Turtleback Lake progress

Over the last week, he and Siyet had traveled north, just as they had discussed. With the weather growing warmer and nicer, the journey had gone well to this point. It still saddened him a little, to have left the cove behind, but to have finally started on their own path was exciting.

Even more so, as on the eighth day of wandering north, the lake Oksana had described finally came into view. As Jethro picked his way through the last of the trees and vegetation and wandered down onto the shore, he could finally see just how massive it was.

And how beautiful it was. There were even specs of land that seemed to have sprouted up inside the lake. Islands, accessible it seemed, only by swimming to them. Somewhere on the other side of this lake would be the forest, which meant they were getting close. If the kingsfall was anywhere near as beautiful as this, the dark one was fairly sure this area would be where he would want to stay.

Excited as he was, though, to see the redwood forest and make that decision, the temptation to swim out to those islands was also a strong one.

@Siyet if you want, but aw too!

She hadn't been in the lore too long and her time had been spent looking after Colette. She was doing much better now which Reika was very happy about. With the improvement in her companions health Reika felt it was okay for her to do a little more exploring of the northern parts of the lore. She'd already visited a few places but she wanted to see more of the land that her father had told her so much about.

Her travels that day had taken her some distance from her last place of rest. She was rather excited about the prospect of the things she would see that day. The terrain began to change more and more the further she traveled. What made it better was that the weather seemed to be improving. Rieka was excited for the spring, she'd seen it to be sure. It was that she'd been so young the previous spring to even remember what it was like.

She smelled the water before she came upon it. She couldn't help but scent the smallest hint of fish in the depths of the water's scent. Her eyes lit on the glimmer of water in the sun as she drew nearer. A subconscious lick of her lips was the only indication of how thirsty she was after her day if travel. Dark paws carried her to the waters edge where she bent her head to take in the cool liquid.

Crossing what remained of the rocky shoreline, Jet dipped his forelimbs into the icy water, testing its temperature to find it wasn’t horribly cold. The swim, he thought, was definitely a manageable one. And it was something he might have attempted, were his friend close enough for him to inform her of his intentions.

As it were, though, he didn’t need Siyet to come following him down to this lake, only for her to discover his trail ended at the water and leave her wondering where he might've gone. That wasn’t something he would put her through. With a bit of a sigh, Jethro resolved to attempt the swim at a later date, and instead cast a glance to his right, then his left.

And on the second glance, he found that he was not completely alone. Another darker figure had also approached the lake a short distance away from him, enjoying a drink. The first possible stranger he’d met since actually leaving the cove, and hopefully, an opportunity.

With an energetic spring to his steps, the dark one began splashing through the water toward the other, head high and posture friendly. ”Hello, there!” He called out upon growing closer, so as to not take the other off guard if they somehow hadn’t heard him splashing all the way towards them yet.

(This post was last modified: Mar 26, 2022, 06:24 PM by Jethro.)

Siyet was off in the forest, enjoying new smells that she hadn't experienced before. Her and Jethro had traveled quite a bit since the Cove. They had ended up nearby the lake that Oksana had mentioned. They had decided to stop at the lake for a while and Jethro wanted to go check out the lake. She was wanting to nap while he checked it out. While she was dozing she heard some splashing off in the distance, then the faint call of a voice. Curious she decided to go see what was going on. She decided to hide in the trees a little bit to see what it was in case Jethro was in danger and would need sneaky backup.

The smoky Archer took in the cool water. Her mind was focused on what she needed to do before she settled down that night. Her gaze was on the water as she considered catching a couple of fish for her and Colette. It would certainly be a change from what they had been eating. Admittedly though Reika didn't consider herself to be the most proficient at fishing. Maybe it was time to get better at it.

When she lifted her head from the water and looked around she wondered where the best fishing spot would be. That was however pushed from her mind when she realized that she wasn't the only wolf at the lake. Now she wondered when they had gotten there.

It seemed they'd noticed her as well because the next thing she knew they were splashing toward her. The water covered the wolf's scent so it wasn't until her spoke that she knew he was in fact a he. She watched him curiously and cautiously. Everything about him seemed friendly so she remained where she was.

When he was closer to where she stood at the waters edge she offered a friendly smile. "Hello, I wasn't expecting to run into anyone here," she said stepping a little way from the water. "Its been pretty quiet around here lately," she added sitting down on the shore.

The stranger, which he could tell was a she the closer he got, did not seem opposed to having company, nor irritated at his approach. Jethro realized suddenly that he might’ve interrupted her, if she’d been attempting to fish, although thankfully it didn’t appear that way. If it was, he’d be sure to make that up, though, by helping her later.

The woman offered a friendly smile and greeting, admitting as well that she hadn’t expected to meet anyone else around here. Something Jethro subconsciously took note of, although that was not where his focus was, at the moment.

”You have very pretty eyes,” he noted aloud, the comment not meant to be flirty or suggestive, but simply an observation. That shade of blue was not something he’d seen much of, and it complimented her nicely. Then, realizing how uncharacteristic and rude such thoughts were, the dark one offered a sheepish smile.

”I.. uh. Sorry, about that. And for.. runnin’ up on you, like I did. My friend, who’s around here somewhere, and I are actually headin’ north, exploring and such.” Jethro had to resist the urge to sigh at how horrible that sounded. He was not really presenting himself as leader material, at the moment - but hopefully, he could fix that. ”Also, I hope ya weren’t trying to fish? I can help you catch a few, if you were.” He questioned, supposing it was better to get that out of the way now rather than later.

Reika was pleased to have the chance to meet another wolf in the area. She quickly figured out that the wolf who'd run toward her was a man and he seemed rather friendly so she relaxed some. However, her father had taught her to never fully relax unless she trusted the wolf. It might have been one of his overprotective moments. Despite that she didn't get the feeling she had anything to worry about from the newcomer.

She returned his friendliness with her own offering him a smile she hoped would let him know she wasn't bothered. Her greeting was cheerful but it was sometimes hard for Reika to not be cheerful especially when presented with another friendly face. He did surprise her when he blurted out a compliment about her eyes.

For a moment she was speechless before smiling shyly, "Thank you. That's very kind of you to notice." She wasn't used to receiving such compliments besides from her father. They had to say those things to their daughters. It was in the job description so to hear it from a complete stranger…well that meant something.

"You don't have to apologize for what you said it was really nice to hear and I didn't mind you running up to me," she assured. He'd mentioned a friend and he were heading north, "Are you and your friend looking for anything in particular?" She asked curiously. She didn't know if she could help but she could sure try. She'd been exploring the north a little too but also trying not to go too far from Colette while she was still recovering. She smiled when he mentioned her fishing. "It actually wasn't a formal decision or anything just a consideration."

Siyet was able to hear the conversation between Jethro and the other wolf. From what she was hearing it seemed like the other wolf was friendly and not wanting an ill intent. She walked out from behind the trees she was hiding behind and called out to Jethro.

"Jethro! Hey! Who is your new friend over there?"

With this, Siyet started moving in a faster pace towards Jet and the other until she came up next to Jet, bumping him with her head.

She smiled at him, and then the other wolf.

"Hello there, sorry about that. I just wanted to make sure that you were friendly, you never know. I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation."

She chuckled a little. Then introduced herself, "I'm Siyet by the way."

She stood there, next to her friend, a big smile on her face. She was glad that they had finally met someone, hopefully they would be able to make a new friend out of this.

Despite not wanting his thoughts to go down that path, he couldn’t help but think the woman was even prettier smiling. Jet was not sure he had even seen someone yet, that was as pretty. What was even better.. was that she did not seem at all irritated or put off by the comments. Quite the opposite, actually. Instead she thanked him for noticing, and said it was very kind.

It reminded him a little of Nori, of what she’d said. And Oksana, too - that sometimes compliments were nice to hear. Jethro let himself smile slightly, in return.

”Ah.. well, in that case.. you’re welcome,” he spoke, although with a lingering note of uncertainty. Of all the things he’d gotten better at, this was still not one of them. It was good to know though that he hadn’t interrupted her attempting to fish or something. Though with the question the woman asked, there wasn’t really any way of hiding his intent.

”Yea. We’re actually lookin’ for a place to settle in, to make a home for ourselves,” Jet answered. He didn’t need to get into greater detail unless the woman expressed interest. Before he could go on, though, Siyet called out, inquiring as to who his new friend was, approaching the two of them.

And the dark one realized he didn’t know that, yet. ”Heya, Si,” he greeted with a smile and a return of the head bump. ”I’m actually not sure? We hadn’t quite gotten to introductions, yet.” Since his friend had already covered that part, he turned his gaze towards the blue-eyed beauty, curious as to what her name was.

Reika was used to comments like the one the man had given her from her father. That was what fathers did and so to her jt was common place. Though she always appreciated it when her father did it. This time it meant a little more since it had come from someone whose name she didn't even know. It made the words her father had spoke a little less normal.

She was sure to let the man know she wasn't offended at all. It was nice to have been noticed in such a way. Though she was still young it wasn't as if Reika hadn't thought about her future.

She smiled letting her tail wagged behind her her at his words. She thought the man was rather polite. "I must say you've made my day," she told him. His compliment did make up for his running toward her even if that hadn't bothered her either.

He went on to explain that he and a friend were looking for a place to settle. That was interesting. "Are you and your friend looking to settle here in this area or somewhere else?" She asked curiously. "I've been staying with my friend mostly in the lowlands for the time being," she explained. Reika really didn't have any plans to go further south for the time being.

It was right about then another wolf, a white female came on to the scene. Reika looked at her curiously. From her she learned that the man was Jethro and she was Siyet. "Hello, I can promise I am no threat to your friend, Don't worry you werent intruding in the slightest," she assure the woman. "You must be the friend he'd spoken of?"

"Its nice to meet you both," she stated but then it was always nice to meet new and friendly faces. Her attention returned to Jethro as he spoke. "No we hadn't made it that far," she agreed, "I'm Reika Archer."