Broken Timber Pines Wake up to the sound of drums

Eek only, please!

Something was pulling her awake.

Closed eyelids flickered in half-sleep as Iopah's mind fought against the rousing. A disjointed growl was heard; a standard reaction for the wolf in question, but it didn't work against her own subconscious. She shifted in her sleep, twisting her body as though to get away from a sound. Her paws scuffed against the earth, beloved cedar needles caught up under the nails. The growl dwindled into a whine; a soft pleading for something to go away - to stop - but what?

Sleep was hard won these days. So much pressed down on her body and mind. Age had finally caught up to the woman, painting grays in a once ivory coat. And everywhere were reminders of her failings: near-strangers that lived amongst her and carried their heads above her's. A distant mate, a missing daughter. So much was wrong or gone now.

A pounding echoed, the beat reverberating in her mind alone. The woman's body tensed, ears pinned tightly, and she woke up suddenly to the sound of silence. Her golden eyes scoured the canopy, still disoriented and agitated. It must have (must have) been a bird. It couldn't have simply been the sound of her own heartbeat, could it?

Iopah rose to her feet, the pounding within, still spurring her on. This was wrong, it was no better awake. Everything was still so wrong.

She could fix it, she could make at least one thing better. She could try.

With a loud burst of sound, Iopah drowned out the pounding. Her howl continued, rowdy and demanding, wordless save for one name. Surely @Eek would know what this meant.

She had shrugged off the death of Erebos like an actor shrugged off a cloak, and while ever the other wolves of Broken Timber Pines stayed out of her way, things remained good. Of course, there had been the occasional snap here, a cutting remark there, but nothing that wasn't befitting her own superior position. No, aside from her failed attempts to gather herself a child all had been well enough for the tail-less leader of Broken Timber Pines.

She was revelling what she knew would be one of the last warm days before the snows began to fall, stretched out atop one of the toppled trees, soaking up the sunlight it allowed to stream down through it's falling. Colourless eyes had just begun to drift closed when the raucous sound lazily dragged her head upwards with a sigh. Oh so it has come to this? She couldn't simply accept a peaceful retirement? Thought she still had enough fight to see her through?

No matter. Rising with a stretch and making very little haste, the black wolf casually ambled towards the call. Let her wear herself out with her yowling, she thought to herself with a smirk, slowly schooling her features back into something more meek and accomodating as she finally rounded on where the former leader had thought to summon her.

Eyes wide and rump wriggling in greeting, she summoned her most child like voice to greet the ivory woman. "It's good to see you're doing better!" Her smile could have been mistaken for genuine for all that it never quite reached her eyes.

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

It was almost possible to imagine that her bailiwick had never changed. That she was still queen and that this was simply a subordinate she was waiting on now. A lazy subordinate. She even felt better; the blood was thrumming in her veins now and the past few month's fatigue seemed like a misplaced memory.

Message having been sent, Iopah studied the forest, her forest. Autumn had crept up on the place, much like it had crept up on the ivory wolf. There were bright flashes amoung the otherwise dusky green cedar boughs. The salmonberry and quaking aspen were in full color, on fire with every shade of crimson and yellow. The brazen golden leaves reflected the same shade in the older wolf's eyes. She blinked away from a particular, lively hue of orange to meet the oncoming black-pelted woman.

For a moment Iopah was still, the moment finally catching up with her. Did she still want to do this? Her body tensed as Eek's wriggled, tail rising as Eek's was not able to do. She took a deliberate step forward, spending little time on pleasantries. "Well enough for what I need to do."

Teeth bared as the woman sprung forward in a silent lunge, hoping to use her larger frame as a battering ram to knock the upstart from her feet and her rank.

(This post was last modified: Oct 14, 2016, 08:15 PM by Iopah.)

That no words were wasted was a blessing and she was quick to cease her wriggle and bare her own teeth in response. She knew better than to brace herself for the impact of the larger woman - to do so would be suicide. Speed was on her side and what could have served as a full force blow, passed as a buffet against her hip. She used the momentum of the blow to spin and aim her own teeth at the hamstring of her attacker. A few well-placed bites on the ass were enough to bleed out a bison, and she could only wonder if the same held true for wolves? What better time to test her theory?