Spectral Woods Sleeping in Your Garden

An abandoned fox den had been her sleeping place during the night. Pale white light awoke Sita at dawn and she pulled herself free from the cramped space. Her body ached. Over the last few days she'd travelled so far through unfamiliar territories. They smelled faintly of wolf in most places, but it had been quiet. Not another soul in sight.

Her muscles ached and she felt as though she hadn't slept a wink.

Bowing into a stretch, Sita's jaws split into a massive yawn. She would have to find someone eventually. Anything to convince her she wasn't in some strange extended dream. Not that she truly believed that, because it was foolish, but the last weeks of her life had been stressful and stress did strange things to you.

Sita shifted her haunches. Let another day begin, she supposed.

(This post was last modified: Feb 08, 2021, 02:39 AM by Sita.)

currently travelling with walleye

Walleye had meandered the area, nothing rather special. Stayed near the coulee most of the time and picked up scraps of frozen things where he could. It was...not a grand life for an old man to live but it would do for now.

He had been on the 'hunt' that morning. A slow pace through the woods as he had pushed his nose into near every burrow he found. Until he spotted a figure up ahead. Perhaps another cubbin'? He did not find himself in the mood to babysit that morning, unwilling to sacrifice an ear to chewing or to listen to a million questions.

"Oi," He huffed at them with squinted eyes and tried to make out the finer details.

walleye cannot travel through mountains
and will travel normal terrain at 1/2 speed

In fact, she really needed to wiggle for a moment more, because it was damn cold. Each breath was a heavy, steamy cloud. She would not bad mouth winter -- it had its purposes -- but it made the task at hand incredibly difficult.

Unless someone came to her. Snow crunched beneath her paws as Sita turned and with some apprehension approached the darker wolf.

"Good morning," She greeted less-than-chirpily. This is what she'd asked for and yet she had to remember that she had no idea where she was or who lived here.

(This post was last modified: Feb 08, 2021, 02:58 AM by Sita.)

currently travelling with walleye

He would draw a bit closer and notice that, once more, this would be no cubbin'. He could tell that they were a rather large individual. Powerful. Bulkier than him, at least. Taller too even.

What the hell was in the water here?

"Morn." He hummed back before he dropped right into a sit. Walleye was too tired, sore and old to be on his paws all day. Which meant every opportunity for a chance to sit would be taken.

"Thought you'd be another cubbin' wandering about." He snorted with amusement in his dry tone. Admittedly this would likely only come as a humorous statement to him.

walleye cannot travel through mountains
and will travel normal terrain at 1/2 speed

He seemed an older gentleman and so Sita would finish the distance between them. She was not entirely eager to sit, having just gone through the motions of waking up. So she remained standing for now. Every few moments she would adjust slightly, just to keep the blood flowing. Her fur was doing its fair share, though.

Cubbin'? It took her a brief second. "No. Young, but not that young." Sita laughed politely. "There a lot of cubs around here?" She didn't miss that another. This hardly seemed like the place for pups to be wandering around, but she would continue to foster the tiny flame of hope in her chest.

currently travelling with walleye

It would do him no good to ruminate on youth. He could not remember what it was like when his joints were not so stiff, when he was not taken out for a whole season because of deep temperatures. Youth. Stupidly fickle and blown away on raising youth of his own.

"You'd think. Maybe I just keep running into yous. Two of yous." He answered as one hind leg awkwardly reached to scratch behind an ear. "Young but not that young." He remembered the, uh, topic the other two had exploded into conversation on upon his term cubbin'. They could not be tiny pups to talk about such things.

"Whatcha after in a place like this? Awfully...empty."

walleye cannot travel through mountains
and will travel normal terrain at 1/2 speed

Two cubs. But he'd refer to them as yous. Sita ruminated on the meaning of this. Not. Pups. Then? Her tail fell slowly back down and simply drifted from side to side. Of course the likelihood them being her pups were slim, but again, no child had any business wandering out here alone.

"Well, um." Honestly, Sita wasn't sure what she was doing here. It wasn't as if she'd truly arrived of her own volition. "I'm looking for my kids. They were taken." That was the simplest explanation for this whole thing. Her ears twisted back in shame that she couldn't shake, lips pulling at the corners. As if there was anything she could have done about what had happened to them.

currently travelling with walleye

Whatever he had expected to hear, it had not been that. Perhaps it would be shown on the skewed scowl that spread across his titled head. Leg lowered back down as he gazed over at her with cloudy eyes. She was easier to see this close.

Young, but not that young. Just as she had said.

He wondered in silence for a moment. Had he been around her age when he had sired his first litter? He tried to imagine the idea of them being taken. Loach would have been an annoying handful and likely returned. Sockeye or Minnow? Lost forever, surely. He never understood anyone who took a child. Admittedly it seemed like far more effort than it was worth. Angry parents for a noisy cub? No, thank you.

"Sight ain't what it used to be." He drawled out slowly to start. "Can keep a lookout around here, though." It would be a heavy dose of kindness from the old man.

(This post was last modified: Feb 08, 2021, 03:43 AM by Walleye.)

walleye cannot travel through mountains
and will travel normal terrain at 1/2 speed

Sita appreciated the scowl to a certain extent. She didn't really want judgement masquerading as pity. Judge her openly or not at all. She knew the reality of the situation and shamed herself enough for it. How did someone misplace three pups? They were old enough now, nothing really stopping them from striking out on their own. But without even a goodbye it simply wasn't true.

Loosely at attention again, she gave the older man a happy look. "That's friendly of you. They're all about a year old, two of them black, one a bit more like me." She did slowly lower her haunches to the ground. Might as well settle in for a conversation, because she had some questions for him. "If you do happen to find them, just tell them that I'm looking for them." No telling where either of them would be if that ever happened.

Her tail curled around her haunch across her paws. "What are you doing out here?" It seemed just as terrible for an older gentlemen to be out in the cold, alone. At least Sita's mother was surrounded by her family in her older age.

currently travelling with walleye

A year old. Someone had taken grown kids. Maybe his mind had finally slipped free of him. This whole thing seemed so odd, but he was here and he had said he would keep a look out.

"Decide to step away from...everything. Too old to be running things back home." A gentle shrug of bony shoulders followed. He held no specific feelings either way on his decision to leave. It was not as though he had some grand reason like she did. No kids to chase after, no mate to nest with, just him and the woods he had stumbled into.

"Walleye." He offered in a dry huff. The old man figured they should exchange names if they were to be so...personal with reasons.

walleye cannot travel through mountains
and will travel normal terrain at 1/2 speed