Blackfeather Woods Deeper, still and wholly

@Aries :)) set on the 18th of June.

She brought him to the woods with little chatter, finding the approaching sun rather intimidating. She was such an equal to the night that it was hard for her to feel safe under the bright rays of sun. Her complexion soaked in the heat, unlike that of Potema, but she managed. Swimming, as she had learned from a passing stranger, was also a way to escape it all. When the borders and the scent of blood and rotting bodies began to come closer, Nyx halts as if to check up on the kid. He must be tired; both of them had not closed an eye for, it seemed, the entire night. Somehow that proved much more to Nyx than it would for anyone else.

We are nearly there, my spiderling. She coos in a sweet tone.

Thanks for getting this up! c:

They had walked for, apparently, the whole night. Aries had no doubt in his mind that his parents would begun looking for him soon, as the sun was finally beginning to rise and when it did, they would wake and find him missing from the den. Though perhaps it would not worry them at first - after all, he often went wandering and they didn't seem to mind. But they'd notice his disappearace soon enough. The boy treaded on tired paws, having spoken little throughout the journey and simply not awake enough to have a conversation right now. The wolfess' words, however, were not ignored. 

Aries looked up as he walked, glancing briefly to the dark pelted girl before scanning the area around him. He nodded to her with a slight small smile as an acknowledgement of her words, remaining quiet as he walked and waited for them to finally arrive. They were close, she had said.

She led him farther into the clutches of the woods. Their journey had not taken so very long - surely not longer than an hour or three, but it felt as if days had passed without a notice. Nyx was quite the insomniac, but even she rested sometimes, and today she had scheduled a rest for at least 5 hours. So much for that; she had a kid to take care of now, not that she did so with resentment and spite. She caught his smile and finally, they stood upon the Blackfeather's bloodied borders, and Nyx welcomed them in. She peed once against a tree, knowing Damien might make a round soon enough or grow worried about his ever so beautiful and amazing Speaker. This way, he knew she was safe and sound back home.

Then came the question of where she was going to let the kid stay. Her own den seemed the most logical, though she'd have to relocate the tongues she had gathered. Or, perhaps, not... let him play with them, for all she cared. Toys were toys. What do you think? She asked with a proud expression, glancing appreciatively around at the many trees, the lack of sunlight and the ravens who had been waiting on her return.

They walked further into the strange woods, none of it was recognisable to Aries. It was like when they had first arrived at Moonspear, except this time he was not miserable about where he was going. It was a new start, with new wolves, and if they were all like this wolfess, whom he realised he did not yet know the name of, then perhaps it would be somewhere that he stayed. Though, he felt as if he wanted to stay already. The woods were most interesting.

Approaching the borders, he could smell the blood and see it, too. It did not disturb him. In fact, he rather liked that they did that - a warning to deter the weak, he assumed. The ash-pelted boy glanced up at the Speaker, listening as she spoke and then taking another moment to glance around the many dark trees and the ravens that had been spoken of earlier. 

"I like it."

She carefully weaved them a path through the woods, wanting to take the kid home when she noticed no names had been exchanged between them. How rude of her; not offering the one thing so close to her very being. She turned to face the stolen child that had willingly wandered into their woods, lowering herself as to not look too dominating. Yes, she was Damien's left hand now, but the innocent were far purer than she'd ever been.

I am glad you do, my spiderling. She cooed, turning the conversation a bit later. What name do you prefer I call you? She asked, assuming his birth name could get him in trouble if anyone spread the secret of him being here. Didn't want the moonspear wolves to know his whereabouts. I am Nyx.

Aries listened to the silence of the woods as they walked, the occasional call of a raven breaking the quiet that lingered like shadows. The boy was entranced by this strange place. It was so muh more interesting than Charon and Amekaze's domain. Or, he belive so, anyway. Their land had never really intrigued him. 

The dark wolfess spoke again, this time bringing forth the question of what his name was, or what he wanted her to call him. For a short moment, he was slightly confused, as he knew that he had given his name to the Speaker when they first met, but he realised soon that she might be wanting a different name - one that would hide his true identity better. No doubt, if his parents got word that there was an 'Aries' at Blackfeather, they would be most suspicious and would probably come searching for him, which he couldn't have. Nyx was her name, she said. What could his be? Something that did not give away who he really was? "Neo." He finally replied. She could call him Neo. It was a name he had not heard used all that often, if ever, so he thought he might use it. The boy briefly considered another name, like Ace or Nico, but he liked Neo. Ace was too similar to Aries,  he decided, and he just prefer Neo over Nico, so Neo it was.

Neo - short, simple and rather... familiar. She knew no one with the name, but it was a sense of recognition that opened her tight mouth in a "o". She smiled then, glad he had understood, and continued their short trip to her own den. It was moist and it smelled like a mixture of grass, herbs and the faint tinge of rotting flesh. It was nothing much, but the sleeping space was enough for three, for she had claimed a rather big piece of the woods. Above them was a roof-like structure made of the roots of a big tree. She had dug it out months ago - had expanded and perfected her home to represent the feeling of being in an embrace. On one side did the roots stick out in a way that imitated small shelves - there, her few herbs lay, adding to the earthy smell. The ground was soft, loose sand coated with leafs that acted as something to keep the heat in instead of radiating it into the ground. It was located in the West, in-between the otter creek and where she knew the Wolfskull Cave was.

This place will act as a sanctuary for you from this day forward. You are free to explore where I will take you next, but there are some parts of the woods you must stay away from. She knew how difficult young boys could be with rules, but it was important for Neo to not get sick or drowned or fall from a cliff to break every bone in his young body. They are not rules to limit you - I just do not want you to get hurt, my spiderling. Even the adults do not go to these places. She informed to make sure he understood how serious the matter was.

They arrived at the den, and Aries - or Neo, as he had now named himself - smelled herbs (though he was no herbalist and had no clue what any of them were), grass and something rotten. It did not discourage him, in fact it only made him more curious. He glanced at Nyx before peering into the den. The size was decent - enough for a few wolves, so that was not an issue. The roof of the den was made up of the roots of a tree, and among those root branches, there were shelf like shapes holding up the herbs he had scented from before. Overall, it was nice. Better than his old den, though it did not hold the same level of comfort, but that did not matter. He would grow used to it.

"Thank you." Neo replied, glancing around the den again. So, this was to be his home for however long he was here for. There was little to complain about, if anything at all. "What are those places?" He asked, wondering what place could be so dangerous. It was like his parents with Blackfeather all over again - he was here and alive, wasn't he? Though perhaps they had a particular reason for being frightened of these woods, one that he did not understand.

It'd be safe to assume Astrid gave him a little tour through the woods together with Kahlil to warn them about the willow, cliff, swamp and tunnels :))

While she knew how bothersome her words perhaps sounded, it was very important that Neo at least knew of the dangers hidden in their woods. Most was safe, but there were some... exceptions. Tomorrow - or whenever something didn't suddenly happen (which would totally happen, spoiler alert; Kahlil) - she'd show him around. For now a verbal warning would do; she'd probably keep with him anyway. She didn't want to lose her little ward, now would she?

There is a willow north-west of here - the air around it is poisonous and will make you sick. South-eats of here lays a cliff where you can fall to your death. Far to the east is a swamp that can easily be your death as well, and there are several opening through the woods to an underground cave-system where you can get lost easily. She explained shortly. She didn't know if she had covered everything, but these were the deadliest places she knew of. Did you sleep at all last night? She questioned then.