Skeletal Hill beat the champ

For @Sachiel <3 || Sunset, Light Snow, -4°F (-20°C)

Hawthorne would not be surprised if she was going to get a talk when she got back to the Falls. The young child had not said much when she slipped away in the early morning and with the light snow throughout the day she wouldn't be surprised if her tracks were being covered. She wouldn't get lost, though! The girl made sure to leave marks here and there or remember certain landmarks. Hawthorne had every intention of returning back to her friends once this small trip came to an end.

She had been in the red-tinted forest before with @Askan but this time things looked a bit different. The fine white dusting the laid over the land hid some of the plants. Not to mention there was a certain silence in this part of the land. One that left her feeling on edge. Perhaps she had simply spent too much time in the falls - got used to the sound of water moving or someone nearby.

When she lifted her head she noticed the strange small objects hanging from low branches here and there. It would take her a brief second to recognize what they were and when she did a gasp left her as her face contorted to show something mixed with curiosity and disgust.

Snow was an entirely new concept to the tawny boy, but as it continued to sprinkle along the northern woods Sachiel found his curiosity spiking and his affection toward the frigid substance growing. It made the soft pads of his feet numb but he didn’t mind. Like the night, it offered an entirely different perspective on the woods he had grown accustom to. His own little world.

The soft garnet-coloured leaves were covered in a light dusting of snow as he headed south, his oversized paws leading the way. He had mapped out this area once before, when he and Diego had passed through the scarlet forest on their trek north. Part of him worried, however, as the snow distorted his vision and masked familiar points of interest. But he remained confident that he knew how to return to the darkened falls in the woods behind him.

The further he went the more uncomfortable he became, his steps slow and cautious as he meandered through the ruby trees. A frown was cut deep into his liquorice lips, his brows narrowed into a soft U shape. It was the colour of the snow that fed his uncertainty, along with the muted air that surrounded him. The trees began to shift, growing sparse as he continued south, and a lump began to form in the back of his throat. A familiar scent was what drove the boy forward but he was stopped, rather abruptly, once he realized what hung from one of the nearby trees. Without thinking a loud yelp escaped him as he fell onto his hindquarters, his mismatched eyes widening in horror. Shades of black and brown filled his vision, splashing aggressively into each other as he struggled to refocus his gaze on anything but the suspended skull.

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

She likely would have stood there dumbfounded had it not been for the yelp behind her. Fur fluffed with the intensity of a bear and inky lip pulled back to expose teeth. Hawthorne had never fought before but she could sure put on a good show. Maybe that would be enough to scare off the yelping creature who was also possibly a murderer.

Yet orange eyes met the familiar form of the tawny boy from the Falls. She could not bring her fur to settle but her lip did lower into a hard frown. He was on his rear and had obviously been taken by the dangling skull too. "Get up!" Hawthorne ushered. "Sit around and we might end up like that." She wondered if he was some kind of magnet to creepy things. They had first met thanks to some scream in the night and now this. Maybe she'd have to reconsider offering him to hang around.

Fully expecting him to follow, Hawthorne moved further down the trail in search of a way out of this place. Unknowingly leading herself and plant boy right into the worst of it.

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

He felt foolish for reacting so childish. Whoever the skull belonged to was dead; it was incapable of harming him. But that didn’t mean whoever had strung up the ghastly skull wasn’t still lurking around…

Get up!

His head shot around at the voice, his cheeks blushing vibrant crimson beneath his dark fur as he scrambled to a stand, his tail tucked sheepishly against his hindquarters. Big baby Sachiel, that was him! He desperately wanted to disappear into the ground below, dissolving into a big brown blob, but the girl’s ushering left him no time for self-pity. Reluctantly he followed, his mismatched gaze throwing a final glance over his shoulder at the skull, the edge of his vision darkened with deep mahogany hues.

Words failed him as he followed, silently, at her flank. He was finding it difficult to focus, as he was overwhelmed with a whole spectrum of different colours. It wasn’t until something—crack!—snapped beneath his paws that everything went white, his gaze trailing to the ground…

Where the heck are we?! He sputtered as he recoiled away from the broken bone, the fur on his neck bristling up like a lion’s mane. Panicked, his bi-coloured gaze focused on the dark blob—the girl. He still couldn’t bring himself to meet her tangerine gaze, for his head was already throbbing due to the sensory overload. Instead his eyes trailed over the mound of bones surrounding them, the stench of death and decay causing his nose to burn…

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

If he hadn't followed, she still likely wouldn't have left him behind. Plant Boy had been kind to her in their past encounters. Even gave her that bark that had helped well with her back (even if it tasted gross and bitter). It would have been rude to leave him behind gawking at the bone dangling from the tree.

The crack caught her off guard, her head whipping back to see that it had been from Plant Boy. She wanted to be mad, scolded him or even nip but now wasn't the time. It wasn't his fault that this place had bones scattered around. With his question her orange eyes focused ahead, examining the area. The ground seemed to raise up into a hill. It was cluttered with the ivory color - bones and snow.

"I don't know.." She whispered softly. Perhaps she should have turned away and run back to the falls. That would have been the smart thing to do, right? Instead, she slowly crept closer towards the hill wanting a closer glance before fleeing.

It was like walking into the set of a horror movie—if he knew what that was. A lump formed in the back of his throat as his ears folded against the back of his skull. Even if he wanted to look tough in front of the fiery-eyed girl, he couldn’t. He had never seen a place like this before and he never wanted to again. How could a place so… so horrific exist in the woods of Lore?

He didn’t like it. Not one bit. It was all wrong. Shades of chestnut, ebony and muddled grey whipped into each other, aggressively and without purpose. Wrong, wrong, wrong! He swallowed at the girl’s response, his mismatched gaze falling onto her peppered figure as she took a step toward the bone covered hill. His legs quivered, his brows pinched in concern as he took a hesitant step behind her. Sachiel had to protect her, even if she was much braver than he was. Askan and his friends wouldn’t let the agouti stay if something happened to the girl with the pumpkin eyes.

His stomach felt queazy but he continued forward, his tail slack between his legs. It was eerie and unsettling, but it was also intriguing. Wrong, wrong, wrong! The corners of his mouth dipped into a sharp frown. If it wasn’t so creepy it would be kind of cool… he mused in response, his voice soft; hushed. He looked to her, still avoiding the tangerines nestled in her skull, with a pleading look: can we go now?!

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

She paid no attention to Plant Boy's following steps. Besides, she was in the front. If anything was going to jump out - like the crazy creature who maybe made this hill - then she would be the first to go. Sure, it wasn't ideal for Hawthorne but at least it would keep the tawny boy safe. She wondered if he'd make up some great story about how brave she had been. Probably not.

An ear swiveled on top of her head at his comment. Her brows pinched together and a soft snort left her. "If it wasn't creepy it'd probably just be a dumb hill." Because really all it seemed like was a hill covered in bones. Hills weren't creepy, bones were.

Orange eyes darted back and forth to make sure it was clear before she briskly moved closer. Hawthorne was set on finding out what (or who) the bones might have belonged to.

Yeah, he started, a frown pulling at his lips as he stepped toward the ivory-clad hill, I guesso. He kicked at one of the bones littering the ground, his mismatched gaze narrowed as he surveyed their eerie surroundings. Brown-black; wrong, wrong, wrong. He wanted to go, to put the bones behind him and never, ever venture into these parts of the woods again, but he couldn’t leave the girl behind. They were sort of friends and sort of friends looked out for each other. Which meant if he was leaving so was she.

The agouti followed loosely behind her as she stepped toward the hill, his tail twitching nervously behind him. Just be careful, he chirped, his eyes rolling as he sidled up beside her, Sir Grumpsalot will skin me alive if you don’t return to the falls. He kicked at a sun-bleached jaw bone on the ground as he flashed her a sheepish grin, his bi-coloured eyes still avoiding her tangerine pools. Despite the time he had spent with the greyscale girl he still couldn’t get used to her pumpkin eyes.

(This post was last modified: Nov 24, 2017, 04:05 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

phone post! Will fix any typos when I'm home<3

Her tail flicked at the sound of the bone being kicked. It was unpleasant sound but she had dragged him along towards the hill. Which meant she should likely prepare herself for more clattering bones.

She was peering at a skull that looked like it could have belonged to some sort of cat. Perhaps one of those stinky lynx had gotten what they deserved. It would have caused her a smile had the creepy aura of it all want still lingering.

Salt and pepper ear turned to catch Plant Boy's words. Her shoulders shrugged as a faint smirk tugged on her lips. "I dunno if he'd skin you, seems like a lot of work." Hawthorne tossed him a glance that said she was only half kidding.