Whitestone Monadnock if i was a rich girl

idunno the song was stuck in my head. My muse is all over the place @Lorcan

She threw another snowshoe hare onto the cache.

Stress, lack of sleep, and a regular regime of hunting had really started to wear on the girl. Already she had lost a lot of her heft. While it was a little harder to keep warm, Sahalie felt better without so many unfamiliar eyes wandering over her, assuming this that and the other thing about her weight. She didn't want to look lazy, she just wanted to look grateful for being given this opportunity. At least the game was more plentiful than she had assumed, out on the tundra. There were all sorts of tracks made by little critters and jumping down into the snow like she had seen the foxes do was fun enough. Sahalie's life in Oak Tree Bend had been gentle, if not formless, and she had spent so many days slacking. Having Craw's approval, along with the rest of the Monadnock, was important to her.

Besides, it was hard to even have an appetite here. The mountain air was so thin it made her feel vaguely sick, and it was probably better not to eat anything. She was sure her hunger would come back eventually, but she was desperately hoping it would stay away long enough for her to lose a little more weight.

Her stomach gurgled. She ignored it.

(This post was last modified: Jan 19, 2017, 03:49 PM by Sahalie.)

Wandering back to the main food cache atop the plateau, Lorcan carried the half-frozen remains of a partial deer carcass between his jaws. Even with much of the flesh picked off by ravens, the bulk of bones and meat that he carried still remained heavy, weighted down even further by the ice which had formed upon in whilst out in the bitter cold of the tundra. Whilst the food might have been scavenged, the healer was appreciative of anything he could get, especially with their growing numbers of mouths to feed.

Dragging the carcass awkwardly between his two front paws, Lorcan’s golden eyes fell upon a dark figure lingering by the cache. Not yet recognising her, for he could not yet see her face, Lorcan continued to approach with a friendly wag of his tail. Whilst he was aware of the many new faces around the monadnock he had yet to bump into any of them. Instead he had only caught their scents mingling with those more familiar to him. Sideling in beside her, ears pricking at the sound of her stomach rumbling, Lorcan’s thrust the carcass down into the cache before glancing back up to greet his new pack mate.

“If you’re hungry you are more than welcome to take—” He began, before suddenly viewing her face in full. It took a few seconds for him realise where he recognised her from. She was very same female that had been travelling with @Askan over a month ago. Charcoal lips parted into an unwelcoming sneer and the dark fur along his back bristled. Already he was making assumptions, but anyone that hung around with that good-for-nothing man was surely trouble. “I’ve seen you before.” He growled, voice laced with suspicion. “You were with Askan.” He took a few steps back and planted his paws wide as his tail rose dominantly behind him.

“He sent you over here didn’t he?” He snapped, fangs flashing. Whilst usually so unlike him, her connection with Askan caused his hatred of the man to blind his sense of reason. Things were beginning to get tough around the monadnock and Lorcan wouldn’t put it past their meddlesome neighbours to send a sweet looking young girl over to check out the competition. If she tried to run, Lorcan would do his best to stop her. He demanded answers.

# P O R C A N

sometimes, two people have to fall apart to realise

how much they need to fall back together

It hadn’t been too long since he and Hal had joined and everything still felt strange to him. He’d been trying to find them a good place to sleep but they’d been so far reduced to taking refuge behind rocks. He could tell that it was taking its toll on Sahalie so he’d doubled his efforts to try and look for a good place to make their den while also attempting to learn the layout of the Monadnock’s territory. He hadn’t had much interaction with the other members. Not that he was avoiding them...mostly. He just wanted to get more acclimated to the area before he jumped into that. 


While out and about he came across the scent of his friend and decided to go see how she was doing, trotting along at a leisurely pace. His gaze zeroed in on the girl and an apparent packmate from a distance and he contemplated turning and heading another direction, not wanting to disturb their interaction. However, all those plans were dashed when he saw the posture change from one of nicety to threatening. His guard hairs prickled, the sense of protection he had for the sunspot going into overdrive but he took deep breathes. He couldn’t allow this to become another Larkspur. The incident had been much safer to take on, happening with a loner outside of pack territory. But, here they were new and this was a packmate within the pack territory. He couldn’t risk that. Not to mention that the brouhaha with the unpleasant man had created quite a rift already between the pair. No, he’d keep himself as cool and collected as he could.

He came upon them, posture meeting all the right requirements for the lowest of the ranked to a higher placed male but his eyes were taking in all. Sharp and intelligent. “I know Sahalie can be a little chatty sometimes, but I don’t think that’s any way to treat a packmate,” he said, his voice neutral. Nothing about his posture was threatening, but it was clear he was unsettled by the situation.

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

apologies on taking so long. my mind has been a mess when i stare at this thread @Lorcan

The voice beside her sounded vaguely familiar as her eyes slowly lifted to meet it. That pale, wheat-grass face gave her a small shock. Lorcan was not a wolf she had expected to see ever again, really. Sahalie blinked dumbly. Lorcan seemed just as surprised to see her, but there were other emotions mixed on his face as his expression began to sour and his fur stood on end. Seeing her here, now, in Whitestone seemed to make him angry. The girl didn't understand: she thought there had been some sort of amicable understanding between them. Her small form seemed to wither into nothing as she crouched on the ground below him, worrying that she had grossly misjudged the man from the hill so many weeks ago. Lorcan had seemed so refined in the face of Askan's discourteous attitude that Sahalie sided with him. But now there was this whole new side to the handsome man—who didn't seem half so handsome, now.

The yellowed teeth clicked shut angrily and she flinched. Her mouth hung open, confused and utterly shocked by the fury and theories. But the accusation flung at her connected the dots between a few mysteries that had fallen by the way side in the interceding weeks since she had been north with Askan. And she remembered now that Askan's pack, Wild Rye Fields, were neighbors—unfriendly neighbors—with Lorcan's pack, only she was just discovering now that Lorcan's pack was Whitestone Monadnock. The scent had seemed familiar but she had brushed it all aside, too caught up in her own tumultuous world to have time for this.

But this was part of her world. Now.

Sahalie was not sure if there had ever been a time she had been so happy for Alastor to suddenly appear. He tended to have a desire to cause things to turn into chaos, but already his voice was smooth and he seemed determined not to fly off the handle. Larkspur had gotten a lot more from Al for more or less the same behavior. Al was really trying. "N-no. I'm not— I haven't seen Askan in— I don't even," She didn't even know how to explain in so few words—because truly, she felt like she was being pressured to produce a very short justification for her presence—the complicated relationship between herself, Wild Rye Fields, and showing up here. Why did this place have to be the place, the source of all the tension and frustration for Drestig and Jessie. And Sahalie was living among them. Her head swirled. She felt like she had fucked up somewhere.

"Askan was just, just taking me to see my old pack mates. They'd left my old pack to f-f-ound theirs. I was just visiting." But now she was here, in an interesting turn of events. Not that she wanted to be here, on this godforsaken stone, but she had told herself she was doing it for Spieden. Doing it because she thought Serach was wrong. "But then I...left my old pack and I came... here. With Spieden and some others but. But I don't have anything to do with Askan. I barely know him" Her voice was pleading. She realized now how badly this looked: to be suddenly outed on the opposing side of a dispute. Would they be upset to find out they had sympathizers for Wild Rye Fields in their midst? Sahalie was about as threatening as a blade of grass, but that was not how Lorcan saw it.

@Sahalie @Kino – sorry for the wait!

Russet ears swerved to catch the unfamiliar voice which called out from behind him. It seemed the younger male and the Sahalie were already acquainted. The dark fur along his spine bristled and he immediately snapped his head around to shoot the young male a questioning glare. Was he in on it too?! Suddenly, Lorcan felt the need to re-position himself. It wasn’t safe for him to remain facing the dark girl head-on, whilst exposing his back to the grey haired boy. They’d easily jump him if they were indeed working together.

Shuffling backward, though making a point to keep his fangs exposed and his tail curled tightly up behind him, the healer backed away a few paces so that he had one of the wolves to either side of him, where he could see them. If they tried to make a dash across to the other, it would only take a lunge forward from Lorcan to block such an action.

Flicking to glance back and forth between the pair, Lorcan’s anger boiled down a little when he noticed that the girl had crouched down submissively. It was a good move. It helped to remind the male that the girl had in-fact been polite to him the last time they had met and had stuck up for him in front of Askan. She had not seemed like a threat back then. His fangs retreated back to sit behind his charcoal lips as he watched her. Now though, they were not on neutral territory anymore and the agouti male was still not entirely convinced of her innocence. He remembered how she and Askan had whispered to each other. The words had been inaudible to him and it was something that had continued to bug him.

“How do you know Askan!” He snarled again, though he didn’t snap his jaws at her this time but instead stomped a single paw on the ground. Her response was all a stutter and it did little to subdue Lorcan’s suspicions. He cocked his head to once side in a questioning manner, eyes widening in expectation.

He listened to Sahalie’s explanation and allowed his gaze to flicker across to the boy occasionally to make sure that he hadn’t moved. Her story seemed reasonable, but it just seemed to ignite more questions in the Whitestone healer. “But you know about Wild Rye Fields.” He stated sharply, before turning to Kino. “You as well?” A single white brow raising in distrust. “Why would you leave your pack and then come here and not go there, where you already have acquaintances?” He gestured with his muzzle out across the lowlands in the direction of their neighbours’ territory, before fixing his gaze back on Sahalie. She had to understand that this didn’t look good.

# P O R C A N

sometimes, two people have to fall apart to realise

how much they need to fall back together

If I ever leave I could learn to miss you

He could feel the anxiety rolling off of his friend in waves and the move that the other man made to clearly keep them apart made his blood boil. His topaz gaze directed across to Hal, taking a deep breath himself and telling her inadvertently to just breath. Everything would be fine. She rambled, trying to piece together an explanation. Hal, normally so good with words, was stumbling all over herself and it made him uneasy. When the attention was turned toward him with sharp, accusing golden eyes it took everything he had to keep his fur from bristling.

“I don’t know anything about a Wild Rye Fields and that’s the truth. We came here with Spieden, for Spieden and not for anything else. I think if you have a problem with us being here you might want to take it up with Morganna, who seems to trust us and her perfectly fine while knowing the our entire story,” he said calmly. It wasn’t the place of a subordinate to question their leaders, even this man had to know that. In fact, it seemed pretty unloyal to him for the tawny healer to be having doubts and anxieties like he was.

With sentimental boy as my nom de plume

@Lorcan and @Kino SO sorry this took so long, both of you guys feel free to make your next posts your exit-y posts (as this is post #7), and then I'll wrap up once again with #10

No one had ever demanded answers from her like this. Under normal circumstances her story was something she would have given willingly, easily, but now that her safety was under attack her story seemed like all Sahalie had left. She clung to it. Lorcan's rage subsided into deep suspicion, but the fact that his teeth were not showing anymore only barely heartened the girl. He didn't want to lash out at her, but for the first time in her life she was up against a wolf who distrusted her so much that in the moment he hated her and everything she stood for. Sahalie would have gladly taken any fang from deranged, feral Larkspur over the uncompromising loathing that seared in his eyes. 

Alastor was ready with answers that Sahalie, in her frightened state, lacked. Sahalie hadn't explained much about Drestig and Jessie's pack to Alastor—setting off with Askan just after his return—but she assumed he had heard something from Serach or Spieden or anyone after the scout had arrived on their doorstep. Maybe he had just failed to catch the name and wasn't sure what the context was. To say he knew nothing sounded like a bold statement but, well, it was out there now. When he had arrived the silver boy had seemed calm, amicable, but one assertion after another and the boy was reaching a dangerous, flippant territory. He spoke calmly, but the space in between the words was not calm enough for the girl who wilted a little. She forced herself to at least take comfort in the fact that he wasn't at risk of pissing himself. That would be useless.

"It's, there's a lot more to it to just ex-packmates and alliances," she piped up, even as she pressed her body against the ground even more firmly. If Lorcan weren't so angry none of this gossip would have really been his business. "Spieden and Jessie didn't get along when we all used to live together. She wouldn't have wanted to go there." Oak Tree Bend and Wild Rye Fields were on good terms, but that didn't erase any of the deep-seeded antagonism that laced the cold stares between one lady and the other. "Spieden raised me. She wanted to come here, so we came here."

"Believe me, I had no idea that... that it would cause such trouble." But clearly she had. Because if Drestig and Jessie found out she was here, they probably wouldn't be happy either. Or if they caught the scent of Sahalie, Alastor, and Spieden on the breeze they might assume that they were hostages of some sort. "I didn't know. I didn't know you were their neighbors. I didn't... I'm not here to hurt anyone. We're just here for Spieden."

Suspicious golden gaze narrowed on the younger grey male as he spoke and his russet ears were perked forwards to listen carefully to what the boy had to say. Right now the Whitestone subordinate did not trust either of them and they still had a lot of explaining to do. The first part of the boy’s answer he was inclined to believe. Black-tipped tail began to lower a little from its dominant height, however, when the boy then had the audacity to suggest that he should take things up with Morganna - it hit a nerve.

Charcoal lips pulled back, a low growing rumbling in his throat, and pearl white fangs flashed as his jaws snapped open and struck forwards to grip dominantly around the boy’s muzzle. He needed to be put in his place. His jaws clamped down with just enough force for the boy to feel the pressure of his teeth for it to hurt, but not enough to cause his new pack mate any damage.

Glancing back to @Sahalie his anger simmered just a little as he noticed how she now coward down at the ground submissively. At least one of them knew how to be respectful. Releasing his hold on her friend’s muzzle with a rough shove, Lorcan re-directed his attention to the girl as she tried to explain the situation in more detail. Although the frown at his brow did not fade, it did soften as he listened to her story. To her credit, it sounded plausible and much less sinister than what he had first imagined.

Slowly his tail unfurled from above his spine and shifted down to sway more neutrally behind him as he looked to her. “Well then..” He sighed, his tail flicking a little awkwardly behind him. “I apologise.” He replied somewhat calmly, golden gaze directed mainly at Sahalie over the boy.

“But, if you are just here for Spieden as you say you are, I suggest you keep away from the Rye Field wolves. Especially Askan. He might seem nice at first but he is nothing but trouble.”  He warned them with a serious stare. With that, Lorcan moved to quietly take his leave. 

~Lorcan exit~

(This post was last modified: Mar 26, 2017, 03:06 PM by Lorcan.)

# P O R C A N

sometimes, two people have to fall apart to realise

how much they need to fall back together

If I ever leave I could learn to miss you

His words only seemed to cause Hal to flatten further into the ground, which confused him. He didn’t think he’d done anything wrong by his words. He wasn’t outright accusing the man and he hadn’t risen his posture above his. All things considered he was doing rather well for being, well, Kino. But it seemed that the man didn’t think the same way, as in a moment’s notice there was a flash of tawny fur then the stench of the man’s breath in his face. His jaws were sealed shut, teeth digging into his muzzle not quite hard enough to draw blood but he could certainly feel their pinch. He tensed, jaw clenching and auds sweeping back as a growl wanted to bubble up his throat. He swallowed it, forcing himself with everything he had to keep his temper. He’d promised Sahalie he wouldn’t pull a Larkspur again, even if in this situation he certainly felt he’d be justified to fight back. And, a promise was a promise.

The silver boy’s tail tucked against his stomach and he pressed himself to the ground, resisting the urge to vomit at the display. He wasn’t sorry, not even a little bit and at the moment he definitely didn’t feel like himself. Once the man let go he stayed where he was, topaz gaze narrowed on the ground. After what seemed like forever Lorcan left and Kino rose to his paws, staring after him. A quiet rage fired inside of him and he snorted. “Fucking prick,” he scowled. He hated it in the Monadnock, all the prissy wolves and how easy it was for them to get butthurt and make accusations over nothing. They were all on some kind of power trip. “I’m gonna go for a run,” he said, sweeping past his friend. He needed to blow off some steam. At least he wasn’t blowing it off at Lorcan.

Exit

 

With sentimental boy as my nom de plume