Zephyr Rill Looking backwards to move forward

You catch a glimpse of your reflection in the water, and for a split second, it seems like it's moving on its own!

Let ‘em say what they gonna say

Lilliana Stark

It wasn't unusual for Lilliana to be outside of the borders, but it was odd for her to be out so late. The sun had set a few hours ago but it wasn't enough to chase the fearless youngster home. She was simply having far too much fun exploring to be inclined to turn back yet. The moon was bright and the sound of water filled her ears, drawing her ever further away from home. Just a little further... and then she would go home, she promised herself.

It was then she caught her reflection in the corner of her eye, she could have sworn that it... no, it couldn't have, could it? Was it just a trick of the water? She moved closer, looked harder, and it happened again. She pedalled back from the banks of the stream with a strangled shriek. It wasn't meant to move on its own!

OOC! 

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Word Count: 174

She had been wandering for so long, Anaia almost couldn’t remember what it was like to have a home.  She rarely thought about her family anymore; she spent most of her time in a daze, stumbling from one day to the next, eating when she got lucky and stumbled on some other hunters cache or if she found a particularly stupid squirrel.  She hadn’t met anyone since she ran into that strange man, and wasn’t sure she wanted to.

She felt like she was just… wasting away.

Then a terrified shriek parted the clouds in her mind. The girl looked up, startled. Who would be out this late? Her instinct was telling her to run, escape from the possible danger, but the voice had sounded young. She forced herself to move towards the sound, until she saw the source of the scream.  She was just a pup – she had to be less than a year old. “Are you okay?” Anaia called hesitantly, wondering why the child was staring into the water with such intensity.

"Speech"  Thought

throws daddio in here <3

Lachesis was on one of his nightly patrols when he had caught wind of his wandering daughter. An amused smile cracked his stoic features as he changed his route, his long legs cutting through the dense forest with ease. He was glad she hadn’t gone far, but he still wasn’t pleased that she had slipped away with the moon high in the sky. Typically she executed her adventures during the day, where she had light on her side. He knew it was impossible for him to try and prevent them from exploring, but it did not stop him from scolding them. Only when they went too far, for he also did not want to suffocate them.

The scent of another caused his brows to pinch together and an unsettling feeling filled his stomach. Their scents were accompanied by the sound of flowing water, which meant Lilliana had stumbled upon the rill. He stepped toward the water, his head cocked to the side as he searched for the little Stark’s tawny figure along the edge of the running water… “Lil?”

stick with those who stick with you

let 'em say what they gonna say

Lilliana Stark

As the girl scooted backwards she managed to trip over her own paws, her rump hitting the ground wasn't enough to stop her movement thought. It wasn't normal, whatever was in that puddle and as much as her sister teased her for being abnormal she never expected her reflection to move on it's own. She almost missed the soft voice that floated on the air, asking if she was ok and all she could do in response was to close her eyes and shake her head. No she wasn't all right, this was all very very wrong.

Then, when she finally managed to open her eyes, she was seeing double. It was only the sound of her father's voice that snapped her out of it, though her heart still thundered in her ears and she was finding it a little hard to breathe, she ran to him, burying her face in the plush fur of his chest. "I wanna go home!" It was almost a wail, her words muffled by the thickness of his fur. She never wanted to see her own reflection again.

OOC! 

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Word Count: 116

Just as she was deciding if she should cross the water, another wolf came running through the trees.  He held an air of power that made Anaia freeze in place.  She’d done nothing wrong, but she was still terrified by the presence of an alpha. 

The child rushed to him and cried into his chest, speaking words the pale woman couldn’t catch from across the moving water. “I-is she okay?” She asked again, voice halting as she debated simply fleeing the area. This was obviously close enough to a pack’s territory that its pups roamed near the water, meaning there would likely be more behind them. She didn’t want to get mixed up in anything again.

"Speech"  Thought

It was when he noticed that his daughter wasn’t alone that the agouti child plunged herself into his plush Arctic fur. Had the stranger, whose scent was free of one of the nearby packs, upset her? A frown immediately creased his dark lips, his brows plunging into a sharp V shape as he glanced around, searching for the loner. I wanna go home! the child wailed into his chest, her voice muted by his fur. The little firecracker was unlike the rest of her family—she was bold and loud, seldom shying away from strangers and peculiar sights. He had never seen her like this before.

I-is she okay? The voice was soft; gentle. It did not belong to a terrifying beast. The wolf in question was a small, alabaster girl—her pale yellow eyes dripping with sympathy. She could not have been the culprit; however, looks were deceiving.

“I-I,” he started, his lips still curved into a frown as he tipped his chin to look at his daughter, “are you alright, Lil? What happened?” His tail fell slack between his legs as he returned his chartreuse gaze to the loner, his ears cupped forward. “Did you see anything?”

stick with those who stick with you

let ‘em say what they gonna say

Lilliana Stark

When her father asked what happened she just shook her face into his chest, a nod offered when he asked if she had seen something (though it would have been hard to distinguish with her face pressed so firmly into her father's chest. Small tremors were wracking her filling frame and she tried to draw a breath only to have it stolen from her lungs. Oh god what if it was some sort of monster and it could do this with it's mind! Her jaw opened, and then clicked closed twice before she managed to find her voice again. "Th-there's something in the water! It looked like me but it moved and I didn't!"

There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health

OOC! 

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Word Count: 125

Anaia knew way too much about overprotective fathers, but this one didn’t seem to be getting aggressive towards her.  He was more focused on making sure his daughter was okay. When he turned his attention back to her, she shook her head. “I-I was just passing by w-when I heard her scream and I c-came to see if she was alright.  I wasn’t here m-much longer than y-you.” She stuttered, eyes flickering between the man and the girl curled into his chest.

She began to speak, wailing into his fur about something in the water.  Anaia’s curiosity somehow managed to reach her through the fear and she crawled forward, peering into the water.  She didn’t see anything, but that didn’t mean there was nothing there.

"Speech"  Thought

So the pale loner hadn’t seen anything. But his daughter had—something in the water had moved, startling her. Lilliana claimed it was her own reflection, that it moved on its own. His brows pinched in concern as he craned his neck over his quivering daughter, his chartreuse gaze seeking out the bubbling water from behind her. He couldn’t see anything in the watery depths—nothing that looked remotely close to his tawny daughter. It’s okay, he hummed into her ear as he returned his attention to Lilliana, his gaze softening. It must have something to do with the season—the spooky season. He worried that Lavender might have said something to scare her, something to muddle her thoughts. I’m sure it was nothing, there’s nobody else here. Just a trick of the light, he explained as he pressed a comforting lick to her forehead, a small smile tugging at his lips.

He turned to the pale bystander, his expression neutral. Thank you for coming to see if she was okay, he tossed in her direction, a smile still pressed against his pale maw. 

stick with those who stick with you