The Wildwood keep me guessing

For Naia. Hope this location works!

Days later, after an adventure in a rainstorm she hoped wouldn't be coming back again soon, Liran found herself once again in the heart of the Lore. Or at least what she perceived as the heart. The dense wood provided a scattered light, illuminating some paths and darkening the rest as she paced slowly through. She stayed in the patches of sunlight easily, finding that the shade was a bit cooler than she was willing to deal with for any length of time. If she had to guess about the state of the weather, it had probably passed into summer while she had been making her way back to the Lore, and the thought of what would follow the warmer seasons troubled her. She had hoped to come across something, anything that would have said where the rest of her family had gone, but the searching so far had been fruitless.

Liran wasn't quite willing to accept it, but was open to the possibility that they hadn't come to the Lore at all. Nomadic by blood, it would not have surprised her if her parents hadn't corralled what was there of their brood and suggested they go off somewhere else. In search of that Great Something, that was what her father always called it. But in many ways she mused, he had also referred to this place as that Great Something. To her, it was definitely everything and more she had ever been told of, and as she came to a pause, Liran pondered why he would have left in the first place.

There in the open, possibly where at one time many paths converged into one, the sun felt warm and reassuring on her back. She breathed in deep, wondering what she would find on the slight breeze that snaked its way through the thick wood.

(This post was last modified: Jun 03, 2014, 06:20 PM by Liran.)

@Liran

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In her free moments, Naia had found herself wandering further from the pack than was strictly necessary given the amount of border runs she was expected to conduct as an official scout of Cut Rock River. There were the pups to look after too—that middle child was especially a handful, making an escape attempt whenever an adult’s back was turned. She was well aware of all the things she should be doing at this moment, and yet here she was drifting through the heart of the Lore as if she hadn’t a duty in the world. Scouting, she told herself. Oh yes, she was scouting, and that was important work. Thank goodness no one was here to ask what she was scouting for, because she had yet to completely admit it to herself.

Inali. The very wind seem to whisper the name the farther north Naia traveled, drawing the loyal scout away from the land she was tied to. Strange, before she met Inali she didn’t feel tied down at all, but now she felt like she was attached to a yo-yo, running north just to be tugged back south once more. She never even made it all the way to the blackberry fields before she felt the tug of duty pulling her home, but occasionally she made it to the cherry orchard—their special place—and walked among the low-hanging cherry blossoms imagining that she saw Inali waiting there for her at each turn.

There! Naia stopped in her tracks and her breath caught in her throat as her honey eyes landing on Inali. No.. not her. Her breath rushed out in a sigh. It was a wolf she had never met. The stranger perhaps looked a little like the wolf Naia had mistaken her for, but not really enough to excuse her mistake. Get a grip, Naia. She shook her head to clear her mind, and then she put on her usual friendly smile. ”Hello,” she called to the wolf, a loner from her smell. ”Are you new to these parts?” She made it a point to be friendly to newcomers to make up for how decidedly unfriendly others had been toward her when she was peregrine. It was odd to see loners wandering the wildwood once more—there had been a point there a few months ago when the only loners she ever saw were the ones at her border, begging to be allowed into her pack. Few wolves could survive a winter like that one on their own.

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And as luck would have it, Liran had never needed to wait long before being discovered. Maybe it was some sort of magnetic pull that drew others to her, or maybe she was just drawn to them. She rarely pondered what sort of mystical pulls there were in the world. The dusky colors that comprised the slender female that came forth from the wood stood out against the summer foliage, but in the right light she could have blended in easily. It was the sudden stop to her spotting Liran that intially drew attention. The expression on the traveling canine baffled her for a moment, as she wasn't quite able to peg down what it was that she saw in such a brief moment. It was probably nothing, and was soon forgotten as she spied a forming smile spread. Good, it was someone friendly.

Drawing her tail up into a well-mannered wave, Liran returned her pleasant smile. There was a plethora of scents that waifed in her general direction, but not a single one that stood out to her. She couldn't have picked out where she had come from, but that was partially because Liran had only a rough lay of the land from her visit before. Moreover, she was willing to wager that the packs had changed just as the seasons had as well. “I've been through here once before, but maybe not this exact spot,” she told her with a tilt of her tawny head. “So… sure, I guess you could say I'm still pretty new.” She gave a cheeky grin then, entertained at her weak ha-ha joke.

“What about you? Are you just passing through or heading home?” Liran kept her mind open to the possibility that she wasn't the only wayfarer running loose across the countryside. The statistics were improbable for such a thing anyway. A passing thought almost made her venture to query if she had come across any others who were a bit similar to her in obvious ways, but Liran doubted that her family had come back through. She hoped, but ultimately doubted it. Her father had never spoken about returning to a place he had been through before.

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The stranger’s tail lifted into a pleasant, inviting position, and Naia moved closer to the Plains lady in curiosity. What luck! Here was an interesting stranger to take her mind off.. things.. and perhaps reattach her to this world that felt as if it had flipped upside down lately. The woman smelt of a wanderer, the distant scents of various territories wafting from her pelt. True to her word, it smelled as if she had stayed nowhere long. Naia found this difficult to understand; when she had first stumbled upon Relic in the spring of last year, she thought she had found a slice of heaven—so many gorgeous, unique territories just teeming with wolves to meet. She couldn’t imagine leaving the Lore after experiencing its beauty, and it surprised her that this woman had been able to do so. Everyone had their reasons, of course.. and Naia was dying to find them out.

She grinned at the newcomer’s cheerful reply, her honey eyes lighting up at the stranger’s infectious attitude. It didn’t happen often, but Naia always enjoyed interacting with a wolf that didn’t take herself so seriously. ”Oh..” she began, as she realized that her new companion was awaiting her reply. ”I.. I’m really not sure, to tell you the truth.” She had always been an honest wolf—honest to a fault, perhaps some would say. ”I have a home here,” she added quickly, ”Cut Rock River, to the southeast.. I’m just not headed back quite yet, I think. It’s such a lovely day for exploring. “ There. The weather was a perfect excuse for her aimless wandering, and Naia grinned confidently. ”Are you considering making a home here, this time around?” Even if the answer was no, Naia thought she might still figure out what this stranger’s reason was for always passing through, but never settling. She was a hopelessly curious wolf, to be sure.

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Now there was something that Liran could completely agree with — the day was lovely for a bit of exploration. While she liked just about any kind of weather there was, it seemed like the days where the sky wasn't being kind to the earth weren't just as good as the unfiltered, untouched moments when the sun was the only thing really touching them. Liran returned the grin that she was offered, her passing sign that she agreed wholeheartedly. But as always, there were more pressing questions that took the precedence over any statements that she could have made, which was just fine and dandy to her.

"I might," she said at first, shrugging her furry shoulders. "My father lived here before me, a long time ago. He used to tell me stories of this place, and of the drought that came through. It's what led me here the first time around, and is partially why I came back a second." Her smile softened then as she reminiscenced. It may have been a brief, dark cloud on her sunny day, but it also passed. "What's your pack like?" Liran decided to query instead, not wanting to delve into the details of everything. No sense dwelling too much in the past, she had decided a long time ago. The present mattered, and the future was whatever she could make of it.

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Naia’s expression turned somewhat wistful when the stranger mentioned the stories her father used to tell her of Relic Lore. She too had been told stories of this place as a pup, but her stories were more like legends.. No one in her birthpack had actually been to the lands belonging to the mysterious and powerful Hidden Tree wolves, but in the stories the territories were so beautiful and diverse that Naia had no doubt she had found the right place. How fascinating that this stranger’s father had once lived here, perhaps as a member of the Swift River pack that she had heard so much about. It was even more fascinating that in those times it was drought that swept over the lands instead of today’s floods.

Naia made sure to mention her pack in all encounters with strangers, just in case one might curious such as this one. She wasn’t one to miss an opportunity to talk about her favorite subject, and who knows; maybe she could recruit a member. ”Cut Rock River is led by Maksim Baranski, and though he has a mate and pups of his own he considers all of us his extended family.” Naia stood a little taller as she continued. ”I am Naia Aegina, his Second. I am not the largest and certainly not the most domineering wolf in the pack, but I achieved my rank by working hard and fulfilling my potential as a scout.” If Naia’s guess was right, this stranger might be interested in a pack organized according to loyalty as opposed to fighting ability. The scout knew an easygoing wolf when she saw one— she was like that herself. ”It’s a pack I’m proud to call my family,” she finished, wagging her tail to invite further questions. As a seasoned scout, she knew a little about the other packs in the area as well, should the stranger ask.

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(This post was last modified: Jun 28, 2014, 01:00 PM by Naia.)

As for the pack she learned about, Liran did not recognize it from any of her father's stoties. Not even the names of its leaders rang any bells for her, but this she did not find too surprising. After all, it had been a long time since Damascus had lived in the Lore. Things had undoubtly changed. Still Liran had hoped there would be some link that would jar her memory, something that would unleash a flood of memories to sift through for the answers she had never received.

"It's nice to meet you," she said with a renewed wave of her tail. Naia was proud of her home too, which had always been a good sign to Liran about how well a pack fared. Morale was key in a lot of things. "My name is Liran. How long have you lived there, if you don't mind me asking?" If Naia had been there a while, Liran hoped she would be able to answer the questions she felt bubbling against her tongue.

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Naia had discovered that there were two types of wolves that came sniffing around their borders: those looking for a pack to join, and those looking for a connection to the past. It was much easier for her to assist the former type, though more often than not she came across a wolf asking about Swift River, the Attayas, or the floods. This particular wolf, Liran, was unique though. Her connection seemed to predate the Attayas and the flooding incident, and Naia felt that she was going to be even less helpful than usual. "I’ve roamed these lands for a year now, but only this territory since winter, I’m afraid,” she imparted with a sigh. ”There are wolves that have been here longer though—since before the flooding. You’re welcome to keep sniffing around the Cedarwoods as long as you mind our boundary.” She smiled an apologetic smile, wishing she could do more to help.

Her honey eyes brightened as an idea struck. ”I could put you in touch with Makism, he’s been here a long time. Though he’s quite busy with his new pups…” Naia trailed off, wondering if this matter was important enough to call her leader away from his family. Accepting a new wolf into their ranks was really the only reason he should be called to the border at this time, she reasoned. ”He will visit a loner at the border if she’s seeking a pack. Perhaps if you decide this is a place you want to settle down, you could speak to him.” Naia waved her tail amicably. She liked this stranger, and it was about time a new face joined Cut Rock River. She hoped Liran might consider settling down.. she could always come back later too, if she intended to estivate as a lone wolf for now.

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