Arrow Lake home to her
guardian of the galaxy
1,292 Posts
Ooc — Magdalyn
Master Guardian
Offline
#1
All Welcome 
@Indra <3 taken place after they've chosen sunspire to settle...

and so the little pack chose their home. terance was happy with their choice, very happy to be back on the mountains and close to the stars again. but he wandered a little further-- just in case. he'd return in the morning. rannoch knew that, but terance was just curious. and, truthfully, he needed to get away to do some thinking on his own. 

he was very happy to be with rannoch and wraen and liffey, but he was homesick. he missed hydra and lyra. and charon and amekaze. he missed them all, it just wasn't fair he had to choose between the two like this. he was happy with his decision, he'd decided, but it didn't stop the hurt. he wondered if lyra cared that he was gone-- she had to've cared, right? he wasn't sure.

he padded through the starry night, pausing at the edge of what appeared to be some lake to take a drink before sitting and peering out over the water, his ears splayed and his eyes settling on the reflection of the stars in the water.
i will pry his bony fingers free
1,207 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#2
she picked her way along the frozen muskeg, slabs of ice and splintered boulders slowing her progress. in the distance the scintillating surface of a half froze-over lake simmered, pale and lackluster moonlight reflecting off of its dulled surface. it had been her strange emotions that brought her so far from the cusps of the valley -- lost in thought over everything that had transpired from her heat to her sister's surprising union with xan, indra had not realized how many miles she had put under her heels. thirsty and a little tired from her jaunt she made for the banks at casual lope.

when she came within several meters of the spanning shore an inkblot spilled over the murky ground and she paused as her eyes fell on a figure with its head bent skyward. her hackles rifled slightly and her heart beat in trepidation, but it was too late to alter her course. he likely would have heard the scatter of snow under her feet. swallowing back any fear indra strode as confidently as she could manage to the water and bent down to lap at its surface, her amber eyes trained on the wolf warily.
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.
guardian of the galaxy
1,292 Posts
Ooc — Magdalyn
Master Guardian
Offline
#3
terance was not weary of strangers-- none had ever given him reason to be. especially not this girl, who was pretty and what terance wanted to describe as delicate looking, though something about her suggested that she did not break so easily. how terance got all that from just a quick look at her is beyond me, but that was his first impression, peering down at her as he heard the scuffle of snow. 

his ears were pricked, nose twitching as he gingerly tried to pick up on any scents. she smelled like pack, and looked... confident enough, though she was just drinking, so terance wasn't sure why she was holding herself in that manner. his head tilted gently to one side, nose twitching again. "are you from around here?" he asked her, hoping she'd say she was-- he could bring back any information she had to rannoch.
i will pry his bony fingers free
1,207 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#4
indra felt vulnerable as she hunched over the frozen embankment; she kept her eyes trained on the male and took long laps of the frigid water. it braced her tongue and teeth, and she pulled up from the water with a wince. now that his figure was plainly illuminated by the moonlight, indra was better able to assess him. he was larger than her, something she noted in a rather dismayed way - should he attack her, she hoped she could outrun him.

most troubling about the male's features was the long scar that raked from fore to aft like a chasm; indra tried to hide her examination of him, for surely he must find such pointed stares uncomfortable. she remembered how inflammatory mahler's gaze upon her seemed, especially as he looked at her lack of a tail. that had hurt more than the severance ever had.

indra jutted her lower jaw out somewhat tensely, unsure of how to answer the male's question. she did not want to lie, but the world had jaded her so. "bearclaw." she offered, albeit reluctantly. "you?"
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.
guardian of the galaxy
1,292 Posts
Ooc — Magdalyn
Master Guardian
Offline
#5
maybe she tried, but she didn't hide it too well. it was the first time anyone had really looked at him like that, since most of moonspear had been used to his scars, and the way that seabreeze had looked at him was something more familiar-- something she understood. or maybe he was just doing a terrible job of reading the red-coated fae-- he'd blame the dim lighting. she said she was from bearclaw, somewhere terance was wildly unfamiliar with, and his ears splayed. "i live at sunspire," he replied, and then tilted his head to one side, his gaze falling to his shoulder for a moment, "are there bears at bear claw?" was that a dumb question? if it was nearby... well, terance felt a bit of concern bubble into his chest.
i will pry his bony fingers free
1,207 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#6
her examination had not gone unnoticed, and indra was aware of the almost imperceptible shift of his eyes. she would not feel ashamed for looking at him - silently her gaze pulled up to muzzle and she looked him in the eye. it was not a stare and there seemed no challenge behind her amber gaze -- just a sad sort of defeat as if she were waiting for him to charge her.

she didn't know where sunspire was, but it didn't change anything. he was still a stranger. she was still alone. she didn't want to know how he got that scar, but she did want to know if the scar made him dangerous. her tongue worked against the roof of her mouth in worry.

his question didn't seem stupid to her, but it didn't elicit a laugh either. she wasn't sure if he was trying to break the mood or if it was a genuine question, and she could not tell much from his expression at all. "it's cause it's shaped like a claw." she spoke lowly, an ear pulled back as she added "there's one bear in it, though."
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.
guardian of the galaxy
1,292 Posts
Ooc — Magdalyn
Master Guardian
Offline
#7
"sunspire is that way," terance added for clarification, tipping his head back to the mountain range behind them, "my pack and i just settled there." they were new-- new neighbors, perhaps! terance wanted to get as friendly as he could with them. 

at the redheads mention of one bear living there, terance felt his heart stop. they lived with a bear? a soft whine escaped his throat-- something he hadn't expected to happen-- and his ears splayed. then, realizing how he looked, terance tried to straighten up again, regain some compare. "i... uh, sorry. a bear actually lives there? you let it live there?" he asked, sort of in disbelief. he'd have to tell rannoch about this, what would he think. "it doesn't like, hurt you or anything does it? like you're not being held captive?"
i will pry his bony fingers free
1,207 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#8
LMFAO cute terance
terance motioned to some distant range that was flanked by sharp-faced mountains. indra's gaze momentarily swept past their clouded forms.

she caught the suppressed whine that slid from the male's thin jaws - she looked to him somewhat bemused, but no derision clouded her features. she supposed her time in the valley had bled the strangeness from such a companion - she recalled distinctly how she had the same reaction when xan had first mentioned the bear's presence.

his evident momentary loss of composure (and the worry in his queries) did help ease her worry slightly - not enough that she folded, but enough that the harsh mistrust in her gaze slowly dissipated.  "he's asleep." she said, thinking of how strange that must sound. "i haven't met him, though. they sleep in the winter. a lot."

she shifted on her feet then and glanced from the water to him, clearing her throat. "what's your name?"
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.
guardian of the galaxy
1,292 Posts
Ooc — Magdalyn
Master Guardian
Offline
#9
her comment was not comforting, eliciting a frown from poor terance. "hibernation," was all he could think to say at first, since it was true, bears did sleep a lot, "my mom told me about it-- bears sleep a lot in the winter because of hibernation." oh but maybe she already knew that... she did live with the thing. he wanted to ask more but, well, it just seemed weird. he was uncomfortable, to say the least. 

but she moved on.

"my name's terance," he said, forcing a small smile and trying to move away from the bear. but, it kind of stuck with him, unfortunately. "sorry i just, i got these from a bear, i'm not the biggest fan of bears, it's weird to hear that you live with one," he suddenly explained, shaking his head and turning slightly to the side to show her the worst of his scars.
i will pry his bony fingers free
1,207 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#10
the sooty male revealed two things to indra then -- the nature of a bear's sleeping pattern, and the nature of his scar.

indra did not conceal the surprise that wracked her features, nor the trailing of her gaze on that scar. it was comforting to her more than her imagination had been -- knowing the scar came at the hand of some irascible and slavering beast over a dispute with their kind somehow made her less wary of him -- but only a little.

she didn't like bears either, but for reasons she would rather not say. she remembered seeing a white bear in the woods once, only to be told no bear had ever passed through. it troubled her more than anything and she quickly diverted her thought process. "what did you do?" she asked, bringing herself to look away as she studied the gnarled faces of the winter-chewed trees around them.
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.
guardian of the galaxy
1,292 Posts
Ooc — Magdalyn
Master Guardian
Offline
#11
the look she gave him wasn't unwelcomed-- terance expected it. he waited for her to finish looking at his shoulder and his chin and his chest and his side-- all the spots torn open by the beast, quiet and trying not to feel judged. because she wasn't judging, he knew that, it just... it was weird to feel like a spectacle. but he'd brought it upon himself this time. and then she asked a question. terance wasn't expecting a question but... well, it still sort of surprised him. the girl looked away, finally, and terance shrugged a bit. he only now realized she hadn't responded with her name. "what can i call you?" he asked her quietly before he went to answer.

"a pup was stolen from my old packs territory-- stolen by this bear. she took it in as her own child or... i don't really understand it, but we all went to take the pup back, chase the bear out. i sort of got the brunt of the attack. my mixed up my timing or... something, it all happened so fast, and got knocked to the side. i'm lucky to be alive." his explanation ended with a soft shrug. that wasn't the full story-- he left out how he'd been distracted by lyra, how hearing her voice had forced him to look her way instead of at the bear. but that wasn't important... this girl didn't need to know that.
i will pry his bony fingers free
1,207 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#12
indra hadn't realized she had forgotten to supply her name. with ears splayed to the side at her impropriety, the girl uttered: "indra." quietly, almost under her breath.

she listened in disbelief as terance detailed his story. her skepticism was not reserved for the veracity of his words, but rather, the tenacity of the bear -- she had never heard of a bear swiping a child -- and wondered silently to herself if she would go to the same heroic lengths he had to retrieve the child back.

in honesty, probably not.

she didn't have words to sum how she felt about his story. it was insane, unprecedented, and wholly out of the realm of bears - but she believed it happened. "that's... that's crazy." she fumbled weakly, knowing 'crazy' did the situation very little justice. "but... you got the kid back, right?"
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.
guardian of the galaxy
1,292 Posts
Ooc — Magdalyn
Master Guardian
Offline
#13
there we go, terance was glad to hear her say her name. "indra," he repeated, but didn't say anything else in regards to it, merely smiled a bit. it wasn't such a foreign name to him, simple enough-- he'd remember it. 

"yeah," he said with a small nod, shrugging a bit. it really was crazy, he couldn't believe it'd happen. her next question was sort of awkward... since galaxy did end up dying in the long run, but she was saved from the bear. "yeah, we saved her," he replied with a small smile. terance was stupid enough, in love enough, and just loyal enough to risk his life for galaxy... maybe not the best combination of things, which held true in almost every situation terance put himself in.
i will pry his bony fingers free
1,207 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#14
indra's gaze flickered as the salvation of the child was revealed. she lifted her head and regarded him for a minute, as if in a new light. she knew she herself would not be so brave as to challenge a bear.. well.. maybe for laurel.

but it hadn't been laurel, had it?

certainly it was a brave deed - foolhardy and dangerous, perhaps, but it spoke of a certain subset of traits: loyalty, courage, fearlessness. indra wasn't any of those things, and was well aware of it.

"that's impressive." indra concluded, the smallest hint of a suppressed smile playing thinly on her lips.
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.
guardian of the galaxy
1,292 Posts
Ooc — Magdalyn
Master Guardian
Offline
#15
terance hadn't done it... not alone for sure. he returned the smile, much larger than hers though. "there were a lot of us," he replied with a wave of his tail. with a soft, breathy sigh, terance turned to look back towards sunspire. he really should be heading back soon-- he vocalized this thought. "i should head home, it's sort of late," he announced, smile still present on his features-- though smaller now. he shook out his coat, preparing himself for the walk back, and eyed the redhead curiously.

"it was nice meeting you indra, good luck with that bear," he said, and with that turned and left, headed back towards his home.
i will pry his bony fingers free
1,207 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#16
thank you for the thread <3 it did indra some good to meet someone NICE!!

indra followed his gaze. behind him duskfall sheathed the mountain in rippling orange, and long blue shadows sat under the sharp ranges in dark pools. he was right -- night gathered, and waited for neither of them.

his smile did not go unnoticed but her own was feeble in comparison. she dipped her head lightly but did not object to his departure. "bye."

she stood still on the embankment and watched him go until his form was no longer visible against the darkening snow. she thought about their encounter, how different he was from other strangers. she thought laurel might like him.

without so much as an ear flick the girl turned and headed for home.
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.