Antler Ring Leave the darkness rather blacker than before

For @Drestig - 2 or 3 days after fight/Percy's dissapearance ok with you?

A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound

Morganna Archer

Morganna did not expect her message to be delivered but just in case it was she made her way towards the antler ring, a nice little 'in between' as though this was the true purpose for which it was made. Were she not so on edge she might dare to smirk about it. As it was, her mood hung lower than the snow clouds two nights past. Something foul hung in the air, a foreboding presence that she couldn't help but feel she had felt before (under much more friendly circumstances), so she wasn't about to go pointing her paw at their southern neighbours until she did some digging of her own. Her son had lost an eye, after all, and while he may have been a hellraiser he was just a child, and she knew the Rye wolves had one of their own to look out for.

At least in the daylight she could see a threat coming. Spotting movement on the horizon she brought herself to a seat, wondering which one might be making their way out here today or if both leaders would come to see what she had to say away from the watchful (and far more level-headed) @Craw.

He was terrified! Three nights had passed now since he'd last seen Percy, and no signs of her had been found despite he and the rest of the pack scouring every inch of the Lowlands; Apart from one..! Pups wandering off was nothing new, in his time in the Bend he had seen it happen multiple times and been part of many a search party just like these. But this was his daughter! His pride, his joy, his legacy, and she was gone. He was at fault, for sure, he'd given her too much free rein, trusted the rest of the pack to watch her and forgotten to do so himself; Of course this happened while Jessie was gone! He mentally kicked himself over and over, because if she had been here it would have never taken place. But she was away and meanwhile it had been his responsibility to tighten up, knowing she was not here to make up for his faults. He'd promised as much, certain he could manage fine as long as the damned northeners kept to themselves. And they had indeed been, suspiciously, quiet. Just as well, as the Rye alpha had been kept busy by the steady stream of new recruits all needing to be introduced and brought into the hunting and patrolling routines. In all of this, had his Phoenix been forgotten? And now this. A cryptic message from none other than the stone-dwellers themselves, their unstable queen of all wolves, wanting a meeting on neutral grounds. Drestig had felt an icy stroke creep all along his spine when he first heard it, all manner of chilling scenarios running through his head. He considered not coming, too busy with his search to take part in whatever twisted scheme the she-devil had set up. But then he feared staying away might make things worse. He thought of taking someone, multiple someone's, even if she'd asked to meet alone, but that too was dismissed; It would be wasted time that could be better spend out searching, he could handle the bitch even if things turned sour. If it was an ambush he would fight his way out; Neutral grounds… Even distance between their packs. Beyond all this thoughts though, was the true fear, that the psychotic woman might finally have made good on her threats and taken his daughter, maybe even hurt her; What else would she want? It made him tremble with rage and terror, and all he could do was what she asked. Again and again, he reminded himself that it might be something else; Anything else! But as he walked to meet her there was a frozen knot in his stomach; But what else? He could see her from far away, a dark silhouette sitting straight and stiff besides the peculiar monument of bone. As he approached, the aging man adjusted his posture, with a care he typically didn't bother to: leveling his tail exactly with his back, lowering his shoulder but keeping his head up, ears perked and alert but not facing directly ahead. A neutral figure meeting the female on equal ground. "I assume this is important," He greeted, taking a seat opposite, the ring separating them. His voice was even, not confrontational, but he had no time for small talk or decency; Thank god she didn't bring the stickler! It was a calm, no bullshit attitude he offered to the Whitestone queen; "I'm listening."   Word count: 574 ”Speech” Thoughts

Arctic-Stock @DA

 

(This post was last modified: Feb 22, 2017, 11:52 PM by Drestig.)

Try as she might, Morganna could not bring herself to rest easy. Her stillness was unnatural, the tautness in her shoulders evident and the way she tried to look anywhere but at the approaching wolf betrayed her own frayed nerves. When @Drestig arrived, her eyes flicked towards him, as if only just now noticing she had company. Her lips parted just so, then her jaws clicked shut again. She couldn't trust her voice not to waver, but she also knew that if she didn't spit it out then she was just wasting both their time, and she did hate to waste time. "Somethin's up." She finally spoke, although that was hardly worth mentioning without elaborating now was it?

"Someone attacked m' son, 'e lost an eye. Thought it was worth mentionin' since yer got yer own young'n ter look out fer. I've got th' rest o' th' pack out lookin' fer whoever it might 'o been, sent 'im south ter his grandmother..." She couldn't know that her mother was dead and in just two days time her sister would come bearing the bad news. "We're out o' herbs an' he's in pain." She added as an afterthought, not that she thought it would matter to the Rye wolf. The pull of her lips betrayed the soft spot she had not just for her own children but for them all. After all, if she didn't would she bother to warn their neighbours at all? She had come to request extra eyes, little did she know this was all a whole lot bigger than she could have anticipated.

That something was up was evident before the woman even spoke; Her body radiated an anxiety very unlike what she'd displayed at their last meeting. It hung thick in the air between them, Drestig could smell it. His own worry only grew as he felt it, hackles ticking and ears flicking restlessly while he watched her and waited. The first words only made his mouth twitch, brows furrowing uncertainly; Something… At least it didn't sound like the start of a black mail speech. Then she continued, and the silver brows shot upward, the surprise clear on the older man's face. There were several notes to his shock: first the story itself, the horror of someone hurting a child so terribly; Then the fact that Morganna was telling him, that she had come all the way down here to warn him – there was no accusation in her words. "I'm… Very sorry to hear that," He finally said, earnestly, the coldness now gone from his voice; "I hope he's recovering okay." Hurting a kid was abhorrent, no matter how dastardly their parents might be, and that severely; Monstrous! Drestig gritted his teeth, an icy lump of fear growing heavy in his stomach, spreading freezing fingers throughout his body. His brows had furrowed again, shoulders tense as he realized the implications. Until now it had seemed most likely that Percy had gotten lost, maybe hurt herself and couldn't get home on her own. But this news brought a host of darker possibilities closer to probability. Ember eyes met the similar corals across from him, a heavy, troubled sigh leaving the man's mouth. "My daughter's missing…" He stated, his tone now thick with the worry he had previously fought to keep hidden; "She went out on her own three days ago and hasn't come home. I'm afraid she's gotten hurt, if whoever hurt your son got his paws on her too…" Unable to complete the horrible scenario, Drestig broke off, gritting his bared teeth harder, eyes blinking closed for just a second. Then he shook his head, looking back at the younger female, fire in his gaze; "Who is it, do you have any leads?" They needed to find this menace fast.   Word count: 368 ”Speech” Thoughts

Arctic-Stock @DA

 

Morganna couldn't manage to voice her thanks for his concern, the taught line of her lips not relaxing enough to allow any more words to escape. His own news bought a whine from her throat, the image of her frozen sister burned forever on the backs of her lids. Her stomach churned with the possibility of discovering the same again, Isolde's pale tawny coat morphing to the burning red of Kara's. They were running out of time.

 

The only leads they had to go on were vague at best but she would pass on all she knew if it meant having extra eyes out there for both their sakes. "'e said it was dark, but described a dark wolf, w' pale eyes an' scars across 'is face." She had no scent to go off thanks to the snowstorm, and she would be the first to say that it could have been anyone, even if she couldn't help but wonder...

"What'd's she look like? Yer girl?" Lorcan already knew, but to the rest she was a stranger, "I'll get my lot ter keep an eye out fer her when I send 'em out next." Whitestone had the numbers to spare on a more extensive search. "I'll get th' word ter Hearthstone too."

(This post was last modified: Feb 27, 2017, 10:13 PM by Morganna.)