Larkcall Lowlands bring me one step closer to being human

For lovely hummingbird @Lenae || Mid-morning, Fog, 53 ° F, 12 ° C

He had given his usual woof to Little Crow that morning in order to alert her he'd be going back for his usual morning stroll. It was kind of like a ceremonial thing for him. He'd rise with the sun and stretch his legs through the lowlands. They had moved north some sense hitting that pack down south, Wild Rye Fields if he remembered Cottongrass correctly. Granted Cottongrass and that pack didn't matter now. He and Little Crow would be putting distance between them and all of that mess. He'd eventually bring up the idea of moving further out. That was if his partner didn't bring it up first.

Big Buzzard hadn't failed to notice the pack a bit north but he hadn't dared try to steal from them. He reserved all of that planning nonsense for Little Crow. She knew how to do those sort of things and he was just good at being an extra set of eyes and paws. That was his role until they were done finding this Cave and Kahgeese fella. But he'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about how good another easy dinner would be.

He trailed away from the borders, though. Not wanting to be caught treading too close to land that wasn't his.

Lenae should have known really, that stuffing her face into a patch of flowers probably wasn't going to end well.

There were lots of things that could have gone wrong. A bee could have stung her nose, or the flowers might have been poisonous. But no, Lenae made the rookie move and-whilst having a good sniff- inhaled a lung full of pollen. Coughing and wheezing, she reeled away from the little flower patch, tripping over one of the many rocks that littered the tundra floor.

With an undignified 'ooff' she flopped to the floor and out of sheer luck managed to not land on any of the jagged rocks.

She sighed dramatically and rolled onto her back, her short legs kicking in the air. Ah well, whilst she was on the floor she might as well make herself smell nice, right? The flowers were so sweet and yellow too, one of her favourite colours.Her Father had once told her the story of why Selwyn eyes were so bright. She couldn't remember the details, it had been so long ago,but she was pretty sure it was something to do with heavens light. That the Selwyns were saintly and it showed?

She wasn't so sure of that now, of course. There was nothing saintly about her uncles but...Yellow was still a pretty colour.

Tilting her head back, she intended to look skyward and stare up at the grey fog that enveloped the sky but- wait, was that a wolf?

Oh.

Whoever they were, they were large and tawny like herself... But too close for comfort. Maybe if she laid still they wouldn't see her, she'd blend in like a rock. Of course she didn't stop to think about her white belly, that made her stand out like a sore thumb. Even now she was a little...airy like that.

He likely would not have noticed the tawny female had she not exposed her pale colors. His brow raised and a puzzled look covered his face. She wasn't as rusty and dusty as Little Crow. Big Buzzard also didn't pin her to be from the pack they had robbed because her scent was far different from the one down south. She smelt like dirt and stone with underlying hints of flowers. Sure as shit she wasn't Little Crow. He doubted his comrade would be masking herself in such noticeable scents like flowers.

"The shit you doing?" He finally asked rather rudely. "Something strike you down?" Big Buzzard's head leveled out with his back as his eyes squinted, trying to get a better look at the flower girl without getting too close. What exactly was she trying to accomplish? Buzzard didn't think he had come in all scary like and if he had he knew he hadn't come in scary enough to knock someone down from a distance. The thought caused a smile to try and worm its way onto his ebony lips. Buzzard could only desire to be so fearsome one day but now wasn't that day. He had smaller fish to fry for now.

The male was content to stick around until he got some answers from the smaller female. Although if she was sick and contagious than perhaps he ought to get lost before he contracted it. Heaven knew that'd be the end of his and Little Crow's partnership if he brought back some kind of illness.

Saros is currently going under the alias Big Buzzard or Buzzard - thanks to a name given by Namir

Lenae knew she was a coward, but still she couldn't help but feel a wash of shame run over her as a startled 'eeeep' passed her lips.

What was she supposed to say? Was she really going to admit that she'd fallen over and just not decided to get up yet? It already sounded so silly in her mind, she didn't want to think about how bad it would be when spoken aloud. She didn't want to lie,nor could she really come up with a good excuse. There were no clouds to gaze at and nor was the floor very comfortable.For all intents and purposes she looked like and probably was a fool with pebbles for brains.He was just so tall and moody, and his words weren't nice at all. Lenae was at a loss. Should she scramble to her feet and run back to the safety of the Monadnock? Wraith wouldn't let him hurt her, would he? Or even Pitety for that matter, she could be pretty stern when she had to be, Lenae had seen it with her own eyes.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but she was so vulnerable like this, her neck and stomach on display. Like she was just begging him to rip into her. She winched at he thought and carefully-ignoring the rocks knocking into her- rolled onto her belly, so at least then she wasn't so vulnerable.

"Ah...Sorry, no." Even then she felt bad for correcting him."I tripped and then was going to get up but I saw you and thought if I stayed still you wouldn't see me. But then...I'm more than a little white...so it was a bad idea."

It wasn't her place to feel bad, if anything he should have for startling her! But of course it was the other way around. He didn't seem to care, bold as ever, and there she was, head hung low as her tail tried-and failed- to curl underneath her. She was the very picture of cowardly submission. Wouldn't her parents be proud?

(This post was last modified: Sep 12, 2017, 02:30 AM by Lenae.)

"Out with it." He spat before the cat seemed to let go of her tongue and she found her voice. A weirdo, really. Maybe he should have had a little fun. Pretended he was gonna strike or hurt her but she had already been on the floor. It was no fun playing with someone who didn't wanna playback. It was partially why he liked fresh kills; well, that and they tasted better.

He raised a brow at her reasoning. "Why don't you want me to see you? You plan on ambushing me? Got something to hide?" The large yearling felt like he was off of a chain here. With Little Crow he usually followed plans, was smart and thought things through but without her tossing orders for him to follow he could do what he pleased. And it seemed what he pleased was being a bit of an arse to a rather innocent individual. In Big Buzzard's world, no one was innocent. Everyone was doing something wrong.

The large male held his ground making it obvious he was unwilling to play nice or loosen up just yet. She was making things too easy for him. Despite the fact that she smelt of others, it seemed like no one was coming to her rescue. At least not yet.

Saros is currently going under the alias Big Buzzard or Buzzard - thanks to a name given by Namir

not so low key wants Namir to whoop his arse for being mean to Anabird

Pressuring her wasn't going to do him any good. If anything,it only made her cower all the more. Why was he being like this? She didn't understand, after all as far as she was aware she hadn't done anything to encourage said anger. Was laying on the floor a crime? She hadn't meant to offend,nor did she see why he was so up in arms about this. It was all too much, too familiar. 

She had met this sort of man before and yet she never imagined that she would stumble upon one here. This was supposed to be her new beginning, her haven from the dark days. And yet it seemed as though evil had the intention of following her everywhere. There was no escaping it, her torment would never end.

A whine escaped her lips, as she curled in on herself. She was already so small, she could barely maker herself anymore so and yet she tried.She really really really really tried.

"Pl-please...I don't..."

Don't hurt me.

Funny how just one encounter could undo months of progress. Just like that, gone like she'd never made any in the first place. Maybe this was how she was supposed to be, cowering and broken

She had nothing to say in her defence, nor did any words come to mind. She had nothing to hide of course, this was Lenae we are talking about. And the idea of her ambushing him-a hulking wolf who towered over her with ease- was laughable. It would have been a good joke in any other instance, one that made her giggle till tears pooled at the corners of her eyes.

But she was crying for an entirely different reason now, hiccupy little sobs wracked her form and as hard as she tried to she just couldn't stop.

How Aleksei had gotten here was an easy enough question to answer. He had been tracking caribou with the hopes of perhaps rallying a hunt for the Field wolves, only to catch a whiff of Everly’s scent. A small diversion wouldn’t hurt, and so he had switched direction, leaving prey trails for that of a friend. And then, after not even five minutes of walking, he had heard crying. Trembling sobs, quiet but distinct against the usual sounds of the tundra.

Everly. He didn’t even have to think about what to do, there was no plan of action, no strategy. He just knew he had to help her. Without a moment’s hesitation, he broke out into a sprint.

Aleksei’s paws thundered hard against the ground, dark claws tearing at the earth, kicking it up behind him. There, he saw her, tucked up fearfully in the presence of a much larger wolf. The agouti’s nostrils flared, mimicking a bull charging, and he bellowed, loud and furious.

“Get away from her!”

With all his might, Aleksei threw himself at the male in a shoulder barge, head swinging around so his jaws could snap at whatever they could catch. Whether or not he struck his target, he cared little. All that mattered was that he put himself between this brutish bully and Everly.

Let the roots & soil drink of me
Whispering leaves & pointing branches will tell them where I'm lying