The Wildwood it's not this quiet

He tread quietly through the silence of the Wildwood, each paw step a careful sweep of his figure as the tawny regal glided around the tall and twisted trees. His eyes closed momentarily as he inhaled sharply, a quiet snarl forming upon his tainted lips. If he concentrated enough, he could still feel the heat scorching the air and the scent of burnt wood. He had fled with Indru – something the brothers had quietly regretted since it had happened. If they had stayed, could they have saved their parents? Hotei? The question would always remain unanswered, though not forgotten.

Opening his eyes, the bright amber of his gaze fell upon the ruined forest, the large tree that had once marked the family den was charred black, it’s once majestic limbs crumpled in the defeat of death. It seemed a lifetime ago that he had been in this very spot, watching a very young Kinis play with a flower while Borlla and Triell had deviously plotted something a bit away from the family. Hotei had been sleeping on a rock, his dark fur soaking the warmth of the sun, while Indru had been sparring playfully with Rihael.

Life had changed all too swiftly.

What had been intended as a peaceful examination of this frostbitten land she had recently arrived in, though it has started as such, was beginning to spoil. From the astonishingly grand vistas on the mountain, Ozera hadn't imagined that there was such an ugly world hidden in the guise of woodland shadow. Earthy, coarse bark of imperious trees had given way to contorted underbrush, and then trunks, scarred with black began to appear. In stark contrast to the snow that had disguised the copse were the blackened, ashy trees that had no longer stood erect like imperial lords, the silent, shady giants of the world. Eerie, uncanny, this world was cloaked in infamy that Ozera, as she slunk around, could not understand.

"What happened to you?"

She felt ensnared in a world of black and white, where the shades of gray had been chased far, far away. Here there was only tenebrous memoirs and ghosts that brushed past Ozera in the breeze, ruffling her bedraggled coat. A whimper was choked in her throat. This forest was frightful, ominous, and grotesque. However, the a scent, inconsistent with the other smells of dead memories, teased her nose: the scent of another wolf. Relief flooded through her, she was not alone. With whimsical anticipation, she loped after it until she saw it's origin. A stately auburn wolf stood before her, so august and imposing, seeming besmirched by his melancholy air. She cocked her head, and yipped softly, "Hello... I'm... sorry to bother you. But. But this place scares me. Do you know what happened here?"

So ignorant was she of the specters of lost loved ones dancing in his head, projected out into the forest to live once more, so close to immortality.

(This post was last modified: Nov 12, 2014, 04:31 AM by Desdemona.)

He heard her approach before he scented her, but Ruiko’s eyes could not trace away from the burnt remains of the large tree. It was only when a feminine voice filled with uncertainty broke the silence that the leader blinked, his bright eyes shifting back to the she-wolf as his muzzle tilted. His gaze swept over her, noting the shifting browns and greys of her pelt before they fell upon a haphazard flick of her fur above her eyes; a cow-lick of sorts.

“A fire,” he offered, his tone void of any emotion when he spoke these words. It seemed strange to him that his world had existed and thrived in this very spot they stood now until the flames had scoured over the woods, and others did not even know of its importance. “A fire took everything.”

ooc - My posts are going to be pretty short for a bit. My thumbs are about to fall off. :c

For a moment she felt almost naked under the rake of his intensely majestic gold gaze. He was not alarmed by her arrival, in fact, she could detect no hint of emotion in him at all. Those vacant, deep pupils were an abyss, devoid of life, rather like this forest. Casting her marbled head about, she could almost see the tongues, the tendrils of the flame lapping at the forest, feasting ravenously on the vegetation. It spooked her. Ozera shook her head, as if to shake away the eager, leaping flames that were creeping towards her. But when the day dream was gone, the acrid tang of smoke still hung in the air. "I once watched a forest burn. I was far off, but it was terrifying nonetheless. I couldn't watch. It was gone so fast."

Her head swung back to him, her eyes flicking about his intimidating figure. "Did others used to live here? I can't begin to imagine what they lost..." Ozera's ignorant, naïve words tapered off slowly into the void.

(This post was last modified: Nov 12, 2014, 04:31 AM by Desdemona.)

It's fine. <3 Mine will be too as I'm exhausted. x.x

Ruiko did not comment as the she-wolf offered her insight about a fire. It was a poor comparison to what he and his family had endured, but the large male had a feeling she would not have mentioned such a thing if she had known how pale in comparison her experience was to his. How close those flames had come to singeing his fur.. how they had devoured his parents.. and it would seem, his younger brother. They had not discovered Hotei’s body.. but the fire had left little in its wake at places, and Ruiko had little hope that the boy was still alive.

Ruiko cringed inwardly at her question; one he had hoped she would not ask. With a flick of his tail, the hefty leader shifted his figure, his creamy chest now pointed partly in her direction and his eyes finally tore from the large tree before them. “A pack did. The Hidden Tree pack.. This was their family den site.”

(This post was last modified: Feb 05, 2011, 02:53 AM by Ruiko.)

A pack. A family had lived here. The atmosphere felt choked with their ashes, and Ozera almost felt as though she couldn't breath. "Do you know if they survived? Some of them must have survived, right?" Her jaws were slack with horror, as she clung to every horrible effluvium that came from the empty, wolf shaped-hole. Ozera couldn't understand why he appeared so detached from it all. Maybe he is just completely gone. Maybe he has no soul., though she had no idea why that would be. He rarely let that hulking, charred, remnant oif a tree escape his eyes. This also was strange to her, but her mind continued to sidestep the evidence before her as she held her breath, an expectant flutter in her chest. So stoic, so strange... she peered out at him from narrow eyes, trying to make him out. It was difficult, since there was so much fur and bone and muscle and words that barred the way. However, she had never been a very good judge of character. Ozera was as perceptive as peat moss.

(This post was last modified: Nov 12, 2014, 04:32 AM by Desdemona.)

He watched her carefully now. Something spread across her features swiftly at his words; horror.. sympathy? He did not know her to sift the emotions apart, but it was interesting to him that another could react in such a vibrant emotion when they had never even known the pack. Ruiko had always believed empathy to be a myth, and yet she stood here before him as living proof that kind souls did exist. It miffed him.

“Many of them did. Some did not.” Already he could imagine what her next question would be. Where are they now? How did one admit to a stranger that inside that den of ruins, he had nursed by his brother and sister’s side, a litter that was the pride of their parents as they were their first. Detachment was second nature to him now, it had to be. One never knew when he would return home and find part of his family burned in the ashes from a wildfire.

(This post was last modified: Feb 05, 2011, 03:21 AM by Ruiko.)

What the tawny wolf mistook for empathy was really just sympathy -- Ozera knew she couldn't even begin to understand, she didn't even try. BBut she was blissfully unaware of his frustration, for he was just a nameless, faceless suitor in a masquerade, with elegant and graceful footwork, but revealed nothing under the mask. Intrigue deepened with every heartbeat and twirl, because Ozera was desperate to know what on earth this male was about. He was almost eerier than these woods, colder than the frost. But it was a relief to know that there were survivors of this catastrophic inferno. She wondered what had become of them, but realised that, rather than asking this disconcerting fellow, she could just find out on her own later. So she changed the subject: "I wish you would at least pretend you had feelings. You're beginning to freak me out. Is there something wrong?" Maybe that was a bit insensitive. Ozera's ears pricked uncertainly.

(This post was last modified: Nov 12, 2014, 04:34 AM by Desdemona.)

Just when Ruiko had felt he could trace the path of where their conversation was going and plan out all of his answers, the russet she-wolf threw a question his way, initiating a blank stare from the male momentarily. His eyes once more flickered to the tree; a monument to memories both good and bad.

He mulled over her question for only a second, and while the faintest of frowns tugged at the regal male’s brows, he made no impression upon her that her words had disconcerted him at all. “I wasn’t aware I was to play the puppet to the social norms of Relic Lore.” There was a dark drawl to his tone now, and his creamy muzzle canted slightly. “Tell me then. How would you have liked me to respond to your questions?”

While his words seemed unnecessarily harsh to her, she would not be daunted. Maybe it was a bad idea, but she was so unsettled by this wolf of stone that she was willing to get him to explode if that's what it took to make him look like a real wolf. Responding as if his words had not nipped at her fur like burrs and thorns --for they had-- she quipped with a slight smile, "I didn't know emotions were so conformist. You misunderstand me if you think I'm just asking you to be just like everyone else. And it's not like I wanted you to be MY puppet either, responding to my whim. But it's just..." the ridge of her brow shaded her eyes, "I know I'm not talking to a statue. You could at least be a bit more open. You're lying to yourself if you pretend you feel nothing."

Her breast heaved as she stared at the stone beast, determined fire in her eyes. At least, as long he was pretending to be a creature numb to the world, he probably wouldn't lash out at her physically, so she stepped closer. Now there were only a few steps in between the two, and she could now feel the heat-waves of dominance, white hot, rolling off of him. Who was he? "Did you die in this fire?" She was really just throwing words out now, she completely regretted seeking him out. He was much more awful and terrifying than this wasteland.

(This post was last modified: Nov 12, 2014, 04:36 AM by Desdemona.)