Spectral Woods I walk the line

For @Sahalie Is set early morning, following Askan's arrival at OTB's borders yesterday afternoon. Is gonna be a lil vague as I'm not sure how he was received by Spieden. Either way he's loitering to rest for a little bit.

Askan awoke with bleary eyes and stiff, sore legs. After having been on the move for five days straight, it was understandable that he was a little tired and in need of rest. The only problem was that, yes he fell asleep last night but it wasn't good sleep. He woke up feeling just as tired and as groggy as he had the night before, when he huddled up beneath an old tree and rested his head on his legs. For a moment he pondered why he'd had such a shitty nights sleep, as watched the morning fog ghost over the ground and swell around the base of the trees. It wasn't as though he was uncomfortable, he'd found a decent spot not too far from the border.

So what was it then? Sniffing indignantly, Askan turned his attention to the trees. There were too many of them. This woodland felt crammed to the brim, it felt claustrophobic and the Rye wolf help but worry about what threats lingered in the fog and hid behind the trees. Why on earth would anyone want to call this damned place their home? It was awful. He longed for the wide open spaces of the Lowlands, because for one how was he supposed to run without slamming headfirst into a tree? It was stupid. How were you supposed to hunt with all of this thick foliage getting in your way? It seemed impossible. And yet, Askan knew that the wolves of the Bend were strong. So surely their home was serving them well.

Grumbling, Askan flopped onto his side. Aside from the lead female, he hadn't really spoken to any of the other Bend wolves, as he assumed she'd pass on the Rye King and Queen's message herself. And honestly, that was the way he preferred it. He was more than happy to stay at an arms length, he was sure that the Bend wolves were fine and all, but he was happy resting up on his own. 

He was content, or as much as he could manage being so far away from home. Or at least he was until he heard a set of paws padding towards him. Oh great, what'd they want? Out of habit, his eyes narrowed into an accusing glare and his lips twisted down into a typical Askan frown. As soon as they noticed his frosty reception, surely they'd leave him alone, right?

Somehow the Oak Tree Bend's border monkey had missed the important meeting that had occurred the day before at their doorstep. Sahalie had been busy with this and that deep in the heart of their territory and passed her time humming merrily without an idea of what was going on on the outside. Usually she would alternate which days were spent in or out of the territory: she didn't want to feel like she was always outside or inside. And so today she was walking along the border, nose up in the air or down on the ground as she ambled around hoping that she would encounter something more interesting than the thickly-scented, rarely disturbed markers of her homeland, when at last she was rewarded.

It was a scent that was partly familiar but at the same time completely unfamiliar to the girl. It smelled of all sorts of grasses, like so much grass that it was a musty sort of smell, a dry smell. There were hints of wolves woven in between the overwhelming musk of grass, though only a few of them. A pack. But it wasn't from a pack nearby, for surely the girl knew them all and her eastern valley was largely uninhabited. Getting closer, the girl tested the scent again, trying to find whatever essence had been half-remembered, and by this time she had come upon the resting form of a shadowy man with an even darker countenance that chased away all of her concentration and any of her memories.

"Uhhhh... you, you do know you're sleeping near the borders...right?" Her voice was light, as if it was trying to be helpful, but her ears were twisted around and her paws were scuffing the ground. For some reason the grumpy face made her feel somehow as if she were intruding on him rather than, more or less, the other way around. But it took more than a sour expression to scare the young Tainn off. She had spent a life time looking into the hardest of faces and finding something to enjoy. Yet, no one had let Sahalie know that this man was okay to be here, and she was unsure what the deal was. She wasn't mad that he was sleeping on the borders, but she didn't want anyone else to be mad. In an instant, however, a light-bulb went off in her head. "Oh. You..."

"Why do you smell like Drestig?"

Halie <3

Askan's look of dry contempt did not waver at her words. If anything it increased, and it took a great deal of self-restraint to stop himself from rolling his eyes and shooting a snarky comment her way. By no means was he here to make friends, and he most certainly wasn't going to suck up to the Bend wolves and kiss their asses. But he knew- that at the very least- he should try and be civil. That he should hold back his biting comments and try to lessen his glares to something a little more neutral and polite. But that was easier said than done, especially when she was standing there stating the obvious as though he were an idiot. As though there was a chance he hadn't noticed the almost overwhelming scent of a thoroughly marked border. 

He couldn't help it. He couldn't bite his tongue and hold it back. She was practically asking for it.

"Oh really?" Askan asked as he climbed to his feet. "Hadn't noticed."He paused for a moment and then shot her a withering, disdainful look. "I'm kidding, of course I did. I'm not stupid."

She seemed distracted though, unfazed by his harsh words. She leaned forward and sniffed a little and Askan had been about to snap at her for getting too close when a familiar name slipped loose from her mouth. A name that halted him in his tracks and caused the tension that had been building in his shoulders to dissipate. Drestig. He was the reason he was here and more than anything Askan wanted to make him proud, to prove to him that he was more than just a hot head. That he could actually control his unwieldy temper.

"Course, I do. He's my alpha. Didn't you hear? He sent me here to pass on the good word, about his pack, his daughter. All that." He shrugged.

He'd explained it all pretty thoroughly last night to the alpha he'd met at the border, it was her fault she'd missed the meeting or whatever, so he didn't really feel like going over again it in a whole lot of detail. That was the best she was going to get. There was one thing that was nagging at him though. He expected the wolves of the Bend to recognise Drestig's name, after all he used to be one of them. There'd be no point point in sending Askan if they wouldn't? But her reaction was rather... Pronounced to say the least. So of course he had to be nosy and see why.

"You a friend of his or something?" 

(This post was last modified: Dec 04, 2016, 07:17 PM by Askan.)

Instantly she was reminded of @Larkspur. It was something he would have said. But this man was so much younger, it seemed. So young to be so caustic. At any rate, his sarcasm and disdain landed lightly on her like flakes of snow. Her shoulders rose and fell, and though she considered coming back at him with her own quip she knew from her experience, with his type of wolf there was usually very little point to it. Sahalie wasn't in the mood for a bicker-fest, which she could just find if she turned back around and went to go see @Mako.

Drestig, an alpha? So much time had passed and yet all this time the girl imagined he was still out wandering with Jessie, just the two of them, looking for a home without any bad memories. Sahalie had heard none of this. Her eyes were widening with each new morsel of intel: a pack, he had a daughter. The dark wolf seemed to be rushing over all of this, as if he was sick of saying it. Given his rather lackadaisical, casual attempt at slumber along the border along with the whole "Didn't you hear?" comment it seemed likely that a longer version of this story had been given already to one of her leaders who had allowed him to stay the night. "Oh," was all she said at first, her muddy-brown tail dusting the snow behind her. "Uhh, no I hadn't." She wished someone would have mentioned it to her, but she guessed it couldn't be helped. There were more important things, anyway.

"Well he was like a second dad to me," she responded, gradually picking up her usual pep, "He helped take care of me when my own dad was gone. He took care of this whole pack before he left." Her nose gestured grandly at the misty forest around them, though she imagined Drestig's messenger probably didn't see it as very grand. His scent belonged to another sort of landscape. Oh well. "I woulda run off when I was little if it weren't for him," she added, and then softer: "I owe him a lot."

Her voice was as sincere as the sunshine, "I'm really happy to hear that things worked out for him."

It wasn't exactly her fault that she wasn't aware of his arrival, but even so Askan didn't intend on cutting her any slack. He was the sort of guy who generally disliked everyone he met. And even though she hadn't done him wrong- aside from disrupting his solitude- that rule still applied to her. To put it simply, Askan was a hard ass. If one wanted to earn his trust and approval, they'd have to work hard for it, and even then it wasn't guaranteed. He was a stubborn thing, so once he made his mind up it was unlikely that he would change it. Even if he was proved wrong.

So the Rye wolf rolled his eyes at her bumbling response, but her next words were more than enough to catch his attention.

Askan knew a little about the Rye King's past. It wasn't as though Drestig had seemed unwilling to share, it was more so that Askan had never really been the sort to pry. He spoke to his alpha plenty, but it never occurred to him that he could saunter over and ask why he had chosen to set up a pack in the north. One might assume that Askan was too trusting, or suggest that he make an effort to be in the know. But never had he once doubted his alpha, he trusted him completely. And so if Drestig wanted to tell him why he'd left the south then he would have, and Askan would have listened wholeheartedly. 

With that said, he'd learnt a little from Drestig's conversation with Lena. So he wasn't completely in the dark. But even so, Askan wasn't the sort to miss an opportunity to learn more about his King. If this Bend wolf was willing to talk, he would listen. At first, her words didn't move him in the slightest and there was something irritating about her chirpy voice. But even though he wasn't exactly listening intently, even he picked up on the reverence and sincerity in her voice. She wasn't trying to sway him with honey coated words, she meant each and every one of them.

Askan turned away and looked up at the bare branches of the tree he had slept beside. At this point he wasn't quite sure what to make of her, and he found that...Irritating. But if Drestig cared for her then he'd hardly approve of Askan snapping at her, like he did with everyone else. But again, he was stubborn and proud, and so very set in his ways, he had no intention of giving her special treatment. To him, she was a stranger. And he intended to keep her at arms length like everyone else.

When he spoke, his pulled his sharp yellow gaze down to look at her once more. "Hmm, that's nice." He paused for a moment in deliberation. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea. It wasn't as though he wanted to spend more time with her but..... "The old man said some of you could visit if you wanted."
 

many apology my friend

Sahalie didn't care one way or the other if the man took a liking to her or not since she already thought he was swell. He reminded her of Larkspur and that was enough, and it was nice of him to be Drestig's messanger. He seemed dutiful, trustworthy, and strong even if he was a little sour. "Wow!" she piped, her mouth hanging a little open, "I'm...actually surprised he'd say that."

Leaning in conspiratorily, her voice lowered, "I mean, idunno if anyone's told you but he didn't leave on the best terms. Lotta wolves here were mad, ya know, that he wanted to try and move the Bend somewhere else. We all stayed and he and Jessie were the only ones that went." Today the girl was all about the gossip. But it would be strange to Sahalie for this messanger not to know the whole story, the real origins of his pack and his leaders. And the intensity of his stare as she had begun to speak about Drestig had seemed to indicate that he didn't know everything. Maybe Drestig had just never spoken about her.

That made her sad.

"So yeah... It's just awful nice of him to say that any of us could come and see him." Sahalie in particular felt undeserving: she had been the straw that broke the camels back and the one who had opened the floodgate of negative cries of "hell no, we won't go." If Sahalie had wanted to go all those months ago, would it have been different? Would the rest of the pack wanted to go? She had only been half a year old, it was not like she could make decisions for the rest of the pack. But still, if an offer was on the table now...

Brightening again: "So you'll take me?"

Why was she surprised? To Askan it seemed like a reasonable offer, after all Drestig clearly still cared about the Bend wolves. They may have parted ways during a difficult time but that didn't seem to sour the Rye King's feelings towards them. Perhaps there were individuals he wasn't so fond of, but as a whole it was clear that he'd put the past behind him and moved on. This was his way of trying to make amends, to reinforce positive pack relations. And even though Askan was still a little bitter at being sent away, he was happy to do his part in service to his alpha.

When Sahalie leaned in, as though she had a secret to tell, Askan automatically leaned away a little. He had a thing for personal space and he certainly didn't appreciate his being invaded. Even if her intentions were pure. He sort of appreciated the fact that she wanted him to know the whole context behind Drestig and Jessie's departure, but it wasn't needed. He already knew, his alphas had beaten her to it by a long shot.

"Yeah, I know. They told me. Said there's no hard feelings. You did what you thought you had to." They hadn't worded it as such, but Askan had his own blunt way of speaking.

Askan barely noticed the way her expression faltered. One moment she was carefree, with a warm gleam in her eyes, the next she seemed solemn and sad. Askan didn't have time to question it, as it vanished as soon as it appeared. He likely wouldn't have had said anything nice or consoling, he just wasn't the sort. If anything, his words would have been curt, like 'get a grip.'

"That's the idea. As long as you don't slow me down too much, I don't care. Think anyone else will wanna come too?" He asked, hoping that no one else would. He wasn't sure if he could deal with a trail of Bend wolves following him about and chatting his ears off. 

1 more from you and then i'll fade with my next post???? :c sorry this took so long but otb did kinda...blow the hell up

Finally his brusqueness was starting to get to her as he leaned away and impatiently explained that her context was unnecessary. Somehow the whole message just didn't sound genuine, delivered like this: how could Sahalie feel that Drestig had no hard feelings when the dark man was rushing through it all like he had some hard feelings about being here. He was willing to bring Sahalie along, though of course he was not happy about that, and the girl felt her heart snag on the branches of her home. Did she really want to leave on yet another trip to be with another wolf who did not want her company. Inwardly she scolded herself: Drestig did want to see her, she knew it. He would be waiting at the end of this journey, though how far it would take her she didn't know. "I don't know... I'll have to see," though she was unsure if there were many others who would want to see what had become of the suave dark man, most would be happy enough to know he was doing well, "And let them know I'm going, of course."

"One" she coughed ceremoniously and straightened herself, "Condition though. You're gunna have to act like a real scout. No more of this apathetically delivering messages and acting like you don't wanna be here. We're gunna have a good time and you're gunna at least pretend you're getting something out of this." She just couldn't hang her heart on another trip full of bickering, shouting, and bruised feelings. "Got it?" Her head tipped. Naive little girl that she was, she did not expect him to laugh in her face, lie to her, or call off the whole trip.

Askan was willing to wait a little. Not an eternity mind you, but he doubted that even Sahalie would be dumb enough to leave him hanging like that. She had to know he had no intentions of waiting around forever, at this point he was tired and he just wanted to go home. Being away from his pack and his lands were overrated, why would anyone even choose to be a scout? It was too much hard work and not enough gain to make it worth while. Askan hummed, letting the pudge know that he'd heard her loud and clear. 

But then she had to go on and continue. She had to get snarky.

Askan couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't want to be there but he wasn't being apathetic. She was making baseless accusations and she had absolutely no proof to back herself up with! He was being perfectly reasonable, she was the one that was being an ass, kicking up a fuss like this, as though she thought she were in the right and he in the wrong. And oh how wrong she was, the annoying little heck that she was. She was in no position to boss him around, nor did she have any right to give him any conditions. If she didn't want to come then fine, Askan wasn't going to beg or plead. He'd just tell Jessie and Drestig no one felt like making the trip, and that would be that. She had to go on and natter on as though this was a big deal, but it wasn't. Really it wasn't.

Askan knew full well he wasn't going to have a good time. He wasn't going to frolic along like a bear cub playing in the spring snow, the idea was laughable, completely ridiculous. But he didn't have the fight in him to snap and tell her otherwise. He might have, if he cared, but he didn't. So he simply shrugged his shoulders in defeat and glanced down at the porker- he meant Sahalie.

"Yeah sure, whatever. Let me know when you're ready. I'll be here."

(This post was last modified: Jan 07, 2017, 09:31 PM by Askan.)

When he rolled his eyes and began to sulk the girl drew back, her eyebrows raised. Surprisingly, Askan raised no complaints, and perhaps this was the only regard in which he was being a good scout—Sahalie had to give him that. If he wanted to, though, he probably could have shoved her to the ground for her insolence, which would have been unwise considering how "popular" Sahalie was with her many pack mates. Not that she would allow anyone to fight on her behalf. Luckily, everything was going well. This man probably wouldn't end up liking her, but Sahalie was just fine with that—or perhaps even a little optimistic, since somehow she wore everyone else down in the end. She would just have to find out what made him tick.

"Lemme know if you want anything to eat," she barked, already starting to turn around. He was an important guest and she was sure no one would mind if he was fed from the caches rather than forcing him to hunt for himself after coming all this way. "I'll only be a little while," she threw over her shoulder as her backside began to disappear behind the trees.