Fireweed Rise on my own

RE: Kyna, you find a nest of bird's eggs on the ground. Open to anyone!

There’s a grief that can’t be spoken. There’s a pain that goes on and on.

Every time she stepped across heavily scented borders, it got just a little bit easier. But every day she returned home without any trace of her mother, the weight on her heart grew a little bit heavier. There was no end to grief, to sadness, there was no end to the questions plaguing her mind. Was this how @Wren felt? she wondered to herself, sniffling softly as she puttered around a large stone and continued down the slope. Was this how he felt when he found his mother in eternal sleep? Was this how he felt when his father up and left?

Would it hurt less, if Aponi was dead and not simply gone to the wind?

Such morbid thoughts danced around her delicate skull and she lost count of the hours as she descended from the heights. Idly, she wondered if she would see @Niles again – she wouldn’t mind seeing the coal-dusted male, but she would prefer it could be done without one those terrible birds. Her mind elsewhere, the blond puppy did not pay careful attention to where her feet fell, and only lengths away from flat ground the girl tripped. Down she went! Kyna fell rump over crown, rolling with a yelp down the rest of the incline and several feet across the flat. She twisted upright, mind still spinning from the melee, and placed a paw directly into a bird’s nest. Clearly, these eggs had been long abandoned, the killdeer either killed or abandoned its nest. The ground nest had become hidden once the fireweed grew in during the summer, and now that the seasons had passed and the foliage was beginning to die away, the eggs had become visual again. Visual, though not obvious, speckled and mottled like the gravel littering the foot where hill met flat. Perhaps if she’d seen, the princess of Silent Moon Plateau would have been able to avoid shoving a large foot in the nest.

As it were, she was met with a crunch and a loud, squishy splat. Immediately afterwards, Kyna’s nose was assaulted with a wretched, horrible smell, worse than mud, worse than death, worse than everything the child had ever smelt in her entire life. “Ewwwww!” the blond cried, her orange eyes widening as she backpedaled, the rotten yolk squishing between the individual pads of paws. “Ew, ew, ew!”

Swinging her crown about widely, she searched for any source of water to rinse the horrid stench off. Finding nothing, the girl reached down gingerly and flicked out her delicate pink tongue – isn’t that how she always cleansed herself? She had no choice! But Kyna was met with a putrid taste and screeched again, gagging as she licked the top of her mouth. She would do anything to get the awful taste out! Why, she’d even consider taking a mouthful of dirt, if it would get the rot and egg from her tongue and palate. Nostrils flared as she whined again, flopping around uselessly. “Ewwwwww!”

The Argrys child knew the way back. She was old enough now to have her bearings, and her family lived on a mountain. Mountains could not be missed. It was not her first priority. Was she ready to go back? Should she? She hated to return with no guarantee of staying. 

There was no hiding the reluctance that followed her since the day she had left. She should have told her father, or anyone. Instead she simply kept walking, not looking back. First not caring to think what she was leaving behind. With so many days on her own she missed them, and she worried. It was hard not to imagine dire happenings in her absence. Long had her father's figure been a comfort. But despite how her orange eyes came upon the rough outline of the heights, the very way she could go, but she didn't.

Soft steps, she meandered as the the predator she was in the light of afternoon into the land of wretched flowers.  In these circumstances she was hoping actually to find something to eat. She had gotten a little on the thin side by missing meals, and hated the idea to come back looking like hell. The further she ventured the harder it was to be quiet. Every step became a dead flower crunching. It only took ten steps for it to grind on her nerves. She was set on heading to the meadow when she could heard quite the loud EWWWWW, and another.

Large ears cupped forward, her face drew tightly in bemusement for she could not see from here what the small child was yelling about. With a nudge from only the gods knew where, to go forward she did. It was only in time to see a rather blond child squirming, and crying pathetically on the ground.

"You okay?" A dumb question to ask, for certainly the child was not. Hyp meant it more in the, are you hurt, sorta way. While pale limbs hesitated to near the cub, the grotesque smell that could only be of satan's spawn shot up her own nose. It was enough to make her want to gag, a feeling she hadn't exactly encountered much in her life. Flummoxed by it, pumpkin colored gaze looked around, noting the nest, and broken egg. "Argh. Hmm pretty sure there's a spring somewhere over there so you can get that shit off ya," she mumbled, taking the chance to start off in that direction if only to steal a breath of fresh air.

(This post was last modified: Oct 07, 2015, 03:52 AM by Hypatia.)

THERE IS A CASTLE ON A CLOUD

Kyna continued to thunder about in distress, unaware that her shrieks of dismay might attract others. The grass crunched under her paws as she scrambled about, trying desperately to scrape the slimy, sticky, disgusting sludge off her paws. Her heart began to thunder in her chest, drowning out her thoughts with a roar – if she’d ever been near the ocean, the girl could have identified the sound as something similar to waves. Tears began to well up in her eyes as the cub continued to struggle, overwhelmed by the fall, the disorientation, and now, the putrid rot clinging to her otherwise pristine fur. The girl choked on a sob, a muffled ‘whyyyyy’, and she was about to have a proper meltdown when a voice startled her out of her misery.

Crown jerking upwards, tears jumped from her cheeks as she whirled, sunny orange eyes ringed by white. Ears rolled backwards against her head, joints beginning to tremble as the girl sunk to half her height, in no manner to be even the smallest inkling of dominant. Kyna had to swallow her nerves down once, twice, three times before she finally found any words, and even then, they were shaky and uncertain. “N-n-no,” the princess stuttered, shaking her head as her mind raced to catch up with what was unfolding. “I-- I’m--”

But the young child was never able to finish her thoughts, for it seemed the adult was equally as repulsed by the horrid goo still sticking to one of her feet. The stranger made a gruff suggestion (using words much cruder than Kyna had ever encountered before) and turned, presumably heading off in the direction of the water source she’d mentioned. For a moment, the little girl could only stare after the she-wolf owlishly, blinking her sunset gaze several times as she tried to process. Had it even been an offer? It seemed the adult wasn’t going to wait around, forcing Kyna to pivot on her hindquarters. Springing forward, she raced after the older wolf, only falling into a trot once a few lengths behind the older wolf.

“Where are we going?” she whispered, voice barely audible over the sound of grass crunching beneath their feet. A spring, the stranger had said, but that meant little to the child so far from home. For all she knew, this wolf was leading her even further from Silent Moon Plateau, and that very thought sent a frigid bolt down her spine. But if she stopped, would that help? She certainly wouldn’t find Aponi that way.

The thought of her mother had her head jerking up, and Kyna cleared her throat. With the candles of grief she would kindle her flame, and once certain that the older wolf was at least listening, she posed a query. “Have you seen…a silver lady? Aponi. She’s missing,” the princess explained, praying to anyone and anything that listened that perhaps, finally, she would get a clue to her mother’s whereabouts. “I was looking. For her.”

A wild dissertation appears!

The girl did not seem to argue, nor make a case not to follow. Now, if only Hyp could remember. Dark nose twitched, and her tail snaked to one side. It was a bit on a hillside, with long grasses, and often deep imprints where deer and elk ran through. Paused once, looking across one particular hill, and became more certain the spring was only a bit more of a jog. For she had no need to look back to know he girl followed. 

Of course she heard the child say something, but the lady did not care to ask. She could see where the ground was trampled, where they were almost to the mud where the small spring trickled to an end.

It was the audible, and rather forced sound the girl suddenly made that finally caused Hyp completely stop, turning her head just so to look upon her. She had expected her to be anxious if Hyp really was helping or not, and the tawny wolf would simply point out the spring to prove that wasn't so. Instead, her pale brows furrowed, and she really looked at this cub. Eyes were strikingly orange, as rich as Hypatia's own. They did have similar colors of fur, but could that really mean something? No, she had the proof she needed. This girl was looking for Aponi, and that could only mean. 

"What..what do you mean she's missing?" Why Aponi and her hadn't been close she had come to respect the silver lady and found it all sorts of wrong that this would be her pup looking for her. Call it a gut feeling, but she didn't think Aponi would simply leave without reason. She hadn't before, and she was sure with what had happened with her father she was going to stick around. So was Phineas looking as well? "Is anyone else looking for her?" She wasn't about to say dad, and confuse the child more. Hyp had barely been around for her birth and had never known what they had decided to name her half sister. "Look, um.," yep that name would have been nice to have known. "Why don't you clean yourself up and you can tell me. I..I use to know your mom." She tried not to cringe, when she spoke but was a bit worried over the reaction this might ignite.

(This post was last modified: Oct 13, 2015, 02:43 AM by Hypatia.)

THERE IS A CASTLE ON A CLOUD

They stopped at a stream (much to Kyna’s relief), but for a moment, the child could not concentrate on the running water and disgusting gunk clinging to one of her feet. The adult actually knew her mother, and this was the closest thing the child had to a lead since she’d started trying to uncover where the former alpha had actually gone. Her tail gave a hopeful wiggle as she lifted her head, blinking fire bright eyes once as she bobbed her head. “She left,” the princess explained quietly, glancing around as if the quicksilver female might appear from thin air. “Looking for someone. Or something? She said she’d be back. Sometime,” the honeyspun girl tacked on reluctantly, face twisting with a wry expression.

Aponi hadn’t been terribly specific about what might happen, or when she actually planned on returning, but her daughter held out hope the woman would appear at Silent Moon Plateau sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, it did not seem that her wishes would be granted, no matter how hard she looked, and the stranger was given a brief shake of her head. “No. Just me. They don’t know.”

She hadn’t exactly explained to her father that her daily excursions were spent looking for the mate he didn’t take, and the obstreperous co-leader he barely had time to rule beside. One ear flicked out to the side, and Kyna gave an awkward half shrug as she considered it again. “I look for Ace, too. For Wren. When I can. Haven’t seen him, either.” And while she didn’t much understand the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the former beta, she knew that he had left alive, soon after Aesire had perished. From what she gathered, he hadn’t said so much as goodbye to his children – something that made no sense to the small girl, and allowed her to appreciate @Phineas more than she had when she was but a babe. The white wraith now seemed much tamer, more noble, more interesting than he had when she cowered inside her mother’s den.

It was amazing what abandonment could do to expedite the maturity of a child.

Huffing softly, the blond realized the stink still clung to her and wrinkled her muzzle with a soft whine. The stranger had led her to the stream, after all, and it would behoove her to take advantage of the generosity and clean the putrid, green gunk from between her toes and paw pads. Dipping into the water silently, the girl began to wriggle her foot, removing it from the water to wipe on dead grass before applying it to the spring once more. Very methodical in hw she worked, the princess lapsed into silence for several minutes until the last bits of goo had finally released their death hold, leaving the child clean as she’d been when she’d tumbled down the embankment and across the nest’s barrier into the long abandoned eggs.

Idly, the wallflower wondered if that was a bit of a reflection on her own state.

Shaking the thought from her mind, she tipped her eyes back up to the stranger. “How-- How do you know? Aponi?”

A wild dissertation appears!

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

There was precise thought to the girl's face. If she remembered what she'd been told, but what she said didn't seem to make much sense to her either by the look on her face. There was no doubt, there was still that miserable glimmer of hope her mother would keep her word. She wished she could of told her if her efforts would be worth it. Aponi would be back. Hypatia's hopes of seeing her own mother again had long been squandered. 


So would Phineas know any different? It didn't sound like it. Though Aponi's absence would have eventually been obvious, so she wasn't sure what to say. What she should do. Apparently there were others the girl was keen on finding. Only one was familiar to her, Ace. A man who she thought had been great for the pack, but wasn't so sure any more. Hell, what was she sure about these days?

"That's quite the responsibility for you to take on by yourself," she noted. Reclining to her haunches, she watched the blond girl's meticulously begin removing the spoiled egg. She wasn't sure what to think of this child, and wondered  what her other siblings thought of Kyna, and her lack of a mother now. 

Flame colored eyes peered at the surface of the water, as the intelligent child asked the question Hyp had been waiting for. She might as well confess, because for some reason she felt more determined to see her father, and siblings again. It was different words that escaped her. "I lived there, on the Plateau. Your mother has left once before and came back. You should probably just wait for her return. She knows what she's doing. Won't your family be worried about you?"

THERE IS A CASTLE ON A CLOUD

“I….guess,” Kyna replied thoughtfully, ears swiveling on her head as she hummed.  It was a lot of work, and she could only assume that responsibility meant something like hard work or focus.  That was not a word her mother had taught her, nor one her father had applied to her life yet, either.  She was just a child still, after all, and the duties of a princess hadn’t fallen upon her.  All the same, she shouldered this project on her own – she’d agreed to help Wren find his father, but hadn’t asked her friend to return the favor.  (After all, he showed a grave dislike for her, especially after Aesire’s untimely demise.)  She might have asked Phineas, but her dam had made it quite apparent she wanted little to do with the man, and if she actually did manage to find Aponi, she was fairly certain she wouldn’t want to deal with the silver witch’s wrath for including unwanted guests.

After a moment, she glanced back up at the stranger and offered a shrug, not knowing what else to say about it.  Thankfully, the agouti woman wasn’t set on the topic, and did not require any further prying about Aponi.  No matter how badly she wanted to see her mother again, the youngest Argyris wasn’t certain she was capable of actually dragging the answer out of another wolf, especially one she’d never met before.  

Offering the adult a small smile, the princess brightened visibly when she realized this wolf used to belong to her familial pack.  It didn’t occur to her that someone could have been kicked out – this woman must be like her mother, she thought, having gone to look for something, and now returning.  Her advice seemed all the more plausible like that, Kyna decided, her tail waving in slow arcs.  “I hope she does.  No one knows, though.  That I’m here,” she clarified, glancing over her shoulder back in the general direction of her home.  Her father was busy, trying to manage the pack on his own (at least, in her opinion, as no one would ever replace Aponi) – that was the only family she had, really.  “Are you coming back?  Do you remember the way?” the blond child asked, willing to show the stranger the path if she did not know.

(This post was last modified: Nov 12, 2015, 02:40 PM by Kyna.)

A wild dissertation appears!

From her experience with Takis,Evy, and Cel she assumed Kyna wasn't sure what she meant by that. Hyp felt inclined to smile, but she didn't. For she didn't want to appear to be mocking the girl. She was doing her best to appeal to the child, her half sister. However, she did wonder what she was thinking though behind her quiet face. It didn't seem she was about to share any of it. There was the slightest tug at her chest. Even if she hadn't thought Aponi would leave, she should have been there for Kyna. For them all. Leaving hadn't given her any reward. She hadn't found Sceral either. She still didn't know what she wanted to do with her life.


Hyp was watching her closely, eager to know what she thought of the idea Hyp came from there. The change in her expression pleased her. It was a step in the right direction. When the blond girl admitted no one knew she was here, Hyp arched her brows in surprise. In truth she wasn't. She had suspcted such, and felt it her place to see her home. She too looked in the general direction, wondering what else had happened in her absence. If her family would welcome her back, or be angry for her departure.

The questions in the air, she stood, cupping her ears toward her, her tawny and silver mask thoughtful. "Yes, I think it's time I return. I would be grateful if you could show me the way. " There seemed to be no better way to reach he Plateau, and she could inform Phineas of his youngest daughters intentions rather he was glad to see her or not. "Hopefully they will let me stay. But if we are going to at least travel together do I get to know your name? I'm Hypatia."

(This post was last modified: Nov 09, 2015, 06:06 PM by Hypatia.)

THERE IS A CASTLE ON A CLOUD

“Yes. Yes, of course!” the princess chirped happily, clearly pleased to be of some use. That she was able to repay the favor the older wolf had offered her so quickly as equally as appealing, but that she got to bring someone home to her father was a true delight. Her tail began to wag slowly behind her as she oriented herself back towards the mountain – it would be a bit of a struggle, given that she had fallen the last of the way down before she ended up in that horrible bird’s nest, but she was relatively certain she would be able to escort this woman back to Silent Moon Plateau.

Something like longing blossomed inside her ribcage – if one wolf could leave and find her way back to the pack, perhaps not all hope was lost in Aponi’s case, either.

When @Hypatia introduced herself, the blond child finally realized she’d completely forgotten her manners with the incident of smelly bird eggs. Ears flopped backwards as she bobbed her head several times, a soft whine slipping from her mouth. Her mother would have been so disappointed in her!

“My name is Kyna,” she replied softly. “I’m sorry. I forgot to say.” Phineas, too, would probably not be pleased that his youngest had failed in basic greetings. The girl began to move in the direction of the slope, glancing over her shoulder to make sure her new traveling companion was going to follow. “But, come this way. I’ll show you. I’ll ask. They’ll let you stay.”

A wild dissertation appears!