Deepwood Weald I hopelessly, helplessly, wonder why

Anybody! Referencing the Nerds. :)

Crushing anxiety drove him away from the sights and smells of Neverwinter Forest across the fields and into the Deepwood. It wasn't the first time he'd come here to escape, but the weather was significantly more foul than before. Ice coated the ground in places where the canopy broke, and the ferns looked to be made of glass. He slipped through the trees and into the darkened wood without even a whisper of noise. Rian was becoming quite familiar with the territories bordering Neverwinter and could easily recall various pathways and places of interest in the blink of an eye. The Scout trade was well-within his grasp, but he simply hadn't the ambition to pursue it—his mind relentlessly dogged by negativity. 

The O'Malley boy caught wind of an unfamiliar musk and changed course to intercept it. Ahead, nestled in a thick copse of pines, was a few circles of melted snow. He circled once, ears swiveling to anticipate any would-be assailants, while catching sight of a few pale tufts of fur snagged in the rough bark of the tree. Rian approached and nosed the fur, inhaling the wolfscent and frowning. There were multiple individuals in this group and he wondered why they would be traveling in the dead of winter, especially with the weather as bad as it had been. Next to one of the beds was the stripped carcass of a small rabbit. 

He frowned, not liking the idea of such a large group so close to his family's territory.

There was forest upon forest around here, even before she reached the shore. She still could not get used to the feeling of leaves and soil underfoot. She missed sand, the salty tinge in the air. She missed the prevalent cries of seabirds and the waves crashing against the shore. She missed the taste of fish and crab. But if it meant being close to Kjalarr, she would stay here. 

Even so, hunger pushed her beyond the pack's borders. She would rather catch her own meals than wait for the pack to do it for her. But she wasn't having much luck, having been a seadog before a landlubber. She knew little about the intricacies of tracking scents and stalking prey; she reasoned that once she found something, she would kill it.

Like the unseen wolf before her, Maude too smelled the wolf scent. Aw, bloody 'ell, She snapped as she barrelled forward to confront it. As the scents grew in intensity, her agitation and excitement grew. Would they be fighting them soon? She didn't have long to ponder thoughts of raiding and looting with Rian's movement nearby distracting her. She tensed for a moment, but the familiar whiff of Neverwinter calmed her. Oi! Ye know who this lot is? She gestured to the beds and half-eaten prey around her.

The bedraggled form of a distantly familiar face emerged from the woodland looking ready and rarin' for a fight. Rian started and took a few steps back to put distance between himself and the other Neverwinter wolf, who spouted a question at him. "I... no?" He stammered as he shifted his ears back. The proximity to the other (the closest he'd ever been to Maude) confused him. Her scent was... wrong, somehow. She didn't smell like a woman; like his mother, but her voice, appearance, and demeanor was overwhelmingly feminine. Rian didn't feel like making this awkward, so he let it go for now.

Rian decided it wasn't the time or place to try and piece together the conflicting information and quickly turned his attention back to the scene. "Should we... uh, investigate?" He asked weakly.

She didn't know what it was about the youth of Neverwinter, but they were all shy and introverted. They reacted to her presence with apprehension, or even blatant disgust. She ignored such tripe, instead moving forward, her eyes searching for any signs of movement outside the young brown-furred boy. Aye, She agreed. The thought of a wandering pack of wolves this close to Neverwinter made the pirate wench's eyes burn with anticipation. She had been idle for too long, laying about the Forest with nothing to do but hunting and patrolling — boring stuff.

Her nose pressed against Lot's o' lasses 'ere, She noted, turning towards the young male. It was strange, having never been exposed to such strong feminine scent before. It was disgusting.

Truly, Rian wasn't really sure what to make of anyone in Neverwinter anymore. Maude was just one of a few that he didn't really have a good read on. Still, he steeled himself and went about his investigating with his now-partner in crime, the pirate lass, Maude. He lifted a paw and scraped at some snow underfoot, revealing more chewed bones; shards, broken skulls, and discarded fur. "Yeah." He breathed in response to the tawny she-wolf. There were at least four, if not more, individual scents. It bothered him to the point of nausea that they hadn't even noticed such a large group. But more importantly: where were they now?

"Are they all females?" He asked as he lifted his sunken eyes to Maude as the other sniffed about the various beds. "Where d'ye think they went?"

There were more signs of a pack's, or at least a group's presence under the snow. Maude digged just as Rian did, her nose working to uncover more signs about the settled wolves' presence. Smells loike it, She huffed, snorting snow from her nostrils to help her smell easier. Only a few males' scents, She notes, trying to find more concrete evidence, like fur or waste.

She tries to find the strongest scents, but the snow was absorbing the scents well, as water tended to do. She was having a hard time finding a general direction of the pack's movements. As far as I can tell, away from us, She notes.

Rian knit his brows further, and looked away. Maude's way of speaking was... interesting, and a bit hard to understand but nothing in comparison to his father's Irish brogue. He hadn't been old enough to pick up on the heaviness of it, but he still spoke with a mild accent all the same. "Good." He exhaled and turned his gaze back on the she-wolf with a frown. "I hope they don't come back." Rian admitted with a nervous swish of his tail. He crept over to Maude, closing the distance to a more conversational gap. "I'm Rian O'Malley, Kaskara's boy. Are you one of Kjalarr's pack?"

I'll tear dere fookin' throats out if'n they's try an' come close, She says, with little bravado. She truly meant it. Whatever this roving pack was, they would do best to not come anywhere close to their lands. They seemed nothing but trouble to the pirate wench, leaving this much of a mess as they did. Back home this would have been just another pirate camp, but here in pack lands, where territory meant everything, she knew they were a threat.

Aye, me name's Maude, She responded to Rian's question. She knew of Kaskara, bu the surname O'Malley was unfamiliar to her, slightly more so than Kjalarr's last name. She wondered where all these wolves came from.

Rian flattened his ears at Maude's defiant proclaimation and his eyes went wide. Images of blood, gore, and death swept him up in a wave and he felt himself shivering before actually registering that it was fear. He shrank away from the sea-wench as his hackles flared. He pressed his lips into a thin line and willed himself to calm, teeth clenched against the shivers that threatened to shake him to the core. 

He looked away—down—anywhere but Maude. In another time, and another place, he might have admired the pirate for her boldness. Even now, he wanted to believe in her and feel a twinge of pride at her dedication to the pack, but the images of red, red blood was too much to bear. 

"We should talk more at home," he ecked out. "in case someone is watching." 

Maude stared curiously at the boy's sudden emotional change. He began curling inward it seemed, as much away from Maude as he could. She looked at him quizzically, but paid it little mind in the grand scheme of things. If he was uncomfortable, so be it. It was the way of this world, to be violent without mercy, for a "good" "cause".Let 'em 'ear. Dey should know wot we have ready 'ere fer 'em, She shrugged.

He's a mess. We should have another thread soon, though. <3

Rian pinned his ears at Maude's scrutinizing gaze, and turned to walk away. She remarked something bold once more. He felt defeated, sad, and anxious; torn between the desire to apologize for his oddities, and run far, far away from her. "We should at least tell Ondine." The boy rumbled discontently, not looking back at the scruffy pirate. "If you wanna stay here and wait for them, don't let me stop you. I'm gonna let her know about it." 

Whether or not he'd actually follow-through with that was an entirely different matter. The earthen boy picked up his feet and darted away, out from the woods, and back towards Neverwinter. It was cowardly, perhaps, to leave Maude but he felt as if his mind and heart were ready to explode. He ran without a heading, into the abyss again.

She is still confused by his sudden mood change, wondering what about her previous boasts triggered him. She had no qualms when it came to things such as this, but it was obvious to her that not everyone was a pirate like her, fierce and wild. No, this kid probably never killed outside of a rabbit before, if not a deer. She snorted, still making no apologies for anything she had said. Shrugging, she let him go, knowing that was his true reason anyway. Oi'll keep scoutin' out 'ere, She said, her nose returning back to the ground to search for more clues, letting the kid run away.