Dragonfly Fen flee like shadows

For @Ruiko
RE: Serach, you bumped your head on a low branch.

The snow that had suffocated the land for months on end was finally relinquishing its grip. But the further Serach ran, the less convinced he was that the bitter winter had not killed everything. The trees were barren and dead, and even though Triell had declared that spring was here, there was very little visible evidence to the contrary. As far as he could tell, he was the only living thing within miles. The thought was frightening, but Serach did not stop and turn around. He had ventured south of Oak Tree Bend today, slipping beyond his family borders and their watchful eyes. He hadn't thought to tell anybody where he was going, since he had every intention of returning before sundown.

But the farther he ran, the less likely it seemed like that would be the case. His paws were sticking in the mud and slowing him down. The melting snow had caused the water levels to rise, and the further he went, the less solid land he saw. This was no place like Spectral Woods or the forest of Oak Tree Bend. Which was exactly what he wanted - he wanted to be as far from home as he could today. Huffing with exertion, he pushed through, pulling his hind leg from a pool of mud with a loud "squelchhh". It was maddening, and he was filthy, but he was determined, and so pushed on his way, determined to explore what lay beyond the southern horizon before turning tail and heading home.

Corinna's passing had rocked Ruiko as much as the loss of his family during the sweep of the fire in the Wildwoods. The coldness that had been her body was something that haunted him now, and while he sought comfort in the embrace of his mate, he did little when it came to seeking out other members of his family. Yet border duty was something he could perform with little thought, and the insistent need to function had pulled him to the edges of the Bend where he would lift his large frame up to each tree, scraping his thick claws down the trunks to embed his mark upon the trees and in turn rub his scent upon them.

It was mid-action of this when from his peripheral view, he noted the pale figure of one of Corinna's boys slip out past the safe confines of the pack territory. A grunt of annoyance pressed past the male's lips then, and while he knew Serach was perfectly old enough to be entitled to such explorations, the return of the herds was still fresh within the Lore.. and with that, there was still a hungry beast or two.

Pushing himself downward, the elder of the pack ambled after the youth, his own strides less agile than the nimble paws of his nephew. He was not deterred by this however -- he had done plenty of chasing in his day of younger, more agile wolves.. Triell, as a cub, among them. He maintained a respectful distance, weaving through trees and entertaining himself through hs own means -- it was not that he desired to infiltrate Serach's privacy, but simply to act as a guardian should anything arise.

The day grew on, and as they continued further, the patience of the Tainn was wearing thinner. His paws began to sink in mud, and had he been more easily amused, the sight of his nephew's pale fur painted with mud might have brought a chuckle to him. Instead, he slipped towards the boy faster now, very much expecting him to be unsurprised by his presence as he had trailed him awhile. The hell you want to see in here? What a waste of a day.

Don't mind Serach, he belongs in a cartoon.

"Hrggghhh", Serach squirmed for a moment before successfully freeing another leg from a puddle of mud. He lurched forward one more half step, but was prevented from going further by the gruff voice. Even though Serach had heard Ruiko's breathing and his own squelching through the mud, Serach couldn't help but whirl around in surprise. Bashfully, the youth's ears flattened against his skull and his tail curled up underneath him. His uncle's annoyance was clear and the youth felt the flush of guilt begin to climb up his neck. What did he want to see here? He hadn't really set out with a goal in mind, other than just to get away. Serach doubted that Ruiko would like that particular reason, so he stuttered about for a moment before speaking, "Um...well...I just, uh, I wanted to go scouting for Uncle Triell?" Pulling back his lips, he tried to smile, as if that somehow would soothe Ruiko's irritability at having followed him out here.

Having turned around completely to face Ruiko, Serach now took a step back. But the force of pulling his leg free of the mud threw him off balance, and the boy staggered over to the side. Unable to catch himself, he continued to stumble, limbs flailing as he tried to right himself on the muddy ground. Unfortunately for him, Serach was too focused on his feet to notice where his head was going. Thunk. As he slid about on the ground, the side of his head smacked against a tiny stub of a branch on an otherwise barren tree. The impact was enough to stop his forward motion and the youth sank to the ground, whimpering like an idiot.

Basically, he went on a mud slip and slide and smacked a branch on a tree sapling.

(This post was last modified: Apr 29, 2014, 05:34 PM by Serach.)

It was an acrobatic show -- the youth responded with what could be considered a decent enough reason.. and then went full out to provide a good show. Ruiko cringed inwardly as he watched the scenario, his own amber eyes blinking rapidly as he watched the flailing pale limbs and he felt a shade of sympathy for the boy as his head smacked right in to a branch that was clearly out to get him.

One paw rose in the middle of the confusion, as if he could push against the near Yearling and cal his motions -- but it was for not, and soon Serach was upon the ground, sniveling in what he assumed to be pain. The older male rumbled darkly for a moment, his growl a croon of mild amusement and frustration before he finally moved forward. Corinna's son was certainly nothing like what he remembered of the silver lady -- the thought of her alone bringing a pang to his chest -- and jabbing his paw toward Serach's side, he grunted to gain the boy's attention.

Well you can't scout like that, and I don't think Triell will find the existence of vicious saplings to be of any use to him, he murmured darkly, waiting for the boy to stand up and 'shake it off,' so to speak. So why don't we continue with your original intent and leave this shithole behind? He didn't wait for an agreement -- it wasn't really a suggestion so much as an order. Stalking away, the creamy limbed male felt the mud squelch beneath his paws as he prowled back to dryer ground. Why Corinna had decided to move the pack to this side of the land was beyond him -- his heart already yearned for the West side of the Lore.

Throbbing. Throbbing. Throbbing.

While Serach had really only injured his head, his entire body felt the pain of the blow. An overeager drummer beat a tune into the young boy's head, each hit of the stick causing a fresh wave of pain to ripple through him. His wailing had continued to rise in pitch as he unsuccessfully tried to hide from the pain behind his paws. When he initially tried to open his eyes, the light had only worsened the pain in his temple and he had immediately closed them once more. He was down, out for the count. I'm going to die here, he reasoned, pleasantly surprised at the relief that he felt at the realization. It won't hurt anymore. That will be nice.

The half growl, half chortle of his uncle broke through Serach's inner thoughts. He woozily lifted his head from the ground and tried to look in Ruiko's direction, only to be poked rather painfully in the side. Much to his dismay, the youth's pale green eyes fluttered open and slowly the stern form of his uncle came into focus. I guess you're not dying today, his inner voice relented before giving way to even more throbbing.

Grunting in response to Ruiko's command for him to get up, Serach pulled his legs towards him. Doing his best to ignore the pain in his head and his body, he pushed off from the ground. Slowly he rose, each second a trial to see if his body would collapse and put him back into the mud. His legs shook, and his first step was more than a little unsteadily, but he kept his feet. It took longer than Ruiko would have liked, but eventually Serach was able to get himself onto dry land. He was an absolute mess, covered head to toe in mud and grime. The pain in his head hadn't let up much either, and it took more than a little bit of concentration to stop Ruiko from spinning in his mind's eye. Serach opened and closed his mouth several times, testing it for speech. "Gasdf...Grashhh..." his tongue felt foreign to him, and he scowled at the senseless noise. Furrowing his brow in concentration, he forced himself to spit out a tangible sentence, "Where should we look then, if not in shitholes?"

I am the worst. :c

He could hear the sickening squelch of mud behind him as he sought the dryer land – Serach was in tow, and despite his gruff nature, the male cast a look to his nephew behind him to reassure that the squelch was not the mud finally sucking him in and swallowing him whole – he had smashed his head pretty badly. For the briefest moment, despite the pale fur and the boyish features, Ruiko would have swore he had caught a glimpse of Corinna in the boy’s youthful features, and he felt a pang of regret and remorse to the loss they had faced. The loss of Corinna would never seem to fade – as would the disappearance of his beloved, Aeylen. No matter what, it would seem Relic Lore still managed to roll the punches to the Tainn family no matter what.

Once on dry land, the hefty male gave a quick shake of his pelt, though the mud clung to his limbs with a stick stubbornness. Once more his eyes lifted and roamed over the boy, who seemed to be muttering some strange guttural noise. Frowning, the question was posed and a snort escaped the newly acclaimed Tainn patriarch – at least by age. You tell me – what are you scouting for? There was a small pause a she allowed the yearling to think. Whatever information Serach sought to bring back to Triell, it was unlikely it was hiding in the mud. If you’re looking for potential game for hunts, seek dryer land – prey will avoid mud as it hinders their escape.

The mud was everywhere, weighing him down with every step. Serach went to shake it free from his coat, but stopped as the throbbing in his head increased at the rapid movement. His ears flattened against his head and he looked down at the ground, clearly miserable and upset at his predicament. He had been stupid to try and go scouting off on his own and the pains and aches that he would feel for the next few days felt like an unfair consequence of that particular lesson. Wearily, the boy raised his head, only vaguely aware that Ruiko had actually answered his question with one of his own. Ruiko wasn't one for sass, though, and Serach was in no mood to be reprimanded any more than he already had been.

His back ached something furious, but Serach forced himself to stand up straighter and look Ruiko in the eye as he answered. "Nothing specific," he admitted, trying to steady both his sight and his voice. "But I wanted to see if there were deer here, or maybe even wolves. Fenru told me once how he found a group of wolves living just past our borders. I thought maybe I could find some too." Serach and Sceral had been tiny, when that had happened, but Serach remembered Fenru telling them about it. With the recent encounter of meeting the other wolf pack still fresh in his mind, it had occurred to the youth that he had never known what was to the south of them. "We could have neighbors. Triell would want to know that, right?"

He canted his muzzle, taking in the boys reasoning – it would seem he was scouting out for anything or everything that breathed, and he withheld a small smile at the curiousness that dwelled in him. Carefully stealing a glance to his head where he had bumped it, he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary yet.. but to be sure, he didn’t want to leave the boy alone for any length of time. If he was concussed, it would mean trouble – and while Ruiko was no healer by any means, he was old enough to have seen such effects on another. Somehow, being Corinna’s last litter only stirred protectiveness in Ruiko that went beyond normal family.

There is a pack we are not on good terms with close by, he answered thoughtfully, allowing his eyes to graze over the boy’s cheek once more. Magnolia Glen. Your aunt resides there, and in the winter, she tried to take an entire meal from us with her pack. There was a small pause as he gave a low grunt, moving further away from the mud covered ground. he conceded, and pausing, he waited silently for the youth to take the lead then, his bright eyes unflinching as they studied his nephew. If a pack claimed land in here.. well, Best to turn away and leave them to their stupidity, he reasoned gruffly, casting a distasteful look to the area once more. Why Corinna had settled her pack on this side of the mountain, he would never understand.

One or two more and then we can wrap it up? <3

There was something rough, yet regal, about Ruiko that left Serach in awe of his uncle. Every time the older wolf looked at him, the youth couldn't help but pull himself up and stand a little straighter. A part of him wished he could emulate his uncle's confident demeanor, but another part of him knew that he would always be trying to achieve that particular uncle's approval. So when his uncle began to answer him, Serach's ears immediately perked up in attention. He knew about the pack, though this is the first time that he had heard its name. He remembered them, facing off against him and his family over the cries of the dying elk. He remembered the adrenaline rush as he had dashed forward, stealing a morsel to eat before any of the older wolves could stop him. It had been, arguably, both the bravest and stupidest thing he had ever done.

"I didn't know my mom had a sister," he confessed to Ruiko. Nobody had ever really explained to him just how the Tainn wolves were related to his mother. She was not a Tainn, and while he only had vague memories of his father, @Ice, he knew that he had not been a Tainn either. "Do you think I have cousins, then? In Magnolia Glen?" When Nayeli had her cubs, which is what her growing belly signified somebody had told him, he would have cousins to play with. The prospect made him excited, and without thinking about it, he walked right past his uncle.

He only realized it when Ruiko's gruff voice called him back. Pausing in his tracks, the boy's ears twitched and his shoulders drooped. Stupid...just like me for wandering out this far. He could feel the dull ache in his head once more, and with the added weight of his uncle's disapproval, he wanted nothing more than to go home. Nodding his head in agreement, Serach began to walk north, carefully maneuvering his way around the mud patches.

He noticed the way the boys shoulders slumped, stirring a light frown to his features. He pulled up alongside the youth, his muzzle extending down to nip affectionately at the youth’s crown, as if quietly reassuring him that he should not have been discouraged. The more knowledge we hold about these lands, the more power we have over them, he quietly asserted, making to move forward once more.

Something about what the boy said shook him to his core – the innocent statement of not realizing his mother had a sister. The entire truth was that he didn’t know either – at the end of the day, Serach and Sceral were technically sired by the blood of a wolf he knew very little about and while Corinna was a Tainn through her marriage to his brother (and the absolute insistence that she was his sister), the pale boys were almost orphaned in this sense.. adopted by name, but not my actual blood.

She wasn’t your mother’s sister – she was mine. Your mother is not technically my blood.. but that does not mean she or either you or your brother are any less family. There was a small pause as he lulled over the next posed question; cousins. No. Borlla has made it clear her family does not matter in her values – you should put little concern to them as well, he murmured thickly, feeling his chest tighten at the bridge that now gapped his little sister and he. The two had never gotten along well, but he recalled when she had been even younger than Serach.. he and Indru had raised them, and while his brother would have liked to have claimed the entire glory of that, nothing had been further from the truth, since Indru had been far more busy exploring other lands and abandoning his own family than raising them.

Your mother was the strongest woman I’ve ever known, he offered finally, feeling a lump swell in his throat and swallowing thickly. He missed her far more than he missed anyone else that had departed or left him.