Fireweed Rise take me back to where i need to go

She had drawn ever closer to what had been distant mountains poking up along the horizon, wondering just what they would hold.  Vesper had been following steadfast in the trail of one of her brothers, but the scent had long been lost with the shift of the weather some time back.  Since then it had been quite the directionless venture, one that pushed her off into the wide world as it were.  At least things were alive here, versus the dried up husk rife with rampike decorations that once consisted of her home.  It was weeks behind her and much like her confident then and there, it was shriveled up and left for the wilderness to sort out.

As she climbed the slope of the rise, a fair gust of wind took that moment to toussle her already windblown coat.  It was warmer than it had been, or so Vesper told herself, but she felt the slightest of inclinations to shiver.  She stifled it.  If she started now with that nonsense then it only would get worse and before it was all said and done she would be apt to shiver herself to pieces... or something like that.

Slicking her ears back against her head as she crested the uneven terrain, she felt a pang of dismay.  The meadow seemed to stretch on and on for as far as she could see, barring some of the rocky outcroppings that choked any sign of the flowering color out.  At least the mountains were closer, though she hadn't the first clue what to think about them.  Those too were larger than she had ever anticipated -- in fact, they were overwhelming.  She cast a glance back behind her to find it void of any sign that she was here with someone; it had been days since she had either spied out a familiar face or tail to follow.  Vesper didn't know what to make of that, either.

So instead of continuing on, she opted to sit, resting tired limbs and feet.  Perhaps if she could get her thoughts together, she could figure out her next move from there.

Maybe.

Riding off the high of Aurora Heights - stars, it was nice to even think the words in her own head! - Iyes decided to descend from the foothills for once, taking to more even ground in search of something she hadn't decided yet. She was determined to make herself useful, and though the mountain offered a lot to the wolves she was now happily chained to, the inky yearling imagined that it would be good not limit themselves to just the resources of Riddle Heights. So, she found herself in the Rise instead.

Unbeknownst to the she-wolf the field would hopefully soon bloom into a fit of fiery flowers, easily seen from any distance. Winter refused to die however, so the wide expanse of the meadow looked just like every other ugly meadow in the cold - grey and boring and dusted with snow. Her legs moved like a machine, forward once and forward again, her paws sitting on top of the unyielding frozen earth. Already she bore a bit of a grimace; perhaps this mission had been destined to fail from the start.

Or, perhaps not. Against the winter landscape the tawny wolf was easy to find, sitting out starkly as the only color in the Lore. Tilting her blackened muzzle Iyes latched onto an inkling of curiosity and attached a purpose to her movement, brazenly loping towards the other wolf. She did nothing to mask her approach, and even if she wanted to, her shadow of a form stuck out obviously whenever the daylight was out. As she neared, her dark jaws parted to release a moderately loud woof to alert the other.

She halted a little bit closer than what was customarily respectable distance, for a lack of understanding of the rules of engagement rather than any attempt to be forward. Her black-furred tail waved slow and wide behind her, high enough to signify friendliness but lacking in dominant display. Bright eyes were trained on the other, studying her form. From scent and sight she appeared to be about Iyes' age, a fact which set the newly minted Aurora wolf at ease. "Are you looking for something?"

adopt thea?

There was a cold touch to the breeze, a sign that the weather was considering turning unfavorable.  It wasn't quite enough to rouse Vesper from her thoughts, though the emergence of another along the horizon most certainly did.  It began as a worrisome blot from the distant line of outcropping and grew, taking shape swiftly as she took note of their approach.  They were coming for her and suddenly the earth beneath her feet no longer felt as welcoming as she had hoped it would be.

It had been a few days since she had last seen any sign of someone familiar and before that she couldn't have really pointed out when it was that she had encountered someone new at all.  Everything in her life had been built around family, relatively speaking.  Perhaps the most removed she had ever felt from another was some random cousin twice removed, or whatever it was that they could have been.

The stranger called out to her, this time fixing her attention fully to them.  Her, Vesper thought.  There was something distinctly female about them, if the size alone didn't suggest it.  Her tail lifted into a gentle wave but the uncertainty was there; even a swift test of the wind didn't tell her anything other than the breeze wasn't in her favor.  Vesper's ears slid back as a wave of mixed emotions came over her.  What could she expect?  What exactly was there to anticipate?  Too much, too many variables. At least she wasn't being approached in anger or hearing the venom of avarice seeping through the she-wolf's tone.

"I," she answered, trailing off.  "Sort of?"  Her head tilted, words escaping her like seeds scattered in a gale.  "I was just trying to decide where to go from here, you see.  This is all new."  An uneasy smile danced across her features.  She didn't want to admit that she had gotten separated, or that she was looking for her family.  It sounded wrong and frankly, she was past the age of needing coddling anyway.

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

Iyes was staring at her tawny counterpart - an unsure yearling, keeping her cards close to her chest - but she was too far away from that version of herself to even know it. The inky she-wolf always seemed to move forward like a stone down a hill, faster and faster until the trajectory hit terminal velocity and there was no way to turn back. The other's hesitation to answer her and uncertainty of Iyes' intentions was lost on the Aurora wolf, who was much too busy surveying the newcomer with a bright and friendly gaze to imagine that her presence was unwanted in any way.

Sort of, responded the other she-wolf, an answer which meant both yes and no. Canting her dark muzzle toward the side Iyes tried to figure out what she meant by that, even as she went on explain that she was trying to decide where to go. The smile that appeared on the wolf's muzzle was thin at best, the first indication to the black-coated female that there were more concerns going on in the tawny wolf's mind than there were in her own. Blinking, she cast her gaze around the wide open expanse that should have been covered in red flowers. What was there to see from here besides the mountain range that she called home?

Turning her head back towards the other she raised a quizzical brow, delivering a prompt like she was some sort of trained therapist. "Where do you want to go?" Now that she was in a pack proper Iyes was discovering that she might actually be useful - and perhaps she could help this female out.

adopt thea?

Home, came her initial thought.  She wanted to go home.  But there really wasn't much of a home to go back to.  The springs had dried up, the game gone with it, and they had been forced to move on to better places.  She had hoped that they would move on to better places together, but that wasn't quite what ended up happening.  Still... the thought of maybe catching up where she had gotten sidetracked and otherwise separated enticed her just as much as it caused a kerfluffle.

Vesper drew in a breath nosily, and let it out much the same way.

"Well... what's the best way to go north from here?"  North seemed to be the direction she recalled traveling in the most, so it made the most sense.  Her gaze, though wandering about at best turned to the friendlier one.  She avoided the eye contact out of respect; obviously this wolf knew more about the surroundings than she did.  That much she was confident about, even if she wasn't so sure what it was that she was supposed to do at that point.  Survive, sure, but to what end? It wouldn't do her any good if she managed to stumble across a den of bears awakening from their slumber, or suddenly find herself crossing over terrain better left alone.

(This post was last modified: Apr 20, 2017, 05:55 AM by Vesper. Edit Reason: work addled brain y u do dis )

The she-wolf heaved a sigh before she responded to Iyes' inquiry and it didn't go unnoticed by the shadowy she-wolf. Was something troubling her - was it Iyes? Shifting her weight onto another paw she tried very hard to let go of her curiosity. In her lone wolf days she'd certainly been more self-absorbed. It would have never mattered to her where another stranger was going if she didn't need anything from them - and she rarely did. And yet now that she found herself with a safety net, a home and a pack that she truly loved, she was changing and becoming... friendlier? Ugh, she hoped not - but that's what it seemed to be.

The inky yearling first found herself compelled to answer the wolf honestly, because that was probably what she would have wanted someone to do for her, but couldn't stop herself from thinking past the simple request. "If you head for the willow trees," she started, turning to point her dark nose toward where they would be - though it was difficult to see very far through all the winter's haze. "That's north. Keep the mountain range on your right side and you won't stray." Then she did try to clamp her jaw shut. She really did! But after only a beat she couldn't help herself, turning her head back toward the tawny yearling.

"Why north?" Iyes felt like she was being annoying as shit - but she didn't know any more delicate way to pry into a stranger's personal life. Besides, maybe what the other wolf was looking for - another pack? a different land? - would be useful to her as well.

Scouting dem 1/3

(This post was last modified: Apr 21, 2017, 04:04 AM by Iyes. Edit Reason: can't count lol )

adopt thea?

Vesper followed the dark-haired guide's gesture, her eyes tracing that invisible line out as far as she could possibly see. Her words were pressed into memory easily; Vesper always thought she was good at following directions. It seemed simple enough, stick along the mountains and the trees and it would make a steady path north. Maybe if she could stick to it this time, not jot off to see some scenic route, things would work out. Yeah, she could handle that. The notion sparked a little more hope in her.

From her peripheral was the turn of the she-wolf's head and again Vesper's attention was drawn back to her. "I'm meeting someone," she said, only to realize how vague it sounded. She added: "Well, a couple someones. My brothers." Meeting someone sounded better than oh yeah I'm trying to find out where they are so I can tag along right? Then again, it still didn't sound right and momentarily she felt caught between not saying anything else at all or stuttering like a jammy fool.

"I was supposed to meet up with them a couple of days ago but I got sidetracked. I'm hoping I can still go to where they're going before it gets too much later." This time an inkling of that hope she carried spilled through, and a smile crossed her features. She wanted to believe that she definitely would get there, but naturally she knew little about what more the world would have in store.

Something wistful wormed its way into the smile that say upon Iyes' dark jaws as the other wolf mentioned her brothers. It seemed very sweet to the lanky yearling that the tawny wolf was on her way to meet up with her family. Iyes tried to imagine Thea coming up the road behind her for any reason other than an accident and it was a laughable image. Perhaps her own brother might have been so loyal - if he had survived longer than a handful of weeks. Blinking away the thoughts of her own scattered family she watched the female's face light up with a gentle and heartwarming hope. Optimistic as ever, Iyes was quick to believe that there would be a happy reunion special on the horizon for this other wolf.

She was quick to offer some additional encouragement, thinking on her own travels in the Lore. "I think you can get there pretty quickly as long as you don't try to climb the mountain. I live up on the mountain, so I know where all the trails are, but it's not easy to do the first time around. Otherwise, if you stay in the forests, there's no real dangerous terrain or trecherous treks in this land." At least, none that Iyes had found. Though she thought that the she-wolf might want to hit the road again now that she had a confirmed direction (courtesy of yours truly) the Aurora wolf was curious about this youth's family - perhaps because she wanted to vicariously live through the other, at least for a moment. "Are your brothers nice? Do they live in a pack here?" Maybe they could be allies. Or better yet, friends.

Scouting dem 2/3

adopt thea?

Much to her surprise, the older yearling offered more information about the path ahead.  Vesper listened intently, soaking up that information like a sponge.  She didn't plan on climbing the mountain anywhere if she could avoid it, which for the most part sounded like she could.  The dissuading had its part in it too, as the last thing she wanted to do was get caught on some impossible ridge with no help and specifically, no way down.  No, the lowlands and foothills would suit her and if she were lucky, the canopy belonging to the thick forestry ahead would provide enough scenery and shelter for the days ahead she was certain were left to travel.

A lull hit their conversation as she processed the shared info, and a friendly wave guided her tail without much thought.  This was excellent. Vesper had been about to open her mouth and thank her newfound guide when she was broadsided by another set of questions.  It caught her off-guard as the sway in her tail came to rest at her hocks in thought.

"They're... nice enough, I guess.  You know, brothers," she rejoined with a roll of her furry shoulders at the emphasis.  She had never been asked if they were nice.  They had been nice to her, at least sometimes.  "I've always been their little tag-along, so, I mean they let me come along and stuff.  We don't get into trouble."  Somehow, the questions seemed quite strange to her, putting her in a place where she didn't know how to answer.  She stumbled around a bit more: "We've always taken care of one another.  I mean that's the plan, find somewhere that's like home.  All of us are heading that way."

Of course as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized that all of us was more likely to suggest more than two, but, well, whatever.  If it opened up a plethora of more questions, it did.  Vesper didn't quite see an easy exit out of it now and inwardly, cringed.  Nor did the notion of asking more questions from her end come to mind either.  Conversations were hard.

(This post was last modified: Apr 24, 2017, 05:54 AM by Vesper. Edit Reason: tidying up tenses )