Grizzly Hollow the world isn't just a thought

@Veho <3 Also using the thunderstorm RE to add to the setting c;

The masked man at the borders had been kind, like some sort of knight in disguise. Leaving him to be she lingered around by herself. Telling him in weary tones she would look around the place a bit more by herself. But as time wore on and a storm rolled in she sought out shelter by the southern borders. Hiding under one of the many tall trees that cascaded the lands. Even the tree couldn't protect her from the storm though. The wind brought in the rain at an angle, and before she knew it she looked more like a drowning mouse than a wolf.

Giving up she kept walking around the southern borders. Finding the thundering making her more anxious than anything. Fighting the urge to tuck tail and run back in the pack area the soaked female climbed on top of a fallen log. Laying down on the highest point of the log she was perched about five feet or so up in the air. Shutting her eyes tight part of her wished the wind and rain would make her fall down. Maybe she could hit her head hard enough to forget everything, or at least hard enough to make her forget for a few minutes.

As the thunderstorm seemed to not hold back anything the "drowned mouse" opened her muddy eyes. The world around her wasn't one she wanted to be in. This was simply a permanent home. It made her think of Hodr..did he ever make it to a home? One where wolves could help him and give him the love he deserved? Whining softly it would just be a sound not to be heard over the rolls of thunders.

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The rain! Oh, Ancestors, he'd been so wrapped up in searching out the perfect place to actually speak to those that came before, a place closer to home. The mountain had been an excellent place to communicate beyond the veil. He'd run into Kajika, a good friend who'd set him back on the right path and restored his faith in himself (and in his decision to join Grizzly Hollow – how could he imagine ever fearing setting down his own roots). Perhaps more divine, he'd met the graceful @Belladonna upon the ridge while she suffered a crisis of her on – together, they'd found a certain sort of peace. One day, he would return and look for the angel on the earth. Perhaps he'd even invite her to join the tightly-knit family tucked in the forests of cedar!

Today, however, was not that day.

Veho jogged through the raindrops with his head held low, ears tucked against his skull to shield him from the falling water. Mud splashed around his paws and he sought only the protection of the common den. He almost missed the new wolf completely – if not for her stark coat standing out against the shadows, he might have missed her altogether. The male skid to a stop, sliding in the muck and wheeled on his hind legs, darting over to the stranger's side. She looked terrible!

"Goodness, friend! Are you alright? A storm like this seems a terrible time for a nap. Can't we find you somewhere drier?" he encouraged, pale eyes searching the female's face. Staring up at the log, he whimpered softly. "Come, now, it can't be safe up there. My name is Merlin – please, I'll help. Come down from there, before you get hit by lightning."

She saw him coming but she didn't move. Her muddy eyes graced over his muddy body. For a moment she might have thought him to be a ghost from her past, here to haunt her in the thunderstorm. Yet his words were far too kind to be that of a haunting spirit. "Come, now, it can't be safe up there." She fought back a comment of sorts. Something likely along the lines of "that's why I'm up here". With a muffled grown she found herself slipping down from the log but landing stably in the mud below. Standing next to the slightly taller wolf she tucked her tail and slouched a bit. No words seemed to come from the muddy, doused wolf for the moment.

Taking a deep breath in she looked at the ground. "Thank you Merlin." Her voice was soft and seemingly like thin glass. Ready to shatter with one simple touch. Part of her wished she had gotten struck by lightning before this Merlin showed up. Would have been much more exciting. Might have even added a "light" to her life.

Looking at her legs she realized how dirty she had become. Muddy legs and stomach, her fur even seemed to collect some leaves. The Santoro saint certainly seemed to have lost her purity in looks. Feeling slightly embarrassed at her sights she looked to Merlin for the briefest of moments. "I'm sorry, sir. I-I just.." Her ears flattened against her pale crown. She wanted to shrink up. Disappear into the wind and rain.

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"Good! That's very good," the male continued to croon, his tail starting to wag as the other wolf slowly made her way down from her dangerous perch. No matter what else, the woman would be safer where the lightning could not get her. Once she was earthbound, he reached forward to press his nose to her cheek. This close, he could scent the female, and then realized she carried the faint smell of another wolf – a very familiar wolf. Rook.

His heart fluttered for a moment before his mind took a firm hold.

If she smelled like Rook, than she was pack. While Veho would never abandon a stranger to the wind and the rain, it seemed even more abhorrent to leave a packmate, especially a new one. Nudging her again, the male brought his body up alongside hers in a weak attempt to shield her from some of the weather. "Hush, friend, it's quite alright. You have nothing to be sorry for! The Ancestors clearly sent me here with purpose – and here I thought I'd simply been caught in the rain."

It was always a surprise, wasn't it? Humming softly, the medic began to nudge the female forward, trying to herd her to the center of the pack territory. There was the den, and she'd be safe there, hopefully drier, and warm as well. After a moment, he spoke back up. "What is your name? I apologize I did not recognize you sooner – you are one of the Hollow's, yes? I will show you the way. I was the newest myself, not so long ago."

Contact wasn't an easy thing for the female. She cringed slightly, with a soft whine. Piety had become so used to Skoll not wanting her touch or she having to be invited to touch that she had become to not like being touched. Oh what strange little monsters love could make. Walking along side the male but always keeping her posture lower than his she listened to his voice. He seemed so gentle, much more gentle then the world around her seemed to be.

Moving forward with another cringe from Merlin's touch she made her way along with her company. "I am of Hollow...yes." She paused forgetting her name for a moment. "Piety." One word softly spoken for his ears only. As if anyone but Rook or this Merlin found out her name she'd be cast away for her sins. Yet it brought her to think. No one knew her here. She wasn't Piety, she was just another face. This was her chance to brew something new. "Dove, call me Dove." What a bore of a name. Out of everything her mind could brew she came up with Dove. She'd now be stuck with such a delicate name.

Slinking around getting closer to the den by the moment Piety found her fur being weighed down with splashing mud and pouring rain. Dove assumed this to be some sort of sign. That maybe Merlin was suppose to find her out in the rain, like he had suggested. He even spoke of "Ancestors" the way she spoke of angles or a God.

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A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity

The whine and cringe did not go unnoticed, but the male immediately feared his new pack mate had been injured before she arrived (or upon her perch, though if she'd been struck by a terrible bolt, he suspected she'd be in a much worse state). "Rest easy, friend," he tried to reassure her, reaching out with another gentle bump of his nose, this time touching an ear. "I am a medic. If you have been injured, I will do my best to cure you of all ills, once we make it back. I am afraid I am no miracle worker, and this storm has certainly gotten the better of me," Veho admit, unable to help his start when a particularly loud crash of thunder echoed overhead. It occurred to him the pack den was a bit far from here – his own medical cache was closer. While a bit small, it also held all his supplies that he may need if Dove required his assistance.

Ah! Speaking of Dove.

The male steered his companion a bit to the left and leaned in to speak, his soft voice barely audible above the storm otherwise. "Since you are of Grizzly Hollow, Pie, you may also call me Veho. That is my first name. Veho Macieo, at your service. Merlin is the name given to anyone not of our ranks. Of course, I will only refer to you as Dove outside our borders – but what do you prefer amongst our own?" he inquired, only wishing the new recruit to be comfortable in the home they would share. @Rook had done the same for him, after all (again his heart fluttered at the mere thought of the risen alpha), and he could only aspire to do the same for all new members.

"Come, we are almost there, friend. Just a bit further and we will be out of the rain."

Another bump. Another cringe. The pale woman held in any sounds but physically she was showing all too well her distaste for contact. Trudging along with muddy paws next to her 'savior' each ear drew back with his sentences. "No injuries." Even if she had been injured the constant growing fear of sentimental feelings would have been keeping her from seeking help.

The thunder was soothing in a way it never had been before. Perhaps it was the rough sound reminding her of him. That seemed to be one of the only reasonable ideas at this point. Why else would such a fragile creature fall in love with a crashing sounding?

A true name was unfolded. Veho Macieo. A man whom disguised himself as Merlin. The Santoro brought herself to a frown. He had such a splendid cover up name and she had something so silly and childish. Dove. "Piety...but Mer - Veho." She corrected herself for proper use of his true name. "My name is Piety but you see, I don't want to be Piety." Muddy eyes looked for hope, understanding, anything she wasn't scared of anymore. Every moment it seemed the woman was loosing pieces of herself. If she kept up this way there was no doubt that within the next few weeks she wouldn't be the girl her father raised. In fact she was bound to become the exact opposite.

Following her company's lead the pale woman found herself feeling rather empty. She had entered a new home without knowing anything or anyone. Spare for knowing Rook...but he, well, he was saving grace that had found the woman a wrecked mess. "If I have questions, could you help me?"

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Veho did not disguise himself as Merlin, because he was Merlin. He was the moonlit magician to the unwavering knight, just as he was the faithful healer for his risen king. He would answer to either name, though he would prefer his actual calling not be used outside of Grizzly Hollow itself. Those were Rook's rules, after all. But if Piety wished to only be referred to by her second name, who was he to argue? With a small nod, he gave his assent.

"Of course, friend. You can be Dove. You don't have to be Piety, not here," he assured her, wondering what it was about the name she wished to outrun. Whatever it was, he knew it was not his business, and this was hardly the right place to ask. Perhaps if they became friends, or if it became evident it was troubling her – but for now, the first order of business was to get out of the rain.

Thunder crashed overhead as they finally came upon the medical den and the male stood to the side, ushering the soaked female towards the opening. "This is the place," he urged her breathlessly. "Not the Hollow den, clearly – this is my medical cache, but much closer. It will keep us out of the weather, and then I will show you to the group's den, yes?" he explained, hoping he could convince her to get out of the storm. His ears were flat against his head as the rain pummeled him. "I will help you in any way I can, friend. But out of the rain, please?"

"Thank you, Veho."

Her former self would have given a caring lick or nip to the male in appreciation, but here and now, the dirty furred woman didn't give him anything but soft words. Yet even if someone looked close enough they could see the well-nigh hollow core in her words. Nothing seemed to be as full as it once was with the Santoro.

Nodding at @Veho Piety slipped into the medical cache silently. Seeking refuge in a darker part of the little shelter but minding any plants that may be near. Curling up into a tight little ball the pale woman watched her company with careful eyes. "I hope I'm not taking up too much space." She couldn't help but feel like she was intruding. Even if the pale dam had been invited inside of the medical cache she didn't exactly feel like she belonged here. She wasn't injured nor was she even close to the medic. In fact the two had just met this very day. No wonder she had the feeling of invasive-ness.

"S-so you're the medic?" The dove's voice seemed to carry softly within the smaller space. No longer did the rumble of thunder seem so loud. While it certainly could be heard it wasn't crashing into her ears. The rain making a rather calming effect upon her empty heart. While she didn't appreciate everything she certainly appreciated the rain's comfort. Noticing her mind had slipped off topic her ears flickered towards her company. "I-I haven't thought what I wanted to be. One time I dreamed of being a teacher, but now I think I wish to be something else."

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