Sacred Grove flood of rubies

All welcome

The swarthy girl moved quickly through the Grove, curiosity keeping her there… perhaps she should find @Kerberos and talk to him about her latest discovery, and the fact that she was actively considering Treyah’s offer. The girl was nothing more than a pup, not even to her first birthday yet… she was insane and she didn’t think that she should be listening but the girl reminded her a bit of… she didn’t know who she reminded her of, but it was someone familiar. At least, she was pretty sure she did? Either way, she needed some time to think about it.

So she found herself travelling along the riverbank towards the forest she’d been residing in, the convenient den they’d found buried out… they’d dug it out. Her nose twitched as her head shook, chocolate brown eyes up to the moon in the sky as she rolled her shoulders back. It was curious, how she’d spent her entire life living alone; sometimes with family or as of more recently, with a friend… it was curious. She’d never actually considered joining a pack, and when she was almost forced into it, she hadn’t exactly reacted in a way where her Aunt wanted to take her anyway.

Truth was, she didn’t know much about being in a pack to begin with… and then there was that nasty problem she had with authority.

(This post was last modified: Jan 01, 2017, 12:10 AM by Maera.)

Frigid air sliced down the dark maiden’s throat as she inhaled deeply, nose tilted toward the heavens.  A lone woman was approaching her post at a bend in the riverbank, but Sakari was not in a position to move quickly—she would have to receive her guest as she was; splayed out on the ice near the center of the river.

The young fisherwoman bade her hole in the ice goodbye (it had been quite productive for her) and began to inch her way back to the bank. She moved only one paw at a time in a well-practiced manner, shifting her weight ever-so-carefully, vigilantly watching and listening for even the tiniest crack. She made her way back to the bank at an angle, so as to intercept one of the fish she had previously flipped out of the water onto the icy shore. Once the fish-number-one was in her mouth (it had been lying on the ice so long it was nearly frozen) she glanced up, golden gaze searching the shoreline for the other fish she had liberated from the river’s icy depths.  

Her eyes landed instead on the shadowy silhouette of her visitor. It was difficult to get a good read on her with the fish in her mouth, throwing off her sense of smell, but Sakari could tell that the newcomer carried the scent of another. A male—probably her mate… or if he wasn’t, he likely would be soon. Very much a teenager, Sakari cracked a wicked grin at that thought. She probably looked quite comical with a smiling mouth full of fish.

“‘Lo there,” she called, spitting fish-number-one onto the ice so she could hail the stranger. “Do ya see my other fish anywhere? It’s round here somewhere..” The swarthy woman was on slightly higher ground, and had a better chance at spotting the missing fish. “If you can find it, it’s yours.” Perhaps it wasn’t the smartest idea for a hungry loner to give up half of her catch, but Sakari was a yeasayer who didn’t typically worry herself with things like that. She would find more food one way or another, just as she had always done. The chance at conversing with a stranger over the meal and discovering more about this place was far more compelling than hoarding her food for herself.

(This post was last modified: Jan 02, 2017, 04:55 PM by Sakari.)

@Sakari

The tail remained neutrally limp behind Maera, her chocolate orbs carefully analyzing the area. She was never completely lost in thought… it was a luxury she simply could not afford without potentially risking life or limb because of some day-dreaming. No, instead, she lingered… she noted the girl but did not draw attention to herself or call the girl out until Sakari herself made the first connection. She had a grin on her features and a fish in her mouth, Maera’s nose twitching as she initiated contact. The girl was alone, a loner by scent with no distinguished scents catching her fur to indicate that she was travelling with another.

Maera knew that life… she might never admit it out loud but her life was better with Kerb in it, and it took a lot of pressure off of her back. At the promise of a fish, Maera was making her way towards her, still not making a sound but seeing the limp creature laying on the bank not too far from her, a smile on her features as she clamped onto it with her mouth, holding it for a few seconds before letting it drop back in the snow, just to show the woman she had found it. It was hers… That was awfully nice… to nice if you asked her.

“Are you sure? Most aren’t so keen to share their food?” She had to make sure because she couldn’t afford a fight – it’d freak out her friend and if she sustained injuries that were a little more severe, then she could die without the right medical knowledge – knowledge she definitely did not have. “I’m Maera! Can I put a name to the face?” This woman intrigued her.

There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health

Sakari wagged her tail when the newcomer located the lost fish, raising it briefly to show Sakari before allowing it to fall back to the ground. The dark woman did not say anything yet, but that action alone spoke volumes. If it had been Sakari with another’s catch in her jaws, she would have disappeared into the woods as fast as her thief’s legs would carry her.  Most wolves wouldn’t waste the energy on a chase and a potentially dangerous scuffle for such a small meal. However the newcomer remained, seeming unusually disinterested in the fish for a loner. That told Sakari that the woman and her mysterious male companion were adept at feeding themselves, with something that was likely a whole lot better than a half-frozen fish. That was very interesting to the girl.

The stranger seemed cautious to take charity from a stranger, which Sakari understood. She herself would have been taken aback by such an offer. “How about a trade?” the girl requested, hoping it would put the other lady more at ease. “A fish for your story. And the lowdown on this place ‘n the wolves who live here.” It was a friendly request, no more than two strangers might share anyway if they were taking a meal together. “Well met, Maera,” Sakari said before picking her fish up once more. She approached the woman at a casual pace, the fish in her mouth providing an excuse for her momentary silence while she thought of what story to tell. She dropped the fish on the ground once she was reached Maera, standing a distance that was close enough for them to speak but far enough for two relative strangers to be comfortable.

“Wish I could tell you,” Sakari said with a wistful sigh. “I was in an accident last moon, and my memory is returning only in small pieces.” It was a good con, and it had worked well for the wolf that Sakari had learned it from. It was a great con actually, for a wolf who didn’t want her name spread around and had run a lot of cons in the past. That way, if someone from her past (either her real past, or someone she had previously lied to) found her, the con wasn’t automatically ruined. She could always say something like, ”Oh, that happened? Sorry I don’t remember..”

How about a trade? Instantly she found herself on edge, even if her muscles remained relaxed and nothing about her postured changed, her brain raised red flags… they only continued to fly with her next words. Her story? She wouldn’t sell that for a fish – she wasn’t even sure that she’d sell that for a deer. “It’s not for sale.” She responded quickly, still trying to keep the atmosphere light but also trying to get the idea of don’t ask me that question again down in the woman’s head. “Mostly loners, a group of us, actually – there’s a pack almost directly west but the rest are way north of here.” Perhaps mentioning the group of them would prevent the woman from trying to mess with her – not that Maera wasn’t confident she could take the woman if it came down to a fight.

Wish I could tell you. That was another red flag in her mind – even if she had an accident last moon – Maera wasn’t sure if she bought it because the woman looked fine… did she never meet another wolf? Did she just go without a name because she forgot her own? “What have you been going by since the accident? I do hope you weren’t injured too badly.” Maera wasn’t a medic so her opinion of a memory-losing accident was something bloody with tons of fur missing and a lot of blood loss, which was the only reason for her suspicion. On top of that, Mae was just plain paranoid - it'd eased up since entering these woods, but it was still a large part of who she was.