Spectral Woods I've been drained

@Sahalie

 

Silence. Peace and solitude. Here it was that his journey had brought him to once more lay at rest among the trees and unseen spirits that Zenjiro could almost sense. It should have been off-putting to know that ghosts and ghouls inhabited this part of the woods, but in some ways he felt attached to them. He too had started to feel as though he was wandering without purpose - like a ghost. Just barely a yearling and already things had gone so horribly wrong. It was only instinctive to start thinking that the world was out to get him.

Perhaps if he laid here long enough - stayed where he was with his head on his paws and his body laid lazily across a broken fallen log, the world might take pity on him. A ghost might emerge from the fog and turn him to stone until his father came back to find him. That was the ultimate torture in searching for someone else. How could he know that he wasn't walking in circles? What if the man that had taught him all he knew was looking for him as well, trailing behind by a day and a half doomed never to catch up?

Miserable thoughts were deserving of a sigh pushed out through his nose and a breath drawn back in. Somewhere faintly in the back of his mind his systems were still working, and subconsciously he picked up on an unfamiliar scent. A stranger on the approach. His mind turned to defence, but his body never moved. He'd breathed the air of a pack nearby, and deliberately skirted their borders. Perhaps he had misjudged? Had he walked onto their lands? Still he never moved. Maybe if he laid still - they simply wouldn't notice he existed.

note to self: gunna pretend this is set before sahalie and spieden leave on their little adventure

No one had told Sahalie about the ghosts.

But some how she could sense them in the air. Was that wolf who had died weeks ago, was he here? How many others died here in this thickly and dewy forest? One day Sahalie would learn about Corinna, about Ruiko, Silver, and maybe even Rissa. Many of the wolves who had passed somewhere in this forest had been family —to some sort of extent. The Tainns were a dying breed and it showed. Once the Tainns had been the only wolves in all of Relic Lore save for a few nameless, faceless loners. But then they had moved over the mountains and death had picked them off one by one under this endless canopy. Maybe the original family's time had passed in this land, and the darkness would set in and their shadow would fade away. Already many new families had stepped in to take their place.

But of this, Sahalie knew nothing. She was young and her pack had yet to find the guts to tame her and teach her about her world and her history. She was better for not knowing: these woods were less frightening and she could find nothing to be ashamed of. Eagerly she wandered, shoving her nose under mossy rocks and flipping them over to find all sorts of trinkets: squirmy little twigs and garnet-like beetles that buzzed angrily at the intrusion and flapped away. She was carrying on in precisely this manner when she encountered the biggest treasure trove of all: a broken, hollowed out log. But just as she was about to dive inside, she noticed that along the length of it, a white tail was draped over the side. It seemed pretty lifeless to her. Interesting. And since she was a curious little soul, she put her front paws up on the log and took the tail into her mouth. She gave it two forceful tugs.

It did not budge.

 

The longer he remained the calmer he would be, as his nose and ears slowly came to recognise the scents and the steps as those of a child. They were light and the smell was lacking certain tones that only came to exist with adulthood. Still with the arrival of a pup came a certain level of danger. How far behind was the mother and father? How would they respond if he were caught in the vicinity of someone so vulnerable? It was only made worse by the fact that he had come to rest so close to pack borders.

It soon became apparent that he wasn't going to be alone for much longer, despite his remaining still and silent in hope that he would remain blissfully ignored. Ears twisted on his head, turning back to listen as the steps neared and then paused. No greeting, no introduction of announcing of the child's presence. No sign of the parents either, and the tension released from his muscles just slightly.

It returned though the instant his tail was grabbed, and green eyes widened. There wasn't any pain, even as the tugging came. The pup was just too small to do any sort of damage. Zenji was intrigued though, how someone so young could be so brave as to not only wander from their territory but to approach and then grab onto the tail of a stranger. He wasn't one of their pack. He wasn't a part of any pack.

As soon as he had his chance his tail whipped away, sliding out of the child's jaws and flicking into the air to land flat across the top of the log behind him. The rest of his body never moved, yet the very tip of his banner twitched and shuddered. It was a deliberate act meant to entice. Without turning back to look, he couldn't say whether the pup would be big enough to clear the height of the log and make another attempt to grab him.

His adoptive father had taught him many things about pups, one of which was a simple rule. Never refuse a chance to play. Zenji had to wonder what Romulus might think if he were able to see the moment as it were now. That tail flicked again - all but begging to be yanked.

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

-hugs zenjiro-

The moment she relaxed her jaws the tail was gone, fluttering in the breeze in a manner similar to what the leaves had been doing lately. Her changeling eyes grew wide as it twitched. For a moment she sat back down on her haunches and watched it curiously. She deduced that it was, after all, alive. It followed that the white, hulking mass attached to the tail might be a wolf. Her jaw hung open. As was the case with young, developing minds, an odd perspective on an object could make a great difference in the identity of the object. But it still, maybe, might not be a wolf. Sahalie would have to conduct a few more tests based on her understanding of what a wolf was and what a wolf did. She formulated the most methodical list she could. It went something like:

A WOLF
• Furry
• Long snout
• Can howl — although Sahalie was not sure on this item, being unable to produce the sound herself
• Lives in Oak Tree bend
  

She squinted hard at the white mass on top of the log, placing a paw back up there and batting the white tail away so she could see better. It certainly looked furry. The tail was furry. But she could not see it's face, it wasn't making any noise, and it did not smell like Oak Tree Bend. This left only one option left. She would have to ask.

But Sahalie was rather shy, and much preferred the game she had started over detective work. Eagerly she yipped and threw her weight forward, trying to capture the white flag raised above her head. Small white milk teeth closed around something. Her blunt nails scraped at the wood and she fell back in a heap, but she tasted the fur in her mouth.

Protip: Hover over speech for translations :P

 There was no telling what the young male had gotten himself into, merely by laying atop a log and planning to play dead. Without turning to look back, he couldn't tell exactly what it was biting and nagging at his tail. His guess was made only by the scent and the sound of little steps that had come towards him, but the sound of the excitable yelp all but confirmed what he already knew. He'd found himself in the presence of a pup, and one that seemed to have taken quite the shine to what was a rather ordinary white tail - at least that was what he as the owner of it thought.

When he felt the pull of fur from what little skin was present around his tail he had to grit his teeth, and his eyes closed over tightly as pain jolted through him. How he managed to hold back the shriek of pain was a mystery, but something kept him quiet enough that he could hear the thud of a small body tumbling to the ground. That... was not good. Now the game was over, at least for the time being. At last the while male was forced to move.

His head rose and looked back over his own curled body, blinking green eyes first seeking out the sight of the other body before he spoke in the most gentle of tones, although it was with a bit of an odd twist. "Dath my dail." The lisp he'd always spoken with wasn't as bad as it used to be, but with someone so young, he could only imagine the questions that he was about to be bombarded with, unless the pup was spooked and chose instead to run away.

"Awh you huwt?" Even if the girl was going to run, the least he could do was try to make sure that the little creature wasn't hurt. Then when the pack leaders came charging out to find out who had harmed their princess, he could plead a case that he'd made an effort to help. Whether they'd listen or not...

(This post was last modified: Aug 23, 2015, 06:48 AM by Zenjiro. Edit Reason: Spacing )

note to self: sahalie is about two months old in this thread

Before she could even bring the tears she felt coming on to the surface of her eyes, she was distracted by the movement of white atop the log. A face appeared from the mass, twisting itself over to look at her. As if triggered by some sort of light switch, the amorphous white blob became a wolf. It had green eyes like Anna and Jessie, but they eyes had a different quality to them. They blinked more, definitely, but she could not grasp the meaning of this. It made him look awfully submissive, though.

When the suddenly-wolf spoke, her ears flopped left and right as if they were being tickled. He spoke as if he had food in his mouth. But he didn't look like he was eating and nowhere did she smell anything that she would have thought of as food. She chewed her lip. He was probably commenting on the fact that she had grabbed his —oh my god she had grabbed his tail. Instantly grief swept over her. Under normal circumstances she would never have done something so rude, so presumptuous, so rough as to the grab the tail of anyone she knew, let alone a stranger.

She gulped.

When the wolf asked if she was hurt she shook her head meekly. Her rump hurt a little, but her conscience hurt more. "I did not know it was tail. I am bad. I can cuddle it better though." Silently she sort of hoped the stranger would not take her up on the offer to cuddle. He was not a pack mate —because he did not smell the way that Spieden and Anna and Drestig smelled— and therefore she did not think she ought to be as free with him, but did not know how else to act necessarily. "Or I can do a thing for you to make you feel better." That was maybe a better way to say it. Maybe not.

Zenjiro's mind wandered in a flash. Instantly he recalled the wise advice of his would-be father on their lazy travels together, about the moment when a pup was hurt and how long it took for them process that they were actually in pain, and how it could be remedied by keeping cool, rather than rushing to their aid. Thankfully this young girl chose not to break out into a wail of pain, or simply wasn't hurt at all. Zen's initial thought was the former given that she'd gulped, praying that she remained quiet, so that her parents wouldn't come rushing to her aid and punish him for hurting her.

Once more he blinked, his eyes widening at her first reaction. She wasn't bad, by any means, and he would have to make sure he corrected her so as not to break her spirit, but not before he turned her offer down. The last thing he needed was for her to cuddle up to him so that she'd go home smelling of a lone male.

"I'th okay" He nodded his head, making sure every movement was a slow and careful one, fearing that he might spook the girl into turning and running for the hills. Despite the things he'd learned, he'd never actually dealt with someone this young. He was drawing on knowledge, not experience.

"I'm nod 'urt. Neider are you." He offered the slightest of smiles, and a flick of his tail to emphasise the point that no damage had been done. "You can 'elp me feel bed-er though." His smile widened gradually, careful not to show too many teeth. "Wath your name?" Step one to friendship, it was as good a place to start as any.

so sorry it took me so long to reply! so many things going on :C <3 frans?

He moved his tail about and things seemed okay. It stilled looked and moved just like a normal tail. The white furs were a bit dirty, but then again so was the rest of them. She couldn't be sure that she had done that. He did not seem to blame her. She sighed. "Oh thank goodies," she breathed, messing up the turn of phrase as pups were want to do. Above every rule set by Speiden and Triell and Drestig was Sahalie's own creed, where there were only two rules: "Do not hurt" and "mend the broken." They were, fundamentally, the same rule. But Sahalie did not want to be the reason that things were broken under any circumstances. She had seen enough emotionally crippled adults in her life to understand the consequences of misbehaving, and she was violently afraid of causing any more harm to her already damaged family.

The older wolf laid out an opportunity to help, and she was contractually obligated to rise to the challenge. "Yeah?" she squealed eagerly, hopping back onto all fours. "What do I do?" It was additionally relieving to know that he did not require any cuddles from her. For the most part no one required such a thing besides Sahalie herself when it came to others.

"My name is Shalie—" she took a moment to breath deeply, visibly with-holding her exuberant, fast-talking nature, "I mean Sa-hay-leee. It's hard for me to say. I don't know why my daddy picked it, since I can't say it. So you can call me Shalie or something if you have problems saying it too." Which was really a great coincidence, since this wolf seemed to say everything funny.

No problem :P I'm in the same boat >_> /dies

It wasn't hard to see how someone so young could become a little overwhelmed by the prospect of having to help pick up someone's mood, but this young female seemed more than ready to help out. Excited even, to be able to help like he had asked in return for the perceived damage done to his tail. It wasn't a difficult thing - to speak one's own name, unless you were plagued with the same verbal problems as the young male, or only just beginning to learn how to use tongue, like a young child.

He would turn as much as could without rising from the log in order to afford the pup as much of his attention as was possible. Dark green eyes were set on her face, but lacking an intensity that might have instilled fear. Really, there wasn't a bone in his body that had what it took to cause harm to an innocent. So much of his upbringing had taught peace and loyalty, fighting only when it was absolutely necessary. That was the only way to live a good life.

"Tha... hay... wee..." His efforts to repeat her name were bound to sound unusual, but he offered her his best regardless and then shot a grin as his head picked up, ears pricking and his eyes brightening as his head cocked with a show of utter fascination. "Wike dat?" Eyes blinked as he all but stared, and with a hit of anticipation and expectation his tail whipped against the log. All she had done was tell her name, and it seemed to have done more than enough to bring a bit of shine to his mood.

(This post was last modified: Sep 30, 2015, 05:24 PM by Zenjiro.)