. For a moment, he considered picking at the word usage, once again coming back to that word companion, but decided against it. It would do him no good here to belittle the young lad and his numeral name. His eyes once again trailed from wolfish figure to the sky above, this time looking upon it almost as though it were beginning to lose his interest. It was an internal battle of wills, whether or not to be simply caught up in the sight above him, or curiously pry apart the younger wolf for whatever he knew.

That was until he realized he had simply said nothing at all.

“Nineteen, huh?” he simply said at first, rolling his head slightly to one side in feigned interest. “That's different, I guess. No different than my name: Shrapnel.” His name almost held a coppery taste in his mouth, but that was pure illusion on his part. He hungered for something then, but not food. Something else. Didn't matter. “Where's your keeper then? Not together any more? Lights scare her away?” And there came the hardness in his voice, almost seeming much too snide in the way he suggested that the lights may have scared her away. Funny if they had though, especially if they turned out to be nothing.

if i turn it off it takes me even longer to type XD that's okay! i still get confused with Lachesis and what i want him to do/be like. ALSO i'm sorry it took me awhile to get this up. i've been all over the place the last couple of days and just blah. <333

Having two names was similar to having two separate identities – although he was the same awkward boy under both names, some wolves he encountered only knew him by one. XIX preferred introducing him by his number first – it was the first name he had ever known, even if it had been given to him by the two-legs, and the gangly yearling didn’t mind the numerical name. The yearling preferred the name given to him by his mother, but he rarely gave it out to strangers as he knew that the majority of those he met he wouldn’t cross paths with again. There were some who would leave a lasting impression or who XIX would go out of his way to find them again, but the rest were only temporary; stored away for future reference, collecting dust over time.

Shrapnel. Taking a mental picture of the loner, Lachesis filed away the wolf among the others he’d met during his time in Relic Lore, pear gaze still lingering on the tawny male. “Nice to m-meet you, Shrapnel,” he said quietly, the words rolling off his tongue before he could stop the automatic response. Just as he finished speaking, a series of questions from the older male hung in the air between them, causing the yearling’s brows to furrow. He did not understand the tone that caressed the strange questions, but XIX did not address the confusion that clouded his mind. “In D-Dragonfly Fen – she’s one of the l-leader’s of the p-pack there, Pitch Pine Trail. I’m f-from there as well.”

stick with those who stick with you