Shroud of the Lost on to my next engagement

Random Event: Spider webs in the trees leave a spooky shadow over you. For @Llinnea only.

Clouse was around, but sparse, and intentionally so. He didn't know where to go from here, and for once not knowing the future scared him. As he rested now after hunting, still cleaning blood from his fur, he began to notice the amount of spiderwebs surrounding him. In the grass, amongst leaves both fallen and above, against the tree bark. His thoughts drifted backward in time, to the days of being caught under the metaphorical paws of his grandmothers.

They claimed spiders spun life's secrets, and that one could unravel them if only they knew how to read such delicate and intricate lines. Why not, right? A soft snort left his nose, and his thoughts wandered again, but only moments later they drifted back. His silver eyes continued to roam the silvery strands strung here and there, and he sunk back into memory once more.

What did a stuttered web mean again... ?

Familiar scents were beginning to weave their way around the Eden, and Llinnea didn't know if she thought that was a good thing or not. Sometimes she missed having a pack, the comfort of an armor of smells that warned others she wasn't alone. More often she preferred their quiet little home... even if it really wasn't that anymore. They hadn't had their own quiet little place in some time now. So many others came and went and in the end it was still just her and @Loach. Was it really worth caring about anymore?

This familiar scent was a slightly more welcome one, however, and Llinnea followed it as the sun slowly cast the shadows ever longer over the world. She heard a soft snort, and the girl quietly called out, "Clouse?" She hadn't seen him in some time, and his departure had left her bitter and Loach sad, but... she was glad to see him.

Currently traveling with Loach and Claw

The sounds of approach pulled him from his reverie, heart conflicted upon lifting his silver eyes to spy a wolf who wasn't Loach. Clouse shifted to sit up a bit more straight, giving Llinnea a small smile.

"Hey Li'l," he answered, watching her features disappear and reappear as she navigated the forest. There was usually no threat that came with the young girl's presence, more likely to leave than to hassle in prior experience, and so he was comfortable to remain prone, gaze returning to the cobwebs now and again.

"How's it going?"

(This post was last modified: Dec 13, 2023, 02:16 AM by Clouse.)

Clouse's head lifted when she called out, but otherwise he didn't move as she approached. She stopped before him and when it became clear he wasn't going to stand, she sat. He greeted her with his odd nickname. She tilted her head at him, and then glanced at the treetops, following his gaze. "I am... okay," she said. 'Okay' was a strange word to choose, but she didn't know how else to describe what she was feeling. Mostly she was just existing here, waiting on something - and not even knowing what that something was.

Growing up sucked.

Her eyes turned back to the trees. What was so fascinating up there? "Hva ser du på?" she asked. (What are you looking at?) She allowed herself to slip into old words, the language of her birth feeling almost odd in her mouth after so long being locked away.

Currently traveling with Loach and Claw

Clouse couldn't claim to know all the reasons why Llinnea answered as she did, but he still had the feeling of understanding all too well the emotions behind that pause and lilt. His smile turned empathetic, but well, what else could he do? She wasn't his kid.

When she used her other tongue, his smile brightened a touch. He liked when she used it, listening still practice, though he had yet to use it again himself in front of her. At times, when he felt sure he was alone, he would test out some of her words and phrases. But he didn't want to assume he wouldn't get a similar response if the younger wolf overheard.

"Spiderwebs. There's a ton of 'em over here."

He thought to leave it at that, yet... well... Clouse shifted to better face the teenager.

"They remind me of home."

If she cared for it, wanted the distraction or to kill some time, he supposed he could share a little. She was harmless, after all. Mostly.

He smiled at her, and the look held more understanding in it than she would have liked. To her relief he moved on, answering her question in English. She tilted her head at the choice, but she glanced up at the webs he'd been looking at. He wasn't wrong; there certainly were a lot of webs in these trees. She nodded, turning to look at him again when he shuffled toward her. To her surprise, Clouse offered up a new piece of himself.

She considered it for a moment before saying, "Your home had many webs?" It was a curious thing, to be reminded of home by spiderwebs. She didn't know a lot of areas that had more webs than others.

Currently traveling with Loach and Claw

The question gave him a chuckle.

"Not anymore than here," was the answer, before again going further than he typically cared to. That was the point, after all, but it had been a long time since he had spoken of the Dell to someone other than Ra. Even with his sibling, he avoided talking about the coven.

"My uh... my grandmas had a lot of beliefs. About everything. They said webs were messages."

What kind of faith was Llinnea taught, if any?

Not any more than here, he'd said, immediately addressing Llinnea's unspecified question. He went on to explain about his grandmas, whatever those were. Her nose scrunched. "Hva er en bestemor?" (What's a grandma?) she asked, more to herself than expecting an answer, having never experienced a grandparent herself.

She again paused, thinking over her response before speaking. "What message can a web give?" She was curious about these beliefs. She didn't remember much about her mor, other than she had been soft and kind and loving and she smelled good - and her death, of course. Llinnea would never forget that day, nor the face of the man who had taken her from them.

Currently traveling with Loach and Claw

Apparently, Llinnea hadn't known her own. Perhaps there'd only been elders from other branches to reference. Clouse in particular would not jump to say that was a bad thing. Perhaps the yearling's grandmother had been kept from her for good reason.

"They were my dad's moms. I've never met any of my mom's family, nor my pops'."

His mother had thought highly of her own blood, but they'd been scattered when she was just a kid herself, or so she'd told her children. Maybe even that was for the best. Clouse still wasn't happy with what he had been born into, however.

"Fortunes."

He might have tried to repeat the word in Llinnea's language in case she'd not yet heard it in English, but he didn't know it himself.

"Could be about the weather, prey patterns, or it could be about life and death, whether or not you'll meet your soulmate... anything wolves might wonder, I suppose."

He thought it was a bunch of bullshit, but to each their own.

"What do you think?"

Dad's moms? You could have two moms? Llinnea thought about it. She'd only had one mor, and Loach had become her dad, as much as she had understanding of what a dad was. Did Loach have moms? Must have. "I only had my Mor," she said softly. "My Mor and my bror, and Archer." And Archer's family too, she supposed, but she'd never really gotten to know them. She and Asmund were always kept to the side.

Her head tilted once again at the mention of 'fortunes'. She'd heard it in context of luck before, but here it didn't seem to make sense. She considered Clouse's question. "I think," she said slowly, "I think webs only say where there are spiders." What could a spider's web tell you about your luck?

Currently traveling with Loach and Claw