Wild Rye Fields the girl that time forgot

Open to anyone and everyone in WRF! Set on August 2nd, midmorning.

Ris was very, very tired. Her paws felt like lead, and she wasn't sure where she was going. She'd slept yesterday away, which was why it had taken four days to cover a distance that usually would have only taken three. But she was still young, and running on little-to-no food, so the journey itself had felt nigh on impossible to the child. But at this point she was running on nothing but anoesis, so nothing made too much sense at the moment.

Silver eyes looked up to take in the scenery around her. There were fields, and a light morning fog, and perhaps a mountain in the distance, but other than that... she was pretty much lost. It hadn't even occurred to her that she had crossed any scent markers - though she absolutely had - and wandered into the territory of the pack to the far west.

The adventure had been... oddly dissatisfying so far. Part of her had been hoping for something more to take her mind off of Kisla, because that was all she could think about, dream about, feel about. It just hurt too much, and though it had been over a week now, the pain had only decreased from the initial shock and horror into a static-y feeling of wrongness and a certain emotional numbness. It was becoming apparent to the child that yes, her mother was actually gone, and that nothing would ever be the same again. And she wasn't sure how to deal with it.

All of the negative emotions - both her own and those of her packmates - had become far too overwhelming to the child who had only ever seen the world as a good and pure and amazing place. Nothing she'd ever thought, nothing she'd ever done, had prepared her for the idea that she would have to deal with a loss so great as her own mother. Kisla was supposed to be a permanent fixture - especially because Ris and Theo didn't have a father. It only made sense that their mother should be with them.

But apparently the world wasn't such a nice place.

With that thought weighing her paws down and numbing the emotions in her chest, she continued to wander.

Things were returning back to what Jessie could best call normal. Her three children were safely within the borders of her pack –  as far as she knew –  and they currently had enough members to get through the winter. And so the Tainn’s life comfortably fell back into a normal routine of checking the borders, filling the caches when they were getting low, and spending time with her children. None of the tasks she busied herself with bothered her. Jessie was glad to get back to a place of normalcy after so much chaos. Calmed with the fact that her children surely wouldn’t be causing too much trouble – and if they did she had her pack mates to back her – the woman marked the borders. She enjoyed the time alone. Ever since her most current litter was born, she had not had much solitude and as leader, it was not something she received very often. She would never complain but it would be useless to deny the sneaking anxiety that would creep up on her if she did not get that time alone she more than often always craved. She paused on her round of the borders, emerald eyes sweeping into the depths of her territory as her eyes narrowed in confusion. She inhaled again just to be sure that her nose was not deceiving her, even though the thought that it might be possible was preposterous. A Hearthwood wolf here? In my borders. The girl smelled heavily of Kisla and it hadn’t even crossed the mother’s mind that the girl might have been a child. After all, why would a child of the River be all the way in the Rye? She picked up her pace, her fur standing on end and when she finally came upon the scene of the intruder, her heart froze and she stood still, fur flattening on her back. A deep frown pulled on the corners of her mouth. This doesn’t make any sense. Clearing her throat to grab the girl’s attention best she could, Jessie finally spoke, “Child, what’s your name?” It was so obvious to her now, that the girl was Kisla’s. At least, she had to be. Though, who would Kisla have bred with. Maksim was gone, though Jessie completely understood the concept of having to keep a pack’s legacy alive. Still, why was she here, so far away from home? Surely, someone from Wild Rye Fields could spare her a trip back if she needed it. Perhaps, she had just gotten lost.

foxstox @DA & Dawnthieves.de

Risaela couldn't help but be slightly alarmed when a wolf suddenly approached her. Silver eyes rounded when the black-and-white female showed up, and she took a quick step back, before she realized that the green-eyed - why did it suddenly seem like everyone in the world had her mother's chartreuse gaze? - woman wasn't immediately going to hurt her.

She asked her question, and Ris didn't know why she was so interested, but she did smell like their surroundings, so maybe she lived around here. She blinked, glancing up at her in silence for a couple of moments as she debated on how to respond. Over the past week, the already-quiet child had become even more so, and often didn't initiate conversations anymore, or speak in more than one word at a time.

But they didn't seem mean, and it would be rude not to answer.

Her throat hurt when she cleared it, her voice hopelessly hoarse from disuse. "'M... 'mm R-Ris," she stuttered out, ears pressing back to her head and her body lowering just slightly in a natural submissive posture. She didn't know what else to say - she hadn't been asked anything else, so maybe it was only her name that was important to the lady.

She wished she could ask her own question, but she didn't feel like putting in that much more effort. She wasn't sure if she could. So instead, she glanced up at the mottled woman again and allowed the questions to just whirl around her mind. What's going on? Who are you? Where am I?

(This post was last modified: Aug 12, 2017, 06:45 PM by Risaela.)

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

Children were so innocent. They displayed their emotions readily on their faces and it was easily apparent that Jessie had startled the young girl. the Tainn doubted that her rushed entrance helped her case.  Jessie was more concerned with the fact that a child – not of her own – was within her borders, and quite far away from the River that she should have been home. It seemed that after a moment of sizing them her, the girl warmed up to her and offered a name. Jessie’s heart skipped a beat. Rissa? There was no mistaking that this was indeed Kisla’s child. The child'sdid not offer a reason as to why she was within her borders and it did nothing to satify Jessie's curiosity, only fueling her desire to know why she was all the way in the Rye. She smiled towards the girl, trying to make her feel welcomed and introduced herself. Maybe she would pick up on the fact that they were family? “Well, I am Jessie Tainn. You stumbled into my pack grounds, Wild Rye Fields. Are you hungry?” Perhaps, if she got some food into the girl, she would be more willing to talk to her and tell her why she was all the way out there. No doubt, after all the traveling she was doing, she was hungry.

foxstox @DA & Dawnthieves.de

(This post was last modified: Aug 13, 2017, 03:24 AM by Jessie.)

Ris' eyes widened at the mention of her name, and she angled her ears forward in sudden interest. She'd begun to think that she and Matheo were the only two Tainns in the world. She almost didn't even hear the question about being hungry as she tried to form words to express her thoughts to this Jessie Tainn - she was almost astonished at her very existence.

Her silver-tawny head nodded up and down like a bobblehead, and she kneaded the ground anxiously before her. "T-Tainn. Tainn," she repeated, silver eyes round. "I-I Tainn. M-m-m-me, too." She coughed afterward, her throat dry and scratchy from disuse, and then remembered that she had been asked a question, and it would be totally rude to ignore that.

Instead of another "long-winded" verbal response, she simply looked sheepishly at the ground and nodded, a small "Mhmm," squeaking from her closed lips. She hadn't meant to get so excited over the fact that she and Jessie shared a name, but for some reason knowing that they were related somehow was nice to hear. Ris had wondered for a while why everyone else she was related to was named Baranski, and she hated it. But now she had someone else that actually had her own last name as theirs. It was odd, but good.

(This post was last modified: Aug 12, 2017, 06:41 PM by Risaela.)

An almost warm feeling settled in the pit of Jessie’s stomach at the child’s reaction to her mention of her name. Though what shocked her the most was perhaps that their name was shared – though it was not quite by blood. It made Jessie wonder who exactly their father was. It was another burning question but one that would have to go unanswered for the time being and might forever be a mystery. There were needs that should be attended to, especially to a pup that had traveled all of this way and was surely in need of some nourishment and rest. Ris’ acknowledgement towards her question caused a small smile to tug at the corners of her lips. The Tainn was less than pleased that the child was hungry but glad she that she could provide. “Very well, follow me.” She waved her tail behind her in invitation starting towards the heart of her territory. Jessie wondered what @“Drestig” would have thought of this – the girl coming into their territory – but she had no doubts that he would have supported her decision in taking the child in. Especially since it concerned their allies and, most importantly, family. Emerald eyes slid to the side to observe Ris, Jessie’s lips pursed in thought. “What are you doing all the way out here?” she questioned curiously, her tail waving behind her. The pepper-and-salt colored woman made sure to keep a steady, slow pace so that the River child would be able to keep up with her. Jessie was sure that the pup was already worn out and it would not due for her to wear her out before she could get any answers out of her. Ahh, here we are. Trotting forward, Jessie’s pulled out a plump squirrel from their cache before looping back towards Kisla’s child and laying the kill down in front of her. Licking her lips, the mother cautioned the girl kindly, “I would eat slow if I were you.” If she didn’t heed her warning, the girl might learn soon enough.

foxstox @DA & Dawnthieves.de

The nice lady began to lead her off to go get something to eat, which Ris was more than thankful for. She hadn't had any sustainable food in four days - since she shared that bit of food with Lorcan before she left Hearthwood River. But that was of no fault of her pack's - Ris hadn't felt much like eating since Kisla's passing. She hadn't felt well enough to until now, since she'd walked so far and her growing body was craving nourishment that it desperately needed.

She was quick to follow Jessie, though her paws were beginning to ache now that she'd snapped out of whatever weird trance she had been in when she left the River. Because she was tired now, and she was hungry, and all she really wanted to do was curl up and sleep on the ground where they walked. She had believed that they were pretty much done doing the talking thing, but she was incorrect, as the Tainn woman had more information to dig up out of her. Which made a lot of sense, considering Risaela was a stranger.

It was a simple question, but one that Ris wasn't sure how to answer. Silver eyes flicked over to Jessie's greens momentarily as they walked. "I 'unno," she replied, her ears pressing anxiously to her skull. The child wasn't sure what the right answer would be. The question would have to be phrased in a more specific way before she would be one hundred percent sure what to say. "W-w-wa-alkin'?" she tried, wanting to give the black-and-white wolf something of a more solid answer.

Her pale flank brushed against the older woman's leg here and there, subconsciously seeking some form of comfort and stability. She still felt kind of like she was floating around - most likely from the shock. But then Jessie trotted forward and returned a few seconds later with a squirrel. Ris' stomach growled loudly and though she wanted to immediately dig into the food offered, she wanted more to listen and be good. So she smiled up at the green-eyed wolf and wagged her tail slowly. "Th-thank you," the child offered, and then crouched down to take a few careful bites from around the squirrel's tummy. She paused after a moment or two and looked back up at the woman, nudging it in her direction to see if she would want any.

The Tainn picked up on the stutter but summed it up to nothing more than nerves and exhaustion. After all, she had traveled all the way from the River but it made no sense. Why would she travel so far away from her home? From her mother? Kisla would be worried sick. If Ris’ namesake meant anything, Jessie had a decent idea of what have been going through her friend’s head. As they traveled, the child brushed up against her occasionally and Jessie did her best to give the girl a reassuring smile. Her answer did nothing to stop Jessie’s burning curiosity, but the monochrome woman remained silent and allowed the girl to eat her meal in peace. Why? It seemed to be the most imminent question popping up in Jessie’s mind. Why are you here? When Ris nudged the rest of the squirrel towards her, the Rye Queen shook her head, a small smile on her lips, “No, thank you. I am not hungry. Try to finish it if you can.” The mother allowed a few moments of silence to pass between them. There was no way Ris would be able to make the trip back to Hearthwood River now. She needed rest and Jessie knew that it would be only right for her to take the girl in. They were family, after all. If only Drestig had waited one more day before going on his scouting trip. The pepper-and-salt colored woman’s lips pursed, emerald eyes looking down again to observe the small child. Her voice was patient and soft when she spoke again, “Why did you walk all the way over here, Ris? Why did you leave Hearthwood?” Jessie needed to know. If something had happened at home, to their allies, Jessie would need to do anything she could to help.

foxstox @DA & Dawnthieves.de

The nice Tainn lady didn't want any of her squirrel and urged her to eat the rest, and for the time being Ris was fairly confident she could eat the entire thing. Her tummy felt hollow and though she really wanted to gobble the whole thing down as quickly as possible, to satiate her hunger, she was going to be super good and listen to Miss Jessie. There was probably a reason why she shouldn't eat the food fast.

But then the salt-and-pepper wolf asked about Hearthwood and suddenly Ris wasn't so hungry anymore.

Did she have to talk about it? Would she even be allowed to talk about it? Maybe Uncle Cloud and Inna and everybody else didn't want anyone to know. And besides that, the child didn't even want to talk about Kisla. She didn't want to think about what happened, and she didn't want to think about her mother, and she never wanted to see that much blood again. She just wanted to forget.

But Jessie had been so nice to her, and she'd given her food... maybe the girl owed an explanation to her. No, she definitely owed her that much. Even though it wasn't going to be fun. It took a few moments for her to gather her thoughts, but eventually she managed to decide how to phrase it correctly. "M-mama d-died," she stuttered breathily, silver eyes locked on the squirrel at her paws.