Haunted Wood derivative

@Varick !

Things were returning to normal at the caldera with the slow return of game to the area. Raven felt better than she had in weeks now that she had a full belly -- she'd almost forgotten what it was like to live without the constant pain of hunger gnawing at her midsection. She was still very skinny, and it would take some time to regain the weight she had lost during the famine. The ranks of their pack had suffered as well; the delta couldn't remember their numbers ever being so small. It was strange to have so few adults in their pack, but her siblings weren't far from adulthood (something that was hard for her to wrap her head around -- it seemed like just yesterday they'd been nursing infants), so she wasn't terribly worried about it.

Today she ventured to nearby Haunted Wood, partly to scout for plants to fortify her medicinal collection before winter and partly just to get away from the packlands for a bit. She enjoyed these woods in all their varied splendor, particularly at this time of year as the colors began to change and take on the fiery hues of autumn. Abruptly, she thought of her sister Wildfire and wondered where she was and how she was doing.

 

The dark cloaked man continues in solitude as he forges his way south, though as the land becomes more ripe he remarks to himself that perhaps he will double back and travel northeast before too long — though the land here was colourful with more vegetation it lacked the prey he wished it would have and as a lone traveler he did not want to succumb to an eventual and gruesome death by starvation.

Varick comes across the strong marked borders of a pack and veers sharply away, straying far enough that he hoped he would not run across any of its patrol and pushes forward to eventually reach a forest of sizeable proportion.  His glacial gaze surveys the elderly, gnarled oak sentinels and the mist that surrouns them and remarks mentally that perhaps he could have lived here had there not been a pack so close.

A rustling pulls him from his thoughts and his nostrils flex as he breathes in the air; a scent is all he can discern but he knows he is no longer alone.  He lets out a deep, throaty chuff to let the stranger know he's there and waits.  Perhaps they will pass him by.

Raven's thoughts lingered on her sister for some time. She couldn't remember why Wildfire had chosen to leave the caldera to begin with, though she had no judgement for her fiery sister's choice. Even she herself had struck out beyond the pack's borders on more than one occasion -- although, in her defense, her intent had never been to stay gone. Did Wifi still live at Moonspear? Raven wished her memory were better, because she simply couldn't recall.

A soft chuffing distracted her from her thoughts and she glanced around, noticing that a distinctly canine scent permeated the air. Her glance skipped past him once before she noticed him, his dark coat melding somewhat into the forestry around them. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise -- he was quite possibly one of the most strikingly handsome wolves she'd ever seen. Granted, pickings in the caldera were exceptionally slim at the moment, so it was possible that any male with a pulse would catch her eye. Absently, she wondered what was up with her lately. She'd never paid any attention to the opposite sex before recently. She paused and flashed him a smile, greeting him warmly and a little awkwardly, "Oh, hello! I'm not used to seeing anyone out here too often."

 

The thought came to him suddenly that every wolf he had met in these foriegn lands had the same dark hue as himself, yet still everyone's gaze tended to linger on him a beat longer than what he would consider normal.  He turnes his thoughts back to the dark woman in front of him and smelled her before he spoke.  The scent of the strongly-marked borders entwined with that of the woman's own and he makes note of it — perhaps the wolves of the pack she hailed from were posessive over the forest, too.

She smiles at him, a hesitant thing, and he meets her warm welcome with a chilled gaze, raising his head at her as she speaks.  Greetings, he quells eventually, It seems as if everyone I meet in these lands tell me the same thing.

His flews turn up in the barest form of a smile and he moves forward, revealing more of himself through the dense fog that blankets the air around them. Who might you be?

As he took note of her scent, so did she his: he smelled of wild clean air, the dark mystique of dusky forest, and the dust of a road long traveled, all intricately woven over a subtle musk of something starkly masculine. She had met a few new faces around here recently, and the addition of this one made her wonder if the caldera was going to have another neighboring pack moving in soon. She was uncertain if that was a good or bad thing, but for the moment, she rather enjoyed the present company.

"I'm Raven," she answered, sitting down and drawing her long tail around her feet. "I live at the caldera, that-a-way," she added with a glance in the general direction of her home. Turning her electric yellow gaze back on him, she cocked her head curiously and asked, "And you are?"

Her name suited her dark pelage, he remarked, and absently he wondered about this Caldera that she mentioned.  Perhaps if she stuck around long enough, he would bring it up.  He watches as she makes herself comfortable and shifts his weight evenly

She introduces herself briefly, and he absently wonders about this Caldera that Raven speaks of.  Perhaps, he muses, if they converse long enough he might make mention of it.  Varick watches as she makes herself comfortable but remains standing, weight distributed evenly between each of his long legs.

Yes, I passed the Caldera on my way down.  I am Rangvaldr, House Azorius.  Most tend to call me Varick.  His tongue smooths itself across his lips.  It comes to him that he is hungry, and he wonders if he can convince her to help.  This is not your hunting ground?

@Varick Since you've been marked inactive, I'm going to edit a conclusion on this thread and archive it. I'd be happy to do another thread with you (or a different character of yours) anytime if you like! :)

As he introduced himself, she pondered to herself what a strange name "Rangvaldr House Azorius" (she is a bonehead lol) was but said nothing. A smile flickered across her face as he gave her his less formal name, thinking that it suited him. When he asked if this was her hunting ground, she looked around and shrugged, "We hunt here sometimes. We don't claim it as ours but you're likely to see us -- er, my packmates and me -- here pretty often." The simple fact of the matter was that prey animals tended to prefer the cover of forest, and this was one of two wooded areas nearest to the Caldera. It was only reasonable that the Redhawks would hunt here or at Bramblepoint. Cocking her head, she eyed him curiously and inquired, "Are you from a--" Just then, a howl rang out across the distance and she recognized a summons in it. Shrugging apologetically at her new acquaintance, she excused herself, "Sounds like I'm needed back home. It was nice to meet you! Maybe we'll cross paths again sometime." She flashed him a warm smile before turning and heading back toward the Caldera.