Sacred Grove Never Enough

All welcome. This post has been edited from a previous thread that is now dead. Rory needs to meet new wolves!

i don't even know if i believe

Aurora Thane

A sudden noise made her pause, the bright yellow of her eyes scanned the heavily blossomed trees that had come alive with vibrant color and the rich aroma of earth and wildlife. Overhead she heard the whistling call of birds high in the canopy busy tending to their growing chicks that had hatched months prior, they were well fed and fat, thriving off of the abundance of the land. 

She watched one bird in particular lower toward a low branch and scurry with a hop toward its chirping chick, hungry for the fat worm it held in its beak, its sparse feathers were an array of white and grays and downy like winter fur. Summer returned life to the land, and Rory hoped that this new abundant life would help to quiet her stomach from its constant rumbling.

Her nose was low the entire time, following the scent of fox she'd caught half a mile back which lead toward the base of a large and rotting tree. The fox had come near earlier and if she hurried she could catch up. With renewed energy and excitement she followed the scent until it seemed to grow stale, stopping only when a pile of bones stood exposed to the rising sun; a carnivore had been through here just before her.

She scoffed, surprised and angry for not having caught the scent of cat in the wind earlier before wasting her time in tracking already dead prey.  "No point in wasting everything," she said after taking a bone into her mouth and chewing at it until the taste of bone marrow flooded her mouth. It was a tantalizing taste that left her wanting more but she scavenged just a little while longer, tearing off what remained of the skin and picked over meat. In that moment, guard down, Rory felt invincible and ate at the fox carcass loudly.

won't you light my lonely way back home?

Treyah Tainn

She had left her mother under the watchful eye of her father, a rather stern don't let her out of your sight offered before she departed. If she was going to spend the night away from home the last thing she needed was to come back and find her wandering off again. She had warned @Kerberos and @Maera of she short departure, she just needed to stretch her legs she had reassured them with a smile. Besides, perhaps if she was really lucky she would catch a whiff of Z and she could ask him face to face why he had decided to leave. She needed him at home.

But so far there was no sign. In a few days she would scout to the west or the north although she knew the chances of finding him were slim. As the wildwood gave way to the grove she allowed a sigh to pass her lips, eyes looking to the slivers of sky that managed to make themselves known through the ever-tightening canopy. A hint of black feathers was all it took to pick her next bearing, an easy meal still too tempting to pass up with the snows long melted. There were still four young mouths to feed back home. But another had beaten her to the punch, the sound of cracking bones filling the air as she drew near.

Her steps slowed as her eyes fell on the white wolf. Mouth partially opening to offer a greeting before she thought better of it. Perhaps she would be better off just turning around and heading back now.

@Treyah that table is amazing by the way!

i don't even know if i believe

Aurora Thane

She ripped at the fox meat, tearing what little remained until the bones were clean and glistening, and licked at the carcass in case she missed extra skin or fat before finally turning away with a faint feeling of satisfaction. Though she hadn't eaten much, the prize could hold her over until the following morning before the process was repeated; this was her reality. Being a loner, she didn't have  the luxury to raid caches, or to partner up with another wolf to bring down much more rewarding prey, instead her failure inflicted her solely and it was beginning to show as wear and tear on her dull white coat.

She turned around, in mid lick of her jaws, to see a brown figure staring at her as if in awe of seeing someone devour something so greedily. Shame befell her temporarily before she regained consciousness of what this encounter could mean; potential friend or foe. Her instincts were swaying her to run, considering that there was no longer anything worth protecting but the young woman stayed put in her spot, yellow eyes searching her company with curiosity. What had brought this woman to her?

 

"Pickings have become more and more scarce..." she started off, half expecting that this woman had come in search of food as well but never knowing completely unless the other offered her the information. "unless you're willing to work for more. her words were concise to eliminate any confusion. If this woman wanted to eat she needed to be quicker than that, or willing to participate in a friendly and quick hunt.

(This post was last modified: Jul 07, 2017, 06:57 AM by Rory.)

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There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

won't you light my lonely way back home?

Treyah Tainn

Her tail started a tentative wave as the other wolf broke the silence, her words ringing truer than one might expect with a wolf so young. Her head dipped in acknowledgement, "My parents pulled us from our pack in the middle of winter, but we set up again with new wolves before things got too dire," she managed a ghost of a sympathetic smile, "If we were a little closer, I'd offer you something from the cache but it's about a day away from here." Of course it wasn't her place to go making such offers but a little kindness never killed anyone (or so she thought).

Instead she turned her nose to the wind, ears catching a ghost of a ravens caw. Her smile only grew. "Might be easier than usual today..." she tipped her head in the direction she planned to travel, inviting the loner along for the stroll. If her ears hadn't deceived her and her nose was inching her closer into range, someone had left an easy meal around here somewhere. "Smell it yet?" She asked her companion, hackles bristling at the scent of day old cat. "At least it looks like the lynx is gone, now where's it stashed the food...?" Her voice trailed off as her eyes followed the trail of blood up the trunk of the tree, a leg hanging perhaps low enough to be grabbed with a run up... maybe. Well that complicated things.

@Treyah well this turned interesting. Sorry for the wait!

i don't even know if i believe

Aurora Thane

She listened intently as the woman spoke, her ears twitching every so often at the soft call of a distant raven or the rush of wind that pushed past her thin frame. It would seem that this woman was quite hospitable, the thought forced a smile along the length of her lips in acknowledgement but she would not speak for a moment or so more, contemplating the woman's gesture.  "You are kind, thank you, but I fear that a days walk is beyond me." she didn't have the energy to spend on a walk that did not guarantee food. How was she to know if the woman would change her mind the moment they reached the borders. She wouldn't risk it.

When Treyah lifted her nose to the wind Rory was quick to mimic the gesture, her eyes closing to pinpoint the sweet scent of blood in the wind. It wasn't far from where they were, perhaps a few minutes of a walk and they could feast on the spoils of a cat; she couldn't have asked for anything better. Her lanky form followed that of her companions, silence followed them quickly but her eyes watched every so often to see if Treyah had picked up the change in course as she had. When they were within a few feet of the kill her eyes searched for the kill, and when she initially saw nothing, a look of defeat threatened to fall over her.

It wasn't until she followed the splatter of blood that she witnessed the hanging hoof and interest overcame her. The lynx had been smart to hide its kill in the trees, it was relatively safe from the average predator, and to the lingering canines it nearly seemed impossible to retrieve. "Do you know how to climb trees?" she wondered to the woman aloud, after falling to her haunches. It was a skill she had never been forced to utilize until today.

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I tried to be like Grace Kelly

Treyah Tainn

A lip quirked down in a small frown, no, climbing trees had never been her forte, carrying the bulk that she did. "Not without the tree breaking under me..." she responded with half a laugh, attempting to rise up on her back legs as she did so, but it was hard to balance and she quickly overcorrected, landing back on all four paws with a Tch behind her teeth. Crafty cat, her cheek still stung if she thought about the scent too hard. "I mean, at least if the branch came down the food would come with it..." She rose up on her hind legs again, taking it far too slowly to spring to the height that was required. It was still so far out of reach...

She leaned back, gathering her legs beneath her as if she was about to sit but instead pushed upwards, her teeth just grazing the dangling hoof enough to make the whole leg wobble. Her tail began to wave, it almost looked like she might be onto something here! "Hey, I reckon you could probably get a bit higher than me..." Not having my fat ass and all, she suggested, keeping the latter to herself with a wry grin. Hey, it was worth a shot, right?

@Treyah is adorable!

i don't even know if i believe

Aurora Thanne

The young woman seemed nice enough, she even laughed when Rory had asked her a silly question like whether she could climb the tree and reach the deer for the both of them. If she had been paying attention she would have noticed that Treyah was much larger than she was, taller and probably heavier all around, how could she have been so oblivious to the most obvious of physical proportions. At least the woman was friendly enough not to take offense and in good sport began to jump at the carcass instead.

Though Rory was smaller and probably more agile because of this, she had never been much for heights. The simple act of climbing mountains made her uneasy so a thin tree would send her into a fit of hysteria if for some reason she couldn't get back down. It didn't take her long to figure out that perhaps she'd propel a little further upward than her counterpart, considering she was smaller, and prepared for the leap without much thought in mind. Her first attempt nearly lunged her at the tree instead of up it and she adjusted herself appropriately before trying once more. This time with a bit more accuracy.

Narrowly missing her target caused the hoof to wiggle, barely missing the limb by an inch or two but determination kept her interest and she followed through with the action once more, gaining the leverage she needed to feel bone against her teeth upon the fifth try. She clamped down hard, allowing her weight and gravity to do the rest to pull the deer downward but the cat was more clever than they had assumed and wedged it just enough so that a simple tug would not do enough damage. In fact, it seemed to have gotten caught against the bark of the tree but the more frustrated Rory became the more she jerked and tugged her body in hopes that something would give and it didn't take long before her efforts were rewarded with the loud thud of deer and flesh along the ground. "Holy crap, that worked." she spoke, surprised that Treyah's suggestion had been successful.

The only thing to figure out now was who got the bigger portions. She was tired, but not nearly exhausted and licked her jaws in wait for what would happen next as the deer laid within a few feet of her paws, waiting for the wolves to finish what the cat had left behind.

(This post was last modified: Sep 08, 2017, 05:26 AM by Rory.)

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'Cause nobody can save me

Treyah Tainn

Treyah made way for the smaller wolf to do her thing. She even inched in closer when she dragged it down just enough to be within her range, thinking perhaps her bulk would be needed to unsnag the critter or maybe even pull the branch down with it, but the girl wriggled and yanked with surprising strength and agility, and finally, the meal fell free. She seemed surprised the plan had worked, but not nearly as surprised as Treyah was. She gave another good natured laugh, "I can eat when I get home, you dig in." She wasn't going to deny a loner a meal, especially not one she had worked so hard to pull down in the first place.

Settling herself a short distance away so as not to impose on the other woman, but also to make sure she wasn't interrupted by other scavengers or perhaps even the original hunter returning for its leftovers, she had plans to retrieve a bone or scrap of hide for her siblings to squabble over but not before the other wolf had eaten her fill. "So are you from around here? I'm Treyah, by the way, I live over in the Wildwood, at Charred Ash Draw."

i don't even know if i believe

Aurora Thanne

There was no doubt that hunger had driven her to pull the prey down, it was what drove her in every way and it was no different when a obstacle presented itself, it just so happened that another wolf was present that could have been of good use. She sincerely hoped her company didn't think she were ungrateful, her presence had been appreciated and she even made a little room for Treyah to dig into the kill once she had approached it with every intention to tear at the fattest areas. The woman had earned her place, in fact she probably deserved it more than herself but the pack wolf was mindful of her need of the kill and allowed her full access, to which Rory acquired a wider stance and dug as greedily as she wanted. The kill would not go to waste with her around.

Her ears were like satellites on her skull and swiveled in the direction that Treyah's voice had come, she paused just long enough to lick her lips before she tore a meaty chunk from the hide, swallowed it nearly whole and responded. "I don't have a home, I live pretty much everywhere. This week I just so happen to have made a little sanctuary here..." she said, licking her lips in case any blood remained and continued on. "I'm Rory, it's nice to meet you Treyah. Your name is pretty by the way." she smiled, hoping the woman would believe her, "I've never heard of your pack, is it new, are you the leader?" she asked with a cocked head, she was large and kind of intimidating like she imagined a leader to be. Forgetting the kill only momentarily, she moved a step closer to the other woman to gain some knowledge of her companies home.

(This post was last modified: Sep 18, 2017, 08:42 AM by Rory.)

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