Spectral Woods season of hope

Morning, Cloudy, 6°F (-14°C)

She was terribly lost.

The woods around her were deathly silent except for her own creeping steps. What little light broke through the clouds into the forest seemed to be tinted blue. There was even a fog clinging to her long limbs. While it was beautiful in its own right, the girl certainly didn't feel a pull to keep exploring. She wanted to break free of the never-ending fog into something more open.

Arti hummed softly in a poor attempt to make time go by faster. It was only the morning and she hadn't made it very far but this trip was already beginning to make her feel a twinge or boredom. Perhaps this was one of the downfalls of having left home to be out on her own. A small smile tugged at her lips. She felt a little silly for leaving but there was no real regret.

Hope you don't mind me tossing Aponi in here!

The Aquilas Don’t Attend Parties Thrown By Outsiders

Aponi had been following along the tracks left by a herd of elk, long gone by now but at least she could find what direction they went in. If they had not wandered too far perhaps she would go back and get the others today, otherwise the hunt would have to wait until tomorrow morning. With such small numbers a good cow could keep them fed for weeks if not a month but it made the taking down of such a beast that much more dangerous. Having grown accustomed to the blue mist after residing within the woods for so long the woman paid it no mind as it swirled between her legs. Strides even she was as silent as a wolf could be moving through the densely packed foliage, hardly any snow reached the ground here.

The queen lifted her head from where she had been examining the tracks as an odd sound filtered through the trees towards her. It wasn’t talking, or howling, or any kind of verbal language. Was somebody walking through these woods humming? It was an odd reaction to be sure. The eeriness of where they resided typically kept outsiders on their toes, an unease deep in their bones. Curiosity got the best of her and Aponi slunk towards the sound, ready to take a quick peak and head back to her tracking. She didn’t have much time for dilly dallying but she couldn’t help the overwhelming desire to find out who this was.

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

sorry this is short! getting into the swing of writing her again

Artionis did not cease her humming, unaware that she might be in the company of someone. She was unfamiliar with the lands around her. With the fog thick around her and the dampness making everything smell, well, damp she was a bit of a sitting duck. The girl's long legs had never been the best with traipsing through tight spaces. So it was no surprise (to Arti) when she caught the root of one of the many trees and tripped right over.

A soft oof left her before she scrambled to her feet. Heat swept over her face in embarrassment as she hoped that no one - wolf or not - was around to witness her less than graceful wandering. She supposed it could have been worse. She could have taken a tumble right in front of a whole group of wolves. The thought alone was enough to stir a nervous chuckle from the girl.

Oops.

Sorry this took so long!

The Aquilas Don’t Attend Parties Thrown By Outsiders

She had gotten her peak, it was nothing but a leggy yearling wandering through the woods humming. It was still odd but Aponi found it not out of character for yearlings to be behaving in a manner she found strange, they were in that weird place between being a puppy and an adult after all. The alpha still held them to the same standards as the rest of the pack but in their free time she often found them playing like puppies.

Ready to turn back around a disappear into the woods where she had come from she paused just long enough to watch the tumble. It was not the most ungraceful thing that the mother had ever seen but it certainly had not been swanlike. Keeping it together enough that the only sound Aponi let out was a quiet snort she once more turned as if to go and leave this strange girl behind.

It was the yearling laughing at herself that was the final straw and Aponi let out a bark of a chuckle herself before silencing it. Well. She had basically announced herself now and it wasn’t like the Donata to go slinking away as if she had done something wrong. Instead she pushed through the foliage silently, a lazy confident smile pulling at the edges of her muzzle.

She spun to face the sound of laughter, suddenly over come with the dreadful case of embarrassment. Her skin grew hot under her coat and a sheepish smile tugged at her features. "It...it was kind of funny, huh?" Her tail lazily wagged behind her with Arti's usually friendly demeanor.

The woman she was now looking at had a rugged look to her, colors that seemed to match the mountain to their west and even scars that seemed as jagged as the mountain peaks. Rather pretty in a strong way if Arti did say so.

"I'm Artionis." The girl gave a blunt introduction with a more warm smile instead of one of embarrassment. "And I don't usually do that." Her orange gaze moved to look back at the tree she had stumbled over. "Promise." Not that the girl really thought the other woman would care. She just felt the need to clarify herself was all.

The Aquilas Don’t Attend Parties Thrown By Outsiders

Aponi probably would have been embarrassed and therefore defensive if someone had seen her in such a compromising position. She fully expected a sarcastic retort or showed teeth, it’s what she would have done and probably what Nalda or Lila would have done as well. Instead she got a friendly tone and a wagging tail. It was almost infectious and the sides of the queen’s mouth turned upwards towards a smile, lightening her often judgemental features.

Straight to the point this Artionis was, ”Aponi Donata.” She had long ago gotten into the habit of using her full name while in introductions, it was a name that was proud and strong. The Donatas had ruled these woods for years and before that she had been an Aquila, the mountain was hers by blood right. Perhaps someone who knew more of the history between her’s and Serach’s mothers might have been surprised of the pairing. But, Aponi was clueless about any bad blood that might have occured and frankly she wasn’t that fond of her mother either.

Raising a single brow at the next comment she responded in her own dry kind of humour, ”You shouldn’t make promises that you can’t keep Artionis.”