Bramble Falls For Water, Falling Doesn't Hurt

For @Klio ^^

- Late afternoon, Partly Cloudy — 61° F/16° C

The water steadily flushed over the edge of the rock, plunging down onto the stones, without fear; not a single drop hesitating before jumping out into the open air. They fell, along with their brethren, tumbling through the nothingness before reducing to white foam on the rocks below, dissolving into fine mist and then slowly gathering back into soft, clean liquid around the granite. All moving unhurriedly, in no particular haste to reach their destination. Below the fall, standing with her ivory paws soaking in the shallow pool, stood a lone wolf; head lowered to lap at the life-giving fluid. The afternoon sun made her pelt glisten in speckled bronze, the reflection off the water painting strange patterns on her legs and chest. She looked peaceful, standing with eyes half closed, ears moving lazily on her head. But her head was filled with thoughts, not centered around anything specific, but running off in all directions; like a flock of birds scattered by a puppy practicing its hunting skills. She was wondering, about her place in Hollowheart Keep, and in life. Pondering her worth, her goals; Have I gotten what I wanted..? She wasn't sure. The Keep had given her a new home, the sense of belonging that every wolf strived for, but she still felt lonely. There was little she could do about it, she raised her head, water dripping from her muzzle as she looked up at the cascading water - less wild now than it had been in spring, but still flowing strongly - it seemed content like that, following the bends of rivers and creeks, never resting, never stopping in one place to call home. She couldn't live a life like that, ambulant, always one the move; Though, maybe if I had my kin with me..? Most of her prey lived that way after all, sticking together much like wolves, but moving from place to place rather than claiming a specific area as their land. The bistre wolf shook her head, the water droplets raining from her snout and returning to their family in the pool. No, she couldn't do that, she wanted a home . One place that was hers and her family's. She had that, home in The Keep; But it still doesn't feel right... Word count: 379 Thoughts”Speech”

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de

(This post was last modified: Jun 13, 2014, 10:43 PM by Evann.)

PLOT WITH ME!

Brambles did not get along with her. Before, she had been running happily and freely through the trees with nothing to hold her back or restrict her freedom. Now, she had run straight into some brambles. And what was worse, they were situated at the top of a bank down to the pool of a waterfall.

Although the cascade's endless crashing was a sweet and more than welcome melody to the black girl's ears, she longed for little more than to drink from its waters like the loner standing in the pool. The other had arrived moments after Klio had gotten herself stuck, and with a bramble wrapped around her muzzle and therefore effectively clamping shut her jaw, she had been unable to call out to her.

Watching, Klio decided the girl must be lost in thought. She seemed, distant, as she stood in the waters with the waterfall tumbling downward nearby. This place was really quite pretty. It was like a little slice of serene and natural beauty in the busy forests of Relic Lore. I her time here, Klio had come to meet a fair number of individuals, luckily most of them close to her own age. This one didn't appear like she'd break that tradition.

At least Klio had eaten a meal before entangling herself. Well, maybe a rumbling stomach would be helpful in catching someone's attention, but she thought being stuck in a bramble patch on an empty stomach wouldn't be much fun. An idea crossed her mind. It would be painful, but Klio was solidly stuck in the brambles, and she would do what it took to get help. However, as soon as she did disentangle her limbs, she would send herself tumbling down the bank.

Her plan began with a loud sneeze. Then, wincing in pain, she shifted I inside the brambles, making them rustle audibly. Watching the she-wolf standing I the waters, she felt certain she could catch her attention one way or another, and it hardly mattered if it was her emerald green eyes or rustling that provided Klio, hopefully, with a way out. The black girl thought quickly that she was glad it wasn't extra warm today...

Word Count: 366

@Klio Sorry this took a couple of days.

Not soon had she lifted her head from the refreshing drink, before a loud noise made it swivel up, to direct her eyes at the top of the falls, where dense thickets flanked the waterway. Within the greenery she saw something stir, her hunting instinct awoke at the sight of leaves rattling, but she quickly hushed it, the sound she had heard was not made by any hare or other prey animal, in fact it had sounded a lot like a wolf sneeze. "He... Hello?!" She called, slowly starting to move through the water towards the fall, eyes narrowing as she tried to find a shape among the brambles; Am I imagining this? It wouldn't be the first time she'd heard voices. But after a few more moments, chocolate eyes caught sight of a black silhouette, hopelessly entangled in the brambles. She had been right, it was a wolf; How on earth did she manage to get herself stuck up there?! Whatever the explanation, the dark girl seemed to be helplessly stuck among the brambles, fighting to get loose; She's gonna tumble right of the edge! With the waterfall roaring in her ears, the sable lass called again, as loudly as she could; "St-stop! You're gonna k... kill yourself! H... hold on, I-I'll h-help you!" She studied the cliff looking for a way up, walking out of the pool and along the wall; it would be safer to go around, take one of the paths up the mountainside, but she didn't have time for that. Settling on an outcrop, Evann pulled back and ran towards the rock face, pushing off the bank and flying through the air. Her sizeable corpus slowed her some, but she managed to grab on to the ledge of her target and pull herself up. Standing on the rock, gasping lightly, she looked up; the top of the fall was still a ways up, but there were many small ledges up the cliff. Finding the next suitable platform, the brown wolfess pulled back as far as she could to prepare for her second jump; "J-just h... hold tight up there, I'm c... coming!" She shouted and ran forwards, jumping towards the second outcrop, paws outstretched. Word count: 369 Thoughts”Speech”

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de

@Evann: Don't worry about it! I love Evann's name by the way :)


With a softly emitted breath of relief, the black girl's shining emerald orbs caught the image of the brown and grey she-wolf in the pool looking around. Surely she would notice her now? A stuttered greeting echoed up the rocks to reach her ears. All she could do to respond was whine loudly. Watching, she could see her acquaintance's mouth move, but only some of the words proceeding from it reached her ears: Stop!... kill yourself... hold on... help you!

The other's sable figure flying through the air and out of sight interrupted her contemplation of the fragmented words she had heard. Her young mind whirling, she returned her focus to the subject at hand. It seemed the other wolf was climbing up something. But she was just atop a large bank, wasn't she? Putting words together, she determined that the lady climbing whatever she was on had said Stop, you'll kill yourself!, meaning that she was in fact stuck above a large drop down a rocky cliff. It was the same drop the waterfall took.

"Just hold tight up there, I'm coming!" More words reached her ears over the waterfall's ominously nearby crashing. A quiet whimper escaped her maw and was drowned by the falling water. It was then that she realized how badly stuck she was. She half stood half laid several feet deep into the prickly menace, much closer to falling off the cliff than finding a way out.

Klio mentally paced up and down. Irritably attempting to snap her jaws only gave her a well of blood from her now bleeding muzzle. Grumbling, she turned her glittering emeralds to the rocky cliff edge. Toward her there was a large, flat, dry boulder which her companion would surely leap onto in order to reach the top. She wondered how the brown and grey girl was faring. It surely took a wolf who excelled in strength to make such daunting leaps straight up in the air to ascend a dizzyingly high up clifftop. Now, the midnight cloaked yearling thought she heard the sounds of paws scrambling against stone.

As she landed her second jump, she wasted no time celebrating her success, quickly finding a new platform and readying to leap again. Above her, she could hear the stuck wolf whimpering, but the roar of the waterfall made it impossible to tell whether the brambles were still rattling; I hope she's stopped moving! Evann continued her climb through a row of successful jumps, pausing only shortly on each landing to catch the worst of her breath before moving on. Son she was nearing the top, but she'd run out of ledges. Above her, a length of almost smooth wall stretched before the cliff plateaued; up there the dark wolf was still whining. "I'm a... almost there, just k... keep still!" And quiet! She added silently, the shrill calling was painful in her sharp ears; but she couldn't really blame the other; If it was me, I'd probably be whining too! The brown mottled girl looked around frantically for a way to get up the last length, tongue hanging out as she gasped to replenish her muscles with oxygen. Finally her eyes landed on a small outcrop almost directly above her and, she grimaced, mostly caught in the frothing water falling at high speed; NO! She told herself, eyes searching desperately for another solution, but she had already checked. This was the only option. Evann gritted her teeth, she was high enough now that a fall would, almost certainly, cause serious injury; I can't... Above her, the stuck wolf made another desperate, whimpering sound; Oh SCREW IT! She pulled back, lowered her hunches, took a deep breath, and jumped. Her paws reached the wet surface, clinging to the rock as she began pulling herself up, heaving for breath and grunting at the effort. Slowly she hoisted herself up, first legs, then shoulders and chest; and then, as she hung there, hind legs still flailing helplessly in the air, she began slipping. A meaningless exclamation escaped her jowls as she scrabbled for purchase on the wet cliff, feet kicking desperately; I'm gonna fall! She though, panic beginning to grip her; I'm gonna fall down and die! All just because I HAD to play hero! She slipped further backwards, the weight of her sizable body dragging her down. She closed her eyes; This is it! And then luck struck! as her claws scraped over a part of the ledge comprised of a weaker kind of stone, she felt them dig into the rock. Quickly, she began scraping at the soft area, creating a crevice where she could get hold. Then, with a deep grunt, she dug her paws into the cleft, dragging herself onto the ledge, where she collapsed heavily. Heaving and gasping after the excursion, she might have remained lying there for a while, had the falling water not been splashing down over her head, making it hard to catch her breath without filling her lungs with water. Coughing violently, the sable woman got to her feat, turning around to let the water soak her rear rather than fill her airways. She looked around again. Close by, she saw a large boulder, easily accessible from her current position, and high enough to get her up to the top of the cliff. She gasped another few mouthfuls of air, shook her fur to get rid of some of the water and leapt, landing safely on the solid, dry surface. She couldn't resist a bark of triumph at the feat, she'd made it all the way up, all in one piece; Incredible! Once more though, her celebration was short lived, as the whimpering growl of the stuck wolfess made her turn around, attention once more on the rescue mission. "Th... Th... There you are!" She said, still gasping lightly; "How did y... you m-manage to get yo... yourself i-into th-this mess?!" Evann shook her head, eyes scanning the black pelted figure, who was easily visible now, up close, even among the many leaves. Her body was already strewn with pricks and scratches; And it's gonna cost her more to get out of there... The plump girl shook her head lightly, brows furrowed; "A... a... a-allright, let's g... g-get you out of there!" Word count: 699 Thoughts”Speech”

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de