Cold Water Creek Alone

Leaves fall around the dame as she sleeps contently in a pill of leaves that seem to have been blown into a pile. The dame rolls from her stomach to her side. A lazy eye opens to be greeted by nothing but a slight frost, opening the other eye Indie can feel her eyes already becoming dry from the crisp air.
With a slow flick of her tail the leaves scatter and the few that drifted onto her back shift and settle awkwardly next to her body. "Morning autumn." Her voice sounds harsh and coarse from her slumber, her fur is ruffled from a difficult sleep, Indie isn't exactly in the best of moods.
Rolling onto her back, the sound of bones cracking echoes through the air. A look of displeasure appears upon the cream pelted wolf's face. "Well, nice to know I'm loved." Indie's voice returns back to it's regular sound. Slowly rotating her ears, the dame tries to hear anyone near her, but the result is that she is alone. "Charming."
Indie pushes herself up to a sitting position, forcing a smile onto her muzzle just in case she isn't alone. Raising a nose to the sky, Indie can smell the water, sweet and soft on her nostrils. With a gentle huff, Indie stands to all fours and walks toward the sound of the water, a drink would be a good idea. She closes her eyes and pushes her left forepaw forward to test where the water is. Leaning down, Indie laps up the water with a long pink tongue, her ears set back along her head to listen for any strangers.

(This post was last modified: Oct 10, 2014, 10:15 PM by Indie.)

Since Tannis originally returned on the 17th, I'm gonna pretend Tannis has been around this part of Relic Lore for a couple of days but doesn't actually know where he is... xP

This part of the creek was both beautiful and eerie; with each falling leaf and each gurgle of the babbling stream, it drew Tannis further and further away from the mountain and into some of the darkest parts of eastern Relic Lore. On bent elbows and knees he crept along with his head and tail held low and his senses running on overdrive. It seemed that he was going to be alone for yet another quiet and uneventful day when the sound of scattering leaves rustled and crackled in his folded ears. He stared in the direction from where the sound had come from, jumping as he heard a singular greeting, "Morning autumn." Immediately he froze, caught in-between wanting to draw closer or run far, far away.

The voice as feminine, however, and he entertained the idea of the woman nearby being the yearling girl he had met only a few months ago. She continued talking and Tannis skulked towards her, careful to mind the places where he placed his feet. By the time he came upon her, hiding behind the trunk of a tree and peering around it to spy on her, she was leaning over the stream of the creek and quenching her thirst. His pale eyes took her in, observing the color of her coat and sizing her up.

She didn't look familiar or even smell familiar... Thank goodness, but... she had been talking to someone, hadn't she? He scanned the area both testing the air and peering into each and every crevice he could see from his hiding place. There was no one, he found - no one except for her. His tail wagged and his muzzle wrinkled upward along one side in a crooked and nervous smile. Perhaps there was no harm in trying to strike up a conversation. Maybe he could glean some information about the surrounding forest from her, "Heh-helloo?"

He could feel the hot and cold flashes run up and down his spine and limbs, hastily bracing himself for when the woman turned to address him.

That's alright. Hehe

Indeed, a stranger was in her presence. The dame curved her spine inward more, forcing herself to the ground. Her limbs were now tight and ready to uncoil in a fast leap if needed to carry her away to escape the new comer. Indie swayed her ears toward the voice, it was deeper than her own. It was probably a male, wondering about in hope for food or drink. Staying low, Indie waited a few beats, not knowing how to answer the stranger.

The dame cleared her throat and proceeded to talk but not a word came out of her jaws. "Oh you fool. Just talk!" She scowled herself in a harsh whisper. "Hello, stranger. Would it be so terrible to ask your name?" Indie spoke louder now, her voice clear and friendly. She kept a smile on her muzzle but made no movement with the rest of her frame. Indie, being the way she was, found it hard sometimes when interacting with others, but she could manage. Knowing she didn't deal with things the normal way only made her more aware of her actions. "I need to think less." Indie told herself and shook her skull.

The forest around them moved gently with the wind. A small bird darted overhead making Indie jump with surprise. The dame was already on edge, everything else wasn't helping. With a slow inhale, Indie let her muscles relax, standing back to her regular height, not that she was at all threatening when stood up. The shaman flurished her tail behind her and moved in from side to side, trying to show no fear toward her watcher.

It was strange just looking at her, waiting, anticipating how she might react after she had done exactly what he might have characteristically done - hunker down and wait for everything to come hailing down all over him, physically or verbally. For all he knew, he could have been accused of spying on her, following her, or simply just being some sort of stalker. But it seemed that he hadn't been too much of a threat, at least after his initial reception. She scowled and Tannis' limbs were already itching to scuttle away, but before he could even consider it, she greeted him with a welcoming tone. His left brow came up as she politely asked for his name and smiled. If he had bet his hallux that she would have snapped at him, he would have lost it.

He stuck his tongue out to drag it down the front of his nose and over the right side of his maw as he crept closer to her, not too close as to pose as a possibly threat but just enough so that he wasn't partially hidden from view. His lowered tail sought refuge between his legs, but it was not the sudden bird passing over head that made him jump. It was her, and while he continued to gape and stare, he came to realize that something was very different about her. When she stood up, he slightly shrank away, ducking down and forcing himself to sit to keep himself from trembling. In turn, very much like a cause and effect sort of reaction, she relaxed. She showed no outward signs of hostility or menace and that, Tannis figured, he could take as a sign that he did not need to be as fearful as he thought he ought to be.

"My name's Tannis," he offered, the notes in his voice smooth, warm, and calm for once. Apart from the abrupt wheeze and the couple of coughs that accompanied the end of his sentence, he hoped he seemed all right. He had lost track of where he had been going; he belonged to no one, was no one important, and smelled of nothing but his own musk, mud, and an assortment of dying foliage. She wagged his tail and for the first time ever, or so it seemed, his bat-like ears swiveled forward out of curiosity and he dared to let himself smile out of delight. "What's... What's yours?"

Indie closed her jade viewers for a moment, searching her mind to see if such a name had been heard by her ears before. It was an unusual name, Indie thought, she'd never heard it before but she liked it. Her jaws opened to let out a huff, she didn't know him, he was no one she knew or should know. Keeping her eyes tightly shut, the dame settled her rump down and considered the brute. She turned her long ears toward him and sniffed toward his direction, he was about her age, maybe younger judging by the tone of his voice.

"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Indie Svengard, call me what you will but I prefer my first name." She spoke in a calm tone, allowing a small giggle at the end of her sentence. The dame was in an odd mood today. Indie let a smile fall into place again as she opened her eyes and tried to aim her gaze towards him, he could probably see her missing pupils but he might still be none the wiser to her poor sight. He seemed friendly enough but she was alone, she had no one to protect her now, if he attacked her or decided she was no longer entertaining, Indie wouldn't last long against him.

"So what brings you into my company?" She asked, adjusting her shoulders to rid her tense muscles of cramp. This brutus had made her very curious. Why would anyone wish to approach such a dame as her, Indie wasn't exactly a normal wolf, her mind was fragile and she often babbled about irrelevant things even though she was still clever. Her old pack had cast her out upon the suspicion that she had a mental disorder. She didn't, the dame was just a little weird. "You live round here or something?" She tilted her head as she asked him, continuing to keep a pleasant tone.

Finally, she sat and Tannis took it as a queue to at least come forward and sit close to her... so that she could fully see him, or, well, maybe not. Upon closer inspection it occurred to the rogue that she was blind. The fur along his back stood up on end but immediately smoothed out as she continued to speak, introducing herself and wondering, out of what Tannis had realized was pure curiosity, what had brought him her way.

No member of the Corvinus clan would think to approach him this way - killing him with kindness rather than their usual shoot/hit first, then ask questions sort of conversation starter. He airy, lighthearted giggle was a dead giveaway that she was not who he would have thought she was upon first impression.

"Wellllll," he briefly hesitated. "I was- I was on my way following the creek and I just..." His ears fell back down to their usual places at the side of his skull, pointed back towards the trees behind him. "I heard you and I was curious. I thought maybe you were someone I knew." His nose wrinkled slightly as he replayed in his head what he thought he must've sounded like. Obviously pathetic. Perhaps too nosy for his own good. He paused long enough for a few second of silence to come between them and she asked him if he had lived around the area.

Tannis immediately shook his head, but then remembered that she possibly could see him. "Just passing through," he lent. "I was looking for someone but I'm lost." He stated such a thing as though it were set in stone, as if now that he had been sent off-course, there was no going back to retrace his steps to find himself again. "What about you? Are you lost? I can- I can help you find your way back?" Upon pitching such a question, his hopes sprouted wings; maybe - just maybe - if he helped this unconventional 'damsel in distress,' he could reap some sort of reward.

Indie listened to the brute's tone of voice as he spoke, he appeared to be a little caution of her, as expected, but also she could pick out a few hints of fear. I shalt ask him of it, he probably wouldn't tell a stranger like me. As she listened to him, Indie could sense him getting closer to her, making himself more comfortable. Though he posed no threat, Indie was unsure how to react to his movements. The dame arched her spine inward to rid her back of an ache, shivering as a loud snap of bubble was heard. "Ooh, sorry." She apologised for interupting him, lowering her ears and showing an apologetic smile. She'd hate to seem rude.

The dame laughed when he asked if she was lost. "Lost dear boy? Oh no no no. I think you'll find I sleep here. Can you not smell my scent around this area? I may only come here to sleep but I still know where I am." She laughed again, a sort of bell like sound. Aiming her viewers at the male, Indie tilted her skull and brought up her left paw, using it to try and point in his direction. "If you're lost, you're welcome to stay here, it's not like I own the place. Either that or maybe I can point you in the right direction?" She offered, keeping her paw up but bending it in when she'd finished using it to help animate her sentences.

The shaman lended to her right as she put most her balance on that side. He had probably noticed her eyes as he'd asked that question. Indie knew not of how she looked but she had been told many a time she was missing these things called "pupils" that were what wolves and most creatures used to see. There was no use her sulking about it, she'd lived four years and managed, she could live another four years too. It took a lot for Indie to become upset but it did pain her slightly when others noticed her "fault", though she saw it more as a strength. It meant she didn't judge something by its appearance, she had a wider, yet blinder view of the world.

Tannis cringed and jumped as she popped a portion of her back. He made a face; had she been able to see it, he might have looked somewhat shocked or maybe a bit revolted, as though he had never had to relieve the ache or pressure building up in his joints. Indie apologized then, and he supposed it was all right. It was just... he had never really liked the sound of it. Not even his own, which commonly occurred in his shoulders, knees, ankles, and elbows.

"Lost dear boy?" she questioned, laughing. "Oh no no no. I think you'll find I sleep here." The brute's head tilted and he looked around to set his eyes on what seemed like a decent pile of gathered leaves. "Can you not smell my scent around this area? Prompted to act, Tannis' muzzle lifted and his audibly sniffed. Now that he had really thought about it, her signature scent was actually very prominent in the air and around her small 'camp' by the river. His nose wriggled at the end of his snout and he frowned at himself; perhaps it would have been to his benefit if he actually used his nose from time to time.

Not saying anything, he expected her to simply tell him that she preferred to be on her own or maybe that she had run away or something of the sort. What came instead was an invitation to stay and the confidence that she could point him in the right direction. For Tannis, who was unmistakably lost as he had meant to remain on the western side of Relic Lore in search of his Mistress @Morganna, any which direction of where to go could have been right since he actually was not sure where Willow Ridge was at all anymore.

"Thanks, but no thanks," he told her, hoping she would not take offense. "I don't think I can stay... My mistress might go looking for me." Then, a thought struck him and he quirked a brow, "You wouldn't be familiar with the Archers of Willow Ridge would you? Or... Or any other packs around here?"