Umbra Copse you'll be on my mind

@Larkspur

In the descent from the Heights she called home the Copse seemed to come out of no where, emerging suddenly as the slopes grew flat to welcome any traveler from the mountains deep into its dark heart. The thick, knotted canopy overhead denied the sunlight access to those inhabitants below its tall trunks and Iyes found with a morbid curiosity that she enjoyed the way the shadows shrouded her as she descended into its grasps. Skeletal branches overhead were doused in a coating of snow which did not manage to melt despite the rising temperatures in the last few days. The pale blanket filtered out the harsh winter light into something almost ethereal, almost live itself.

As she slunk around the trunks of trees and prickly brush the Aurora wolf wondered if perhaps she ought to have been scared out here. The entire forest surely set itself up for a ghost story, but the ink-pelted yearling did not pay it any mind. In fact, she almost liked the way reality as she new it seemed to twist a little when she crossed over the veil - like a certain night high up on a Peak, watching the sky paint itself with brilliant lights with a silvery moon to keep her company.

That was why she was here. Iyes did try to lie to herself about her reasoning for meandering down the mountainside, but deep down there was a truth. Stretching her legs was nice, yes, and trying to figure out how exactly she felt about her father was important too - but lately it was his voice that had been popping up in her ears when she least expected it, about his pack down south. Find us and join if you want, at least come visit if you don’t. 

Despite the rather clear invitation Iyes still felt as though she was doing something wrong by turning up down here. She'd sworn herself to a different allegiance, forged a family with a random group of wolves that couldn't imagine leaving. Sure, she could pretend to be curious to see what had become of him and his friends on some superficial level - but she didn't really care if they had "settled down" and were "living a successful life" or any of that bullshit. She didn't even know who his friends were. She didn't even know if they lived here. All that she could think about was the brilliant lights and the way they moved across his silver pelt, the brightness of his turquoise eyes, and the genuine way he had spoken with her, entertained her games...

Without realizing it her stride had lengthened, picking up speed as she plunged into the darkness. Suddenly aware that she was headed into the belly of some beast of her own that she did not know the nature of Iyes halted herself roughly, ankles shackled by the uncertainty of what she actually wanted. The silence that settled around her was almost sinister, one which trapped her body in stillness. The welcome she felt earlier was creeping away and exposing her to the shrouded forest's mercy. Knitting her brows she cast her fire-bright gaze around the darkness - perhaps she ought to turn back.

The world wasn't spinning fast enough, and Larkspur would have complained about that sort of thing, had he any concept of the world besides just that it was. This didn't make the slow passing of time any easier on him, because he had some sort of idea of what season it was. The man often stayed up late, finding the moon between the canopy of trees above and wishing that it would change a little bit faster. Larkspur had never been known for his impatience, if only because he had been able to take care of most things as the problems arose. Now Lark was left to pace around Quaking Vale and wait.

He had never understood how Sahalie could love this place. The heart of their home was much brighter and less generally spooky, but the Umbra Copse was an easy place to get lost in. Larkspur had stumbled upon many wolves that walked around in the shadows and now with his promise to do good for his pack, did the right thing and pointed them in the right direction. You'd think that after almost a whole month Larkspur's general irritation of the world would lessen. Instead, it only got worse, and there was little he could do but sleep it off or work.

In the end, it was a simple life. Not one he wanted, but at this point he had few choices. Quaking Vale was good anyways, with good wolves, with a home. It was just unlike himself to be satisfied. Larkspur had always wanted more.

He had not been paying attention to where he was going, but always could find his way back to Quaking Vale and, maybe more importantly, the old, rotted log he called his home. But as was the nature of Umbra Copse, he came across another, possibly lost, wolf. He stopped to watch her, his face scrunching up in frustration. Something like a growl, or a groan, slipped him, and he had half the mind to run off before they could push the conversation any further.

But they made eye contact.

Larkspur stepped forward, not bothering to present himself in a friendly manner. "What are you doing?"

Locked in a state of hesitation, Iyes was almost too self-absorbed to detect another wolf growing nearer. He could have stopped and stared at her all day and she would have never noticed, until the sound of a low growl rang out from his throat. Broken from a reverie of aversion the inky youth swung her head in the direction of the sound, locking eyes with a ghost. Her fur bristled at the apparition, tail slowly beginning to navigate in an upward trajectory against this beast of the supernatural - but then he spoke, shattering her perception that this deep and dark forest was actually haunted. 

She shrunk against the tepidness of his tone, feeling much like a cub being scolded by their mother. The lack of direction carried by the yearling was apparent as she struggled to provide an explanation for him, seeking any kind of excuse in the empty expanse of her mind. With her black ears flattened against her skull she stuttered through a couple of syllables, hemming and hawing and preparing to turn around and bolt when a familiar scent embedded in his fur struck her. Bright orange eyes came to focus and blinked; that was most definitely Alastor's smell. Accompanied by a bunch of others, which she had to assume were those friends he mentioned. Without noticing it her tail wagged from side to side, positively elated that she had actually found him. 

Well - she hadn't actually found him. What she had found was a ghost of a wolf whose violent eyes bore into her, waiting on an answer. Ears lifting, Iyes swallowed the smile that threatened to blossom across her dark face and took a solitary step closer to the male. "I'm scouting the area for my pack - we live up the mountain," she lied blissfully quick, skillful enough to cover her ass while also priming the conversation to give her the answer she sought. "Are you from here?" She hoped he'd respond, oh yes, I live here with my amazing leader Alastor. He's so cool. Do you want to meet him? Let me bring him on out here. That would be great. Almost as an afterthought she tacked on, "I'm Iyes, by the way." Maybe he'd mentioned her.

adopt thea?

A look of familiarity crossed the dark girl's features, which caused a probably less-than-desired reaction from the larger man. The girl was smiling, her tail wagging behind her and, worse yet, she took a step towards him. The fur on his neck stood up as his lips curled back. Lark lightly snapped the air in warning and then took a step back. The girl went on about something about her pack, and under normal circumstances, he wouldn't care. He looked in the direction of the mountain, almost as if he could see through the trees and see to her home before turning to look at the girl.

He was hesitant at first, but finally saw no harm in answering the girl. "My pack's back that way," he gestured with a nod, "Quaking Vale," he had never been one for details. In fact, as soon as he got the small girl trotting on back home, he could relax. Or, well... maybe not relax, but he could contemplate things that he deemed much more important to him at the moment. The name Iyes wasn't familiar, and nothing about the girl seemed it either. Maybe he was being paranoid. It could be that she was smelling someone -- Sahalie, perhaps -- and was interested in going to see his chipper alpha. But Iyes had not mentioned anything like that, and in fact had offered no useful or interesting information. Maybe her name, but Larkspur hardly considered that interesting or useful.

"You're done scouting. Tell your pack Quaking Vale lives here now. You can go home." It was about as nice of a "leave me alone and go away" that anyone could get from the man.

Iyes blinked in surprise as the ghost wolf snapped at her, increasing the distance between them by shuffling backwards. Her dark ears folded against her skull in confusion, uncertain as to why he insisted on the buffer between them. His gaze was hot like glowing embers, roving from her face to the mountains that grew just beyond the shadowy forest's reach. Did he not like the Mountain of Dire, or something? Was it her that offended him? Iyes twitched a whisker, miffed that he wasn't overjoyed by her presence but chose otherwise to ignore the slight, particularly when he came to answer her after a long beat of hesitance.

Quaking Vale. Now her bright eyes followed in the direction of the gesture the wolf gave, peering into the forest's depths though she couldn't see anything that looked hospitable in there. Knitting her brow only slightly she cast her gaze back upon the male. Why would they have chosen to settle down in such a distastefully dank area? The mountain was cold and the altitude was a bit of an adjustment, sure, but it was still far welcoming than this place was. She hadn't exactly pegged Alastor with this type of environment, but she was certain of his scent, so she-

Her thoughts were disturbed with another curt sentence from her counterpart, drawing her fully focused attention back upon him. Tilting her chin she pursed her lips in disapproval. What did he mean she was done scouting? She surely wasn't. Iyes fought the urgency in her voice that threatened to betray her cool exterior, piping up quickly, "Wait. Do you know Alastor? Does he live there too - in Quaking Vale?" She leaned forward, pressing one forepaw deep into the ground in order to keep it from moving. The ink-coated yearling wanted to stop this pale wolf from leaving before she got the answer, but his earlier warning had been quite clear that she ought not come closer. Still, she was not one to give up so easily.

(This post was last modified: Apr 24, 2017, 10:37 PM by Iyes.)

adopt thea?

Larkspur, having decided that their conversation was good and done with, started to turn. Wait, she had asked of him, and he paused for a moment to hear her out. He probably should have ignored the girl and walked off, but as she asked him another question (one he was unfortunately obligated to answer), let out another growl-groan and placed his paw back in front of him to face the dark girl. He watched her closely, trying to think if Sahalie or Alastor had spoken the name Iyes before. He felt like he should have heard it, had the girl been even a smidge of importance to either of them. But, alas, he drew up a blank.

He swiped his tongue over his nose when he felt the need to bare his teeth at her again, trying to figure out what she could possibly want with Alastor. She could have been his sister, she was dark like Draven. Or maybe another girlfriend, which only made him curious as to how Sahalie would act. It could explain why he hadn't heard of her before (Sahalie never seemed to let any details pass her up).

"Mmm... Alastor..." he scratched behind his ear. Even then, he still couldn't say he liked the boy. But in the end, could he really say he enjoyed the company of anyone? Sure, he had his days, but those seemed like days that he had more energy to simply put up with others. He loudly and boldly declared his distaste for some members of his pack, but could not do the same for Alastor. The two had a truce, after all, and if he were to stay snuggled in the security of Quaking Vale's borders and its alpha's friendly faces, he would have to play nice. "What of him?" God forbid Larkspur actually just answer her stupid question.

Though he clearly wasn't thrilled to have to dilute any more of his time speaking with her, Iyes still felt a grateful flutter through her heart that he turned back and stared at her once more. Even if he had to grumble about it. She waited on his response with a poorly hidden smile, the corners of her mouth tugging in an upward direction. Giving something of an idle scratch of his ear the wolf mulled over the name just long enough for Iyes to hold her breath. Finally, he prompted her - what of him - and she exhaled.

"He's my friend - I was on my way to pay him a visit." Iyes beamed, unaware she might be damning the poor boy with every pleasant word. Her tail waved behind her from side to side, fueled by the apparent victory she was finding in this conversation the white wolf participated in only begrudgingly. "He told me that he was heading south to start a pack with his friends. And you're one of them, right, - uh..." She went to fill in the blank with the wolf's name, feeling entitled to be friends with all off Alastor's friends as well, when she realized that she didn't know it. In the space that followed her name he should have presented his. Surely he knew that was how introductions among allies went.

Flicking a dark ear she tilted her muzzle to one side, her bright smile all but disappeared from her face. "What was your name, again?" she pressed, knowing damn well he hadn't told her a first time. Iyes herself liked to hide her identity when she didn't trust her company, but she was Alastor's friend so obviously she was entitled to at least a little snippet of information - right?

adopt thea?

Larkspur could do little more to express his discontent with the girl before him than to just groan. He did it a little under his breath, but also loudly enough to let the girl know that he didn't like that she was Alastor's friend and didn't like that she was bothering him and didn't like that she'd told him she was scouting when, in reality, she was running off playing catch up. "Of course you are," she was his type. Small, bright-eyed, smiling all of the time. What on earth did she have to be so happy about? Alastor wasn't that great, and honestly he wondered why he was surrounding himself with all of these small, petite women.


He was trying to figure out what to do with the girl when she interrupted him. "I didn't tell you my name," he snapped at her, his face scrunching up as he was forced to face reality. Which was that he was going to have to accompany this bubbly girl and he'd have to go find Alastor — two of his least favorite things. He could have chased her off, but if it came back to his alpha that he'd chased off one of his friends, then he'd probably hear about it till he dug a hole and died in it. "I hardly consider Alastor and I friends, but I can take you to him. It's not a far walk from here," had he turned away, the girl probably would have bumped into someone more welcoming than he. But, alas, she was the welcoming committee that she'd received.

He didn't fall for her bait - in fact, he straight up rejected it, snapping quickly that he hadn't provided her with his name. Iyes struggled to maintain the pleasant expression on her face, feeling her smile go rigid. One stray whisker twitched with annoyance; why wouldn't he just tell her his name? Why did he groan when she said she wanted to see someone from his pack? What did of course you are mean? Perhaps she had gone soft with the influence of kind wolves in her life. Everyone on the mountain was nice to her. Now that she was exposed to whatever ornery mess this was, she had forgotten how to defend herself. Iyes swallowed, frowning at the ground. Now she wasn't sure if she was irate with this nameless wolf or herself.

He spoke again, prompting the inky yearling to lift her eyes and scrutinize him. After his sour attitude she certainly hadn't expected his offer to take her to see Alastor. Confusion swam in the amber lights of her eyes. He didn't seem to like her, and he didn't seem to like him, but he was willing to put the two of them together in spite of it...? Fearful that he might rescind the offer if she sat there in silence for too long, Iyes blinked and snapped herself out of it. "I would really appreciate that," she accepted, keeping the enthusiasm of her tone at a minimum. There was still a chance that he was leading her like a pig to slaughter - but if she was going to be pork for anyone, it might as well be Alastor.

She stepped closer and allowed him to lead the way, ruminating on the aberrancy of their conversation prior. Stars above, she would probably do well to keep her jaws clamped shut until they reached Quaking Vale. But this was Iyes, and she couldn't do that. "You know Al's just going to tell me your name anyway," she commented, raising a quizzical brow toward the pale wolf. "I don't see why you wouldn't just say it yourself. Is it some kind of power thing?" If Iyes was gonna deliberately hide her name from someone, that would be the most likely reason why.

slight pp of them walking, let me know if i should change it!

adopt thea?

how dare u pp my character!!! ur banned!!!!!!!!

He would have prayed for the girl's silence, but it seemed clear that even if he had, it'd have fallen on deaf ears. His ears lowered as he stared ahead and considered ignoring her for the rest of the trek to Quaking Vale's borders. But she did have a point, Alastor would tell her his name. He had always been particularly picky about his name. He did not like to tell his name to strangers — regardless of whether or not he knew theirs — and he did not like for those who knew his name to use his nickname. Laurel had always called him Larkin when they were kids, and Sahalie had attempted to shorten his name to Lark. He corrected her and thankfully the girl had caught on not to do so, or at least she didn't in his presence. 

But above all, Larkspur didn't like for someone else to give them his name. 

"Mmm... names aren't that powerful of a thing," maybe once his name had been powerful, and in a place far from Relic Lore, but here Larkspur had little weight, except that maybe some knew the flower that he'd been named after. He paused to take a look at the small girl, "I just don't think there's any reason for us to get to know one another. We're not friends and we're not going to be friends. So you don't have to pretend like you like me, because I'm not going to pretend I like you," in the end, it was this sort of thinking that led Larkspur to be in the position he was in: mostly alone, mostly friendless. He did not like most of his pack and he was also not quiet about it. He behaved, and he did good for the pack, but most of this was for Larkspur's own benefit. 

He chose his friends based on who could do the most for him, not necessarily on real friendship or love. 

"But if you insist," and she did, but also before Alastor even attempted to introduce him, "it's Larkspur." 

They had arrived and Larkspur paused at the borders. He considered taking her to find Alastor, but then could hear her yammering on about something. He never knew how some wolves could speak so much, or could ask so much, or could be so interested in someone without any reason beyond pure curiosity. He could have left Iyes there, let her howl for Alastor, but he didn't really like the idea of leaving her there. He huffed, then howled for @Kino to meet them at the borders.