Cors Ossum M - death is in the air

OOC: M themes for spooky death. Inspired by “The floor of the Cors Ossum is literally covered in the bones, skins, and corpses of all manner of deceased animals in various states of decay, with a variety of theories as to how they might have ended up there.”

I feel numb, born with a weak heart

The smell of decaying flesh was putrid. It was mixed into the fog and orange leaves, burning the inside of the yearling’s nose. Fall had come, and along with it: death. He had been drawn to it like a curious child. At first, fear had sped his heart rate up, made his fur raise, but after a few sniffs the adrenaline died down. He became attracted to the smell, drawn to it. He inched himself towards the animal graveyard with his head lowered- skeptical, hesitant. When the smell became stronger, his confidence grew. He found himself marching around the animal remains, satisfied by their existence.

He carried a femur bone in his mouth, likely the from a deceased coyote. It tasted like dirt and smelt rotten. There was no meat left on it, maggots had devoured the remains long ago, leaving nothing but the white charred texture. There was no marrow left inside, no matter how much the boy tried to suck it out. It was useless, but the yearling refused to let it go. He gnawed at it mindlessly, stomping around the skeletons with little respect for the dead.

Eventually, he grew familiar with the smell and began to inquire about the bodies. He sniffed them, pawed at pieces of spine and chest. He rolled over torsos, watching the worms from beneath squirm around. He didn’t dare eat any of the meat, but he continued to investigate them. His nose pressed into the pelt of a recently deceased coyote, feeling the texture of his fur and the stillness of his chest. “Good riddance,” he hissed, pressing his small paw against the vermin’s face cruelly. He hoped the shithead had suffered.

I guess I must be having fun

(This post was last modified: Sep 15, 2018, 03:20 AM by Vaken.)

currently travelling with Circe (she can jump in any of his threads)

Ma said she was going to leave soon, that there was something she needed to do. Any other pup might have been distraught at the idea of being left behind by their mother, that she had to stay in the Tarn because it 'just wasn't safe'. But not Jenny, oh no no. If her Ma needed to go then she was welcome to, Jenny had plenty of other bigs who would look out for her, feed her belly and keep her warm. As long as her Ma returned one day then Jenny was content and if it made her Ma less frowny all the time then even better!

So what did this mean for Jenessa? Very little had changed in her mind, she wandered just as much as she used to and just so happened to find somewhere very very stinky. Her nose wrinkled as she ambled along, balancing on long femur bones and spindly ribs. She'd been in the deep, dark woods before, but she'd never found something so...spooky! She loved it. Her mind raced as she conjured up all sorts of scary stories, tall tales of how this place came to be. If only there was someone for her to tell them too...

Aha! Her ears flicked forward as a hissy voice reached her ears. Perfect a new victim friend!

"Shhhhhh!" She hurried closer, her eyes wide with false alarm."Did it see you?" Jenny then glanced around nervously, her tail slightly curved between her hind legs.

(This post was last modified: Sep 15, 2018, 03:01 PM by Jenessa.)

I feel numb, born with a weak heart

The yearling had been startled by the pup, caught off guard by the urgency of her tone. She had appeared from no where, a dark black shadow creeping up behind him. He jolted his gaze at her, eyes narrowed and concerned. She was young, clearly still a child. He did not recognize her, and couldn’t smell much over the musk of the corpses below them. Were her parents around? He moved the bone in his mouth, refusing to drop it, to speak. It pressed against the left side of his cheek, applying a little more pressure than he liked. Still, he was stubborn continued to gnaw, muffling his words. “Did it see me?” He glanced around slowly, searching for the it she spoke of.

It didn’t occur to him that she was lying. He was confused, but not scared. He assumed she was speaking about a coyote, something threatening but not incredibly dangerous. She was clearly fearful, but the yearling brushed that off as childish sensitivity. It could have been her first experience seeing a bear for all he knew. He spat the bone out and rubbed his chin against his shoulder. “Don’t think so,” he added.

I guess I must be having fun

(This post was last modified: Sep 15, 2018, 05:39 PM by Vaken.)

currently travelling with Circe (she can jump in any of his threads)

She opened her mouth, as though to respond to his words when she snapped it shut. Her ears flicked forward, so rigid they ached as her mouth dropped open a little. Such a display would no doubt would look silly on anyone else, overly dramatic, but Jenny had a taste for games like this. Though it was an art she had yet to perfect she was getting better at judging how much drama was too much. If she kept this up she'd soon be straddling the line of absurdity.

"Oh," she said, slowly. "Oh no!" She skittered close to the loner, hiding behind his floof and lanky form. "You hear that?I think it's here."

When she imagined the beast she saw something tall and dark, like her Da but with burning red eyes that housed a look so evil it made plants to wilt and the sun to go into hiding.

"It did this. Hurt all these things, cause it wanted to. It will come for us now, I know it." She whined as she squeezed her eyes shut, like this was a nightmare she couldn't wake up from.

I feel numb, born with a weak heart

The small boy was starting to catch on. The fear in her body language was impressive, the yearling could feel her panic, but there was something off. He wasn’t completely sure, but something about the surprise in her tone made him fumble for answers. Was there truly something lurking around, waiting to pounce? He sniffed at the air, catching no recent scents except coyote and death. He sighed, side stepping away from the girl.   “Well,” the boy muttered, stepping away from the small pup with an unimpressed scoff. “What are you hanging around here for?”

He himself was young and full of grandiose. He couldn’t imagine a villain he couldn’t fight or escape from. He offered her a challenging look, his lips twisted up in a coy smile. He couldn’t prove she was lying, he wasn’t sure she was- but something was going on, and he wasn’t gonna leave before he figured it out. He listened for a moment, searching for the sound she had referenced, but couldn’t.

Shaking out his scruffy wolf’s mane, Vaken sighed dramatically. “Plus, I’m the one who put all these bones here.”

I guess I must be having fun

(This post was last modified: Sep 16, 2018, 07:47 PM by Vaken.)

currently travelling with Circe (she can jump in any of his threads)

Jenny smothered her disappointment as the stranger stepped away. So he wasn't the protective type, huh? Jenny hadn't encountered such a sort yet, but it was no trouble for the quick witted Selwyn. If he wasn't quite buying it then it was time to try a slightly different approach. She glanced about again, her expression levelling out a smidge.

"Cause my Ma said I had to stay at home...but I got bored." Which in part was true, she wasn't supposed to wander off. Not anymore. "All the bigs know about it, I-I thought they were making up stories. But I saw it."

Above them, the canopy rustled as a few stray leaves fell to the ground. This place was spooky enough as it was but it was good to know that the wind was helping her out, making this place seem all the more haunted. And then the stranger went onto claim he was the one who had done this, yeah, as if! Her brows squished together, still the picture of innocence.

"No, don't tell lies." She stomped a paw for emphasis. "I saw it, I know it did this! Not you." She yelled, only to snap her jaws shut when she realised how loud she had spoken, that she'd disrupted the spooky quiet.

The she-wolf continued her journey uneasily, fear rising within her. Something just wasn't right about the whole area. She had been travelling for quite awhile, journeying through an unknown. The deeper she ventured, the creepier the whole area seemed to get. While she had long gotten over her fear of woods as a cub, she couldn't help but shiver a little. Wide-eyed, she watched as the trees stretched out their thin wrinkled fingers, seemingly beckoning her in a somewhat spooky manner. The thick and wild growths of plantations hid whatever dangers which were lurking around. Helen tensed her body up in alert, ready to defend herself in case of emergencies. What seemed to stand out the most, however, was the strange pungent in the dry air. The stench of decay wafted into Helen's nostrils. The smell of death. Helen shuddered at the image of rotting carcasses. Something was definitely off about this place. Having enough to cope with for the day, she shoved her frightening thoughts away, never wanting to re-visit them any time sooner. She was lost and exhausted, and the last thing she wanted was to worry about the strange scent. Whatever it was, it covered up any wolves' scents in the area. Hopelessly, Helen scanned the area , hoping against hope to find some company. Never in her life had she longed to be with someone. Anyone.

Ears pricked, she listened attentively for any noise. All she heard was the deafening silence of the woods. Howling for company was the first thing that came to her mind, but after much thought, it didn't seem like the best idea to wake the forest up. Just as the thought entered her mind, an innocent voice broke the silence, followed by what sounded like a stomp that wasn't too hard. "Someone's here too. Sounds like a little cub yelping to me." Instinctively, she walked over to discover a cub and a yearling standing in the distance. Helen was astonished to find the two brave little souls standing out in the open, without the supervision of any adults. Nonetheless, they were "company", what she had just been searching for."Stranger danger" were the first few words to enter Helen's mind. "But what could a cub and a yearling do to me?" Quietly, Helen approached the two. "What are you two doing here in the middle of the woods?"Helen asked, secretly wondering whether she had taken them by surprise.

(This post was last modified: Sep 18, 2018, 10:41 AM by Helen.)

I feel numb, born with a weak heart

Things were going very differently than how Vaken had planned. The stubbornness of the little pup made him uneasy, uncertain on how to deescalate her mood. Lying to her clearly did not do the trick. He had not scared her, only made her more relentless and stubborn. He just wanted her to stop. At first her words had made him tense, then angry, but now? He was beginning to believe her. She was so certain, so determined to make him believe her words. When she raised her voice, he lowered his head as if to wince. His ears flattened, teeth twitching up in an annoyed hiss.

That is when he heard the footsteps. He’d be lying to say he wasn’t scared, it showed on his face. He dropped his tail, placing it between his legs. Had the pup been telling the truth? Was there something out there? He had been so quick to brush her off, claim she was overreacting or lying altogether, but now? The yearling made himself small, skittish and timid.

When the female wolf broke through the tree line, he nearly attacked. His fur was raised, his body tense and on edge. It took him only a second to catch her scent on the breeze and realize what she was: wolf. He let out a spooked exhale, tail raising once more to assert dominance. He felt a bit foolish, but mostly relieved. The visitor was female, around the same size of him- clearly not the monster the pup had spoken of. “Same thing you are.” 


He shuffled the bones beneath his front paws, revealing the maggots feasting. His disinterest was apparent in his body language. He squished some of them, then flicked his paw to shake them off, watching them squirm around in the mud. “Dare you to eat that,” he rambled, shuffling the piece of rotting flesh over to the black furred child.

I guess I must be having fun

currently travelling with Circe (she can jump in any of his threads)

You discover a half-eaten deer carcass. +5 Health

Little Jenny had to bite back her laughter as the stranger flinched and shuddered. Oh this was so good! Her little plan couldn't have gone better and honestly, this was the most fun she'd had in a long long time. Maybe she ought to venture out even more! Get up to even more mischief! Jenny turned just to see a new comer-not a monster- approach. Her eyes narrowed into a classic Selwyn squint as she silently cursed the lady for ruining the moment.

"Go away." She told the lady, her face scrunched up in a petulant puppy glare.

When the stranger told her not to eat the gross, wriggly piece of meat she was half tempted to do it anyway just to spite him. But...it did smell really bad, stinky in an awful way that reminded her of that time she ate too much rabbit and retched it back up. Instead she sniffed and...there was something good around here, something yummy.

Finders keepers!

Kicking off into a sprint, the little Selwyn soon skidded to a stop once she found what she was looking for. Another dead thing, but it was fresh and all hers!