Fireweed Rise Dancing by the stardust

Random Event: Spring showers have come early, resulting in heavy downpours throughout parts of Relic Lore.

After sunset || 6/29 || All Welcome!

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For once it seemed like the thunder and rain had decided to avoid Enoki's neck of the woods as her smoldering amber gaze watched the occasional flash of lightning illuminate a lower portion of the undulating dark storm clouds from her vantage point atop a knoll amidst a sea of night cloaked flames from the blossoming heads of fireweed. Tufts of rabbit fur and tiny bones laid scattered about the piebald's ebony paws to serve as the last visible remnants to her late night snack, an ear twitching forth when another round of thunder rumbled across the distant horizon.

It was always peculiar to witness the event of a spring rainstorm releasing its downpour over Relic Lore while she herself remained perfectly dry, but alas it was better to let mother nature soak those unfortunate to inhabit those targeted areas instead. Enoki had had enough rainy days this season to be satisfied for quite awhile, plus it allowed her to groom the small mess from her meal in peace.

Nothing but the sound of chirping crickets and other nocturnal critters passed the time as swarthy forelimbs were alternated in being bathed by a salmon tongue, each swipe cleaning just a smidgen more crimson staining from each paw than the last until the woman was satisfied her appearance was at a presentable state once more should the arrival of unexpected company be gifted upon her that night. The minutes ticked by and it was the sudden rustling of bushes near the treeline that caused Enoki to rise into a rigid seated position, ears cupping forward in anticipation for the rustlings creator.

"Who's there?" She called out, lids narrowing warily in the general direction of the silent willow sentries. Perhaps a fellow pack mate had also decided to venture out for a late hour snack, or just to give their limbs a good stretch before bed. The chances of a total stranger stumbling upon the two toned woman was slim at best considering how powerful the stench of the Willow Ridge territory borders behind her were, but that didn't stop the braver, or more stupid wolves from venturing closer.

(This post was last modified: Jul 12, 2016, 03:43 AM by Enoki.)

Her paws had long since ceased their aching, the pang in her gut pushed to the back of her mind as she trudged on and on and on. How many moons had passed since she left her home? How many times had she stopped and looked back, heartstrings still tied to the craggy mountain and the great wide sea? Oh, how she missed the scent of salt on the breeze and the cutting wind as it howled up over the cliff, the cry of the great white sea birds as they circled overhead and the way the lightning danced over the surface of the turbulent ocean on nights like this.

The distant thunder was embraced by cupped ears like an old friend. Taking it as a sign from the storm gods she was going the right way she continued to trudge forward without a care in the world. Her journey so far had been uneventful, strange loners were given a wide berth, pack wolves even wider. Fate would throw her future in her face she was sure of it, and so when a voice called out, Who's there? she didn't think to skirt it, pushing through the underbrush and into the open field. Her head dipped respectfully, tail pointed straight at the ground. "Just a weary traveller. I did not mean to cause alarm." The edge of a dark lined lip quirked into a lopsided smile, the unusual pelt of the woman before her visible even in this horrible light. A magpie. Opportunity knocks. She would be a fool to turn it away.

@Thora

Had the magpie not been as wise a wolf as she was and the voice that escorted the silvered wolf that stepped forth from the underbrush not so wrong in tone there could have been a proper opportunity for Enoki to mistake this unexpected guest for that of Elettra's equally pale coated daughter Ravenna under the poor lighting of the stars. For a split second the very name still left a faint burning sensation upon her tongue to be spoken, but once the stranger stepped further into the open field all clouded judgement in regards to whom she was dealing with were quelled. This was not the silver haired princess, just another passerby who damn well could have played the part.

Gradually the once rigid posture held by taunt shoulders relaxed to some degree, ensuring some tension remained in lean muscles considering the unknown intentions of this woman despite the innocent appearance. You just never knew who you were dealing with these days. "What may I ask brings such weary paws out this way?" Enoki asked with genuine curiosity, the hint of her own smile beginning to easily etch itself onto inky lips as the piebald's normal kindhearted nature began to reveal itself gradually. Attempting to recall the last time she had noticed a newer face around these parts her mind faltered on bringing forth such information. Instead her ivory dipped tail began to sway casually at a slow pace near her flanks, finding herself actually relieved that Morganna hadn't somehow slipped a couple false words into the rumor pool to deter loners from crossing paths with the willow wolves. She didn't think the peachy girl low enough to demise her own mother's pack now that she was free of it, but then again you never knew what tricks people kept up their sleeves.

Yet another boom of thunder caused Enoki's head to veer toward the collected clouds on the horizon momentarily, shifting her amber gaze back onto the silvered face of the strange woman who's name she actually hadn't gotten around to asking for yet and that was something she usually sought immediately in new encounters. Man, she was truly growing dusty in the conversation department as of late. "I'm Enoki Ashrelle by the way." She offered her moniker in a friendly tone, the speed of her wagging tail increasing ever so slightly.

(This post was last modified: Jul 12, 2016, 03:45 AM by Enoki.)

The signs were all right here before her, the scent of the distant storm overpowering all others in the pale girls mind. The magpie's question was a fair one, and with the easing of her posture, the lighter wolf saw more of the bird she had the woman pegged as, A very fortunate omen indeed. "Thora," she introduced herself simply, "I was following the thunder." Humour licked her tone and she wondered if the woman before her would make the connection or not. Enoki, even in her mind the name felt foreign, she wondered if it held a meaning anything like her own.

But was the thunder the only thing that brought her here? Not really - but she wasn't the sort to go spilling her guts to strangers, at least, not all at once. "I've come such a very long way, sometimes I forget why I even left. " In fact she probably could have found a home much closer, with the warrior women or even within Torbine itself... But if she had stayed, surely her father would have tried to force his choice on her despite her expulsion from the clan. "Have you ever heard of Torbine?" Small talk. She very much doubted anyone this far away could have possibly heard of the Empire.

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

Left ear pivoted forward to catch the woman's name as it was offered, a gentle chuckle resonating within Enoki's chest when she did in fact make the connect between moniker and latest statement. It was an ironic and clever play on words that the magpie would give Thora credit for. Her own name held no underlying humor to her knowledge, unsure if there even was a significance to being named what she was, but that did little to tarnish the still quite unique woman. Where this silvered woman was the prized owner of a clever name, Enoki was the rare owner of a genetic mutation causing her piebald pelt. But this wasn't a game of tit for tat.

White painted haunches soon adjusted to touch bases with the cool flowers beneath more comfortably, a sign that she was steadily growing more relaxed in this woman's presence, but not entirely letting her guard down. "I've come such a very long way, sometimes I forget why I even left." Thora spoke and a swarthy head nodded in understanding, offering another easy smile. It was just last spring that she had last done any great traveling granted it was still within Relic Lore. At the time she had blamed her dispersal as itchy paws, but before that it had been years since her paws wandered away from her place of origin. Over the expanse of time since then her reasoning for leaving grew foggy, but not once had she regretted her decision. Had she not left she wouldn't have found herself here, a loyal member of Willow Ridge and the Archer kingdom.

It was the mentioning of Torbine, though, that caught the patchy woman's interest. Immediately her thoughts gravitated toward the three Archers she knew to have come from there. Elettra, Nicolo and Adele. "A couple times, yes. I know a few wolves that hail from such a place." Nicolo, the historian, story teller and current lead male had mentioned such a place a few times, but never had Enoki heard the tale of their homeland told in full and never had she heard the name spoken outside the Archer domain. Of course the loyal subordinate wasn't about to reveal their names right away considering Thora was still just a stranger in passing, but the true kicker here was how @Thora came to acquire such information. This encounter just got interesting.

(This post was last modified: Jul 12, 2016, 03:46 AM by Enoki.)

Following the other woman's lead, she lowered her rump to the ground, in no hurry to continue chasing the storm. Everything happened for a reason, and until she figured out why fate had thrown @Enoki in her path she was willing to try and figure it out. Gaze was settled on the flashes of lightning in the distance, content to allow the other woman a chance to answer her question. An ear turned, followed by the rest of her head in slow motion, a single blink of silver eyes betraying her surprise. "I did not think the empire's reach would stretch so far." The words were warm and fond, but perhaps she should elaborate.

"I miss the salty air the most. My clan were granted permission to remain on the outskirts and we often traded with them - reading omens, foreign herbs, other little trinkets the family picked up in their travels. As a little girl, I often dreamed of sneaking off and joining them." Run away to a land of scholars and warriors, princes and princesses, wasn't that the dream? Perhaps if she presented herself in a favourable light this could be her chance? "I defied my parents one too many times, who wants to be handed off to a man they barely know and raise his children when you could be a warrior or a hunter or a scholar?" She was usually such a lawful beast, it still pained her to remember the look in her mother's eyes. "When you never speak to any male except your father, for they are forbidden to approach, the prospect of spending the rest of your life with a stranger can be a little daunting." How grateful she was that it was a female that crossed her path instead.

Sometimes the gods were kind.

A near chuckle almost escaped the two toned woman catching the surprised expression that danced behind the silvered female's equally pale gaze, brows quirking ever so slightly when she began to speak warmly upon the Empire's extended reach. "It seems tradition isn't something so easily lost despite however great the distance from home with these Archers." Enoki responded to Thora's first bit, ears soon pivoting forward to listen politely and attentively to the woman as she began to elaborate further on the conversation at hand and paint a sliver of a picture for the piebald of where the mighty Elettra, handsome Nicolo and quiet Adele were born.

According to @Thora it was a nomad's type of life for family, living on the outskirts of the noble Archer's whilst trading inland goods with the sea cove warriors; not entirely a bad way of life if Enoki was to be honest. Yet, every story had its twist and this one was to be no different. Betrothed to a man who was no more than a stranger seemed unsavory indeed and the dark coated woman made no attempts to hide her disapproval, a snort momentarily wrinkling the skin upon her muzzle. "Luckily that's a tradition that didn't seem to find its way to these lands. I like to think of Willow Ridge as modernly traditional." She chuckled lightly, a glint of her humor illuminating the amber coloration of her eyes as the corner of her lips curled upwards into a small smile.

Her fears were laid to rest when the magpie spoke. "That was always part of the appeal. I could be whatever I wanted if I did," but then she had realised, she could be whatever she wanted anyway. She hadn't needed Torbine to escape. She just had to find her feet and leave. "Perhaps, it was fate that bought us here on this night," she offered with a laugh. "I had only planned to keep travelling," after all, it was in her nature to be on the move, "but maybe I will sample these lands a little before I go running off again."

Her smile was an easy one as she looked to the sky, obscured behind the clouds of the impending spring storm, so enthralled had she been in their discussion that she had forgotten all about it and thought instead to look at the stars. She judged that she had some time yet, before she would have to seek shelter for the night - perhaps she would find some small sheltered nook back in the heights, or some abandoned burrow or set. If it came to it though, she wasn't afraid to sleep in the rain. "Have you been in these lands a long time?" she questioned. The scent of wolves was thick in the air, what was it that drew them all here?

The smile upon Enoki's marred muzzle only grew in size as @Thora spoke upon their encounter being a form of fate and for a moment the magpie thought it entirely possible. Such notions were not entirely discarded by the woman even if her own personal beliefs may or may not run parallel to such ideas. "Perhaps it was a stroke of fate, but it would be wise to sample these lands. There are things here I don't think you will be able to find replicated anywhere else." Bright amber irises studied the woman after speaking, watching as Thora's head angled upward toward the stormy sky that for a moment she too had forgotten about.

Silence reigned between the woman and in its comfortable presence Enoki let her own gaze wander away from the silvered face of her late night companion, settling her gaze firstly upon the looming horizon behind the other woman for a quick security scan before shifting her line of sight to the rolling clouds in the distance that marked the approaching storm. A soft round of thunder pricking her ears forward before a difference sound caught her attention. "Have you been in these lands a long time?" She had asked and immediately the two toned woman's attention was drawn back to Thora's face.

 A small shrug of her shoulders the first piece to her answer. "I've been here for a couple years now and most of that time spent giving my unwavering loyalty to the Archers that rule these parts." In truth she had only left her home beneath the weeping canopy once and what a mistake it had been. Had she not fed the itching of her paws that spring she wouldn't have the gaping hole nestled deep inside her heart she kept expertly hidden from the others, Iopah being the only wolf aside from the man that did her wrong to know the truth.

(This post was last modified: Oct 03, 2016, 04:48 PM by Enoki.)