Cedarwood Forest losing a fight with my ego

Crack knuckles, it feels good to have Koda back :D  AW FOLKS!

Smoke billowed from his nose similar to that of a steam engine as he walked, powerful shoulders slunk forward to shield his neck and hide the slight drag of his front paw. He had covered many miles and was much too preoccupied in covering as much ground as possible to stop and check to see if the bone had settled back into its socket. The pain was subtle and easy to ignore--judging from that fact alone he knew that the appendage would be fine.

He looked behind him, checking to make sure the lanky youth was still behind him and when he had noticed that Chiron's movements had become a bit more slower than usual he spoke quick and sharp. "Keep up, I don't need you getting too far behind." he struggled to hide his frustration. This trip back to the Lore had taken them longer than he'd expected but than again, he didn't have a youth following behind him before.

Eyeing the male from his peripheral he could tell that exhaustion had gotten the best of Chiron and pushing him would only cause further lagging, he'd learned that truth the hard way. His lips pursed, eyes narrowed slightly as he slowed down to a allow the pup to catch up before he spoke once more. "We'll rest here for the night." and veered off from the youth, his ears pulled backward to listen to the response before he ventured off through the thicket in search of a place with cover for them to rest in peace.

The youth, despite his age, was a burly male and had a maturity about him that Koda respected; he listened and was cautious. He would be fine alone while he searched for shelter but just in case. "Stay here and keep quiet, I'll be back shortly." searching alone was always faster and equally as easy. Within moments he was gone, slinking through the trees in silence.

Two wolves in one thread :D

He was in awe, even despite the fact that the excitement of the trip had dissolved almost as quickly as it had come. His father had estimated two weeks at most and yet three weeks had come and gone, and Chiron had done his best to keep quiet. He knew how frustrating the trip was on his father because every so often he would hear Koda swear or expel a deep exhale of air in frustration at every strange mountain or harsh weather that came their way. Just a few days back they had to wait out the worst storm that he had ever experienced but Koda's attitude and calm had kept him from feeling any of the anxiety he would have normally encountered--his father had a way of keeping him balanced and poised. Today though, he was tired and it showed on the way he was struggling to keep up with the fast pace that his father was going and every so often he would hurry to settle at a safe distance behind Koda with hopes that he wouldn't hear the male repeat his request for him to keep up. He was trying, he really was.

They stopped and Chiron felt a relief come over him but curiosity covered his features and he came around to face his father, head cocking to the side in wonder. "I'm keeping up, why did we stop?" he asked but the words were met with a response he'd been waiting to hear all night. They were resting, he felt that he had deserved it. "Good, I think my paws are going to fall off or something." he complained but this time the words went to deaf ears. Koda had already went off in search of whatever he felt they needed and Chiron was left alone with a few words of wisdom. He was smart, that was why Koda had left him alone and he appreciated his father for allowing him his freedom but everything about this forest was creeping him out--darkness was beginning to take over. He settled on his haunches in thought before finally, boredom taking over, he came to the base of a tree and sniffed out a creature he'd been waiting to get his jaws on. "squirrel!" he yelled, mostly to himself than anyone else, and was off like a bullet with every intention on catching them a meal.

(This post was last modified: Jan 19, 2018, 11:37 AM by Chiron.)

Chiron will most likely always be accompanied by Koda, unless stated otherwise. Or, if requested.

Avatar/topic pictures are from Becca! Thanks!

She was walking circles, and damned if that didn't grate against her nerves. She couldn't cross the mountain, not yet, however. Not without making some kind of progress. She couldn't venture into foreign territory without a semblance of true opportunity. So here she was stuck, in the forest she was growing to hate more and more. At the least, she felt more balanced, more at peace with her position rather than bitterly resigned. No doubt that would show for something.

So she pushed the annoyance to the back of her mind and continued to walk with purpose, and it wasn't long after that she came across the scents of father and son. Already questions swarmed in; where was the mother? Why were they without a pack in the middle of winter? Had any siblings been left behind? Was this enough reason already to not bother?

No, she certainly couldn't think like that. Anyways, if her goal was to find only those with pristine pages in their books, she would forever come up empty pawed. She was here to seek promise, and then help bring that to fruition.

She saw them through gaps in the timber, the man walking away from the child. Closer still she drew, and was about to call out, when suddenly the boy shouted and took off like a shot. Squirrel, had he said? Nineva changed course and followed after the father. She noticed then, as he came into sight once more, that he was older, possibly close to Borden's age when the man had passed. Perhaps he was with his grandson then, or a child completely unrelated?

"Your boy took off after a squirrel. We could catch him a real meal, if you have the time."

He was preoccupied but a ear was always tuned in toward Chiron, listening and waiting for anything out of the ordinary so that he could mosey back before disaster struck. Today was no different, and with a sigh he turned on his toes in the direction he had heard the loud and obnoxious call of his son with every intention to remind him that he had been instructed to remain quiet while he was out hunting. He made the clearing just before Nineva made her appearance and without thinking his hackles rose on his back in defense, and lowered his head just in case this stranger thought she could run him off. His eyes moved toward Chiron, who by now was probably well out of sight of the interaction, and hoped he could clear things over before the youth came back unaware of the fact that they were placed in potential danger."We don't want trouble..." he spoke before she had a chance to speak and when she did he felt a wave of relief wash over him. For once there wasn't a wolf out to harm them.

His hackles were slow to return to normal but his eyes had long since softened to their warm honey usual glow and he studied the young woman for a moment before finally speaking. "we've been practicing his hunting, as you can see I have some time yet to teach him." there had been many occasions that he could remember telling his son that a squirrel couldn't possibly maintain both of them but it didn't stop the youth from trying. "I may be interested, but for what exactly in return?" he asked, his head cocking to the side in wait. Never before had a stranger been so eager to help, he assumed that in exchange for them hunting, perhaps even on her claimed lands, that they would be bound by some loyalty that Koda had no desire to partake in so for the moment he hesitated regardless of how hungry he had suddenly become.

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

What Chiron enjoyed most about hunting was the thrill that came over him from chasing down and scaring the heck out of whatever creature he was hunting. He wasn't quite good at catching prey, often times they would scurry from his large feet or outrun him before he had the chance to even think of a plan to corner them, therefore he still didn't know exactly what it felt like to take a life and part of him didn't want to. He enjoyed eating prey, probably more than he liked to admit, but for most of his life those meals had been given to him pre-killed and ready to eat, he never had to snap a neck or injure a spine and although Koda had promised him that one day he would during his lessons, he never took it upon himself to push the aging male into quickening the missions. He was perfectly content with the chase and it was evident on his goofy face.

"Get back here!" he woofed, watching the squirrel scurry up a tree but the chase was far from over and Chiron tried more than once to climb the tree and failed. In the end he had gotten all that energy out and was headed back to where Koda had left him in hopes that the male wouldn't notice, what he saw instead was what looked like a standoff and instinctively he lingered behind in case the wolf was another male challenging Koda for whatever he had caught. When he saw that his father had calmed down he figured it was safe enough to enter and he did so with the gracefulness of a elephant. "DAD, I almost caught it this time. You should have seen it!" he yelled, nearly breathless but it was hard to determine why. He eyed the wolf Koda was talking to and managed to give her the most charming smile before speaking, "I'm Chiron, this is my dad, Koda. We came here from Midnight Ridge and it's far from here, so far that we finally took a break." and he turned toward Koda for confirmation, completely missing the scowl that came to his fathers face.

(This post was last modified: Jan 24, 2018, 05:29 AM by Chiron.)

Chiron will most likely always be accompanied by Koda, unless stated otherwise. Or, if requested.

Avatar/topic pictures are from Becca! Thanks!

He was on edge, wary, and Nineva fully understood. At his age, she was sure he had seen plenty that would cause him to distrust strangers, to defend before questioning. Maybe one day, she would be him, if this dream of hers failed, but she refused to acknowledge that as a possibility. She would succeed in her goals, one way or another.

She smiled as the man spoke of the child's training, reminding her of her own hunting lessons, how her parents had struggled to wrangle Rose into listening at all, keep herself from jumping ahead and Korrin--well, Korrin hadn't been a problem, of course. He'd always been attentive and patient, a model son.

"I need to eat as well," she answered his probing simply. There was no hook, though she did appreciate the opportunity to get to know this man and the youth he watched over, scout out any promise they might hold. Before the business of collaboration could be discussed further, however, the boy charged back to them, gleefully announcing his almost-success. Nineva smiled warmly at him as he turned to address her, giving their names and the place they had come from. A quick glance to who was now confirmed to be his father, she could see that this Koda wasn't too pleased with his son's loose lips.

"It's wonderful to meet you, Chiron. I'm Nineva Hervok. You must be quite strong to have made it so far, just the two of you."

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

He waited with learned patience for her to respond, his eyes ever watchful on Chiron with hope that he would keep his mouth shut for the remainder of this meeting. He supposed there wasn't much to worry over, Nineva didn't present herself as a threat and had in fact offered to help him hunt and for that alone he felt his guard fall. He would trust her, he supposed she would be a much better help than a youthful and spirited pup who couldn't quite figure out how to hunt down a squirrel. He nearly chuckled at the irony but held his composure when she made her introduction. Nineva Hervok the name made his stomach sink as if a rock had fallen into it and without a word he looked her over, struggling to find a resemblance to his ex-mate in this young woman though her emerald eyes were familiar. He shook his head, cursing his luck, but as he had with his intruding son he held his composure, straightened himself just a tad bit more and looked her squarely in the eye just in case she had heard any news of the history between the Hervok family, Secret Woods and the Reiniers'. "Koda Reinier. It's a pleasure to meet you Nineva." he dipped his head, hanging onto the familiarity of her name. No doubt she had been named after Nina. "We've been doing as well as we can, the winters here have never been very forgiving." he added, wondering if she'd get the fact that this wasn't his first rodeo here. "Do you have any idea what you'd like to eat?" he wondered, head cocking to the side.

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

It took him a minute too long to realize that his father wasn't too happy with him. It didn't really bother him though, Koda was getting grumpier with age and he was quite used to the scowls and mumbles that his father would emit when it came to him. Perhaps it was because Koda wasn't used to pups but his father was quick to correct Chiron when he saw and error but today he didn't and that made it even easier for the pale youth to continue on speaking. He didn't think Nineva was a threat, and when his father gave his own name Chiron smiled with pleasure knowing that finally his dad was opening up--it took long enough. His tail wagging behind him he watched as the adults talked, focus going from one wolf to another until the ball was back in the womans' court and Chiron waited to see what she would say. He was actually curious--what did she want to eat?

Chiron will most likely always be accompanied by Koda, unless stated otherwise. Or, if requested.

Avatar/topic pictures are from Becca! Thanks!