The Wildwood knock out

@Firefly

Darrah liked to imagine that he'd traveled an extraordinary amount of land for a yearling, but truth be told he never crept far from home. In fact, today would mark the farthest he'd ever been. The wildwood. At first glance, a beautiful forest, but take a closer look and you'll quickly realize destruction had found it's way through at some point or another. "Looks like.. Fire?" The Tainn had never seen fire in person, though he was positive he had heard tales of it's evil from his elders, or perhaps simply eavesdropping. How he'd learned of the element was of no importance however, knowing was what truly mattered.

The Prince chose to inspect the territory further, quickly finding that he hadn't much else to do anyway. "I wonder if anyone lived here.. Before the fire.." A sad thought, but he couldn't help it. Things like this happen every day, and though a slim possibility, he knew there was nothing stopping a natural disaster from tearing his home to shreds as well. "No, don't think like that Darrah." He sighed, allowing the fear to slightly subside from his gut. "It would never happen."

Trekking onward, Darrah allowed his eyes to soak in every last burnt branch. Eerie, yet somehow beautiful. 'Life sure is weird.' grumbling, the young man tried to focus his mind on more uplifting matters.  'The vegetation is growing back, slowly but surely this will begin to look even more beautiful that it had before.' Something he wasn't sure of. Yet from the looks of it, seemed to be true. "I'd like to visit it then.' the heir grinned.

(This post was last modified: May 19, 2015, 11:10 PM by Darrah.)

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.

Firefly crinkled her nose as she scented the ground and nearby foliage.  She had found that there were an unusual amount of foxes roaming around and with the newborn pups, the huntress wanted to make sure that the foxes were no where near her home.  Honestly, she had gotten a little carried away.  She had set out late last night after catching the scent and had chased several foxes away from the territory.  She spent the rest of the following day collecting prey and making sure there was absolutely no sign of foxes anywhere near her home.  One fox in particular was giving her trouble.  She had chased her away, but the fox just kept doubling back.  Now Fly was determined to kill the thing and be done with it.  She had followed it all the way to the Wildwood, but had lost its scent as soon as she crossed the creek.  Now there was less foliage--everything had been burned down by a fire several years ago--and it was harder to track the scent.   Fly's timber brown eyes traced the edges of the horizon.  It was already very late and she would have to head home soon if only to let Minka know where she had been and inform her about the fox problem.  With an exhausted sigh Firefly turned to head back to the creek and start the long journey home.  The russet huntress allowed herself to admire the small vegetation that was growing back.  The last time she had come to this forest she had been in awe of the very destructive power of fire.  Now, Fly was in awe of the power of nature to recuperate from such destruction.  Fly wondered if all things would get better in time the way the forest slowly came back to life.   As she was musing about the forest, Fly caught the scent of another wolf.  The scent was hastily followed by the sight of just that wolf, walking around with wide eyes scouring the forest just as she had been.  For a moment Fly took in the appearance of the wolf.  He was Kova's age, but all black except for a single patch of ghostly white on his forehead.  His eyes were a blazing orange color similar to her own fur.  The white patch of fur emphasized the vibrant color of his eyes, but it was more than color that made them vibrant.  Fly found that his eyes had a certain light to them that she liked.  After this moment of observation, Fly let out a low 'woof' to alert the young man to her presence.   "Hey there!  My name is Firefly.  How are you this evening?" Fly asked politely, keeping her head and tail in a neutral position.  She kept her distance, wary of the wolf at first.  She had learned to regard strangers with a certain degree of caution, but her presence was probably obvious to him so it would have been rude to not introduce herself.   "Speech"

Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

Darrah was an easy wolf to startle, in fact, he'd almost grown completely accustom to being spooked by passerby's. One would think the effect would wear off at some point, but that unfortunately just wasn't case for this prince. He hadn't noticed the girl's presence until she announced it herself.  Though in the very least she had the courtesy to do so, something no other wolf had done for him. The Tainn was always caught off guard, and was never quite quick enough to catch himself before making a scene of his terror. Poor thing must of leaped ten feet in the air before rejoicing with reality, some prince. 

"Ah! Uhm.. H-hello!" Desperately trying to collect his thoughts, the boy let slip an awkward smile. 'I should be careful, my mothers kidnappers are still out here.. Somewhere..' Noting the females neutral posture, Darrah allowed his body to do the same. "I'm Darrah Tainn, Prince of Oak Tree Bend, Son of Triell Tainn." He bowed, was it just him or was his usual greeting beginning to sound a bit prestigious? "I'm doing quite well, thank you. Just enjoying some time away from home." The female appeared around his age, maybe a little older. Her perfume wasn't from the area, or anywhere he'd ever been. 'If she were one of them, I'd recognize the scent. I was told they were closer to home.' It was almost a relief, this could very well end up being a regular conversation.

"Oh, pardon me. How are you doing?" With all threat aside, he couldn't help but begin to feel nervous. This would be his first experience talking to a female around his age. 'Oh, Shit.'

One king, One crown.

Darrah Tainn

(This post was last modified: May 20, 2015, 11:56 PM by Darrah.)

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.

Firefly was surprised to see that she had obviously surprised the young wolf.   When he introduced himself, Fly was even more surprised to learn that he was a prince.  She respectfully dipped her head at the title.  Immediately Fly began comparing the young wolf to Kova; they were similar in age and both princes so it was hard not to.  However, aside from those two facts the two seemed quite different to Fly.  This wolf seemed nervous and a little unsure of himself, whereas Kova was confident and usually pretty fearless.  Curious, to know more about this new prince Fly settled onto her back haunches, a sign that she was more than happy to sit and talk for a bit.   "I was chasing foxes away from my pack's territory."  Fly answered proudly.  Then, after a quick look around at her surroundings, Fly added a bit more sheepishly, "I guess I got a little carried away. My home is pretty far from here." Fly was careful not to specify exactly where her home was at the moment.  The young wolf was relatively sure Minka did not want the new pack location revealed just yet.   "Well Darrah it's nice to meet you.  Have you ever been to this forest before?"  Firefly guessed that the yearling had not not travelled too far from his home just yet and now would be the time he would start making longer journeys and seeing more of the land.  It was an exciting stage of life and Firefly had to admit that she still liked the idea of traveling. However, her winter journey had definitely killed some of her escapist desires.  For now, she was more than happy to be apart of Round Stone Crest and travel only as far as Minka allowed.   "Speech"

Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

Darrah returned his companies bow, and listened carefully to what she had to say. He tried his best to comfort the anxiety that tangled and twisted at his insides, but to no avail. It must of been painfully obvious to the female that he found her intimidating, but how else was he supposed to feel? She was of the opposite sex! Nobody had ever taught the lad how to properly act around a lady, and he was without a doubt the worst improviser on the face of the planet! It sure didn't help that she held a certain charm to her that would forever be unattainable to the likes of him, conversing appeared natural to her! He was a complete stranger, yet her words made him feel like a friend. How was a sheltered recluse such as himself supposed to react to a personality like that?

Finally able to regulate his breathing properly, the Tainn took interest in Firefly's wondering away from home. Previous actions told him she hadn't been lost, there'd be no way she'd present herself so calmly if that were the case. Inhaling her foreign perfume once more, the boy couldn't help but wonder where exactly the she-wolf came from. 'No point in asking, I've probably never heard of the place anyways.' scoffing in thought, he allowed his mind to travel elsewhere. "Ah, the foxes.." He'd almost forgotten about those pesky little scavengers, and made a side-note to act on them himself at a later date. "I'm a decent ways away from home myself, though for no reason in particular.." So far so good, as far as he could tell.

 

It took a direct question to remind Darrah of his horrible nerves. Hell, it probably took him a good minute or two to finally choke something presentable out of his throat. "I-I've.. never been here, no.." The boy took a second to regain control of himself before continuing on. "In fact, this is the farthest I've been from the den.. I think.. H-how about you?" Finally forcing himself to sit down with the she-wolf, the prince let out a sheepish smile.

One king, One crown.

Darrah Tainn

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.