Ghastly Woods The things we used to be

For @Garmir, southwest of Ghastly Woods

The yearling skittered sideways with a high-pitched whine emanating from his clenched jaws, body crouching low to the ground next to one of the trees. He was certain something had moved up ahead and was leaving no room for him to be jumped on from behind. This forest felt wrong. It was too quiet. The whistling of bird song had disappeared as soon as he had entered the forest, but Nevrakis had just assumed it was due to the darkness cast by the thick canopies. It was only when he had gone in too far to find his way back out that he had realized his mistake.

He could feel his heart thudding in his chest; his breath came out in panting gasps. He needed to find a way out of this place. Gathering up what little courage he had, the yearling slowly moved forward, but at the feeling of something tugging roughly at his fur he shot forward with a loud yelp. Abandoning all sense of lucid thought, he ran full tilt in one direction, knowing that at some point he had to reach the end of the forest.

This was first time Garmir was hunting for the pack again after his return and his eyes were set on small prey this time. He often chose Ghastly woods for his hunting place due to how quiet it was. He enjoyed the typically dead silent atmosphere that allowed his heightened sense of hearing to catch movement from much further than he normally could if there were ambient noices. However, today the forest was screaming and whining for what it seemed and Garmir doupted that was the prey freaking out. This was something else..

Indeed there was a youngster seemingly in midst of panic, running as if his tail would have been on fire and seemingly unable to even notice Garmir despite he was almost exactly in front of his path. What could have spooked the young'un like that, Garmir wondered - especially when there seemed to be nothing chasing him.

He made a split second decision to throw himself in front of the boy in hope of getting some answers, bracing himself for impact. Yes, he could have been gentler or just shouted after the boy, but this was much more effective - and fun.

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@Garmir

Nevrakis could feel the air whipping past him as he ran, his paws scrabbling for purchase on the still snowy ground while he ducked under low hanging branches and weaved between the thick shrubs. Twig-like branches snapped off the foliage as he sprinted past it, their cracks sounding far too loud in the silence of the forest. He was so caught up in trying to find a way out of the forest that he did not notice there was a dark shape in front of him until he smacked head first right into their chest.

The yearling let out an undignified squeal as he rebounded off whatever he ran into and sprawled heavily head over heels onto the ground. Dazed, he lay on his side in the snow for a good few moments, eyes squinting as they tried to focus. Once the forest stopped leaning sideways and everything seemed to settle, Nevrakis glanced around with wheat yellow eyes until they landed on a darkly furred wolf with very green eyes. He scrambled to get up but ended up just lying with his stomach flat on the ground, ears flattened back against his skull as a let out a pitiful whine. "I'm so sor-sorry!" He swallowed heavily, burying his face in the gap between his front paws. "I didn't mean to run into you..."

The pup came fast enough to throw Garmir back some as the yearling torpedoed into him, making the earthen male grunt as air was partially punched out of his lungs. He remained on his feet however and kept his balance while the other wolf laid on the snow.

He still saw no reason to panic however and as the young'un begin to apologize Garmir murmured angrily before pressing his fore paw on Nevrakis' face. "Calm down... You are scaring all the prey"

It was clear The scarred, rough looking male was not happy, but he showed no obvious signs of aggression. He retracted his paw from the youngster's face and then exhaled. "Who are you and why are you running like that?"

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The yearling went silent as one of the earthen male's fore paws was pressed firmly against his face, tongue nervously licking his lips as the other spoke in an angry tone. "Sorry," he whispered as quietly as he could in response, rapidly blinking as he looked upwards as much as he could to glance briefly at the other male's green eyes. The two wolves stayed like that for a few moments, and Nevrakis made no indication of moving, but it seemed the stranger was content now that he was no longer, as he put it, 'scaring all the prey'.

When the male removed his paw from his face, the yearling let out a long exhale while slowly opening and closing his maw a couple times. He had never had someone place a limb on his face before, and while it had not been constricting, it had been an unusual feeling to say the least. "Huh?" Nevrakis had only partially been paying attention and so it took him a few moments to piece together what the green-eyed male had asked of him. Darkly furred ears tentatively perked up and twisted forwards as the yearling lifted his head from his paws, though he kept his stomach firmly pressed against the ground. "Oh... I'm Nevrakis and um, I thought something was chasing me before so I... I ran." Like a coward.

@Nevrakis

Garmir let out snort and then looked around them, inviting the yearling to do the same as well. There was nothing to run from here, except maybe him, but if he was this easily spooked, Garmir might as well tell him a little ghost story to have some fun at the pup's expense. "Was it the snatcher? I mean.. did you see it? You have heard the stories of snatcher that haunts this place, have you?" -He told, his tone as sincere as he could muster despite his bemusement.

Garmir had no idea if the young'un believed in ghost stories but he could at least try his luck. All he really wanted from him was for him to stop making such a rukus and remain as silent as possible while Garmir would do his hunt. He was also curious as as to why had the boy decided to come to the Ghastly Woods of all places if he was so easily spooked. Was he travelling alone or did he have a pack? Garmir brought his muzzle close to the dark boy's face and then inhaled to learn more of his scent. He did not smell like a pack wolf.

"If you stay close to me, Im sure you will be fine. I'm Garmir by the way."

All my characters are available for spree anytime with anyone. Just poke in slack or send PM!

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

@Garmir <3

Wheat yellow eyes cautiously followed the other male's gaze, regarding each tree and bush with scrutiny. Each twig looked like it was reaching out to grab him, but if the green eyed male was not afraid of the forest, then surely it was safe enough? "The snatcher?" A hitched squeak left the yearling's maw; a result of him barely containing the sudden spike of fear. What did he mean 'the snatcher'? If there was something really out in the forest to get him then he needed to get out, but he still had no idea how much further the trees lay. Maybe he would be stuck here forever.

"N-no, I haven't heard of it," Nevrakis breathed out, eyes wide as he shook his head unceremoniously. He was not sure if he even wanted to hear the stories. He abruptly held his breath as the other male suddenly leaned in close to his face, going slightly cross-eyed as he tried to keep the other in focus. The yearling was not sure what to do so he just lay there as still as he could, wondering if this was just something wolves typically tended to do that he had not seen yet. There was much he had to see, actually, especially when it came to pack wolf behaviours.

Another whine left his maw, but one much more quiet than the previous ones, as the other male introduced himself and offered to keep him safe. The yearling leaned forward to close the small gap between them and hesitantly ran his tongue along the underside of Garmir's chin a couple times as silent thanks. He really did not want to be caught by this snatcher, whatever it was.

@Nevrakis

Holy shit this nerve wreck of a boy was like a big overgrown baby! He was licking Garmir down to his chin like a pup would lick his mother in hope of triggering gag reflex to get a nice warm meal. Garmir would have barfed had he had much food in his stomach at the moment. Sure, this was also gesture of submission or attempt to please but someone like him had never got to really experience it and thus found it incredibly disturbing. Again Garmir planted his paw on the yearling's face to push his maw away while he murmured disapprovingly; "Please... damit. Don't do that.. thats fucking weird."

If he was to hunt, he had to make sure this yearling remained absolutely silent. It seems he bought his story of a snatcher and thus, Garmir carefully crafted this monster according to his desires in hope of fightening the young'un into doing what he asked. "Look.. Snatchers are blind and they have really bad sense of smell.. but they hear.." -He whispered to the yearling, his act so sincere it was difficult to catch that he was entirely jesting the whole time. Garmir looked around, as if he himself was concerned there might be something stalking them among the woods. "Can you hear it? The silence..." -He paused for a long time, letting the youngster soak in the atmosphere. "Its so quiet you could hear mouse fart under the snow. Tiny little muffled mouse farts, those are interesting sounds." -He explained, still maintaining poker face while internally he was spinning on the ground, laughing hysterically. Corner of Garmir's mouth kept twitching as he forcefully supressed wide, boyish grin. The yearling had to know he was jesting by now, right? Right?

(This post was last modified: Mar 15, 2018, 12:45 PM by Garmir.)

All my characters are available for spree anytime with anyone. Just poke in slack or send PM!

Nev is very confused xD @Garmir

The yearling's attempt to show his thanks was rejected, apparently, as he got another face-full of Garmir's fore paw which pushed his muzzle backwards. Darkly furred ears splayed to the side apologetically as his brows furrowed in confusion from the green-eyed male's rebuke at his action. Was that not how wolves expressed gratitude? He still had so much to learn in this world from the wolves that inhabited it. He lowered his face back down to his paws, muttering an almost silent apology that was not really meant for Garmir to hear.

However, his gaze drifted upwards as the other male began to speak about the 'snatcher' creature, and while he spoke Nevrakis felt the hair at his nape stand up. If they could hear as well as Garmir seemed to insist, then surely if it was out there it would already know where they were due to his mini freak-out previously. Of course. The yearling's ears twitched forwards, backwards, and sideways as his eyes followed where the other male was looking, trying his best to hear a noise. Any noise.

But there was nothing.

Fur bristling, Nevrakis felt a shiver go down his spine. It was too quiet. His breathing was too loud. Surely the snatcher would be able to hear him, and then it was only time before he, well... got snatched. Wheat yellow eyes flicked back to Garmir, nose wrinkling at the other's words. What did he mean by that? And why would there be mice under the snow? Try as he might by straining his ears, the yearling was not able to hear these so-called 'mouse farts'. And why would they be interesting? Clearly he knew far less about these wolves than he thought he did if this concept was so foreign to him. "I don't... hear anything." He looked at Garmir quizzically, waiting for some form of explanation.