Cold Water Creek In the Jungle That We Roam

Dated to November 16th. For @Ruari (and @Isaura if she wants to come along!)

There was something familiar about the place. It was hidden beneath a thin dusting of snow that Cottongrass was determined to unveil. Because there was a memory playing out in the back of his mind. One made prominent by a phantom pain of teeth digging into his muzzle and the way his paws ached from a night spent running. He was pretty sure he met Reyes somewhere nearby. And if he could see a mountain stretching out before him the memory would be complete. But when he looked up all he could see were barren trees with spindly branches and bulging roots.

He decided to keep going. And the snow beneath his paws didn't crunch or pack. That kind of snow would come later. When it was colder and actually winter. Instead it was just a powdery mess that was freshly fallen. For now the world just seemed... Muted and fluffy. With brand new winter coats and soft snow everywhere he looked. It was nice.

But it was sort of hard to settle into the realization when paranoia crept down his spine. Because he met Reyes nearby but that was only because he got attacked. The memory of a thin man with white fur and glowing red eyes haunted the place. It made his hackles rise and his body tense. What if the stranger was still out there? Hiding somewhere just out of sight and waiting to attack him. Nobody was there to protect him. Could he win another fight? He shuddered and pushed himself forward. Closer towards the distant trickle of fresh water that he suddenly wanted.

He didn't stop until he found the river. And even than he gave himself one last extra push until his front paws were submerged in icy depths. It was cold. All kinds of cold and he could the warmth seeping out of his toes. He was tempted to wade across the river for reasons he didn't understand.

(Could he freeze to death? It wasn't that cold...)

His breath slid out of his lungs slow and steady. He forced himself to stoop over and take a drink before he did something dumb.

("Now drink, niño. ‘for the damn thing freezes over." Echoed in the back of his mind while he did so.)

At some point snow had fallen in the forest he and Isaura now made their way through. He'd made the decision to lead her north because he couldn't stay near the brook any longer. She stayed with him far past the point he thought she would have deserted him. In the time he'd come to rely on the female as he continued to recover from the fight. His wounds didn't cause him so much trouble anymore which allowed them to travel farther each day. The shadow was starting to help her in hunts and even doing some in his own.

Some mornings he would hunt while she slept and bring food back to her when he could catch it. The least he could do for what she'd done for him when he was still unable to hunt. His yellow eyes turned to hers as they weaved between two trees to ensure she was doing alright. They'd been traveling for awhile now and ye was worried, “Isa do you need to stop?” He asked her gently. Ruari was always gentle with her, he did his best to take care of her as promised.

The snow was cold under his paws reminding you that winter was coming and it would he just them. He'd considered finding a place they could stay for the duration of the cold months. He didn't know about finding a pack, if that was something he wanted or something Isaura wanted. It was a conversation they would need to have but it wouldn't be that day. He was still angry and filled with the feeling of being lost without his brother.

The scent of water reached his nares, perfect, they hadn't had anything to drink in a few hours. The yearling bumped her shoulder, “Let's get something to drink before we go on.” They would need to find shelter for the night but that could wait too. Ruari led his companion toward the water which they soon arrived at to find a pale coated wolf standing in it. The twin looked toward Isaura before turning back to the wolf, “It's a bit cold to be standing in the water don't you think?” He asked before stepping a little in front of Isaura in case the man wasn't kind.

 

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

There was snow on the ground and Isa still had yet to decide if she liked it. It was pale and fluffy and it made everything look interesting but it meant that prey would soon be harder to find. It helped her to hunt though since her pale fur blended with it nicely and she couldn't help but to glance at her shadow's pelt and wonder if he had trouble in winter. This stuff was still light and Isaura figured that it would melt if the coming days were warm again. They were headed north and what she understood was that the further north you headed the more snow. She didn't mind where they went as long as Ruari still wanted her company she would follow him and if she wasn't imaging things he didn't want her to go.

The first time that he had gone out and brought her back something to eat she had been flustered but she had accepted it gratefully. She wasn't used to others hunting for her and each time Ruari did it she couldn't help but warm to him a little more each time. Isaura noticed that he was watching her. She smiled at him, she was starting to do that a lot more as well smile and meet his gaze more and more. Not quite yet. She responded easily.

When they reached their destination she didn't know what they would do. All she was sure of was that they were heading north and for the time being that suited her just fine. She figured they were simply heading away from the place that marked his brother's death and she wasn't going to stop Ruari from doing just that. He could deal with his brother's death as he wanted and if he wanted to talk to her about it she was always there for him.

Soon she could smell the scent of water and she thought that she might be able to hear it as well but that was probably just her imagination. Her shadow bumped into her as he told her that they should go get a drink. Isaura nodded in agreement as she returned the bump to him. When they reached the water however Isaura was quick to notice that there was another wolf there. He was standing in the water getting a drink and she cast her own worried look to Ruari before her posture shifted into a more submissive stance. When alone with her shadow she felt relaxed enough to not use displays but a new wolf always came with a certain amount of risk. She noticed that Ruari stepped in front of her as he questioned the other wolf. Isaura kept her mouth shut and eyes down as she waited to see how the pale wolf would react to them.

He was cursed with bad luck.

It was the only thought inside of his head when the voice of another seemed to echo across the river. He flinched. His ears rolled back against his head and his gaze snapped towards the source of the voice. And he was expecting to see him. The wolf with pale fur and glowing red eyes because that's usually the special brand of torture life had in stock for him. But instead his yellow eyes landed on the form of two wolves. One pale and the other dark.

Except his paranoia didn't go away. Not when he was already on edge and he knew for a fact that conversations weren't always his strong point. There was something about the river that struck closer to home than he thought it did.

"It's not that cold." He called back. But he felt his confidence waver and his body seemed colder than it was before he stepped into the river. The other wolf was probably right. The one with dark fur. He took a step backwards. And then another just to be extra safe. His wet paws didn't feel good against the powdery snow underfoot but he ignored it.

"I was just getting a drink." He didn't mean any harm. And he sure as hell hoped the duo didn't mean any either. He didn't think he could make it back to Askan and Reyes in time if they both decided to attack him. His tail curled between his hind legs.

The snow was in some ways a refreshing sight for the shadow that helped to not remind him so much of the day he'd found his brother. Piles of leaves here and there along their path reminded him of funding Deaglan. He saw flashes of black fur amongst them even though they weren't there. Most of all he felt... incomplete. They had been together everyday since the day they were born and the bond they shared had been strong until it fell apart after their mother's death. His mind would remember the days that had been good no matter how few they had been. It's what he tried to concentrate on then as he walked along with his blue eyed treasure.

He worried she was growing tired or that her paws might hurt so he checked on her, “You will tell me if you need to stop?” He didn't want her to think she had to keep going when she needed to rest. He would gladly stop to give her the time she needed, he wasn't in a hurry, not anymore. They had put plenty of distance between themselves and where they had found Deaglan's body. It still didn't erase the pain and guilt he felt but he didn't feel like he was suffocating anymore. With the scent of water on the air he felt it was a good time to quench the thirst he was sure they both had.

Upon seeing the stranger in the water his first priority was making sure Isa was safe. He didn't know the man or what his temperament was like and he would be damned if the pale wolf would kayba paw in her. He would not break his promise to protect her and keep her safe. He placed himself between her and the stranger as they approached the water. He questioned the man about it being too cold to stand in the water. It was as the pale wolf backed out of the water that he knew he wouldn't be a threat to either of them. “Please don't let us stop you from getting your drink we are here for the same,” he told before turning to his blue eyed treasure. Ruari put his muzzle under her chin to lift her head, “It's okay Isa. You should go get your drink,” he told her gently. He then turned back to the man, “Might you be able to tell us whereabouts we might be?”

 

Of course. She told him amused. She wasn't fragile and she was aware of when she needed to stop whether it was because she was tired or because her paws had begun to hurt. Isaura was also aware that her shadow was worried about her and it warmed her. The one thing she wasn't sure on was if he was starting to focus on her more just to push aside his brother's death. However she felt like she should give him his space to deal with it however he wanted to at the moment, and if that meant focusing on her that was fine.

The smell of water was so close but with the pale stranger in it, Isaura wasn't sure that they should push there luck. They could always get a drink further away. He called out in response to Ruari's question saying that the water wasn't cold. Yet, as Isaura kept her eyes on his paws she watched as he backed away from them and out of the water and then one step more. She noticed that the stranger's tail curled beneath him as he told them that he simply had wanted a drink. Was he scared of them? She didn't see how he could be. At least of her. She felt that her shadow could be when he wanted to.

Her shadow lifted her head and Isaura didn't fight the motion though she kept her gaze down. Brushing her shoulder against Ruari's she stepped forward to get herself some of the water that they seemed to all be there for but paused once she reached its edge. She waited for her shadow's voice to stop before she spoke her own voice low. Please be at ease we won't harm you. She glanced up at the pale wolf to briefly meet his gaze before dropping it to the water as she began to drink the cool liquid. It was cold though not as cold as it would be once winter came and froze the surface.

Please be at ease we won't harm you.

Cottongrass was pretty sure he heard those words before. Maybe even more than once from his parents because they pretty much had the same routine as the wolves before him. One was a threat while the other wasn't. Both worked in tandem to disarm him and then attack when he least expected it. But that just might have been paranoia speaking.

His ears rolled back against his head and he stayed where he stood. Somewhere beneath him his paws gave a nervous shuffle in the powdery snow. His ears twitched and he realized he should probably do something other than awkwardly stare at them from across the river. Was the dark one talking to him? He was pretty sure they were talking to him with the way their pale eyes settled on his form with quiet intensity.

"Uh." Where the heck were they? Their guess was probably as good as his but he wasn't going to say that. Instead he straightened up and shifted his gaze from dark fur to pale fur and back again. "I think there's a pack somewhere over there —" His muzzle gave a vague gesture to somewhere behind the duo. "In the misty forest. But I'd uh, I'd be careful there. Got attacked there once..." It was around there he got the crap scared out of him right before getting his muzzle torn into.

"And if you head over there —" He gestured behind him. Into the surrounding forest where he could imagine the big dip in the ground and more. "You'll probably find a lake with a few waterfalls." Should he have said that? He didn't know. Maybe if he didn't mention he was staying there with his friends everything would be okay.

"Beyond that there's another pack. Hearthwood River. They're in the middle of a bunch of giant trees near a big lake." Everything over there seemed massive. Bigger than life itself. He drew in a deep breath and gave another nervous fidget where he stood. "And I think there's mountains somewhere over there?" Towards the west. "Yeah."

Ruari didn't want her to think that they wouldn't stop if she needed to and he didn't want her to force herself to go forward if she couldn't. They weren't on a time schedule and as they traveled further from the place they had laid his brother to rest he didn't feel the weight of it so much. He still thought of Deaglan almost every moment but having Isa with him helped to give him something else to focus on. He had moments usually at night when he would think about his brother, he usually tried to remember the good times. There were few of them but he was glad to have at least some. Sometimes though his mind would wander to the bad times too.

Ruari observed the stranger for any signs of aggression that would mean he and Isa would have to move on. The shadow still wasn't in any shape to be getting into a fight unless it was necessary. He was glad that it wouldn't come down to that when he saw the man's tail tucked under him. That was the only reason he'd told Isa she should get her drink and before taking it she too assured the man that he had nothing to fear. Ruari stayed close to her while she drank even though he felt the stranger wasn't a threat to them. It made him feel better to know that he was close enough to protect her if need be.

When the pale man spoke about the different placed Ruari looked in the directions he indicated. “Have you met the wolves of the two packs you mentioned?” He didn't want to come across any packs that were hostile especially while he was still healing. “I think we will avoid the Misty forest, wouldn't want to get attacked as well. The lake and water falls sounds nice though,” he said his yellow gaze landing on Isa. Perhaps it could be a place for them to stay for a couple of days at least. While looking on the direction of mountains he thought about maybe checking that out, “Is it safe on the mountain?” Again his gaze fell in Isa wondering what she thought about traveling on the mountain.

“I know must thank you for all of the information you've given us. It certainly will help in making a decision about where to travel next.” That said Ruari dropped his head down to get his drink.

(This post was last modified: Nov 22, 2017, 01:47 AM by Ruari.)

 

She wasn't sure if her words had the effect that she wanted them to have as she noticed that the other wolves paws shifted underneath them in what she could only guess as nervousness. It was understandable there were two of them and one of him. She would have been just as nervous and uncertain in the same situation if it hadn't been for her shadow's comforting presence beside her. She could feel him watching the other wolf waiting for answers as she took her drink, easing the thirst that she had.

She stepped back away from the water but froze when the other wolf mentioned that he had been attacked. Blue eyes quickly scanned his form trying to find any wounds that might be fresh and the only thing she could see was possibly some marks on his muzzle but she couldn't be sure. However, she had no intention of getting closer to find out. The pale stranger went on to point out some interesting landmarks such as waterfalls and a mountain as well as a place with giant trees and a lake.

Isaura remained silent as her shadow asked more questions. The waterfalls did sound nice. She had only seen a couple and she had liked them so it would be a fun to see some more of them. They hadn't talked about where they were going so maybe they could take a detour to see them? She gave her shadow a small smile of agreement when his gaze landed on her. The lake and waterfalls did sound nice and she would like to see them if possible.

In regards to the mountain, she wasn't sure about it. She hadn't come across one yet and though she was slightly curious about seeing one she wasn't too keen on the idea of traveling through one. If they needed to go through it though to reach their goal she wouldn't complain but she wouldn't be thrilled about it. When her shadows gaze fell on her again she responded with a shrug. If he wanted to go through the mountains that was fine she would prefer not to though.

She waited as Ruari went and got himself his drink and it was her turn to keep an eye on the stranger but she still didn't meet his gaze. Isaura watched him out of her peripheral vision. Could you tell us about the wolf that attacked you? She asked trying to keep her voice muted so she didn't startle him. If they knew about the wolf then they could avoid him if they ever saw them. If the pale wolf didn't want to answer she wouldn't push it.