Phantom Hollow you at the barricade, listen to this

For @Maeve only.
Dated 10/20 - Clear skies & sunny, midday.

SVEN ARCHER

& the night is closing in

So much had changed since last he met the ink-dipped girl @Sahalie, with all that he had learned over the past few weeks or so greatly affecting the boy and the way he lived his life. What had not been made different was the attention he sought, the secret craving to belong with someone, to be joyously welcomed by them as @Piety used to so long ago. The age-mate girl had been friendly, so unlike the pretentious @Niles and his sisters, the first he'd met of his age that had actually seemed to appreciate his presence at any length, and what was more, she had wanted to see him again. Consumed then by the search for his mother, the pale boy had been unable to make concrete plans, but left with a promise of soon all the same. He'd broken that to some extent, this certainly was not soon, and nerves wracked him that perhaps he had already ruined this opportunity for friendship.

She was not within the caves where they had met, but Sven was not so easily discouraged. Rather, the boy pressed on, certain that as he had found Piety, he too would find his shadeling acquaintance. Unfortunately, he did not have the leisure of multiple days to search this foreign side of the mountain, but with Archer confidence earned from his father he believed it to be unnecessary. Thus, he pressed deeper and deeper into the Fen, seeking her both by scent and sound, occasionally calling out her name.

Hours passed before the atmosphere around him began to change. The litter of debris and dirt at his paws was steadily becoming overtaken by soft, verdant mosses, while the light around him began to diminish as if the sun were sinking. In fact, the youth was encouraged regularly to check the celestial orbs position within the blue sky on multiple occasions to reaffirm with himself that time was not, in fact, slipping by so quickly. Rather, the canopy above him was growing thicker, gradually choking the rays until they were no more. A dense fog rose up from the ground, growing deeper and deeper the further the Archer youth traveled. To most, this place that he was entering would be considered eerie, frightening even, but the pale ghost felt quite comforted by the gloom and the cool embrace of the misty air.

He had ceased calling out to Sahalie, nearly forgetting about his search as he became loss in his own fascination, mesmerized by his surroundings. It could not be known by him that this place had a name, Phantom Hollow, but it was already committed to memory as his favorite Eastern location.

Maeve had come to the conclusion that she was lost long ago, though somehow she still managed to remain unfazed. Nevertheless, the fae had a hunch that she hadn't strayed too far from home, not that there was anyone residing in worry back at the plateau anywho. The most notable characteristic of her new found surrounding was unmistakably the tremendously heavy fog, engulfing her body without a care in the world. It almost likened her to the appearance of a... 'Ghost...' the youth's eyes gripped shut, and with an exaggerated gulp she shook the idea from her mind. 'I came here to stop thinkin' about dead things, and that's wha' ghosts are.. Dead.'

With each passing paw step it came inevitably more impossible to rely on sight as a basic guide for travel. Maeve found herself concentrating heavily on sound and scent to bring her deeper into the hallow, still declining the opportunity to head back home. Every so often she'd hear a faint noise in the distance, though no evident signs of danger ever really made way toward her. The pup had decided a likely safe outcome with this specific territory, and made note to visit it again if fellow pack members ever decided to pester her. Temporarily sitting down to relax her muscles, the fae perked her ears up to listen a little more carefully.

As paw pads began making way toward the small orphan, Maeve once more found herself standing up. She'd assume for now that the presence was Wren, or perhaps even Celandine, coming to interrupt her blissful time alone for their own selfish needs. As they always did. "Go away." the pup pouted, displeased that they'd traveled all the way out here just to cause her more troubles. "I'm fine by myself, I promise..."

I used to care, I was being cared for.

Maeve Destine-Caravello

(This post was last modified: Oct 29, 2015, 07:00 AM by Maeve.)

SVEN ARCHER

& the night is closing in

Go away the words surged upward through the fog to meet his ears, freezing his steps momentarily as he hovered, a single paw raised, to take in what he could of this presence that had previously been unknown to him. She spoke again, and he recognized the voice to be young. Was this perhaps the Kyna that @Sahalie had thought him to be? His nose quivered as he pressed forward, uncautious given that the stranger lurking was assumed to be but an age-mate. She wanted to be left alone, and the sentiment nearly turned him mauka, but he also knew that sometimes when a wolf asked to be given their space, it wasn't really what they needed. Furthermore, he was curious. Before meeting the raven-pelted girl at the tunnels, he thought all kids to be stuck up, but she had proven that he could make friends his age. Perhaps he could make another?

The tendrils of fog parted around him as he moved, his pale coat and ghostly eyes making him one with the ethereal scene. Up ahead, a wolfish shadow loomed, and Sven called out.

"Y'sure you don't wanna talk?" he asked, hoping that if he pressed the matter, she would relent and allow him this meeting. "Or we could just play instead? No talking needed!"

(This post was last modified: Nov 08, 2015, 05:22 AM by Sven.)