Darkwater Rapids Are you through pretending?

@Rory!

Light drizzle
52 ° F, 11 ° C

She had entered this land with so much confidence, high on her own ability and lulled by her previous success.

There was none of that confidence now and Noble could not remember anything except for the ferocity of the pair of wolves she'd just escaped. She raced up the creek, slicing her pads on the sharp stones underfoot. It didn't matter. She was far from silent as the water splashed on either sides of the shore and the breath came rough and fast in her chest. The only thing that mattered was she got away from them.

Noble plunged headlong through the water. Every so often her head would turn to look look. She hated being chased and the idea of that bright-eyed woman on her heels was terrifying. The sound of the crashing surging water drowned out any sound of a pursuer. They could be there, she just couldn't tell. That possibility was far worse. A strangled whine slipped between her clenched teeth. She'd rather see her death coming than wait for it to silently catch up. The girl forced herself to stop. Her legs trembled so badly it was hard to keep her footing. Her black form crouched in the water. The mud on her shoulder washed away in a rusty cloud.

Dark ears swept back and her teeth bared as her body swept around to face down stream. She had to know if they were still following. The silence was almost painful and her muscles ached with the sudden stillness. This was an encounter that had gone horribly wrong and she desperately hoped it was over.

The sound was subtle at first, like an echo in the distance that grew louder, more frequent, and she realized that the creature was getting closer. Her haven at Secret Falls did have their flaws, and there was no doubt that a few miles from the watering source lived a thriving pack which marked their borders promptly, a warning to any trespasser attempting to cross over. In her days of travel she had carefully avoided the pack, traveling mostly at night and making sure to conceal herself during the day in case anyone were to question why she was here--she had only been back a little over a day and already she felt afraid for her life.

She was looking for Whisper Caverns, the place she had once called home, but she had no idea just where the pack was considering she had aimlessly wandered to the Eastern side of Relic Lore, where the pack lands were much more dispersed, the prey fewer and further between unless you lived in a thick marsh, and the lack of shelter kept her fearful of her life. It hadn't dawned on her until she had attempted to return home that she was an adult and she was all alone. She missed her father Ash, she missed her mother Narime and she missed the luxury of a pack to help provide for her; living as a Whisper pup had never been easier. Today though she was considered a yearling, an adult in so many wolves eyes, and she was cautious to keep her head low for fear of any challenge.

Her head turned in the direction from where sound had come, it was eerily familiar to that of water being separated and she was curious to who could have traveled this far up, and whether someone had finally found her out. Anxious and afraid at the same time, the pale girl crept to where the sound was loudest and watched the muddied form of Noble rolling around in the water in an attempt to wash herself clean from her adventure. The young girl looked to be about her age, but she seemed much harder on the outside, more seasoned then Rory and therefore the pale girl had not walked toward her, instead she stood in hiding and waited, simply watching, the young dark girl catch her breath.

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Nothing. Nothing beyond the heave of her own chest, at least. Dare she hope?

The girl rose on dark limbs that screamed with the movement to crane her neck further downstream. The water was stilling, the only sign of her frenzied escape was the murkiness that had yet to settle out. Somewhere in the forest a bird screamed. Noble jolted in it's direction, dark feet fumbling in the water, at the suddenness of the sound. Her gold eyes watched the furtive shadows. She was unnaturally jumpy, the adrenaline of the recent experience still pounding in her veins.

The sound didn't come again and the fur over her shoulders slicked back again. It had just a prey animal, a distinction that had little meaning considering Noble had no ability to catch it. She rose higher again, giving a heavy shake to her mud-crusted pelt. Appearance wasn't any of her concern. Keeping herself fed, keeping herself safe was. She had nearly failed at both of them today. The girl dropped her head to lap at the water. At least she would have something in her stomach now. Her gaze traveled along the shore, wondering if there were any shelled creatures buried in the muck there.

It was still quiet downstream. Noble took one glance downstream and took a step towards the shore... and the forest that lay beyond it. Her eyes lifted to find herself staring in set of pale yellow eyes. She froze, but her hackles lifted. "You!" -as if there might have been a misunderstanding in who she was speaking to. "What'do want with me?"

She heard the call of the bird somewhere in the heavens and her eyes turned upward to search the skies, looking for the creature that had given warning of her strange new guest. Her teeth clenched tightly together, having grown nervous of the new visitor who had heard the call of the and seemed disturbed by its presence--perhaps the visitor had not anticipated that someone else had made the Secret Falls their refuge as well? Despite the call Rory stayed at her spot, watching and observing in near silence as the dark girl began to quench her thirst and perhaps shake off what had scared her earlier.

So deep in her own trace, the golden furred youth hadn't noticed that finally Noble had spotted her, the glisten of her pale yellow eyes had given her position away and she immediately tucked her body into itself to seem smaller, as though she would disappear if she tried hard enough and yet the dark yearling remained at her spot, simply watching. Her questioning words reached her, causing her cream ears to perk but she still did not move for fear of an unwanted attack--she was weak and had no knowledge of how to defend herself, even at the hands of a yearling. Though she was no coward, she was not a natural fighter and wanted nothing more then to flee but it was too late now, running would only cause Noble to potentially give chase, and though she was fast, she had no idea where she could go to hide from the darker woman.

"Nothing. I want nothing from you." she assured the Lagina girl, her voice seemed to quiver as it came forth, "do you want something from me?" she gave with ears pulled back and gaze staring intently for any swift movement; if Noble did indeed give chase, Rory would flee.

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I have work in the morning, so this'll be my last one for tonight. I'll be out of work the same time tomorrow if you'd like to spree to the end?

The answer stopped her short. Her dark gold eyes swept the other yearling. How could they want nothing? It seemed bizarre to the Lagina princess who always needed something from others. The problem of it was that they always wanted it just as fiercely as she did. At least this girl was not likely to give the same chase the Pines' wolves had. She stood her ground, hoping the firmness of her stance hid the quiver of her legs. The answer was so unexpected and honest that she didn't even know how to reply to it. A moment awkwardly ticked by. "Really?" Everybody wanted something. Noble's list was so long that she wouldn't know where to start.

"Then why were you watchin' me?" The creek remained still, but the quietness was unnerving. She glanced downstream and then quickly back to Rory. Her gaze was suspicious and fearful all at once. "You with them?" The gutting of her chin was bold, but there was no mistaking the tucking of her tail. She had long decided that being torn to pieces was a crueler death than starvaton

Her own answer took longer to decide. Dark ears pulled back as she took in the other girl. Noble made no disguise of her examination. Long, dark legs stepped a wide semi-circle to study Rory from every angle whilst not leaving the water. She was slighter and meeker. "No," Was the flat answer she eventually gave. "You don't have anything worth takin'."

"Why're you out where, anyways?" Never mind that the same thing could be asked of her, with a less than favorable answer.

I'm going to post a reply really quick before I poof off, I should be on later tonight. If your still on I'm definitely game to spree again!

Her initial response shocked her, having caused her head to perk upward as she studied the dark girl further, watching her every move with keen interest. She truly did not want anything from Noble, at least she was sure she didn't, her stance was neutral and her eyes remained as fearful as they were the moment she had locked eyes with the golden eyed youth---if only she could leave this land without injury. "I...you frightened me. I didn't mean to stare at you, I just...I wasn't expecting anyone else to be here." that was a half lie, she had known of the pack not too far off from the Secret Falls and had anticipated that eventually they would catch wind of her, she just hadn't expected someone so soon. Judging from Noble's appearance she looked to be a loner, scavenger even, but she was not foolish enough to assume that the other girl was not a threat to her; without a pack to protect her, everyone was.

She mentioned "them" and her head cocked to the side, assuming that by them she meant the pack just miles from the Falls and immediately her head shook to signify a response, "No, if only I was so lucky," she admitted but bit her lip almost instantly. She wasn't supposed to let on that she was alone, not this early anyway, especially if this girl that was staring her down truly did expect something from her, she cleared her throat before stumbling on, "I've been searching for a friend of mine, her name is @Vaeta, we got separated during the storm and the last I saw her was here..." the lies stretched on and for a moment she felt herself grow hot with worry, as if Noble may be able to detect that were lying, but it was a half truth, she had in fact been separated from the Cavern girl but that had been months ago and Rory had long ago stopped looking for her. "what about you?" she questioned finally, watching as the dark figure began to circle her, studying her closely and the cream girl did her best not to shake at her spot. What really was Noble looking for?

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

Luck had every thing to do with how she lived, and unfortunately it was never on her side. Noble stared for a moment, then snorted derisively. What a silly thing to say; what a silly thing to wish for. Creek water lapped slowly over her paws. The coldness was bitter and she could feel the sting of tiny cuts. Noble shifted, easing her weight onto hind legs and letting the stir of sediment hid any evidence that might leaching into the water. To show weakness was dangerous and Noble had already had enough danger for the day.

"Them pack wolves are mean." She insisted firmly to Rory. As if every pack must behave the same way to outsiders, as if Noble had not once belonged to a pack herself. It was getting harder to remember all that, especially when she was pretty sure her own blood was leaking into the creek thanks to the pack Rory fancied herself being a part of. She listened to Rory speak and a part of her heart hardened. Soon enough the ivory girl would learn there was no one worth finding here. "She likely ain't around here." It was probably kinder to say that, than it was to let the girl wear herself thin looking for a ghost.

Rory's question hit home. Dark ears pinned back and the girl visibly flinched. "No!" She burst out with. How could she know to ask that? A dark tail fluttered helplessly. She had already wasted too much time searching remembering and it had ended in nothing but disappointment. "I ain't searching for anyone, not 'nymore at least."

@Noble

From this distance she could tell that Noble was hiding something--she sniffed the air and caught whiff of blood, but to whom it belonged to would remain a mystery. She pretended not to notice how carefully the other girl cleaned herself, placing her paws into the fall by means of rinsing away what injury she had acquired and the Thanne girl couldn't resist the twitch of her nose as she pinpointed the stench of pine and mildew, the same smell she'd caught whiff of from the pack nearby. It had just occurred to her that this girl had an unfortunate run with those wolves and was perhaps washing away the evidence--the look of shock could still be seen in the dark girls pupils. "They have families to protect. I'm sure I'd be the same way if I had so much to lose." she still had so much life ahead of her and yet she couldn't recall the last time she'd felt happiness, true and unaltered happiness--her childhood had been fleeting and short.

Seeing that her companion was hurt brought her to feet, standing tall in the presence of a wolf who seemed to be in the same predicament as herself, lost and lonely, but she kept caution about her and remained a considerable distance from Noble in case the tables turned. She shuddered at the hard truth, swallowing the hard facts that Vaeta was most likely not on the Eastern edge of Relic Lore and was probably still lost in the mysterious stretch of land that had separated her from the Cavern wolves. This reality made her shoulders slump forward with sadness, her lanky limbs lowered into a sit to steady herself while she collected her thoughts. She'd been a disappointment to herself and to her family, but what worst, she had left behind the only other wolf who actually seemed to care about her, perhaps she was turning into the very wolf she had grown to dislike; her mother. "I can't just give up looking for her. She can't just disappear, no one just disappears..." she trailed off, searching the golden eyes of Noble for some kind of hope, but her eyes were cold and immediately she averted her gaze. "what made you give up?" she questioned with a cock of her skull. Surely there were wolves still out there searching for her, as Rory was sure there was at least one wolf still searching for her.

(This post was last modified: Oct 04, 2015, 04:50 AM by Rory.)

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The logical reasoning didn't at all pacify Noble. It sounded like something that Namid woman would have said and it stung coming from another yearling, especially one as thin and hopeless as herself. In typical teenager fashion she stared back over -brows drawn together- and said nothing. Her mouth formed a tight line and she snorted in derision. That didn't mean their lives were worth more than hers. It just meant she couldn't trust them.

When Rory moved forward she was quick to move back. For someone who was chased so very often, Noble was developing a strong aversion to being approached quickly. Wolves only came close to her now to administer punishment or give chase, and she couldn't help flinching away. Lips pulled away from teeth before she could catch herself. The quick movement had reopened a slice on her pad, injury adding to insult. A sideways glance showed the lazy curl of her own blood in the water. Her gaze went back to Rory instantly, almost challenging her to acknowledge the weakness. "We don't disappear, we just ne'er get found." Though, to Noble, that seemed the same thing.

She turned again to watch the stain of her own blood in the water. It was a small cut; it would heal, she would live. "Cause I woulda died if I hadn't stopped." Noble inhaled a quiet breath and remembered the smoke from the fire that had turned her around. Somewhere under the thickening pelt was a thin scar where a falling branch had singed the flesh. She paused and decidedly didn't look over. "Cause they probably don' want me back like this." The daughter that Minka and Tokino had lost was not the same daughter that had fought and stolen just to stay alive.