Rissa's Rest aims for love but misses the mark

Random Event: The snow is falling in thick, fluffy flakes! It carpets the area around you, making the world feel quiet and cozy. On a day like today it might be nice to curl up with someone special...
All welcome!

Leviticus had wandered outside of the Chasm's safety once again, meandering without aim yet with a single hope in his chest: to see a face that was familiar. Truly familiar. His heart ached for River, but the pain was not a single thread but a tapestry of different sources. He missed the friends he'd found along the way, felt guilt for not fighting harder to keep them around even when he'd given all he'd had. He even was starting to miss his family, his father's cold eyes and his mother's infrequent affection, his sisters to snuggle with even if they never included him while awake.

He thought of them all rather than paying attention to his surroundings, and ended up in a place that felt separate from the rest of the world.

The woods enveloping the surrounding stood dark and looming like a wall, isolating the clearing. When he stopped walking, complete silence took over. The only life was the gentle sway of large, white snow flakes dancing down to the earth. Levi tilted his head back, staring up at them as they fell, his mind finally falling quiet, unable to resist the stunning stillness of the moment.

He closed his eyes, face still turned upward, and let the icy ash slowly bury him where he stood.

(This post was last modified: Dec 14, 2021, 08:46 AM by Scully.)

The snow was starting to fall and Wrynn could feel himself begin to shiver, his thin coat and lack of fat layer making it easy for the cold to dig deep into his skin. His paws carried him through the forest, meandering between the trees, with no real destination in mind. It was cold, freezing in fact, and he found his mind wandering, trying not to think about the painful tingling in his paws. The snow was a thick layer beneath him, and as he walked he left defined footprints, his back legs dragging slightly as he walked.

Eventually he came upon a narrow valley, deciding to head down into it in the hopes there would be a hidden spot to curl up and try and stay warm. The snow seemed even thicker here, and he found himself stumbling with every other step, unable to pick his legs up all the way to step cleanly over the snow. A stray snowflake landed on his nose just as he inhaled deeply to get a sense of his surroundings, and its wetness tickled the inside of his nostril to the point that he let out a loud achoo! Wrynn rubbed his snout with a front paw, sniffing to try and get rid of that tickly feeling, too deep in his own worries to even think about the fact that his sneeze could have alerted something else to his presence.

(This post was last modified: Dec 14, 2021, 08:07 AM by Wrynn.)

The silence was broken abruptly by a very out of place sound. Had it been a year prior, Levi would've responded animatedly, jumping in fright and whirling round to face the source. The young man today merely opened his eyes and lethargically turned his head to spy the creature that had sneezed. His heart clenched at what he saw. A stranger, much smaller than himself and thinner than any other wolf Leviticus had ever seen. He looked freezing, in need, but gods, wasn't he going to run out of pieces of his heart to give?

Tears burned at his eyes and he blinked them away before forcing his stiff legs to move.

Stop being selfish, he thought to himself, swallowing his fears and feelings in hopes of burying them long enough to assist this wolf.

"Hello?" he called with a scratchy voice.

A warren of rabbits is hidden under a nearby tree. +3 Health

Wrynn paused mid-rub of his snout at the sound of another wolf, taking a moment to realise that yes, he wasn't alone, before turning his head to face the stranger. He was larger with a more rounded out form than his own with a not too dissimilar coat other than the more prevalent white markings. At the sight of the other wolf, his tail tucked up against his stomach as he dropped his head, gaze lowering to rest only at the other male's chin. "Um.. h-hi," he said with a quiver to his voice, body also shaking slightly, though that was more due to the cold than any nervousness or fear he was feeling.

"Sorry if I'm... sorry if I'm bothering you," he continued in a quiet tone, ears now flattening slightly as he licked his lips nervously. The other male had not given any indication of being aggressive, but Wrynn was aware that a wolf could suddenly turn on a dime and lash out with little to no warning, so he was doing his best to seem as unassuming as possible.

(This post was last modified: Dec 14, 2021, 08:14 AM by Wrynn.)

Leviticus wasn't used to being greeted with such... 'deference.' It made him uncomfortable. His brows knit together in confusion as the other wolf continued to speak. How could he be bothering him? The poor young man was barely existing.

Levi lowered to the ground, first with his chest, cheek brushing into the snow as he twisted his head to keep his mossy eyes on his company. Then he twisted over onto his back, fully displaying his belly while his tail tip tapped the white powder with tentative wags. It was the clearest way he could think of to show this guy that he meant no harm.

Wrynn watched in silence as the other male began to slowly lower himself to the ground, chest-first initially, then flopping over onto his back. His own eyes widened at the display, nervous expression marred by confusion. He couldn't understand why this stranger was doing this, as he was always the one to put on the submissive display for his higher-ranked pack mates. A soft whine slipped from his maw, ears pulling backwards a bit, now thoroughly confused as to the dynamics between the two of them. Wrynn didn't know what to do now that he was the one left standing higher.

But the stranger simply lay there, watching him, and Wrynn could see the way his tail was tapping at the snowy ground in a soft wag. There were no other indications of submissive body language other than the showing of his underside, which left him thinking that maybe this wolf wasn't trying to submit to him, but instead show he wasn't a threat. That made a lot more sense, and slowly his ears turned forward again as he began to gingerly crouch walk closer to the stranger, finally lowering himself into a laying down position right in front of the other.

He touched their noses together in a tentative greeting, his own tail sweeping softly behind him in the motion of a wag. Maybe this wolf really didn't mean him any harm after all.

Leviticus didn't expect the stranger to accept his display swiftly. Caution simply came paw-in-paw with anxious behavior, in his experience. He waited patiently, and kept his light-green eyes free of expectation. He was rewarded when the smaller wolf decided to creep forward, but the touch caused his stomach to twist with conflicting emotion.

He needed to keep the walls strong.

Levi pushed back, reciprocating the nudge before shifting his weight back over onto his stomach. He moved slowly, not wanting to startle or frighten. When righted once more, he settled his muzzle atop his outstretched forelimbs, keeping his posture as unthreatening as possible.

"Are you okay?" he asked, voice still soft and affected by lack of use.

Why was this poor kid out here alone, in such horrible condition? Why didn't someone have his back?

The other wolf accepted his greeting and slowly rolled onto his stomach. Wrynn watched with large eyes, blinking owlishly as he stayed in his position, stomach feeling cooler by the second as he lay on the snow. But that was the furthest thing from his mind at that moment. A soft moaning rumble escaped between clenched jaws at the question thrown his way. Okay was a broad term, and sure, he wasn't dying, but he was far from feeling great. He was alone, cold, scared... and to be honest mostly scared. Being by himself was pretty much the worst experience of his entire life, and he'd had some not great experiences before. But he didn't know how to fix that, or how to find his family. And how was he supposed to vocalise that to this kind stranger when he himself didn't even know how to put it into words.

"... I don't know," he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. How could one tell if they were okay, when they'd never known anything more than not terrible? Wrynn snuffled softly at the snow as it drifted and fell on top of his nose, blowing a few flakes away and towards the other male. He watched as they slowly drifted down, melding in with the rest of the snow on the ground. "How can you know... if you're not?" That was a deep question, and he had no idea if the other wolf would have an answer, and instantly felt bad for placing such a burden on the wolf.

Wrynn's ears splayed to the side apologetically as practically buried the lower half of his face into the snow, looking at the other wolf with big, wide eyes.

The hesitation and mournful growl swiftly told Levi that no, the younger wolf was not alright. A frown cut deeply across his muzzle, and his mossy eyes shone with empathy. He needed to do something, regardless of his own damage - here was someone quite clearly worse off. The verbal answer, even as it was spoken with such uncertainty, only drove home the reality of this wolf's situation further for the tawny-saddled young man.

"If you're wondering, you're not," he answered, tone gentle. Okay was something that you either 100% were, or you weren't. If the stranger had to question, then things were wrong.

"Are you... hungry?"

Levi better understood now that tangles in the mind and heart could not be worked upon when one's most basic needs were not met first. Food, water, shelter, and a sense of safety. That's what he needed to prioritize right now, if he wanted to help.

(This post was last modified: Jan 01, 2022, 01:20 AM by Leviticus.)