Hushed Willows i signed the abstinence pledge with my dungeons and dragons club.
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Ooc — Stevie
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aaaaaaaaand a few minutes later, I teleported him across the Wilds for @Maia

What the fuck was wrong with her this time...

Artaax was deeply annoyed as he cantered along through the willows. While he was actually rather fond of this woods, he was not at all happy to be there. Furi was gone again, and as her self-proclaimed protector, the young Drakru was not at all pleased about that. He couldn't fathom what it was that had driven her away this time, especially after he'd healed her soul with his penis. He could only assume that something had again happened with Blixen, and while beating his sister into the ground seemed like an excellent way to resolve the conflict, he knew that it wouldn't do him any good if Furi wasn't there to see it.

So, he searched. It hadn't been his intention to go too far, but there he was amongst the willows. Artaax had no idea where to even begin his search for his missing property friend, but he remembered the cave he had sheltered in during the blizzard and thought that maybe she might be hiding there. It was a testament to his lack of imagination that he could only manage to consider the places he himself had once been, but maybe that was a good thing for Furi at least, who clearly did not want to be found (not that Artaax realized that).

Though it was barely drizzling that evening, Artaax's fur felt drenched from all the hours he had spent out in it. When finally he reached the cave, he stepped inside and gave his coat a good hard shake, sending droplets of water flying out into the dark, open air. His nose told him quickly enough that Furi was not here, but since it had been a long day and since he was rather bitter about her abandonment, the yearling dropped onto his haunches to rest up a bit before continuing on. He also needed to game plan on where to go next because.... Welp, he was pretty much out of ideas. After just the one.
 
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Ooc — Starrlight
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At some random undetermined time, Maia decided she wanted to go see other places, and took a nice little wander outside.  Like last time, she made sure to note which mountain was her mountain, and she figured there was about an 80 percent chance she definitely knew where she was going when she returned.  Wayyy better than usual, lemme tell you.

Then the sky made the truly unfair decision to literally rain on her parade.  Last time this happened, she'd sheltered in a cave.  And there was one right there too! She saw it, not far!  But last time she'd also gotten horribly sick as a result.  But what were the chances sicko guy was here?  C'mon.

Brushing it off, she sprinted for the entrance, galloping inside and immediately shaking vigorously with a brrrrrr.  When she spun, however, she realized she wasn't at all alone in here, again.. "Oh boy," was all she said, taking a step back and tucking her tail as it brushed the rain outside.  Please be healthy,  dude, and not crazy.
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Ooc — Stevie
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Artaax wasn't resting long before he was joined by another. His hackles shot to attention the moment his senses caught onto her presence and he shoved himself swiftly up onto all fours and turned to face the stranger. She came in quickly, which was all the more alarming to the young wolf. Though what she did upon entering was mundane enough, Artaax was very close to springing at her and driving her straight back out when he noticed something that stopped him dead in his tracks.

Pretty.

His throat ran dry when she looked at him. Her reaction to him held just the same amount of alarm as he'd held for her, only his now was gone by the time she backed away. His ears fell back as he shifted his posture, attempting to look less threatening. Artaax did not want to send this one sprinting off into the night. He wanted to... Well, he didn't know what he wanted. She was like Rose somehow. Probably only in the way he regarded her, which was with fascination, anxiety, and all the awkward you could ever ask for. The yearling gazed silently at her. Words failed him even at the best of times, so obviously now when he was feeling unexpectedly vulnerable, he could come up with absolutely nothing but wide eyes and a deer-in-the-headlights slow blink.
 
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Once again, Maia was completely oblivious to the effect she had on the opposite, but she read his reaction well enough when he shifted. She relaxed some, but a change in posture didn't necessarily answer her two questions.  He didn't look crazy. He did look kinda cute, but no way was she telling him that.  

"Who're you?" She asked, eyeing him curiously.  "And please tell me you aren't sick, because last guy I met in a cave I'm pretty sure almost killed me with his gross germs.  I'm Maia."  She introduced herself cheerfully enough on the end of a somewhat bizarre intro, then waited expectantly to hear his own.
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Ooc — Stevie
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Thankfully, his new companion had the ability to speak where Artaax had lost it. The question she asked was innocuous enough, until she continued to add some less than desireable details. He blinked at her, then moved forward to focus on the one part he actually did feel compelled to respond to.

"Artaax Drakru," he answered in his soft, deep voice. He paused for a beat then before adding, "I'm not sick."
 
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He had a pretty voice too.  Ok Maia no freaking out.  Not much a talker though?  Of course that meant she had to fill the void, because there was no way she wasn't going to freak out a bit, despite her very firm internal directions not to.  She lived at home a long time... these were uncharted waters.

"You don't look sick.  I mean, you look nice.  Normal.  Not normal normal, better than normal, but not better better.  Yeah?"  Oh wow.  That just left her mouth.

"What're you doing here?"  That was a more normal question, and as she asked it, she glanced back out at the rain before stepping another bit closer and away from the entrance.  Her thick fur made for not a lot of fun when it got damp.
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Artaax blinked steadily at the girl as she ...how to describe this... explained? Or was she just rambling? It was difficult for the boy to tell, but in the end, he felt as though he had been complimented, so that was pleasing. Plus, she had stepped towards him. He took that as a good sign as well.

"Looking for someone," he answered after a moment, though he struggled to think for the moment why he was so concerned with Furi. Clearly there were other things to be interested in. "You?" Yes, her.
 
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Her? What was she doing out here?  Nothing really, and if she had an objective, she'd forgotten it as soon as the rain started.  It wasn't important anyway. "Exploring.  Who're you looking for?"  She paused, then lifted her head a little.  "Maybe I've seen them, I've been around traveling a lot lately."  There was no small amount of pride in her voice as she said it.  Likely his person wouldn't be one of the four or five wolves he'd met, but it let her make the comment, and that was all she needed.
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Ooc — Stevie
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Her answer was short and simple, much like his often were. But while he kept his speech brief out of habit, it quickly became apparent that she did so because that was merely all she had to say on the topic. Maia twisted the conversation back to his plight about searching for someone, which was something he was inclined to disregard at that point. But she seemed like she wanted to help, and Artaax was of a mind to absorb more of her attention.

"Furi," he answered, "She is dragedakru - a packmate. She likes to explore too, but it doesn't usually go too well for her." That much was true. He recalled the last time he'd seen her. She'd hurt her ankle. He wondered if she'd even let it heal before taking off again. Probably not. She was such a moron sometimes.
 
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"I guess we can't all be amazing at exploring," she said, obviously putting the two of them in the camp of yes, exploring is easy as heck.  Even though her own exploration had very nearly killed her.  Again, beside the point.

Surprisingly enough, that was not the name of one of the three (or four?) wolves she had met along her journey.  So she wasn't able to help.  What was that word though?  "Drag-ate-ah?  What is that?  I mean, I know about dragons, so if it's to do with that that's awesome.  But it's a weird word."  She knew all about dragons, kthx.  She'd played an entire make believe game with a stranger in a cave so that made her practically an expert on the subject.  What was it with dragons and caves? Wow anyway.

They continued to talk a little awkwardly, but at least Maia didn't completely embarass herself before the rain lightened.  Then she ducked off, heading back for the spire.

We were gonna spar but since you are GONE I SUPPOSE WE SHANT POO.  I'mma close this ;)