Larkcall Lowlands these lies i weave are oh so intricate

@Cottongrass - Backdated to the 11 April

With his three gifts left safely buried beneath the snow at the borders of Whitestone, Lorcan began to make his way back across the tundra in the direction of his new home. It felt strange to be walking away from the great monadnock, perhaps even more so than the first time he had done so, but at the same time he felt like he had done the right thing. His fears about the pack crumbling when he had left had been proved wrong. In fact, it seemed like things for both Piety and Wraith had much improved since his sudden departure. He could only hope that his gifts would go on to help them continue with good fortune into spring. 

Now that he was heading back in the direction of Hearthwood, with the monadnock looming in the distance behind him, the agouti male had one final task to fulfil. When he had left for Whitestone he had informed Inna that he was leaving to go on a hunt around the lowlands and now that he was on his return journey, he couldn’t turn up at the borders of his new home without some food in jaws. Problem was, he had been gone for three days now so he couldn’t exactly return with only a hare to his name. Pressing his nose to the ground, Lorcan set about tracking down something much larger. He knew from experience that the large herbivores often roamed around the lowlands, all he had to do was find a herd and pick off the sick or injured.

(This post was last modified: Apr 21, 2017, 09:05 AM 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

@Lorcan :D

If Cottongrass were to be honest with himself—even for just a moment!—he would have to admit that he didn't have a single clue as to what he was doing just then. Because the days were starting to blur together. He walked and he walked and he walked, wandering in one ambiguous direction towards an end he was pretty sure didn't exist. It had also been days since he had last returned to the mountainous forests he tentatively considered home. But before he could even consider turning around and calling it quits, he caught whiff of something.

Something that was familiar yet different all at once. And without a moment of hesitation Cottongrass found himself trailing after the scent trail. Because he found Rosalind like that! So off he went, shuffling after the odor while it seemed to move through the rolling hills of the open tundra. Until finally—

He paused, paws stumbling to a halt the moment his gaze landed on the source of the scent. His tail started to wag until it was a white blur behind him and he couldn't help the open-mouthed smile spreading across his features.

"Hey hey hey!" He barked just as something akin to recognition sparked in the back of his mind. Because hey, it was that one wolf! The one that stepped on him and then told him to eat bark for his sprained paw! And, well, he was still skeptical about eating bark to relieve pain because he always thought it was food that fixed everything and he didn't consider bark food. But Cottongrass decided he liked them anyway. They were tall with golden eyes and a nice voice which somehow made everything else about them okay. But what really did it was the fact that they looked busy.

Because in that moment, Cottongrass liked busy. It meant he could help them out with whatever it was they were doing. He was nice like that! And it totally didn't have anything to do with his ongoing trend of stubborn procrastination and outright refusal to make a decision about something that would change his future for the better. Nope. He was just going to help them from the bottom of his heart. Now, if only he could just remember their name—

"Lorcan!" He suddenly blurted out, barely giving said wolf a warning before he started barrelling down towards them. The wolf's name was Lorcan, they looked busy, and Cottongrass was going to help them. Yep. And just before he crashed into the wolf—Cottongrass awkwardly slid to a stop. His tail wagged and his jaws parted in a breathless smile. "It's you." He chirped, like what he just did was a perfectly normal way to greet others.

Lorcan hadn’t yet had any luck with tracking down the large herds on the lowlands, not before some excited barking in the near distance had caught his attention. Lifting his snow covered nose up off the ground, the agouti male froze in his tracks to peer up in the direction that the greeting had come from. Russet ears pricked up and his golden eyes narrowed as he tried to focus in on the quickly moving blur which raced towards him through the snow. He could barely make out who the white wolf was from where he stood and so, the Hearthwood subordinate remained firmly planted in his spot as he waited for the stranger to catch up to him.

Head cocked curiously to one side when the wolf, which he now recognised to be a young lone male, called out his name. Pale brows frowned and his tail began to sway then, somewhat nervously as his golden gaze narrowed again to focus in on the male’s face. They widened then, suddenly realising that he did in fact know the wolf, though for the life of him he could not remember his name. Awkwardly, Lorcan sent back a chuff in greeting offered up an uneasy smile as the white male continued to race towards him. For a moment the agouti male was unsure that he was going to stop and before he knew it he had pressed his eyes closed and braced himself for the inevitable impact. 

Dark lashes fluttered open when he heard a voice chirp up to him. Staring across, golden eyes wide, Lorcan let out a small whine in relief before he took a single step back and quickly eyed @Cottongrass up and down. Nope, still no idea what his name was. “Yes, it’s me.” He said, a nervous grin spreading across his lips. “Um, I don’t think I ever got your name.” He admitted with an awkward wave of his tail, before quickly moving the conversation onwards. “How is your paw—and did you find your friend, the one at Round Stone Crest? Are they around here with you?” He asked hesitantly, glancing down to the males paws. At least he remembered something.

(This post was last modified: Apr 18, 2017, 10:31 AM 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

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

@Lorcan I uh... I don't know where this came from. Please don't feel compelled to mirror or anything!

If Lorcan was uncomfortable, Cottongrass paid it no mind. Even when said wolf admitted to not knowing his name, he just wagged his tail and kept on smiling bright. Because he was going to be helpful, damn it. He wasn't going to grimace and slink away when he realized that he forgot to give the other wolf his name before running off last time. And so—

"Cottongrass." He chirped, filling in the gaps that the other wolf left in the conversation like they weren't even there in the first place. But he was already finding that keeping up was hard. Especially when Lorcan pressed on and said three different things all at once like he expected Cottongrass to reply to every single one. He decided to focus on the first thing said, following Lorcan's gaze down to his own front paws. "Oh!" Cottongrass barked, head snapping back up so he could smile at the other wolf proper. The wagging of his tail only intensified in the air behind him.

"My paw's all healed up, see?" And without waiting for Lorcan to respond he lifted up one of his paws, twisting it at the ankle to show he much could move it. It was like he never fell in that hole in the first place! Really, Lorcan was sort of like magic with the way he got his paw to heal up just like that. Even if Cottongrass didn't exactly listen to the healer's orders because he never ate the tree bark like he was asked to. But what could he say? He was traveling with Reyes at the time, and he sort of felt like he could only do so much weird stuff before the older wolf would up and leave him or something. And eating the skin of a tree definitely seemed weird. Too weird.

He still considered thanking Lorcan, though. Like maybe booping their snout or stepping forward to nuzzle or lick them. Just to show his gratitude! Definitely just to show his gratitude because they were very nice. Except when he looked back up to make eye contact with Lorcan, he paused. His absent-minded listening suddenly snapped to present and it occurred to him that he wasn't entirely sure what the other wolf had said.

Because who was he looking for at Round Stone Crest? His first, instinctive thought was of Tumblebelly. It wouldn't be the first time Cottongrass wandered through the mountainous forest of the west hoping to bump into the other boy. But how would Lorcan know that? His head cocked to the side and he gave a slow, bewildered blink. Were they stalking him? If they were Cottongrass wouldn't know if he was supposed to feel flattered or scared because who did that and—

Oh.

Oh.

Lorcan was talking about Victoria. Victoria, the she-wolf that Cottongrass spent what felt like forever looking for her just to have her up and disappear on him. The girl who he still felt faintly angry and confused at because of reasons he couldn't even start to understand because they were supposed to be friends. And when she left everyone else Cottongrass liked left too, even if a part of him knew that it was just coincidence and it didn't really happen like that. He gave another slow blink, his body stilling while his mind kicked into gear.

Because huh. How was he even supposed to unravel that mess and explain what had happened to Lorcan when he just wanted to help the other wolf out with whatever they were doing? It was then his wonderful, panicking mind found an answer. An answer that wasn't entirely true but it also wasn't entirely false. And before he could even think of what he was going to say, his mouth went right ahead and said it for him.

"Yeah! Yeah, I uh, I uh, found her alright." Was @Rosalind his friend? Sure! And was she nearby? Well... "I think she's, uh, around. Somewhere. Nearby." His head frantically snapped back and forth, yellow eyes scanning the immediate area like that would just magically summon the girl who he talked to for a grand total of once.

(This post was last modified: Apr 19, 2017, 12:57 AM by Cottongrass.)

Rosalind was just minding her own business and trying to keep herself calm when all of a sudden she heard the familiar voice of her newest acquaintance Cottongrass lurking somewhere in the immediate area. 'Huh, he sure didn't get far!' she smiled, prancing toward the noise in a bit of excitement. Whilst most wolves were rather draining to talk to, there was something about the stark-white yearling that made the young Tainn feel comfortable. Perhaps he reminded her a bit of her brother Vulcan, or rather what Vulcan might of acted like had he not been ingesting mushrooms at all hours of the day. Either way, if the boy was still hanging out, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to converse with him just once more before they officially parted ways. For real this time.

Peeking around a few small shrubs, Ro was eventually able to spot her friend. "C-Cotton!" She yipped, trotting toward his medium-built frame. "Thought you left already!" She grinned, not immediately registering that the male wasn't alone. "What're ya doin' anywayyy-oh.." Whoops, it registered. How embarrassing. "I, uh, h-h-hello.." Her face flushed, just how long had this guy been here? The whole time? "I-I-I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt o-or anything.. I-I.."

“Cottongrass.” He repeated with an awkward smile. “It’s nice to see you again.” He added, offering the younger alabaster male a polite nod. Golden eyes widened slightly in surprise as Cottongrass barked and looked down at his front paws, tail wagging rapidly behind him. After a heartbeat or two, Lorcan too directed his attention down at the young male’s paws, only for Cottongrass to suddenly lift a paw up and twist it in his face. Jerking back up, eyes wide in surprise, Lorcan took a couple of steps backwards and recomposed himself with a quick shake of his thick agouti pelt before responding, a single brow raised. “Yes, it does seem much better.” He agreed before flashing the wolf a bemused grin. 

When Lorcan then asked if Cottongrass had managed to find his friend at Round Stone Crest, an awkward silence passed between them both before the young male suddenly blinked, then blinked again, before finally responding. A single brow rose up curiously as Lorcan listened to the young wolf fumble around for an answer and his head cocked to one side as he leaned in inch or so closer with interest. “Oh..really?” Lorcan asked, a little sceptical as he glanced around the nearby area – but then, as if on cue, another wolf did approach them. 

The young dark female was certainly familiar with Cottongrass, as she trotted in casually to greet him. Lorcan simple took a step back to observe the pair of them, before grinning with amusement when the young female suddenly realised he was also there. “N-no, it’s fine, I’m Lorcan.” He quickly introduced himself, flashing her a grin. “You didn’t interrupt anything, I was just looking for the herds to hunt, but I haven’t managed to tracked them down yet..” He admitted, before glancing back across to Cottongrass.

# P O R C A N

sometimes, two people have to fall apart to realise

how much they need to fall back together

@Rosalind! You're up~ I think.

Cottongrass wasn't religious. He didn't grow up being told to believe in some higher power or anything like that. But when Rosalind appeared, materializing from behind neighboring brush as if on cue, Cottongrass decided that there was a God. That somewhere out there, there was a powerful and mystical being that didn't hate Cottongrass with every fiber of its being like he always assumed. He was never before so happy than in that moment. Because he wasn't going to be branded a horrible liar by Lorcan!

He would get to live another day without feeling awkward and guilty!

Behind him his tail started to wag, nothing more than an obnoxious white blur of movement. And with an excited stamp of his paws he reached out to bump his snout against the fur of the stocky girl in enthusiastic greeting. "Rosalind!" He chirped, voice a mixture of relief and excitement because things were going great now that she was there. And as if to emphasis the fact that she was real and tangible, he threw a beaming smile to Lorcan. Because she really was around, somewhere, nearby just like he had said mere moments ago! He hardly paid any attention to her rambling in favor of listening to Lorcan.

"Yeah." He said, needlessly tacking on to what the other male had just said. "We were just talking." And you couldn't have showed up at a better time was the unspoken sentence that hovered in the air before Cottongrass. But wisely he didn't actually say that part out loud because he didn't want Rosalind panicking any more than she really needed to. Instead he shot her what he hoped was a reassuring grin.

His attempt fell short, however, when his ears twitched and he realized what else Lorcan had just said. Because Cottongrass' entire reason for his little excursion was to get out and feel useful for once, to forget whatever restless and bored energy that had taken to plaguing him. And if Lorcan needed help tracking or hunting, Cottongrass found himself wanting to help. Even if his track record of hunting was absolutely abysmal if he remembered correctly. But the other male didn't know that. And maybe Cottongrass could pretend he actually knew what he was doing in the name of being helpful, dammit.

"Oh." He chirped, his tail wagging as he glanced from Lorcan to Rosalind, a smile bright on his face. Because herds and hunting, he was totally an expert on that and so was his friend in that lone moment. "We could help you with that, right?" He punctuated his sentence with a gentle nudge to the black she-wolf, not seeing any reason why Rosalind might not want to hunt with complete strangers.

He had other things on his mind.

Mature language warning. Side note;; She'll probably kill a God XDDD

Fuck. Hunting? Herds? Generally speaking, a herd was a word normally used to describe deer right? As in a mammal bearing horns? That was considered a big 'no no' in her faith back home. Horned Animals equaled Horned God. He hid in them, or something. Sure, Rosalind didn't believe in all of the mushroom ghost mumbo-jumbo, but the Gods were actually plausible, and dated way further back than those dumb hallucinogenics! Shit, shit, shit. "U-Uhmm, D-Do you by chance mean.. Deer, or Elk, or Moose?" Of course he did, but what was she going to do about it?

The pair gave Rosalind 'good vibes', something her brother Vulcan had taught her to distinguish. That fact alone made it so much harder for the girl to come to a conclusion with this mess. Her anxiety was telling her to go for it! Hunt the Horned God and appease your new company! But her logic and morals just weren't on the same page. 'You can't... Kill a God, can you?' The raven pondered, though according to her faith it was an extremely plausible thing to do. 'H-How do I know he's not already dead? I-I mean, wolves hunt these animals all the time... But..' Legend has it that if the Horned God were to die, the Sun would die with him. So he was still alive, right? 'I.. I can't.. Kill.. A God...'

One more post from one or both of you? Then i'll make the hunting thread :D

A subtle smile tugged at the corners of his charcoal lips as he observed the way Cottongrass greeted his female friend, Rosalind, from what he could gather. Black tipped tail swayed easily behind him as the younger male chimed in to agree with him in attempt to calm the dark female’s nerves and embarrassment. A gentle hum purred in his throat as the agouti male nodded his head, his golden eyes gliding from @Cottongrass across to Rosalind as he watched them both with interest.

The mention of hunting seemed to ignite some interest in the younger male, much to Lorcan’s delight. His smile grew as he turned to face the paler wolf, his russet ears perking up and his tail picking up speed as it swayed through the air behind him. He had only expected to be able to pick up a young animal at most and would have most likely settled for a scavenged kill, but with Cottongrass showing interest Lorcan began anticipate something better. “You definitely do not have to, but I would really appreciate it if you did.” He beamed. “My pack is expecting three litters this year, so I would like to provide as much food as I can.” He explained, his tone growing more serious as his brow furrowed slightly. 

Lorcan’s attention then turned to @Rosalind, eager to see if she would agree to assist him along with her friend. The smile returned to his maw at her question. Tilting his head to one side in consideration, the agouti male remained silent for a moment before finally answering. “Mule deer.” He confirmed, his head turning to gesture his muzzle to the area of lowlands which ran along the edges of the southern forest. “I think we will have more luck if we search closer to the forest.” He explained, salmon-pink tongue sweeping across his muzzle. Mule deer would surely be cautious, hiding among the edges of the forest for cover. 

(This post was last modified: May 31, 2017, 06:43 AM 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