Secluded Spring i ate your soul.

The feathery shadow had grown weary of travelling, although the thrill still remained. It fluttered in her chest which each step she took, leathery soles barely touching the ground beneath her as Persephone maneuvered around trees. Salmon tongue lolled from her open lips, ears pricked forward — always alert for nearby strangers. Since she had left home the young female had kept to herself, and she intended to keep it that way for as long as she was able to. Not once did the youth pick up a companion during her traveling — occasionally she would stop and ask a fellow lone wolf for directions and opinions, but Persephone would be on her way as soon as she got what she needed. Her family had made it impossible for the shadow to trust others, but Persephone didn't mind. She had gotten used to being alone and was comfortable that way. Trust only led to problems.

The trees began to lessen as she neared the spring, her mouth salivating as soon as her cold, gray eyes fell upon the pool of water. Her pace decreased and she approached the water, head down and ears pressed to her skull. The cool water soothed her dry, aching throat, a smile appearing over her cracked lips. It dissipated, almost as quickly as it had appeared, and now that Persephone's thirst had been quenched she returned focus to her surroundings. The Spring was quiet, which didn't bother the raven-coloured female. Stepping back from the small body of water, the loner settled down onto a sun-kissed patch of grass.

Persephone didn't like to settle in places for too long, as it allowed her thoughts to wander. What happened in the past was just that, the past. The female had moved on with her life, and didn't like lingering on what had happened. There was nothing she could change — she had unwillingly accepted this fact. There was nothing more she could do but continue on with her new life.

(This post was last modified: Sep 09, 2011, 08:08 PM by Indru.)

By nature a curious creature, Nuka’s exploration of the region most familiar to Indru had caused him to bump into quite a few characters, though, if anything, he relished the chance to socialise and thus did not mind these chance meetings with other wolves. As it stood, he and Tala had crossed through fields the day before, taking down a rabbit together—which was no great feat, but food was food and as lone wolves they had to eat whenever the chance arose—before slipping into the trees as night fell. Being in an exposed area made them vulnerable, they recognised, and thus they sought somewhere more sheltered to sleep and rest for the night, whereupon being located near the forest became a blessing in disguise. They had gathered their strength in sleep, slipping into unconsciousness with full stomachs, curled around each other as littermates are wont to do, even in adulthood, and the night had passed without event. The arrival of dawn had led to Nuka waking up first, stretching, and nudging his sister lightly to inform her of his consciousness. He licked her muzzle with a brief explanation of his thirst, promised he would be back, and loped off in search of water.

Which was where he was now: moving easily between the trunks of trees, hunting for a place to quench the parched sensation in his throat. A few moments ago, he had picked up the relatively fresh scent of another wolf, no more than an hour or two old—which was fresh by his standards, though not necessarily by others’—and had naturally adapted his pace in order to catch up with this nameless creature, his reason for doing so being that it was somewhat possible they knew where he could find water. He was not searching urgently, and thus it did not matter to him if it transpired that they, too, did not know where to look, but if his assumption was correct, it would ultimately mean that he and Tala could potentially spend the day relaxing by the bank instead of moving onwards and upwards on their mission to go out in the world alone. A rest would do them good, he supposed; headstrong Tala was so eager to discover things and make her mark that there were times when her enthusiasm caused both of them to momentarily forget how important rest was. Not everything had to be rushed. They were young—they had time to discover things at their own pace, however fast or slow that happened to be.

Lengthening his stride to a lope, he swung left, trailing after the scent, and burst through a curtain of vines, consequently realising that he had stumbled upon the very source of water that he was seeking. The scent he’d been trailing was strong here, hitting him as quickly as the observation of water did, and a quick glance around confirmed that the wolf he’d been following was, indeed, here. Whilst his assumption had been correct, Nuka had not really expected to bump into them quite so literally; he’d been under the impression that they would have been and gone, but apparently this notion was incorrect. Hesitating for a moment, before padding over towards the bank—the wolf seemed of no threat; she was sprawled out in quite a relaxed manner and he had no wish to alarm her—he took his fill of drink before glancing over his shoulder at the young female, contemplating what to do.

It was quite rude, he knew, to intrude in her space without introduction. Whilst he had not intended to be rude, he had overlooked the fact that she had been here first, and thus turned to face her properly, features displaying a look of intrigue. “Ah,” Nuka murmured, seeking a way in which to ratify the situation, his posture as friendly as he could possibly make it, tail wagging hesitantly, “I didn’t mean to intrude.” This was true enough. “Forgive me?”

The warmth of the sun on her back started to lull the female into the world of dreams, her stone-coloured eyes struggling to remain open. Resting her dark maw over her forelegs, Persephone allowed herself to slump further into the grass. She was aware — for now — that she was safe, and that there was no immediate danger. Ears remained perked, perched neatly on the top of her skull, as she never let her guard completely fall. With her inability to trust others added to her desire to remain alone, the dark youth knew that it was dangerous for her to become vulnerable. She had n.arrowly managed to escape a few confrontations between other loners on her travels — the tears on her right ear were proof of that. Persephone was a diplomat rather than a fighter, but preferred to keep her lips shut if nothing needed to be said.

As a puppy, however, Persephone had been the complete opposite. The leggy female wasn't sure if she missed her previous attitude, but believed it was better if she didn't acknowledge it.

She sensed the stranger long before they had entered the Spring, her ears turned in the direction that the male would be coming from. Cold, gray pools narrowed slightly for a moment as she inhaled deeply, examining the scent that lingered on his coat. It was not swamped by the scents of other wolves, telling the female that he was a loner like herself. This eased her, though not completely, and Persephone returned her focus to the still surface of the Spring. As he approached the water, the female took this as an opportunity to study the stranger. He seemed harmless despite his large size, but looks were often deceiving. He turned toward her once he drank his fill, words spilling from his licorice lips and breaking the steady silence that the lone female had grown accustom to. "Forgiven." The sound of her voice was almost foreign to the youth, as she couldn't remember the last time she had spoken to another. A lop-sided smile cracked her maw and she gave her tail a few, short wags — which she hoped would come across as being friendly, another concept that she wasn't quite used to.