The Heartwood Trees, grass, leaves
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#1
@Meldresi, sorry it took so long! If this location is too far away let me know and we can change it :)

FitzDutiful was wandering further than he ever had since coming to Silvertip Mountain. He had recently explored Neverwinter Forest closer to him home but had heard about the Heartwood and wished to explore the differences between the two forests. As he got close the looked the foliage on the floor.

Well, he looked for foliage on the floor. In the mid of winter, there didn't seem to be any to talk about. He dug through the snow a little, looking for hidden treasures and came across a few dead leaved, rotting away that fell apart as he tried to lift them out of the holes. It was slightly disheartening. Surely there must be something of use amidst these trees, even in winter!

Unsure of where to start, FitzDutiful plonked unceremoniously onto the floor and stared at the sky instead. Maybe foliage wasn't the way to go today. He had had conversations with both Spectra and Charon about the sky and the stars. Maybe the clouds were another subject he could explore. Laying down, on his back with four feet in the air he watched the shapes go by.

One looked like a rabbit, then it became a wolf, then it became a decimated wolf. Surely that wasn't telling him anything!
Ah, the blood of deceit is a nourishing flow....
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#2
It's ok!

The Naturalist trade was one the priestess aspired for. It could prove helpful in the Blackfeather Woods, even though the sky was hard to see in the dark canopy. There were many other natural signs to see in the blackness, but an understanding of the stars and clouds were useful. The sky held many secrets, and who knows what messages Mephala was sending in the ether.

She left the dark forest, wincing at the bright light before heading further. Her eyes searched the skies for anything, but for now she did not see anything of use. Just formless clouds.

The priestess wandered until she headed into the bright, contrasting forest known as the Heartwood. It was different than her shadowy woods in almost every way. In her woods, all you could see was black: black skies, black trees, black wolves. But here, there was a brightness seen even in winter. Even in the wolves.

A light gray, nearly white wolf lay on the ground, his muzzle tipped upwards towards the sky, as if he was studying it. Was he aspiring to be a Naturalist as well? He must not be a loner then, for loners could not, and did not, earn trades. "Greetings." she chuffed softly to the man.
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#3
The words came to his ears and made him start. FitzDutiful quickly twisted himself around and came to his feet. Her scent drifted towards him and he tried, but failed, to stop his lips from curling. Blackfeather Woods. He had had a run in with them before, twice before if you counted Raissa whic he did not. She wasn't like them.

"Hello." he said cautiously, his entire stance betraying his lack of trust for her. He had no idea how high up the ranks she was, or even how high up Bane had been. All FitzDutiful knew was if she was anything like Bane, like the rumours made her pack out to be, the he was potentially in danger. Quickly, he glanced around. Scenting, questing out carefully, he determined that they were alone. Evenly matched then.

"Is there something I can do for you?"
Ah, the blood of deceit is a nourishing flow....
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#4
The priestess' face did not contort to mark that she observed his caution and aggression; she was a mask of regal indifference. But inside, she was reeling. She was close enough to isolate one scent from the mishmash that pervaded on his pelt. One disgustingly familiar scent: Raissa's. Meldresi hid her dislike of Raissa from the wolf, but the members of Blackfeather knew that the southern belle was not her ally.

"No, not at the moment." She walked closer to the wolf, who she assumed was some kind of friend, or even mate of Raissa's, tilting her head up to gaze at the clouds he had seemed so interested in. "I was simply curious as to what you were looking at."
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Things seemed cordial at least. A fact FitzDutiful was thankful for. She asked what it was he had been looking at and he wondered if she would think him stupid for his daydreams. "I happened to be making pictures of the clouds," he started, deciding that the truth was probably the best course of action.

"A cloud looked like a rabbit, then it became a wolf, then the wolf appeared to die." He didn't go into the realms of trying to figure out its meaning. He wasn't one hundred percent sure that the clouds could tell the future in that way. It was possible that they offered warnings for one such as himself to discover but he didn't really know what that could have been in this situation. All he had determined was that he shouldn't hunt a rabbit at the moment.
Ah, the blood of deceit is a nourishing flow....
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#6
@FitzDutiful Sorry. D:

Meldresi watched the sky, searching for any glimpse of the clouds that the light gray male had seen. She had seen none, but mulled about the description he gave. "Clouds are fickle things to make sense of." She said softly, her eyes narrowed slightly in contemplation. She was quiet for a brief moment as she thought. A rabbit into a wolf, and then that wolf died. A rabbit. What was the significance of a rabbit?

"Rabbits are considered cowardly creatures." She began, her voice gentle. "Perhaps it means that the wolf that it turned into was cowardly? Cowards will die?" It was the first, obvious thing that came to mind. But clouds could be interpreted in a variety of ways. She preferred to stick to land-based signs.
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Don't worry about it!!!!

If it wasn't for the gentle voice, FitzDutiful would have thought her words to have an underlying tone. As it was, that thought never crossed his mind. Instead he nodded at the interpretation that she offered. "That could be the case." he said, wondering if the rabbit-wolf was he. Maybe he was about to drown in all the responsibility that he had taken on and, in doing so, run away from it.

"But maybe clouds just aren't my naturalist calling." he said, almost with laughter in his voice. The tense situation that he had found himself in only a short while ago was dissipating. He shouldn't have been so harsh to tar the entire pack from just one member. He knew that one wolf did not represent the entire pack. It was possible that this female had had nothing to do with Raissa's injuries.

"I don't suppose you know anything of the naturalist trade?" He wasn't entirely sure that any pack that contained Bane would want to partake the naturalist trade. It seemed to soft a science, but then that was judging the entire flock by one bird. He would give this one a chance to change his opinions on the pack - no matter how hard set they currently were.
Ah, the blood of deceit is a nourishing flow....
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#8
"I am sure you could make sense of the clouds if you try." She was certainly trying, her indigo eyes fixated on the floating cotton balls of the sky as she spoke to Raissa's companion. All he would need is more practice, craning his neck towards the heavens and deciphering the meaning of the shapes of the clouds. It would be arduous, but beneficial in the end.

Meldresi turned towards the wolf, a curious expression on her face. What had he meant by that? "I knew quite a lot about naturalism in the past, though I am now trying to pursue the trade formally." That, along with herbalist and chronicler would suit her talents and attributes well. "What about you then? Are you starting off fresh, or further increasing your skill as a naturalist?"
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FitzDutiful noted the curious expression and wondered what thought process she was having. It didn't seem to be a question that, to him, would invoke curiosity. They had been on the subject and it was only natural to question whether the other had any experience in that matter. He would have asked the same question was it a different subject matter too.

She turned the question back on him and he realised that he had yet to introduce himself - maybe that was the source of her questioning gaze. A personal question from a nameless wolf. "I'm hoping to gain the trade soon." he admitted to her. "I have some experience with herbal knowledge and was hoping to broaden my horizons. I'm FitzDutiful, by the way, of Silvertip Mountain. You are?" He knew she was from the Blackfeather Woods pack for he had met one of her members before and the scent was familiar.
Ah, the blood of deceit is a nourishing flow....
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#10
It seemed the two of them were attempting to go for similar trades; naturalist and healer. She had more experience with both trades informally, for years long before she had ever heard of the name Teekon Wilds. Herbalism and doctoring especially. "I know much about healing, though I have yet to get the trade here."

Meldresi digested the name: FitzDutiful. She had not heard such a name before, but it was not too unusually foreign. "Meldresi of Blackfeather Woods." Meldresi thought back again. Silvertip Mountain? She had belonged to that pack before it moved to Ouroboros Spine. Had it moved again without her knowing? "This Silvertip Mountain...is it the same one that became Ouroboros Spine, or are you a new pack?"
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#11
The question confused FitzDutiful slightly. This was the first time he had heard of another pack living on the mountain side. He wondered why they had moved. It didn't appear to be crowded for the territories happily avoided overlapping. It's not as if he would have had a compass to draw a perfect circle with anyway. Wiggling borders were still borders albeit slightly more confusing if any wolf deigned to study geography.

"No, we're new. I was originally a member of Redhawk Caldera so I guess you could say we stem from that." he paused, wondering whether it was polite to ask anything of her pack. He figured it was a good opportunity to learn some more. "How long have you occupied Blackfeather Woods?" He had never wandered inside - if there had even been a chance while he had lived in the Teekon Wilds. It was a bit too dark and gloomy for his tastes.
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#12
It was clear from his expression that FitzDutiful had no idea what she was talking about, and Meldresi decided to drop that topic for fear of confusing him even further. Instead, she answered his question about her pack's age, seeing no harm from distributing the information; it was useless anyway. "Since last summer." She responded, her head tilting back once more to watch the clouds again.

In the sky, Meldresi noted the different kinds of clouds that floated in the air above. Some looked like wisps in her air; others were the large, fluffy balls that were generic among cloud shape. Some were higher in the sky, others lower. None had rain hiding in their bellies luckily. "Do you think different cloud types have different messages?" She asked him, reverting their conversation back to naturalism.
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Since the summer, eh? That explained it. When he had passed on his way to the plateau they probably hadn't formed yet. Then he had joined the plateau and headed back to the Caldera while it was all new. It was good knowing that they weren't a long term established pack that he had failed to know lived near in the neighbourhood.

The conversation turned back to the clouds and FitzDutiful tilted his head to look at them. It didn't take long for his neck to begin to ache and he lowered his muzzle again, shaking his head. "I really do not know." he admitted. Wishing he did. "Well..." he thought about it. Maybe he did know. "I know a grey cloud means rain on the way. I know the darker the cloud the worse the rain will be." It was important to know this kind of information on the mountain. A heavy snow storm could bury them all.

"Is that the kind of message you meant?"
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"Not exactly that." So he didn't know about the different kinds of clouds, outside of which ones delivered rain or snow and which did not. Well, there was always a time to learn. "The clouds seem to have different...textures, and consistencies. Some clouds are thick and fluffy, others are wisp-like." She searched the sky again, looking for examples to show him.

There were a few kinds of clouds in the sky today. She saw the small, patchwork group of clouds, along with the generic thick and fluffy ones. "There." She pointed to the clouds with her muzzle. "Those are different kinds of clouds aren't they? I was just speculating if they meant different things, either about the weather or something more supernatural."
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He looked at the clouds she pointed out. Understanding the difference in their texture to what he was used to seeing. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and attempted to clear his mind of everything that was possessing it. It was difficult. Eventually blankness ensued and he opened his eyes to focus on the clouds in sight.

The clouds were high in the sky, closely flanked by the white fluffy kind. It stood out like a fox amongst chickens. The shape stood tall, like a tree amongst the flats of the land. His peripheral vision picked up what could be a stream or a valley. "I see a tall tree, or mountain, standing amongst a flat land with a valley or stream off to the east."

Shaking his head and clearing his mind he turned to Meldresi to answer her actual question. "I'm not sure you can take each cloud separately. They feel like a whole. Just looking at one type of cloud is like looking for at one leaf upon a tree. Do you see anything?" FitzDutiful was interested in another's perspective of this event.

Website on Nephomancy
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"Like there are different sides to each story." She responded back to his comment on the vastly different perspectives. "You cannot explain the great picture; it is far too vast. You have to focus on one part. And even then, I can see something different than you." She went silent, watching the clouds for a moment. She no longer saw trees and mountains. The wind blew, and the clouds changed. "I see the ocean. With seagulls in the air and crabs on the shore."
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#17
FitzDutiful nodded when she spoke about the big picture being too much. It was worth keeping in mind. She grew silent and he stayed quiet too, looking at the clouds and wondering what she saw among them. It was interesting how their perspectives differed and he wondered if he should attempt to master all aspects of this cloud sequence - though he still doubted cloud watching was for him.

Eventually, she told him what it was she saw and his eyes traced the clouds trying to see the ocean, gulls and crabs that she spoke of. Eventually he shook his head. "I can't see that." he replied, almost sadly. "Though maybe it is telling us the destinations we should wander to. Thank you, for this meeting and the sharing this experience with you. I think I'm going to get back home."

He waited a little while in case she had anything to say before turning and heading back to Silvertip Mountain from whence he came.