Heartleaf Creek sat front row in my need to fall

All welcome.
Random Events: Dead Empress Backwater, a pack of coyotes has been spotted prowling around, potentially looking to challenge your pack's dominance in the area. & A recent heat wave has left the forests drier than usual.
Trigger Warning: Eros is presently suicidal. It is very probable that ideation will come up in his posts no matter the thread context.

Eros was scouting outside of the territory, trying to pin down where the recent coyote trails all stemmed from. They were as good as dead once found, having thoroughly crossed the line in their apparent attempts to encroach on Backwater territory. Unfortunately, he wasn't having much luck so far, yet he remained stubborn. Even as the wind steadily picked up and a familiar energy built within the air, heralding an oncoming storm.

It was much needed, summer apparently intending to go out with a vengeance, but that also meant it would likely be powerful, possibly even severe. They weren't strangers to twisters in this region, after all. Still, he was frustrated with his lack of progress, needed to achieve more before giving in and returning home. What if they broke through and got to @Ally?

The forest had given way to a small field, tracks winding through the sun-withered grasses. He pursued them diligently, soaking in every hint they might betray, and thus found himself thoroughly out in the open when thunder pealed sharply through the air and all at once the skies let loose. The rain fell heavy and thick, drenching him in mere moments. It's roar filled his ears and his vision became a tantrum of grays.

Eros kept his eyes open as he stopped in his own tracks and tilted his face upward. He should have felt stinging cold against his skin, the vibration of each crack of thunder moving through his body, the electricity in every breath filling his lungs. Fear or awe or thrill.

He felt nothing, as though he might as well have not been there at all.

(This post was last modified: Oct 15, 2024, 12:29 AM by Eros.)

Storms were not Isidore's favorite weather, but with how hot things had been as of late, it was a welcome reprieve. The rain was cool and soothing on his skin, plastering silver fur to his frame. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back to enjoy the downpour, shaking off after on instinct though the rain continued to soak into his pelt.

Though there was no sun to be found, it was still a beautiful day. His mother would've enjoyed it and encouraged him and his siblings to soak it in, as well. It wasn't his favorite, but it had its place.

Still, the thunder was raucous and constant, and as much as Isidore wished to enjoy the weather, he also wasn't much in the mood to be struck by lightning. He'd been on his way to find shelter when he spotted another figure, seemingly basking in the rain. He'd no clue what was going on in the stranger's brain, or how he struggled, but Issa was a good samaritan and wasn't in the business of letting random wolves get electrocuted. Let no one say otherwise.

"Hello, there," he greeted with a swish of his tail, approaching the larger wolf with hardly a hint of hesitation in his step. "Enjoying the rain?" He kept his posture open and relaxed, hoping to convey that he was no threat to the other man.

(This post was last modified: Sep 17, 2024, 03:38 PM by Isidore.)

Eros didn't really hear the words the stranger spoke, appearing as though they'd come down from a raincloud themselves. He blinked slowly at the silver smudge, another colorless streak amongst his vision. The edges of his mouth twitched, plastering on a fake smile a reflexive habit these days, but this wasn't someone he knew. This was the precedent, meaning there was no need to convince this wolf he was still Eros.

He attempted to backtrack in his head, thinking another attempt at processing would do the trick. It didn't.

"What?" he asked, though his voice didn't come out quite right the first time, so repeated louder against the rain, "What?"

Did he need something? Directions, maybe? Eros knew of where to find food and where to seek shelter, could easily point him somewhere else and send him back on his way.

Oh, this guy was kinda out of it, huh? Or maybe Isidore hadn't spoken loud enough? Another clap of thunder sounded, booming and impossibly loud, around them. This was a very bad place for a conversation, it seemed, as much as Issa was trying to find some positive spin on it earlier. This kind of rain was better viewed from the safety of a shelter.

"It's raining pretty bad," he said, voice a little louder to try and combat the tempest. There was water in his eyes, blurring his vision a bit, and he blinked it away rapidly. "Do you know a good place to find shelter?"

Anything to get them out of this downpour ASAP. He didn't know what this guy's deal was, or what had him dissociating in the rain, but he couldn't just leave him out there like this.

(This post was last modified: Nov 16, 2024, 04:56 AM by Isidore.)

Eros' ears pressed forward, dreading needing to ask a second time. Thankfully the other's voice came across far more clearly this time, at least relatively speaking. As he'd thought. He looked around them, trying to see through the downpour. It only took a few seconds to be sure of his answer, not really because of what he saw but because he still knew where he'd come from. He motioned with his muzzle before speaking.

"There's caves in the ground that way, you'll smell them once you're in the trees."

They had a rather particular odor, in his opinion. Faintly, he could scent it now, like breathing through cotton. Was it past the rain or in his head? His gaze had drifted away as he mused over the question. It was fairly clear that he anticipated this to be the end of the stranger's need to interact with him, and that he still had no intentions of relocating himself. Even as the darkness lit with another strike of lightning, thunder roaring after in the wake of a respectful delay.

Oh, good. He'd been heard this time. Unfortunately, it seemed this guy had no interest in coming with him, which was kind of the opposite of the thing Isidore was trying to do. It was good to know where they were, but if he left him behind, he would be way too worried that something bad had happened to him. It simply wasn't an option.

He jumped a little at the next strike of lightning, cringing.

"Great!" he chirped, turning a little, but still keeping an eye on the stranger. He gestured, offering him a smile. "Let's go, then?"

He didn't want to leave this guy behind to get hit by lightning, or catch cold, or... well, there was probably some other third thing that was even worse. He had far too much of a conscience to abandon him to whatever fate awaited him.

Let's? Eros' head turned back, regarding the stranger in much the same way he just had moments before. Rather... blankly, though now he did have a small level of understanding for what was really wanted of him. He'd assumed he'd been the good Samaritan, but apparently the tables were turned. His lips parted again to speak, a refusal on the tip of his tongue. It didn't come out. He didn't really have the energy to disagree, and who knew... maybe the stranger had come across a coyote den recently.

Eros sighed, the sound blessedly concealed by the rain. It filtered into his mouth each time he opened his jaws, and so he didn't do it again. Instead, he'd simply press ahead to lead the way without another word. Even when they reached the tree line, and the storm was a little less all-consuming, he didn't try to communicate. His coral eyes would check in briefly every now and then to assess the other's condition, but mostly they sought the gaps in the ground that were the entrances to the caverns he'd spoken of.

(This post was last modified: Sep 19, 2024, 02:10 AM by Eros.)

There was no verbal response, but that wasn't exactly a surprise. It was becoming clear there was something... wrong with the larger man, but Issa couldn't make heads or tails of it. It didn't matter, though - he needed help, in some way, and help he would get. He followed him, grateful that he was being led, and only then did the strangeness of the other man's statement hit him.

What did he mean, Isidore would smell the caves?

The answer to that question became clear once they got a little closer to them, and Isidore perked his ears, sniffing. How peculiar - the stranger was right about the scent. He padded into the cave after the other man, taking several steps off to put a decent distance between them before shaking off.

"I didn't know what you meant about the whole smelling thing before," he said with a smile, heading back over to the stranger. "But the caves do have a scent." Not bad, necessarily, but it was certainly there. Isidore settled down afterward, grateful that both he and his self-proclaimed charge were out of the bad weather. "Have you been in here before?"

Eros' ears turned toward the sound of water slapping against the limestone boundaries of their craggy shelter, while he pondered the heaviness of his own sodden fur. It wasn't so bad, really. None of it had been.

The stranger's voice sprung ahead of him as he reapproached, commenting on the little detail Eros had earlier used as a hint. He hadn't thought much of it, and admittedly still didn't. So markedly different from the youth he'd once been who could've talked to death anything and everything, no matter the conversation partner. All that wasted breath and he'd still failed to say the things that truly mattered, to make any lasting difference for his family.

Right. He'd been asked a question. Eros' resurfacing guilt caused him to shrug back into the asylum of pretending, though his smile was a shaky sketch of a line rather than boldly printed across his muzzle. It would take a little time to properly reassemble the costume.

"Yeah, I don't live far. You could call this area my stomping grounds," he answered casually as water dripped from his throat, haunches settling down against the hard ground. His tone was a touch tired despite his efforts.

"What about you? Where'd you come from?"

Isidore might not be the smartest wolf around, but he could pick up on the visible... tiredness that seemed to tug at the stranger's every limb. The smile didn't look real, and being surrounded by his family for most of his life, Isidore would know genuine smiles.

But this man seemed exhausted in a way Issa was unfamiliar with, and it made him want to be gentle, like he was handling something fragile. And maybe he was. Maybe this was a situation he needed to be incredibly careful with.

"They're nice stomping grounds," he said, offering the other man a smile. "A little too thunder-y for my taste right now, but maybe I'm just picky." Maybe a joke, however lame it was, would lighten the mood a little bit. Make that smile a little less plastic.

His brows raised a bit when the line of questioning turned toward him. This guy hadn't asked any questions yet, so maybe they were making some progress? "Pretty far from here, actually," he responded, relaxing a little further. "Lived with my family near a nice lake to the south, but I figured it was time to strike out on my own. Adventure a little."

He tipped his head to the side and realized he hadn't introduced himself just yet. "I'm Isidore. Issa. Issy. Whatever sounds best," he offered, letting his tail wag a little as he waited on the stranger to introduce himself in return.

(This post was last modified: Nov 16, 2024, 04:55 AM by Isidore.)