Cedarwood Forest Steps of the Past

December 13th. Late morning. Heavy snow.

He was on the move again. After his pit stop in the grove, Blitz had turned west. It wasn't on a whim that he had chosen that direction. Instead of drifting aimlessly, this time he traveled with purpose. He had a destination in mind and a curiosity to sate. By the time his paws carried him to the edges of the great Cedarwood forest, the weather had taken a turn. The skies were dark with heavy clouds, a sign of the storm blowing in. His eyes remained upturned to the foreboding scene a moment longer. Winter was here, and if he were to make it through the season, he would need to find a pack, and soon.

What brought him here on this investigatory mission was to see if the pack of Grizzly Hollow still stood. The last pack he had once been a part of. He had been less than a joyous presence among the ranks and despised the closed in feeling the many cedar trees gave him, but it had been a home nonetheless. It was more than that to his mute sister, Pip. It had shaped her into a new kind of wolf. If she were still around, which he had every reason to believe, then he'd be a terrible brother for not checking up on her. Hours had passed, and when he began to draw near where the former borders lie, the sky had opened up. Large white snowflakes, numbering in the thousands, rained down to cloak the land. His inky black fur was dusted in a healthy lining of white powder, whilst he struggled to make out shapes in front of him, shrouded in mist. Yet as he pressed on, it was the absence of life...of wolves, that told him all he needed to know. There were no borders now. The forest was abandoned. His ears fell back, a frown tugging at his maw as he thought of his sister. Where had they all gone, and why? Here he had returned to what was most familiar in the Lore, only to find it wiped clean away.

(This post was last modified: Dec 13, 2017, 11:39 PM by Blitz.)

Medic 1/3

Though the morning was growing late, it was still morning and already Ravenna had been out and about from her home for hours. She thought it best to leave her pack lands earlier before the day had a chance to hurt sour on her. She by now had gathered a collection of white fir bark from the trees in this forest to add to the Pack's winter storage. She did not know exactly how useful this would be until later on this afternoon...

The weather was quickly turning. A once gentle snowfall picking up something fierce. Moving her paws around until she was able to bundle the strips of bark she has racked at with her dull claws and then ripped from the trees, she was about to take them into her mouth until the sound of another caught her attention. She stiffened, unsure with the heavy snowfall around her, just what might be in her path. Surely the bears of the Grizzly forest slept by now?

Her silver eyes narrowed and into her view, standing out among the white world, was a tall, black-as-ever wolf. Though instantly familiar, it took her some time to figure out exactly who he was. After all, she had not set eyes on this wolf since she was just a little girl, creeping about the Whisper Caverns for the very first time. "Well now," She began, a small smirk forming over her mug as she called out to him through the heavy snowfall. "Mr. Mizuno, returned after your world explore, I see?"

A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity

Heaving a sigh, the air of which billowed out in steamy tendrils, Blitz accepted the fact that the pack was no more. Not that he was unhappy about it. He only wished that whatever had happened, that Pip was safe. Out there somewhere, thriving as she once had. Now there were no borders to contend with, no pack wolves to upset. He was free to do as he pleased. The season was taking it's toll, since he had already lost some weight. Nothing terrible or close to the lines of emaciation, but should one press up to his flank, his ribs were palpable. Any food he could find would serve him well right now. Using his memory more than his nose, he pressed further into the abandoned territory to locate the nearest cache. With any luck, there would still be some left untouched.

While he may have loathed living in this forest, his time here had it's benefits. He had memorized the many trails and little nooks within, and thus had little trouble navigating through the near blinding snowstorm. He hadn't made it far...only fifty yards in when the outline of a wolf barely emerged into view. Lifting his head from the ground, nose peppered with snow, acid eyes squinted to try and better make them out. Their voice was definitely female, and they apparently knew his identity. Through the cascading snowflakes, he then got a glimpse of her. Eyes and fur nearly metallic in hue. The memory came snapping back. "Ravenna?" He questioned, his mouth dry. Yes, it was indeed her! Loping forward, his tail beating happily, a tiny grin came to his maw. The last time he had seen her she had been just a pup. But now she was all grown up. "It's...good to see you again." He said, while wisely refraining to vocalize his opinion on what a lovely young lady she had become. He gave a shake of his head a little sheepishly. "Not...exactly. I took one last shot at trying to find my way home. I guess you could say I failed." His very presence here in the Lore was proof enough of that. Only this time, his voice wasn't laced with the same usual bitterness the old Blitz had. Now, there was only acceptance.

The greyscale woman barks out to him as she makes her way into Blitz direction, confirming that it was indeed her after such a long time. As they closed the distance between them, she reaches out, touching her nose to the man that she could say was one of her childhood friends. Back then, he still had yet to teach his full size, being yet still a yearling and she could tell since before he had grown. Even more, he was well fit, a helping cause surely from his roaming around trying to find his ocean side home.

"I'm so sorry Blitz..." She spoke, her ears both falling in sympathy and to ward off the cold. "I am happy though, despite that, your still well." She added, trying to lighten the mood even though the dark male before her had been separated from home for so long now. "I don't know if you were looking for them, but the Hollow wolves are gone... I was just here trying to gather some white fir to take back home with me. " She admitted, turning her attention back to the pile of bark strips on the ground, already nearly covered in snow.

A spark of happiness lit up in him then, as they both closed the distance to meet. It was so nice to see a friendly face. Ravenna was one of the few wolves in the Lore other than his sister and cousins, that he was actually liked. All others he had viewed as a nuisance or didn't even bother trying to get to know on a deeper level. Briefly, he pressed his damp, cold nose back to hers in greeting, tail continuing to wave amicably. They both had grown since the last time. No longer were they awkward youngsters, but now fully formed adults ready to use their bodies to the fullest potential. Blitz could only hope after so much time spent away from the ocean he had not become less of a swimmer.

He shook his large dark head dismissively towards her condolences, shoulders relaxed. "Nah, don't worry 'bout it. S'not that big a deal ta me anymore." His eyes sought to lock with hers in a moment of honesty. "I've accepted tha fact that I'm stuck...'an...well, no point in wasting the rest of my life in pursuing something that's eluded me this long." The old Blitz would have never said something like this. Something so down to earth, so reasonable! Maybe he had finally turned a corner. A small smile appeared on his maw one more time. "I'm doing alright...fer now." She very nearly read his mind as she gave him the facts, straight and clear that the Hollow wolves were gone. His eyes drifted to the forest around them, scanning briefly. "Mmm...I thought as much. What with the lack of borders an all." He swept his eyes back down to the bundle of herbs at her feet. He knew nothing about medicinal plants, but his mother had. She had tried to get him interested in the art as a pup, but he wanted nothing to do with it. "Got enough there? I could be of help if you still have some more gathering to do." He offered. There was more he wanted to ask, to discuss. But after such a long time since their first meeting, he didn't want to go barreling in too fast.

(This post was last modified: Dec 19, 2017, 03:48 AM by Blitz.)

Medic den 2/3

He had been searching for home for a long time now, this was obvious, though of was hard to find his way back again and had decided, after much effort, to no longer try to find his old home and perhaps find a new one instead. She smiled to this, happy he was not down and out any longer about the situation. In his youth, he had been certain of himself, determined to get back to the beauty of the ocean. He had described it to her, that day they had played in the falls just outside the Whisper Cavern, though Ravenna had never seen an ocean. The only one she knew about was the one her family had spoken of in The Empire of Torbine.

"Yeah, alot has happened since you've been gone." Not that he had really know much about her pack anyhow. They had only met up that one time and spent the day together, though in her youthful natural she had found friendship much easier. Once her mother became too aged, hey father left, and everyone began to disapear or die, there had been little room for play time.

"Sure. With you here, I can carry more back home if you don't mind?" She spoke at she took a few trots to the nearest fir tree, hoping not only would he be willing to help her gather, but join her back home. "You must be hungry... I could grab you something from the caches." She offered, knowing that traveling around at a loner meant always searching for food and shelter without the help of pack mates sharing the burdens.

The corner of his lip curled into half smirk, but the backward pivoting of his ears betrayed his true feelings in regards to the pack that once called these woods home. His voice lowered an octave, growing a tad gruffer than before. "You can spare me tha details. They may have given me a' home but I was never exactly close to tha bunch." Even if the pack still stood, Blitz would not have been compelled to stay. The only reason he had joined in the first place was to look after Pip.

"Of course." He glanced her way, shaking an accumulating layer of snow off of his head. His eyes fell on the bundled assortment of herbal plants she had gathered, trying to identify them, but failing miserably, of course. "I'd be happy ta accompany you back...and if you can spare a snack, I won't turn it down." He said, swinging to the side to jostle against her shoulder in a buddy-ish sort of fashion. In the search for more herbs she may need to collect, he wordlessly would let her lead. She had to know what she was looking for if she had gathered such a nice stash already. Behind them, dual sets of paw prints lined the thigh high snow, turning away from most dense section of cedar trees. "How are things? Your family...the pack? Well, I hope?" He lowered his large head some to meet her at eye level, completely oblivious that he was walking in stride with the Ridge's new Alphess.

(This post was last modified: Jan 04, 2018, 01:09 AM by Blitz.)

She smirks to Blitz' words about not denying a snack from the caches if only he would help her carry this stash of bark and branch back with her. She was glad enough that even though the Grizzly pack was no more, he was not completely crushed by it. She playfully nips at his nape when he bumps her shoulder, prancing off in a skip towards the trees. Then he questions how well she had been off, to which she pauses to look at him with a shrug.

"Better, now." She admitted, though found herself finding comfort in continuing on with her childhood friend, if only to get off some steam. He was not a family member nor really knew anyone in the pack, which made him not bias to anything. "Last winter was very hard on us. We lost the founding leader, my mother, and my father in the same day, my aunt. It seemed one after another things were falling apart..." Her ears fell against her head, not meaning to make the air around them grim but yet still wanted to give him an honest answer. "Alot of the members could not handle the loss and so abandoned the pack. Our ranks were very small for quite a long time but we survived it. This winter we are in much better standing. I just hope with Enoki having gone missing, I will do the pack well in her place."

She smiles weakly, trying to lighten the mood again. Obviously, with the pack having grown in members, everyone seemingly getting along well now and having formed allies with her brother's pack, she figured she had not been doing bad at all in the few months she had been holding the title.

Her first reply raised a curiosity in him. Better?  What did she mean by that? Had some tragedy befallen her pack? As he listened with silent patience, ready to receive the low down, he found a sinking feeling settling in his stomach. His ears fell briefly, a dull wince racing along his spine. The past winter had been cruel, taking from her both of her parents in the same day. An Aunt gone too. His hard green eyes softened slightly as he glanced toward her. He pressed down a low whine that almost rolled out of his throat and held his tongue, sensing that there was more Ravenna had to say.

On top of losing so many loved ones, her pack numbers diminished. Blitz had certainly heard of the Willow Ridge pack before, but he wasn't as nearly well versed in it's history as some other wolves might be. He was never exactly a long time local, after all. But her story did have a happy ending, and his tail gave a pleased wag, relieved upon hearing that the Ridge still stood. One particular phrase she said picked at his interest again. She mentioned a female named Enoki, of who she was filling in for...watching over the pack. He read between the lines and interpreted it smoothly. So, the silver woman had earned a spot at the top. Good for her. When he parted his lips to speak, his voice was low but not overly thick with emotion. "My deepest condolences, Rav. To you and your family." While simple, his words held a deep sincerity. Though miles away from his birth pack and parents, he still held them close at heart. While he probably would never see them again, he couldn't fathom how he'd cope if something dreadful were to happen to them, his siblings or even cousins. "That you have endured so much this year and to hear your pack still stands..." He turned his head to give her a small smile. "It shows how strong you Ridge wolves truly are at the core." He ended, with a trace of admiration towards her inner strength. Switching subjects, he gestured to the collection of herbs with his snout. "So then, what else do you need to gather?"

(This post was last modified: Jan 08, 2018, 12:00 AM by Blitz.)