Secret Falls One of a kind

@Karina

If it were a miracle Darrah found the Secret Falls once, then what would you call it if he were to stumble across them for a second time? The boy wouldn't know, for he'd not heard the tails of the rarity that was this location to begin with. "Still just as beautiful as last time.." he was truly in awe. If recollection served him right, the prince wasn't as emotionally stable last visit. It was strange realizing just how far he'd came since then.. "I've developed quite a bit in the past month or so.." he chuckled, knowing this time Triell wouldn't be there to surprise him again.

With nothing better to do, Darrah found himself once more dipping his body into the falls. Today was his off day, the Tainn had been working quite hard the past couple of weeks proving himself to the pack. Though he didn't feel he deserved a day off just yet, his body told him otherwise. "Think I finally scared off all those damn foxes.." he sighed. "For now at least.. They'll come back.." hard truth, but at least he was down to earth enough to accept it for fact. 'Though I still need to make my round of apologies..' Saying sorry was the hard part, the thought alone made his nerves tangle. 'I've never been very..social..' though that was a new shame in itself. The prince knew just how charismatic he could be if his anxiety would allow it. He'd seen it first hand!

"Sure is relaxing.." the yearling swam deeper into the waters, letting his body completely relax for once. Things were finally looking up for the raven heir, and he'd keep it that way if he could. 'I've been so fixated on stars that I've never taken proper time out of my day to realize the very beauty around me on a day to day basis..' He closed his eyes, taking in every bit of fresh air he could. Darrah was finally experiencing bliss.

 

One king, One crown.

Darrah Tainn

(This post was last modified: May 25, 2015, 12:02 AM by Darrah.)

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.

These two seem to be a lot alike.. Karina is socially awkward and anxious too! Right now she's terrified because she smells the Iopah/Koda followers all around the area, and she's not sure if they're a pack and worries she's accidentally intruded. She thinks Darrah is one of these packwolves and is going to attack her if he sees her.

Having grown up for the last year in the heavily-populated Cedarwood Forest, the Baranski princess hardly noticed the presence of a strange pack’s scent as she wandered southward through the trees, following along the shoreline of Hearthwood River.  She had learned as a lost, wandering pup that even if she wasn’t sure about the direction from which she came, as long as she could find the river it would lead her home. After learning that lesson the hard way with her brother Orren, the young lady never let the river out of earshot when exploring all alone.  Running away from danger only worked if you were running toward home, otherwise you would probably just end up running toward something more dangerous.

Speaking of danger, the scents of wolves all around had finally grown heavy enough to peak alarm within the distracted yearling. Despite her preoccupation with sniffing out new herbs to bring home, Karina was certain that if she had come across a pack’s boundary she would have noticed. Yet here it smelled as if she had stumbled straight into the heart of a strange pack’s territory: a realization that struck terror into the lone traveler’s heart. The river’s churning sound and scent had been increasing at a steady crescendo, and now the thunderous crashing of a waterfall was audible to the princess. Knowing that the swirling air currents around a waterfall would work to disguise her scent for the meantime, Karina dashed for the falls, planning on hiding there until she could rest and regroup in order to think up an escape plan.

Coming to a halt at the top of the waterfall, the princess lowered her body to a crouch among the boulders at the waterfall’s threshold. If she held still her gray coat would blend with the rocks, creating for her a disguise and a hiding place for the now. Concealed among the rocks, the girl was able to calm down enough to enjoy the scenery spread out below her. Her relaxation was not to last; a disembodied voice floated up from below and Karina realized with a start that she was not alone. One inch at a time, the princess wriggled her way forward in order to peek over the edge to get a look at the stranger.

A shock of black fur was all that met Karina’s gaze, her soft blue eyes too cloudy to give her more information than that. At least he was alone—she had a shot at outrunning one wolf by himself, especially if he hadn’t already scented her.  She began scooting backward slowly, eyes trained on the stranger below. A skull-sized rock below her forepaw wiggled, and to Karina’s horror it tipped over the edge of the falls. As if in slow motion, the rock tumbled and bounced down the falls, splashing into the pool very near the swarthy stranger. With a squeak of dismay, Karina pulled her face away from the edge to hide from view. She knew she ought to run, but panic had frozen her in place.

 

   

    
 

Omg they're gonna be so cute once they actually start talking to each other!! He thinks she might be a kidnapper right now, they're both so wrong! Eep!!

 

Darrah remained oblivious to the fact that physical labor could take a serious toll on your body, at least until it was too late. He found himself entering a dream like state in the comfort of the falls. Dozing in and out of consciousness, the prince let his body go limp. He'd allow the current to take him wherever it pleased, whilst keeping safety a main priority of course. 'Guess I needed a day off after all..' he grinned. It was very probable he'd end up asleep if he continued on uninterrupted, fortunately enough for him that could never be the case.

Terror suddenly ripped the Tainn back to reality as a stone, decent in size, landed directly in front of his face. "What the-" Fixating his gaze toward the position in which it had came, Darrah slowly made a retreat from the waters. It had become abruptly clear to the yearling that he wasn't alone as originally intended, and almost instantly did he feel regret toward being so careless. 'My mothers kidnappers have yet to be found.. This could be it for me! I'm such an idiot!' Panic was setting in, and the boy had not a single clue how to escape without causing some sort of trouble for himself.

 

Inhaling the surrounding scents, one perfume in particular stuck out like a soar thumb. How hadn't he noticed it upon arrival? 'Someone else is definitely present..' Almost trembling, the boy squinted toward the top of the falls. "H-Hello?" He'd wanted to move forward, investigate matters thoroughly, but his body simply wouldn't allow it. "Who's there? I-I won't.. I don't want to hurt you!" Having mustered up enough courage for that one last call, the prince waited in agony for some sort of response.

One king, One crown.

Darrah Tainn

(This post was last modified: May 28, 2015, 12:13 AM by Darrah.)

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

Karina stayed frozen in place with eyes shut tight for what felt like ages, waiting to feel tooth and claw raking into her body with each passing second. After a long while of huddling at the top of the waterfall without anyone so much as tapping her on the shoulder, the yearling lit her eyes open and her head rise, just to see why she wasn’t crowfood yet. She heard the same voice calling up to her from the same place, at the bottom of the waterfall, and though she couldn’t quite hear over the roar of the falls what the stranger was saying she detected in huis voice (his very young-sounding voice) a hint of fear. If there was one thing Karina knew, it was fear.

The princess scooted once more to peer over the precipice. “I’m sorry for intruding on your packlands,” she squeaked, but as soon as the words were out she regretted them.  What on earth would possess her to remind the stranger that he ought to be attacking her right now? “But really the border should be marked better!” she called again, hoping the poor border markers might serve as an excuse and he might possibly let her live. After thinking over that comment for another second, she realized that it could probably be offensive.. If he wasn’t planning on attacking her before, now that she had insulted his pack she had given him double reason to pick a fight. The girl could feel wild panic welling up in her chest once more, and she yelled down the only thing that came to mind.

“I- I have more rocks!” she threatened, remembering how close the rock she had kicked free had come to accidentally hitting the stranger. After realizing that of all things, she had just outright threatened a pack wolf on his own territory, she knew without a doubt she had just dug her own grave. Somehow this thought was strangely calming—that there was nothing she could do to avoid death anymore—and a very uncharacteristic wave of confidence settled over her. The Baranski princess stood, casting a resigned look down at the raven-colored packwolf. If he was going to kill her, it was time for him to come up here and get it over with.

   

    
 

The wolf showed it's face, she was female, about his age, and possessed the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen. He immediately felt immense disappointment toward her gender, proven fact, the opposite sex made him nervous. Ladies were hard for him to converse with, especially ones undergoing stress, which was without a doubt the case here. It hadn't been helpful that he too felt horrendously dismayed, his facial expressions probably read something along the lines of 'continue at your own risk'. He remained uneasy with how the further interactions would go between them.

 

It would seem that the little wolf had no intentions of letting Darrah speak, which wasn't necessarily a problem for the young Tainn. The more she bumbled on about, the less chatter he'd find himself making. Things started off harmless, she threw out some sort of apology about pack territories which didn't quite make sense to him, then wasted no time criticizing the way boundaries were marked.  'Sort of a reverse apology, but I get it. Although I wasn't aware of a pack around here. Perhaps I should cease visitation to the falls for a while.' as if he'd be lucky enough to find them again at all. 'She's digging herself a hole here..' he sighed, dreading the chance to explain himself.

Just as the raven prince thought the situation couldn't possibly escalate into something even more confusing, threats were made. The stranger seemed to have intentions of clocking him with a few more rocks, which in all honesty wasn't something Darrah would look forward to. "W-Wait!!" he stuttered. "I-I'm not dangerous! Don't hurt me!" he began to distance himself even more, worried that the female might take action on her fulmination. "I w-was just here to relax! I swear, If you throw rocks at me... It's not going to be pretty!" cowering, the yearling regretted his impulsive threat. 'I'm not very experienced, but I'm almost positive that's NOT the way you talk to a lady.'

One king, One crown.

Darrah Tainn

(This post was last modified: May 31, 2015, 04:50 PM by Darrah.)

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.

Though her eyes weren’t the sharpest, this timid girl knew well the shrinking movements and wavering voice tones that corresponded to absolute terror—and all this she recognized immediately in the dark guardian down below. Karina cocked her head to the side as she watched the young man, realizing that this was the first time she had ever intimidated another wolf, or anything larger than a fox for that matter. It was the first thing she asked Kjors to teach her, she recalled—how to scare someone away without ever having to fight them.  Her lessons must have working, she thought with surprise. She’d asked Kjors to make her scarier, and she supposed he had.

The yearling stuttered out something about not wanting to harm Karina, which also surprised the girl. Clearly the rest of the pack had gone off, likely on a hunting trip, and left this one here to guard the territory..  Now Karina didn’t know much about being a guardian seeing as it was a career path she was wasn’t exactly cut out for.. but her impression of guardians was that they were supposed to  guard.

“..You’re not mad at me for trespassing?” the girl ventured, struggling to keep the incredulity out of her voice.  If this packwolf didn’t know he was supposed to attack her, she wasn’t trying to tip him off. He spoke once more, talking about coming here to relax, and confusion clouded Karina’s thoughts. “You..  don’t live here?” The girl finally said, in her bewilderment missing completely his return threat about the rocks.  It began to dawn on her that she might have been looking at a yearling much like herself, who had crossed over this pack’s poorly-marked boundary unwittingly. The next thought that occurred to her was that she had just threatened the only wolf that might have helped her should the missing pack return.

   

    
 

Trespassing? Darrah paused at the female's question. Why would he be angered? The falls didn't belong to him, he'd thought they were free lands. "This.. This isn't my territory? I-I'm not mad!" He snapped, truth being he was growing frustrated with all of the current confusion, and perhaps even a little impatient. "W-Who are you?!" Maintaining proper etiquette was proving to become a difficult task for the prince, something he wouldn't be proud to look back upon. Manners were important to him, but his head was beginning to spin! He was uncomfortable! "I-I'm sorry..." he murmured under his breath, studying the girls physique further for the sake of his own well-being.

It was growing blatantly obvious to the Tainn that this young lady held no association with his mothers kidnappers, but that definitely wouldn't deem her safe just yet. He'd never experienced a situation quite like this before, and honestly he probably should have already attempted an escape. Darrah hated confusion, though there seemed to be no avoiding the feeling in his life as of recent. 'Alright, Maybe I should try being nicer.. She's obviously just as confused as I, maybe she's just lost..' With a sigh, he cautiously allowed his body to move a few paces forward.

"i-I'm sorry.." he cleared his throat, if only to allow a few extra moments to process his thoughts. "I'm Darrah.. I-I'm the prince of Oak Tree Bend, is there anything I can help you with? A-are you lost?" There, that wasn't so bad now was it? A true heir would treat those in need with kindness, and he was the true heir.

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.

The girl’s head titled in curiosity as he insisted that he wasn’t mad; this wasn’t even his pack’s territory. Though she was still confused, Karina felt her blind terror begin to ebb away slightly. He snapped at her, demanding her to reveal her identity, and she backed away from the edge of the waterfall with a frightened yip. And moments ago he’d said he wasn’t mad! He needed to make up his mind. Concealed once more by the edge of the precipice, Karina’s ears rose to attention to hear what the stranger might say next. Surprisingly, it was a muttered apology, barely audible above the crash of the falls. The girl lowered herself to her belly and wriggled forward to peek at the swarthy young man once more. For the first time she noticed he had a white stripe between his eyes, a facial feature that seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t place where she had last seen it…

A skunk. It was a skunk! The stranger had a skunk’s face!  An amused grin began to form across Karina’s face—a very unusual expression for her—as her panic dissipated. He apologized again, this time more audibly, and Karina was able to manage the faintest wag of her tail, though it stilled very quickly. Skunkfaced he may be, he was still a stranger who hadn’t proven he could be trusted. He finally said his introductory piece, and the moment he shared his pack and position her suspicion of him vanished. A prince of Oak Tree Bend?  That almost certainly made him family! He was obviously waiting for her to answer his question, but now that she knew he was family it seemed silly to try to shout down at him from the top of the waterfall. “Hang on!” She yelled before disappearing once more from the top of the falls. She loped in a wide arc around the river, slipping and stumbling in her hurry to get to the bottom of the hill.

When she reemerged, slightly out of breath, she was at the base of the waterfall with Darrah. She slowed as drew nearer to the dark yearling, still standing in the shallows. “Did you say Oak Tree Bend?” she asked, ignoring his suggestion that she might be lost. As if a healer-in-training with her nose could get lost! “My mother—Kisla Tainn-- was a princess in Oak Tree Bend, before she fell in love with my father, the King of Cut Rock River. She left Oak Tree Bend to marry him and have me and my brothers.” The story was much more than she usually shared with a new acquaintance, but Darrah was different. He was family. Speaking of family.. ” You—you and my brother have the same eyes!” Delight lit up the girl’s face, which although plain could be pretty when she smiled. She hoped that the eyes were where the similarities to Orren would end, having always had a tumultuous relationship with her rambunctious middle brother. “I’m Karina Baranski. My family just moved here.. north of here actually.. it’s just up the river.” Her periwinkle eyes trailed back toward the falls. “Hearthwood River,” she clarified, giving the name of the river but also her pack’s new name.

   

    
 

Your post successfully made me laugh for like 10 minutes straight. Skunk face XDD.

The change in atmosphere was outwardly obvious, causing Darrah to grow even more tentative. Why had the name of his home caused the young female leaving her province? Had she decided to attempt attack after all? "Wait!" He protested, though it was far too late. His nerves were beginning to intensely act against him as the yearling made her approach. What were her intentions? With eyes widened, and piqued senses, he waited for the situation to turn sour. If she held any sort of grudge toward the bend, he'd not hesitate to make a real escape and warn his father upon returning.

To his surprise, it seemed she merely wanted to speak of her family. From the sounds of it, they appeared to be related somehow. "Kisla.." His words were soft as he tried to gain any recollection of the name. It left a familiar taste in his mouth, but he quickly found himself unable to pinpoint exactly how he might of heard it. "She was the.. Princess?" Something he'd surely have to ask about when given the chance, nevertheless not completely unbelievable. "What a coincidence!" The heir let out a booming laugh. "And here we were, afraid of each other!" The whole thing was strange, but he was glad to once again feel out of dangers reach.

"Your brothers eyes? Do I?" Darrah grew amused watching the she-wolf express such a pure form of enchantment, and was more than happy to attempt entertaining her conclusions. "Could be a family trait! Although your eyes are much prettier." he gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm glad to hear you've just moved here! There's been a serious lack of wolves my age around! I've been getting so bored!" Sure, he might of had his sister, but their interests and lifestyles had grown apart long ago. Perhaps he'd have more in common with this wolf, Karina? The name was lovely, one he'd never forget.

One king, One crown.

Darrah Tainn

(This post was last modified: Jun 05, 2015, 12:21 AM by Darrah.)

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.