Ghastly Woods Hidden in the fog

Jester was all about exploring new places but this place was decidedly the oddest. The fog here was thick and it cloaked the ground making it hard to see were tree roots and rocks crossed his path. Even the few birds he had seen were quit giving the place a certain stillness. Was it the fact that each sound seemed to distort through the liquid in the air? In any case Jester was a little taken aback by the quite the permitted the ground and seemed to seep into everything it touched.

Even he was quite as he moved through the trees trying not to disturb the stillness even as he left a trail through the thick fog. Pausing he glanced at a stump and decided that it looked anatine. Moss grew out of the decaying tree that had fallen next to it. The sun was setting and he had traveled for a while now. That would make this a good place to rest as any. Besides it wouldn't do to travel at night with his sight being hindered in the fog that was sure to condense as night came. Padding forward silently he inspected the area were the fallen tree and the stump met before curling up in the little nook.

His ears twitched listening to the silence around him. This place was indeed quite strange and he would be glad once he left it behind him. Hopefully in his travels he wouldn't nee to cross through here often or rather at all.

(This post was last modified: Nov 06, 2014, 06:08 PM by Jester.)

-With eyes as orange as pumpkin on halloween night-

-I bring to you laughter and light-

Outre padded gently through the fog. It swirled around her slender limbs, giving her the presence of an ethereal being. She liked the strangeness of this place, somewhat drawn to it as it as a reflection of herself. The shadows were the same color as her pelt, the undergrowth made it easy not to leave a physical trail and her frame was so light she made easy work of that regardless. The fog was good at playing havoc with the scents here, especially if one was a newcomer and not used to deciphering it. Some smells were heightened, some dulled, and some scents were just mingled together.

Water had a tendency to do that to a wolf nose.

She found it peaceful here, and somewhat safe. She could use her surroundings to her advantage, a veil of protection from others that may find her and may want to do her harm. Outre didn't have anybody per-say who was necessarily hunting her, but made sure to cover all her bases. Being alone was a danger in itself, and she most certainly didn't have strength on her side if a situation did arise. She needed to be prepared.

The light was starting to fade, and Outre found it might be a good idea to head back to her small den. She tread softly, trying not to make too much sound, but the lack of white noise here made that increasingly difficult to mask the sound her steps. She lept upon a fallen tree, her claws scrabbling the surface, unbeknownst that a visitor had made himself comfortable in the nearby nook. She scaled the edge, using it as a bit of leverage to leap over some fallen debris. She was almost home after all.

What Outre did not predetermine was the age of the tree, and although didn't look like it had rotten on the surface, it had in parts. One of her dark paws slipped through the rot, halfway up her limb. The combination of the rotting and hard wood had splintered, trapping her paw in the hollow. Her ears flattened against her head in panic. She knew she could more than likely pry her paw out of this predicament in due time, but the scent of another caught her nose. It could be the rush of adreneline or the gameplaying of the fog... But Outre picked up a scent.

A strong, close scent of another wolf.

"Oh no" She breathed, cursing her callousness. She lived and breathed being careful... How could this happen? Her instincts screamed to reef the trapped paw out of its confinement, but she could risk heavy and quite possibly permanent damage. She was broken in enough places and wasn't all that keen on rendering any more limbs to a freakish fate like her tail.

(This post was last modified: Nov 07, 2014, 02:01 AM by Outré.)

Jester had already partially dozed off when he heard the scratching of claws against wood. Figuring it was just a sound recreated to fill the silence by his own mind he started to drift off again. Even if there was something out there we was already curled up and comfortable he wasn't to terribly hunger and the thought of sleeping pulled at him. That is until there was a sharp crack and a voice that sounded close. Almost as if it was right on top of him.

Pushing himself up into a sitting position he glanced around ears pricked forward as he tried to find the source of the sound and voice. A shadowed movement in the corner of his eye brought his attention to the tree he was laying next to and the wolf that was on top of it. Surprised at the sudden close presence at another he jumped up whirling around so that he could face the other. With the sudden surprise he bared his fangs and his hackles raised. As his surprise dissipated so did his aggressiveness.Breathing deeply he tried to calm his racing heart. He was not used to being surprised, usually he was aware of what was around him even in sleep but the strange stillness in the forest had lulled him into a false sense that he was the only creature around except for the birds.

Shaking himself he focused his attention on the dark she-wolf. Had she been trying to sneak up on him? Trying to make up for his early aggressive surprise he spoke up, voice light "What are you doing up there?"

-With eyes as orange as pumpkin on halloween night-

-I bring to you laughter and light-

Outre noticed a figure rise to a sitting position, obviously disturbed by her ever so graceful execution over the log. Her muzzle swung in his direction and when they locked their gazes he reacted fiercely.

He was a large, dark male - and had the markings of a possible Alpha. When he bore his fangs and raised his hackles in surprise of her presence, she grew even more terrified, recoiling as if she were going to be struck.

She could feel her heart pounding against her hollow chest, her breath coming out in short frantic bursts. The adrenaline that started to course through her veins made her start to shake. She started to attempt to withdraw her paw from the tree, but was met with a sharp pain that traveled through her entire body.

When she met his gaze once more, he seemed to had calmed slightly.

"What are you doing up there?" he had asked. His voice was light now in contrast to his earlier disposition.

"I" she choked, her voice cracking. It sounded husky, like she hadn't used it for some time. Her small body shook, her kinked tail sweeping around her body in a mild attempt to feel more protected, but it was all psychological of course. She exhaled a little, as if she was finding it hard to breathe. It had been a while since she had been in such a seemingly dangerous situation, and her mind raced. She was at his mercy, trapped in this log.

She knew she would have looked absolutely pitiful to him in that moment and that made her feel worse.

"Sorry" she said in a breathy voice, calming down a little. She started to use her fangs to pry away some of the wood from around her front leg. She hoped that if she could at least get her leg back she could attempt to make a quick getaway if he was still upset about his rude awakening.

He had scared her and he felt a flicker of guilt. Being surprised was a shock but then having a stranger that was was even more alarming and he had reacted a little more...intensely. She probably felt the same way though. He had after all been laying in the fog away from view and she had been walking on the tree unknowing that he was right there.

When her voice cracked his ears went back. She truly was scared of him and he decided that he would have to try and fix this encounter. What could he do to help her feel comfortable though? If he crouched down to make his size less apparent it would look like he was going to spring on her and that would probably terrify her even more.

"It's alright I'm sorry about my display you startled me pretty badly." He said as he watched her bend forward to peel rotting wood away from her paw. No that wasn't right as he peered more closely her paw wasn't resting on top of the wood it was in the wood. He took a hesitant step forward as he continued to look at her lodged paw with concern. His eyes furrowed as he concentrated. It looked like she had stepped into a rotten patch and was stuck. Are you hurt at all?"

This wasn't good if she pulled on her paw too much she could sprain it or worse break it. That would be bad, very bad. Winter was coming and a wolf with a broken paw was going to be able to hunt as good as a wolf with all four paws. Besides the fact that winter could be a scarce time for prey. He needed to make sure that she didn't hurt herself as she tried to dislodge it from its entrapment.

-With eyes as orange as pumpkin on halloween night-

-I bring to you laughter and light-

Outre knew the next few moments were critical in defining what was going to happen in the overall sequence of events. As well as trying to pry the wood away with her fangs, her amber gaze held on the dark stranger. He would tell her without words just how the next few moments would play out.

He seemed conflicted, as his ears flattened against his skull. His body seemed to move slightly, like he made a decision to do something but then retracted it before he spoke again.

"It's alright I'm sorry about my display you startled me pretty badly."

A natural reaction, typically. You've settled down for the evening when a clumsy she-wolf attempts to scale a rotten log but fails tremendously, and adding insult to the injury, she gets caught. She lifted her maw away from pulling away the wood, dropping her eye contact. "I am sorry" she said, a little more calm now as she decided he was becoming less of a threat. Her voice still a husky whisper, sounding like how the fog moved over the ground "My den is nearby... I was just going home... before dark fell"

Her eyes met his again, and she noticed they were drawn to where her front paw was trapped.

"Are you hurt at all?" his voice actually sounded soft and gentle - and held a sincerity she had started to trust, but of course it was still early days and her walls were still quite firm.

"No" she said softly, her eyes returning to the hole where her leg had played its disappearing act. "I've pushed the splinters downward when I fell" her voice cracked "Now pulling my leg up is what... hurts" her amber gaze came back to him.

"I am very sorry"

Jester considered the she-wolf and decided she seemed soft. Just his overall impression of her was that she was soft like a dandelion that was trying to stay together in the wind. It made him feel like he had to be careful with what he said and did. His ears pricked slightly as she told him her home was in the area. "Then I guess we should try and get you unstuck before it becomes truly dark." He told moving forward head lowered as he inspected the tree that held her more thoroughly.

The tree itself seemed rather firm, at least were she was standing. But he could see the dark moist area around were her paw had sunken into the wood. He glanced up as she told him she wasn't wasn't hurt and smiled. "Well then we just need to keep it that way." He then turned his attention back to her paw and leaned forward to grasp the wood with his teeth before pulling a splinter away. It would take a bit to get the hard wood away but once he reached the rotten parts it would hopefully go faster.

"You don't need to say your sorry it was just an accident. That's all" He told her his voice gentle as he glanced up from his work. Continuing to ignore the fact that she could easily go after the back of his neck he turned to the wood again. His mouth was already filled with the taste of bark and he let out an inward shrug, at least he would get his teeth clean until he met the rotten stuff.

-With eyes as orange as pumpkin on halloween night-

-I bring to you laughter and light-

"Then I guess we should try and get you unstuck before it becomes truly dark."

Outre nodded, trying her best to remain calm. She didn't want to do anything to offend the stranger since things were starting to settle gently between them despite their initial meeting only moments before. Her paw felt uncomfortable, but it should be removed without too much hassle. He started to pull the broken shards of wood away with his long fangs, and while watching him work she was silently grateful he wasn't a hostile. His large frame and long fangs would had made very short work of her.

"You don't need to say your sorry it was just an accident. That's all"

Outre let a sad smile creep along her dark muzzle, nodding gently. Although Outre was only 2 years old, she felt she still had a lot to learn, especially since she had to do a lot of it on her own. That it itself left her at least a year behind in her basic development. It didn't stop her for feeling terribly foolish in this moment. Mistakes can get you killed.

He moved one of the larger splinters out of the way, and Outre felt this was the troublemaker that had held her leg ransom and threatened more damage if she had just withdrew her paw in panic. She grunted softly, pulling once without so much luck, before another hard pull had finally freed her paw from the trunk. She sighed heavily with relief, only noticing some surface scratches on her skin where blood had started to fall. She tensed and relaxed her muscles to test her paw and joints. She was okay.

Outre decided she had had enough of the tree and wanted to descend to the floor to be amongst the cool fog. She slid down a little ungracefully, her muscles still being stiff from being in that position for too long. She shook before lowering slowly to her haunches.

"Thankyou" she said softly, her words still sounding careful around him. She started to clean her wounds tenderly. Still not sure how to interact with him, she decided she would feel more comfortable knowing if he was lone, rather than a part of a pack. Lone wolves tend to be diverse, and the fact that she was a little odd might not come across so glaringly. Some wolves who are alone tend to go a little strange in the mind when they don't have the company of others. It wasn't uncommon.

"Are you lone?" she asked him.

The polite thing to do in a conventional conversation would be to initially exchange names. Outre, being a little socially out of practice, did not think to ask - leaving it free for him to rectify this, if he wished.

Jester took a step back as she pulled her paw out of the rotting tree and was relieved to see that it wasn't broken or sprained and only bleeding slightly from the random shards he hadn't pulled out. She slid unto the ground and saw that though it was likely sore that she could move just fine. Nodding his head he responded a smile on his face "You're welcome. I'm glad to help when I can."

He next question surprised him a little. If he was traveling with someone wouldn't she have smelled them on him? But then she had been more worried about her paw than whether he was traveling with others and the fog was distorting the scents around them. "Nope. It's just me, myself, and I." He told her as he sat down tail among the cool fog that drifted like smoke around them. His tail curled around him as he asked curiously "What about you. Have any companions you're traveling with?" He suspected no but once again the fog was confusing his nose so she might be with others.

"Oh! I have forgotten my manners I am Jester and it's a pleasure to meet you." He said bowing his head to her. He didn't ask for her name because he knew from previous encounters that some did not like to give their name out. While others liked to give out fake names. His ex-alpha had been one of those only telling those of the pack what his name really was.

-With eyes as orange as pumpkin on halloween night-

-I bring to you laughter and light-

"Nope. It's just me, myself, and I."

She smiled a little, his kindness feeling so foreign she paused a little to make sure she couldn't sense anything ulterior lurking under the surface. Voice was a good indicator, body language another - yet Outre found her forte was reading the eyes. They could tell a lot about a wolf. She knew not to linger too long before she started to see things that might not actually exist. She gathered what she needed to know and nothing more.

"What about you. Have any companions you're traveling with?

Outre almost felt compelled to lie, and perhaps would have if she felt she was in danger. She withdrew that thought quickly and extended a verbal notion of trust instead.

"No, I'm alone. I've been alone a long time" a half smile crept up her lips that seemed a little sad, but it faded quickly.

When he introduced himself as Jester he bowed his head and she was taken back by such a notion. She was unsure if it was normal or a mark of respect - so awkwardly she copied it, her movements a little jagged.

"Outre" she said, dipping her muzzle in the same manner. Was she doing this right? She hoped so. It had been a while since she had interacted with anyone. She felt conflicted over her next exchange. She was sure he was more than likely passing through, but at the same time intrigued on what he was up to. What do normal wolves do?

"Some call this place a blemish" she spoke, their surroundings growing subtly darker as night closed in on them. The fog seemed slightly luminescent in the half light. "But I quite like it here" she paused to think of how to deliver her next sentence without seeming intrusive.

"Are you just passing through?"