Ghastly Woods Voice in the trees

(for @Wraith !))

((Please scroll over the text,  there's more than it seems!))

Sylva trotted out along the Heartleaf creek. The small ebony and brown furred wolf glanced up at the overgrown trees that were slowly coming to rest overhead. The sunlight, she noticed hardly pierced through thickly woven canopy. She hadn’t come here though to admire the dismal view, instead Sylva had come to find her old den. Soft black muzzle pointed on the ground, her nose twitching as she detected her own scent, faint and stale from days before. A soft sigh escaping the Yearling as she thought over the past few days while trotting along the path.

The young female squeaked in surprise as one of the overhanging vines smacked her on the nose and sent her tumbling backwards. “Ah come on!”  She groaned as she  landed in a bramble patch and was forced to tug herself free. The snake like wispy branches running over her fur still freaked her out. A small shudder escaped as she succeeded in yanking herself free from Ghastly Wood’s caressing tendrils.

Soon Sylva came to her destination , a small clearing, though clearing was very much an overstatement in this patch of woods. Nothing was ever truly clear around here, really it was just a small clump of soft ferns between two of the trees. “Well...you kept me safe..” Sylva said out loud, sure that she was alone, that was the only sure thing about Ghastly Woods, you tended to feel alone. Soft brown eyes slowly drifted around the small space as she sighed again“For so long you you kept me safe...though it was only a few days… I was alone and scared and you gave me a safe place to sleep, thank you.”

ThoughtSylva’s dialogue

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(This post was last modified: Feb 28, 2016, 12:07 AM by Sylva.)

He'd been avoiding the place. On his way to Willow Ridge from the North alongside @Craw, they'd passed through these haunting woods. Wraith didn't care for the whispers the wind made through the vines and brambles as they reminded him far too much of exactly why he was heading south. His ghosts had haunted him soundly the night they'd spent in these woods and it was high past time he look them baldly in the face instead of running.

It wasn't practical at this point to return back to the Northern Highlands and beg his family - what was left of it - for forgiveness. Besides, the living weren't the ones to grant him absolution. It wasn't the living he'd wronged the most.

Wraith lifted his lips irritably as hanging branches pulled at his thick fur and nipped at his ears. He paused, however, when he heard a voice. From here, it sounded eerily familiar.

This was a mistake. He was hearing things. There was no one there and certainly not one of his lost siblings. Despite telling himself it was all in his head, Wraith couldn't help but press onward towards the voice. It's not Keeley. It's not.

And despite telling himself such, his mouth gapes open in clear shock when he sees her there through the trees, the barest bit of sun catching off her fur and making her spectral form seem that much more real.

'For so long you kept me safe.' Her voice echoed in his ringing ears and Wraith swayed with disbelief.

And what could he say to that? How could he even begin to apologize for not being able to keep her safe? For leading her to her death? But Keeley continued speaking to seemingly no one until a gentle breeze caught at her fur and carried it to Wraith's twitching nose.

Oh. Oh. Not Keeley. Again, he'd mistaken someone flesh and blood for one of his many ghosts. His little sister's visited him the most, so he supposed it made sense to assume it was her. At least, made sense for a wolf who was losing his damn mind.

Wraith cleared his throat to announce his presence. "Pardon me for interrupting. I thought you...were someone else. I didn't mean to intrude."

((Please scroll over the text, there's more than it seems!))

The small wolf’s peaceful reminiscing was quickly shattered by a phantom voice. Brown eyes wide in fear as the black furred female jerked her head up, but she remained frozen in place. Oh no! Oh no! oh no! What phantom did we awake!? Sylva slowly turned her head and looked over her shoulder and a small squeak escaped as she saw a large phantom involved up shadows staring her down. Yet another squeak followed the first as she saw massive ivory fangs bearing down on her. She scrambled and pressed against one of the trees, completely ignorant to the brambles tugging on her fur.

A few moments passed as she mentally berated herself over what he may have said. I shouldn’t have intruded?! Oh no! Way to go Sylva! ya managed to piss off some vengeful spirit! Her heart beating quickly as she looked back up at the ethereal being “I-I'm sorry! I didn’t realize this was your first, I didn’t mean to trespass, please don’t kill me!”

A few more moments passed as Sylva slowly began to calm down, trying to figure out how she could appease an angry spirit. Then slowly she took in the large figure again, her brown eyes no longer blinded by raw panic as she squeaked [color=#ffffff]“Y-you don’t look dead…or like a spirit….”

[color=#ff3333]ThoughtSylva’s dialogue

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Wraith's amber eyes flew wide with shock. What in Fenrir's name...? While the brute was well aware of his intimidating size and stature, he'd never had a wolf react quite so viscerally to his appearance before. Even pups had more bravery than this. As the female began stammering apologies, the male's ears flew back with discomfort and guilt. Maybe it would have been best if he'd not said anything at all and just gone on his way.

When she began to beg him not to kill her, his jaw opened and closed several times, at a loss for what to say to such a thing. To hear it from the mouth of one he'd mistaken to be his dead sister just moments before, Wraith struggled inwardly for how to react. He idly wondered if his sibling's ghost was laughing at him somewhere.

"I - This - I'm not a spirit. This isn't my place and I'm certainly not going to kill you. I didn't mean to frighten you. I thought I would startle you more if you happened to turn around and I hadn't said something," he explained, feeling foolish. Obviously, he'd done a well enough job of it by speaking up in the first place.

Uneasy and worried she may pass out with fear, Wraith took a step back and lay down to appear less intimidating. "Please don't cower like that. I really don't intend to hurt you."

((Please scroll over the text, there's more than it seems!))

Just breath Sylva! Slowly the female took a deep breath, her sides inflating slightly as she held the breath for a moment. Clearing her head as she let the air out with a soft whooshh she slowly turned her attention back onto Wraith. Sylva slowly started to feel her cheeks burn in embarrassment as the large wolf explained that he wasn’t a phantom nor here to kill her. A groan escaped the small wolf as she realized that somehow, her blind terror had caused Wraith some form of discomfort.

Oh no…. Her eyes went a little wide as he suddenly slunk onto the ground. For a split second her imagination took over and the thought ran through her mind DID HE JUST DIE!? Her breath started to rapidly pick up again until he spoke. Dead wolves didn’t speak..usually. “Y-you're ok..I’m sorry that I acted that way...you startled me that's all...Are you ok? Do you need any help? Are you injured? Are you alone? Do you just need some comfort?” As she realized that he wasn’t going to nor had the intentions of hurting her, her more caring side started to slip through the cracks of her shell in the form of a bunch of rapidly asked questions.

ThoughtSylva’s dialogue

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The large wolf blinked slowly. This female was giving him whiplash without either of them even moving. He couldn't begin to keep up with the ebb and flow of her emotions as they exploded out of her each time. As she began to natter on about how he was doing, Wraith tilted his head, brows lowered with concern. Had she hit her head recently?

"Me? What?" He shook his head, horribly confused by how quickly she changed topics. "No, no, I'm fine. Are you okay?" Regardless of her answer, he wasn't sure she was. Did he look injured? Or so much like a lost puppy that he needed assistance?

You were just thinking she was your dead sister's ghost, his brain helpfully reminded him.

But in need of comfort? Was that a normal thing for strangers to ask? He had to wonder just how long she'd been out in these woods alone. Perhaps these trees had power over more than just him. They seemed to have scrambled this one's mind a bit. "Were you...talking to the trees?" He closed his eyes briefly in a frown. "Ah, before. Before I interrupted you. You were saying something." As he didn't see anyone around, Wraith had to assume she'd been addressing the very forest. Concerning, indeed...

((Please scroll over the text, there's more than it seems!))

Sylva’s small head tilted slightly to an angle as he asked his question. She thought it over for a moment. her brown eyes closing gently while she settled down onto her haunches, more at ease now than she had been before. Slowly her head angled toward one of the nearby trees as she took a deep breath to give a length explanation of“Yes.”

It didn’t really seem odd to the young female. She had talked to alot of things in her months of being alone. From happy chats with a couple of oak trees to a very heated debated with a stone and the nightly arguments with her stomach. She paused for a moment before going on “I was thanking them, they kept me safe when the creek brought me here, so, it seemed only right to show my gratitude, I would have left some prey but someone,” she paused for a moment, her soft brown gaze drifted toward her stomach region “Wouldn’t let me hear the end of it, so for now, a thanks would have to do.”

She stood slowly before stepping toward the nearest tree as she went on explaining “They gave me shelter for the past few days and it would have been rude to just leave without a word!” Sylva truly believed every word that she was saying and it was easy to see her passion in thanking...trees.

ThoughtSylva’s dialogue

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Well, at least she was honest about it. The first step in fixing a problem was admitting it. That she recognized that she was talking to a tree. Several trees, actually. She was doing better than Wraith, at least, for he refused to admit his own problems even to himself. The black wolf listened patiently while she explained her reasoning. It was a nice sentiment, at least.

However, leaving prey for a tree? Wraith had to question her sanity all over again. Looking to the nearby trees, Wraith's brows were both lifted high. "Somehow, I don't see your friends feeling appreciative of the offering anyway." Though, no doubt, a fox or murder of crows would find a great deal of appreciation for it.

Her explanation made little sense to the male. A tree gave shelter whether there was anyone there to use it or not. It needed no thanking for it as it would have gone on providing shelter even without her existence. Wraith lifted a hind paw to scratch behind an ear more out of a nagging concern for this wolf before him rather than a true itch. "Ah, you're a pack wolf, are you not?" He thought he smelled an unfamiliar scent that was too thick to belong to a loner, though perhaps she was a fresh recruit. She was certainly green enough. "Did you leave your pack's lands just to talk to these trees?" What a curious female...

((Please scroll over the text,  there's more than it seems!)) @Wraith !)

The small female nodded her head in answer to Wraith’s question. “Yea, I’m a pack wolf now!” She said this with a lot of pride, for the female it was a massive milestone that she had accomplished after months of isolation. Her head titled slightly at his next question. Was it weird to come all the way here? I  mean I did have a debt to settle. Slowly she raised herself up out of the snow, unaware of how much she was making the larger black male worry.

“Yes, I did come all the way here, I had a debt to settle with the trees after all.” She smiled quietly as her gaze drifted up toward the thick canopy  before slowly settling back onto Wraith. It just felt like something had brought them together, here in the forest, it wasn’t exactly a place at the top of any wolf’s day trip locations. Slowly she took a step toward Wraith, her brown gaze looking him over like a juicy steak.

“Is there anything I can help you with though? I mean, it seems like you were drawn here by the trees yes? or maybe the creek like me? Do you need comfort?” Sylva cocked her head to the side, she had mentioned comfort again, because the previous time she had, it seemed to have drawn the most reaction out of the large black mountain of fur and muscle.

ThoughtSylva’s dialogue

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(This post was last modified: Feb 28, 2016, 04:15 AM by Sylva.)

A. Debt. To. Settle. With. The. Trees.

Wraith could only stare in disbelief. Was this conversation really happening? Surely he'd hit his head and this was a dream. Yes, that made the most sense. Because there could not be a wolf in existence who was foolish enough to believe wolves owed debts to trees. Or maybe it was she who had hit her head rather than him. That, too, made far more sense than what was going on right before his eyes. Just in case, the brute continued to scratch more insistently behind his ear as if the way his paw connected with the back of his head might wake him up from all of this.

What had him sobering instead was the look she gave him as she stepped closer. What the hell was that look supposed to mean? Again, she implored answers from him, mentioning comfort again. With that odd look still on her face, Wraith's ears flew back as he tried to decipher her meaning. Was she...no. No way. She was hardly more than a yearling! The brute shivered from ears to tail as goosefeathers raised his flesh.

Ew.

"Darling, I'm in no need of comfort from you." Spring wasn't even upon them yet! Surely she couldn't be suffering from her heat cycle. She didn't smell of it, at least.