Spectral Woods The Games You'd Play

For @Kyna <3
Set at the edge of the woods, along the base of the mountains.

- Before noon, Light snow - 28 ° F/-2 ° C

For the first time in her life, Nalda had slept alone, away from the Pines. After yesterday's experiences, she hadn't felt like heading home, rather, she wanted to continue exploring. It had been easy to find a small crevice in the rocks where she could curl up for the night, and she had fallen asleep surprisingly easily despite the strange, lonely surroundings. The next morning she awoke to snow once again falling, a thin layer already covering everything, and seeming to stick. As she unfolded her lanky legs, she felt the chilling bite in the air and understood why the white cover wasn't melting; Too cold... But she doubted it would last long into the day, one the sun started to warm everything up.

Trailing along the foothills of the mountain, she continued southward, feeling exhilarated by all the new, and the fact that every step brought her further and further from home. Even as the day progressed, snow continued to drift down between the trees, the sky above covered in lead grey clouds, and it was almost like the sun had gone into hibernation, its heat never truly penetrating the dense atmosphere. The russet youth felt her resolve starting to falter, the growing snow drifts making her fear that she would not be able to find her way back home. And in the end, despite her rebellious mindset, she wanted to go back home.

Word count: 235

"Speech" Thoughts

"I set fire to the rain"

(This post was last modified: Nov 02, 2015, 02:08 PM by Nalda.)

 

The snow had come again!

Kyna greeted the chilly day with a pleased wag of her tail, unbothered by the nip in the air as she danced out of the family’s den. Her agouti coat had gotten quite thick as the days grew shorter, her mixed lineage preparing her well for the harshest months of the year. The girl seemed to almost double in volume (though most of was simply fluff, for she’d always remain slender in skeletal stature), and she found herself quite comfortable on her mountaintop home, even as autumn gave up its dying breaths, rolling over as winter sunk its claws into Relic Lore.

She did not call for Wren this time – their last exploration had proven fruitless. Even with the fresh blanket across the earth, they had not found anything leading to Ace (or towards Aponi, either). Unwilling to disappoint her friend again, she set forward from Silent Moon Plateau in a new direction, confident that her own paw prints would lead her home again. (That an increased rate of snowfall might erase her path never occurred to the young girl, and she carried on happily through the chilly day.)

Descending back into the woods, Kyna had half a mind to call for her pumpkin patch friend. She was certain that @Sahalie lived around here somewhere, though her actual location was unknown. ‘In the trees’, the other girl had told her, and there were plenty of those to be found. About to call for the other pup, she tipped her head to howl when she realized she was not alone – another female of similar stature caught her eye. The pup bounded forward excitedly, thinking her friend had read her mind, but closer inspection revealed this wolf to also wear reddish and brown hues. She looked nothing like shadowy Sahalie.

“…you aren’t Sahalie,” she stated, immediately scolding herself for blurting out the obvious. The other girl certainly knew who she was…or wasn’t. “…what’s…your name?”

A wild dissertation appears!

@Kyna

The grey and russet girl had come almost to a standstill, for the first time feeling the nip of the cold, beginning to seep through her fur, that had yet to fill out fully for winter. She found herself at an impasse, her insecure side pulling her homeward, while the stubborn rebelliousness urged her to continue on; She had slept out here last night, she could do so again, right? Honestly, she didn't much want to anymore, she was cold and kind of hungry, and she did miss her mother, just a bit.

Then a sound made her head turn back from gazing homeward, ears perked curiously, while her tail tentatively curled in between her legs. At first she could only hear something else shuffling through the snow, and she felt a slight tremor across her back, a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Then another wolf slowly came into view, unusual, warm golden fur standing out clearly against the snow. Initially Nalda's ears both flattened back, head lowering instinctively into a defensive pose. But as the stranger came closer, she slowly raised one rust-red ear, tilting her head a little; She's… Like me? Granted, she still wasn't very experienced with identifying other wolves, but she felt quite sure that this female was close to her own age, a pup from this last spring. It made her feel more at ease, at least, the girl wouldn't be a threat. But she continued to watch her in silence, not sure whether to initiate, she'd always been more for studying rather than socialize.

In the end the choice was taken away from her as the lighter pup caught sight of her too, leaping happily through the snow before suddenly stopping, a rather disappointed look on her face. Nalda, who had taken half a step back at the sudden advance, head rearing up, startled, now stretched her muzzle forwards, slowly, wrinkling her brow a little as she looked at the stranger. I light, almost outraged voice lifted from the lass' maw, her statement making Nalda's brows unfurl and rise slightly. "I'm not." She confirmed, voice neutral, while she wondered who or what Sahalie might be; It's a name? Another pup, probably… Suddenly she felt a little more uneasy, there were more?! The unsociable girl had to restrain herself to not look over her shoulder nervously, hoping that these others would not suddenly appear; One was more than enough. Then the stranger spoke again, drawing Nalda's full attention back to her, the question voiced in a much more hesitant manner than before.

Presentations, another thing the young Zamora had little experience in, and for a moment she felt like she shouldn't answer; Isn't she supposed to say hers first? But in the end, she decided to try and be properly polite; Probably her mother's influence pushing somewhere in the back of her head. "I'm Nalda." She said, looking up to meet the other girls orange eyes briefly, before turning her own golden's down, shyly scraping at the snow with one paw; Now what..?

Word count: 508

"Speech" Thoughts

"I set fire to the rain"

Because of work, my activity will fluctuate every other week. For more information and OOC preferrences check out my profile

“Nalda? Okay.”

It appeared the name meant nothing to the other little girl – perhaps she’d gone in the wrong direction to find the weird berry patch. She had half a thought to ask the newcomer if she knew where to find the wolves that lived with the oak tree, but dismissed it just as quickly. If she had no idea who Sahalie was, there was no reason to know the wolves that her friend had lived with.

Before her mind could race any further with her, the young lass finally realized she’d forgotten her manners in her surprise of discovering a stranger. “Oh! Sorry. I’m Kyna,” she murmured after a moment, looking down at her paws in embarrassment. She was usually so on top of civilities. If she could have blushed, her golden cheeks would have been all lit up. As it were, her tail drooped and her ears flickered as she tried to recover the conversation.

“Do you live here?” she asked, deciding this the best course to pursue. Once again, her mind swung back to the swarthy pup she met before – but no, that was rude! That she had been looking for @Sahalie was not the point, and she had no desire to hurt Nalda’s feelings. It simply wasn’t in her nature. “Do you want to play in the snow?”

A wild dissertation appears!

Nalda Zamora The stranger repeated her name with what appeared, to Nalda at least, to be affected cheer. Then silence grew between them again, attributing to the darker pups deduction that the golden lass was disappointed by this surprise meeting. And why wouldn't she be really; I'm not that exciting, especially if she was looking for someone else… Nalda was again contemplating taking her departure, in fact, she was just about to turn on her heels when the girl's voice piped up once more. Golden eyes lifted to see that it was now the stranger's turn to look at her paws, embarrassment in her voice as she gave her own introduction. Nalda's ears perked, head tilting ever so slightly; "Kyna." She mumbled, as it seemed she was supposed to. Kyna was a bit bigger than, her coat a few shades lighter and leaning more towards the golden, but covering her entire body, broken only by the creamy belly that was similar to Nalda's own, and a smudge of darkness between her brows. If someone was to observe the two from a distance, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that they were opposites. Despite being taller, Kyna exhibited a lean build, adding to the remaining lankiness of puppyhood, which had all but vanished from Nalda, who was shorter and stockier, her squared shoulders and barrel chest weighing out her proportions, even if they still looked odd, like she had yet to fully grow into them. Despite of this, Nalda couldn't help but feel like they weren't all that different, perhaps it was their closeness in age. In any case, she found herself intrigued by the other youngster, no longer contemplating her escape, even if she couldn't think of anything to say. Luckily Kyna was quick to regain herself, looking back up with a fresh question on her lips. The russet girl's oversized ears fell backwards at the query, eyes widening a little as she looked around. "Uhm… No." She answered, wondering what exactly was meant by the question; This particular spot looked quite deserted to her. She almost wanted to add: do you? But that seemed rather silly; If she did, she would know I didn't. Nalda was afraid they would go back to awkward silence again, she really wasn't all that good at this conversation thing, but Kyna was surprisingly quick with her next question. Nalda's ears perked up a little, brows lifting. "Sure." She answered, tentatively, determined not to drop the ball again; "Play… What?" Word count: 415 ”Speech” Thoughts

Fall-of-rain @ DA

Because of work, my activity will fluctuate every other week. For more information and OOC preferrences check out my profile

So much time had passed since she had seen her quiet friend, and yet so much had changed. Her brother had disappeared with the leaves, her packmate wood soon die like the trees. But Sahalie was more or less the same girl, a little hardened, a little less prone to smiling. Just as determined, though, longing for closeness still. Most of her forays out beyond the boundaries of Oak Tree Bend had been to the north, to look for her brother. But it had occurred to her that perhaps he had not gone north. Perhaps the mountain wolves, Kyna , might know anything about Drift's whereabouts. The journey was a little more selfish than that, though: mostly she just wanted to see her friend. Drifts love of all things wet, squelchy, and brown probably wouldn't have taken him to the cold hard rocks that climbed to the sky. Drift wouldn't have liked them.

Just as the trees began to thin out, Sahalie was surprised at her luck. Her friend's scent drifted right passed her --so close! Sahalie had not expected finding Kyna to be this easy, especially given her failed attempt that had lead her to Sven instead. Maybe Kyna had come looking for her.

"Kyna!" Sahalie shouted, bounding through the snow in a manner reminiscent of a bulldozer. "I can't believe it's you!" Only when she skidded to a stop a mere foot away from her firebrand friend did she realize there was another wolf there. It occurred to her that she might have been interrupting something.

"Oh. Whose this?" Her tail wagged eagerly, waiting for Kyna to introduce the stranger.

“Alright!”

But no sooner had Nalda agreed to play in the snow did the moon wolf realized she had little idea of what games they could actually play in the snow.  Back at home, she and Wren had practiced tracking when the snow fell and made prints much more obvious.  Or she tried to eat the flakes while they fell, but that hardly seemed like an exciting game for two to engage in.  An idea had finally struck, and the blond opened her mouth to explain when she caught movement out of the side of her vision, and a familiar voice temporarily sidetracked her suggestion.

“Sahalie!” she replied, brows shooting upwards in surprise.  Just a few moments ago, she’d decided she must be in the wrong place – and here her friend was, appearing as if she’d known Kyna had been looking for her in the first place.  Her tail swung behind her as she waited for the girl to approach, reaching out to nudge a dark cheek once she was in reach.  Glancing back at the third female, she nodded.  “This is Nalda.  We were going to play in the snow.  You can play too?” she suggested, assuming the other child had nothing else to do. “I was thinking – we could slide through it, and see who could go the farthest?  Unless – someone has a better idea?”

(This post was last modified: Feb 05, 2016, 08:49 PM by Kyna.)

A wild dissertation appears!

@Sahalie

Nalda Zamora Kyna seemed excited by her agreement, but then grew silent, causing Nalda to once again lower her eyes to her snow covered paws. She tried to think of a way to continue the conversation, think up a game they could play perhaps, but she was not really good at games. Still as the silence drew out, she felt obligated to say something. So she lifted her head to speak, but was stopped by a sudden outcry. Russet tipped head swiveled, eyes widening and ears falling back in alarm as she saw a dark form plowing towards them. It seemed the stranger was headed for Kyna though, and the golden lass greeted her heartfelt; Oh… Sahalie. The name she had called before, the girl she was looking for. Nalda didn't have time to feel dejected though, as the duo quickly turned towards her, Kyna introducing her to the newcomer without hesitation. "Uhm… Hi, Sahalie..?" The fubsy pup attempted, a nervous half smile on her lips. She hoped she'd gotten the name right. Then Kyna suggested a game, and Nalda perked her ears, tilting her head in contemplation while she looked at the snow. Finally she nodded her head, muttering a consenting: "Allright." She'd try it. It wasn't a game she'd played before, nor seen the pups at home play, so she was willing to give it a go; Maybe she would enjoy it more than she had any other snow related activities. At least it was worth a try. Word count: 248 ”Speech” Thoughts

Fall-of-rain @ DA

Because of work, my activity will fluctuate every other week. For more information and OOC preferrences check out my profile

@Kyna tag you're it!

The gentle nudge at her cheek reassured Sahalie that they were, after all, still friends. Her fear was mostly borne from the fact that the two of them had neglected to properly arrange for another play date at their hideout, and even two months later nothing had come out of their plans. But maybe that was what was happening now, Sahalie realized, turning to give this Nalda a good look. She was not so red as Kyna, more grey over all and nearly a whole tail-length taller than herself. Nalda's ears were slowly coming back up, and Sahalie's own flickered uncomfortably at the subtle anxiety in her tone. For her newest acquaintance, Sahalie produced the warmest smile she could and tried to control the excitement in her voice, "Hi there!"

Snow games? Her tongue lolled out of her mouth. Nalda sounded awfully serious, but at least she was game. "Sounds like fun!" the otter girl chirped, flicking the underside of Kyna's chin with her nose as if to congratulate her for her wonderful idea. She would have flicked her ear if it had been within reach, but a chin would do.

"You go first Kyna and show us how you want us to do it!" Sahalie was unsure about the third girl, but she had certainly never done this before. Sahalie didn't want to step on anyone's toes by breaking the rules — if there were rules. A demonstration would be good. Her gaze flicked back to Nalda and she made sure to smile. 

For a moment she glanced between the two girls anxiously, hoping one friend would not find fault in the other. Introductions seemed to go relatively smoothly, however, and Kyna found herself deflating with relief. She didn’t need someone to premiate her for making peace, but it certainly felt much nicer than the tensions at home. It was solved with much less issue, too.

Of course, her peace did not last for long. While her suggestion had gone over well, suddenly dread knotted her stomach as she glanced wildly from @Nalda to Sahalie. “You want me to d-demonstrate?” she squeaked, fire burst eyes ringed with white as her mind took off with everything that could possibly go wrong. Oh, how easily she could make a fool of herself like this! She whined softly as she glanced down at her paws – could she even do this?

Inhaling deeply, the young wolf tried to steel herself. She’d invented this game, hadn’t she? Waiting for Wren to meet her to go tracking outside of Silent Moon Plateau, the girl had slipped and slid across the snow, each run growing a bit longer. “…here goes,” she peeped. “I haven’t done this for a while, so…” Cutting herself off with a shrug, she turned away from the pair and broke into a trot. The trot became a lope, and she galloped several strides before slamming on the brakes and spreading her legs like an eagle spread its wings. As a result, the pup went sliding for several lengths. When she stopped, she wore a bright grin.

“Just like that!”

A wild dissertation appears!