Any way the wind blows [AW]

I tried to set this as AW, but it disappeared somehow and I can't change now... but yeah, anyone is welcome!

Snow lay thickly between the trees, swathing the spaces between them with flawless white that muffled Lucien's footsteps and obscured the terrain below it's deceptively perfect surface. It was slow going for the young male - overnight, clouds had passed overhead, leaving a fresh, pillowy obstacle course in their wake. Every few steps, his paws would punch through to sink below the snow's surface - there simply wasn't enough crust formed upon it yet to support his weight, despite the snowshoe-like size of his paws. A lesser (or perhaps, wiser) wolf might have been tempted to hole up somewhere warm on a day like today, and wait for better travelling conditions. But the truth was that Lucien didn't really have anywhere like that to be. The lands to the north of these had been cruel and worse still than this place seemed to be so far. Lucien had contemplated the thought of turning around and going home, but there was nothing for him back there, either, was there? Nothing he wanted, anyway. And so he'd drifted along south, following a frozen stream here, a prey trail there, until he found himself... well, wherever he was now. Looking about as he went, he realized just how silent and almost oppressive the forest around him had become.

His thoughts were interrupted as his paw broke through the layer of snow once more, only to meet a tree's gnarled root as he tried to continue propelling himself forward. Luc's brisk pace had been brought to a sudden halt as he tripped face-first into the snow. Wincing, he pulled himself back up onto his feet in the next moment. "Pfffff-!", he grumbled as he snorted the stinging crystals of ice from his nostrils. At least no one was around to witness such a foolish move on his part. At that thought he was suddenly alert, ears standing at full attention upon his head as his eyes nervously scanned his surroundings. Everything seemed quiet, which should have had the young man feeling relieved, but instead he found himself hit by an unexpected pang of loneliness. Luc realized he wouldn't have minded at all if he'd spotted a familiar face laughing at him. Or even a stranger, or a damned crow, or anything at all but these silent, creepy trees. Everything had seemed so perfect during the summer and fall - he'd run with a group of other young wolves, and for a while it had seemed that the whole world existed simply for them to roam in their wild abandon, unfolding spectacle after amazing spectacle before their eyes. Then winter had come, and their youthful fellowship had broken apart - like a flock of birds hit by a sudden gale and sent spinning. Luc had often wondered where the rest of his friends might be, but the thoughts made him feel bittersweet, and he quickly pushed them to the back of his mind.

Setting off again, Luc was glad to see his paw seemed to be no worse for the wear. His breath puffed bright clouds in the cold air, catching the feeble sunlight that slanted through the naked canopy above. He wondered if this region had a name, or if it was bound to be another empty place that unfolded before him, serving no purpose but to buoy him along to somewhere else. Lucien was confident enough (perhaps foolishly so) of his capabilities to survive on his own, but it was beginning to grow painfully dull being alone all the time. He wanted someone to talk with, hunt with, fight with - he didn't really care which, just something to break the cold grey monotony of his recent days.

(This post was last modified: Feb 11, 2015, 06:56 AM by Lucien.)

@Lucien 

The sun continued to rise and set, and incredibly the hours of light grew. Glorious sunlight that dappled her thicket and bathed the nearby meadow in iridescence. Iopah slowed as she reached the edge of that meadow. The rays beat down on her back for the briefest of seconds before she slipped into the shadows of the dead forest. Soon it would be more than light, soon the land would thaw. Soon. For now, a fragile possibility waited inside her.

This forest had never been her favorite place, and the sentiment only continued now. It was dark. Feeble rays of light leaked down, casting the half-dead trees in stark shadows. She stepped forward, feeling cold air cling to her coat. Her eyes slid along the ground, pelt bristling as brittle limbs snagged in her coat. This forest always felt dead to her, a belief that was supported when the resident wolves vanished. Now all that lived here were their ghosts, and hopefully a herd of deer. Her pack mates were still gone. It was salt in the wound considering how much searching she had done. All for nothing, just an early morning argument and a case of guilt. But the sun continued to rise and set, and Iopah started hunting again. She fervently hoped the herds were here as the meadow had been clear of tracks.

A soft noise drew her attention, unexpected motion in an otherwise still forest, and her path veered right. The hunter slunk closer to Lucien, her belly hugging the ground and leg slipping silently into the snow. She was the right color for this. A pelt the shade of day old snow, gently marred with shades of muted gray and pale gold.

Through the line of trees something shifted and Iopah froze, paw dangling over the snow. The color was wrong, the shadow it cast was too large. This wasn't something she commonly thought of as a meal. The paw sank into the snow and she watched the other for a moment, then let out a single bark. Very few entered these woods anymore and she was curious as to his purpose here.

"Speech."

He hadn't even taken ten more steps when a single bark rang out, clear as day. Lucien froze in his tracks, lifting his paws as he turned 'round to face the direction the sound had come from. His jaws parted as he drank in the air, eyes searching the canvas of trees and dead underbrush and snow for signs of life, anything out of place. Whoever it was had come at him from an angle from which he couldn't catch their scent - almost as if they were hunting him. The yearling's tongue nervously flicked over his dark lips before he composed himself, squaring his shoulders and lifting his earthen tail a few degrees higher. Why didn't they show themselves?

Maybe it's some kind of game, he thought. At that idea, he tossed his head back and gave a loud bark in response, daring whoever it was to show themselves or ambush him or whatever it was they were gonna do. "Yeah? Who's there, a ghost? Why don't you show yourself already!" he called out. He still hadn't spotted @Iopah where she had crept up on him, and he didn't like not knowing where or what or who was watching him. He had never really been superstitious, but the idea of some long-dead spirit taking up residence in these parts seemed to almost make more sense than another living being. If it was another wolf, they really ought to reconsider trying to sneak up on him.

Just then, though, the still air stirred slightly, and he caught the scent of the other wolf. The scent on the breeze smelled like a she-wolf, not decay or whatever ghosts were supposed to smell like. "Listen, I'm not lookin' for trouble, okay?" He called out a little more calmly, hoping that the words would be enough to draw some sort of response. Of course, if she was looking for trouble, he'd be happy to oblige her.

(This post was last modified: Feb 11, 2015, 07:33 AM by Lucien.)

@Lucien! 

Between brittle limbs and splintering trees she saw their reaction, a searching nose and raised tail. The tail hanging between her own hocks stiffened at the assertive gesture. They did not step in her direction and she held her place, not sure of the wisdom in approaching. Even with the distance it was clear the other wolf was greater in height and weight. This forest held so many unsavory entities that the reserving wolf was even less likely to rush up and blithely introduce herself.

Lucien turned and shouted into the quiet that had fallen, Iopah held onto the shifting shadows and let him. He mocked her, an accusation that simply made her blink. She didn't care what he thought of her, an irrelevant idea that was dismissed instantly. When he called her a ghost, her gaze probed the empty forest with disquiet. This forest had not always been empty. It had been a home once, and might still hold the ghost of a deceased member.

The subtle change in his voice recaptured her attention. Something had made him reconsider. Iopah snorted loudly, the plume of white flaring suddenly. She pressed forward, easing through her own breath. "I would be careful. I don't think the ghosts that live here like being bossed about." There was a hint of a joke in the admonishment. A few yards away Iopah stopped, a faint smile tracing her lips. "And I promised to stop searching for trouble." Her tail twitched nervously between her hocks and a single paw lifted in the event a quick escape was needed. "I meet very few wolves in this forest" She supplied honestly, ending with a curious head tilt. So why was he here?

@Iopah

It seemed for a long moment that his words had not had their intended affect. No one showed themselves, and Lucien's words echoed and died in the otherwise quiet forest. His second statement proved more effectual - a snort issued abruptly from the underbrush, and the young male's amber gaze flickered instantly to the spot, studying the woman who stepped forth. At first glance, she looked incredibly familiar, enough so that Lucien's eyes widened in surprise, and his jaw fell open before he caught himself and snapped it shut again. She could have been one of the Chastain clan, for all he knew - though he'd ever really only known one member of his blood-family beside himself. She shared his mother's build, though - the typical medium, feminine form of the Great Plains subspecies, fit and evenly proportioned, though her own coat was but a faded imitation of Ezra's autumn-and-snow coloration.

Her first words were not a greeting but a reprimand of sorts, delivered with a small wry smile which Lucien noticed and cheekily mirrored back at her. "Then it's lucky for me you aren't one after all... right?" He noticed too the nervous twitch of her plume. He didn't exactly like the idea that he was making her feel ill at ease, but neither did he like being scolded as if she really were his mother, and so he stayed where he was, shoulders squared and slightly tail raised, rather than moving to try and release some of the tension in the situation. Lucien had always been supremely comfortable in his own skin, wherever he was. He was not some pup, and he didn't particularly like to be scolded by anyone, let alone a stranger. Only her teasing tone kept his features set in a smirk rather than becoming sour. Teasing was a far better game than an ambush lecture about how to properly respect the dead.

Lucien listened on, drinking in the air with his nostrils as he did so. She said she didn't meet many wolves around here... did she live here or something? But no, he certainly hadn't smelled any borders, and mingled within her aroma were the unmistakable scents of others - a pack. So if this wasn't their home, why did she care? Why was she here, snooping on him? "Well, I'm not most wolves. I'm Lucien Chastain." he stated blithely, waiting eagerly to see what she had to say about that.

(This post was last modified: Feb 12, 2015, 11:56 PM by Lucien.)

@Lucien

She wasn't expecting to be studied so intensely. Standing in the deep snow, Iopah could feel her paw pads begin to tingle with unease. Her golden eyes flickered around Lucien, keeping an eye on him while avoiding direct eye-contact. She wasn't sure what was going on here. Certainly she didn't recognize him, though, had he been four years older and a shade darker Lucien could have passed for her  litter-mate brother. Lucien's mouth fell open and her eyes scanned his form in a new light. Could he know her somehow? Mind raced through the possibilities, while body fought the urge to back away. Many on the Black Hills were pale-pelted, sharing blood in addition to bitter animosity. There was a chance he hailed from the region, a member from a displaced pack or wanderer from the south. But, Iopah had not been south in over three years, how could he know her?

He spoke and her eyes jerked toward him. It had passed over her head that her first words were chastising, and his sarcastic reply went right back over in turn. It was a strange statement, of course it was good. After all, who wanted to be or meet a ghost in a forest like this? She nodded slowly, though her eyes fogged with lingering confusion over his statement. Iopah wasn't quite sure what to say back at that.

Lucien Chastain.

The last name was unfamiliar; one last time her gaze flew to his back, thinking of the lost pelt of her family. At least she had an opening now. "I'm Iopah," She stated simply. Rarely did she neglect her last name, even more rare did she suspect another to be from the Black Hills. Her parents had been ruthless and she still carried their name. "I used to know the pack that lived here." She started. It was truthful enough, far enough from lying that the words flowed evenly. "Now that they've gone, I hunt here sometimes.

"You didn't happen to see another did you?" For reason's that she couldn't articulate she kept an eye on this area. They had been allies and some thing terrible had happened to them. Some had persisted, but most simply vanished. Now she knew more of the secret of their destruction, an irony and a guilt she couldn't shake. If she ever found one, what would she ever say?

@Iopah

She said nothing until he had finished, instead standing there with her gaze flitting over him indirectly while she nodded. The momentary quiet was broken again as she gave her name - Iopah. Luc rolled the name over in his mind for a moment, affixing it to the image of the woman standing before him so that he wouldn't forget it if they ever crossed paths again. Iopah. It was a nice-sounding, unique name, which should make it easier to remember.

Her next words were an explanation of sorts, at chich Lucien's ears perked forward. A pack used to live here, but no more? If she came here to hunt, then it was unlikely it had been a lack of game that drove them off. Maybe it had been nothing... or perhaps these woods really were cursed somehow. Or, a more plausible idea occurred to him, her pack might have run them off if they were close enough to tread the same hunting grounds. His imagination began to weave away with the implications and possibilities, and he blinked when Iopah continued with a question, the runaway gears in his head grinding to a halt and processing for an instant before he responded.

"No, no one else... not even anything worth trying to hunt," he answered with a light shrug of his shoulders. It had been several days since he'd run into another wolf, and that hadn't been in this forest, anyway. "but, I only just arrived here," he concluded on an optimistic note. He wanted to ask about the pack that had once lived here and why they had gone, but it seemed to him that something about their encounter was still making the lady uncomfortable. Lucien had been starved of interaction of late (aside from one other he had met some days prior) and he feared that Iopah might decide to leave quite soon, and he would be alone again. Incorrectly guessing that it was their talk of ghosts and spirits that had unsettled the lady, he chose to ask about her instead. Plopping himself into a more comfortable sitting position, he let his tail brush back and forth behind him, sweeping across the powdery snow. "...You're in a pack, right? Is it somewhere nearby?" Perhaps she and the other wolf were in the same pack, or perhaps not. Either way, Luc was curious about this region, and the promise that it might hold more of his kind than he'd initially thought. Maybe he'd finally made it far enough South to stop running from winter's terrible death throes.

@Lucien

"No one else... not even anything worth trying to hunt."

Iopah was a very inept liar, a self-realized trait that often resulted in blunt honesty or outright avoidance of the question. She was often alone in that character flaw. Others can, and frequently did, lie. It was a simple fact that rarely worked in her favor. Instead, the hunter studied was she was fluent in: body language. Her eyes followed the candid shrug of his shoulders and his unforced gaze, while the wind brought his scent. There was nothing but the yearling male in front of her, free of other wolves or a meal. A quiet sigh fell as his words were accepted as truth.

She wanted to stand impassive, to show that the lack did not bother her. But where Iopah stumbled over her words, her gestures were fluent and revealing. Her tail went limp, a spring uncurling to let the tip brush sadly against the snow. Another meaningless day in a month spent searching for family and friends. Her face turned away to gaze into the life-less forest till his voice pulled it back.

Yes, she did belong to a pack. For someone who relied so heavily on scent and visual cues it seemed obvious. Her head only tilted in soft inquiry of his question, wondering at it's reason. "They are nearby," she finally replied, voice heavy with weariness, "to the west."

His initial shock, the earlier vague comment and now the question made her reappraise him. He really did look like someone from her past. "Where are you from? You look like..." Here she trailed off, gaze running over pale legs and gray saddle, then casting pointedly over to him, "Someone I should know."

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

@Iopah
You can have Io notice the deer, if you want? Or not, either way xD

It was clear that his words had disappointed her somehow - she sighed and her posture seemed to fall, her stance no longer quite so proud. Luc's head tilted to one side, in concern that he had said something wrong despite his best efforts. Luckily, it seemed as if a change of subject was somewhat agreeable to her as well. His tail brushed uncertainly in the snow behind him as Iopah spoke of her pack. So presumably it wasn't them she was searching for find out here... at least not all of them. They may be worth paying a visit to, he thought, though sometimes it seemed to him as if all the packs he met held the same basic ideals at their core - work yourself to the bone for us, give us your life if we ask it, and trade your freedom for the security of the fold. Maybe they were different, maybe not. Lucien was still holding out hope of finding a group of wolves with a better sort of code.

Her next words pulled him from those thoughts. I guess she noticed, too, he mused. "I'm not sure, to be honest. Have you met any other Chastains? You look like... someone I knew," Luc responded. He didn't feel up to delving any deeper into it, unless by some odd twist of fate she did recognize the name after all, despite having said nothing earlier. This was the only real link or clue he had to his family and heritage, and though he had little hope of it leading him to any answers here and now, or ever, one never knew what might happen. He could imagine it - finding his way all the way here, just to find it was where he belonged all along. The idea seemed almost dangerously appealing, and certainly too good to be true... right? "I was born in the Stonecrop Hills, to the west of here," Luc added. Iopah didn't look like any of the Stonecrop wolves, making it seem even more unlikely to Luc that she'd have heard of the place, than her having heard of his family name before. To her, it was probably another meaningless tidbit of information. "I certainly don't think you'd have a reason to know me. I'm nothing but a traveler." A grin spread itself on his features once more at this last proclamation, more proud than any noble listing off a lofty title. I am nothing if not free.

(This post was last modified: Feb 21, 2015, 06:46 AM by Lucien.)