Blackberry Fields some days it's hard to see

@Maia

Thought we built a dynasty that heaven couldn't shake

The one thing Natalia had always found lacking in her father’s stories was direction… she had the basics – they travelled north from Cut Rock River to Hearthwood River… but was that north or south or east or west of the Palisade? She felt lost, almost, and was trying to identify where she was and piece together a map in her head… a field, with bushes with nothing on them… why did she have to find this place in the middle of bouts of winter weather? She wasn’t trying to put up a kerfuffle but she really thought this part of her trip would be easier. Her nose twitched as the swarthy youth looked for some sort of significant sign.

She was racking her brain to remember some of the finer details of the stories, the what’s and the when’s. The River was still nowhere to be found, which meant she still couldn’t bring closure to the story. She couldn’t tell them about her father’s whereabouts, and how he met a girl while looking for his sister, and how they settled down and raised a pack called Cold Stone Trail. Her father had always said his biggest regret was not being able to return, to make sure everyone was alright and make a formal leave… he just didn’t have the time.

She sighed in frustration, a frown coating her maw as her emerald eyes narrowed slightly. Hadn’t she passed that bush before? She kicked at some of the snow before shaking her head. “Where is it?” She questioned herself aloud as she looked around once more. I should have asked Papa to come with me. He'd know where to go.

maybe together we can get there

Maia Destae

Maia walked with a bit of pep in her step, as she searched for a place to hole up and eat without having to worry about any uninvited guests showing up. Each little bounce caused the hare between her teeth to swing wildly back and fourth, leaving a small trail of blood behind. She didn't care though, she'd have it eaten by the time anyone else showed. She caught sight of a quiet little spot between some scraggly bushes that had not yet began to bud, and a tree. Perfect.

Settling in, and getting to work, the woman began plucking the fur away from the carcass. She'd only managed to pull a few mouthfuls from the creature before a voice interrupted. “Where is it?” The woman must have been looking for the hare. Gods why? Oh no, oh no, oh no. Quietly pushing her front paws away from the ground and into the air, Maia was able to catch a glimpse of the woman, before landing once more on the snow-covered Earth.

What to do? She could run, but that would mean making noise. She could stay and hide, but what if the stranger found her? Hurry, she's coming. You have to decide." Okay, so she'd run. It was the only option Maia had. One more peek to determine her escape route and she'd be gone. Once again the yearling pushed herself away from the ground, but in her panic she miscalculated. Instead of jumping, the fae actually swung herself backwards, hitting the tree and crashing down with a thud large enough to wake a hibernating bear.

@Maia

THOUGHT WE BUILT A DYNASTY THAT HEAVEN COULDN'T SHAKE

Natalia’s attention was quickly taken by a crashing sound, her ears perking up as she instantly started to move in the same direction. Perhaps whoever it was knew where everything was. She could hope, right? She was one of the newer additions to the Lore. She saw the girl on the ground and her quest was momentarily forgotten. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?” Concern laced her features as she peered at her with deep emerald eyes, analyzing the girl, trying to see if there was any red staining the snow around her to show that she had an open wound anywhere. She wasn’t much of a healer, but her mother, a healer by profession, had made her and her siblings learn some of the basics so if they ever got trapped or lost, they’d be able to take care of themselves.

What had caused the girl to run into a tree to begin with? Maybe she was blind. Oh dear, did she need a Seeing Eye wolf? Natalia had never done that before, but she was certain she could figure it out. She could do anything she set her mind to. How did she ask if the woman was blind without being rude? Was there a good way to ask? The girl had so many questions. “I think you dropped your hare…” She commented again, seeing the hare and further confusion hit her features. “Hey, do you happen to know a man named Lachesis? I’m looking for him but I’m afraid I’m lost.”

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

Maybe together we can get somewhere

Maia Destae

In the moments it took the she-wolf to approach, Maia felt more emotions than she could count. Fear of the stranger, loss associated with her dinner, anger directed towards herself leaving Bash and Crash to try to catch something themselves. All of those were washed away the second she laid eyes on the woman's concerned features, only to be replaced with the familiar tingle of embarrassment. Gods, why couldn't the she-wolf have just stolen the hare, and ran off?

"Oh no. I-I'm fine. Thank you. It's uh, just uh, a bump." She made no motion to explain the situation for fear of humiliating herself further. 'Oh I was just trying to spy on you is all.' Yeah that would have sounded pleasant. Dandelion eyes traveled to the hare, ready to grab and go. Maia would never see the girl again, so at least if she was going to make a fool of herself by running like a scared cub, she'd have a full belly to show for it.

Rolling onto her paws, the woman poised herself for takeoff. The escape was never attempted though, as the mention of Lachesis' name froze her to the spot. The gears in her head spun so quickly that she felt like she might pass out. Images of her mother's face flashed before her eyes. "His name was Lachesis." That's what her mum had said, right? "How.. do you, do you know about him?" Had she somehow stumbled upon Capella's old home? The places that she'd heard in all of those stories, were they.. here?

(This post was last modified: Apr 23, 2017, 07:17 AM by Maia.)

THOUGHT WE BUILT A DYNASTY THAT HEAVEN COULDN'T SHAKE

Perhaps Natalia had caught her at a bad time? “You alright? You seem super jumpy. Is something wrong?” The girl could not be sure, but the other seemed to freeze in her spot when Natalia’s question rang through the air… and that meant something. She does know something. She mused silently with a hopeful smile on her features, a question to meet her own. She let out a soft sigh, not the answer she was hoping for, but maybe she could get the one she wanted out by answering the question. “He’s family to my Papa… and by extension, me!” Her father had said that he was his uncle – not by blood, but closer than family.

How rude was she! She hadn’t even introduced herself to this girl! “I’m Maera. Maera Slayer.” She offered with a wag of her tail and a tilt of her head. “I’m pretty sure I’m in the right place but my Papa didn’t give me very clear directions, just stories… I saw a familiar mountain earlier, sounded a lot like the one from the stories and I just have this feeling in my gut.” She probably sounded insane. This girl was kind of strange but if she could help, Natalia could look past it. You couldn’t judge a book by its cover, Talia had learned, because the true story was always hidden inside.

Maybe together we can get somewhere

Maia Destae

The flush of heat on her skin only grew hotter with the woman's words. "Oh no, uh, I was just uh startled." Please let it go, please let it go. Maia shifted uncomfortably, and lowered her gaze to the hare she'd already forgotten. Thankfully, the woman continued, her enthusiasm great enough for the both of them. "Family?" The musing was not meant to be spoken aloud, but she did that sometimes.

"I'm Maia Destae." That one was easy. She didn't even have to think about it. But there was something else. Slayer. She knew that name. Shade's family name! What were the odds of her actually meeting one of them? A low wag was offered in response, and her dandelion gaze returned to the woman. It was almost surreal, like meeting the great star gods from a bedtime story, or seeing the boogey man in the flesh. Okay, maybe not like the last one. "My mom, she um, she told me about them. About the slayers." 

What got her even more than the names was the feeling Maera mentioned. "You.. You have it too?" So she wasn't weird. At least not when it came to this particular thing. The pale wolf had been noticing things, things that her mother had described in detail when recounting her life, but Maia thought she was just seeing what she wanted to see. Like that river, with the steep bank, and the mountain that stretched as far as the eye could see, because there were mountains, and rivers everywhere. So how could she have found the same ones her mother had told her about?

THOUGHT WE BUILT A DYNASTY THAT HEAVEN COULDN'T SHAKE

The mood of the conversation seemed to shift in the interest of Lachesis and his relation to Natalia, and the usually lionhearted Slayer girl was quite fine with that. She nodded when the girl asked again, family?. She felt the need to go further into detail. “Not blood family… but he was my Papa’s Uncle in all but blood… and he watched out for him before my Papa left this place.” She explained in greater detail. There had been others too, of course, but Lachesis was the one he could always rely on to be there for him. Anastasia had disappeared, so had Capella, and Silver had turned against her father in favor of the woman who’d killed her grandfather.

Destae. That was a last name that sounded familiar, a wide grin growing on her features, hoping she had the right wolf in mind and that she wasn't mixing up the surnames from the stories. “You’re related to my Papa’s Auntie Pella, right?” She questioned softly as her tail started to wag furiously. It was only confirmed when she explained that her mother had told her about the Slayers. “My Papa told me about your mom, too!” She quickly added after the fact. When she asked about the feeling, all Natalia could do was nod, because she didn’t know what else to say.

What were the odds of her running into a Destae the first time out? In addition to other figures prominent in her father’s past. Had he known all the wolves in this place? Who else would she meet? These were the questions Natalia needed answers to. “I’ve always been told to trust my gut, and my gut is telling me.”

She tilted her head as the woman spoke, curiosity clouding her pale features. Family, but not blood. Her mom had said something like that once, but it was so long ago that the yearling couldn't be sure it was even said at all. What was family, if not those you were born of? It was a concept still beyond Maia's comprehension, having only her parents growing up. Did that mean... were Bash, and Crash family?


So lost in her thoughts, Maia almost missed her mother's nickname. Pella. She'd only heard it in stories, as her mother repeated things that others had said to her, because it was a term used affectionately, and her mother no longer had anyone affectionate in her life. Nodding, she fought to ignore the pang of guilt in her stomache.

"Who.. who's your dad?" She questioned, her bright eyes burning with the intensity of an insatiably curious mind. The gears were already turning, going over names she was surprised to find she remembered. Ace, Karpos..? 

And then the most important question, the one that almost hurt her to ask. "Um, what.. What did he say about um.. about Mom?" Because she already knew that Capella left them, and how they probably felt about her.

THOUGHT WE BUILT A DYNASTY THAT HEAVEN COULDN'T SHAKE

Natalia felt at ease around Maia, likely because she lacked a minatory bone in her entire body. The Slayer girl was confident no harm would come to her when they were alone, and she could fend for herself if she needed to. Beyond that, Maia, being a Destae, was family. Her father had always stressed that blood of the covenant, the bonds you made with those you were closest to in life, would likely always be thicker than the water of the womb and blood family. His life story, for the most part, had proven that to her. The question came out and Natalia grinned at the thought, thinking back on her Papa fondly. “His name is Karpos… lives a couple months journey east of here with my siblings.” She felt confident that Aisa and Dusk were still with her parents.

Then she asked the much longer question – the one that Natalia couldn’t possibly hope to answer in only a short time frame. “He said a lot – I don’t know if I can remember all of it… he said that she was one of his first friends, and she watched out for him a lot back when he still lived in Pitch Pine Trail.” She explained, a sad smile finding her features, remembering the tragic parts of her stories. “When it all collapsed, she was the one who took him up to the mountain to join the Pass wolves… because he asked her to, and he didn’t know how to navigate them himself.” She thought forward ahead. “There was some more in between… he said she disappeared, and he never had any idea where she went. It’s one of the things that he said still haunted him, because he never knew what happened to her.” Her and so many others, it seemed. He’d had an affinity for losing the wolves he’d been closest to.