Sacred Grove break the silence

OOC: "Sahalie" - Hope this is okay! Let me know if you'd like anything changed. <3

Wraith Wraith was a satellite to the Drooping Willows since his meeting with the pack leaders. Though they couldn't handle another mouth during the brunt of Winter, they hadn't been unfriendly to him. As such, he kept close in case they had need of him and vice versa. After all, Craw had promised they would have each others' backs to survive the winter. Thus far, the Winter felt rather mild to Wraith whom was used to far more brutal temperatures and unforgiving terrain. While he loved his time spent on Riddle Heights, the male knew he should become familiar with all the land in this area to be of more use to the Willow Ridge Pack when they were able to handle another wolf in their ranks. Today's venture carried the black male deep into dense forest. The very energy of this place was far different than any he had experienced. There was something primal in the very depths of the soil which he could feel radiating up through the thin dusting of snow that had managed to get through the dense canopy of trees above. While there were plentiful wildlife tracks through the snow, Wraith's aim wasn't to hunt now. His belly was still warm and comfortable from a scavenged carcass hours before entering the forest. Rather, he let his senses lead him elsewhere; to the vital heart of all this thrumming energy. Of course, what day ever went exactly as planned? Rather than finding the unknown source of the mysterious power within the forest, Wraith heard a chorus of panicked yips and even the cackles of disturbed ravens. Concerned and distracted from his previous mission, he trotted onward. The voice sounded quite young - too young to be out here alone in his opinion. While Wraith wasn't familiar with the area, he imagined there were plenty of dangers for a pup without the safety of her pack nearby. The loner leaped into a purposeful lope from the sedate walk until he reached the source of chaos in the otherwise quiet forest. "Speech." all my nightmares escape my head,bar the door, please don't let them in

She set one foot into this woods and instantly she knew she had arrived. It was exactly the way her father had described it, the tingling in her paws. The pain of the last few weeks seemed to fade away, eroding the grime that had built up on her soul. All that remained was the youth and innocence reminiscent of a two month old pup, eyes wide and mouth open. Oh, how she wished she could have seen this place sooner, when it was green. She was sure that the river would have sparkled and that the trees would be crowned with a canopy of the most brilliant green. It was nothing at all like the dingy, foreboding graveyard she had been born in. 

Where had her father slept, though? Where had his brother's taken him to hunt? All at once she felt her feet tearing her in different directions as she longed to know every inch of the world her family had come from, had thrived in for a time. She felt a twinge of jealousy: she wished she could have grown up here. The danger seemed far gone. The sadness that had driven @Triell Tainn and his family out did not linger here like it did in the Bend. Perhaps sadness did not tether itself to a location, but to a wolf, so that they carried it with them wherever they went. How foolish her father looked for ever abandoning this awe-inspiring land.

She was so busy staring at the icicles hanging from the vines and branches well above her head that she did not notice the crunch of snow behind her or the curious smell that had wrapped itself around the trees. How could she know? The wolves of Oak Tree Bend were so many that coyotes were not particularly common -- the cowards.

It wasn't until suddenly she heard a curious yip --a yip that could not have come from a wolf-- that she flicked her gaze down and realized there were several sets of eyes staring her down. The creatures certainly looked like wolves but they were much smaller --well, smaller than the average wolf. To Sahalie, who seemed destined to grow no taller, they were just her size. But far scrawnier. Far meaner looking. Her head twisted around over her shoulder. There were more.

"HELP!"

Wraith The cry for help was all the confirmation he needed. Wraith ran straight towards the call, leaping over ice-slicked logs and breaking through fragile vines which hung from above. Snow and soil kicked up behind him as he made his way towards the call. The scent practically kicked him in the face as he drew closer. While coyotes were not prevalent where he came from, he'd crossed plenty in his journey to Relic Lore. Vermin, he'd decided they were, of no use other than to practice defending a kill. He'd never known such persistent scavengers with so strong a death wish before. Wraith didn't wait to see what the coyotes would do to the young female in a small grotto. Instead, he charged full tilt at the closest. So distracted was the vermin by the young wolf that it didn't notice the brute charging straight for it. With surprising strength, Wraith slammed his front paws into the coyote's side and sent it sprawling into the snow with a strangled yelp of surprise. While the downed animal attempted to stand, Wraith rounded on its friends with a fierce snarl. "You'll beat it if you value your hides," he threatened angrily. There was no one more despicable to him than one who would bully a pup. Luckily for them, they took the enormous male at his word and raced off with their tails tucked. Wraith stared after them until they were out of both sight and sound before turning to the pup. He started when he saw her and his heart gave a painful lurch. She looked so much like Keeley. Pushing past the grief, he regarded her kindly. "Don't let vermin like them know you're afraid, little one. Put on a brave face and they'll usually make tracks," Wraith advised. Knowing his size could be intimidating to one so young, the black male lay down nearby to alleviate any fears she may harbor that he would hurt her. "What are you doing out here on your own, little one? Are you lost?" Wraith shook his head, smiling as he did so. "Where are my manners? My name is Wraith Kael. What may I call you?" "Speech." all my nightmares escape my head,bar the door, please don't let them in

Her jaws still hung open from her scream when the massive shadow collided with the coyote. The creature that seemed large enough to overpower her, suddenly, seemed laughable as its body crumpled and its head hit the ground. Though the bony demon rolled to recover its stance, everything was different now: it was on the defensive, it was dwarfed. The yippers had numbers on their side, but not strength. Not strength at all. The posturing was meaningless, they had no intention of retaliating. The dark beast's words sent them flying just as easily as his attacks had. It was over too fast for Sahalie to make much sense of it.

But boy did she feel incompetent, weak. She had given up: there were too many of them for her. She could not tower over them and her voice was reedy and feminine. Who could she protect in this state? How many more times would wolves like Anna die because Sahalie could do nothing but cry for reinforcements? No. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she nipped at the heels of her negative thoughts. Like the coyotes, they retreated. But they did not go far. They lingered always behind the trees of her memories.

"I'm...I'm sorry," she mumbled to her savior, "There were just so many of them, all at once. I.. I didn't know what to do." A sorry excuse. Certainly, had he not been around to drive the vermin away, it would not have been an excuse at all. She swallowed hard and gave her tail several, halfhearted wags to match her strained smile. "Ain't lost. I know exactly here I am," her pride poured out into her as she puffed out her chest a little. She might have been a Tainn, but Sahalie was a new generation. She was never going to lose her way.

This man seemed nice, though. He reminded her an awful lot of her father with his booming voice, bulky physique, and easy charisma. The immediate familiarity made it easier to forgive his suggestion that she might be lost. "Sahalie! Sahalie Tainn. I'm from over the mountains. Thanks for saving me, Mister Kael!" In this moment it struck her that this was the only adult she had met outside of her family. Thendaro had been older...but he had not been an adult, not nearly.

The black male's heart twinged with empathy for the young one. He knew what helplessness felt like; it never did a soul any good to linger on it. "No need to apologize. It was an impossible situation. But next time, you run. Okay? Run as fast as you can if you don't think you can take them on." Rather than crumble, Wraith was relieved to see she was finding some of her own strength. It was solid, he decided. Next time, she could handle herself. Of that, he felt certain. With a bit of training, she would be quite capable. After all, how many wolves as young as her were so bold as to travel on their own without the protection of their pack? Already, he was thinking of a few tricks to teach her before they parted ways so she'd be better off.

Amber eyes lifted towards the mountains peeked over the treeline. "You're a long way from home, Miss Sahalie. If you're not lost, just what are you doing out here? Does your family know you're here on your own?" He tried to keep the disapproval from his tone, not wanting her to lie to avoid getting into trouble. He'd rather have the truth and be patient than stern and lose the chance for honesty. Rather than lecture her on the danger - as she had obviously discovered - Wraith decided to appeal instead to that pride he'd seen hint of before.

"It's mighty brave of you to travel by yourself," he commented. "Are you planning to be a lone wolf when you're older?"

Impossible for her maybe, but not him. Honestly she was still struck by how large he was, about the size of her dad. But her dad, being so familiar, had never left her with this impression. Maybe he just hadn't pushed around enough coyotes. Vaguely she wondered if she would end up as big as Wraith. Darrah was big like her dad and so was Zera @Noble. A month or two had passed since she had noticed any additional inches, but that didn't mean she was necessarily done. She hoped she wasn't destined to remain as small as @Jessie.  If Wraith wanted her to run though, she would run. But she hoped that one day she wouldn't have to.

She nodded once for running, and then a second time to confirm that yes, she was indeed far from home. His confusion made sense: pack wolves did not travel so far on purpose, usually. And Sahalie wouldn't have either: she hated exploration for hedonism's sake. For months she had told herself that she would not cross the mountain. She had told other wolves that she would not cross the mountains. Here she was though, steeped in years of history and hypocrisy all the way on the other side of the mountain. It had taken all her willpower to keep her paws pointed westward, and ensuring that she did not enjoy the adventure too much took still even more willpower. Honestly, it was exhausting.

But it was all worth it now that she was here.

"Yep, they know," she chirped. "Told them I was gunna go look for my brother. He got lost." That had been maybe... most of the reason she was out here. Truthfully there was not much of a chance that Drift was out here. Common sense had been telling nagging her for days now that Drift was almost certainly still in the east. She tried to tell herself that she was not using her brother as an excuse to see her father's hometown, that her brother could have known about Swift River and come here on his own. But his scent wasn't here and she couldn't pretend to be surprised. Her paws prickled. Being a truthteller above all else, not wanting to make a bad impression, and being overwhelmed by the guilt that had accumulated over several days of lying to herself, she quietly added, "I uh.... also wanted to see this place... specifically. My dad used to live here when he was young." There, she had said it. A huge sigh of relief.

"I don't wanna be a loner though — no way!" She cut in quickly. "I love my family!"

(This post was last modified: Feb 01, 2016, 03:07 AM by Sahalie.)

Another lost youngling? For a moment, Wraith lowered his head in silence. Too many lost in this season. Though Sahalie's brother and she herself were not related or connected to him in any way, he felt empathy for them regardless. Missing loved ones were hard to come to terms with being gone; in Wraith's case - gone forever.

Wisely, he didn't bring up the possibility that her brother was lost in such a way. He much preferred her hopeful enthusiasm, especially if she'd traveled all this way to find him. Even the dark male's eyes smiled at her when she added another reason for being so far from home. So it was an adventure she was after then. Still, it was quite dangerous to come alone. Having just one other partner would have lessened her risk significantly.

"I can tell," he laughed, happy to hear she wasn't looking for a life of loneliness. Wraith wasn't sure what had so many wolves venturing away from family. To make families of their own, he could understand, but he'd seen wolves leave simply for the leaving.

"He must tell good stories from his birth home then to get you so interested in seeing what it was like. Is it his old pack that you're looking for? Would they be willing to offer you shelter for the night? I wouldn't mind accompanying you until then. You shouldn't be alone, especially if those coyotes decide to risk getting their hides ripped off to come after you again." Just the thought of such a thing had his voice rolling into a growl. Vermin like that deserved all the ill that came to them in Wraith's opinion.

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

Her cheeks puffed with effort, unsure of why she was so upset but knowing that few things had made her as mad as this insinuation. She was not sure when she had begun to equate loners with the kind of souls that did not care about their families. But she was not sure what other reasons drove wolves away, or what other reasons could possibly drive her away.  These lands on the other side of the mountain were wondrous, different, and they took her breath away — but she would not leave her family for them. The laughter that flowed from her large companion washed away her furiosity, and she had to forgive the man who had not meant any harm by his question, clearly. Instead, she beamed, happy that this man could understand immediately how important everyone back in Oak Tree Bend was to her. That was something she hoped that everyone knew about her.

Shuffling her paws uncertainly, Sahalie was unsure how to break it to Wraith that there was no one here anymore. He was very, very nice to offer his services as an escort but the wolves of Swift River were very long gone. The way he spoke, though, Sahalie certainly wished this was not true. The lands were so beautiful, but they could not speak or offer her comfort. "Uhm... well, my dad actually moved the pack to where we are now. So I don't... think anyone's here anymore." It felt kinda stupid, to say it like this. Especially when she had sworn herself against adventuring. It was the explorers that came for the trees. Realists came for the wolves.... So what did that make her?

"You ain't ever heard of Swift River, have you? That was the name of my dad's pack when he was here." More than anything, she hoped that something remained if it could not be the wolves. Just a legacy, a story, something. "Do you live near here?"

(This post was last modified: Feb 06, 2016, 06:19 PM by Sahalie.)

Ah, no one left? Did she perhaps hope her brother would come, drawn by the same stories that seemed to fascinate her which spoke of this place? It didn't sit well to leave her, especially considering the close call she already had. Wraith made up his mind - if she'd have his company, he'd keep hers until she could make her way back to familiar territory. His own pack likely wouldn't notice his absence for a few days. He wandered often enough as it was.

"Afraid not," he admitted when she asked if he knew of Swift River Pack. "I hail from far north of here. Even farther north than your mountain range stretches. Past the lowlands into another series of mountain ranges. Much of this land is foreign to me, but I'm learning." Wraith smiled at his young companion and angled his head towards Willow Ridge territory. "I live in the willows now, however. Joined a pack fairly recently down south. I was only exploring the land a bit when I heard trouble."

Considering, he tilted his head. "I'll help you look, if you like. We'll see if your brother is there." That way, she could feel accomplished, see her pack's old territory, and he could rest assured knowing she wouldn't be walking into danger.