She was feeling a little better, though still that itching beneath her skin kept her moving, unable to stay in one place. After their night together, she had told @Aleister as much, promising to return to the lake once she’d walked off this spring agitation. It was nice to know she had somewhere to return to, for the first time in her life she had real friends and, possibly, even a proper home. But for that very reason, she needed to stay away for a bit, to work through this stupid, hormonal surge, without risking anything with these wolves who could be her new family. So she made her farewells, thanking the future leader again for his understanding, and then headed down into the Edens, taking this chance to explore old haunts, before possibly binding herself to one place forever. While she had seen what she needed of the Thickets, there were plenty of other places from her childhood that she had yet to revisit, and so this seemed the perfect opportunity. If she could remember her way around of course! It had been several years, and the woods looked different from what she remembered. The snow also didn’t help matters. But as she reached the large, open space, sloping lightly towards a central mount, she felt pretty certain this was Fireweed Rise. Still under the thumb of winter, the hill looked nothing special, the colorful flowers that had given it name still waiting for the true warmth of spring; Lucky bastards! What few memories might lie here, remained buried like those slumbering sprouts, and she knew she wouldn’t stay long, pausing only nibble at an itch on her shoulder, resulting in several clumps of long winter fur sticking in her mouth; Just lovely…! Word count: 249 ”Speech" Thoughts |
She spat several times, with very little result, the fur clinging stubbornly to her tongue. Focused on her struggle, she missed the first appearance of the stranger, amber eyes half-crossed across her muzzle as they were. But red ears twitched at the sudden voice, and she twisted in place to look towards the sound. It took a moment for her gaze to shift and focus on the approaching wolf, narrowing and then widening in surprise; she’d never seen a wolf quite like her. The stranger was a young woman, larger than Flair in height, though not in bulk. Instead, her frame was slender, but not delicate, long limbs showing signs of lean muscle, the mark of a good runner. But what was most astonishing was her coat, layers of brown on top of cream, with a broad band of the latter standing out around her neck; She’s pretty! The thought was fleeting, blown away by the girl’s next comment, delivered with a smug smile. Realizing she’d been starring with her mouth hanging open, Flair quickly lifted a paw to scrape at the hair on her tongue, blinking and narrowing her eyes at the stranger. “A whad?” she asked through the fur, giving her tongue a last rub and spitting to finally clear the last fur; Yuck! She lowered her leg, running the paw through a snow drift to wipe off the hair clump. Then her attention turned fully to the stranger; “What’d y’ call me?” Though the words were accusatory, her voice was simply inquisitive, all signs of her volatile spring mood mysteriously evaporated. She just wanted to know. Word count: 269 ”Speech" Thoughts |
She felt like she’d been caught in a compromising position, which was ridiculous, itching and changing fur in the springtime was completely normal. Still, seeing the stranger so obviously amused at her plight made warmth flush to Flair’s cheeks in embarrassment. She’d been laughed at too many times in her life, and though the ochre woman’s giggles surely weren’t meant maliciously, they still brought back those painful memories. It didn’t make it any better when she lifted her paw to point at Flair, especially as her words continued to make no sense to the fiery lass; What the hell is a ‘cat’?! She wasn’t familiar with that particular group-term, and she couldn’t concentrate enough to follow the reference to any proper conclusion, blood rushing to her head as her temper flared. Flair felt her hackles prickle, tail flicking up in a defensive show of dominance. Her lips peeled back to flash teeth for a moment, before she responded: “I don’t know what y’re talkin’ about, and if I were you, I’d learn t’ keep my opinions t’ m’self!” There was a dangerous rumble underneath her carefully quiet tone, a clear warning to the stranger; Back off! It had been a long time since Flair had found herself resorting to her old bullying tactics, perhaps she’d gotten complacent, living alongside the Lake wolves. This was the real loner experience, be mean or be the victim. She’d tried the latter to many times. Maybe it was partially the hormones, making her more sensitive and bringing her to snap so easily, when really the younger woman had made no big offence. But there was no room in Flair’s mind for nuance today, and she was determined to end this before it could begin; “Otherwise someone might stuff fur in your mouth, t’ get some quiet!” This certainly wasn’t the way to make new friends, but then, she was in no mood for that today, anyways. Word count: 322 ”Speech" Thoughts |