Thicket of Secrets tell me everything's okay

RABBIT LYALL

Do you have anything to say?

January 15th; Early evening; Patchy heavy snow; 36° F/2° C

It seemed that @Mirren Tainn had been patient and, for that, Taima Lyall was grateful beyond measure. Whenever the snow had tripped her up and made her fall out of step, he fell back and waited until she was ready to press on. What should have been a day-long trek across the Lore was a number of days, a cycle of rising, scavenging, traveling, getting to know one another, then resting and sleeping before starting all over again. By the time the masked duo had come close, the girl was exhausted, weary and nearing the end of her rope. Hunger still had her stomach in its clutches and anytime she thought she could pick up the pace and keep in stride with his set of longer limbs, she had stitches in her sides and ribs.

When they had finally slowed, she gazed to the trees that had risen up all around her, the frost-adorned hedges obscuring her line of sight at every which angle if she continued to move forward and take a look around. The rabbit-hearted girl sought her escort's gaze, calling to him at first with only with a soft whimper to signal him that she was not sure if she was ready to proceed. Her tail waved behind her twice before lowering in apprehension and curling inward as she took one a step to one side, drawing close to the trunk of a tall tree that was covered in dead moss.

"Mirren?" she mewled in the gathering darkness. She thought she heard footsteps advancing and scurrying away, her ears tall atop her head as she trembled. The trees around them were nothing like the ones she had remembered in the Cedarwood, but she had realized that they definitely had a better aura than the copse Mapplethorpe and Naira had claimed. At least these twisted earthen giants were thicker, taller even; and, the fog that clung to the bare canopy above bestowed upon her a feeling of security, as if she could disappear entirely if she so wished to.

Over the brief span of time they had spent traveling, Taima had told him a number of things - where she had been born, who her mother and father were, how she longed to look into her mother Jaysyek's mismatched eyes, how much of a goofball her brother @Ryvet was, how Mapplethorpe (described as a strict, aging Leader) had scared her beyond her wits, how she missed the feeling of soft pine needles beneath her feet, and how she hoped one day to manage a pack and family of her own if she was lucky enough to be given such a chance - but what she had failed to tell him was how frightened she was of his pack. They might have been an entirely different pack in comparison to Naira's band of misfits, but nothing was for certain as to whether or not they would like her or see the potential in her as Mapplethorpe and Naira initially had. Maybe they would recognize her or say she reminded them of someone, or maybe they would see how thin and ragged she looked and dismiss her completely, thinking she was there to hornswoggle each one of them while living off the pack's caches. Yes, she needed sustenance and the means to stay healthy, but somewhere further up, her need for security and a safe haven from Hollowheart Keep outranked her hunger and thirst if only for a little while.

She stopped in her tracks, lowering her head in uncertainty and slicking her snow-tipped ears back. "Mirren, wait. I meant... I-I meant to ask this yesterday," she started, her voice barely above a whisper. "Can you tell me what they're like? Your family? Your Leaders?"

ABRACADABRA.

(This post was last modified: Jan 15, 2014, 12:14 PM by Taima.)

I hope you like dancing in the rain

Travelling back to Secret Woodlands with Rabbit in tow had taken longer than expected. During the daylight hours they traversed through the snow, searching for food as they moved north and west, and when the nights fell the pair huddled together to ride out the darkness together. Mirren was mindful of the girl's weakened state and did well to lead without getting ahead of her, patiently falling back when she fell behind and shameless to encourage her forward. He might have been bringing her home, to his home, where he could protect her and where she would be able to recover her strength and weight, but it was he who was the lucky one to have a friend in her. They conversed to pass the time; he would tell her elaborate, fictitious stories (mostly to keep her mind off being hungry) and she would reciprocate with tales of her family or history─both of which he liked.

In his mind he tried to envision them: her mother with the mismatched eyes; her goofy brother; the father who she looked up to. Maybe someday he would get a chance to meet them, and until then he felt more responsible than ever for Rabbit's well-being. Especially with this Mapplethorpe lurking about. Just the notion that the brute caused even a fleeting fear in her was enough to make Mirren's jaws clench. If there was one thing the Tainn knew for certain as he and the girl's journey came to a close, it was that harm would come to her now only over his dead body.

Eventually the borders he knew well emerged from an otherwise foreign landscape, the twisting and ancient trees of the thicket rising like dark fingers against a darkening, grey sky. Flurries of snow fell from among its swirling plumes of cloud cover, catching on the tips of his long coat and disappearing on the black slick of his nose. "Mirren?" His softened amber gaze cast upon her feminine features as she trembled. She was afraid now, but she could learn to love this place, as he had. She was just a girl, but she was his friend, and if she let him, he would mend her broken wings one moment at a time.

"Can you tell me what they're like?" His swarthy form leaned comfortingly closer, just enough so that his fur brushed against hers as he craned his muzzle to look in her eyes. "They will accept you for who you are," he murmured, a gentle smile pulling at a single corner of his lips, "like they've accepted me. My Leaders are...very kind, and understanding." He went on to tell her of Nina and the unconditional regard she'd given him, the way she'd cared for he and his siblings when they were younger, and of the loyalty she'd given his father and mother once; he told her of Hollow and how bravely he'd fought off the wolverines when they'd scavenged the caches; of the children, and how they'd lost Tacoma. He told her about how they had banded together through trying times, and that, as ragtag as they were, they were a family. Most of all, he told her of how he'd found not only a home here with Nina and the others, but happiness, too. "I'll be right here with you─I promise. And after...I'll show you around, if you'd like?"

(This post was last modified: Jan 17, 2014, 06:14 AM by Mirren.)

RABBIT LYALL

Do you have anything to say?

Much like a parent would to a whimpering child, Mirren responded to Rabbit's cry for comfort, turning around to close the distance between them. He gave her a genuine smile, which prompted her to listen and take his words to heart. His Leaders would accept her for who she was, he had said, but all that had initially done was fire off in her head a dozen names and titles of who she believed herself to be: a Lyall, Taima, runaway, Jaysyek's daughter, the Rebel, Triden's sister, Grizzly Hollow member, Datura's ex-mate, deserter, foundling, rogue, the heiress Cedarwood, refugee... But the continuation of his sentiment - "like they've accepted me." - made her blink a number of times before she was able to look back at him and nod. Nina, the matriarch of the pack, was actually very kind and very understanding, even after the loss of her son Tacoma; even Hollow made quite an impression with his bravery and skill. She took away from his little spiel another morsel of hope to add to her own. There was no doubt now about whether or not she had come the right way or made the right choice in stealing away into the night away from Hollowheart Keep.

"I'll be right here with you - I promise," he consoled her further, "And after... I'll show you around, if you'd like?" Taima, in the past, would have risen up to the challenge of meeting Mirren's words with confidence and a smirk. The girl called Rabbit, however, merely let her smile reach her eyes and her black-tipped tail sway against the snow that reached up to her ankles. "I'd... I'd like that," she simpered. She lifted one off-white fore limb to paw at the snow in front of her, a hint at her willingness to continue onward.

"Are we close?" she asked, her ears coming back up but still angling backwards in uncertainty. "Do we... do we call for them?" While the young Lyall had now affiliated herself with three packs before coming upon Secret Woodlands, she actually had no knowledge of the protocol required when encroaching on others' lands. Borden, Kade and Jaysyek had always scolded her for wandering too far, and Mapplethorpe, who had been the one to introduce her into both Nomads Pass and Hollowheart Keep, had solely taught her formalities and etiquette from a Leader's perspective. Never in her life had she been one to request a reigning sovereign's presence at will.

ABRACADABRA.

(This post was last modified: Jan 22, 2014, 12:47 AM by Taima.)

I'll spin you around and pull you back to me

Having given her personal highlights of his own experiences with the woodlands wolves, he wasn't initially sure if his words had been reassurance enough. But Rabbit listened quietly, and after having come to her own conclusion about it she offered up a smile as her tail swayed. Relief. In addition, she affirmed that she would like to see more of the area, which he found both pleasing and as something to look forward to. Granted that mostly everything was covered in snow (which had consequently made some of the territory's gems, such as Wildflower Glade, disappear), there were still a few nooks where the forest was so thick overhead that some of the ground wasn't frozen. To him, the beauty of this place was revealed in the warmer months, but there was still something enchanting about the twisting, iced branches of the trees and the way the snow looked beneath the evening shadows cast by them─enchanting enough to share with her.

"Are we close? Do we call for them?" Her body language indicated she was willing, and his ears pressed casually forward, his eyes leaving her to gaze over the landscape for a moment. "Yes, we're very close─see those trees, the tall, twisted ones?" He motioned to the landmarks that, to him, denoted the edge of Secret Woodlands, "─just through there." After days away, hungry and cold, the sight of home could have made him weak in the knees. Mirren was ready for a meal and some rest, somewhere warm and dry where sleep would come easily. Searching over her pewter and silver dusted face, he knew that Rabbit surely was, too. "We can call them now, if you're ready," he answered with a glint of pride in his eyes, soft and warm with her in his sight. She seemed ready, but he didn't want to jump the gun if she wasn't. @Nina wouldn't be far.

RABBIT LYALL

Do you have anything to say?

They were close and the realization made her heart hammer in her chest. She had made it. They had made it. It felt as though the weight of the world could have slid from her shoulders but, even then, she could still feel Mapplethorpe's wrathful eyes at the back of her slate gray head. The thought still made her jittery and restless. The sooner she could be tucked away into the depths of Mirren's pack, hidden behind a different set of Relic Lore Leaders, the better. Once hidden, "Taima Lyall" would disappear, not for good but for the time being while the girl bought herself time to figure out what to do and how to get back into the kingdom where her mother and father had held precedence, home.

Again, her mind returned to the thoughts of @Nina, of @Hollow, of spending a season or two with Mirren, of his pack and the safety they could provide her in their numbers... She needed this, their approval, their trust, and their protection as an upcoming adult in their family. Through them, she was sure now that they could provide her with the very first stepping stone of her journey back to the Cedarwood. If not, at the very least, Mirren and all he had offered her, would not become tainted by their disapproval or rejection; but, Rabbit was not about ready to let her doubts get the best of her. She had already come all this way and their journey was not going to be regarded in vain.

"Yes," she echoed him, the eagerness showing in her tone at long last. "Ready when you are."

ABRACADABRA.

I sure am glad you wore that dress

"Ready when you are."

Mirren was definitely ready and glad to hear that Rabbit was, too. Looking back, he'd set out from Secret Woodlands in the first place for an entirely different reason than to find her and bring her home, but that didn't change the fact that, at any rate, he couldn't help but to be thankful for the turn of events. For one thing─perhaps the most important thing─she would be safe now, warm, out of death's grip and with an opportunity to gain back her health. For another thing, helping her had served an uncovered purpose in his life; he'd spent weeks wrought with worry over Nios and stricken by the emotions that accompanied his feeling of guilt and failure─but he'd helped Rabbit. Did it mean that he was still capable of doing good, of doing the right thing at the right time, even if he'd messed up? Perhaps. Most of all, there was no denying that his novel and slowly blossoming friendship with the monochromatic runaway had flipped a page in the story of his life. She was dashing, open with him, and, aside from the fact that they'd known each other for only a number of days, it felt as though they could potentially be lifelong friends. At least, that is what he wanted to believe; but he knew full and well that the tides of change were uncontrollable at best.

"I'm ready," he affirmed. "Hey─" the word rolled from his tongue as easily as the snow fell from the sky, "...we made it." He may have been stating the obvious, but he needed to absorb all the hope the world had to offer, and maybe she did, too, and...this moment was pretty special. Lifting his muzzle to the sky, the young Tainn's baritone song rang clear through the ever-darkening winter sky, a summoning of his leaders, @Nina and @Hollow.

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

The woman had been busying herself in the daily tasks of an alpha, not truly paying attention to much outside of herself. Lately she had been getting better at doing her job and getting everything done. Her pups were growing but this winter was not going to be easy on anyone, especially wolves who did not have a pack. At first she had been shocked by the many wolves that had come to her borders this winter and had been seeking admittance, but as the days grew colder Nina could grasp as to why they would have wanted to be within a pack. The bitter cold was freezing her very bones and sometimes Nina was so cold that she detested moving about, but knew she needed to in order to keep anything from freezing up.

She hadn't been expecting to be called by one of her own, but happiness lit up her features when she realized whom it was that was calling her. Stopping what she was doing, she turned towards where the call had sounded, near her borders curiously enough, and took no time in wondering what he needed but went to him. Mirren, the boy she had so tenderly cared for as a child, needed her for something and she would be damned if she did not go investigate as to why she was calling for both her and Hollow. Alpha business no less, but he did not sound too rushed and for that Nina felt she did not have to worry. She entered the area quickly, lifting herself high out of instinct and took in, with interest, the two children in front of her. The first thing that truly caught her eye was the lightness in which Mirren seemed to hold, something she had not seen since Nios had decided to leave them. Curious, Nina turned her head towards Mirren, a kind smiling pulling at the corners of her lips and her jaws parting to speak, "Who is your friend, dear Mirren?" Her gaze then moved to the other yearling, her gaze sharp and attentively. She looked healthy as anyone would this time of year and Nina dd not recall ever seeing her before.

There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health

Hollow moved through the Woodlands in silence, the master of the domain, he was the king here. At least right now he was, still Hollow could not see Koda as taking back the Woodlands yet. In truth it pained the dark male as he felt like an obstacle. Like he was standing in the way of Koda's throne, which actually he was. But the dark male knew that in order to take it back, Koda would have to prove himself. Hollow shook his head and threw Koda out of his thoughts, it only enraged Hollow, the lowest of the pack was no reason for the dark male to get himself worked up. Even if it was justified for him to still be angry at Koda for hurting Nina and the children that way. It was at that moment that Hollow heard Mirren calling from the border. His ears perked, nose began to quiver and the dark male changed direction.

The leader of the woodlands moved in time with the wind that moved through the Thicket, making nary a single sound. Home flashed passe and now when he passed snow covered bushes that used to look achingly like the one he and Azariah had shared on that cold winters day no longer caught his attention. No more did he see her around every turn and it cause him pain. He was angry now, angry with everything and everyone for always hurting him. Hollow had actually been good to everyone, and in the end he always seemed to hurt.

Eventually the dark male did find the small meeting and strode up Nina's blind side, ignoring a persistent tingle spreading through him as their fur brushed. His face was a mask and you could not tell his quickened pulse was making his heart thunder in his chest. Nor that he was growing warm already from his proximity to Nina, however he did shake his head once or twice before speaking. "Mirren, what are your intentions" Hollow spoke lightly but he hoped that the boy understood what he meant, for Hollow could tell by scent that the two were similarly aged. Hollow remembered a time when Nina and Sloane had to remind him who exactly was allowed to do what in the pack. Though Hollow meant nothing ill by it he gave Mirren a look that told him they would speak later.