Stonewatch Timbers Enchanted

@Cottongrass

"That's it!" Ro hissed, halting dead in her tracks. "I'm taking the day off!!"

It'd been almost a week since the yearling had first ventured into this vastly unknown land, and she hadn't even taken more than a few brief moments to herself! It was really starting to effect her, both physically and mentally! Actually, perhaps even more so mentally. "I-If I don't do something to get my mind off of all this real quick, I'm going to go absolutely bonkers!" She was irritated now more than ever. 'Forgive my language b-but... Screw you dad!' Couldn't he of let her live the remainder of her pathetic, exiled life in peace? 'Probably could'a found a home all my own, probably would of been a hell of a lot less stressful too.'

With a grunt, the muddied fae took a moment to really take in her surroundings. "Tree's.. More tree's.. Rocks.. Big rock.." What even was there to do in a place like this, especially all alone? "Don't hear any running water.. Hate hunting.." Of course there was always napping, but wasn't that just another word for 'completely wasting your day'? Plopping on the ground, the yearling let out a rather impressive series of unpleasant grumbles and murmurs. If she was going to be bored and unhappy, hell, everything and anything around had to be in on it too!

@Rosalind! I love her already <3

Someone was yelling. Or maybe talking very loudly. Either way Cottongrass found himself shuffling towards the area they were in as fast as his short legs could carry him. Because what if it was his friend? It felt like it had been forever since he had last seen Tumblebelly. And even if they only met once, Cottongrass found himself wanting to see the other wolf every day. Thus he bustled along. Over all the hills and through the trees he went, closer towards the voice. Even when a part of him realized that the voice wasn't that familiar and neither was the scent. It was a risk he was willing to take. And just as he closed in on whoever it was grumbling about—

It wasn't Tumblebelly. Instead he found himself standing before a chunky little girl, one that had dark fur and bright eyes who was very obviously grumbling to herself. He decided he liked her even if she wasn't Tumblebelly. She was sort of like Askan or maybe even Reyes! In a very subtle and not really kind of way that had him confused the moment he made the comparison...

Oh well.

His tail wagged and he stepped forward, closer towards the she-wolf but not too close because he didn't like getting bitten by strangers. And without much more to do, he sat himself down before her with a dull thud. "What are you doing?" He asked, just about as upbeat and cheery as he could be in comparison to the girl's moodiness. Whatever she was doing he wanted to do it too, he decided in the back of his mind. It seemed better than being bored at this rate. His tail kept on swishing about in the snow behind him while he waited for her answer.

(This post was last modified: Apr 13, 2017, 09:32 PM by Cottongrass.)

M for mild language. I'm so sorry this took so long Dx!! I got distracted big time this weekend.

"I know right? What am I doing?" The fae sighed, not necessarily registering that she was no longer alone. She continued to scan surroundings north of her for a few moments, before finally slumping to the earthy ground beneath her. "What am I doing..?" The Tainn repeated, desperate for something to keep her mind off of how chaotic life's been as of recent. 'Wait... Fuck.'

As if she had just seen a ghost, Ro's relaxed face suddenly swapped for something much more resembling 'petrified'. She slowly raised her head, turning it toward the direction in which the voice asked their question. Yup, not alone. Screaming, the fae quickly jumped back on her feet, pouncing backwards and into the nearest tree. "Ow!" the yearling screamed again, this time from the pain colliding with a tree had caused. "Ow, ow ow!" She took a moment to ensure she was alright, cursing her low pain tolerance under her breath, before finally letting her eyes meet the stranger's. "I-I-I'm S-So S-S-Sorry!!" She whimpered, extremely embarrassed by the show she'd just put on. Honestly, there was nothing she wanted more than to just book it. Far, far away with what little pride she might have left.

Sorry for the wait!

Cottongrass thought that things were going fine, even when the girl didn't look at him when he talked. He just let his tail wag and thump away on the snowy ground behind him, his head cocked to the side with his ears twisted forward while she took to rambling. And he even considered answering her. Like opening his big mouth and giving her a very literal answer because she was sitting in the middle of a forest talking to herself, are you okay? Or something comforting like that because she seemed pretty stressed out right then and there.

Except the second he parted his jaws and drew in a deep breath, yellow clashing with blue for the briefest of moments, the world had to go and explode.

Or at least he was pretty sure that the world was exploding. It had to have been ending, though, at the very least. Because her petrified face was already seared into the forefront of his mind and he knew from experience that those kind of memories didn't face. The goofy smile on his face slowly turned to one of sheer horror as the she-wolf shrieked. Like she just saw a ghost or someone just told her that a loved one was dying.

It didn't—

It didn't feel good.

He felt like someone just took all of the happiness inside of him and smashed it between their jaws. Gone were his hopes and dreams. Shattered in one moment of clumsy surprise and fear in what he thought would be a friendly experience. It was out of instinct he sprang to his paws after her, a thousand possible sentences and words already forming on the tip of his tongue. But all that came out was a weird, garbled mess of pure sound that he didn't know how to even start making sense of.

"Oh geez, oh geez—" He barked, tail wagging so hard it was amazing that the fluffy appendage was still even attached to his body. And he couldn't stop cringing even as he approached her because what if she just shattered her brain or something? What if he just killed her!? It was in that moment he wanted to do what he did best in these moments. Which was act like a flailing idiot in hopes of magically fixing it. He could boop her snoot. It worked on Tumblebelly that one time. But his paws stopped working just as he approached her, standing still just before the she-wolf.

"Are you uh, are you uh, okay?" He cringed away from her because that was a stupid question. Yet he couldn't get himself to just shut up like he wanted to. "Should I, uh, I dunno. Leave? Or maybe, uh—" Cottongrass was pretty sure he was about moments away from keeling over. That his heart couldn't take another second of this kind of stress because he really, really had to stop meeting wolves this way.

He's so cute I can't take it xD

The damage that had been done to her only seemed to amplify about ten time's for her newly arrived company, or so she could assume given the series of horrible reactions he shared. The poor boy looked as if she'd just ran in and murdered his entire family! What was going on?! "I-I-I-I" The words weren't flowing, her chaos engulfed brain simply weren't allowing them to. 'Backtrack, Ro. What's going on... You were talking to yourself, he talked, you got scared.. Hurt yourself.. In return, scared him? We're both scared? Deep breathing..One... Two.. Three..' Everything was okay, right?

"N-N-N-No!!" The fae cried as the stranger suggested his departure. Sure, she was usually a lot happier not talking to other wolves, but letting someone leave in the state of 'what the hell just happened?' wasn't really all that acceptable! What if he went and told everyone she was crazy or something?! What if Drestig found out and in return decided she couldn't  stay with him? No, she's come too damn far for all of that. "I-I'm okay, are you o-o-okay? I j-just.. Get startled super easy, I'm s-so s-sorry.." Why hadn't she been paying more attention? How had he snuck up on her without her noticing? 'Why do I always mess everything up?'

He had to stop making friends like this. It was bad enough that he kept almost killing everyone he met. But when whole entire conversations descended into an anarchy made up of yelling and panicked stuttering—

That was pushing it.

It was pushing it to a whole new level of social awkwardness and endless blunders that he didn't even know could coexist until now. But the she-wolf wasn't screaming and she wasn't looking at him with crazy eyes that chanted murder or something else just as horrible. It was the little things that counted. And oh boy was he ever counting.

Behind him his tail eased it's panicked wagging and he took a step back. A small one so he wasn't crowding her anymore. "It's okay." He mumbled, the words uncomfortable on his tongue. But they needed to be said. She didn't deserve whatever the hell had just happened and he wanted this to be known. And while he wasn't good at comforting others in a way that didn't entail making an ass of himself, he hoped she understood him.

She already looked better! But he might have been making things up to make himself feel better after what happened. His head cocked to the side and something uncomfortable ran through his thoughts.

"Are you, uh—" He didn't know what he was about to say. If there was anything even worth saying because she already seemed okay. But was it enough? Was he overlooking something vital and she was moments away from keeling over before him without warning? He was pretty sure he would die if that happened and his tail restarted it's frantic waving. Suddenly he knew what to ask her without having to strain.

"You'll live, right?" His ears rolled back against his head and yellow eyes watched with renewed uncertainty.

It wasn't his most thoughtful moment. But it needed to be asked sooner or later. He just didn't word it well and probably never would.