Turtleback Lake i swear

For @Askan | Early Night, Fair skies, 42 ° F, 5 ° C

Since she was young, being wild and playful was thought to be shameful in the eyes of the elders of her pack. They tried to teach her to view life as if she was always being judged and scrutinized, but her spirit couldn't give a damn what anyone thought of her. They tried to snuff out the fire that brewed inside of her soul since the day she was born. For a while the elders thought they had succeeded, but the small smoldering embers left behind, manifested into the bonfire that led her to abandon her tribe.

Now here she was. In a foreign land, by herself, with no elders to tell her what she should be doing, how she should be feeling and acting. Here she was free to be herself, to act like herself, and find the freedom she always longed for. Though the traveling wore her body down, it strengthen her mind in ways she would never fully understand. Adelayde saw things she never dreamed of seeing back at home. She not only laid her eyes on a mountain range, but she crossed over it with her own tawny paws. Her breath had been taken from her up there, but it was the most riveting thing she ever felt.

Laying on her back on the sandy lake shore, her muscular legs sky high as her mismatched eyes gazed upon the thousands of stars above her. Humming softly to herself a song her mother used to sing to her at night, she closed her eyes for a moment imagining her mothers soft, delicate face. "And I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky I'll be there," she sung delicately like her mother once used to to her. Humming the next few lines to herself, she continued their song, "For better or worse till death do us part. I'll love you with every beat of my heart." Her song grew a little louder as she continued humming for a few notes. Remembering her mother's face was getting harder and harder as the time passed on, but she could never forget the sound of her voice. "I swear."

(This post was last modified: Oct 12, 2016, 10:56 PM by Adelayde.)

Askan's breath clouded from his open lips as he trotted towards the lake. By no means was he in any rush, but the cold nipping at his heels was more than enough to encourage him to move at a brisker pace. Sure, his thick Yukon coat was enough to keep the brunt of the chill at bay,but he knew that if he loitered for too long then a shiver or two would run down his spine. And as much as he loathed being too hot, being too cold was just as bad, if not worse.

As to why Askan was out at this hour, well... Why the hell not? It wasn't even that late, even though it felt like it was. The sudden change of seasons had thrown Askan out of the loop, even a few days in he was still alarmed at how quickly the sun set, as though winter itself was chasing it off as if it were an unwelcome guest. He supposed he'd get used to it soon enough, it was just a matter of time. 

Even though Askan preferred to spend his nights resting by the den site, or patrolling the borders it didn't mean that he was restricted to doing so. He had responsibilities and routines he liked to stick to, but in essence he was free. He had no elder breathing down his neck telling him what he could and couldn't do. Drestig was laid back, a kind old soul who demanded nothing but trust and loyalty- things Askan was more than happy to give. Heck, he'd give more if the Old man allowed it. 

In all honestly, he had ventured out there on a whim. Prior to this trip he had never actually been to the lake before, he was aware of its location of course- the Old man had told him about it- but he'd never actually seen it with his own eyes. He had left on this trip with the intention of remedying that with a quick look about, before he headed back home. That's all there was to it. But with it being so dark, there wasn't actually much to see, other than the starlight glinting off the water's surface, and the shadowy figures of distant trees. 

Askan slowed to a walk and squinted in disappointment. What had he really expected? A lake was a lake, no matter where it was.

Naturally, Askan assumed that he was alone- which was how he liked it. But of course, that presumption had to be shattered by a soft, dainty song. Of all the things to- Askan shook his head, and out of curiosity he made his way towards the source of the voice- a wolf plopped down on her back.

She had a pretty voice, he'd admit that, but that was aside the point. What sort of person laid on the ground and sung to the stars like that? Askan wanted to know, he felt as though it was his right to know, so of course he acted accordingly. Stalking to her side, Askan made a point to stand in her line of sight. Out of instinct and habit, his form was stiff and the fur along his back stood slightly on end.

"What are you doing?" Askan asked, in his usual biting tone. "Out here I mean, before you get smart. Singing like that is a great way of calling attention to yourself."

(This post was last modified: Oct 13, 2016, 12:28 AM by Askan. Edit Reason: cause I can't spell for heck apparently )

Singing softly to herself, well she thought it was to herself, but unbeknownst to her there was someone else in the vicinity listening to her private song. Adelayde was never one to completely be aware of her surroundings. She always was just focused on what she was thinking about and looking at through her mismatched eyes, so she rarely scanned around her to look for anyone or anything that could hurt her. Growing up sheltered and protected at all times, led her to act this way, knowing there was rarely anything out there that the Elders hadn't taken care of already to protect her. They did however, teach her a few moves to protect herself if the need ever arose. But, one would think with her large size, Ade would be a rounded warrior. Well, they would surely be mistaken.

Mismatched eyes solely on the stars above her, her humming drowning out any noise in the distance, her legs began to sway with her melody. When she happened to turn her gaze towards her right to look at the stars by the horizon, she saw him stalking towards her. "What are you doing?" Bit through the air sharply, sending a shock wave through her body that jolted her off the sand, literally. A smaller wolf usually has quite a large amount of flexibility and balance, so its quite easy for them to maneuver their way onto their feet from this position. Too bad Adelayde wasn't a smaller wolf.

As quickly as she tried, Ade attempted to get to her feet in a fluid motion before whoever was fast approaching her was any closer. However, her delivery was very off. Front legs splayed apart in sudden shock and as she tried to roll over to get her legs underneath her, her paws lost their footing and she was splayed out on her belly before she was able to regain her ground. Rising up rather ungracefully, she stood to face the dark stranger. Now that she's made a fool of herself in front of this stalker of hers, her usual politeness was gone for the moment. "I wasn't trying to call attention to myself." Adelayde retorted back, her tawny ears flat against her skull in a grim attitude. Her attitude began to drift away after a few seconds and her voice was softer and more feminine this time. "I was just singing to my stars, okay?" My mother.

Clearing her throat, her tawny ears pricked forward as to forget her childish attitude. My name's Adelayde Snow, I just arrived here a few nights back." She still wasn't sure where she was or where she was headed next.

(This post was last modified: Oct 13, 2016, 02:44 PM by Adelayde.)

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As she got to her feet Askan was certainly alarmed by her sheer size.  He'd seen wolves of all shapes and sizes during his time here in Relic Lore, but he'd never actually met a girl who was bigger than him. And Askan immediately decided that he did not like this, she had no right to be bigger than he was. He was aware of the fact that he wasn't the tallest of wolves- curse his stumpy legs- but he took pride in his sheer bulk.  But even she seemed to match him in that regard. Her shoulders were as wide as his own, if not more so. 

The only saving grace, was her obvious lack of coordination- and by the Gods was it obvious. By no means was Askan light on his feet, but in comparison to her he was as lithe and agile as a spring hare. That made him feel slightly better about himself, only slightly though.

Her snappy retort was more than enough to make Askan glower in distaste. He did not like her tone, nor did he like the way that her ears were pressed to her head. He was not the best at reading body language or others emotions, but even he knew annoyance when he saw it. How could he not, considering the fact that he almost always held himself in a similar manner? In response, Askan's lips twitched, threatening to curl back into a grimace and his eyes squinted into a pointed glower. It was automatic, he just couldn't help himself. It was in his nature.

But then, as if a switch had been flicked, her attitude changed. She dropped all of her animosity and instead she adopted an amiable sort of air, approachable even. Which of course, really threw Askan out of the loop. Blinking, Askan's felt his shoulders slump and his tail slid back between his legs. Again, he couldn't help but think that girls were weird creatures, unreadable and unpredictable beings that he would never get used to being around. He had expected her to get annoyed at him, for that's what most people did. But not this one, her anger had been fleeting, so much so that Askan now questioned whether it had even been there in the first place. Maybe he'd just jumped to a conclusion, wouldn't be the first time.

"Okay???" Askan muttered, still rather baffled by the woman in front of him.  

Her introduction was a welcome change of topic, and Askan cleared his throat to do the same. More so from habit than anything else. "Name's Askan Selwyn. You come from the north too?" 

After getting to her feet, her mismatched eyes could see his eyes sizing her up. In her birth pack, everyone was on the larger side. There was rarely anyone born there that wasn't. A few of their scouts and a skilled hunter were on the medium scale, but even they were still on the large side of medium. This stranger wasn't that much smaller than Yulo, who was the smallest among them. However, the look on his face as he examined her was peculiar and almost critical. Though his expression made him look grumpy, and broodily, he was still quite handsome. Though a smirk or at least a small grin would make him even more so to Ade.

He followed her footsteps towards a new conversation, the stranger clearing his throat as well. With his posture matching her relaxed one, Adelayde's unmatching seafoam eyes watched him delicately as he introduced himself. Smiling softly at his name, a name that was uncommon but rather unique. She liked it. "I do. I've been traveling for a while though and just ended up here. I lived by a lake we called Junipers Landing. It was where Juniper, our oldest ancestor, started the pack. We were surrounded by tundra lands, but the lake was our saving grace, I suppose." Adelayde loved that lake with all of her heart. All of her fondest memories were spent on the rocky shores of it. The others of her tribe loved that lake and the Elders worshiped it, but none of them held the same affection for it as Ade did. She could see her mother's face on the surface every night.

The lake was truly her only saving grace, it was the only thing that kept her there in the hell hole of a pack. She hated it there, with all their rules and what they expected of her. It was tiresome. Ade knew she could never go back to that place, but finding another saving grace like that lake was going to be difficult.

"Are you from up north too, or just from around here?" She asked, her rump gently falling down to the sandy shore with her tail wrapping around her front paws.

(This post was last modified: Oct 13, 2016, 05:04 PM by Adelayde.)

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She sure liked to smile, didn't she? And that cute little squinty thing she did when she smiled, well Askan didn't like that. It wasn't bad per se, and it certainly didn't make her seem unattractive- because she was, even with her mismatched eyes- but the point he was trying to make was... Honestly, he didn't know, his train of thought really had gone askew and he really had to squint in concentration to try and rectify it. This was why he didn't like hanging out with pretty girls, they were always so distracting and weird, and he was a grown man dammit! He should know better.

Tilting his ears her way, Askan made an effort to listen to what she was saying. He missed the first part, but heard her mention junipers, a plant? Oh no, a person, an ancestor apparently. Well okay. She certainly liked to talk, a nervous habit perhaps? Or was she just trying to be friendly, or trying fill in the silence? Askan's nose crinkled a little but he decided not to point out the fact that she was (almost) an insatiable chatterbox. At least her voice was nice, not too shrill or whiny- or loud like his sister's. Even if he hadn't heard her sing before, he could imagine her being a songstress, a lady who serenaded the stars. How romantic, Askan scoffed without meaning to and shrugged, a little embarrassed, when she cast a questioning look his way.

"Yeah." He responded, then with a frown realised he his meaning wasn't exactly clear. "Grew up in the north, just below the mountains, then came here few months back. " There was more to it than that, a lot more but Askan wasn't willing to explain. It wasn't anything personal, he hadn't told anyone about it. The idea never even occurred to him.

Mimicking Adelayde, Askan also sat down though he opted to remain in an upright position. More out of habits sake than anything else. His tail laid still on the ground and his bright yellow eyes quickly scanned their surroundings, then the stars, before landing on the large, pretty girl once more. He wasn't good with conversation, so nothing sprang to mind. He was content to just sit and wait and see what she said, if she had anything to say at all. Admittedly, he was curious about her, but could the same be said for her? He didn't know, but really- for some reason- he was sort of wanted to know if she felt the same. If not, well he didn't care- wouldn't care- but it never hurt to find out.

(This post was last modified: Oct 13, 2016, 06:01 PM by Askan.)

Hoping to hear some part of Askan's history, she didn't need to know about his whole life, but it was always nice to know a part of the person you were talking to. Ade had given him a small tidbit of her life story, and she wasn't about to go share with him her darkest secrets and she didn't expect for him to that either. When a simple, "yeah" came out of his mouth after her question, she knew she wasn't going to get to know him very quickly. His brooding expression didn't really shift much when he frowned, but she detected it as she was silently observing if his grumpy expression would ever waver. Much to her surprise, Askan continued on to explain more to her.

Granted, it wasn't much to go off from, but the girl was curious and wanted to see if she could get anything else out of him. Noting that he followed her lead again and sat down across from her, but still keeping his everlasting sulky facade. Though when his daffodil yellow eyes wandered towards the lake then the stars, his expression slightly softened. Her aqua green eyes followed his gaze, taking in the beautiful night sky over the serene and calm lake before them. Adelayde let her eyes waver on the stars for a few more moments, trying to pick out her and her mother's star. When she found it, a soft sigh left her ebony lips before she turned her eyes back towards the muddy black man.

His daffodil eyes were staring directly at her and her mismatched eyes couldn't help but stare back for a fleeting moment. In any other circumstance, she'd be put off and little weary of a stranger staring directly at her, but his expression had changed again. Though not by much, but there was a curiosity in his eyes and a softness that covered his seemingly permanent grumpy exterior. Smiling before flickering her gaze upwards towards the stars, she let her eyes take in the sky above for a few more moments. "Have you ever wondered if there was more to something than what meets the eye?" She inquired, her gaze looking back down towards Askan. "Did you know that all those stars you see up there," she continued on, raising her head and eyes back up towards the sky, "Are not actually all stars. There are other planets and moons up there that just look like stars." Smiling, she looked back at Askan to see his expression, hoping it would change into something she hasn't seen before.

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Askan's response to her first question was immediate, if not a little rude. "Nope." He said, sparing a quick glance to the night sky.

And why would he have? He was no scholar nor great thinker, Askan was the sort of man who took things at face value. He simply didn't see the point of pondering about things, not when there were so many important things to see and do. How was he supposed to live his life if his head was up in the clouds, or more accurately amongst the stars? He could see the beauty in it of course, and he could sort of understand why she found them so fascinating, so mesmerising, but to Askan they were nothing more than lights in the sky. They were just too far away to have any profound effect on his life.

Still, his curt response didn't seem to deter her, which was certainly admirable. Any other wolf would have taken his response as a sign of disinterest- which was partly true- but to her it didn't seem to matter. He couldn't tell whether she was stubborn or just keen. Maybe a bit of both? Still, the Yukon wolf listened, and once again followed her line of sight so he too could watch the pretty lights shining in the night sky, like hundreds of snowflakes that had yet to fall.

"Huh? Really?" Askan asked, with a confused tilt to his head, his eyes still sky bound. He'd always just assumed that stars were just stars. "How'd you know this?" He brought his head down and looked over to Adelayde, who-he just noticed- was smiling at him for some bizarre, unexplainable reason. "You a star nut or something?" He muttered, before hastily looking back up at the stars- a decent excuse to look away from her if he did say so himself.

Honestly, he didn't even know why he asked, or why he even cared to ask. Learning about others... Was a process he wasn't familiar with, but the way he saw it he should at least try. How was he supposed to live amognst others if he didn't even try to work on his interpersonal skills. He'd gotten somewhat better over the past few months, but it was clear (even to himself) that he had a long way to go yet. Perhaps little meetings like this could help him, even if only a little. 

His blunt, "nope", would have discouraged anyone else from continuing a conversation with him, but his answer only ignited her to further her conversation. Stubborn as a bull, she was damn determined to get something out this man. His social skills were extremely lacking, but so was her balance and coordination. Everyone had their faults and weaknesses. Perhaps if she helped get him to talk to a stranger and improve his social skills, he may help her with some of her faults. Though, she may be hoping for too much.

As she continued on, her hope for a change was answered as his face turned confused and puzzled. Ade's gaze was still admiring his expression when he asked bizarrely how she knew all of this, then his gaze fell back to hers for a fleeting moment where their eyes met again. She laughed songfully when he asked if she was a star nut. Adelayde could be called that to an extent. She knew most of the constellations and where to find them. Ade also knew a few planets and what seasons they showed themselves in. However, she would never be as good as her mother was. She knew the sky better than the back of her paw. It was extraordinary to watch her at work. "Something like that, I suppose." She answered with a enthusiastic grin.

Glancing over to the lake, she sighed again before continuing. "My mother taught me everything I know about the sky. She was a real star gazer, the best actually. Mother knew where all the constellations were and what planets were what. It was like she lived up there and was just trapped down here." Looking up at the night sky littered with stars, she could almost make out the constellation that was her mother's favorite, but a nearby cloud blocked her view. Shifting her gaze back down at Askan, "Call me crazy, but I know that's where she is now," she said with a soft smile, but there was slight sadness in her eye at the thought of her mother actually being up there. Adelayde knew she was in a better place now.

 

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There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity