Bramble Falls life goes on

@Sakari

The Heart was a lovely place. Eido had done a lot of travel lately, but compared to many places she had been, the Heart was very enjoyable. It wasn't open and exposed like Fireweed Rise and Hush Meadow had been, and it wasn't supposedly "haunted" like Spectral Woods. Seriously; that place had given her the creeps - Eido did not do well with ghosts or ghost stories or creepy places at all, especially not on her own, and the young loner had made a beeline out of the blue forest as soon as she was able.

She was currently weaving her way slowly across the Heart when she heard rushing, crashing water. That was a bit odd; the only water that Eido had seen so far had been relatively still; the Iridescent Lagoon had even been frozen over to the point that it looked like a mirror, and wolves could slide on the ice for fun.

Which, if Eido had, nobody would know. Except Renier, of course, but she didn't mind that.

The young wolf followed the sound of the water, and was grateful for the noise masking any of her footsteps. Eido was a quiet, careful wolf, so even though she was clumsy, she was able to sneak around if she paid attention to where her feet were going. She made her way up to the falls and the sight nearly took her breath away. There weren't any waterfalls on her way to Relic Lore, so this was quite the sight to behold. The little wolf stood for a moment, out of the brush, and watched the water crash down in awe.

(This post was last modified: Jan 04, 2017, 04:30 PM by Eidolon.)

Sakari hated fishing under waterfalls, but this was currently the only part of the river that wasn’t completely frozen over after the recent cold snap. Nose hovering inches over the water, the fisherwoman squinted as she peered into the river’s churning depths. She could see shadows moving beneath the surface, but it was impossible to tell whether they were fish or simply clouds of dirt caught up in the circular current.  

Worth a shot, she thought to herself, plunging her paw into the icy pool. Water sprayed everywhere as her paw broke the surface in a scooping motion, but there was nothing to show for the attempt. "Damn it!" The dark maiden swore, slapping the water again out of frustration.  Now the fish—if there ever were any—would be hiding and she would have to wait for the sand and dirt to settle before she made another attempt.

The young woman stood and stretched, and then shook herself to fling the displaced water from her pelt. As she looked up from the pool, something caught her attention at the top of the waterfall. She squinted, but the sunlight was directly in her eyes and impaired her vision. Was there someone spying on her?

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

Eido jumped when she heard another female voice curse above the sound of the waterfall, and she turned to scan the edges of the water below her. Was there another wolf down there, fishing? That was weird. Eido had seen one or two of her littermates try and catch a fish every now and again, but they had never been successful. Surely this wolf knew that fishing was much more difficult than catching a rabbit or a fawn... right? But, then again, Eido had been quite sheltered growing up, so she supposed there were many things that she did not know.

The black female turned to look up at her, though Eido suspected with the glare of the sun, she couldn't see such a light-colored silhouette. She wasn't quite scared of this wolf, as she would be with many others, because this female seemed not only smaller than most, but younger than Eido, as well. The pale female didn't want to frighten her, if she could help it. She couldn't gauge the other wolf's expression from her vantage point, but she moved out of the light and wagged her tail in a greeting.

"Hello," she called, placing her paws carefully as she began to make her way down the side of the waterfall. It was slick, and Eido was a klutz, which made for a dangerous activity. Still, she made it halfway down before she stopped, not wanting to approach the younger female if her presence was deemed unwanted. "I'm Eido - what is your name?" she asked, ears perked so that she could catch the dark-furred wolf's reply.

Her spy called down to her, and then in a flurry of movement dropped into view below the glare. You’re not much of a spy, Sakari thought, and her tail twitched in amusement. The dark maiden watched with interest as the stranger picked her way down the side of the falls, hoping the she wouldn’t fall. She didn’t wish this out of concern for the other’s safety so much as out of self-preservation. If this girl was important to someone and managed to get herself killed, Sakari’s scent would be the last one in the area. She was starting to like this place, and would hate to have to go on the run (again) on account of some misunderstanding.

“Eido,” the girl called herself, triggering a memory of Sakari’s. “Short for Eidolon, right?” She had spent enough time in the Republic to recall their naming and mythology traditions. To those wolves, eidola were the disembodied spirits of the living and the dead. Sakari could see that her new companion was appropriately named; there was something ghostlike about her presence that went beyond her pelt color. She was young, but it seemed as if she had already experienced some significant hardships.

“Aletheia,” the dark lady answered, gaze steady and trustworthy. She wondered if the newcomer was familiar with the mythology for which she was named.. if so, the word aletheia would ring a few bells. ”Aletheia… Aegina.” She added a surname that was popular in the Republic, searching the girl’s deep orange eyes for signs of recognition. Eido had stopped halfway down the waterfall, seemingly reluctant to venture closer, so Sakari took it upon herself to close the gap. Now that she was beyond the churning scents at the foot of the waterfall, a smell caught her attention. “Smell that, Eido?” She asked with a crooked smile, mirroring her companion’s tail-wagging. Lunch was somewhere nearby, and Eido was going to help her catch it.

@Sakari

Miraculously, Eido managed not to slip the entire way down. After the dark girl seemed willing to allow her presence in the area, she picked her way carefully to the bottom of the rocks and stood in front of the other female. She found that the black wolf was not as small as she had originally thought - in fact, she was a bit larger than Eido was. Fortunately, she did not seem to be behaving in an aggressive way, so Eido still had nothing to fear. In fact, it seemed as though this would be quite a pleasant encounter.

The pale wolf's ears perked in interest when she heard the other girl mention her full name without being prompted. "Yes, actually," she replied, a bit surprised. "There aren't many wolves who would know anything about that. But, yes, my mother used to call me a ghost wolf when I was younger; I guess I do kind of look like one," she remarked with a small laugh and wag of her tail. "My last name is Seren, but our family wasn't very well-known, so I never think to mention it. Though, if you know anything apart from the meaning, I would be surprised - there weren't many of us."

Now, it was Eido's turn to be impressive with the knowledge of names, though she did not expect to hit the nail on the head with her guess. "That is an alternate word for truth, isn't it?" she inquired, tipping her head just slightly. "It's a lovely name, regardless of the meaning. Very regal." At Aeletheia's final remark, she lifted her muzzle and took a deep breath of the smells of the area. Her mouth watered. "You wouldn't care to hunt for anything other than fish, would you?" she teased lightly, gesturing toward the water. "It didn't look like you were having much luck."

@Eidolon sure was a talkative one; a quality that Sakari highly valued in an acquaintance. “Where I was born, all the wolves looked like you,” the inky maiden commented on Eido’s story about her mother. Her tone was a little more pointed than she had intended. Wounds from the past sometimes ached even after you thought they had healed. Sakari brightened with interest when the ghost wolf also offered her surname, but it was one Sakari had never heard before. “I don’t know any Serens,” she confirmed, “But I do know sirens. Those stories are my favorite.” Her somber tone from the moment before had vanished, and her eyes were now alight with enthusiasm. The sirens were heroes in her book; manipulating the base cravings of lesser minds to their downfall.  What a fantastic idea, to be named for a siren! Sakari would have to hold onto that one, for the next time she lied about her name.

The other girl’s knowledge of mythological terms did surprise Sakari. Here she thought she was being clever, lying about a name that meant “truth,” but if Eido had been a more suspicious wolf she would be in hot water right now.  Caution had never been Sakari’s strong suit, and she often had to remind herself not to get too reckless.

“Ah, something like that,” she glazed over Eido’s question about her name, hoping to draw attention away from it. “Thanks.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Sakari pointed out defensively, fur a little ruffled by Eido’s teasing. After a moment, she let her breath out with a sigh and a small laugh. She teased others enough, so there was no point in getting bent out of shape when someone else was having a jest. “You’re right, this fishing spot is shit,” she admitted with a smile to her companion. “Come on, let’s get to higher ground so we can find that rabbit nest.” Scents tended to pool confusingly around water sources; they would need to circle the falls at a distance to find the direction from which the rabbit scent was coming. “So have you been in the area long?” Sakari asked her hunting partner as they walked, nose quivering in the air in hopes of catching a scent. She had detected both local and unfamiliar smells on Eido's pelt, which piqued her curiosity.

Generally, Eido's talking was absolutely not appreciated by most of the wolves she came into contact with, so the fact that @Sakari didn't seem to mind it was very relieving. She waved her tail back and forth softly. "I'm not always so pale," she clarified in a light tone. "I mean, I suppose I always am light, but during the winter I almost look like the color of the snow." The small wolf shifted a paw and dragged it through the white, icy powder beneath her. It really was almost the same color. She angled her ears forward when the shadowy wolf related her name to the story of sirens. Those were certainly creatures that Eido had been told about, but it was not what her last name meant. "Really? I prefer the stories of the creatures that don't lead others to their deaths." She laughed lightheartedly. "Seren is not the same thing, by the way. It just means 'star,' as far as I know. Do you happen to have any stories about stars?" she asked, enjoying the way the other girl's eyes lit up as she spoke about the sirens. So, perhaps she would have more stories that she would like to share.

The change of attitude when mentioning the name confused Eido, but she did not want to press on a sensitive issue. If "Aletheia" did not want to talk about her name, then she wouldn't ask. It didn't occur to the pale wolf that the dark one might be lying about something as simple as a name - but Eido was naïve like that.

The defensive tone caught the light girl off-guard, but she tried not to be offended by it. It wasn't as though she'd said anything mean. But the night-colored female amended herself quickly, and Eido was put back at ease in the conversation. "That's a good idea. It's hard to smell much at all around the water," she replied, and followed the other girl after the rabbit's scent. "No, I haven't. Just a few days, actually," she responded truthfully, angling her right ear about to try and find any noise that might signal prey nearby. "How long have you been here?"

“Sounds helpful,” the girl commented on her new friend’s changing coat patterns. Sakari’s coat had never been anything but the dark, inky palette she wore now. She could see how a whiter coat might assist a hunter in blending in with a snowscape, but black wasn’t a bad wintertime color either.  When she stood still, she looked like any other rock, bush, or melted spot in the slush.

Sakari shrugged when Eido gave her two cents about the sirens.  As far as she was concerned, the sirens’ victims deserved what they got; that’s what happens when you let your base instincts overwhelm your common sense. What did those men think was going to happen anyway? They would swagger up to the beautiful singers and the women would simply submit to their will? The story was a reminder of just how easy men are to manipulate, once they starting thinking with the wrong organ.

“Only about a million,” Sakari confirmed with a grin. Just about every group of wolves she’d met so far had a legend, origin story, or opinion involving the stars. Sakari had heard so many they were starting to run together, and she was forgetting which ones she had made up herself. “Met some wolves once who said pups that wander too far will fall of the edge of the earth and turn into stars.” The story had certainly been meant to scare a young Sakari, but it had more or less had the opposite effect. “I’ve been searching for that edge ever since!” She added with a laugh.  

The pair revolved around the waterfall in a semi-circle pattern, and a gust of wind brought Sakari to a halt. She lifted her nose, attempting to dissect the scents it carried. “We’re close,” she commented, hoping her confusion wasn’t too evident to Eido. Have grown up in a fishing family, Sakari didn’t have much experience in tracking or air-scenting. While she could easily detect a desired scent in the air, she often struggled to track its origin. She would never outright ask, but she hoped Eido would take the lead.

“Same,” she answered, “Met anyone from the packs around here? I was wondering what they were like.” Eidolon was far too social (and too naïve) to be a loner by choice; no doubt she had sniffed around a few borders in search of a potential home. Sakari could easily pretend to be looking for a pack too, if it got her the information she sought.

"It is quite helpful when I'm hunting," Eido agreed, but she couldn't help but admire her companion's dark fur. She could hunt well pretty much all year, as well - she looked like a walking shadow, after all. Most prey wouldn't be able to pick her out from any specific location, especially if she were able to move silently, because the younger loner looked like the shade itself.

Confusion colored the young, pale wolf's expression when the other girl mentioned the pups falling off the edge of the earth, and even moe so when the dark wolf said she'd been looking for the edge ever since. "So... you want to fall off the edge of the earth? Wouldn't you die if that happened?" she questioned, slightly concerned and wondering now what shape the earth was. Could it really be flat like that? Was there a possibility of falling off the earth? Or was it round, like the sun? Did it change, like the moon?

The younger wolf wasn't wrong - they were rather close to the place the rabbit scent was coming from. But Eido was perceptive, and she understood that the dark wolf was unsure about the exact location. So, though she was completely uncomfortable with the situation, Eido stepped up and brushed past her new friend and started off through the woods, a bit to the left of where "Aletheia" had been heading. She offered the younger wolf a wag of her tail as she ducked through the undergrowth, pawsteps quiet and senses alert.

"Mm... one or two, so far," she replied with a slight smile. "I haven't met anyone mean, if that's what you wanted to know." At least, she hadn't met a mean pack wolf. Now, there was a certain loner that she'd met who wasn't quite so pleasant.