Cedarwood Forest As the chandelier gives way

She hadn't gone much farther East than the Ridge, and for now Celandine wanted to keep it that way. She knew the mountain was out there, it's foreboding presence mocking her in some sick way. Like most things, the pale woman had decided she hated the mountain. She hated what it stood for, hated that her father still remained upon the heights, and yet there was some small part of her that missed it. Of course, the Argyris would never admit to having such a pathetic feeling towards something that could be considered little more than a landmark. Not even to herself, for her time there was done.

Thus, she found her paws pulling her North of the lagoon. She wouldn't be gone long, having chosen to stay behind and wait for the others, but patience was never one of her better traits. 

Her sister Morganna had told her that Grizzly Hollow was now a ghost town. Ravenna had many times thought of visiting the pack, perhaps getting to know her Lyall blood side. Maybe, at this point, they had it more together then the Archer wolves did. A family once so strong, now consistently going head to head with one another. Right now, the only Lyall wolves she happened to personally know was Renier. Sad, really. Yet still she held the name after her father even if she barely knew them.

Now, for the second time around, the pack was gone. She sniffed around old hang outs, what she assumed might have been their den site and a frown tugged on her lips. Nothing but memories now and remnants of what was once a home to a strong pack. What had happened to them? Would Willow Ridge suffer the same fate soon?

In her thoughts, she could hear another's moments out in the distance and followed it, wondering if it was predator, prey, or another wolf like herself. After a bit of trailing, she saw the woman. A female that looked somewhat familiar, though could not quite place it. "Hello..." She offered in short and simple greeting.

She could taste the familiar aroma of bark and willows on the air. It was a scent that once belonged to Morganna, to Greer, to Deacon, to Craw, to Wraith, and to her father, though she never knew him with it. She thought to make it hers too once upon a time. It was odd, how the Ridge always found it's way to her. Celandine might have wondered if this was a sign had she believed in such things.

She would have to chalk the ease of her smile as she turned to face the approaching woman up to nostalgia, because one would usually be hard pressed to find such on Celandine's lips. "Hello. Come to see what happened to the Hollow too?" It seemed as though they just picked up, and left. The pale woman felt something akin to deja vu at the thought. Hadn't Silent Moon Plateau done the same?

Ah, but that had been the past, and this was the present. So she let her eyes sweep over the woman in front of her once more. She was too old to be this year's brood, which meant that she didnt belong to Nicolo. Elettra's then? The age was right, but there was still the possibility that she was just some loner who joined the Ridge by happenstance. Had Morganna ever mentioned what Ravenna looked like? Was this her, or someone else? 

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The other woman turned to face her then, not startled or unsettled it seemed by Ravenna's presence. Good. Ravenna had enough drama in her life, mostly of which consisted of family members going at other family members throats. It seemed, these days, wolves of non relation were easier to spend time with. Less...dramatic.

"I did..." She confirmed to the other woman. "I'd always meant to come here, to get to know the other half of my family." She did not particularly know many on the Lyall side and even less so she was close to. Besides Renier and Angier, there was no one. Still, she would never dismiss her father's name, having far too much love and respect for him. Although she lived in the 'Archer pack' and not the 'Lyall pack', just as much of her father's blood ran though her veins and her mother's.

"Guess I just missed out hu?" She spoke these words with the smallest huff and a rolling back of her shoulder blades as she watched the other woman. Obviously she had not been a remaining wanderer of the once pack if she had come here wondering what happened. "You look quite familiar, have we met before?" Another question, this one meant for an answer which she waited on, having not remembered she had visited the pack's borders once with Greer and had otherwise remained silent in the sidelines.

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

Celandine offered the larger woman a solemn nod. The feeling of arriving to find your family gone was one the pale dove knew all too well. "It would seem so." Time was a fickle thing. There was never enough, but sometimes it felt as though there was too much. In this case, the former prevailed. Had she made her way to the forest days, or weeks ago the Hollow might have been there to welcome her. 

"I'm sure you'll find them though, and if not, then I'm sure they'll find you." Things always seemed to work like that here. Like when Craw helped her find Maeve, or her happening to run into Morganna on her way back to the Monadnock. Everything happened for a reason, she supposed. 

The woman's question took her by surprise. Had they met before? That's when it dawned on her. This was, in fact, Morganna's sister. Celandine had made a trip to the Ridge with Greer. It was a barely-there memory. One she would have forgotten entirely had it not been for Ravenna's question. "Once, but not formally." If memory served, their trip was less about introductions, and more about delivering news. "I belonged to the Monadnock when your sister ruled, and made a trip to the Ridge with Greer." Oh! One more question. "She's been to see you I trust?"

(This post was last modified: Nov 19, 2017, 11:29 PM by Celandine.)

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The other woman would nod, saying that she had indeed missed them and Ravenna took the information in stride. Perhaps she had been searching around these lands longer then she to know. Then, the woman would lighten the mood, saying that perhaps her and her Lyall side of the family would find one another one day. Ravenna couldn't feel too bad. Other then her cousins and her father, there was really no one she knew of to miss and knew she still had quite a life to live to decide this would be her only chance of meeting them.

"Ah, okay." She spoke then to the woman after she had explained how they had previously met before. Now that the lady in front of her had explained it to her she can remember that brief meeting when she had come down from the north as her brother's traveling companion in order to deliver the news about Morganna wanting to visit with her new litter of pups. "Yes she has." Ravenna couldn't help the smile which came after and the wag of her tail behind her. Obviously, this woman in front of her and her sister were still close if they had already met up as well. "Do you plan on staying in this area where she is staying?" Ravenna didn't know for certain if Morganna planned on forming her own pack again, but if they were going to be together in the Lagoon for the winter it sure seemed as such. With a broad of five children and a few friends, it seemed like the most obvious way to go.

Celandine was glad to know Morganna had at least made her way to the Ridge. If she had already been and gone then she was likely making good time, which meant that the wait was reaching an end. Of course, the pale woman knew her companion better than that. Morg walked to the beat of her own drum. Her plans could change at any moment, should she find a reason to avert her course with a new destination in mind. 

"Did she tell you about the wirlwind of trouble she's unleashed upon the world, headed straight for us?" she joked, knowing full well that Morg wouldn't have left her kids out of their conversation.

Celandine appreciated the fact that the woman wasn't too broken up about her lost family, and the subject was easy to change. It maybe even made her respect the woman a little more. After all, the Argyris wasn't exactly the best shoulder to cry on.

"Nothing is set in stone, but I do think we'll winter here." Maybe, possibly. It was still up in the air. "And how are the Willows nowadays?" Celandine hadn't been one to keep herself up to date on Willow Ridge's going-ons, but it was smalltalk.

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Ravenna had always admired her mother greatly. She wanted to be a healer like her mother. Wanted to be knowledgeable in the gods like her mother. Wanted to one day rule like her mother. It was paw prints far too large for her to fill and now it seemed Ravenna grew more admirable of @Morganna too. Morganna had been to Torbine and back, she had many loyal followers as her side even without a territory all her own and had already many beautiful children to be proud of. Ravenna had accomplished none of those things. Not here, while she was trying to pick up the shattered pieces of a once great and fierce pack. Maybe, one day, if it all fell to dust and they failed, she too would visit Torbine.

"OH yes she has." She replied with a bit of laughter. She was ready to see all five of her nieces and nephews, even if some of them proved to be a bit of trouble. It would be Renier and Morganna who had to ring them together in the end.

Then after agreeing that she thought they would be sticking around, at least for the winter, she asked about Willow Ridge, to which Ravenna fought away a frown and rolled her shoulders. "Its been really hard on us..." The 'its' inquiring to all the abandonment from former members, those just missing, those dead... Recovering from all the tragedies that happened in the previous year were hard to overcome to the point where Ravenna still didn't know if the pack would ever recover. They seemed like they were hanging onto what was once a great Willow Ridge by a string. "But those left arm hanging on. We haven't all given up just yet." She was not sure where Nicolo was on this anymore after his mate and daughter wondering off, but herself and Sven wouldn't quit until there was nothing to fight for and she knew Leotie would be there to support no matter what.

Ravenna did not quite mind opening up to the struggles of her pack. If this woman knew Greer and Morganna as well as she thought, she would surely know of the struggles they were facing. It was unfortunate that too many knew of her pack's weakness. "It's obvious you didn't stay with the Monadnock, did you go with Morganna when she left? Greer left too, formed his own pack." She didn't know if this woman knew that already, but it was a wonder why she didn't stay north or join Greer.

Celandine felt her tail sway gently behind her as Ravenna laughed. While she wasn't fond of small talk, the days were drawing on, and it was nice to have someone break up the monatany of waiting. Eventually the kids would make their way to the Lore, and she'd no longer have a need for such interactions, but for now it was welcome. "I'm not sure this place is ready for them." she said with a smile. 

The pale woman listened to Ravenna speak, nodding when she confessed the difficulties of trying to keep the Ridge afloat. Had Celandine been a little more empathetic, she might have felt sorry for Morganna's sister, but pity never helped anyone. It was unfortunate, but there was no taking back the past. Decisions were made, trust was broken, and bridges were burned. All they could do now was move forward, and that seemed like exactly what the pale Archer was trying to do.

Celandine decided that she quite liked this woman. "Then keep your head up, and don't look back." It was all the advice the Argyris could give her. 

"I did. Well, Craw sent us out scouting, and we ran into her on our way back." pissed as she was. The wag of her tail quickened at the mention of Greer's name. She had come to like the man for his silence if nothing else, and to hear that he formed his own pack? How bizarre. "I was never terribly attached the the Monadnock itself, so when Morganna left I figured it was high time for me to leave too."

(This post was last modified: Nov 25, 2017, 04:50 AM by Celandine.)

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