Luna Hill Ready, Ready?

gone tomorrow

Overhead, there was nothing but bright lights against a dark sky. Most nights were cloudy, throwing the world into an even further state of darkness. This was no such night. The storm that had broken over the forest of Relic Lore was nowhere in sight. All that could be seen that proved it had once existed was the trail of destruction it had left in its wake. The storm had been a behemoth, the largest that most had ever seen. The amount of destruction...it was devastating. So many had lost their homes, driven out by the fires that had raged on for what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a day or so. Where once had been a place of safety was now a memorial built of ashes — a testament to what was and what would never be again.

Cori looked up at the clear night sky, her sage green eyes reflecting the twinkling lights that shown from a million miles away. She had not lost her home in the fires that had consumed the dry timber like it was nothing, at least, not her permanent home. She was a drifter, and had been for a couple of months now. Driven out of her birth pack by an over zealous alpha female, the three year old had come to Relic Lore with no particular goal in mind. It was just another forest to her, there was no emotional value attached.

However, the fire had changed things. She had been scouting out the resident wolf pack, the Hidden Tree wolves when the fire broke out. Her lithe legs had carried her as far away from the source of the blaze as possible, with no concern for the pack wolves who could very well be burning alive as their home burst into flames. She had been on the verge of seeking out their leader and looking to join their ranks, but nature had decided some different plans were in order. Looking back on it now, it was for the better. She had been able to escape alive and in one piece.

Reclining down onto her slim haunches, the she-wolf gazed out over Blackberry Fields with mild interest, her gaze directed towards the location of the fire: the Wildwood. The entire area was just a mass of ashes now, even from a distance she could see that. Were the wolves she had meant to join escaped, or had they all perished?

(This post was last modified: Jul 31, 2010, 06:59 PM by Corinna.)

His life as he knew it was about to busticate. The large beast had prowled away from his family for the moment, his mind unable to grasp the concept of their losses. He had already lost count of time that had passed – it seemed quite irrelevant to the idea that nothing was timeless, as his impressions had once been. He had never considered the possibility of so much death and destruction, and yet the forest and its charred remains were a constant reminder.

Usually a creature of the night – he found the darkness liberated his soul and senses, Ruiko found little comfort this time in the clear midnight skies. His eyes trailed across them, the reality that there were wolves who might have looked upon them just a few nights ago that would now never see them again. It was a strange and unsettling thought, and one he kept close to his heart. Ruiko was never one to share his insight or worries, and so he bottled these emotions and instead focused on other things. Anything.

Ruiko’s paws had lead him to Blackberry Fields; a place he did not visit often. Everything seemed in harmony here. If a stranger were to enter these lands from here, they never would have known the danger that had lurked in the trees beyond only a few days ago. And yet with every intake of breath, Ruiko could almost taste the smoke and burnt wood – he no doubt reeked of it now, as small bits of ash stubbornly remained intact to his tawny pelt. He didn’t care. There were more important things to care about.

His dark thoughts were only interrupted as his bright eyes fell upon a slender figure further in the grass. His eyes took in the sight of the stranger as any curious being would – his first impressions were limited only to her petite stature and pretty feathered pelt, but he made no comment to draw her from her reverie. He had no desire to. Ruiko, in all his hidden pain, remained in silence for the moment.

(This post was last modified: Jul 30, 2010, 04:02 PM by Indru.)

<blockquote>Night neither perturbed or pleased Coquelicot. On the other hand, his mother had hated it. She had hated the way the moonlight failed to illuminate her rich dark fur to gold and reveled in the light where she spent her days staring admiringly at the silver mirror of water, entirely caressed by her vanity to care much about the world. His siblings had paid the dichotomy of light and dark no heed. Whether the moon or sun rose to dominance against a backdrop of dark blue or robin's nest swathed with clouds it did not matter, for night was merely a factor of life to them.

Meandering leisurely through the trees, the moonlight glow and shadows pressing shades of monochrome and the color of raven's wings into his dark chocolate fur, Coquelicot's mind was a riot of thoughts and ideas - threads of consciousness impossibily tangled up with memories, emotions, and rationality. At the moment, the third False child considered the purpose of night. Perhaps it was merely a excuse for the sun to take leave for a while, or maybe the impenetrable darkness served to give creatures a peace of mind with a cloak of shadows and false security.

No - the cover of night was a two-sided creature. It swept dangers and predators alike beneath dark folds, yet also lulled the weak and fearful into a black aura of security woven by ignorance and even denial. The trail of the young male's thoughts shifted and came to a halt as the vague presence of others came to his attention. Reluctantly Coquelicot ceased his internal musings to shift his focus onto the two individuals, dull silver eyes gazing upon one petite female gazing in a direction and another male he presumed had newly arrived upon the scene as he did.

Despite detecting traces of other individuals in the vicinity, Coquelicot had not the luck - or misfortune, to encounter any others until this moment. He stood peering past a gap of bushes by a tree, silent. </blockquote>

Gone Tomorrow

Green eyes drank in the darkened scene readily, slowing moving to maximize her field of vision. But it didn't seem to matter which portion of the field she was occupied with, the view remained the same. Wild grasses that grew tall in some places and short in others dominated her view. Sporadically placed clusters of blackberry bushes dotted the landscape, their wild branches creating dangerous shadows that could hide all manner of fiends.

For some, being on their own at night where a potential enemy could be lurking behind any shadow was no a comforting thought, but Cori was not particularly afraid of the dark. Her sight at night was probably better at night than it was during the day; and the rest of her senses were highly tuned as all wolves' were. And even then, she wasn't particularly afraid. Her life experience had been fairly uneventful when it came to dangerous situations. As far as she was concerned, she was a top predator who could handle herself in any given situation, including those that involved self defense against an unforeseen attacker.Granted, her skills as a fighter had not come to light since her days as a puppy fighting for dominance amongst her siblings, but, she had faith in herself.

Chancing a random glance around her, she took her eyes from the burned horizon. What met her gaze was not a random shadow cast by those of the blackberry bushes, but rather a particularly made shadow - a lupine shadow. Instinctively, the hair along the back of her neck and shoulders began to lift; the first of her defense mechanisms when meeting a stranger. Her travels had taken her far, and while she had wanted for another to talk to, she was spooked that he had managed to get so close without her noticing previously.

Rising to her feet, she faced the male. Tail hanging limply against her hocks, she simply stared at him for a moment - completely oblivious to the second stranger that had also come out for a chance look at the midnight sky. "Are you of the Hidden Tree wolves?" she asked to the big male she was facing. If he was, there was a good chance he would inform her of the condition of his pack after the accident. And if he wasn't, then she would no longer be the only lone wolf in all of Relic Lore.

For just one second, the breeze drifted up about the large male, ruffling his dark tawny coat and whipping the scent of blackberries past his weary nose. The scent was not an unpleasant one, but it still stirred his nose to wrinkle in distaste as a vague memory of he and his brother Indru came to mind – a memory that involved a contest of gluttony to see who could eat the most berries.. Indru had been victorious in the end, as Ruiko’s stomach churned at the vile fruit juice and had then promptly emptied all contents he had devoured. Such an unimportant matter, and yet at the time of their young and naive age it had seemed like a shameful loss to the large sibling; if only then he could have foreseen Indru’s claim to a throne that could have been his. The thought itself once more almost made him want to wretch what little meat he had eaten the past hours since the unfortunate destruction of his home. Of his pride.

The minim wind had also drifted the tale of another – not the female who held his attention now – nearby. His amber eyes drifted from her momentarily, scouting out the crevices of the dark as he looked for the soul that was lurking about. His search was interrupted by movement from the pale-furred wolf before him, and his eyes quickly averted back to her to smooth over her bristling hackles. Nervous little girl. His own tail arched lightly in dominance, his eyes keenly studying her as she questioned him. It wasn’t what he expected in conversation, and once more his sought out distraction had failed at the reminder of his old homes ruins. Of his family’s death. “No,” he responded, his tone deep and brusque. “For the Hidden Tree pack is no longer. We have claimed lands by the Swift River.” While it was clarification, Ruiko remained vague upon the details. She had no reason to delve in his business, as far as he was concerned. Once more his eyes drifted from her to the shadows, his own fur bristling as he had yet to find their midnight watcher.

Gone Tomorrow

He was clearly lost in thought; using the night as a cover for his thoughts. She had no way of knowing what it was that plagued him, and she would not bring herself to ask. It was none of her concern, either way. She had no idea who he was, other than that he was one of the pack wolves who she had followed. If she had paid more attention, and tracked them closer, she would have been able to place him as one of the elder brothers of the alpha pair. But, she didn't. She had no idea that he had been ousted by his brother for the role of gerent of the pack. Though, he certainly held himself as a wolf with some sort of position, even if it might not have been the one he had wanted. But still, he was not a nobody in the pack.

Swift River. Interesting. She had not expected for the pack to take on a new identity with their move. But she used the name change to verify what she had already suspected; that somewhere in the confusion of the fire, the old leadership had been lost. The new name was symbolic of the new leadership that had taken place. "I see. My apologies," she told him, resisting the urge to ask for further information. He didn't seem to want to discuss it. Instead he was focused elsewhere. Breathing in, she thought she could smell the elusive midnight lurker. "We're not alone, are we?"

Ruiko was relieved when she decidedly let the subject drop; he cared not to get in to the recent pack developments with a complete stranger, nor did he care to discuss the matter of his parents death. At least this stranger seemed to know the etiquette of personal boundaries. Instead, she too became focused on the mysterious presence that lingered dangerously close, and upon her query, the male only gave a gruff shake of his cream-tipped muzzle.

Reassured he was not imagining the lurker as the she-wolf sensed him as well, the hackles along the male’s chocolate spine and flanks bristled dangerously, his golden eyes intensely sweeping the area around them, dwelling longer in the shadowed areas of the tall brush and grass. It was a large field, and while it offered shelter to many beasts, it would be hard for a wolf to remain covered completely.

But the shadows of the night were playing havoc to his eyes, and every small gust of wind would shift a branch, creating the illusion that their late visitor would reveal them self. When no one emerged, a low growl soon pressed past the male’s tainted lips as one ivory tooth bared daringly. “Come out,” he snarled lowly, his tail giving a malicious sweep behind him. He was not in to playing games.

From his sheltered gap in the bushes, Coquelicot observed the exchange between the two. Having no knowledge of Relic Lore's history prior to arriving, the words that the other male had spoken enlightened him on the background of the vicinity. So apparently there was a pack by the name of Hidden Tree that no longer existed to be replaced by that of Swift River. The tawny male seemed to have been an inhabitant of Relic Lore for a long enough duration, while the inquiring female seemed less than informed about what had occurred in the past.

But the conversation between the two did not last for long. The volatile wind quickly betrayed Coquelicot's presence in the shadows, not to mention that there wasn't much cover in the field to begin with. The female didn't appear to be as agitated or concerned about his presence as her companion, who soon enough, issued out a demand for Coquelicot to reveal himself. With a small sigh, Coquelicot supposed that he would indulge the two and stepped out from his hiding place, dipping his head in a gesture of courtesy to the two.

"I mean no malicious intent," he said calmly, although his body was slightly tensed, eyes alert and focused on the tawny male in particular just in case he got violent.

Gone Tomorrow

He was concerned, though for what real reason, she couldn't decipher. Granted, he had recently lost his home, it was no surprise that he was on edge. Every movement of the shadows was the twisted movement of the flames and the rising of smoke. So really, she couldn't really blame him for being wary. But, she wasn't really sure that all of this growling and snarling was necessary. Even so, she also rose to her feet and turned to face into the darkness. Her fur remained flat, unlike the male's beside her, but her gaze was intense, and her ears were perked - she was not going to be taken unawares.

It seemed that her unknown companion's threatening appearance did the trick, because only a few moments later, the shadows shifted to take on a lupine form. Another male took shape and stepped forward, into visibility. He came forward enough so that they could see him, and while his words proclaimed peace, there was tension in the air. Cori could almost smell the testosterone in the air. Stepping forward, she moved away from the bristling male beside her and towards the new arrival. "Calm down," she told them both, her voice calm, but firm. "You're going to ruin this." She added, gesturing to the sky above that had drawn the three of them together as if they were fireflies.

His companion remained unsettled and yet calm. As she rose, the gentle silver of her fur glinted the smallest trace of moonlight; a piquant notion that stirred the male’s eyes for a moment longer than necessary. Their mysterious visitor revealed himself – the wolf emerged from the shadows and focused Ruiko’s attention once more, though suspicion was alight in his stoical gaze. The pattern of the stranger was decidedly different to him, the blanket of chocolate brown over ivory almost stirred the suspicion that the wolf before him was a hybrid of some sort, though there were no traces of dog in the stranger’s features.

His muzzle lifted slightly, his eyes studying the male before him while his growl had finally quieted at the male’s soothing words. About to question the other, it was the she-wolf that hushed him, causing his muzzle to snap in her direction from surprise. The firm softness of her voice reminded him greatly of Niija, and while a light frown pressed to his brow, he made no move to further antagonize the situation. His eyes briefly glanced up to where she had gestured, failing to see the beauty of the world now that his family had been torn apart from a wildfire. “And you find the stars something to be treasured?” His tone was not demeaning – his tone was simply curious.