Mountain of Dire fire eater

All welcome! Midday, Clearwater Tarn, Smoke Clouds, 16.9°C

Dark ominous clouds had become a frequent sight in recent days. They rolled in slowly from the southern horizon, casting a great shadow across the mountain slopes and draining all colour from the summer landscape.

Tundra, a lone wolf who was tracking a small herd of big-horned sheep along the lower mountain trails, had expected the gathering clouds to signal an approaching storm. Though after several days with no rainfall and a distinctly unpleasant sour-woody smell building up in the atmosphere, she began to wonder if the darkening clouds actually alluded to something else.

The strange scent in the air made it more challenging for the female to track the fleeing herd, though she was able to pick up on their scent frequently enough to keep on moving in their general direction. Her prey seemed to be moving quickly, not stopping in any place for too long before moving on, which made it more difficult for her to catch up to them. Eventually the scent of the herd seemed to settle, wafting up to her from between two small rocky peaks between which she discovered quiet, secluded lake.

Spotting the water and suddenly realising how uncomfortably dry her throat felt, Tundra’s attention diverted away from the sheep she had been tracking. Stepping down from the mountain slopes and onto stoney shore of the lake, she made her way to the waters edge for a drink.

Salmon-pink tongue lapped greedily at the water, expecting the cool refreshing liquid to soothe her sore throat as she gulped it down. Instead her nose wrinkled and her dark lips spread apart into a harsh grimace. The water tasted sour, and small flecks of ash now speckled her writhing tongue and the insides of her mouth.

Tundra released a hacking cough as she attempted to expel the filthy water from her system, though failed miserably. Backing away awkwardly, she planted her rear on the dry dirt gravel of the shore and frowned, her dark eyes glaring at the lake in disgust as she desperately tried to scrape off the ash from her tongue on the sharpened points of her teeth.

She had considered going to see @Magg again.

A refresher for all the misery that the world brewed on. Yet she also knew that she should get back to her mother soon. Maybe attempt to be in the life of her baby sister and attempt to let her father know the young woman she had become. Even if somehow those things seemed more daunting than the smoke in the air and the wayward trails she followed.

Here reminded her some of the months spent at the Cove.

It hardly seemed all that different, in truth. Maybe not as high up and certainly not as inhabited, but it still stroked the same feelings from her. Which was maybe why when she saw a pale figure up ahead she yearned for it to be a familiar face.

Who would even bother being here though? All alone.

She was here, all alone.

"Hi," She suddenly blurted out, a bit of a surprised look upon her face. As if she had not anticipated actually bothering the stranger.

(This post was last modified: Aug 01, 2023, 07:37 PM by Adora.)

ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ || ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇ

Now that she had taken a step back to glare at study the water, she noticed the small silvery flecks of ash floating upon its mirrored surface. It reminded Tundra of the first snowfall in winters gone by, except these tiny flecks did not glisten like frost, they glowed at the edges. A hot, fiery glow. Something which the wolf could only compare to the deep oranges and reds which painted the sky at sunrise. It was odd, though somewhat enchanting to look at. Tundra really did not know what to make of the discovery, though she certainly had an opinion on its bitter taste.

The female spluttered up a forced cough again, gagging slightly as the large volume of filthy water she had just consumed threatened to erupt up from her gut this time. She swallowed instinctively, though drool now pooled uncontrollably in her mouth.

"Hi" The greeting caught her off guard, as she turned to lift her head to face the direction of the voice only to realise drool now dangled out the side of her mouth.

Tundra looked down at the dirt gravel shore, spotting the dark spot where saliva began to drip from her mouth.

She cringed in embarrassment before promptly bouncing forwards to bury her muzzle in the dirt. Brushing off her mouth, she attempted to interact with the stranger once again. "Don' dwin ah wa'er, ih poison.." Tundra managed to slur out as she lifted her head to lock eyes with the pale silver girl.

Adora may have silently pondered the wild but charming looks about the stranger, or wondered if she was alone too. Truly alone, not just out for a trip.

She may have even asked all of these things if concerned had not rushed in quick.

Ears suddenly tall upon her head and eyes pinched with her worries. The woman slurred and drooled a darkness. She said something was poison. Adora had not managed to make out that it was merely the ashy water that the woman meant. So instead she tried to think quick and fast about the things she could do to help.

"Oh, ah, um! I know some wolves further down the mountain, maybe if we're fast I can get you some medical help!?"

Terrified and frenzied by the idea of poison — and the thought of possibly becoming poisoned herself.

ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ || ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇ

Tundra had merely offered the girl a warning out of curtesy, hoping to spare the stranger the sour taste in her mouth and the embarrassment she currently felt. But the girls obvious concern and the sudden sense of urgency in her voice caused the female to grow more worried about her own predicament.

She shook her head, spraying small strings of the dark ashy saliva from her mouth, before she awkwardly swept the rest off her lips with her tongue. "You have seen this before?" She asked, maroon eyes wide with worry, though her speech was much more coherent now that she was no longer feeling the urge to gag and be sick.

Tundra truly did not know what it was that she had ingested for she had never experienced, or even witnessed, a wildfire in her life. It had to be witchcraft, a dark kind of magic, intent on poising any one who drank from the lake. It was the only thing she could think of that could explain the small flecks of sunrise which now contaminated the large freshwater lake.

She ran her tongue across her teeth, still feeling the rough texture of the ash upon her gums and soft palate. She grimaced again in disgust before she forced up another hacking cough in another attempt to try and dispel some of the sour-tasting flecks.

She considered the girl's offer again. "How do you know they won't poison me again?" Her white brow lifted suspiciously, and her nose wrinkled at the girl, as she spoke the half-accusation. What if the pale silver wolf was in on it too? She could soon be food (or worse) for the pack, just another lone wolf who went missing in the wilderness never to be seen again...

No, she wanted to say, but knew it was a lie. The air seemed overcast everywhere. It just somehow seemed worse here. Thicker maybe.

She dreaded the fact that the Cove still remained on the mountain, that Magg and others would suffer the same fate as this stranger. Drinking poisoned water.

"Sorta...it's all...fogged everywhere. Just worse here—" Yet her voice seemed to catch in her throat at the sudden accusation. She had never met someone who had poisoned another. Who would poison another. Adora was no stranger to tragic accidents, but she had never seen intended cruelty.

"What?! No, they wouldn't!" Her features scrunched softly. Wounded by the stranger's idea that Adora had somehow come here to lead her further to demise. It was the last thing the girl wanted in her life.

ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ || ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇ