Clandestine Brook another day in paradise

A "Welcome to RoW!" thread for @Salvatore!

Her health was on the up and up again, after her brief expedition into the greenness of Verdant Mosses, where she'd had the pleasure of meeting Greer. He had since dropped by to visit Niles, as he said he would, and did not take him away from Quaking Vale - away from her. She hadn't really talked in-depth with her companion about the conversation he'd had with his long-lost brother, but she had time set aside to ask him sooner rather than later. She always loved getting to know how Niles' head worked, and what he was feeling, and how he was thinking. She hoped he'd had a good time with his brother.

It had been a couple weeks since her last trip, and once again she decided to divagate from Quaking Vale's borders. It wasn't that she didn't love her pack, or that there wasn't enough adventure to be had within the territory itself - it was just that her paws seemed to have a mind of their own every now and then. The silver-brushed girl certainly hadn't been neglecting her secondly duties, and she decided that the short trip to Clandestine Brook was definitely well-deserved.

A deep sigh escaped her nose as she approached the murky stream, lowering her muzzle to take a drink. The cool water felt good against her tongue - it wasn't hot out, per say. It was just warmer than usual, and Cas loved water - now that the colder months were over, she could finally indulge herself in a good swim. So, like a puppy would, she gave an excited yip and bounced happily into the muddy water, soaking everything from her paws to her flanks.

ooc comment:
i don't know why the table won't work but oh well

The loner blinked and managed to find himself in one of the darkest forests he'd ever come across. Salvatore had been wandering for so long, looking for a decent hunt, that he didn't realise where he was until he started looking with his eyes rather than his nose. There was an ever-so gentle breeze stroking the branches of the dense foliage. He took a moment to divagate from his pursuit for a meal to look around the forest. As Salvatore roamed through the shadowy forest, he stared upward, trying to find a sliver of sky from the thick branches. There were moments when he thought he could see the overcast sky, but then thought maybe his mind was hallucinating it. Then his nose twitched and he recognised the scent of a rabbit. He dropped his head low to the ground, assuming his slouched, hunchback-like position, and began following the scent trail. When the charcoal-coated loner laid his amber orbs on the prey, he began stalking forward. Right when he was about to lunge forward, he and the rabbit heard a splash nearby. The rabbit bolted and Salvatore pivoted toward the sound. Deer maybe? He crept toward the maker of the sound and hoped for a fawn. Salvatore froze at what he saw: a little skinny brown wolf with a sickly scent and the smell of other wolves. He could only assume she belonged to a pack and worried that he had wandered into their territory. Like a bat out of hell, Salvatore spun round on his tail and tried to leave as quickly and quietly as possible. Unfortunately, the shadows of the forest hid an upturned root that his paw fit nicely under and tripped head over tea kettle with an "Oomph".

(This post was last modified: Jul 01, 2017, 02:40 AM by Salvatore.)

Did you do the " dohtml " thing at the beginning and end?

Cas was broken out of her happy reverie by the sound of something large falling very near. Her large ears perked upward and she turned, just in time to see a dark black form fall clumsily to the forest floor beneath him. The girl couldn't help herself - a laugh broke free of her muzzle, light and breezy, and she climbed out of the brook to shake her fur out.

"Well, aren't you a graceful one?" she teased, thin legs working their way much more gracefully to the fallen wolf's location. But, now that the initial funniness of it was over, she wanted to know if the man was alright. Falls had the potential to be damaging, and even if it looked funny, he might really be hurt. Cas was momentarily grateful that they had a healer back in the Vale. "Are you okay?" she asked, blue eyes round as she regarded him from above. It would probably be the only chance the small wolf would have to do such a thing, because when he would get to his feet, she would realize he was much - much - bigger than her.

Not that that was a deterrent.

It seemed as though this was a proper time for an introduction - at least to the silver-brushed wolf. A smile found its way back to her lips. "My name's Cas - what's yours?" It had been a good, long while since she had met a lone wolf like this, for he had no other wolf scents on him. Come to think of it, the last lone wolf she had spoken to had been Eirian, and she was hardly conscious during that encounter.

A sting vibrated near Salvatore's paw. Nothing he couldn't walk off. He was about to get back on his paws when he caught glimpse of a body standing over him. His hackles rose a bit in annoyance when she spoke to him. The scent of sickness ebbed from her. Her words went to deaf ears. When he finally stood up, he could see well over her head. With a grunt, he side-stepped around her and limped off. After a few steps the limp was starting to soften. Cas, he thought. Salvatore hoped if he ignored the female and moved along he wouldn't be bothered--more importantly, wouldn't get in trouble if he had crossed their boundary. The rabbit scent was still in the air, but the creature would be long gone and Salvatore would have to keep searching for more snack-sized meals.

The strange man completely bypassed her, and Cas gasped in fake offense. "Rude!" she exclaimed, bouncing after him so that she could slide back in front. Her tail waved like a banner behind her - a habit formed by spending so much time with those dumb human's dogs so many months ago. It wasn't an aggressive or dominant display for the colorful wolf - it just came as naturally for her as breathing. She made sure that her prancing didn't get her close enough for his jaws to reach, should he become irritated with her. "Who taught you it was okay to walk away from a conversation, hunh?"

She scanned him over, walking half-backward so that she could maintain a good look at his face as they walked. "Maybe you can't talk, though," she reasoned, one ear crumpling as she tilted her head to the side. "Lucky for you, I talk plenty enough for the both of us!" A clearing of her throat sounded before she continued, all in one breath, "My name's Cas and I'm the second female of Quaking Vale, and my favorite color is green and my favorite thing to do is adventure and spend time with wolves that I love and my favorite season is Spring and I love to swim and my best friend is Niles and I like to chase birds, and...."

The droning of her voice went on - her tactic could go one of two ways. Either he really couldn't talk, and this was a way to find out, or he would snap at her and she would have won the game. Regardless, she was fine with either outcome.

Much to Salvatore's dislike, the stranger was quick to join him. He noticed her tail wagging furiously in his peripheral vision and then saw her dance around him. His ears flattened when she started talking: it was of a pitch he'd never heard before. More words flowed out of her mouth than Salvatore had ever uttered in over year. "... I'm the second female of Quaking Vale..." For a moment, the loner thought she was speaking a riddle until he realised she had given him her rank and the name of her pack. He thought maybe she'd try to persuade him to join but she kept blabbing all sorts of nonsense. Salvatore suddenly felt the feeling of helplessness when he recognised that this wolf was totally capable of following him around until he finally lost his final morsel of sanity. After taking a deep breath, Salvatore's hackles flew upward and his ears were pinned to the back of his skull. He swung his head and snapped his teeth near her whiskers and growled, "Shut up, dammit!" The ebony wolf paused, took a deep breath, and then quickly collected himself by rising his head up. He took a moment to stare into the female's blue eyes before he finally broke and said, "I'm Salvatore."

It didn't take long for Cas' idea to pan out, and she jumped a little when jaws snapped right next to her whiskers. That had been a little close for her taste, but it certainly wasn't enough to deter her. A broad grin formed on her maw, and she waved her tail proudly. "He speaks!" she proclaimed, basking in the small glory of her victory. "I was beginning to think you might have been deaf." They made eye contact for several moments, bright blue clashing with deep orange, before he finally told her his name.

'I'm Salvatore.'

Smiling, Cas moved to bump her nose against his shoulder, if he'd allow the greeting. "It's nice to meet you, Salvatore!" she chirped, voice lilting and sing-song. "That's such a nice name - it reminds me of a friend of mine named Alastor. He's actually the alpha male of my pack." The information was given freely - she didn't see any reason why not to talk openly with a stranger. It wasn't like she was giving out any of their deep secrets, or anything.

"So," she began, moving around to stand in front of him and make eye contact again. "You were limping. Is your paw okay? Did you get hurt when you fell?" It could be dangerous for a wolf on their own to be hurt, and she wanted to make sure that he was healthy enough if he was going off by himself again. If he sprained, twisted, or broke his foot, then maybe she could convince Draven to take a look at it.

When the stranger poked the jet-black giant's shoulder, he winced. Salvatore hadn't experienced such bashful gestures since he was a pup, and he wasn't entire certain how to handle it besides stiffening his entire body and pressing his paws hard upon the earth, making him a practically immovable object. The female--Cas--spoke more of her pack: she mentioned the alpha male and made a mental note to be careful of him. This wolf gave Salvatore the impression that she was ridiculously oblivious and overtly extroverted. Then her attention went his paw and he glanced down at it. He flexed the muscles around the left paw: it was a bit sore, but not stinging like before. "Nothing a good walk couldn't fix," he said. Salvatore had questions for the brown wolf but wasn't quite comfortable to start speaking out his thoughts just yet.

What an odd wolf, she thought, her large ears perked toward him as she surveyed his stiff reaction to her simple touch. Really, she could've done worse, but she had learned over the past six months that some wolves just weren't comfortable with her type of touchy physical contact. Of course, Cas, herself was a very odd wolf, and she understood that. She just liked to think it was part of her natural charm.

She snorted softly when he said a good walk would fix his foot. "Trust me, mister. As someone who has experienced that kind of soreness before -" over and over again, "- I can assure you that a good walk is not what you need." She racked her brain, trying to think of what the hell it was that Draven was giving her to deal with her own aches and pains. "I know an herb that helps, if you want." She sought out his deep orange eyes, trying to get a read on him. It was really difficult, she found.

"If you're not comfortable with that, would you at least take a rest?" she questioned, arching one brow. "I could stay and chat with you while you relax, or I could leave you. But I don't want to leave a lone wolf with an injury if I know he's just going to be stupid and hurt it worse."

(This post was last modified: Jul 07, 2017, 02:31 AM by Castel.)

The loner listened to Cas and thought for a moment. He had no idea what good herbs would do; he would always "walk off" his injuries. But the thought of her chatting while he rested seemed like a whole other form of hell. That being said, Salvatore didn't feel very comfortable lying alone near wolf pack territory whilst she went to find some miracle herb. He let out a rumbling groan as he settled himself down and made himself comfortable with his forelegs stretched out before him and his hind-legs curled up underneath. The moss beneath him was green and soft. In this position, Salvatore's head was just below the she-wolf's. He looked up at her now: he's amber eyes had softened a little. Despite how comfortable he looked, he still wasn't relaxed. He was paranoid one of her pack mates would jump out from behind a bush. Finally, he asked, "What do you want to chat about, then?" Salvatore flexed his paw again, checking for soreness: it was fading, but ever so slowly.

(This post was last modified: Jul 05, 2017, 01:04 AM by Salvatore.)