Ghastly Woods Never give up on life

Oh how she ached; her limps crying out in protest as she followed NP's path. Most of all her leg was seething with pain. She could barley walk as the freshly opened wound dribbled blood and puss onto her. Frost came to a halt and stood all alone stiffly in the cold before her knees buckled beneath her. Willingly she fell down onto the snow that covered the hard unwelcoming ground. Light headed, hungry, dehydrated, plus wounded were not a fun mix for a get together. She groaned out her miserable state quietly.

Though still lingering on the trail Crowe and his pack mates created she was far from them. Her desire to move was wearing thin but a pushy thought kept at her. *Your alive, now stay that way!* It didn't seem that easy, and of course it quite frankly wasn't. Throughout the next ten minutes she focused intensely on her front leg. She nibbled at the scab, cleaned the flesh up, and removed any blood surrounding her injury.

Sighing when she finished she began to clumsily find her footing with her hind paws. Next she brought up her right leg. So far all was done successfully. Last by not least was her sore left, which she quickly found difficult to set down. A fresh sprout of immense pain surged within. Lowly Frost growled at herself in frustration but kept her weight manged on the other three. She was up. A good start she figured while glancing around herself and frowning. *Where do I go? Fallowing them would be like begging for death.* While as harsh as the thought was, she full heartily believed in it.

Thanks TABs for the table and it's photo I've used for her featured photo.
Thanks PuppyThief for the winter skin and avatars!

*hogs threads with you* :P Plus it makes sense, given that Sage's current task is to mark the borders.
EDIT: Sorry she's such a bum. She's decided to go all cannibal, I guess.

Tiredness made her limbs ache and her lungs burn, and every now and again a stiff gust of wind would make her writhe and shrivel but she could not simply give up. She was the pack's scout, and second-in-command. As such, she could not abandon her duties to the pack, not in their hour of dire need. They needed to establish their borders, as the pack which was claiming the woodlands as their own. The other packs, if there were any in the area, wouldn't have known that Nomad's Pass had move there. Most packs wouldn't have even known about them before the move- they were in a much more open, accessible place now and as such, the borders needed to be well marked.

She used every means as possible to establish clear borders, marking with her scent using urine as well as scratching trees and using scent glands on her face. Leaving scratch marks on the ground was useless at this time of year- so trees and shrubs were the target of the most of her abuse, having bark and branches stripped away to show that this was claimed land.

It shouldn't have surprised her to come across one of their straggling stowaways. She recognized this female from when they'd first left the mountain- she'd been too close to the pack's territory then, and she was too close to it now. She could see how thin, weary and injured the woman was. She'd be absolutely no help to them at this state- she'd only want food and shelter, and wouldn't be of any help to the pack...Unless she herself died and became a meal. Sage toyed momentarily with the thought of killing her- it could be considered an act of mercy, based simply on the state the woman was in now, and the fact that she'd likely die within the next day or two if she wasn't taken care of. Had the times been better, she might've hoped that the pack could do something for her...But not now. They were weak and hungry enough as it was, without someone who could contribute nothing and only pull more resources away from the pack if she joined them.

The only rational decision seemed to be expulsion.

So Sagacity advanced toward her, ears forward and body held low, like a predator stalking prey. Her eyes were tired but glistened, nonetheless, with a fearless light. "These are our lands now!" She said, with a harsh growl, and began to pick up her pace to close the gap and chase her off.

(This post was last modified: Dec 17, 2013, 03:41 AM by Sagacity.)

Avatars by Arla!

Look Out!

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

When she saw the women her body stiffened noticeably; her tail sneaking in between her hind legs as her head lowered submissively. As the wolf still advanced she got the clear message but screamed, "Wait! I would like you to deliver a message to Crowe for me. Please?" Then as fast as she could manage she began to run from her, injured leg weakly holding her up as she moved. Her legs were carrying her in the direction of the Orchard. She wasn't as fast as normal but for some one with a bad leg she could dash. *Oh please stop this, mad women!* She inwardly growled to herself.

"I'm going! I'm going, I didn't know this was your land! Gosh!" She shouted to behind her. Frost didn't fail to keep her pace, however. *I'm going to make it away* She thought determinedly, *Nothing is impossible*. The wind pushed back her fur while screaming rush, rush, hurry, hurry, rush, into her ears. Though the snow began to rise to her chest she did not give in. Forcefully she pushed through with all her might. *Gosh I'm going to tire from this.* Slowing so she could focus on clearing the path, she looked behind nervously for a sparse moment.

She did mean no harm, nor could she cause it, but Sagacity didn't seem to desire to give her a choice of direction. Turning to face the snow she kept working her way through as the scent of deer hit her wet nose. *Fantastic, a distraction!* With a hopeful feeling now filling her, she kept heading from the newly discovered borders of NP.

Thanks TABs for the table and it's photo I've used for her featured photo.
Thanks PuppyThief for the winter skin and avatars!

@Naira @Mapplethorpe @Chulyin @Crowe @Faol @Taima @Veronika @Aponi @Nova @Gent

The woman wilted visibly as soon as Sagacity made her advance, which was a good thing- it appeased Sage to see that the woman was frightened and that she was willing to leave- but instead of simply shutting her trap and taking off with her tail between her legs, she called out a plea. It didn't cause Sagacity to halt in the slightest- she didn't care what this woman had to say to Crowe- she could say it when she was a respectful distance from the borders. Part of her, however, stored the memory of this woman...Crowe knew her. And she'd followed them all the way. This could be trouble- how had she found out about the pack? Had Crowe told her? This would be something she would have to discuss with Naira- once she'd chased this woman far enough away.

She began to run, but she was a small wolf and as injured and weak as she was, there was no way she could outrun Sagacity, who covered ground with the speed of an otter in water. She was uninjured and not nearly as starved as Frost, so while the girl could surely shake a leg, she was in no condition to outrun the silver dagger.

She chased her until the show began to become thicker and she was closer to the orchard. She let out a loud, aggressive growl to tell her that this was not a place she could come back to, and at that moment, when she inhaled, she too caught the scent of deer. Perfect. It was exactly what the pack needed, and what she'd been told to search for. Inhaling more to get a better scent of the herd's whereabouts, she pinpointed its direction which, regrettably, was still in the area where the strange female was. Still within the forest which was in the process of being claimed. So without restraint, Sagacity let loose a wild an victorious call, to summon her packmates to the first hunt in their new homelands- and simultaneously to strike fear in the white female's heart.

If she even tried to hunt on their new lands, she'd become the appetizer.

(This post was last modified: Dec 19, 2013, 04:45 AM by Sagacity.)

Avatars by Arla!

Food. Glorious Food.

Mercy had found a new spurt of strength and energy when he heard his mother's call. She'd not been gone long when she'd called out, summoning the pack to a hunt. Tired and hungry, Mercy's muscles worked on some fuel he didn't know he had when he took off through the snow to find out where she was, as she'd been marking along the borders and he'd taken some time to rest. Nothing could have spoiled his mood now- his mother had found something for them to hunt, and gauging by the fact that she'd called the pack, not just one or two wolves, it was something substantial. They needed it- they were all in rough shape after the move and would need something to help replenish their strength.

Sagacity's tracks were easy enough to follow, but he noticed that there had been a marked increase in her speed at one point...And he felt somewhat alarmed. Moving off at a trot toward prey was one thing, but judging by the set of sparse tracks she left behind, she'd really taken off after something- or someone. Her tracks merged with the tracks of another wolf, and it became obvious by the droplets of blood in the snow that the wolf she'd been chasing had been bleeding. Mercy redoubled his speed, anger rising in his chest- this was their first trespasser, and he sincerely hoped that this wolf didn't ruin their hunt- the tone in his mother's voice had been dangerous enough.

When he found her, he could still see the other wolf not far off. He was panting by the time he reached his mother's side, as she'd slowed to a trot- still somewhat in pursuit of the female wolf, who'd gone in the direction of the deer by chance. "Isn't she the one that was following us?" Mercy asked between pants, eyeing the female cautiously. Was she going to be allowed to hunt with them, the same way Veronika had been allowed? That had been the way she'd proved herself...Was this female going to do the same thing? But by the way his mother had obviously given chase, he reminded himself that it was probably nothing of the sort; his mother was still incredibly tense, so he assumed that this stranger was not welcome on their hunt.

Mapplethorpe had been nearby, snuffling about in the snow and scattering what urine and feeling in his digits as he could. Everywhere the Scout had scratched at the trees, he, too, placed his weathered paws. These new lands within the Ghastly Woods were theirs. The silence in the gnarled canopy, the stillness in the air, the chilled fog between the tree trunks... All. Theirs. He had been half-preoccupied with tracking Sagacity's trail and where it had led off to when he heard her howl a song of discovery... that the opportunity to feast was to be seized.

The ears atop his skull rotated forward, alert as his stomach cramped with hunger. He stalked forward, his mouth already filling with saliva. He trailed the Scout's path in the snow only to be hit with not only the scent of deer but the odor of the straggler who had begged his pack to allow her to follow. He shook his head and cringed, growling while the aroma of pus and blood stung at his nose. A scowl was quick to grace the mask on his face and he wrinkled his muzzle in disdain of the ivory woman. He offered Sagacity a knowing growl, his stark golden yellow eyes scanning the trail the rogue had left through the woodlands.

"Kill her," he ordered, his voice just above a whisper as he stepped past Mercy, "if she gets too close. Whatever we can take down, we'll take with us. Leave nothing for the scavengers."

While he could have taken the chance to survey their surroundings, he instead turned to gaze upon the Crow Child, seemingly scrutinizing every hair on his hide. "Look," he instructed, his ears perking up once again as the nearby family of deer began to graze upon the low-hanging branches. "Listen..." A snap of a twig sounded from somewhere nearby as one of the hoofed creatures accidentally gave away their exact location.

The snow became thinner as she dug, and soon she was running on flat ground. She was relentless, even though tired. She trekked over the land quickly, all while Keeping her distance from the smell of the deer. She had no interested in something that could further wound herself.

The young cream women was not afraid. Even if her mad women had thought so, she wasn't. The last time she'd felt that wretched sensation, that's hopefully never to fill her again, she had been on the Mountain. When Frost beg to join them down for the Winter. It'd been a risky, being so close to a pack and plus meant either acceptance or being declined. NP had made it clear to her then to keep a safe distance from them. Which she'd obeyed willingly.

Canine paws continued to lead her from their land, prey, and intelligent Crowe. She didn't give a crap about this though as she tore through white sparkly flakes. Rush, rush, hurry, hurry, survive. The wind beckoned her anew. As she went her limp became more noticeable, yet Frost managed speed so she didn't slow. The trees began to open up signaling she'd made it out of Ghostly Woods successfully. Panting hard she kept going weakly.

Dashing on she went for at least twenty more minutes before finding a place to hide. Reluctantly she took to it. *Coward* Was the first word of her inner self battle as she laid far from them. Her heaving sides wouldn't calm for quite awhile as she rested.

Exit: Frost

(This post was last modified: Dec 21, 2013, 05:57 PM by Frost.)

Thanks TABs for the table and it's photo I've used for her featured photo.
Thanks PuppyThief for the winter skin and avatars!

So has Frost left the thread?

She continued to pursue the female, albeit at a slower pace now that she was being driven away quite willingly. Her son managed to catch up to her side at that point, and to his question she answered with a low growl. She knew her son was more inclined to show pity for other wolves, but Sagacity had lived long enough to feel no regret in pushing a weakling away from their pack- and even considering her as a meal. They were soon joined by Mapplethorpe, who seemed no more impressed with the lame, cream coloured female and an order was given- kill her if she came too close. For now, she was still on the run, but with Sagacity's health on her side as well as four sound legs, she was able to put on a burst of speed which would bring her close enough to slide to a stop and herald the limping female's depature with a snarl.

"If you ever come back, I'll kill you." She straightened, tail raising above her back in a display of superiority and a show of confident strength. There was no way this female would ever win a fight between the two of them- and Sagacity took Mapplethorpe's order seriously. This female was nothing but a problem, and Sage didn't care who she was, and who she knew- the word had been given and she would obey. The next time she saw Frost on their territory, she would not stop to question her, but would kill her in a heartbeat.

She returned with her comrades, sparing a short glance over her shoulder to make sure that Frost hadn't decided to tail after her. She nodded to Mapplethorpe, whose attention had become piqued by the deer- Mercy as well. Sagacity, her breaths coming in soft pants, lowered her body to the ground to conserve strength for a moment while they lay in wait and observed.

Avatars by Arla!

It was with horror that Mercy glanced to his mother when Mapplethorpe spoke those words to her. He looked toward the disappearing form of the beige female and, had he not been so tired already, he might've tried to stop his mother as she bolted a short distance toward the female in a final show of intimidation. Kill her? Would his mother really do such a thing? But when he looked to Mapplethorpe, he understood. That female was weak, and she'd be trouble. His mother listened to her alphas and obeyed them, no matter what the order was. It was a turning point in Mercy's young life, to see the darkness which existed within wolves, and the lengths at which they would have to go to survive.

Mapplethorpe drew his attention to the herd of deer they were tracking and though he found it somewhat hard to concentrate, the deer made it much easier, and gave themselves away. With the leaves having been long since stripped from the branches, they would rely now on bark and branches, nibbling whatever buds they could from the trees, and with the wood dry and frozen, it gave them away. His ears perked, one turning to the side when his mother rejoined them after having chased the female off for the last time. He took a step forward, before he too lowered himself to the ground, eyes focused and muscles tensed, like a border collie awaiting its master's command. A bit of saliva rolled from the curled end of his tongue and he licked his lips to try and keep his apetite at bay- hopefully, if they were successful, he wouldn't have to wait much longer.