The Deep Forest I'm gonna go crazy

Have a little faith in me

Diego Archer

He wasn’t built for these long journeys. Sure his proportions might suggest otherwise, a typical Archer build, medium physique, dark phase coat, pale amber eyes - but he was all solid and stocky where his sisters were more willowy in their proportions. He was built for fighting, not for the endless plodding that it seemed his life had become. He thought for a moment to complain to his sister, then remembered she wasn’t with him at the moment, so he would have to suffice with a click of his tongue behind his teeth. How Odin had managed this journey, not once but twice was beyond him.

It didn’t help that the same monotonous landscape seemed to pass them by, day by day. The same tundra, the same trees, the same prey goading him for being too slow to catch it. His paws ached and his stomach hurt, far from used to being forced to subside on carrion. Urgh. He, just like his siblings, had been sucked in by Morganna’s grand tales of the land of Relic Lore and the stamp their family had made outside of Torbine. Truthfully, had his mother not fretted so at the absence of his siblings he might have been inclined to leave them as they were, fanciful tales of a far-off land. Instead, here he was. Trudging across the country with winter on the way. It was only his sense of duty that kept him going. But gods help them all when he caught up with them. If they thought he was prone to complaining before they had no idea just what they were in for.

Now that he was getting older—and bigger—the little agouti evaded the tangerine trees of the Vale much more frequently. The lush, green surroundings were much more appealing, lulling the boy forward and encouraging him to bend the rules. His parents seldom noticed his absences—unless they went longer than expected and the sky had begun to change hue. They were busy tending to their duties. Adult stuff. He didn’t mind. Sachiel preferred spending time on his own. Especially when he was able to sneak away from the striped trees.

He had gone north and the trees quickly began to change from comforting, lush pine trees to gnarled trunks and empty branches. The colours became less saturated, daunting in appearance, and left the boy with an unsettling feeling in his stomach. It was still better than the orange he had left behind, but he could not shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. Shouldn’t the forest be mossy and teeming with life? He frowned, his tail lashing out behind him as he maneuvered through the twisted trees. It was still better than the ginger leaves that infected the forest he called home. Not only did they fill the sky but they had also begun to contaminate the ground as they fell from their branches, cluttering Sachiel’s line of sight whenever he meandered through the vale.

He could hear the soft crunch of another in the distance, which immediately caused the boy to cease movement. His brows narrowed, frown growing more prominent as he remained where he was, unsure of what to do next. 

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

Have a little faith in me

Diego Archer

He had dismissed the steps of another as he walked, presuming that with the sound of their steps came the certainty that they weren't attempting an ambush, but when they ceased, his steps did too. He tried to dismiss the throbbing of his aching paws, the way his muscles burned from near constant use in a way they were very much unaccustomed to before the prior month, but he wasn't able to bite back the hiss of a sigh that left his mouth of its own volition, uncertain if now that he had stopped he would be able to keep going at all.

He leaned forward into a stretch, allowing his stocky limbs to drag behind him as amber eyes scanned the trees for whatever else it had been out there that was moving. It sounded too big to be a rodent, but not quite steady or heavy enough to be something worth trying to eat, which left him with too many options (fox, coyote, bobcat, wolf). The wind was against him, so after pursing his lips for a moment to see if the other would vocalise first, he finally settled his paws solidly beneath his frame and questioned. "Hello?"

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

There were several routes Sachiel could take. It was deciding on which one to pursue that left him planted where he was with his ears perched high atop his crown and his brows pinched together.

Option A: He could retreat, distancing himself from the stranger and continuing along his merry way. It was an adventure he was looking for, but a solo adventure. Company was nothing something he had intended for.

Option B: He could greet the stranger and be cordial. Perhaps this wolf was looking for a home or was lost and needed help out of the deep woods. Although Sachiel did not frequent the forest often he still had the majority of it mapped out inside his head. Surely he would be of use to the wolf if it was directions they were looking for.

Or Option C: Run. The stranger could be a threat to both him and the rest of the Vale wolves. alerting them of the loner’s presence would be the right thing to do… what if there were more lurking around? He shivered at the thought, his brows pinching tighter.

Before he could decide a voice rang through the trees, dripping with shades of ebony and deep evergreen. Option A and C were still feasible options—he didn’t have to respond. He could run through the trees, heading either north or south, and pursue another adventure for he day. His toes curled into the soft soil, the frown etched across his dark lips deepening. His nose wrinkled as he weighed his options despite being more and more indecisive as the seconds rolled by.

He didn’t answer. Instead he took a hesitant step forward, his neck craned forward as he tried to catch a glimpse of the stranger through the trees…

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

Have a little faith in me

Diego Archer

Diego had been certain he wasn't hearing things but when there was no answer to his greeting, he started to wonder if perhaps being alone was really getting to him that much. "Add hearing things to the list of shit that's gone wrong since they up an' left..." He muttered darkly under his breath, attention quickly diverted by a promising scent on the breeze, not one that spoke of company, but one that spoke of an easy meal. He was so busy salivating that he missed the underlying scent of cat, an oversite that would have seen his arse kicked from one side of Torbine to the other had his mother or Morganna caught him being so complacent.

But they weren't here, and so the yearling loped eagerly, weaving between the trees, following little but a scent on the breeze. If the movement behind him started up again, he was too focused on the task before him to notice it. Tunnel vision had him zeroing in on the caramel hide of the eviscerated deer, all the best parts were gone, leaving little but fur and bones and some muscle flesh that may have been considered surplus to the original hunter. For a moment he was surprised that whoever had caught it had left it just laying out in the open like this... and then he heard the growl.

The scents of the outside world were still new to the tawny cub. It was still difficult for him to differentiate smells and put faces (or colours) to them. He had taken several more steps toward the stranger, seeking the wolf behind the ebony and evergreen voice. Sachiel still was unsure of which option to choose but that did not mean his curiosity subsided. If anything it increased as he heard the voice ring through the trees a second time, this time much quieter than the first. He was speaking to himself. His lips tightened, the ends curling softly as he spotted the dark wolf weave through the trees. Following the loner meant he was risking getting caught but it was the perfect opportunity to practice his stalking abilities. And, perhaps, get a free meal out of it as he, too, had caught wind of something tasty smelling.

But like Diego, Sachiel had not detected the cat. It smelled of the forest as far as the boy was concerned, it was part of the sea of trees around him.

He had situated himself behind a large tree, his snout angled toward the half-eaten deer and the approaching yearling. Saliva pooled at the bottom of his mouth and spilled out the side, a dull ache forming in the pit of his stomach as he quickly began to realize how hungry he was. However, the cat that growled behind him was still hungry too.

Falling into the tree the boy stumbled forward, his mismatched gaze wide as his paws grabbed frantically at the soft earth in a feeble attempt to distance himself from the creature. All he could see was fiery red and burnt orange filling the edges of his vision. Somehow, with a surge of adrenaline, the boy had managed to leap out of the way just in time to avoid a set of sharp talons and he scrambled toward the yearling.  

(This post was last modified: Oct 08, 2017, 01:53 AM by Sachiel.)

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

Have a little faith in me

Diego Archer

Growl, crashing, scrambling, brown? "Bojay?!" Oh shit. Oh fuck, oh shit. Morganna was going to have his hide... Forget his siblings, his head would be hung over the entrance to her cave, what was left of him little more than den lining. But as the tawny bundle crashed towards him, amber eyes finally caught the speckled hide of a pissy cat, hissing and swiping after the younger wolf and that was all the prompting the burly boy needed. She'd bring him back to life to skin him again if he didn't bring the damn kid home in one piece...

He charged forward with a bark of warning, He's not alone, I'm the one you have to worry about. Diego had seen one of these cats shred a fox that got too close so he stopped short with a low rumble in his chest, chin tucked to cover his throat and fur standing at imposing angles as he inched back hoping to make contact with the younger wolf who should have been behind him... somewhere. "We're gonna have to run..." He warned as the cat took another step forward. While there was little point to delaying the inevitable it'd be embarassing to go down to a cat of all things.

The stranger danger logic was out the window. There was no time to deliberate options or weigh consequences. The dark, burly teenager was the boy’s only hope to escape the cat’s advances. Waves of crimson consumed his frantic mind, causing his footing to fumble. His chin connected with the ground, a loud oof! escaping him as he pushed himself into a sloppy stand, his mismatched eyes so wide they threatened to tumble out of his skull. White hot pain shot up through the tip of his tail where the feline had finally made contact, but it was not enough to hinder the boy’s attempts at escape. The talons had barely made contact with his tail but the damage had been done. And holy heck did it hurt.

Somehow he had managed to get behind the swarthy male, his breathing laboured. It was impossible to ignore the ache that was beginning to spread from the black (now crimson) tip of his tail. But he was trying. Because the beast was inching closer and he didn’t know if the ebony yearling would be able to fight it off. Run. That was something he understood. As he felt the stranger bump into him Sachiel emitted a loud chirp in agreement and tore through the trees, not daring to look behind him to see if the yearling had followed suit—or if the monster had. 

the kitty got him by the tail -- he's got some claw marks, but nothing serious (looks worse than it is)

(This post was last modified: Oct 08, 2017, 03:29 AM by Sachiel.)

ridge is a mature character

aka he curses a lot due to his frustation with his memory loss

x

ridge associates colours with moods/feelings & uses them to describe others

Have a little faith in me

Diego Archer

He cursed his own slowness as the scent of blood filled the air. It made his stomach lurch, and he wished that he could simply call to @Pietro and know everything would be ok. His own knowledge of herbs was non-existent, what if the cub had sustained a fatal wound? Dead, dead, dead, you're dead. A small voice echoed in the back of his mind, only drowned out by the chirp of acknowedgement and the sound of paws retreating at his back.

The movement was enough to catch the lynx's attention, Diego took the small opening to make a charge of his own, with barks and growls, and the pointless gnashing of teeth against empty air. It almost looked like the feline was going to reconsider for a moment, so the yearling took the oportunity to back up quickly. He was still focused on the cat, its eyes so wide he could see the whites, tufted ears facing straight forward. Yeah, he got the message, he wasn't going to fuck with it.

As he turned, the lynx made one last bluff charge to make sure he wasn't coming back, Yeah right, his mumma didn't raise no fool. But where had the kid gone? A trail of blood led him through the trees, and now he was certain that the cat wasn't going to leave its kill he slowed down, head dropping lower just in case he was mistaken for someone more dangerous than he was. He was sure he was getting close by now. "Hey kid?" Who was he calling kid huh? He was barely old enough to leave home himself.