Sex: FemaleSlowly, slowly, slowly she came to find that she could move her legs again. Doleful brown eyes had been sheathed by fawn coloured eyelids for about ten minutes by the time she felt her feet beginning to obey the silent plea that came from her mind, certainly not past her lips which were slightly parted, allowing her tongue to loll over her teeth and onto the cold snow beneath her cheek. Move! Move, please! She cried silently, begging for her limbs to do as she asked, but it took some time for her to be able to control her movements. Her feet came first, followed by the ability to withdraw her tongue and lick her dry lips. Her nose quivered against the cold snow and she moved her muzzle slowly though to her, it felt as though she was lurching against the sides of her skull in an effort to try and lift her head. Finally, she could, and the sensation of power came back to her legs though she trembled slightly at first, and reminded herself it was better that she take a moment to recover before she tried to stand. Once the trembling subsided, she propped herself up with her long forelegs and sat on her haunches, before she shook her pelt to rid one side of her body of snow.It had been a branch that had set her off. A branch had moved in the wind, taken by a particularly strong gust, and had reeled against another branch creating a loud, eerie noise that had startled her. Nothing but the sound of a tree moaning. She frowned, doleful eyes glassy with worry. It had been her neck first, and her knees. She'd stumbled, and as soon as she realized what was happening, her heart gave a great, frightful throb and it had all been over. She'd careened forward onto one shoulder and then onto her side, her face pressed into the snow where her breath would eventually wear away a small cave making it easier for her to breathe. She'd felt no pain- but she'd felt the grip of fear come over her over and over again as she'd lain motionless in the snow, conscious but unable to move. She had no control over this fear- she was a creature with a weak spirit and only knew fear when these episodes occurred, and the fear- being the trigger- only made things worse.
Once she felt sound enough, she rose to her feet which were beguilingly steady beneath her. She sniffed the ground for a moment before she raised her eyes and cast a look around. She didn't see anything that might've seen her go down, or revive ten minutes later. Still, she felt guilty and ashamed- she felt as though she should be laughed at for her weakness. She wondered if anyone would ever be cruel to her while she could not move. She wondered if she might suffer some cruel fate if this bout of weakness should happen at the wrong moment. Even a shallow stream could drown her, if she fell in. The thought made her shudder, but also brought her attention to her dry mouth- she would need to find water somewhere nearby, to refresh herself. She could smell other wolves- perhaps she was in the neighbourhood of a pack, she thought, and the mere idea of this made her ears turn back slightly. Still, she pressed on, driven toward a stream or brook so that she could slake her thirst and clear the last bit of fog from her brain.
Breath coming in huffs, Spieden's muscles rolled beneath her thick, dark brown pelt as she loped at a brisk pace. A determined look glowed in her fiery eyes, ears twisting to catch any whisper of noise as she traveled through the familiar Spectral Woods. She was on the hunt, not for prey but searching for anything to back up Nayeli's story of the rogue gang that had captured her.
Spieden was conflicted, not knowing whether she wanted Nayeli's tale to be true or not. If it was, it meant that evil lurked so close to what she now called home. But Spieden couldn't help the sneaking suspicion that Nayeli was lying, working some sort of scheme against Spieden. Things hadn't unfolded the way she thought it would when Nayeli had disappeared, no one had tried to kill her since she had become leader. If anything, Spieden's life as leader had been rather uneventful. Unless... Yes, that was it... The pack had been trying to lure her into a false sense of security, let her grow comfortable in the belief that nothing would happen to her. Spieden had no idea how Nayeli's return factored into this conspiracy, but Spieden wanted to find the bottom of it.
A rustling scrape echoed through the leafless woods, Spieden's gait slowing as she turned her head towards the sound. What was that? Her silver-ticked head tilted, uneven ears cupped forward as she tried to pinpoint the sound and see if any more would follow. ... Nothing. She grunted, not ready to dismiss it as just the wind. Perhaps it was one of the rogues? The scent of another wolf on the breeze caused her to pick up her pace, sight locking on a white shape moving through distant trees.
"Hey you! What're you doing out here?" Spieden barked as she neared the other female. Her tail flicked upwards, her thick neck holding her head level with her body as she stopped to stare at Fife.
Fife lifted her long, slim muzzle to the sky in hopes of seeing a patch of blue, only to see the vague area wherein the sun hid within the clouds, but due to their thickness, there was little chance that the sun would peek through over the next few hours. She wished that the snow would melt and bring soft earth, fresh grass and more bountiful prey. As though on cue, her stomach gave an almost thoughtful gurgle; she hoped she would find the stream soon, so she could quench her thirst and perhaps trick her stomach into thinking that she was thirsty rather than hungry. She hadn't even been aware that she'd been hungry until her stomach made a quiet rumble, as hunger had become a constant companion in the winter.As one who suffered from a condition which varied based on external stimuli, Fife was quite an attentive wolf, even though she wasn't terribly aware of it. Her senses had become heightened by the need to be on guard and ready for anything unusual, lest it should trigger her symptoms. As such, she'd caught the scent of the other female before the wolf's voice rang out, and she had determined even before she saw the husky female that this was one who came from a pack, as the scent of other wolves curled around her like a shawl. She turned her head, lowering it naturally as she did so, to try and pick out the figure between the trees and branches, squinting slightly as she finally managed to pick out the female's shape just after she called out.
Immediately, Fife gauged that this female was a wolf who had not only found herself at the top of a hierarchy, but had earned her position there quite rightfully. She was thick through the middle, with strong legs and large paws that no doubt helped her plough through the snow in the middle of winter. She had a thick cloak of wooly fur, a mottled mixture of blacks, browns and a touch of greys to some of her guard hairs, and moved with a bearlike amble. The words voiced caused Fife to panic for a moment- had she crossed borders? A few quick inhales told her that she had not. She'd smelled the wolves not too far away, but had thought that she'd been giving them a respectful distance- but she knew better than to argue. She lowered her head and bent her knees as she licked her lips in discomfort. It took her a moment to reply, as she sought words that would offend the least. "Passing by," She said, her words spoken with a slow, low drawl. "Looking for water," She added, in case her first answer did not suffice.
As Spieden came to a stop a respectable distance away from the other wolf, she kept her stance alert with tail held level with her spine. Nothing seemed too out of place about the wolf, and a few snuffs of the air between them told Spieden little. The beige female took a respectful stance, which was at least not as over-the-top as the grovelling display Ceara had given.
Spieden silently stared at the creamy coated female for a few seconds longer, considering the answer she received. Internally, she was smacking herself. If this wolf were up to no good, what else could she have said? 'Oh, of course, its me who's terrorizing your pack'. Spieden couldn't help but snuff at her own thoughts. There really was no way to tell the innocent from the guilty. Of course she could send the lanky lone wolf on her way undisturbed, but then Spieden couldn't be sure she'd done her due diligence. She didn't want any of this to come back and bite her in the butt later because she wasn't thorough about things.
"Water, huh?" Spieden finally asked, trying to settle the bristling of her fur and soften the rough edge she often carried in her persona. "I know my way 'round here pretty well. If you want, I could show you the way." She offered, trying to seem nonchalant about it but not particularly succeeding. It was true that she knew the way, but her motives weren't entirely noble. Spieden mostly wanted more time to suss out just who this lone wolf was, and whether they were a threat.
A slow nod was given in response. She sniffed the air, hoping to catch the scent of water she'd caught earlier- but between the crisp scent of snow and the scent of the other wolf, she couldn't smell it anymore and for a moment, she felt let down. Just when she'd thought that she'd managed to get ahead, she was set back to square one. But as soon as the swarthy, robust female began to speak again, her ears perked slightly and her doleful expression was lifted. For a moment, her features became more of what they should have been- pleasant, receptive and alert- but a moment later, she became aware that she would have to do her best to remain submissive, careful and wary of this stranger, lest she should suffer an attack while in her company. Still, she could not refuse the offer."If you wouldn't mind?" She said, voice turning up at the end and to entreat the female further, her tail gave a gentle wag. "I, uh, I'd appreciate that," She said, her slow, drawling speech halted for a moment because of a simple memory lapse. She looked back to her right, where she thought she'd been heading earlier, but yet again she couldn't quite remember which direction she'd intended to go. She instead decided to let the stranger show her the way and took a few steps back, bobbing her head as she did so to gesture for the dark wolf to show the way, as respectfully as possible. "I'm Fife," She said, and tilted one ear forward should her companion wish to converse as they went.
Spieden gave a nod in response as Fife introduced herself. "I'm Spieden Coho," She replied brusquely. Spieden was still wary of the stranger, and it took a conscious effort on her part to adopt a marginally more friendly expression. Or rather, something less than outright suspicion. Her flagging tail dropped from its lofty position, instead draped loosely at her hocks.
"This way," Spieden said with a quirk of her head as she turned and started to head north. She knew there was a stream in that direction, deep enough to have resisted freezing over unlike some of the smaller tributaries. Spieden left room for Fife to walk abreast if she wished, and to be honest hoped that the woman would. The thought of a strange wolf at her back was unnerving.
For a while Spieden remained silent, save for the crunching of her paws through the frozen upper crust of snow as she slowly plodded along, and the soft sound of her own breath.
"So, what brings ya here?" Spieden finally asked, glancing towards her current companion out the corner of her eye. Spieden wasn't talkative herself, but that didn't mean she wasn't unabashedly nosy. And really, it was excusable in her opinion, after all small talk gave something to fill the awkward space of unfamiliarity between them, and Spieden had to determine if this female had anything to do with those awful wolves who'd taken Nayeli. Perhaps all she would hear was lies, but at least that would give her something to go off of.
Fife looked straight ahead as they walked, her sombre brown eyes staring straight down her long, somewhat dipping muzzle as they moved. She became a bit distracted by the sound of their footsteps, and found herself somewhat unnerved whenever she and Spieden matched their strides, making it sound as though only one wolf was walking. She was so distracted by this- and the minimal effort to make sure that her pawsteps did not always land in tandem with Spieden's- that she jerked her head up slightly in surprise when Spieden spoke again.
She was quiet for a moment as she considered the question. Her initial response would have been "water," had she not figured out a moment later that Spieden meant something different. "Oh," She said, as a quiet sort of revelation. "Just same as always." She said, and figured a moment later that she ought to explain. "Don't have a home, so I keep moving." She said. And with the mention of the word 'home,' she remembered the thought she'd had early. "You're an alpha, aren't you?" She asked, glance once again moving to Spieden's dark shoulder before glancing straight ahead again. "You seem like one."
Spieden was relieved that the beige female stepped up to walk along at her side. As she walked she kept one ear crooked towards Fife, the other directed forward to catch the distant sound of trickling water. The reply she received was more of a non-answer in that it told her little about any motives, thoughts, or ambitions. She bobbed her head, as if satisfied by the tidbit of information, though some remnant of manners kept her from prodding further.
Fife's observation caught the Coho woman off guard. She couldn't help but bark out a coarse laugh. Honestly, Spieden was surprised. She was an alpha, that was true, but she certainly didn't think she seemed like one. All the leaders she'd ever known exuded an aura of authority and power. A leader should be wise, skilled, charismatic, all traits which she sorely lacked. Next to her counterpart Triell and his collected composure, how the mantle of leadership fit him as well as his own skin, Spieden felt like a bumbling cub on their first hunt. It was a role she had filled out of necessity and duty rather than earning it through skill or determination. None of it came naturally to her, after having lived a life that had earned her less respect than a crawling worm. But she still put all of her effort into doing what she knew had to be done.
"How'd ya guess?" Spieden asked, a wry quirk at the corner of her lips. She kept her line of sight directed ahead, picking out the silver glint of a brook through the trees, though her ears stayed honed on Fife.