Heartleaf Creek [SoW Drop] trouble the water

This is a Random Event! It is 'all welcome' to anyone, but will be archived after October 31st if not posted to.

It started out with just one stag. As its herd drank at the shore, it waded out into the cold waters until they bubbled at its flanks. The others followed gradually by twos and threes, until they each were in the current too. They gathered facing the same bank, heads high and ears forward while their glassy eyes stared.

For days.

Other animals came and went, the weather turned and battered them, but never would they move or look anywhere different. Even to drink from the very river they were rooted in. Soon enough, the inexplicable vigil would take a turn for the truly macabre - the herd would not move until one by one, they collapsed from exhaustion and dehydration into Heartleaf Creek.

(This post was last modified: Nov 14, 2024, 07:24 PM by Eros.)

It was a normal day, mostly. He'd done normal things. Seen normal things. Had normal experiences. It was a normal day.

Until it wasn't.

Isidore had only wanted a drink. He'd made his way down to the creek he'd been hanging around, humming to himself and wondering where his next meal might come from, when he spotted something... not very normal at all.

Deer, dozens of them, stood in the water, eyes glazed and bodies completely still. Issa furrowed his brows, creeping up to the bank to study the ungulates, though his cautious approach turned out to be unnecessary. No matter how close the silver wolf got, the deer didn't flee or stamp their feet or even flick their gaze toward him.

It was like he didn't exist.

He felt like he was in a trance, staring at their unseeing eyes. Eventually, one wavered, and dropped into the water, eyes still the same in death. Isidore was frozen, confused and a little frightened, watching the deer as they watched something he couldn't see.

They smelled different, and that drove him far more than the potential for good eating. If he couldn't explain or name it, he certainly couldn't know it was safe. In a way, he expected seeing to make sense of the puzzle. It didn't, though. The stream pushed past a corpse amongst quivering and water-logged limbs, which all held up deer who looked to be not too far behind their fallen kin. Their eyes were unwavering, but even so dull it was clear they weren't retreated into thought. They were watching something he couldn't see.

Eros' fur prickled along his spine, and then he noticed Isidore. He was still around? The question bounced around his head a moment before fading away, his focus back on the herd. He continued forward, protectively putting himself between the deer and his acquaintance as best as he could without getting into the former's space. Whatever was wrong, whatever was happening, he'd be ready to defend.

(This post was last modified: Oct 28, 2024, 03:21 AM by Aven.)

Eros' sudden appearance jolted Issa out of his stupor. Standing between him and the haunted deer, Isidore realized that he was trying to protect him, which was both very sweet and very appreciated, because there was a nervous chill that had settled over him, and he wasn't really sure how to handle this whole... thing.

While the other man had been fairly respectful of his personal space, it was not a necessary precaution. Isidore scooted up until he was nearer to the pack wolf, still a bit behind but closer to his side, emboldened by his presence.

"I'm guessing this isn't a normal thing for deer to do around here?" he asked, voice hushed, a bit nervous that any loud noises might startle the entranced creatures. It had to be one of the strangest things he'd ever seen, after all, and from Eros' response, he figured this wasn't a common occurrence.

(This post was last modified: Nov 08, 2024, 11:42 PM by Isidore.)

Eros' stance remained firmly poised. Acting as a physical bulwark had always come naturally to him, even in childhood. No matter how darkened his mind had become, that was never forgotten when the moment called for it. Even as Iss flanked him, his gaze never left the potential threat.

His jaws parted to answer, but words were slow to come. He was trying to piece together what was happening, what he should even do besides just wait. Before he could get something out, another doe collapsed. Her body hit the water abruptly, and not a single one of her herd reacted. They didn't even flinch, the legs she fell against unmoved. Eros' hackles shot up and he began to growl. This wasn't right, and Isidore wasn't safe lingering here.

He backpedaled just as suddenly, intentionally into his company so as to guide him away. Those damned deer still didn't even acknowledge them. Eros' heart was starting to race, a kind of panic blossoming in his chest. He pushed with increasing urgency, each step placed with the priority of blocking Issa as completely as possible from those awful things. They needed to go, before something happened to him!

Another deer dropped, eliciting no response from the others. It was horrifying, this moment, and yet, Isidore was already spinning it into a story in his mind. The gears were turning, and he couldn't help but wonder about the why of it. How long must they have been standing there? What could have gotten them locked in such a trance? Was it natural? Supernatural?

So many questions with no answers - with no time to answer, because Isidore was very suddenly being whisked away.

Still, he couldn't help but voice his musings aloud. It was scary, yes, but it was also interesting.

"Were they poisoned? Was it the water? Or maybe... maybe possession?" he asked, trying to peek over Eros' shoulder. Another deer dropped, the water rippled, and the rest of the herd remained still. Like something was holding them in place. "It's really... really weird, right? I've never seen deer do this before. I've never seen anything do this before." So wrapped up in the strangeness of it all, it had barely registered in Issa's mind that his own story was becoming less of a knight protecting a damsel in distress and more a kidnapping.

He didn't feel like he was in danger, but Eros' reaction was concerning, too, and Isidore struggled a little - which did very little in the grand scheme of things, as he was much smaller and less well-fed than the man who was herding him away. "Hey, so, uh, can I ask where we're going?" he piped up, paws skittering on leaf litter as he tried to keep his footing.

(This post was last modified: Nov 10, 2024, 06:32 PM by Isidore.)

Eros took in Isidore's words, though they surely didn't sound to be as close to his ears as they really were. It was almost as though there were more distance between himself and the wolf he was herding than those deer, than that sense of danger. It was louder, so much so it made his head hurt. It wasn't until they were blocked from view entirely that he finally was able to start attempting to calm himself.

'Hey, so, uh, can I ask where we're going?'

Eros blinked, paws slowing. He took measured breaths to try and steady his heart. His ears were turned back, listening for the sound of splashing water and thudding hoofbeats. The forest remained still around them instead.

Poisoned. Maybe that was it. Maybe the herd had ingested something... he needed to talk to @Clover. Perhaps she would know, even if plants which caused ailments rather than healed had been more of @Oleander's specialty...

"Sorry," he mumbled, taking a full step back and giving himself a shake. He was done pushing on Issa, but he also didn't step around him, or otherwise remove himself from being fixedly between.

"We just shouldn't stick around here, we don't know what could happen."

His concern remained clear, timberland features pinched. Still, his next observation was spoken as a suggestion.

"The nearer we are to the pack, though, the safer you'll be..."

Eros stopped pushing him away once the deer were out of sight, but he still looked tense and unraveled. Isidore wasn't quite sure what to make of it - first he'd caught the man standing in a lightning storm without a care in the world if he got struck or not, and now this. Something felt so wrong about every bit of it, but Isidore couldn't make heads or tails of why.

Sorry.

Brows knitting together, Isidore tipped his head to the side. "Why're you sorry?" he asked, confused. What had Eros done wrong, he wondered? Sure, he'd been a little pushy, but it was with safety in mind, and Issa had done something kind of similar on their first meeting, so maybe they were even now.

He was right, though. Isidore, while very interested in why the deer were behaving so strangely, didn't want to get caught in the middle of it when - or if - it came to an end.

The next statement caught him off guard. Issa was well aware of the pack nearby - had been skirting around it for weeks now - but had yet to embolden himself enough to stop by, and certainly not enough to ask for shelter. In fact, he'd been planning on roughing it out in the wilderness by himself for the rest of the winter - had wanted to travel more - but it had been exceptionally difficult to leave the area, for whatever reason.

The heart-shaped leaves were interesting. The deer, though scary, were interesting. Eros, though strange, was interesting. Isidore did want to stick around, to see what else he could find. To learn more about what - and who - he had already found.

"Is... that an invitation?" he inquired, a sort of tentative half-smile on his maw.

(This post was last modified: Nov 10, 2024, 09:19 PM by Isidore.)

Why? There were several reasons for it, weren't there? Not giving him a choice, not matching his energy or at least engaging with his conversation, being so caught up in his own head and what might go wrong with the dying herd. Having multiple answers made it even harder to articulate, though. He shied away from the challenge, treating that particular question as rhetorical while his peach eyes dodged left.

Iss's piqued interest drew them back. His own lips took on the slightest of bends, amused that he was amused, and still seemingly so at peace with the world. Even when it was ominous and unexplainable. It made him a little wistful, to see that kind of light still alive somewhere. Around here, flames like that got smothered, but Isidore wasn't tethered the way the rest of the current Backwater population was. As long as he remained as such, he'd hopefully be able to keep his warmth.

"Have you been waiting for one?" Eros asked in return, a rare hint of teasing to his voice. It didn't persist.

"You're more than welcome to come to the Backwater if you need a little support for a bit."

(This post was last modified: Nov 12, 2024, 01:29 AM by Eros.)

Eros was far from a bad conversation partner - a bit closed-off at times, and he couldn't answer every question, but he seemed... troubled, so Issa couldn't blame him for it - but there was something in the way those peach eyes sparked that had Isidore's own brightening. Something akin to pride warmed his chest, like he'd accomplished something great in drawing that tiny bit of teasing out of the other man.

"Well, I think it'd be rude to invite myself, wouldn't it?" he pointed out, tail swishing. In truth, Isidore wasn't sure what he'd been waiting for, or if joining up with a pack was something he wanted in the long run. His own pack had been more a loosely-connected series of siblings and a mother with ever-changing partners, back home. They hadn't even had a last name to unite them, with Risaela being so adamantly against tying any of her children down.

Did Eros have a last name, Isidore wondered?

He wanted to know.

Tipping his head to the side, he made another inquiry: "What should I give you, then?" As far as he'd been told, typically there was some kind of exchange involved when you joined a pack, and besides, it would be extra rude to take advantage of this kindness without giving something of his. Right?

(This post was last modified: Nov 11, 2024, 04:43 AM by Isidore.)