Haunted Wood curious and curiouser

She moved blithely through the wood, moss green eyes darting this way and that as she took in her surroundings. It was a pleasant morning, the sun bright as it shone through the canopy of willows, the soft earth beneath her feet dappled in its light. It wasn't too hot, nor too cold— and, truthfully, was not unlike the territories in which she had been raised. Ra'Lae had made the Wilds seem a magical place in stories, but if the coywolf had not been told, she would not have known their beginning from their end. It was just another reason Thestrel felt justified as denouncing her family; they were mad, and she was glad to finally be free of them.

In fact, that was what made the Wilds seem special to her. She felt free for the first time in her short life.

She paused to sniff at an abandoned den, and overcome with the knowledge that she could do anything she wanted, Thestrel yipped excitedly and began to dig into it with a fervor.

Quite a bit further than I would normally send Doe, but I couldn't resist.

She'd returned to the bay with the proper herbs to heal Sharkbait, but when the healing was over, she'd found her stores depleted once again. Though she'd needed Lagertha to accompany her on the first foray, this time, she felt much more confident in her ability to find home. The blessing had tied them all to the land in an indelible way, and the pull to the sea as an almost uncomfortable sensation in her gut.

Soon enough, she soothed, attempting to quiet the insistent pull. I am gathering things to heal our people.

Sippery elm - in the proper growth state - was harder to come by than she'd thought. Her searchings had taken her on a many-day travel, and she knew that if she was not already missed, she soon would be. Anything could happen after all, and her pack might need her even now.

The woods were strange to her, but she kept doggedly on, nose twitching as she searched the air for any signs of the plant, and ears swivelling unconsciously toward every sound as they, in turn, searched for signs of danger. It required little focus on her part, and so, when her ears stilled and her mind screamed for her to listen, Atoll did not know - at first - what had stopped her in her tracks.

But then her nose caught up to her ears, and she realized that she'd heard something. Someone - a canine - was in these woods as well.

Following the scent and sound, Atoll found herself watching the little creature scrabbling her paws at an old den. Tail wagging - for anything that involved digging was always good, in her mind - Atoll gave a yap to announce herself and said, "Need any help?"

Thestrel's upper body was concealed by the den she worked so furiously to widen, the amount of excavated dirt becoming unruly and difficult to manage between her hindlegs. Still, the coywolf kept at it. There was little point— if it held a wolf in recent past, it would hold her, and she didn't plan on staying in it anyway— but it felt good to dig for the sake of it. Because it was fun, and she wanted to.

She started when a muffled voice called to her, and she hit her head on the earthen ceiling as she reared up. There were a few moments of awkward silence as she clumsily backed out of the den, hindlegs stumbling over the piled dirt. When she was nearly out, a foreleg slipped and she knocked her chin squarely upon the threshold. But finally, she regained her legs and she was out— shaking dirt from her guardhairs.

"Hello," she said brightly, taking the other in. It didn't occur to her that this might be the owner of the den, nor did she think of asking the other female to repeat herself. Thestrel had never met a wolf before, let alone one of the Teekon Wilds, and she was a bit at loss for words.

Almost before she turned, Atoll knew that she'd found one of her kin. "Ija," she breathed, tail lashing excitedly. Though she was not the true half-and-half that her Genu Isawea had been, or even possessing the one-quarter 'yote blood of her father, she still had the heart of her coywolf anscestors and delighted in any encounter she had with another of her kind.

Somehow, she didn't think Riptide counted.

"Hail, sister!" she said with a deep but playful bow. "We have the same blood, though it seems to run truer through your veins than mine. My father was a quarter coyote, and my mother a full wolf," Atoll explained, eyes still roving over the other female. "How can I bless you, friend?"

hey hi hello @Doe sorry for the vanishing act

Of all the reactions that Thestrel expected, she would have never guessed this one. Her brows furrowed as she worked to decipher the other's speech, though her tail still swayed in a friendly manner and the smile never quite left her lips. Sister? Blessings? It was at odds with what she had learned of the wolves of the Wilds, and only served to solidify her belief that the coyote she was born to had been nothing more than a lying madwoman.

"I don't think we're sisters, then," she replied amicably, "my mother was a coyote, and I've never met my father. He was a wolf." Thestrel shook the rest of the dirt from her fur, then sat. "Can you tell me about this place?" she queried. Ra'Lae had given her own version, of course, but the coywolf wondered what the locals had to say about the place. "I'm not going to get tarred and feathered for being here, am I?" It certainly didn't seem like it.

The coywolf did not wish to be called a sister; Atoll was agreeable to this, and dipped her head in silent assent to showcase this fact. It pleased her greatly to have found another of her ancestry in this strange and green new realm. It saddened her that the woman's only wish was one for information, but Atoll stood by her earlier offer and would bless the woman however the other saw fit.

"It is a green and fertile place, though this was not so when I found it. There was a famine on the land when I arrived, but prey is plentiful, now," she explained, wondering what else could be told about the wilds they'd both found themselves in. "The wolves here are more violent than in the lands where I grew up, but I have found myself a home in a strong and courageous pack. We have one other coywolf among us, and he is treated as any other."