Larkcall Lowlands The silence is too much

Anyone is welcome to join :)

Nevrakis whuffed loudly as he lifted his muzzle from the snow, wrinkling his lips at the coldness that lingered to his skin. Try as hard as he might, he just simply could not pick up the scent of any form of prey that he had the skills to hunt down. It did not help that he stuck out like a sore paw in the near blinding whiteness of the vast and open area he was traversing. Muttering under his breath, the yearling started forward at a brisk pace, keeping the insanely huge mountain far to his right. He had quickly found out the first time he crossed over it that he did not like heights. At all. Being so high up made his skin crawl with nerves that he might misstep and fall to his death.

"Wha-!" He cried out as suddenly his front paws sunk deep into the snow, with the rest of his front half swiftly following. Gasping at the sharp sting of the cold snow, Nevrakis thrashed his body wildly to try and get free until, finally, his back paws found purchase on something hard beneath the snow. Using whatever it was as leverage, the yearling pulled himself backwards out of the snowy hole he had created , causing him to slump onto his rump in an ungainly manner. He shook his head, partly to get rid of the snow, but also to clear his mind and somewhat return to his senses. It seemed he had walked into a patch of snow that only lightly covered a dip in the rolling tundra. "Prépei na parakolouthíso ópou perpató pio prosektiká," Nevrakis said to himself with a dejected sigh.

(Edit: Olwen is suffering some injuries from a previous fight in this thread: https://relic-lore.net/showthread.php?tid=16905 )

They had not answered him. They had not come...not even Lumi. His precious little sister was bullheaded to the point he'd figured that she would've disobeyed him by now and came searching. Yet, their had been no answer from his girls. January was probably worried beyond sick about him. He didn't understand why they didn't hear him and the man was not done exploring the Lore yet. He wanted help scoping out the place, not really daring to leave the lowlands without his family at his back. He trusted himself to keep them safer within his sight.

The thrashing of the dark form ahead caught the man's attention and brought worry upon him, even if he did not know the wolf. Imagine if it had been his little Lumi stuck in all this snow, after all. The wolf looked to be in some odd form of a predicament, though Olwen wasn't quite sure what was happening. The Spitfire approached cautiously, tail level with his spine and ears straight forward. "Are you okay?" He asked loudly, giving the stranger a puzzled look. The yearling freed themselves not too long later with an utterance of strange and new words. Stiffly his tail wagged, now slightly over his back. *What an odd young man*

The ghostly man offered a smile, soft brown eyes peering over the stranger to look for any injuries. "I'm Olwen." The boy appeared to be fine as far as he could tell. Maybe a little skinny from winter, but nothing too serious.

(This post was last modified: Mar 01, 2018, 04:15 PM by Olwen.)

@Olwen

Caught up in his desperate struggles to get free, the yearling did not hear the strangers initial concerned remark about him. Instead, he only realized the other was there when he spoke a second time, at which Nevrakis jumped to his feet with an exclamation of surprise. Upon registering that the voice belonged to another wolf, who looked friendly enough to warrant not running away from, he let his bristled fur lay flat along his spine with a chagrined look. He splayed his ears apologetically to the side, letting his rump once more make contact with the snowy ground.

"Sorry about that, heh, I didn't know you were there." Nevrakis then took note of the other wolf; he looked a little rough around the edges, and it seemed as if he had recently been in a scrap with someone. However, not being one to pry too much, the yearling decided not to ask about it. "The name's Nevrakis," he said with a much more happy grin, wheat yellow eyes meeting Olwen's much softer brown eyes. After a moment the yearling glanced around at the snowy landscape which was devoid of pretty much everything except for the small shrub-like trees dotted here and there. "What brings you 'round here?" He asked curiously.

The male jumped causing Olwen himself to jump and back step a little. His head still ached a bit from his previous fight, making the man a little more weary than normal. His ears slid off to the side in response, feeling a tad guilty from spooking the child. "My bad." He said in a gruff voice before clearing his throat, eyes meeting the younger loner's gaze momentarily. As the black wolf sat so did Olwen, tensely of course. He didn't want to make the wolf more frightened. Olwen was sure he wasn't much of a pretty site with bite marks on his muzzle, torn lips, and dried blood.

"Where is here?"The man avoided his question at first, lips stinging with movement. "Olwen, in case you didn't hear...looking for a caribou herd. My family follows it but we're lost now." He had no problem admitting their defeat, it's not like that effected the boy just yet. The man held intent now, worried for the young loner. *Surely he could handle himself*- Olwen thought noticing his scar- *but a bad encounter isn't the most comforting thought.* Olwen may have seemed alone but the scent of his group clung onto his fur and he knew in his weakened state they would be there for him.

"And you?" He asked with some concern. "Are you alone?" Olwen was not much into welcoming anyone into his group, but he couldn't help but see Lumi by herself. A yearling was still a child in his eyes and needed guidance nonetheless. He wasn't sure if the youngin would accept the offer, but it was worth a shot. Beats spending cold nights alone out here anyways, and with another set of teeth helping out he had no problem finding his family and bringing them here. Four wolves could surely handle themselves. Of course, he still needed to find them. They had not responding to his previous call for him, but the man concluded it

Patiently the pale beast-like wolf waited a response.

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

If you want, Nev and @Olwen can try and hunt down the young deer SoW has thrown at us? :D

Darkly furred ears twitched at Olwen's questioning response, and the yearling raised his shoulders in a half shrug. "I'm not really sure... just kinda found myself here one day." Nevrakis tended not to wonder too much about the places he visited given he often moved on as quickly as he found them. He had noticed just how barren it was, but maybe that was due to the heavy blanket of snow on everything. It was likely the tundra-like place would be covered in grasses and flowers once spring fully came around, and the yearling was sure it would be a pretty sight.

"Sorry, but I haven't seen any caribou, or... well, anything much bigger than a rabbit for quite some time." Nevrakis frowned slightly, ears drooping as he spoke. He would love to help, but his tracking skills were far from superb, barely adequate if he was being honest. However, if Olwen was heading in the same general direction he was going, the yearling would not be averse to offering his assistance on some things, though as the white male had mentioned a family Nevrakis figured they did not need an extra mouth to feed as they searched for their caribou herd.

The concern in Olwen's voice was evident as he spoke, and it threw the yearling off for a few moments. They had just met, and yet the white male was already somewhat worried about him. That was new, but it was nice. "Um, yea. Have been for a while. I don't mind it though, means I just gotta worry about myself." Nevrakis grinned again, tail whipping cheerfully behind him, to show that he truly did not mind being alone. He did not want Olwen to think he had to offer up a place within his family just because he did not currently have one of his own.

(Sure! Tho Olwen is used to caribou so he might be confused momentarily)

The man nodded in understanding, how could he expect a young loner to know this place? He himself had visited many locations as a youngster and only grew to know their names with age. For a long time he simply didn't care to know. He just needed to pass through them, maybe observe their beauty. The importance was forever the herd, though. The herd was their living, their life source, their purpose.

"Are you good at catching rabbits?" Olwen asked, a seemingly harmless question. It was of importance though. It wasn't that his family wasn't capable of catching rabbits, but they spent most of their time focused on the caribou...and to say the least rabbits weren't the easiest thing for the Spitfires. Their skills lied with tracking and working as a group to hunt large prey. A rabbit was normally just a waste of their time...but now...well, not so much.

Olwen listened and still frowned, "I've never really been alone before. My family is very tight knit, I'd become lonely too quick for that sort of life." The man forced a smile but he wondered if the boy would choose another option. So, without hesitation, figuring the young male to be good enough of a sport, "If you do get tired of it though, my group could use another set of teeth to help. Especially if they're more familiar with these parts. We were born and raised in the tundra...but now that we're father down south there are many trees and multiple new things. Another helping paw, if you ever want, would be appreciated." The man smiled, tail wagging. Sure they had just met, but he kept thinking of his little Lumi and how he would not want her to face all of this alone.

The yearling ducked his head in a self-conscious manner, lips twisting in a slight grimace at Olwen's, quite rightfully, benign query. "Not as good as I should be..." he mumbled. Though he had been on his own for the better part of a year, he still lacked adequate skill in the hunting department, especially when it came to the nimble-footed creatures. Speed was not his forte; he was more of a long distance runner which was better suited to larger prey. Alas, it was near impossible for him to hunt down hoofed prey all by himself, and so he had to resort to catching rabbits and hares when he had the opportunity.

Nevrakis lifted his head to glance at the white male's brown eyes. He had never been part of a close family before, given it had only been him and Alistair, but he could understand where Olwen was coming from. "It's not a life for everyone, that's for sure." In the beginning it had been rather lonely, but he had always been one to do his own thing, so he supposed it was a rather fitting lifestyle for him. It was certainly challenging at times, and yet the yearling found solace in it. He was free to do as he pleased without any constrictions in place from leaders. Maybe at some point he would settle down, but today was not that day.

He grinned widely at Olwen's offer for him to join his group. "Thanks, I might hold you to that if I'm still around before the snow starts to melt." The yearling was not sure about him being more familiar with the area than the white male, but he was not one to argue over sentiments. His attention was diverted by a strong gust of wind that blew with it the aroma of deer, wheat yellow eyes swiftly scanning the tundra for the source. The yearling's tail swished behind him as he spotted the deer in the distance. It was all alone, and looked to be fairly young. He looked at Olwen with only partially masked glee. "There looks to be a young deer close by on its own... would you like to try and hunt it down with me? I'll share it with you." Nevrakis had done just that with Askan not long ago, and he hoped Olwen would take him up on his offer. He would at least have a chance of eating a meal that day rather than going hungry while looking for rabbits.

(This post was last modified: Mar 21, 2018, 10:16 PM by Nevrakis.)

(Short post, sorry)

Owlen nodded and listened to his younger counterpart.

"A hunt sounds good, but forgive me, I come from up north. Are deer like caribou? We mostly hunt caribou and snow hares up there." The man admitted, stoic facial expression doing well to hide his embarrassment. A younger wolf having to explain things to you never really did look all that good. Owlen followed the ebony wolf's gaze out to the young creature, in deed it was similar to caribou but much much smaller. Perhaps it's lack of size was due to it's youthful age.

Nodding to Nerakis the male silently slinked towards the deer, whispering, "If you can get to the other side of it and chase it this way, I'll ambush." He stated his gameplay and waited to see the other's reaction.

Hunting post 1/3, @Olwen

The yearling's nose wrinkled slightly in response to Olwen's words. He did not know what deer were? Well, that was a first, but it made sense... sort of. "I s'pose so? They're smaller, got less dangerous antlers, too." Not that he would ever go after a male deer in the first place, but in general deer were an easier type of hoofed prey to hunt simply due to their smaller size.

Nevrakis quickly followed behind the white male, humming affirmatively under his breath. Askan had also instructed him to be the one to chase the deer into an ambush, and honestly he was happy to do so. It had been such a rush the first time that he was more than willing to do it again. "Signal to me when you're ready and I'll chase her towards you," he said before swiftly setting out in a wide arc around the young deer, hoping that his black pelt would not make him stand out too much in the near blinding snow. He crouched down a good distance away from the doe, keeping her positioned between him and Olwen so that when the white male gave him a signal he would be able to herd her in the right direction. He just hoped she would not veer to the side and force him to expend more energy in getting her back on course than he absolutely needed to.