Turtleback Lake Melting snowball

@Lyanna
@Elyan

Guuuhh..

Aurek was melting. It had been far too hot in past few days for the white young man to function at all. He was only happy Elyan had brought them to the lake, this place being saving grace in heat like this. Right now he was laying by the shore with his ass end in the water and front of the body in the shore. Elyan was somewhere nearby, maybe fishing. Aurek did not like to partake in it, being so bad at it and not wanting to show Elyan he really did not know how to do it.

So, here he laid, melting away like a white little snowball in the sun. He had managed to spread himself so evenly to the ground it did really seem like he was slowly sinking through and dissolving into water. By the spirits he missed winter.

scouting dem 1/3

Perusing through a wide range of the area surrounding the lake in search of prey and useful herbs had been consuming, and today had been no different. She'd scoured the forest for whatever she could find -hoping to accrue a little arnica or perhaps some bearberry to start a medicinal collection -  but the land was so dry that she had come up empty handed, for now. Eastward, she'd managed to track down the prints of what seemed to be a meager group of deer, but the trail went cold sooner than she could make the effort a productive one. It had been older than she'd thought initially; as she stood, half glowering and half defeated, over the last of them in the shade of the forest, it dawned on her that she could do so much better. She was distracted. This venture shouldn't be this hard for a wolf who'd survived well enough for months on her own.

She needed a break.

The familiar smell of Turtleback Lake's water on the breeze drew her to and though the grassy expanses surrounding the island-dotted wonder. At this point, it was a sight for sore eyes. Padding along a stretch of its banks in search of the perfect place to settle for some rest - with some seclusion, preferably - it was the sight of a patch of cattails that caught her eye. She knew its uses to be somewhat limited, but that didn't negate the fact that a little store of it could come in handy. It wasn't a gold-medal find, but it wasn't nothing, either. Making her way closer, she was so deep in thought over getting things done while wasting as little time as possible that she'd nearly passed right by the blondie with his butt in the water.

Elias? The girl wasn't far off from where he'd happened upon her before, but...Upon closer inspection, this wolf was not him. The pretty blue of his eyes was missing. She halted abruptly, looking the stranger over before resigning to approach him. Perhaps he could help her. And if not, well - it wasn't a bad idea to make new acquaintances.

"Perfect afternoon for a dip?" she called out amiably.

Aurek decided he was going to die here. Were Elyan not coming soon, there would be nothing but Aurek jelly for him to find by the shore. If it was this hot for him, he could only imagine how wolves with the black coat must have felt like. Black was the worst color in this heat right? At least he had heard so from somewhere.

"guhhh..."

A voice called, presumably offering pleasantries of sort by asking if Aurek was having good time dipping into water? He wasn't even sure if those were the words spoken but it sure did sound like that. It took even another moment for him to realize the voice was not familiar to him. It wasn't @Elyan , it wasn't the strange tired man either. The pale boy managed to lift his head enough to look for the source, noticing female he had never seen before. A girl? Oh man, Aurek had been hoping to find a female or two during his travels but did it have to be now when he wasn't exactly most representitive. Still, he spotted her first, so he'd get the dips over Elyan.

He hurried up on his paws, shaking his fur and then standing tall to appear older than what he actually was. "Yes... very fine... afternoon?"

scouting dem 2/3

Obviously she'd caught the boy off guard, judging by the way he'd scurried to his feet in such a hurry. He'd regarded her with a - question? - and she couldn't help the mirthful smirk that came across her face. Lyanna's brows rose just a hair, comically, as it became apparent just how young he was. Inexperienced, perhaps.

"Indeed it is," she replied calmly.

Given his age, she was a bit skeptical that he'd be of much help to her in her endeavor to find what she'd been searching for. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask and who knew - maybe he would be more insightful than she'd initially given him credit for. With a sway in her tail and a glimmer in her honey-hued eyes, she opted to smooze him a bit.

"I'm terribly sorry for interrupting your afternoon," she began, "but...I've been searching for hours for a bearberry patch with no luck at all. I don't suppose you've happened to see any on your way here to the lake, have you?"

If not, it wouldn't be the end of the world. With the sun beating down on her back, it wasn't a surprise that she'd stumbled upon him with his ass in the water. Even if he had nothing to offer her, maybe she'd just follow his suit for a little while.

Aurek felt stupid. She was so sweet and so beautiful. The boy thought he was feeling little wobbly and it wasn't just the sun cooking his brains. He felt bad for not having answer to her, but he had to admit he knew nothing about bearberries or whatever she was looking for (he really had no idea). "N.. no I don't. Don't know anything about that." -he admitted while trying to keep appearance of fine young man whom was so very mature and so very big.

He did not want to see her go just yet. Perhaps she could join him in the water, anything that would prolong his time with her. Yes, he already a crush or something similar developing. "Water's cool.. " -He stated, nodding down to his side. "...you should try."

Aurek realized he must seem really avkward to her. If only he had some forewarning...

To her dismay, the blonde who'd been sunbathing - or something like that - didn't have a clue as to what she'd inquired about. Shame. He could have played an instrumental part in shortening her work day. Nonetheless, she supposed he was on to something here as he mentioned how cool the water was.

"Well, I must admit that I'm a bit disappointed to hear that," she let the dramatics seep into her features, "but, I think a little dip sounds lovely, actually." She flashed him a soft, toothless smile before eyeing the water and meandering over to it. It was impossible to prognosticate whether or not he'd follow her lead, so she just went at it.

Wading right in, she found that the silty, mushy feel of the mud beneath the surface felt heavenly on her aching paws. Lyanna wriggled her toes, looking down to watch the way her doing so caused a cloud of muck to churn up like a thunderhead billowing in the sky. With only a moment's hesitation, she looked over her shoulder at the boy before pressing on to wade out into the lake. As the slope of the underwater shore faded away, she paddled out, turned a circle, and emerged sopping wet. And it felt wonderful.

Angling over to him, there was a devilishly angelic look in her eyes as she proceeded to shake the excess off - spraying it on him like rain. "So, are you from around here? -I don't think I caught your name..."

Yeah, he definately had a crush. The pale boy felt guilty for not having answers to her and he could not really think of ways to make that up for her. He watched her with curious eyes as she went into the water, took a swim and then found herself back on the shore, shaking her fur in front of him and in process getting him wet again. Of course, he did not mind.

She asked wether or not he was from around here, and his name of course. Aurek blinked and this time managed to look less avkward in front of her. "My name is Aurek... and no, I am not from around here." -He shook his head. Elyan was however and he might have known the area better than him. "My friend knows the area though.. we travel together."

If Elyan was to be involved in this, Aurek least deserved to know her name before him. The female was obviously more experienced than him, older, but definately beautiful. She had a scent of a pack on her however, which was bit of an deterrent. "...and what's you name?"

Aurek went on to address her inquiry and gave her his name, also mentioning that he'd been traveling with a friend - something that she found that she was a little resentful or jealous of. He must have it easy. If she'd had a companion to accompany her when she'd first returned to Relic Lore and spent weeks on the road alone, perhaps she wouldn't have had such a rough adjustment. If it had been the case, perhaps she wouldn't still be sleeping alone. But, she'd found a home as most loners did eventually and she regarded Shallows Edge with much endearment. In time she'd settle in and hopefully make some friends other than @Askan, who was happily mated and largely unavailable for sleeping, and also unaware that they were actually friends. In all honestly, she had a hard time imagining him being the cuddly sort, anyway.

But, whatever resentment she felt toward his words, she certainly didn't feel toward him, and he seemed to be rather nice.

"I see. You should consider yourself lucky to have such a companion, Aurek," she smiled; the gentle sort of way that came when she was humbled by things such as reminders that her life wasn't so bad. Somehow, she was happy for the boy who had a friend. "Lyanna Tainn, it's nice to meet you."

"It's hard to believe your friend would pass up a swim with you on such a pretty day."

Oh, but now it was getting interesting. As she told her name, he remembered the rough looking man that had helped the two boys fight off some coyotes earlier. He was looking for Tainn himself, though not this one. Still, there was bit of surprise visible in Aurek's face. He skipped the topic of his friend to get to straight to more important point, the odd man's request. "Someone we met earlier was looking for Tainn. Shit.. I forgot the name. Trill Tainn maybe? Tir Tainn? Any of that sound familiar?" -the boy asked while tilting his head and really putting his brain power to use in attempt to remember the conversation he had had with Garmir and Elyan after some coyote murderizing.

Aurek should have paid more attention to it but he was bit too worried over wether or not his handsome form was going to have scars from minor bites he had recieved earlier. He closed his eyes and lowered his ears, lifting his nose up as he sighed, admitting he had bit flawed memory. ".. ahh shit I'm so bad with names."

What Aurek said next piqued her interest. Apparently, he and his buddy had run into someone who was looking for a Tainn. The boy couldn't quite recall the name exactly, instead giving it his best guess and offering a couple of the least-Tainny names she could have imagined. Yet, she'd gotten the gist of it.

"Triell Tainn, perhaps?" she offered. The name was as familiar as they came - her grandfather's brother, at that. But, why on earth would someone be looking for him? Had something happened to him? Her interest in the matter heightened.

"...He's actually a relative of mine. Why was this person looking for him, if you don't mind my asking?"

(This post was last modified: Aug 07, 2018, 04:50 AM by Lyanna.)