Verdant Mosses marmalade

@Greer very south-eastern part of the fen, near the mountains. not sure how far greer would come but message me and I can move this somewhere else

A shower had done an admirable job at washing away the inches upon inches of snow that had been dumped on this side of the mountain in the last few weeks. A land that had been buried, it's remarkable characteristics dormant, suddenly opened its sleepy eyes to the dark girl who thought she was just passing through. Being the hearty, robust flora that it was, moss was capable of lying in wait all summer despite drying up. Hungrily it absorbed the water of the rain and snow melt, and the world was green again — even if only temporarily. Her mouth hung open as she wandered over the carpet, her paws wrapped in a gentle fuzz that reminded her of Spieden's belly fur back when she had not even been weaned. Just the sight of something that was not grey or white or cold-blue was enough to bring a smile to the girl's face.


Forgetting herself, she flopped to her side and began to roll and grunt in this miraculous vegetation. She wondered if this was a sign that the world would return to it's previous state, the hotter one she had remembered from when she was much younger. Sahalie wondered at this strange stuff, that did not seem to have very deep roots as she kicked tufts of it into the air with her flying legs. Peels of laughter rang freely from her. She felt like the puppiest of puppies in this moment, and marveled at how far away that time felt already.

<3!

Avoiding the Ridge was becoming his speciality. With spring quickly arriving emotions within the pack borders were becoming… heightened, especially by his sister. A grimace rolled onto his lips at the thought, his eyes rolling as he continued along his trek, putting as much distance between himself and his home. While he was in pursuit of joining the pack that his dear friend Kyna belonged to, the shadow was forever keeping his options open. The thought of moving from one home to another both frightened and excited him. Did he really want to settle down so soon after leaving the willows behind? What about exploring the lands of Relic Lore from the highest northern peak to the lowest southern point?

However, the idea of having Kyna in close proximity all the time seemed much more appealing at the moment.

For now, while he was still under the reign of the Archers, he could push boundaries and explore a little further. Which was how he ended up on the other side of the mountain in an area that was foreign to him. Until now.

There was so much green here. The ground was soft and spongey — the complete opposite of the foliage back home — and oddly… welcoming. With steps muted from the soft moss he prowled through the new territory, his movements slow and cautious. To get here he had to maneuver through Kyna’s old home on the mountain, where the scents of her family were slowly disappearing and becoming one with the land. Her new home, Oak Tree Bend, was on the same side as the mossy forest but it wasn't the goal for todays excursion. No — today was simply about exploring.

Unfortunately the universe had other plans and a scent that mimicked Kyna’s slapped against his nostrils, causing the prince’s steps to falter. It wasn’t her but it was so similar. He hesitated, unsure of whether to pursue the new scent or continue his course. A groan escaped him as he stomped the ground, much like a child throwing a tantrum, and flung himself forward.

It didn’t take him long to see — and hear what had caught his attention. A girl who was close in age to the blonde moon princess was rolling around in the moss, laughter filling the air and causing a frown to cut into his maw. She carried the same scent that engulfed Kyna the last time they had met — the new pack, not the old. Perhaps it was a good thing that fate had brought him here: this could be one of his future packmates. Unsure of how to announce himself, the gangly yearling stood awkwardly a few tails lengths away from the obsidian girl. A small woof escaped him as words hesitated on the tip of his tongue, his mercury gaze fixated on the joyful creature before him. The act seemed alien to the shadow, who had shied away from such childish acts in his youth; however, he couldn’t look away as curiosity consumed him. 

Strangers stared at her a lot. So much that she was practically used to it, hardly surprised when she flopped over to one side and saw a dark shadow lurking only a dozen feet away. His eyes were even more penetrating, colder than the other black fellow she had met. The fur on this one was darker, as if it absorbed all the light like a void. First the first time in her life she felt something shift in her, feeling vaguely unnerved without really knowing why. The smile on her face did not falter, but the laughter died away as she propped herself up on an elbow and blinked several times into that unending silver gaze like an unspoken question. Her ears atop of her head flopped lightly, as she chided herself internally for making such a snap judgement about a wolf she did not know. Sure, his pelt was inkier than the most starless night, but there was more to wolves than their colors — she knew that better than anyone. Everyone deserved acceptance, a chance.

"Did you come to see the green too?" she chirped, remaining on the ground in an nonthreatening position. This stranger was much older than herself, yet much younger than the adults she knew like — stopped when her wriggling nose had finally finished interpreting the message on the gentle breeze. The man-boy was from Willow Ridge, of all the places. "You're...far from the willows. Then again, I'm far from my home too."

"Do you know Sven? He's my friend." Might as well get the conversation going. Sahalie did not much care to dally in the useless chit-chat about the weather or location or how the prey was going. She craved real communication, the kind about wolves, relationships, history, feelings. If there was already common ground between them, she might as well acknowledge it right away.

(This post was last modified: Mar 01, 2016, 05:32 AM by Sahalie.)

So. Many. Words. He blinked, somewhat dumbfounded, at the girl. She was one of those, the chatty type — the type he typically stayed far, far away from.

However, she carried the scent of her friend so perhaps the young stranger would be of some use to him… as long as she didn’t talk his head off.. or drove him completely insane with all the questons.

There were two things that Greer was not good at: the first being emotions, and the second being conversation. Especially when it came to small talk. In response to the first question that the female threw at him Greer gave a simple shake of his head to say ‘no’. Until today he had no idea that a place so green even existed, but he was already planning on making a second trip out here. It had taken him by surprise that she knew of his home, but the next question to fall from her tongue gave away the answer to his own question. Sven. His friend lit up at the name and he nodded, a faint smile pressed to his dark lips. Had his nephew ventured out this way or had the strange girl made her way over to the willows? His own questions for the girl formed in the back of his mind but dared not allow them to escape off his tongue.

“Greer Sven-uncle,” he responded, finally allowing his own voice to fill the muted atmosphere. After a long pause he retorted with his own question, his silver gaze fixated on the girl. “Know Ky? Girl have Ky-smell.” It was nothing like the string of questions she had flung in his direction but it was good enough for him. He was not a nosey individual and didn’t really care to learn anything about those he encountered. The only difference here was that the girl had some connection to his blonde friend, so she must be okay. 

That the only response he had to offer her for several, long seconds were a series of blinks made the girl uneasy. Instantly she was reminded of her initial encounter with @Cernan, who had been so stupefied that he had collapsed on himself and simply stared at her. But the stare of this wolf was not so "deer-in-the-headlights" as it was... Well, she couldn't really put a finger on what it was. Certainly, he was much bigger and older than her and had nothing to be afraid of.

It seemed a little odd for the man-boy to give just a shake of his head instead of uttering a word, and she wondered if the he had any voice at all. Then he nodded. Something was definitely up, and Sahalie's mind found itself naturally reaching back to her interaction with Thendaro and his different way of pronouncing things. She and Thendaro had gotten along fine — even if she had pulled his tail — and this hurdle in her current situation did not seem so insurmountable. Besides, the motion of his head and the upturned lips indicated that the man knew Sven! 

She tried desperately to contain her surprise — not wanting to overwhelm the man's eyes which would surely begin to blink rapidly all over again the second she began to gush — but could not help her mouth from opening when he finally spoke. She had expected him to sound more like Thendaro, but his tone was even and his pronunciation was as natural as her own tongue's. There was a little crackle from disuse, but the lilting tones that over-road the voice left an impression that was more smooth than hoarse. It was a shame when the sentence was punctuated, cut short rather unexpectedly and missing many of the words Sahalie would have imagined a wolf his age to use. But this was Sven's uncle! Sven had such a big family that it amazed her, it seemed like it was bigger than her own! 


In a longer string of words this time the jumbling of his syntax was more visible. She would have liked to consider it more, but found all scientific thoughts shoved aside when she realized just who this "ky" was he was asking her about. "You know kyna too?" she said with a gasp, "Kyna's like, my best friend.." They were gal pals, fellow berry explorers, and sisters in a way. "She lives with me in Oak Tree Bend," she amended with an encouraging nod. Her wiggling tongue nagged her behind her teeth, but she hesitated to ask the man any more questions. He didn't seem to like them much. There would be talk enough if he was interested in learning about Kyna. But there was so much she wanted to know about this strange man who had the voice but not the words of eloquence, who somehow knew both Sven and Kyna.

(This post was last modified: Mar 03, 2016, 04:11 AM by Sahalie.)

It was like a switch had been flipped. The chatterbox seemed subdued as she studied his nonverbal responses, almost as though she had been taken by surprise. The shadow prince had almost expected her to explode with questions once more, but nothing came. The silence was warmly received and he relished in it, for he knew it was only going to be temporary. All silence in Relic Lore was temporary — Greer was slowly realizing this (and he did not like it). However, there was nothing he could do unless he completely isolated himself from everyone… and he couldn’t do that; not to his family.

Once the words had left his tongue he studied the espresso-coloured female intently, his brows narrowing slightly as he watched her expression shift. Had it been the way he spoke that had taken her aback, or was it his relation to Sven? He blinked, almost expecting a series of questions to pour from her mouth once more, but nothing came. Perplexed, her silent reaction caused his head to tilt. But he did not pester the girl — as curious as he was, he was not the type to pry. His curiosity was almost always defeated by his overwhelming indifference.

Kyna. Once she spoke the blonde princess’ name his face lit up and he nodded enthusiastically, a soft smile unfolding across his dark lips. Realization settled in — this must be the friend Kyna had mentioned during their last meeting. His suspicions were confirmed as the girl mentioned they lived together in Oak Tree Bend, the pack he was considering to relocate to. His tail wagged softly behind him. “Girl… Sahalie?” He hoped he had gotten her name right — the shadow had never been good with names as he typically chose to disregard them. His mercury gaze remained fixated on the girl as the lazy, lop-sided smile remained; if this was Kyna’s best friend perhaps she wasn’t all bad. It was quite possible that they would become future pack mates if Greer finally put his plan into motion. 

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

Trying to figure out how to get 5 posts of "recruiting" without overwhelming him xD especially since it's not even clear rn what he wants from her

Relic Lore, which had once been so small as to only include her inky forest, had recently been stretched so wide that she worried it was too big for her. But she was discovering now there were many ways in which her world could still be small: she was constantly encountering wolves who knew the same ones she was friends with, who knew about her pack, who knew — her name? The dark girl's rum began to wiggle with excitement when the dark man-boy said her name. "That's me!" Obviously, he had learned it from Kyna, but it was a surprise all the same. She wondered what Kyna had said about her, if she had said anything good or just her name. But it seemed a little self-absorbed to ask this man, especially now that she had stopped asking so many questions and he was much more relaxed. 

Whether he had trouble speaking or did not like to was still unclear to her, but the result was the same: optimally his utterances remained only a few words long. But he got her name — and gender— perfectly correct. He was so curious. More than anything she wished to dive into his mind and investigate his thoughts, wondering if they were equally staccato. But her heart faltered: this was a thing she could only do if she asked more questions or elicited more words, something the man did not like. Was it an inhumane thing to do, to cause him any amount of discomfort? Would time not reveal the rest of his character as it did with everyone else?

"Who are you?" She felt a little shy asking this: after all, it meant Kyna hadn't mentioned him to her. Perhaps the girl was fine with that, he was very shadow-like after all. Though, she had to wonder, why hadn't Kyna brought him up to her? There were so many things she and Kyna didn't talk about, but this man seemed like a benign thing. Maybe her friend thought she was protecting him from Sahalie, or other wolves. 

(This post was last modified: Mar 04, 2016, 12:03 AM by Sahalie.)

Feel free to overwhelm him! He needs it sometimes XD & he likes Halie so he'll let it happen.

The golden-eyed girl seemed thrilled at the fact that he knew her name; her enthusiasm dripped off the words that escaped her. Her reaction caused a lop-sided smile to unfold across his dark lips as his brows smoothed. This spunky creature was not so bad; in fact, she was actually kind of growing on him. She reminded him of Kyna and he liked that. Anyone who was like the blonde moon princess was okay in his books. The girl was cautious, which he appreciated. Since bombarding him with a flurry of questions that had caught him off-guard she was more careful, limiting her questions to one — maybe two — at a time. Despite being frivolous with her words she seemed to understand his quiet nature and did not press for more, even though it was clear she wanted to.

Her voice was timid as she asked for his name, which confused him. Did she not want to know who he was? Blinking, he responded quickly, his voice soft as the syllable bounced off his tongue: “Greer.” The shadow was not bothered by the fact that his blonde friend had not mentioned him to Sahalie. She had sought him out during their last encounter — that had to mean something, right? Truthfully, the boy had not mentioned his friendship to any of his pack mates either. Until he was dead set on leaving the willows behind they did not need to know about the princess. Especially with his sister, Morganna, being so… testy when it came to other females — especially females who came in between her and her brothers.

“Greer Ky friend too. Greer knew Moon-Ky before Oak-Ky.” He nodded to confirm his words, his tail waving softly behind him as he focused his pale gaze on the espresso girl. “Ky like Oak — told Greer so.” Another nod. “And Halie,” he added with a sharp wink.

Greer. A short name for a man of few words. Sahalie's name had three sounds, and she found it often reflected her propensity to carry on a conversation with anything with a vaguely wolven shape. Kyna talked more than Greer, but less than herself. Perhaps, somehow there was something reflective of a wolf in their own name. But it could have been just coincidence. Certainly not something to be worry about when she had a more or less captive audience in front of her.

As he attempted to explain a more complicated idea, his limited sentence structures hindered his ability to make the meaning plain. Though part of the problem was that Sahalie had never known the name of Kyna's previous pack, and until she heard "Oak Ky" and realized he was sort of compounding the words to "Oak-Ky" did it become clear that Moon had some particular meaning. To her great surprise, Greer sounded as if he knew a whole lot more about her best friend than even she did. Sahalie and Kyna hadn't even really talked about what brought her here, to the pack, despite Drestig thinking that Sahalie had been wandering about as an Oak Tree Bend saleswoman. Sahalie wondered if she would ever know: if Kyna hadn't spoken about it, it was likely because she didn't want to — because it was really bad.

The wink was reassuring though. Enough to indicate that, no matter what had happened to Kyna, that they were still friends and that Kyna was happy now. That was, probably, all that really mattered. Doubly emboldened by Greer's increasingly common smiles and this cheeky wink, Sahalie decided to unload some words. "You'd like Oak Tree Bend, too, I think." Was this what Drestig thought she had been doing? "We're a really quiet pack, wolves keep to themselves and stuff. I think that's what Kyna likes about it, at least."

"You should definitely come and hang out with us!"

(This post was last modified: Mar 11, 2016, 03:56 AM by Sahalie.)