open to any! set in the forest
Caoimhe had been advised by Vlad to avoid the caves, which she was more than glad to do unless explicitly summoned there, in which case she presumed she would be welcome there. The Irish druid worked to mark the borders daily, avoiding the forest though this was the reason she resided here at all. Its pull was palpable, and she did not favor the sea—
So finally she went the way her heart did, and moved toward the place that had brought her here. As she entered it the girl felt as though the wind sang its praises, and Caoimhe knew she had found home. If Bleckface—as Caoimhe knew her, as told by Vlad—could be found in the caves, then she could be found in this forest. She felt she could do more in this part of the territory, in any case; she was not so skilled at hunting
creb as she was at hunting rabbit, or any other smaller forest critter. The only thing about now were hare, and she wondered if she could find any.
caiaphas was not one to want to stray from the grotto -- as winter had advanced she had become more accustomed to the darkness, the stillness. she breathed the cave air, slept on the cold floor, and ate in solidarity in the yawning chambers. the world outside of the grotto was ravaged with uncertainty -- with brightness -- and as she rose from her encampment she nearly recoiled by the harsh glare of sunlight reflecting off the iridescent sheet of snow that blanketed the strand.
with a grumble she set towards the woods -- she had exhausted the cave for an old cache she had placed in the summer, the succulent flesh of porcupine -- but after tearing apart the stone walls she had found nothing. she surmised she had buried it at one of the rendezvous sites in the forest, and as she rounded the stump that marked the outer perimeter she rose as a strange wolf rose into her vision. instinctively the wretch plastered herself against the arm of the root, all but her fierce yellow eyes and outrageously long ears concealed. she knew it was vlad's new acolyte, but knew nothing else of the female. bitterly, she wondered if the newest member was earning her keep -- with a skulk she half hung back in an effort to appear as if she were resentfully spying on the new girl.
Caoimhe sniffed along, having not heard or smelled Caiaphas yet, nevermind see her as the woman was behind her. Would she find any sign of the species she sought to find? Her nose dragged against the snow and then she went rigid as she thought she heard something, but Caoimhe was quick to discover the sound had been snow falling to the earth from an area it was once heavily concentrated in. Well, she had plenty more forest to cover, and she would. Perhaps she would revisit the tree, pray for guidance, and think on her fellow druid. She had not heard the omniscient voice since being brought into the fold, but she could still feel Their presence and the note of Their approval that she remained.
She turned and then saw the strangest thing, and she wondered if it were a wraithlike thing of legend. She sorted through all of the names she knew, but nothing could be likened to the strange one before her. It clung to the wood like a bulbous protrusion, and Caoimhe discerned the sharpness of her features from here. Caoimhe was the strangest mixture herself, lingering in the in-between of youth. There were other remarkable qualities about the stranger, but her fear blotted near everything out. She could not yet make out the narrow shoulders of the other clinging to the tree, and so did not see that this would be the one known as Bleckface, because to Caoimhe who only could see the bust, well, the other was all black. What looked to her like narrowed eyes shook the sensitive youth, who thought it might be disapproval, and Caoimhe swiftly averted her gaze from the body altogether as though this might make it disappear.
she had been noticed. caiaphas looked on balefully, a slight twitch of a mule-length ear given as if to signal she was aware caoimhe had spotted her. with a flick of her tail the wraith rose, clawing over the length of the sycamore root with a jaunty launch forward. she did not breach the other's space, though she certainly drew within the dubious distance in which some would identify as a danger zone. her expression remained vaguely placid, though the menace in her yellow eyes were coldly apparent. "who are you?" she knew damn well it was one of vlad's newest recruits, but vlad had a way of mangling names -- if he even called them by their appropriate name at all.
but the wolf had parted and caiaphas was left blinking in the forest, wondering if it had all been a trick of the mind.