Red Fern Forest Cupid's Arrow

Valentines Blind Date Thread

The male had wandered off from @Enera's side for the day. He'd return before nightfall, never straying too far from the woman if it could be helped. He rather enjoyed her company. She was soft and tender, smelled lovely, and well...Snowdrop fit her. She made him nervous at times but in a good way. Butterflies.

Luca's large paws crunched down into the snow softly. Calculated steps aiming to reduce the noise he made creeping through the trees. Brown eyes were ever busy as he scanned the area. The trail he'd been following was growing stronger, his muscles tensing beneath his thick winter pelt. Anticipation raised the hairs along his nape. Another wolf would be necessary, but calling out for Enera proved its challenge. The snapping of a twig had him slowly shifting to look.

Fate was on the man's side. A small doe, visibly aged and struggling with the winter, stood nearby. She was skinny and her eyes murky as her ears swiveled about on her cranium. He'd be doing the old gal a favor, he figured, taking in the sight with a bittersweet smile. The doe appeared to have had a long life. He hoped it'd been a good one and to provide a swift ending.

"HE SPEAKS"

Magg, @Galen and @Ally had only been gone from the Falls for a few days now, and so far things had gone... alright. She had been, and still remained, terrified from the attempt made after her fight with Chan. Her leg had practically collapsed into halves, causing so much pain she had blacked out. It hurt all the more now, and her uncle had insisted she stay longer, but Magg was desperate to end her reliance on the group that, in her eyes, had repeatedly failed her and her family both.

So, she held it up. Until her muscles weren't just exhausted, but cramping excruciatingly, because it was better than accidentally putting weight on it again, than risking that happening all over. They had to rest often all because of her, and already hunger was setting in. Still, they were making progress, and that was what mattered. She was closer to home than she had been in so long, the mountains growing more distinct in the distance with each rise of the sun.

Magg had wanted to see them now, and snuck away from the child as she slept while Galen hunted. Trying to find higher ground, somewhere with a clearing, when she caught a stranger's scent. She froze in place, fear ricocheting around inside her chest like a trapped bird. Magg hated it. It didn't smell like him, and she knew that her guardian was not so far as to not hear her howl, so what was there to fear? She couldn't let her nameless assailant have control over her still like that.

Magg gathered her courage, chin lifting as brown eyes determinedly surveyed her surroundings.

"Hello?" she called out, a touch of indignance to her voice.

The crouched wolf crept closer and closer with coiled muscles. His mouth began to salivate at the expectation of fresh meat. HelloA voice called out, his heart dropping to the forest floor. The doe's head popped up along with her white tail as she glanced around. Her eyes settled onto the strange wolf, drawing his own that way. Fear seemed to have a grasp on the olden animal as her tense body remained in place pointed towards the dark stranger. Luca seized the opportunity given to him, launching himself and latching onto her shoulder. The old gal stumbled, then began to run dragging him along with her. He tried to plant his paws to throw her off balance. Instead, the doe kicked up a hind hoof and successfully dislodged the man's grip.

Luca felt the blood draining from his face as he watched the doe fade into the distance. He popped his jaw which was now sore from the swift hit. How had he managed to mess this up? Disheartened he turned to look towards the unfamiliar face. She'd given him a chance and he'd thrown it away. He forced a smile and wagged his tail, but his voice gave way to the defeat he felt, "Hello." His stoic face remained with ever-gentle eyes as he looked over her injuries. "Are you seeking help?" His mind drifted back to Leo then Pan.

"HE SPEAKS"