Firefly Weir outrunning karma

AW/RE: Skoll, you hear a scream in the dead of night -- is it a coyote, or something else?

October 22nd; Nearly midnight; Broken Clouds; 46.4 ° F, 8 ° C.

Since returning to Pookastone Scowle, Skoll had had dancing visions of a little white-furred creature the woods when he slept in the unbearably bright morning hours. It was cautious at first in the shape of a hare, staring at him with luminous sun-glow yellow eyes, presumably judging every move his dream-world self took. Tonight, it was bigger and much more cunning as a fox. It yipped at him, but he remained at a respectable distance and could only watch as it spun about in a playful circle before vanishing into the dark. Another bark sounded out, but this time, he awoke from his slumber, startled mostly by the fact that it was already dark with the dawn still several hours out of sight.

The starless sky greeted him through the trees when he looked up and took a deep breath. It was just a dream...

He rolled his stiff shoulders as he leaned forward and back. Perhaps he hadn't needed all that sleep after all. With a staggering gait, he sluggishly patrolled out from his and Celandine's den toward the Lagoon; and, all the way there it was quiet along the borders. The Weir, however, was different. The water there was still and the quiet was much more uneasy than it was at the den. He stalked closer to the water, head low and ears as tall as he could manage.

A few gulps of water helped clear his head and as he settled down on his rump at the water's edge to enjoy some piece of quiet, that familiar sound came again. An eerie scream. It jolted his muscles and made his ears ring several seconds after it had sounded out. Sphinx-like and stock-still he waited, but nothing came. He stood up again, eyes wide and tail lifted in the air. One step was taken in the direction where the shriek had reached him through the Scowle; he instinctively let out a raspy howl, a calling card of sorts to any pack mate or rogue that might be nearby.

Are you all right?!

He scowled to himself. Wow, that was stupid. If it had been his daughter... well, if it had been Vaeda... Midnight black paws started eating up the ground, but he ultimately circled around and back to the Weir. While there were several familiar scents about, none were as fresh as his... His right ear fell lax as he waited again, wondering and waiting for any sound of struggle, another scream, or otherwise. If someone had meant to scare him, they had succeeded, but he was not going to stand idly by and become prone to any more antics.

(This post was last modified: Oct 23, 2018, 01:13 AM by Skoll.)

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

i'm doing whatever i can to make the bad things go away

She had laid low after the border incident, avoiding the other children even more. Especially Vareth and Sedna. She even did her best to dodge Morganna when she could. SeeJay was old enough to not cling to the adults at every waking moment so she took comfort in knowing that she would be okay as the waves calmed from the incident. Even if no one else cared.

Her tail swished as she fumbled about in the night. She was well known by her caregivers for not sleeping through the night. Nightmares, restlessness, simply unwilling to give into slumber. She had it all for a wolf still so young. Yet she thought nothing of it. Such had been life since she could remember. Who could blame her? The earliest memory she could truly latch onto was the tattered form of Laurel and the aggressiveness of coyotes. Even if everything had been plush after that (Celandine's warmth, the kindness of two yearlings, a new home) she could not erase her memories.

It was with those things in mind that she heard a sound that made her muscles coil. Her nostrils flared as she attempted to smell something that would make such a shrill sound. There was nothing but the dull scents of Pookastone Scowle's members with the exception of something more fresh. She barely recognized it but she knew it to be someone important. He had brought a coyote back after all.

She jogged to catch up to his position and let out a soft chuff to announce her presence once she arrived. Her posture was neutral at most. Slumped forth shoulders, lowered head and limp tail. Her orange eyes glanced around to quickly realize he was alone. There was no coyote present with him now -- dead or alive. So what had that been?

have you checked out my player preferences?

While no one had answered his question, something came trotting out of the dark. Her scent wafted his way first and Skoll took a deep breath. He could only be grateful that it was a (somewhat) familiar soul that found him first. The soft sound that lifted from her immediately drew his interest in her and he looked her over as she drew near. She, too, was alone, but she had also been alerted and drawn out into the night by the screech.

A quick mental run through of the potpourri that came with her proximity told him that she was physically fine. The ruckus had not been caused by her. He took a step closer to her, eyes still raking over every hair on her pelt. Had she been his daughter, he might have preened the fur above her crown... smoothed down the fur at her ears with his tongue... He probably should have, but he still did not know what to make of the girl's presence. Even during the time he had been gone, no one had come for her. His heart gave a small twinge; even, he, of all wolves, had gone looking for Deacon when the boy had been stolen away.

His head slowly canted to the left as he looked at her. Celandine and Morganna's ward. He gave a weak smile and a feeble but kind wag of his tail, glad for the time being that the world had fallen quiet. "Hello, little darkling. Everything alright?"

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

i'm doing whatever i can to make the bad things go away

We reached the moon falls icy cauldron
And found the spirit that I crave

There was something about the nickname that soothed her ever so slightly. Little darkling. She wanted to latch onto the title firmly and not let go. Out of a returning kindness, she flashed him a crooked grin that was usually reserved for Morganna or Celandine. The look was certainly out of place on her usually stoic or aggressive features but there was no denying the genuineness of it.

Her head nodded softly before she uttered a soft "Yeah." Her ear flicked softly while the world around them seemed to have grown silent, as if the previous shrill sound had halted everything that was still awake. Yet after hearing such a sound she could not shake the feeling that they were not the only ones out here. Someone -- something -- had to still be out here.

Usually she would have taken the chance to slip into the reflective waters with so much tension in her chunky form yet that seemed inappropriate at this time. What if something was lurking on the shorelines for her out there? Or what if it was underneath the surface even? "Did ya hear it?" She finally asked as her gaze flickered back to the rugged male. There was no denying (at least not from her end) that something had cried out. Either for them or for something else.

(This post was last modified: Oct 24, 2018, 08:23 PM by Caelia.)

have you checked out my player preferences?

A young fawn has gotten separated from its herd. Hunt Opportunity, +8 Health

Though the grin had been quick to come and go, he did not miss it, her appreciation for what withheld affection rolled off his tongue. She could have been anything, a wildcard - a darling, a sweetling, a starling... In Skoll's eyes, her fur and sudden appearance into the pack had made her mysterious to him. Ever-watching, ever-listening, quiet, and dark...

Of course she had heard the scream. Anyone some hundred wolf-lengths away, even, should have easily heard it; if they hadn't, then they were clearly deaf.

He gave a slow nod, his tall midnight black ears still fully forward on high alert. Though he didn't mean to test her, he tried to soften his hard gaze with another tilt of his head. "So, you didn't scream then? That... wasn't you?" His tail grew still at his back; after all the stuff he had pulled on his mother and Angier, he was no stranger to ruckus for the sake of causing ruckus.

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

i'm doing whatever i can to make the bad things go away