The Deep Forest Sick With Jade

Sure, maybe this time wouldn't be the last time. Sahalie knew that, she was prepared for it. Everyone seemed to think she was just some silly little pup—but she had seen shit, been places, she knew stuff. Because this loner was right, it wasn't so bad. Life had thrown a lot of stuff at her and she had bounced back in ways that other wolves had not. She grunted in ascent.

His whole northern idea seemed a bit odd, to her, though. The world ending? That seemed as silly as her wide-eyed wonderment at discovering and letting the world grow every larger as she ventured outward as a cub. The world was as big as it was. There was no end. Right? And what was this "sea"? Clearly the wolf had seen more of the world than she had, if he was using this strange word, but that didn't mean he had to be right about everything. "That's silly. The world just goes on forever," she asserted before raking her paw through the mushy poultice and dabbing it on him gently as she could.

"Hah!" she barked a his clever quip, "If he's my boyfriend then I've got like 30 boyfriends." She had plenty of male friends who liked to hang out with her and probably get a little defensive. Even her own brother could be like that. "I still maintain that we're friendly though. Or chill, is more like it. I've heard of and met a bunch of other packs and they just sound very....rule driven, ya know? In my pack people just do their own thing. You can say what you want and usually it don't getcha hurt. My boyfriend" she said with an eye-roll, still trying to rub the mush into his shoulder, "Just cares about me a lot. A lot of people think I'm like. The Darling, so. Threatening me is like the one thing that'd get you killed."

"Speaking of packs and the north," she said, letting her paw drop, "Me and Al are going up north soon to visit my family up there. I know it might be a little harry. But I think if you can both be adults we can all get along. And it'd be safer than just heading up there by yourself. You could come up to Oak Tree Bend with me and stay a bit, let your injuries heal." Her tail dusted the ground behind her eagerly. No, the loner wasn't the nicest but he certainly wasn't bad.

(This post was last modified: Jul 17, 2016, 04:07 AM by Sahalie.)

The man snorted, "Forever doesn't exist. Sooner or later, everything ends," that was just how things worked. Mountains didn't reach up endlessly into the sky, and forests became fields, and rivers withered to dust, and wolves died. That was just how things were. Forever didn't seem fathomable, so the most logical assumption was just that if he kept going one direction, it'd end. He didn't know how it'd end, or what it'd look like, but it would. Maybe suddenly, or maybe things just stopped being after a while. He didn't think about it too much, eventually he'd see it for himself.

"Thirty of them? You must be quite the charmer. You'll have to teach me," be friendly, he supposed, and stop snapping his teeth at anyone who bothered him. Maybe if he could be bothered to think about someone other than himself for a little while, he could have a following. But then he'd just be back at his old home, with his old family that loved him no matter what. "So your pack is weak," it wasn't meant to be mean, even if it was. To Lark, that was a fact. Packs thrived on rules, on order. Everyone doing their own thing was hardly a pack, and more akin to group happily eating a meal or... or he didn't know. He had never visited a pack that did their own thing. The packs he'd met were snappy and hard and tough to knock down. He liked them, in their own sort of way, he just didn't thrive in that sort of environment. Not unless he was on the top. Lark continued to twitch, pulling away from her with each touch. "Ahh, so you hold all the power. The strength of... what was it... thirty raging teenagers? All right under your paw," how sweet.

She went on talking about her and her boyfriend that was just a friend that was a boy, and how they were planning a visit to see her family. She proposed something a little off-putting to him, and Lark was silent for a few moments. He considered her friend, Alastor, but felt confident that under new circumstances they could tolerate each other. Being out in the wild, and alone, and with his injured leg hadn't been ideal. It wouldn't get better, either. He couldn't rely on his lynx stalker would drop off magical half-eaten carcasses every evening. A little bit of socialization couldn't hurt.

Or it could, because Larkspur was not a social sort of creature. But with his odds stacked against him, he didn't have much of a choice. "Alright," it was hesitant, but it was still a yes. "I can play nice," he could try to play nice is what he meant. But Sahalie was sweet and she was looking at him with those kind eyes. Internally, he laughed. He was delirious, he knew it. It was the exhaustion, it must have been.

The heck was he getting himself into?

not sure if you want to do one more round or what, but after we can have a thread at OTB or something

Well, the man had a point. Maybe. He was so much older than her—she was finally realizing this—that it was hard to argue about most things. Clearly he had much more experience with things ending. Maybe that was normal, maybe it was not. Everyone else in the pack had that same negative attitude, which more or less confirmed that "everything ends" was closer to the norm. She sighed, unable to find a way to counter him.

She laughed at his "charmer" comment, liking this word more than "temptress" even though there wasn't really many differences in the end. The girl figured that any wolf could be taught, and bobbed her head politely even if she was not sure if this was a serious comment. It made her wonder if every interaction this loner had lead to him on the ground and injured as he had with Alastor and the other wolf who had scarred him for making the wrong decision. There had been several unfriendly wolves in the pack—by her standards—but perhaps none that were as mouthy as him. It would be interesting to see how the others reacted to him. Or if Alastor was able to get over himself.

Sahalie was lying if she did not call this a little test.

Dark eyebrows popped up at his little matter-of-fact insult. Weak? She stared at him, wondering how much nerve he had. From his tone, though, arguing the point seemed futile. On top of that, she was not sure she held all the power. Certainly Serach and Spieden held most of it, and then her father still wielded some. The girl had never ordered anyone around: she was just more like a treasured item that no one wanted damaged. He would have to see Oak Tree Bend for himself and then reassess the idea—or not. "Well, there are a lot of young wolves in the pack right now. We've got five cubs and like....two more yearlings besides me and Al. So maybe teenagers is not so off the mark." She tipped her head and smiled.

"So you'll come?" She chirped brightly, "Great!. Let's get a move on!"

Larkspur wasn't all bad, all of the time. He was capable of being civil, with a friendliness that was rough and hard to swallow. It was there, hiding behind growling and snarling and rude jabs. He recognized that he was getting worse, his patience growing thinner as each day passed. It was easier being sour, easier to look at the bad in everyone than turn a blind eye to it and see the good. Sahalie seemed to have a good knack for it, and if he wasn't envious of it then something would have been seriously wrong with him.

So you'll come? "Yes." Great!

Her cheeriness didn't make him feel better, but if he could find a place to sleep and not worry about finding food, then it would be worth whatever hell he might have to deal with when he saw Alastor again. Larkspur pushed himself off of the ground, leaning on Sahalie as he worked on remembering where exactly his legs were supposed to be. He tried them out and took a step forward, then seemed mostly alright being on his own. "Go on," he ordered, doing his best to keep up with her as they navigated the Umbra Copse. Will you play nice, Larkspur? He considered it.

Larkspur considered the thought all the way to Oak Tree Bend's territory. Maybe even then some.


— Exit Larkspur!