White Fir Notch looking for a reason

@Aeliana

Catarina passed through the towering firs, paws prickling from the newly returned frost that dusted the forest floor. It seemed winter hadn't entirely loosened its grip, but surely a little snow wouldn't hurt her. The weather had been fair for the most part, new growth pushing up from the needle-strewn floor. Spring could not have come fast enough; trying to get the grasp of a new territory in the dead of winter, well... it wasn't fun, that's for sure. But she was glad of the chance to explore. Curiously, she hadn't encountered any borders or pack-scent in all her time here. Not that she was complaining.

The she-wolf weaved through the firs and cleared a gnarled root that rose from the ground. Coming from the south, the woods had grown denser and denser until there was nothing but trees in sight. She exhaled slowly, picking her way through the trees but not really seeing.

How long had it been, since him? Two... no, three. It had been three months of nothing but aimless travel, and stealing prey from packs, and running away from them when they caught her. 'What are you even doing?' Was she going to wander for the rest of her life? She hadn't thought about it. Didn't want to. She just ran, and buried her anger in hunting and fighting.

A flash of blue appeared from the corner of her eye. Rin turned her head, peering through the trees. Was that water? She bustled through the short stretch of trees before appearing at the grassy shore that sloped gently into a wide spring. The bank widened on each side of her, curving haphazardly through the treeline before joining at the bubbling river across from her.

It was... nice. After checking the air for strangers, she lay down on the belt of grass, deciding to take a quick nap before exploring some more.

Apologies for the late response

Aeliana moved quietly through the dense trees, her ears perked, straining as she sought out any sign that she was being followed. The weather in this region was fairly peculiar and had the yearling very confused. The winter was over, it had turned warm for awhile, and yet here it was with another light dusting of snow. The small wolf swallowed nervously as she let her snout and down above the ground, giving the snow a hesitant sniff. There wasn’t anything special about it. It’s just snow, She said to herself.

Turning around from the ground, the female continued along the path from the east, inhaling quietly, she pauses,d the soft bubbling of a stream out of sight caught her attention. There’s safety beside the water. That's what she had learned long ago. The trees kept her safe from the prying eyes of the sun, and the water had always helped as well. Haste laid heavy in the girl’s paws as she picked up the pace, almost running toward the water.

There was a think barrier of undergrowth coming up between her and the springs. She had done this a lot when she was a pup and now shouldn’t have been any different. She braced herself, the brush coming closer and closer as her slender legs carried her forward and now! she said to herself, pausing just briefly to bunch her muscles and leap. Mistiming it completely, Aeliana's s hind legs caught and entangled inside of the brush, causing her to yelp and tumble head over paw into a shaggy lump of fur on the other side. That wasn't the worst part for her, however, slowly, she blinked, groaning softly and whimpering when she caught sight of the very distinctive curled up shape of another wolf.

Scrambling to try and stand now, she whimpered, something pulled at her hind legs, the prickly thorns dug into her fur and she squirmed ina blind panic “No! Please! I can’t go back!” she whined in panic. She knew it was over now. Positive that the foliage was working with her old pack and had ensnared her and was prepared to drag her back to her old mountain home.

(This post was last modified: Jun 17, 2018, 04:17 PM by Aeliana.)

She'd barely slept for a wink before the sound of rustling leaves and a distinctive thump awoke her. Catarina's eyes shot open, round with fear as she scrambled to her feet and whirled around, her backside to the water, jaws parting open in the beginnings of a snarl. A gray she-wolf was standing—well, wriggling in a panic, more like—before her. Utterly confused, she took a step back, her hind paws sinking into a muddy tussock of grass. Rin hardly minded the wet; she was more concerned with the stranger. From the girl's cry, one would have thought there was someone pulling her back. 'But it's only brambles....'

"Well, thanks for giving me such a scare!" she exhaled, suddenly exasperated. She took a few, slow steps towards the smaller female, eyeing her curiously. "You know, you're only going to make it worse if you keep wiggling around like that." The first rule of getting out of a tangle, a miserable lesson she had learned herself when she was a pup. "Here, let me..." Without thinking, she went forward to try and untangle the grappling thorns from the gray one's legs and fur, hoping that she would keep still.

Aeliana saw the other wolf coming closer, was she here to drag her back? Was she working with the plants? A whine emits from within the small wolf as she kept squirming, only making things worse as the briars dug deeper into her fur. She was trapped here, she was going to somehow get dragged back home to have to face her family now, wasn’t she. How that was going to work didn’t matter, nor did her irrational mind care to try and fill in the blanks.

Ears perking, she paused just long enough to hear what the other wolf had to say. She was only making it worse, well, yea, she had kinda figured that part out from the thorns that dug into her fur. Tensing up, she gave a small nod, freezing where she was as Catarina tried to help her out of the brush. The painful grasp of the bushes receded, causing the small yearling to groan in relief.

Once she was out, her hind legs were dotted with beads of blood, but it was nothing major, she took a moment to breathe deeply to calm herself. Once she had her bearings, Aeliana turned toward the other female “T-thank you.” She said quietly, tears blinking back, rimming her hazel brown eye s{b} “I was certain they’d try to take me..” as she said I, the small wolf scooted further from the brambles.

((OOC: So sorry for the late reply! Busy week))

Deftly, the she-wolf untangled the stranger's paws from the thorns, careful to keep her own paws unscathed. As soon as she finished, she took a step back, giving the wolf plenty of space.

Blinking, she observed the stranger with a curious eye. It wasn't very often that she happened upon other loners, and when she did, they weren't exactly the friendliest bunch. Another wolf meant more danger—and less prey. She was lucky the gray one wasn't raring for a fight! And a good thing she's smaller than me... but I shouldn't have been asleep in the first place. What a bird-brained thing to do, sleeping unprotected and out in the open like that. You know better! What was wrong with her...?

Shaking away her thoughts, her ears twitched; the gray one was speaking. "Not a problem," she replied. "Try to... take you?" She stiffened at the stranger's last words, guard hairs rising and ears tamped down defensively. "S-someone's following you?" Adrenaline began to course through her veins; she had misunderstood. Catarina stepped over to the shore, waving the stranger urgently forward with her tail. She was ready for this. However peaceful the springs were, her mind was overwhelmed by that familiar urge to flee. "We need to leave, then. Come on, the water will hide your...."

Rin trailed off as she watched the stranger moving away from the thorns. Heart still pounding, it suddenly dawned on her. "Wait. You weren't—" she cleared her throat, "—you weren't referring to the, the bushes, were you?"