Darkwater Rapids Roots and Wings

RE: Lyanna, a small fawn has decided to spy on you. For @Askan :) | Early evening. Light Intensity Shower Rain 55.4 ° F, 13 ° C

Her creamy paws sunk easily into the silty mud of the bank where she stopped to admire it. Beneath the cover of the deeply verdant canopy it raged on, carving out its winding path even through the ancient stone of the mossy cliffs that towered over it on each side in the distance. Something about the darkness of its waters was as mysterious and luring as the forest that seemed to hide it away from the rest of the world. The river, in all its might, with its white-capped rapids and low, timeless roar, was nothing if not enchanting.

The pitter patter overhead began with only a darkening of the sky to precede its presence. A drop of rain fell to splash off the tip of her snout. Lifting her gaze skyward, she took in the sight of the way it bathed the leaves of the trees before slipping from them to plunge to the earth below. Her eyes lingered on the shades of grey of the clouded sky - only bits and pieces of visible through the tree tops - for a moment before she resigned to continue on alongside the river. Now would be as good a time as ever to find someplace safe to hunker down for the night.

It wasn't until she neared the rises of the ravine that the rustling of movement nearby caught her attention. Great. At this point, it was easy to assume that the sound was probably caused by the coyotes. The nasty things seemed to be nearly everywhere she went. The last thing she wanted or needed tonight was to cross paths with even one of them...So it was a pleasant surprise when her watchful gaze was met not by one from a coyote, but by the wide eyes of a small fawn who was watching her from behind the safety of a wide fern. Immediately her mouth began to water. It had been nearly a week since she'd had a decent meal and the rabbits and mice that she'd managed to hunt down weren't nearly as appealing as the prospect of deer for dinner. But - something about the look in the fawn's innocent eyes and they way they were watching her so made her hesitant to act on her predatory inclination.

Instead of poising to kill, Lyanna simply stood in silence, her mind stuck somewhere between an easy dinner and a hard place as she stared back at it.

Enough was enough, Askan was sick and fucking tired of being all hot and bothered. He'd tried to acclimatise and had even adjusted his routine so that he spent more time in the shade and by the Shallows. But nooo, apparently that wasn't enough. Weeks passed and it was still sweltering hot. It was abundantly clear that if Askan wanted to be comfortable he'd have to nap the day away Well, fuck that. Why should Askan have to change his routine? He liked his current set up, why was the sky going out of its way to make his life a living hell? What had he done to deserve its scorn? He had no fucking clue.

And then, as if to give him a well-needed reprieve, it rained for the first time in weeks.

It had been a while since Askan had ventured this way. With the heat and the coyotes he had very little interest in leaving Shallows Edge, but now that he wasn't at the risk of turning into a muddy puddle he figured why the hell not? Yes yes, he knew he wasn't supposed to wander off on his own, but unlike the others, Askan was very capable of looking after himself. If anything happened he knew he would handle it, probably.

His coat was soaked as he meandered through the trees, his ears perked at distant the sound of fast running water.  So he was close the rapids then...huh.He hadn't intended to head travel this far, but considering how cagey he had been as of late it was probably a good thing that he had, even if it was only to stretch his legs.

He slowed to a trot as he neared the rapids, his sight narrowing in on a tawny shape by the riverside. For a moment he wondered if it was a coyote, but quickly dismissed the notion when he realised they were far too tall, too wolfish. A stranger then? Maybe not. He sniffed the air and- his nose wrinkled as his brows drew together. Even with the rain smothering his senses he recognised her scent, Lyanna.

What was she doing in his neck of the woods again? Here to cash in her favour perhaps? Askan had no clue, but he intended to find out.

"Oi," he called as he marched closer, completely unaware that she had company.

For a time she stood statue-still, looking back as the fawn watched her intently and doing her best to hide her raging voracity at this particular point in time. It struck her as being somewhat strange, the tiny deer's interest in her, yet at the same time she'd recently been in a similar position - at the mercy of a brood of little ducklings. Perhaps it was true, what @Elias had said about children having some ability to see the nature of a thing. Did that instance and this one mean that she was good at heart? She wondered what exactly it was that everyone seemed to be seeing in her.

Then, there he was. "Oi," he'd called, and instantly she recognized Askan's voice.

Her head whipped around, the widest smile gracing her lips and eyes at the sight of the man she remembered with an unforeseen fondness. Lyanna's tail swayed slowly behind her. "Well, now. It must be my lucky day," she returned. She hadn't forgotten her admirer, who, in the periphery of her vision, she could see ducking behind the fern that hid her well enough. For now. What would Askan think of her if he realized she'd been entertaining a fawn in her spare time, out here in the forest alone like a tree-hugging do-gooder. She hardly knew him well enough to make any assumptions, but as the odds were, he was probably a little gruff to have any appreciation for the situation.

Her golden eyes looked over the features of his face with satisfaction. "To what do I owe the pleasure? -I see your...mobility has greatly improved." Her tone was seething with a kindness she figured would rub him the right kind of wrong way.

Askan snorted and rolled his eyes. Lucky? Hardly, still it was rather novel to have someone outside of his social circle appreciate his presence. He was usually met with a scowl or a sneer when he greeted them in his usual curt manner, but not Lyanna; apparently, she'd already gotten used to his moody temperament. Good for her, he supposed. Then again, when they'd first met she had been rather...strange. Without even batting an eyelid she'd taken his snappy words and brutish manners in her stride, as though she'd known him for years rather than mere minutes. Yeah, it was pretty weird now that he thought about it. Perhaps she was one of those rare  and frankly, mystifying people persons?

Probably.

Her question made sense, even if she'd posed it with fluffy words, the sort Askan rarely used. Talking to people who weren't Reyes was hardly a pleasure, more of a chore really... Ah well. His gaze flickered down to his front paw, the nail was still growing back but he didn't even think of his injury anymore. It was almost as though it had never happened which was fine, Askan was more than happy not to think about it. He looked back up at Lyanna and flicked his ear dismissively.

"Don't flatter yourself, I wasn't looking for you." Which was true enough, even if saying it aloud made him sound like a right dickhead. "Needed to stretch my legs, just happened to come this way. But why are you here? Figured you had places to be..." He trailed off, his brow quirking.

"Dont flatter yourself, I wasn't looking for you."

Typical, she thought without finding any offense from him. Not that she perceived him to be the type to change, but he certainly hadn't. She didn't mind. When he asked why she was here she found that she didn't really have a good answer. Just an honest one, which is what she issued. "Of course you weren't, I guess that makes it your lucky day," she stabbed at him. "-Just canvasing the area. I thought there might be something more substantial to hunt closer to the water. As you can see, I haven't found anything yet."

Truth be told, she didn't actually have a place to be. She was sure it was a truth that was not lost on him. Life as a loner was as hard for her as it was for anyone else, and she had grown to be hungry and lonely - yearned for a place to settle in to. Yearned for a pack to settle in to. She hadn't really found what she was looking for, but as the days went by she began to realize that home wasn't so much a place as it was a state of mind. She knew she was capable of making one no matter where she ended up but that didn't change that she was difficult to please. If anything, the reason she had no place to be was because she hadn't had a reason to make up her mind.

Askan looked good, and even if he hadn't cared to address her snide-ish - if not affectionate - comment about his foot, he'd obviously healed without complication. She wouldn't admit it to him in a million years, but she was happy to see him and to see that he'd recovered to be able to stretch his legs. "How are things in Shallow's Edge?"

"Psssh, as if." Askan sneered as his lips tightened into a disapproving grimace. It was never difficult to get a reaction out of him and today was no different.

Still, he could understand why she was by the rapids.

The woods here were thick and dense, with an overhanging canopy that stopped a majority of the sunlight from reaching the forest floor. To say it was easy to get lost here, particularly in the eastern reaches of the Falls, was an understatement. And yet, the constant rush of the darkwater rapids was like a beacon, guiding wolves and wanderers out of the darkness into the light of day. But, in Askan's case at least, there was more to it than that. This neck of the woods was-or at the very least used to be- very quiet, secluded, the perfect place to find some privacy. A shame the coyotes had to go and ruin that, nosey bastards.

"Figured. There isn't much out this way, except for coyotes." Then again, that sort of went without saying, considering they were everywhere.

At her question Askan shrugged his hefty shoulders.

"Fine, same as always I guess. Though, we've got new neighbours to the north...can't say I'm happy about it." He grunted and his tail flicked in obvious annoyance.

Vigils Keep weren't close, so they weren't really Askan's problem... Rather, he was more offended that he had to find out about them through @Hawthorne. Why hadn't they announced themselves? Not only to Shallows Edge, but what of Driftwood Surge? How long did they intend to pretend everything was fine, when it clearly wasn't? Askan huffed, what dickheads.

Askan's ever-disapproving grimace wasn't hard to swallow. They two of them were only acquaintances but she was aware enough to have discerned that he wasn't big into either her small talk or the kind of light-hearted interaction that came naturally to her. A single russet ear flicked sideways as she chose to proceed with a little caution. Despite how he felt about her, if he even did at all, she, at minimum, didn't want to cause him any further irritation.

His mention of the coyotes wasn't dissimilar to nails on a chalkboard. They were a problem everywhere and that was a fact. Askan went on to say that his pack was doing fine and mentioned new, unwelcome neighbors to the north.

"The coyotes have been a pain in my ass," she began with a sigh. "...Your neighbors are causing you trouble already?"

The spying fawn who had hidden itself well up until this point shifted in the brush before stretching its neck to peek out at her from behind the fern. If Askan hadn't spotted it yet, the deer was plain to see now. Lyanna's gaze strayed to peek back at it briefly before casually returning to the dark man. What would he make of her if he realized she hadn't readily killed the easy meal she had been seeking out here in the first place. Between the two wolves, their bellies could be filled by nightfall.

Oof this got longer than I'd anticipated. Askan knows stuff about VK from this thread
Whoops I summoned yotes

Askan couldn't say that he was surprised. If coyotes were willing to confront pack wolves then it went without saying that loners would also be fair game. All things considered though, Lyanna didn't look awful. She was skinnier than before and her coat didn't seem quite as sleek or well kept, but she somehow still managed to carry that air of grace, like she was a proper lady. It couldn't have been easy to go it alone but Lyanna had a way of making it seem...not easy, but she took it all in her stride. Good for her, he supposed.

"Not directly no..."Askan begrudgingly admitted.

Aside from Hawth's encounter with one of the Keep wolves Askan hadn't even heard a peep from them. It was as though history was repeating itself. When Wild Rye Fields had been formed it was months before Drestig and Jessie made any efforts to reach out to the neighbouring packs. Askan couldn't entirely blame them, as he knew they weren't trying to cause trouble, but the fact that they did nothing for so long made the situation far worse than it had to be. Without even really trying, Craw turned White Fir Notch and Hearthwood River against them. Was that the case with Vigils Keep? An us vs them situation? It sure seemed like it.

"But they settled awfully close to a pack that I am allied with. From what I was told it sounds like they've been there at least a month, and still they made no attempt to introduce themselves." Askan's eyes narrowed into thin slits. He was frustrated on Lach's behalf, that the Keep wolves thought they could get away with this bullshit. "When they got called out they got all high and mighty,  like Lach had no right to be pissed off. So the way I see it if they keep running their mouths they'll get what's coming to them." He shrugged, ambivalent.

If it came down to it he'd fight on Lach's behalf but...he wasn't super eager to go running off north anytime soon. It all very much depended on how things developed, and whether he and @Reyes could agree on a course of action.

He'd been so busy talking that he almost didn't notice that they had company, a little fawn that was staring at them with big, worried eyes. Askan had never seen one so close...alive anyway. He looked back and forth between Lyanna, if she was hungry here was her chance to fill her rumbling stomach. Still, she looked a bit...not shaken but on edge. Idly he wondered if she'd noticed the deer before her. Surely not, otherwise she would have mentioned it, right?

"The hell is it doing? He stepped to the side and leaned a little to see the creature better. It flinched and ducked back behind it's tree, as if that would make it invisible to his senses.

(This post was last modified: Jul 25, 2018, 04:44 PM by Askan.)

There are fresh deer tracks, but there is also some coyote prints along with them.

Fade after your post?

Askan's explanation of the situation consisted of more words than she'd ever heard him speak. From the sound of it, the trouble brewing with the settling of this new pack most likely would boil over before it simmered down. Lyanna didn't think she knew of either of the two packs her acquaintance spoke of, or Lach, but it did cross her mind that her chance meeting with Elias was north of Shallow's Edge and that he belonged to a pack. She just didn't know which of the two he ran with. Regardless, she could imagine Askan's predicament given that he'd mentioned being allied with the more established of the packs.

"...Mmm. It is rather strange that they would settle in so close without reaching out to at least introduce themselves. I can understand the position it's put you in as an ally to the 'Lach' you speak of." She searched his face thoughtfully. "I do hope that if it comes down to them getting what's coming to them that it'll be of no consequence to you and yours. If there is anything I can do to help, I'd be happy to." Her intentions were genuine. She didn't belong to Askan or Shallow's Edge, but that didn't mean she couldn't or wouldn't do right by him if he needed anything.

And then the little fawn who'd been watchful and hidden had been discovered. "The hell is it doing?" Her amber eyes looked from Askan to the deer and back. "It's been watching me. Not for long, I sort of happened upon it just before you showed up." Lyanna shifted her weight. "I've been considering whether or not I should take it or leave it be." Her big heart wasn't bigger than her stomach, for sure. With Askan's arrival, an quick kill could be a quick way to fill his belly, too; perhaps it would please him and it would be foolish to pass up what would be her first decent meal in weeks.

The fawn was statue still. She made quick work of calculating the path she would take, looking over the ground in the distance in between. The coyote tracks imprinted in the mud only reminded her that she would need her strength to go on like this, as well as the fact that if she didn't claim the fawn for herself, perhaps the coyotes would. And what a shame that would be. Lyanna's predatory instincts won her over.

She glanced sidelong at her counterpart, the look in her eyes surely conveying her intent. Crouching low, she said nothing before stalking slowly forward and subsequently taking off.

...The chase was short. The tawny girl disappeared for a matter of several seconds before the sounds of a struggle echoed through the dense and shadowed forest. Snatching the deer's hind leg from beneath it, she mowed him over between the branches of a couple of ferns before taking his little neck in her jaws and finishing him off. Fresh blood pooled in her mouth and dripped from her jaws and in that moment she was both satisfied and ravenous.

Eventually dragging her kill over closer to Askan, she dropped it nearly at his feet.

"Hungry?"