we keep living anyway

OOC: How to get Cernan to talk 101. Birds. Also, all the tags. 

Her inquiry about the eldest Vuesain princess went unanswered, as the sight of the lake and the graceless shuffle towards it were plenty of distraction. He was glad that the girl ignored his gaffe, similarly, and their interaction swiftly moved past it. Cernan cast an interested ear her way when she exclaimed how gorgeous the flat empty void was. Again his brows tipped up, wondering just what it was that had her so enthralled. The expression on Eido's face was thoroughly amazed, and for not the first nor the final time, the prince was puzzled. 

@Sahalie had been a cheerful enough soul, he supposed, but this girl seemed to be oozing it. With lack of a better response, the tawny youngster simply cocked an amused eyebrow her way. Perhaps she was easily impressed? "It's much nicer in the spring," he added flippantly, turning to the side to continue his little tour. A sharp, humorous noise brought his attention back from the lake to the girl. For a second, he almost expected her to brush off his bitterness as unnecessary, and was pleasantly surprised. His large paws hesitated on their intended path through the snow. “Mean little bastards,” he didn't think he'd heard that word since @Nathaniel was around. Accurate, though. 

The boy's face brightened at once, agreement showing in his golden pools. Cernan wasn't the only one who saw the real threat they posed, and how despicable the creatures really were. Still, this was only the second wolf he'd ever come across to think so, excluding his petrified-of-everything little sis. He nodded swiftly in return, and opened his mouth a fraction to reply but Eido wasn't going to stop there. It seemed that, like @Nineva, the ivory-coated yearling had had a run-in with geese, the smaller but no less awful water birds that traveled in packs in the sky. It almost made them more dangerous, he supposed.

His golden eyes widened as she went on, head nodding with enthusiasm after each detail. For once the words rose in his throat, eager to reach the air and tell her about his own incidents with the monsters. There was something comical in her tone the longer Eido spoke, and though he was quite serious in his hatred of the things, he couldn't help the infectious grin that appeared on his face in response to her theatrical performance. A curt laugh burst from his parted jaws, followed quickly by the thoughts he'd been itching to speak. "There isn't," he agreed, the pitch of his tone rising and the smile still stuck to his face. "I met another girl once who was chased by a whole bunch of 'em!" Cernan had turned back along the banks of the lake now, still eager to tell her more. "That sister a'mine, @Neha, a swan almost killed her over here when we were pups." The prince jerked his muzzle in the direction of the spot; toward the boulder he'd backed against as the vicious avian came for him. The seriousness of the situation hadn't faded as he aged, in fact, it was all the clearer how close the little silver girl had come to being murdered by the giant white bird after seeing the vulnerability of Lunette and Issie at that age. "It'd been chasing me and she charged it," he added, ears pricked alert and eyes wide with astonishment for his incredibly brash sister and his own dramatic tale as he glanced over at Eido. "We weren't even a season old."

(This post was last modified: Jan 09, 2017, 12:04 PM by Cernan.)

I love Cernan <333

It didn't go unnoticed by the pale wolf that her companion did not speak of his sister, but since she figured there was probably a reason behind that, she decided not to pry. Instead, she went about the rest of the conversation as though it had never been mentioned in the first place. Because she understood - though she, personally, had no problem talking about her family now, she had not even wanted to think about them for a very long time after their deaths. The ghostly wolf hoped that Cernan's sister was not dead, for his sake. And, as would come up later in conversation, she would want to meet the brave pup who charged the swan.

"I'm sure it is," she replied in response to his confused statement about the lake, and she wagged her tail sheepishly. "I was just picturing how it would look if all the ice and snow were gone." She guessed by the tone of his voice that he was likely confused over her amazement of the lake, and for a moment she had been confused as to how he couldn't see the lake's magnificence. "It's much easier to get through winter if you just try to picture how things will look when it gets warmer; so, that way, the world isn't so much of a barren wasteland," she explained, hoping that that would make sense to the darker yearling. Eido was never known for making a lot of sense, though.

The young man was far more interested in her comment about the birds than Eido had imagined he'd be. But, of course, the enthusiasm with which he spoke and his laughter was a very welcome addition to the conversation. The snow-tinted wolf found herself smiling, happy to have caused such a response in him. For a moment, she was content to let their roles be reversed, so that she was the one listening to him speak in excitement about something, and that he was the one talking. She didn't interject into his stream of words until he chose to talk about his sister nearly being killed by a swan; by that point, it seemed that he was finished with his train of thought, so the pale wolf decided to give her input.

She returned, with just as much enthusiasm, "Not even a season old? See, anything that could try and hurt a puppy that young has to be evil." This time, she was not joking. In fact, she hadn't really been joking fully with her statement before; birds were really freaking scary. "If you ask me, any bird bigger than a magpie is probably a demon. I only forgive the little birds because they're fun to chase around when they're all landed on the ground in a big flock. Then, you run through them and it's like a cloud of birds just takes to the sky!" She laughed childishly, remembering all the times she had done just that with her littermate. "My brother and I liked to do that. Dad didn't always approve, but it was so much fun that we didn't really care. That was one of my favorite things to do when I was little; it still is, to be honest." It still hurt to talk about her family, even if it wasn't as bad as it used to be. Her heart still constricted slightly in her chest, causing her shoulders to sag and her smile to falter a bit before she shook her fur decisively and looked back up to meet Cernan's eyes. "But, yes, I hate birds. I can't imagine being attacked by a swan; if I can't fight off a goose, a swan would be the death of me."

OOC: <3 this is so fun

The girl's interest in the lake made a lot more sense once she explained it, and again his head bobbed up in a silent, “oh.” His smirk returned, wryly, at her mention of winter turning the place into a barren wasteland. It certainly wasn't fun to walk through, for sure, but he guessed the white stuff could be considered pretty in its own way. He left his response to her words at that, unsure really what else he should say. And then there was her reaction to the swan story, which he was very interested in seeing. Eido replied, feeding off of his energy on the subject and to her rhetorical question the prince shook his head up and down fervently; continuing to as she made a very agreeable statement about the things being evil. 

The Cove's new yearling then went on to elaborate in her usual talkative way, leaving Cernan to glance between the ground and her expression as they walked. The drinking spot was only a few more strides now, and he could go for one before they headed elsewhere. She said she liked to chase the smaller ones, and to that he let out a quiet “heh,” which turned into a wider smile as she laughed again. The girl slowly began to mention her family, and he listened at first without really considering that this was her home now, that the family she seemed to be speaking fondly of was no longer with her. She wouldn't be returning to them tomorrow like Nin, or Halie or the Pines kids – and of of which, he had begun to absently wonder how they were doing lately. 

However, there was a faint falling to her tone; a disintegration of her mirthful candor that managed to tug his attention around fully once he realized it. From the corner of one golden eye he caught sight of her smile, now dimmed and even it flickered from existence for a beat. Oh. She'd come here by herself. Whatever sorrow she held was only briefly apparent, and Cernan shifted his attention forward once more; he didn't like the idea of her finding him staring. There had been enough awkward for one day already. Eido had looked at him though before speaking again, and he chose to cast his eyes at her sideways in return; still preferring to stare at the approaching hole in the icy shore. He was curious now though, as to what circumstances had sent her here. Again his desire to know was dwarfed by his desire to not look like a jerk.

Thankfully the conversation brought his smirk back, and this time it was a bit sympathetic. "I haven't really tried to fight any of 'em myself so," his voice trailed off with a shrug. He would leave out the part about being scared to death at the sight of the things, much less the idea of fighting them. They were at the spot now, and Cernan trotted the last couple of steps forward down to the ice, quickly dipping his paws into the partially-sealed opening and adding his own claw marks to the wide array found around its edge. The water was bitingly cold on his toes when he broke through the thin, hard coating and into the lake itself. He'd always hated getting wet this time of year. The boy stuck his tongue out to lap up the frigid liquid and quench his thirst; shaking one of his paws a bit as he did so. 

The Vuesain prince then stepped back, gesturing toward the uncovered water with his head and regarding her inquiringly. He waited a moment for a response and added; "I can show you the den next," his voice rising at the end of the statement, as if it were a question. 

(This post was last modified: Jan 09, 2017, 02:07 PM by Cernan.)

It really is. I feel bad for this taking precedence over my other threads, but it's early and I don't feel like replying to anything else right now.

The boy seemed to have sensed the minor change in her demeanor, and had stopped talking as much. That was a bit disappointing, and the pale wolf hoped she hadn't ruined the day by being morose for a moment. She almost felt the need to apologize for messing up their lighthearted conversation, but chased that thought away and just padded behind the male as they headed over to the water source he had been talking about. When they got there, he commented on never having fought a swan on his own, and Eido gave a little snort of laughter, hoping to compensate for the bad mood she had donned for a moment. "Well, tell you what - I bet, between the two of us, we can take one. I'll go for the legs, you get the neck," she told him, a spark of mischief and the slightest hint of worry in her eyes as she looked over at him, trying to see if he was upset or angry without asking him outright. She couldn't help it; she didn't like the thought of ruining someone's mood. Especially someone she'd just met, and a new packmate that she'd only just met. She didn't want him to think she was stupid or downtrodden or rude.

Eido cringed a bit when his feet went through the water; that must have been cold. She waited for a moment for him to finish drinking before she stepped forward to lap at the frigid water. The yearling was very grateful for the drink - she had begun to worry that there was no water at all on the mountain, as silly as it was. She had gotten thirsty about halfway into the trip to meet Cernan. Even though she wasn't necessarily tired, for the young wolf could walk for a couple of days at least without needing to stop, she had to admit that the mountain climbing was taxing, even for her. So, she spent quite a few moments with her head down next to the water as she drank, reminding herself that living on a mountain was going to be very different for her, and that she would have to adjust herself accordingly.

When she had finished drinking her fill, the young wolf raised her head and shook her head to get any remaining droplets of water off of her muzzle or whiskers. "I've seen wolves get icicles on their faces when it gets really cold; I don't want a frozen face," she explained to the Vuesain boy, though he hadn't asked. "It would make for a bad impression with anyone else I'd meet today." She stepped back from the water and looked around, tail waving absently in slow beats.

"The den would be nice," the small wolf replied in response to his statement-slash-inquiry about where they should go next. "You're the tour guide - you pick what's next." She smiled, but trotted off a few strides away from the lake anyway, though she didn't know which direction they were supposed to go from there. She didn't really expect Cernan to say anything, so she turned, and off-topic, added, "You know, Cernan - someone that I once loved a lot said that all the smart wolves didn't talk very much. I think it may have just been a plot to get me to shut up, but there has to be some truth to it. And, if it really is the case, then I'm sure you're very smart." There wasn't a doubt in her mind that Cernan was intelligent, actually, but that didn't discount her next statement. "But you're not a bad conversationalist at all, when you do decide to talk."

Eido had encountered wolves who were just self-conscious about speaking, and she hoped that what she said might help Cernan gain some more confidence in that area. She knew that he probably didn't have a speech impediment, as had been the case with a wolf or two that Eido had met in the past, but there may have been other reasons behind the fact that he didn't talk much. Some wolves were just scared that they'd say something wrong, and though the pale yearling experienced that same feeling from time to time, she usually regretted not speaking up more than she regretted the alternative.

She was funny, there was no doubt about that. He just had to chuff a bit at her swan battle-plan. Really though, he hoped they'd never have to. The lake prince squinted for a second as she shook the water from her face, though very little if any wound up on him. His guard hairs would wick it right off anyway.  He was oblivious to her concern and indecision, thinking at most that the whisper of thought in her eye was more of the same sadness from earlier. Instead the boy's reaction came in response to her words, which drew a long smile on his face at the notion of icicle-face. 

His tail started to sway gently at his hocks to match her own, pausing while he listened to her reply. As the girl went on, his ears started to drift back a little. She was still grinning, still being friendly, and yet getting pushed squarely back into the leading role wasn't something the boy fancied. He knew he was in charge of showing her around, but still. It was easier to do well if he felt like they were doing the way the newcomer wanted to; that, and asking her was a good way to gently defer some of the responsibility off of himself. Cernan didn't have much to answer that with, and having glanced away his gaze returned to find her a few strides up toward the woods again.

“You know, Cernan...” Well, now she had his full attention. The hefty yearling strode forth, round ears cupped ahead to catch the rest of that statement. As Eido spoke, he padded up to and past her, toward the den, still keeping his focus on the stream of syllables. Slowly, he began to grasp what she was getting at, and when at last the complement hit, his ears rotated to the side fully. This time though, the corner of the mountain wolf's mouth facing her side turned up sheepishly. His bright gold eyes shuffled away, coming back in the next moment because the pale yearling wasn't quite done with him.

This time Cernan felt a familiar heat growing on the skin of his face, beneath his tawny fur. His half-smile faded a bit, but not completely. He noticed then that his head had managed to sink an inch or two from where he normally carried it. He chuffed once. "Thanks," the Cove prince forced out in reciprocation for both compliments, even if the second one was a bit of a double-edged claw. When you do decide to talk... She had noticed then, that he was awkwardly quiet with strangers. Fortunately, her cheerful attitude and sincerity combined did manage to keep him from getting too greatly uncomfortable. When he quickly looked back at her, for just a blink, his closed smile was genuine. Were he not so reserved he might have told her how funny she was in return. For the moment though, the prince couldn't manage more, and he fixated his gaze back on their path to the communal den. 

It didn't take long to come upon the pack's sleeping quarters and usual meeting place, with its makeshift throne area settled just above the cave-like entrance; which was really little more than the top of the den itself, partially covered by the carcass of a large pine. They paced beside the tree-line and into the wide clearing. There were many scents around, but for the moment it seemed that the rest of the pack was out. Cernan's golden gaze fell upon the familiar boulders that flanked the entrance, and the few other fallen trees that had been brought down by the same avalanche that had created the rocky den itself. 

(This post was last modified: Jan 09, 2017, 04:08 PM by Cernan.)

Warning - slightly long post ahead

The young female was content to follow the male, now that she didn't have to worry about being embarrassed by her scar, or have to school her face into a specific expression to make sure that the mood didn't drop. She found that she wasn't tripping as much now, which was good, because her pawsteps were quiet once more; it was one of the reasons she'd gotten her name in the first place. Eidolon was another word for a spirit, ghost, or specter, and her mother had teased her often enough about being a ghost wolf as a pup. It also hadn't helped that she was not as chatty for the first few months of her life, and that she was afraid of her own shadow for a while. Or that she only hung out with Neel and Nym, and hid from the others. She hadn't spoken at all until she was around two months old, and hadn't been a babbler until she was about six months. At that point, her pack had nearly been driven insane by her chatter.

She stayed true to her nature now, and after her companion thanked her for her compliment and she responded with a relaxed, "Don't mention it," she was ready to talk some more as they entered the forested areas. "I really prefer the forest. Before I came here, I'd only been in a few forests in my life, because my family liked to stay out in the meadows and clearings. They never did really like the trees," she explained, then continued, "But the forests give you a place to hide, and to feel like you can really disappear if you wanted to, and the trees block the wind, and there's more shelter if it rains or snows. Which, obviously, it snows a lot around here." For emphasis, the little female jumped and landed in a particularly deep patch of snow that reached almost up to her flanks. She laughed and nuzzled down into it before hopping out with clumps of the stuff all over her legs and stomach, but she shook most of it off.

As they approached the camp, Eido began to get a little more nervous. She lowered her head and tensed up, and she stopped talking quite so much. She could smell many other wolves now; it had been different when she could just smell Cernan and a few, staler scents, but now that she was near the den, the scents were fresher. She began to feel a nearly overwhelming sense of anxiety, and she hesitated. The den was beautiful, and rocky, with a ton of fallen trees and even a cave. It looked wonderfully inviting, but for some reason, Eido was unable to move her paws any further.

Memories of the smell of sickness that her familial pack had carried came to the forefront of her mind, causing nausea to build in her stomach and her breathing to pick up. She had been turned away from many packs because of that smell, and the irrational fear sprung into her thoughts that she might still have it on her. Her heart hammered in her chest at the thought of walking into the Fallen Tree Cove wolves' home and contaminating it with the sour smell of death and illness. Unbeknownst to her, the yearling's tail had tucked and her ears were flat against her skull as she lingered outside the community den. Her den, now, as well, though she couldn't get the thought out of her mind that she would be messing something up by stepping inside. Maybe it really hadn't been a good idea to come here so soon.

The pale wolf put a paw at the very edge of the den and turned her round, fearful gaze around to examine the place. She didn't dare step inside; she felt as though there were an invisible barrier put down that blocked specifically her from entering. Because, now that she thought about it, the smell of disease was all that she could scent at the moment. Logically, she knew it wasn't real, and even if she did still smell of the illness, it would be so faint that it was barely detectible. But memories of her packmates tearing one another were at the forefront of her memory, and all she could think of was that she would never be clean again. So much so that she had completely forgotten how to speak momentarily, too overwhelmed with her own personal hell to even imagine striking up decent conversation.

Instead, the young wolf took a couple of steadying breaths to try and calm herself down, and backed away slightly from the cave's entrance. She lowered her head and cleared her throat, trying to ignore the fact that her legs were still a bit shaky and her voice trembled when she spoke. "Th-the den is very cool," she offered, too embarrassed and shaken to make eye contact with her poor guide. Most wolves would have no idea what to do in this type of situation. So, again, Eido attempted to remedy her blunder. She just wasn't quite as effective this time, as even though her voice was forcibly cheerful, she still could not make eye contact - she was instead looking out toward the forest, pretending to be interested in something else - or get her tail to wag just yet. Everything still smelled of sickness to her, even though they were in a place where she should be able to smell trees and wolves and snow. She was nowhere near the disease, and yet it still seemed to cling to the very fibers of her mind and senses. "Is there maybe somewhere else we can go see?"

(This post was last modified: Jan 10, 2017, 06:11 AM by Eidolon.)

He was glad that the girl either didn't pick up on his discomfort, or chose not to mention it. That certainly would have made things worse, and more weird. Cernan was glad too, when she went right back to jabbering as they walked around the pine woods. He was still recovering himself, but again kept a single brown ear turned toward her while his eyes watched down and ahead. Most of the yearling's words explained simple, agreeable things about forests in general. He had done a bit of disappearing himself over the last few months. 

Her sudden leap caught him off guard though, actually drawing the prince's complete attention while she giggled and played in the snow for a short moment. Again he felt the corner of one of his lips draw back, and he snorted softly. This time when she shook, he paused to take a step back and shake off what bits of powder did land on him. They pressed on, soon drawing up to the crown of the Cove itself. He didn't notice that anything was amiss at first. Cernan had gone a few steps ahead, taking a second or two to scan the place with his own eyes while he waited for her predictable remark about how cool it looked, or something. He was so expecting of it, that the pale wolf's uncharacteristic silence was what felt strange, and got him to turn his head back around. 

What he saw surprised him. She was shrunken, afraid looking and tense. His face twisted into soft confusion at once, and he quickly looked back into the den's entrance to see if there was some danger there that he'd missed. Of course, his visual inspection found nothing, and his nose revealed no more either. Again his gaze flicked back to her. A new wolf being frightened or overwhelmed by the scents of the pack had never occurred, at least not while he was around, and the possibility wasn't something the boy considered. Eido was only looking more horrified by the second, and he hadn't the faintest idea why. 

His head dropped instinctively, as if to calm her by shrinking himself, but it was not Cernan that the girl was looking at. Her eyes were fixated on the den, but there was something about them that was far away. Somehow, she was not seeing just the den. The larger yearling's mouth opened a fraction of a degree, mind grasping for an explanation or an appropriate reaction as she lingered tentatively beside him. He could almost feel the anxiety radiating from her pelt; her stance. Breath crept up his throat cautiously, like a baby deer. "Ei-" It was scarcely more than a whisper, cut off by the movement of one of her frightened paws.

His tail crept toward his hocks with the uncertainty; the discomfort. He kept looking between her and the rocks, wondering what on earth had her so locked up. She was so afraid that she wasn't even nervously chattering away to hide it. He watched her retreat, pinning his ears out to the sides. Finally, speech. It was labored, her tone undeniably fake. His lips pressed together in a thin line and he hesitated to follow. Then the anxious girl asked something of him, and at once Cernan stammered his reply. "Uh y- yeah, there's..." it took him a second. This wasn't exactly a planned event, and though the medical den immediately came to mind, and was doubtlessly important for her to know about, he couldn't help but wonder if that too would set her off somehow. Unfortunately, it was the only thing to come to mind on such short notice. He didn't really have a choice. "...the infirmary?" He spoke hesitantly; mind racing for something else to say.

Eido was not at all surprised to find that Cernan had noticed what was going on. And dammit, she had made things awkward again; they'd been getting along so well, and she just went and ruined it. Shame and embarrassment burned the skin underneath her pelt, and she lowered herself further after hearing her poor tour guide stutter as he tried to figure out a place to take her that wouldn't do... well, whatever-the-hell had just happened to her again. The infirmary sounded like a good idea, because it would hold the smells of herbs and plants that might be strong enough to take over the sour smell that clung to her nose.

 She pressed her ears flat to her skull and sighed deeply. "I'm sorry," she murmured, though she had no idea what exactly she was sorry for at all. The young wolf inhaled deeply, and before she could think it through, blurted out, "Does anything smell weird to you? Like, sick type of weird? Do I smell sick?"

Yeah, it was a very weird thing to ask, but the young wolf was concerned that the phantom smell that she was experiencing might actually be a real thing, and she just needed confirmation of the opposite. It was only after she asked the question that she realized how stupid she was being, but it was just too late to go back now."I'm not sick, or anything. You must think I'm going insane... I may be," she amended, turning to face him. Her head was a little clearer now, and she was free from any real fear, but she still felt the irrational anxiety that she, herself, would still smell like illness and that it would ruin the place where her new pack slept. For a moment, she imagined that she could probably just sleep outside, but that was probably just going to make her seem weirder not only to Cernan, but to all of her packmates.

"Um, about a half a year ago, my family got really sick and started hurting themselves and one another." It wasn't something she was necessarily uncomfortable talking about, and she felt as though the larger yearling needed an explanation. "At first, they just started with fevers and normal sick stuff, but then they got aggressive. My mom killed my dad, my brothers and sister killed my grandfather, and then each other. My grandmother tried to kill me and my littermate, but we got away. Then, he got sick, too, and when he tried to bite me, I left him in the snow. They had white drool leaking from their mouths." It was scary to hear herself say it, and it dug back up old sorrow for the deaths of her loved ones, but she felt detached from it enough. "For a long time afterward, I still smelled like their sickness. You probably saw the scar behind my ear - that's because an alpha from a pack outside of the Lore smelled it on me and attacked me to drive me off. I think he was trying to kill me, but I outran him. I can't hear out of that ear anymore."

She had not realized she hadn't spoken to anyone about all of this before, and she wasn't sure why she was dumping it all on her new packmate, but for the fact that he'd just witnessed one of her episodes and probably deserved to know. That, and she didn't have to worry so much about him telling anyone. "So, I was actually really worried for a minute there that I was going to mess something up by being in the den, and all I can smell is death and illness, even though I know it isn't there. Is it?" she asked, turning wide, orange eyes up to the agouti male for confirmation.

(This post was last modified: Jan 10, 2017, 11:22 PM by Eidolon.)

OOC: Oh boy.

She shrank as his fumbling words met her pinned ears, only making the prince feel worse about whatever was going on. He was frozen in place; completely helpless to do anything to help the situation. It dragged on like that, until the boy's ears had to tip upward just a hint to catch the faint apology she offered. Cernan just stared, not feeling that words from him were a good idea just yet. Again her voice filled the empty space, this time with a question both perplexing and concerning. Sick? Just as his mind had begun to seize the implications, the pale yearling elaborated. 

“You must think I'm going Insane. I may be...” The way her tone fell away made everything so real all of a sudden. There was a weakness to it that wanted to pull him out of his rut, to say something – but he couldn't. His thoughts moved too fast for his tongue. She wasn't sick but, she could have been carrying sickness with her, or so she seemed to worry. He hadn't noticed anything strange about her scent when they'd met, but he also hadn't been looking... Did, did this illness have to do with her mind then? Was it taking her sanity? There was a horror to his gaze that only grew when the strange girl decided to tell him more.

Her family had murdered one another. The detail made his stomach turn and he wanted to pull back, to get away from this here and now. His paws even shifted. She kept going. The scar... she'd been carrying the sickness enough to have another pack chase her off, probably out of fear. Did... did his parents know any of this? Would they have let her in if they did? He was afraid now, and nauseous at the idea of this happening to the Cove; sickened by wondering what this meant about Eido, or what it would mean. Was it even something a medic like his Ma would be able to treat? What if it was already acting on her brain, and she was sick without knowing it, and that was why she'd suddenly locked up?  

His yellow eyes were as wide and scared as hers were when she asked that final question. Only then did he realize that he'd started to lean his weight back, away. Tentatively, he inhaled in shorts, silent chuffs. "No... but," he was still very much reeling from her words. She had said this was all at least two seasons ago, didn't she? "You... don't think you're carrying it, do you?" His voice was uncharacteristically uneven, as he tried to force it not to be, and thoroughly tense. "Did you tell my parents? My Mom's a healer, she knows- ...she might know- " he trailed off, trying to steady himself again in all senses of the word. 

(This post was last modified: Jan 11, 2017, 01:22 PM by Cernan.)

When I made Eido, I considered making her a carrier of the disease, but she's not. ^^

Eido was relieved that he said that he said he didn't smell anything sick, but now she realized he was leaning away, and that he was scared by her admissions. She didn't really blame him, but it still felt like some sort of extra weight had been put on top of her, and she felt almost guilty for it. Her heart was hammering in her chest with fear that she'd already irreparably damaged her relationship not only with the agouti male, but with her new pack, as well. The pale wolf backed up and pressed against a tree, her own eyes wide and scared at Cernan's reaction. She didn't think he'd hurt her, but she could never be sure.

"I don't... I don't think I'm sick..." she stumbled over her words, her gaze skittering toward the ground and her body lowering to where her belly fur brushed against the snow. In fact, she knew that she was not sick. She couldn't be; the disease had shown up so quickly in her own family that there had been no question about their sickness. Half a year had gone by for Eido, and she hadn't shown any signs of coming down with the same thing. "I didn't tell anyone else about it - I should have, but I got scared." She was scared now; her tail tucked, her head low, her eyes downcast, and her ears pressed to her skull.

The snow-colored female squeezed her eyes shut before she contined, "You can... um... you can chase me off, or kill me, if you think I am carrying it. I wouldn't blame you. I shouldn't have told you all of that." She had heard of many wolves contracting this type of disease, and no herbs had worked on them, so Eido didn't expect that a healer could fix her, if she did somehow happen to have the sickness. "You can even go tell everyone else in your pack and let them do it for you. Or I could just leave, if that would be easier." She didn't want to go, but she definitely wouldn't remain in a place that she wasn't welcomed. She felt like she had done something wrong to Fallen Tree Cove, in a way. Like she had lied and betrayed them on her very first day.