Spectral Woods The streetlights all burnt out

@Darrah!

Late-night, Heavy rain with patchy thunder, 69°F/21°C
Oak Tree Bend, Noble has come to try and steal from you!

Noble shook the rain from her pelt and stood fully in the downpour, letting even more soak through to her bony shoulders. The rain was coming down in sheets now and she could hear the occasional rumble of thunder. Her head went back to let the water drench the soft black fur of  her throat and chest. This was an opportunity that she couldn't pass up. Who knew how long this rainy stretch of weather would last? She shook out the heaviness once more and leaned to scuff her flanks against the muddy earth for good measure. Probably the rain was enough to wash the scent from her pelt. Probably this pack would kill her if they caught her. The dark yearling stooped to smear her neck along the mud. She had to smell like anything but herself. Noble had to virtually vanish.

Finally the girl was satisfied. Sodden steps brought her to the borders and the deluge immediately swallowed each print as her foot left it. Just at the borders, she hesitated. The rain was the only thing to hear, just the sound of millions of raindrops hitting millions of surfaces. There was safety in that sound. No one would hear the thief over the rain. Thunder crashed as Noble stepped over the Oak Tree Bend borders. She found the well-used trails and let her memory of the previous night guide her. She tried to forget the memory of Sahalie. Noble did not want to know names and personalities of those she stole from, nor did she want to know the name and personality of her killer if she was caught.

It was much better to not think about these wolves. It was much better to think about her empty stomach. The scent of blood made her simultaneously slow and tense. Past experiences had taught her this is where hell usually break's loose. Noble leaned into the cache itself and took the first thing her muzzle came to. She grasped and spun in the same moment, already planning her way back to the borders.

I'm so sorry!! I think I missed the tag!! I promise Darrah would never wait a month to attack someone stealing his food source DX!! /whisper especially a possible love interest.. UuU

The past couple of months had nothing to offer to the Bend other than storms. Normally this wouldn't bother the prince, he loved bad weather! Though it had only been a brief period of time since the very atmosphere consumed the life of his uncle, thus hindering his positive feelings toward mother nature for the time being. Even still, Darrah had duties to attend to, rain or shine. He'd patrol the boarders as per normal, even if it wasn't expected of him. These were crucial times, especially with winter close on their trail, and the raven-esque yearling could very well be the only one mentally strong enough to handle such tasks accurately. "I've no reason to sulk, Nayeli's abandonment is nothing new." he sighed, desperately trying to convince himself that everything was alright.

Nearing his final destination, the caches, something seemed rather off. He couldn't place his tongue on it, but the Tainn was sure glad he came. As steps were taken to enclose the distance between the Bend's food stock and himself, a figure was spotted in the distance. "Who could it.." the only thing factually distinguishable was a dark coat much like his own, perhaps on a normal day he'd assume Zera and dart toward where he came to avoid confrontation. Though today, well, something just wasn't setting right with him. Darrah squinted in hopes of gaining more detail, and continued making pace toward the subject. Closing in a bit further it became obvious that this being wasn't of his territory, and anger slowly made way to engulf him. "Hey!!" he hissed.

How dare a stranger intrude upon Oak Tree Bend, and how fucking dare they steal something so precious! Just who were they? Nayeli's kidnappers were all dead, or so it was assumed. Could his companions of missed one? 'No way..' he sprinted toward the thief, fur pricked up and mouth bearing a snarl. He would show his opponent just how serious their offense was.

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.

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

hopefully we can stretch this out into 10 posts! xD

She did not have astraphobia, despite her current wariness. The sounds she flinched at were far softer and more mortal than the booming overhead. The rain could drench her and the thunder could deafen her, but it wouldn't kill as surely as a slit throat would. Mother nature had already tried to kill the Lagina yearling, and failed. No, it was fellow wolves she feared much more now. The memory of last night was easy to push from her mind, though every flash of lightning had her searching for Sahalie's hurt expression. Had the child said anything? Did she even know what had happened? Hopefully guilt had kept her quiet.

The forest murmured something darkly. Noble's heart leapt as she listened, coat sodden and ears trained. There was nothing further but the low mutter of rain on the oak trees. The yearling urged her dark feet along. This was nowhere to linger. Noble focused on the limp body between her jaws, closing down with enough force to remind herself of the objective. Her life was worth this risk. She spun when the forest spoke again, finding a pair of gleaming eyes trained on her this time. The hue was wrong, but something of the expression was the same. For a brief second she thought it could have been Sahalie, upset with the trick that had been played on her and form obscured by the storm. But they were too tall and moving too fast, when the snarl finally came into view Noble swiftly spun around. She clutched the rabbit tightly and darted into the undergrowth.

Hopefully she could lose this pack wolf in the storm. Under the cover of the brush, Noble made for the borders. She was careful to keep the rabbit from dragging along the ground and kept her ears alert to a possible pursuer.

(This post was last modified: Sep 06, 2015, 09:42 PM by Noble.)

That's what I was thinking XD.

The stranger was quick to run away, though Darrah was able to get just close enough to distinguish that they were around his age, and were very careful with hiding any scent they might normally hold. What were they doing here? Not being the quickest thinker, the prince idly stayed behind for a moment in attempts of assessing the situation. Ideally he'd run back to the den and grab a couple of stronger wolves to accompany him, but time wasn't on the yearlings side and he knew the fiasco would have to be settled by his paws alone. 'This'll be good for me, as King of the Bend I'll have many more encounters like this..' Grunting in displeasure, the raven Tainn scrambled behind them, just barely able to make out their preferred path through the bad weather.

"Stop!!" Darrah screamed, tone laced in a bit more desperation this time. The prince didn't really like the envision in which his thief made an untouched escape, for that meant he'd have to tell the others about his failure. 'I could keep it a secret.. but..' he sighed between active huffs, knowing that from here on out the caches would have to be monitored. "Hey!! What's your problem?!!" The stranger was seemingly a bit faster than he, only resulting in more frustration. Pushing his body to the limit, the prince found himself barely able to catch up a bit. He wondered what their motive was, and why they chose the bend of all places to commit such a foul crime. 'But, why aren't they trying to fight me off?'

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.

lol... how 'bout this to slow things up?

Noble did the far opposite of stop, and scarcely paused as she wove through the brush. She felt twigs catch in her dark pelt and grab at the rabbit held in her jaws. The rain fell around and the pack wolf followed after, a sound she heard more clearly than the storm might offer. The desperate grip she had on the rabbit was the same one she had on her composure. As Darrah closed the space between them, she held onto it tighter and fairly whined at the thought of the still-distant borders. A question boomed over the distant thunder and the girl turned to look over her shoulder as a foreleg came down on a patch of slick mud.

She didn't fall, but only just barely. The brush -tangled and snagged from when she stumbled- kept her upright, however there was a brief moment when she was immobilized and facing the oncoming Bend wolf. She stared for a shocked moment, watching the orange eyes move in darkness. Lightning flashed silently. Now, she could clearly see the water-stained brush that held her and the wolf that was coming to kill her. Panic flared hard and fast and immediate. The only thought was to get away. She flailed, tugging her limbs only to find them bound tight by the brush that had caught her fall. Noble tugged harder. The snarl was heartfelt, but her lower jaw trembled. She spun in the other direction and tugged hard enough to feel vines pinch and scrape her lower legs. A keening wail rose as she snapped frantically at the foliage. "Don't..." she moaned at the approaching Darrah, "please don't." The heart was slamming in her chest. With an upwards lunge, she was free and careening away.

She scrambled through the mud, trailing a vine that she ripped free along after her. There was no more composure. The rabbit had been lost in the struggle to get free and she had no thought of returning for it. It had even overlooked her notice that a question had been levied. Sometime in the past several months something had shifted in her understanding of the world. They were pack wolves and she a lone wolf. Noble understood nothing of what pack life or camaraderie was like anymore. They chased with the intent to maim and she fled with her life. That was the way it worked. That was the extent of her understanding of them. The damnable vine dragged along behind, the racket drowning out any noise of her pursuers. A black ear tipped back as she raced along, certainly he must be still back there.

It was almost inevitable at this point, the stranger getting away without a single scratch. Though Darrah still had to make his attempt, and give it his 110% at that. They were, well, faster than the prince would like to admit. Quite frankly it just ticked him off more, though at this point what was another misfortune to his collection. "Come on!!" the yearling shouted, shaking wet clumps of fur clear from his vision. "M-Maybe we can talk this through!" compromising with the enemy? Was that any way for a 'king' to act?

Peculiar the way fate worked. Just as the Tainn was about to completely lose hope, the young wolf seemed to of found herself unintentionally motionless, intertwined with nature's trickery. Darrah was able to gain on her, close just enough distance, though her unexpected cries put a damper in any harm he could have caused. 'Shit..' he suppressed movement, how unfortunate it was to be so mentally weak at times like these. "Look, if we can just..." the prince readied himself to be civil, but before any other thoughts could be processed into words, the dark youth was off again. "SHIT."

Not much up for physical activity on any other given day, Darrah was beginning to grow tired. Although he was positive it showed in his performance, the yearling trudged on. 'I'm not giving up, not yet.' huffing, the Tainn put more strain on his body to move faster. 'She lost the rabbit, isn't that what she came for?'

I curse the blue skies.

Darrah Tainn

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.

guess I'll use this table for now... #stupidcubeupload

She was hauling now. There was no rabbit to keep from tangling in the brush and all decorum was tossed aside for a singular goal: escaping. Noble crashed through the foliage and scrambled over waster-slickened oak leaves. The vine -still entangling a hind leg- trailed after. The sound and feel of it catching and scraping on the forest floor served only to hurry her along. She growled low in frustration and anger. This is not at all how she hoped this would go. If only this hulking male would stop chasing her!

Finally, a familiar smell came into her nose. The girl was careful and poised on her way into the wolves' territory, she had none of that on the way out. Noble blew over the smelly territory line, the vine trailing embarrassing after. She took several large bounds and let herself sink to her knees and stomach. She had to get this thing off her. Her teeth snapped at it feverishly. The taste of mud and growing things filled her mouth (so much for a meal of rabbit) and the thing fell away. It was tossed away with a wrinkling of her lips. Good riddance.

Her attention returned to the pack wolf that had been chasing her. Noble remained down, elbows digging into wet earth and stomach sodden, as she looked into the direction of the nearby borders. She couldn't stay here, but where was Darrah now? Had he continued following her? Was he much closer than she even realized? Carefully, cautiously her neck stretched higher and the yearling scanned the dark forest for the Tainn youth.

Why on earth was she still running? Was it really that difficult to accept defeat? Though perhaps the Prince could say the same for himself, chasing after her whilst making no clear advances toward victory. It was frustrating, the whole scenario was out of Darrah's control and he absolutely hated it. 'Come on!' the raven yearling grunted, growing more and more aware with how difficult breathing has become.

The Tainn watched as his prey crossed the boarders defining his territory from the outside world, and wondered whether or not following her was still a good idea. At this point, wasn't it technically not his problem anymore? She hadn't escaped with anything belonging to the Bend, and there was a small probability that he'd even get scolded if he continued on with the pursuit. If he were to turn around now, surely the elders would be pleased enough with his report on an intrusion, what was the point in continuing on? Unfortunately, like most other cases, Darrah would let his pride get the best of him again. Regrettably this one-sided game of tag just wasn't quite ready to be over yet. "Oh my fuc- Stop!!" He screamed now, infuriated with her disobedience.

Surrounding area's grew quiet, and the yearling was forced to rely on his nose for any new clues toward catching the strange girl. The scent was feint, discouraging the male further as he carefully tiptoed through the lore. 'Unforgivable...'

I curse the blue skies.

Darrah Tainn

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.

Now that the LP requirements have changed Darrah could claim skill points if we make it to 12 total posts. I'm game if you are!

She froze at the sound of Darrah's approach and the breath caught in her throat. Oh, no... It was tempting to rise and make a wild break for it, but she couldn't see or hear him. The forest was black -the perfect shade to conceal both yearlings- and it was hard to tell raindrops from footfalls. If she rose, then he would see her and the chase would start right back up. Being chased was the one part of stealing that she could not get used to. It was mortifying, knowing that you were being chased by someone who was willing and able to kill you... and not being able to see them coming.

Noble couldn't make herself get up and start the chase all over again. She stayed crouched, sides soaked and heaving in the shelter of the shadowy Oak forest. With any luck, Darrah would not see her. With any luck, he would pat himself on the back for a job well-done and leave. With any luck, she could—

"Stop!!" He roared into a motionless forest.

For a moment she was shocked into silence, then indignation loosened her tongue. "I already 'ave!" She shouted back at him. It was enough that she had to steal for her meals and run for her life, this self-important pack wolf was not going to order her around. "Haven't you got everything you want?" Did he even know how lucky he was? All she wanted was to melt into the scenery and lick her wounds.