Red Fern Forest [BWP]I've been bending backwards till I broke

RE:Askan, you hit your paw on a tree root hidden by the last of the snow.
All welcome~

Fucking, fuckity fuck.

That was all Askan could think of as he hobbled along, his front left paw throbbing as though a moose had stomped on it.

For the most part the snow from the random snowfall a few days prior had melted, but a few patches remained here and there. And of course, Askan just happened to step on a patch that concealed a nasty root. He wasn't weak, nor was he a stranger to pain, but holy shit, it was the sort of pain that made him stand there for a moment, huffing and puffing as he process just how fucking awful it was.

Askan wasn't the sort of suffer in silence. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to stomp around, cussing like he was a damn feral, but fuck- he was in a foul mood, his day had been completely and utterly ruined.

He had half a mind to limp back to the Shallows, to call for Pete and get him to give him something for the pain. But that seemed weak, pathetic. Askan was pretty sure nothing was broken, he hadn't heard anything snap or crunch. At worst he'd lost a nail- which was actually a really really gross thought, so he wasn't going to look or assess the damage, he was going to keep stomping through the ferns. Yup.

(This post was last modified: Jun 18, 2018, 02:50 PM by Askan.)

The freak bit of spring snow that had managed to fall was all but melted now. Lyanna didn't mind the cold or snow, for that matter, but when it was nearly gone she was better able to fully appreciate the scenery. She'd never seen a forest quite like the one she traversed now, its floor spotted with scarlet-hued ferns, its canopy high and uniform enough to make the whole place look similar in every direction. If it weren't for the reliability of the sun's position in the sky, the terrain might have been tricky to navigate for a wolf who'd never been here before. For the most part, the area had been as quiet as the rest of the Lore she'd seen since her arrival - save for the very distinct crunching and bustling of someone else.

The girl paused, silently and in full attention, her russet-tipped ears flickering to and fro as she listened. A huffing here, a grumble there. Whoever it was that she was sharing her path with wasn't attempting to hide his or her presence. And then his form strode into her line of sight. She squinted a hair to get a better look. The wolf wasn't terribly large and his coat was a unique shade of brown laden with silver markings. If her own presence had gone unnoticed until now, surely her scent would give her away at any moment. Maybe it would be safer to announce herself, less she be perceived as a lurking threat. At any rate, if the solitary, grumbling thing was dangerous, better to engage him first and not catch him off guard. Was he...limping?

Her brows pulled together in a questioning furrow as she moved forward and stopped a reasonable distance away, her posture as neutral as it could be. "...Are you alright?" She called out from across the way.

With all the noise he was making Askan shouldn't have been surprised-or annoyed-when a voice cut through the ferns.  But of course, in typical Askan fashion he was miffed and a touch embarrassed that someone-anyone- would see him like this. His ears slanted forward and his nose wrinkled as he took in the nature of their tone, all laced with concern as though he was a feeble old man who needed coddling.

Askan had no interest in that, least of all from a stranger.

"I'm fine." He insisted through gritted teeth.

He scanned the area and- oh, for a moment he though it was his sister, Lenae. Like Lenae the stranger was tawny, soft, and undoubtedly feminine, the sort that no doubt had caught a wandering gaze or dozen during her travels. She was taller though, lithe and lean, more leggy than his curvy, if not compact sister. More pressingly was the colour of her eyes. They were warm, bright, but not the telltale sharp yellow any Selwyn could recognise. Close and yet so far.

"What's it to you?" He then asked, louder and firmer than before. He took a limpy step forward, only to huff in frustration. He couldn't really stomp about as he had before, that just wouldn't do.

As soon as his mouth opened, there was her answer. The dark man was not yet a threat, just a grumpy shit. Of course, who might blame him, with a limp like that. For all the grumbling he was doing it must have been painful, but the tone in his voice made it clear for her to hear that he wasn't really interested in her concern - so in the blink of an eye she had none. Boys. She might have rolled her eyes at his gruff demeanor if the unfolding situation hadn't been slightly comical. What kind of injured man didn't enjoy a little concern from a pretty girl?; and so, she didn't take it to heart, instead watching on as he continued on his apparently stubborn, limpy way.

"It isn't anything to me, of course," she returned nonchalantly, shifting her weight as if to put her hand on her hip. After all, she didn't have to offer a second of help to the stranger, and she surely wouldn't if he wanted to shrug her off or push her kindness to the side. But being the genuine creature she was, naturally she would try. "-I was just wondering how, in a forest so flat, a big, strong wolf such as yourself came to be limping through like a fledgling fallen from the nest?" It wasn't a question. Nor did her tone imply that it was. Her facial expression gave nothing away, and one of her brows rose ever so slightly as she looked around in all directions before continuing on. "...What a shame it would be if the coyotes found you like this. I'm sure they would be happy to take that foot right off."

Lyanna exhaled a seemingly disinterested sigh. "...But, that's none of my business."

(This post was last modified: Jun 18, 2018, 04:31 AM by Lyanna.)

she's such a pest, I love her
whoops, accidentally summoned yotes. Luckily, or unluckily they're in the distance XD

Askan rolled his eyes. In all honesty he hadn't anticipated such a backhanded response; unbidden snark buried beneath layers of false-niceties. But really, it wasn't something he was entirely unfamiliar with. Again, he was reminded of one of his sisters, but rather than dwell on that, on her , he simply shoved the thought away before it could take root. Askan was usually so quick to take bait, all snappish and defensive ,as though he had something to prove. Had the woman not reminded him of family he would have no doubt followed that trend and told her to fuck off, instead he regarded her with an arched brow. God, she even did that thing, her expression was so closed off, unreadable. What was it with women? Why were they so...irritating? Hell, it wasn't just women, snarky strangers as a whole always made things harder than it had to be. As if he wasn't having a shitty enough day as it was.

"Sorry," he said, his voice laced with false sincerity. Two could play at this game. "I can't understand you. You're snout is so far up your arse I don't know what you're saying." He exhaled sharply, a curt little laugh.

What response had she expected? That he'd suddenly back track and apologise? Yeah fucking right. It was an idle threat, one that didn't ruffle his fur too much. What were they gonna do, nibble him to death? Even if they did show they weren't far from the Shallows, Askan had nothing to fear.

"You an Archer?" He then asked. It seemed like a safe assumption, most Archers he'd met were pricks, all hoighty and arrogant. Perhaps she was cut from the same cloth, maybe not.

(This post was last modified: Jun 18, 2018, 02:51 PM by Askan.)

In the distance there is a large pack of coyotes howling.

:)

The stranger came right back at her. Snout up her ass. It wasn't hard to understand how her comment came to be interpreted that way. Perhaps her snout was up her ass, but she wasn't the one hobbling around now, was she. Then he proceeded to ask if she was an Archer. Of course she wasn't, and somehow she couldn't really take offense to that either. She knew the name, associated as it was with pride, strength, and loyalty, so her grandmother and father had always said. Her grandfather, Ruiko, was said to be allies with Elettra herself, but Lyanna had never personally made the acquaintance of a single Archer. There certainly were worse namesakes to be confused with.

"Tainn," she replied plainly. As he continued moving - if you could call it that - forward, she did as well, mindfully keeping her path at a parallel trajectory to his at the same reasonable distance. "-Somehow I doubt that, whatever my name happens to be, it is more important to you than getting to wherever it is you're attempting to go, though." Her bright eyes didn't linger on him, and instead they searched the pair's surroundings. She, for one, wasn't actually going to take the prospect of a band of coyotes happening upon a wounded wolf lightly, given that she was right there with him. Perhaps she'd been lucky thus far in having not encountered a single one of the dreadfully foul creatures, much less a grouping of them. Additionally, it wasn't lost on her that, if the two of them should cross paths with one or more of them, she apparently was the only fully abled protection they had. Not that her grumpy counterpart wasn't capable of putting up a fight - that she would not assume. All in all, he appeared to be healthy aside from being awkwardly mobility-impaired.

And, just like that, it was as if her train of thought summoned up the exact situation she was hoping to avoid. Off in the distance somewhere the coyotes were, a pack of them, their songs - if the shrill, irritating noise they made could be called that - rising in pitch and intensity. The fur of her back erected autonomically. The expression on her face morphed into something between inconvenienced, unsurprised, and you've got to be shitting me. One emotion that was not present on her tawny mask and in her body language, however, was fear. She began to close some of the distance between them. "I can make sure you get there." She made her offer clear, stated matter-of-factly. As she drew nearer, the pack scent he wore became more apparent. He had something to lose, more so than she did at this moment in time. And if she delivered, perhaps she could find herself in someone's good graces; finding allies in this place was going to be important if she chose to stick around.

"...I mean, if I can manage to have my snout out of my arse by the time those coyotes arrive," she poked at him one last time. Either the dark-featured man would accept her presence and offer or reject it, in which case she would be on her way and out of the danger that was closing in around them. At the rate he was going, however, whether or not he would make it out in time was precarious at best.

So she wasn't an Archer, but a Tainn? Askan ughed. He honestly couldn't tell what was worse. Admittedly, he didn't know many Tainns, but Sahalie had been more than enough to sour the name for him. No she wasn't the devil, or an evil bitch but honestly that made it worse. Bad people were easy to hate, there was a sense of righteousness that came along with it. But people like Sahalie? People who thought they were doing good but fucked other's over in the process? That's where it got complicated.

As a man who liked things to be either black or white it made things...difficult for him,his frustration quickly turned into resentment and- long story short, that's how the Tainn name had been spoiled in Askan's eyes. More or less.

Then of course, just because he was having the unluckiest day ever a group of coyotes announced their presence in the not so far distance. Just his luck. He gritted his teeth as his ears flicked back against his skull, then slanted to the side before settling once more in their usual upright position.

Still, the woman had a point though, begrudging as he was to admit it. He limped to a stop, his lips pursed as he shot her a typical Selwyn squint. Offers like that usually came with a price, surely she wouldn't do it out of the kindness of her heart. Perhaps he was being too cynical, but really it wasn't as though he'd been particularly kind to her, to be suspicious was only natural. Or so he thought anyway.

"Only if you can manage, yeah." He paused to side eye her as he considered his next words. When he spoke again his voice was a less hard than before, like comparing metal to stone. "What do you want in return?"

The Shallows had plenty that she did not. Clearly he was no scraggly pack wolf, as she'd noted if not for his paw he would've been in prime form, as fit and as healthy as he'd ever been. Life at the Shallows was good for him, would she want a little slice of that, something from the caches perhaps?

He seemed to consent to allowing her to help him along the way, to get him home or defend them both from the band of coyotes or whatever this task ended up entailing. She took note of his body language, the way his ears flattened in possible annoyance or dismay before he'd, perhaps, considered that what she offered might be worth whatever cost it was to him. At this point in time, she couldn't really discern what that cost might be. From her view, he was getting the sweeter end of the bargain they were striking - and for all she knew, she might end up as hopelessly disabled as he was, or worse.

As he came to a stop she made her way over a bit more directly than before, her own rounded ears swiveling to take in any sound that could give her a sense of how far she and her counterpart were from the potential danger that loomed around them. She gazed to him for only a moment as she padded closer, her golden eyes diverting with a sound intensity to the horizons surrounding them. Stopping at his side, Lyanna continued to watch and listen until his voice buzzed in her ear, slightly less noxious than before. Her tail flicked behind her as she caught the sideways squint he'd given her, and it was then that she noticed the hue of his eyes. Much prettier than his personality had been so far. When he asked what she wanted in return, she looked him square in the face.

"For you to remember," was her immediate reply. Quite honestly she didn't necessarily want anything in return. Her entire aim in this since the second she happened across his wretched path was to make sure he wasn't easy picking for the coyotes, who apparently were too near for comfort. Now that they were in close proximity, she looked him over - sized him up, per se - and...Was that...Is he actually missing a toenail? Her brows furrowed yet again as she counted his toes and...Yep. Definitely missing a toenail. Her gaze searched his face and it took every effort she had not to look back down again. "Maybe there will come a day when I'll need you to remember who I am now and whatever ends up happening here today. That's all." And it was the honest truth.

The distant howling started up again. They'd be best off getting any sort of head start. "I'll follow you." The girl inclined her muzzle to the path that lay before them, taking a single step if only to encourage him to take a painful one of his own.

(This post was last modified: Jun 19, 2018, 02:22 AM by Lyanna.)

Shallows Edge

Carpe Noctem

Askan huffed as the stranger gave him yet another reason to be pissy. He hadn't noticed it before but now that they were close he realised that she was quite a bit taller than him. He honestly shouldn't have been surprised, after all Selwyns were anything but tall and leggy, but the fact that he had to look up to meet her gaze was just salt in the wound. It didn't matter, his height had never been an issue before and his bulk ensured that he wasn't a midget, but damn, as if he didn't have enough reasons to be moody as hell today.

The loner was wise not to make a big deal of his missing nail. If she had, well he wouldn't have taken kindly to that. As far as he was concerned it was just sore, maybe a little bruised. Not thinking about the throbbing thud thud thud of pain made it easier to deal with, as though it was a minor inconvenience rather than an injury that actually needed tending to.

Askan assumed the woman would want at least some form of reimbursement for her effort , but no, apparently all she wanted was for Askan to remember. It didn't take a genius to unravel the deeper meaning of her request. Yes, at times Askan was brash, quick to snap first and ask questions later, but he was no fool. His mind was as sharp as his gaze, he knew that there was a hidden weight to her words, that until she decided what she wanted from him he'd be in debt to her.

It was a troubling prospect, but considering the situation...it was a risk worth taking. The sooner the got a move on the better, lest the coyotes realised they had company.

"Suppose I could, my memory isn't that bad." He took a limpy step forward and to his credit hid the discomfort well, his only tell was the slight twitch of his jaw, as though he'd been about to curse or gripe. It was going to be a long hobble back. Or at the very least it'd feel that way. "My pack isn't far" he gestured north with a dip of his head.

And so he began to lead the way. What a strange pair they made, certainly not friends and barely even acquaintances, but Askan supposed that was the way of things, his first encounters rarely went well. Hell, the first time he'd met his mate there had been a lot of yelling, soon followed by a bit of bloodshed and cursing. But look where they were now, funny how things changed.

"So, which Tainn are you?" He asked, his blunt way of asking for her name.

(This post was last modified: Jun 19, 2018, 02:58 PM by Askan.)