Set when it was foggy earlier this week. For anyone that wants a spooky ghost experience!
The fog was
thick now, thicker than anything Bazi had ever experienced. She couldn't see her own paws, let alone the details of her surroundings, and every breath felt like pulling in a lung-full of thick, cold syrup. Wherever she was now - within Swiftcurrent Creek borders, judging by the distant but identifiable purl of water, and thank heavens for that - was where she would have to remain until the wind picked up, or the sun had gathered enough strength to break through the wall of mist that surrounded her on all sides.
Footfalls. Those were footfalls, and they sounded close - the scent that would prove that either way was lost in the mist.
"Hello?" the Creek Gamma woofed into the thick air, bristling with claustrophobic anxiety.
Cutthroat had not meant, initially, to wander so close to the borders of Swiftcurrent Creek - in fact he had been trying to find his way to the Creek but had ended up becoming disoriented by the thick and
heavy fog that was more or less a dense veil of white that left nothing more than a few measly feet in front of him visible and even then, he could just barely make out trees, the ground for it writhed around him as a living and tangible thing. The fog was
awful and it had been quite some time since he had last found himself caught so wholly in a fog so thick. Cutthroat had fancied that he was rather good at navigating through it, sticking to a ‘straight and true’ course that found him, as if the borders had sprung up into bars that burned him as he accidentally nearly stepped through them. As it turned out, Cutthroat as good at navigating the fog as he had liked to think. The inky pirate leapt back as if the scent markers had, actually burned him, his heart leaping to his throat as sharp golden irises cut almost helplessly through it.
The hair along the strong curve of his spine rose to stand on end, as an anxious sounding “hello” rode a wolf from somewhere nearby in a voice that was becoming quite familiar to Cutthroat at an alarmingly fast pace. Shadowed ears swiveled to try to determine where her call had came from but there was a good chance that the fog was playing a trick on his mind, where he thought he might find the Creek’s Beta female could have very well been opposite of where she actually was. He the direction that he thought was right but didn’t even realize he was truly nearing her until his chest made contact with some part of Bazi’s body - of which he wasn’t sure because the Captive recoiled back and sunk down into submission before her, though it was hard to make her out through the fog.
“By the devil you blend in with the fog lass.” He told her, slightly breathless from the thick and heavy moisture of the air that writhed around them, snaking around his limbs like some sort of supernatural beastie.
Ahead of her, something dark and vaguely wolf-shaped materialized from the fog. In the absence of more information, Bazi prepared herself for the worst, and it wasn't until Cutthroat's familiar, lilting voice reached her ears that the Beta wolf shielded her teeth again. The dark pirate was technically a captive, but it was impossible to dislike him for it. It helped that he wasn't entirely unpleasant to look at.
"Well, you cut an unpleasant silhouette in this fog," Bazi retorted, shoulders twitching like a horse beset by flies - she was still visibly on edge, and didn't acknowledge his submission as she normally would have. "Was that you, making that noise earlier?" Cutthroat's approach had been silent - soft paw-pads against softer grass, nothing like the graceless thumping she had heard.
Ears swiveled out to the sides atop the inky male’s ears at Bazi’s word, and softly he snorted, “Aye, I imagine I do,” The witty Pirate agreed only hesitantly rising himself up out of his submission, body going tense tersely as he picked up that Bazi was uneasy from the stiffness of her own stance. Cutthroat was not bothered by the fog in and of that it spooked him - it had been Bazi’s call that had spooked him in the heavy silence the fog seemed to veil them with, making the little noises sound loud and close even if they weren’t. He didn’t like the fog for causing in to get turned around and horrendously, almost pitifully lost - though in truth he supposed he could have been going in circles for a while, anyway. It wasn’t as if it were an easy thing to tell when visibility was limited as harshly as it was now. “I don’t think so lass,” He told her with a softened frown, wondering what noise she was speaking of. As far as he had been aware he had not been the creator of the noise she spoke of, figuring he would have heard it too if it had, indeed, been him. Ears thrust forth atop his crown as he listened for any sort of noise that was deemed out of the ordinary; and came up with nothing. He could hear their breathing, the swish of his own tail against his back legs, the faint crush of debris on the earthen floor as he shifted his weight but beyond that he heard not much of anything. “What did you hear?” He inquired in a softened tone, thinking that maybe if he knew what kind of sound he was straining to hear that it might be easier for him to catch it.
"Noise," she responded, squinting into the fog. "Just some strange th--" But before she could finish her sentence, the thumps returned - nearer this time, in quick succession, as if something was stalking them. "You heard that, right?" she whispered urgently, stepping closer to the black pirate. Bazi's tail fanned nervously behind her, and her eyeballs threatened to pop clean out of their sockets.
Cutthroat’s lips parted, on the cusp of retorting to her that
noise wasn’t all that specific and therefore of little to no use to him but stopped himself just short of her continuing on. No sooner had Bazi began to explain cutting off halfway through her explanation of specifics on the noise - at least this was what Cutthroat hoped, anyway - she cut herself off abruptly. He glimpsed at her quick, momentarily confused by the sharp end to her partial word when, finally, he heard it too. Ears slicked back to his skull as the hair of the nape of his neck bristled at the rhythmic thumping noises that gradually grew louder.
“Ah,” The Pirate drew as acknowledgement to her talk of strange noises. He took notice when she moved closer to him, though it was a vague acknowledgment at best. It might seem that they had more pressing things to concern themselves with than
close proximity.
“It may just be a rabbit, lass,” He spoke attempting to soothe her because she was starting to make
him nervous.
“Or,” He drew in a breath,
“It could be some giant hungry beastie.” It was probably an inappropriate time to crack a joke - especially considering his heart beat was measurably loud in his ears, no doubt encouraged to increase it’s speed by adrenaline - but he was trying to lighten the mood.
“It might not be as close as it sounds - whatever it is. The fog plays tricks on you.” It could turn even the most experienced wolf around until he was quite literally chasing his own tail. Why couldn’t it play tricks with sounds, as well?
"A 200 pound rabbit?" Bazi snapped at him, flattening her ears against her skull. She knew he was trying to soothe her, but what good would that do when they were mauled by some otherworldly hell-beast? In this situation, their closeness lacked allure - she was pressed against Cutthroat's side now, baring her teeth silently in the direction of the noise.
... until a goddamned bison wandered out straight in front of them. Bazi shrieked in surprise and terror, bristling like a porcupine beside her pack-mate. The enormous herbivore responded in kind, roaring in fright and scrambling backwards on thick, stiff legs. But its species wasn't designed for agility, and the animal stumbled and fell hard onto his rear end with an almighty thunk!
Bazi’s tone was snapping, her words sharp and pointed at him about his suggestion that it might have been nothing more harmless than a rabbit but it seemed that was a ridiculous suggestion to make. His own ears slicked back at the sharp tone she used but the Pirate did not slink back in submission; not that she seemed to be paying much attention to the position of his body or maybe even her own because she had pressed her side against his at whatever beastie was about to step into their limited line of view. Cutthroat flinched back when the massive bison came clomping into their limited line of vision it’s tall body thick with muscle and shaggy with fur, his wide-eyed assessment broken as Bazi let out a loud (potentially horrific) shriek that caused Cutthroat to jump - still not off the adrenaline high. It seemed the Pirate wasn’t the only one frightened by Bazi’s shriek because the bison let out a noise of surprise of it’s own, stumbled back and landed right on it’s bum in front of the two wolves.
As the adrenaline - and fright - managed to ebb away Cutthroat snickered once as he made an attempt to conceal his laughter before it finally burst out of him. It was a contagious laughter to the Pirate who once he started found it hard to stop, his shoulders shaking from it. The situation hadn’t been funny - and there was nothing that said they weren’t in immediate danger because if the bison charged at them it could end up hurting - but it was also extremely hilarious at the same time. “Oi, I think he might be a little lost,” Cutthroat managed to gasp between the laugh spasms, though the mirth still shown in his golden eyes. Either he was lost or they were about to see a whole herd pass through.
Sky was lost in the fog. She wandered. Her fur was just blending into the fog. The fog was so thick she could take her claw and cut it. She saw a shadow close to in front of her. She moved around it. She came across two of her pack mates. She cleared her throat. She hoped she didn't scare anyone. "Hey guys."
A short, peculiar silence followed. Bazi blinked. The bison blinked. Cutthroat's black fur stood on end, temporarily transforming him into a super-sized dust bunny. For the longest time, absolutely nothing happened - none of the creatures involved had ever experienced anything quite like it, and each struggled to think what the precedent for reaction would be.
Suddenly, Cutthroat exploded into raucous laughter next to her. He positively shook with mirth, and after a few seconds it rubbed off on his Beta. A high-pitched, witch-like heeheeheehee! rose into the air as Bazi was taken over by the ridiculousness of the situation - within moments, tears were streaming down her face and she had to sit down to keep from falling. "Just a little! Help me.." she giggle-wheezed, pulling desperately at the air.
Across from them, the bison shuffled awkwardly to its feet, looked blindly around, and toddled right around the laughing wolves in its path. Clearly they weren't in any state to give chase.
The black-and-white pair were still laughing when a soft voice piped up from somewhere in the vicinity. Hilarity had melted the fear and adrenaline, and Bazi barely looked up the sound - instead, she gave the dark pirate a friendly nudge with her shoulder, studying his profile with bright, teary eyes. He was rather dashing for someone born into the chaos and mess of Tortuga. Actually, he was rather dashing full stop.
"Hi, Sky. Are you lost?" she asked without looking round.
It did not take Bazi long to join him in expression of laughter because her own laughter - more high pitched then he imagined it would be - filled in along with his. Cutthroat had heard of strange things happening but this had been the first time that he could ever claim that such a strange circumstance had happened to him. What a grand tale it had the right parts to make and for a moment Cutthroat amused himself with the stories the storytellers could weave from it. She sat down abruptly beside him, gasping for breath in between her giggles - though at this time Cutthroat had been lucky enough to have gotten control over his own laughter, his breaths still deep and fulfilling though the occasional laugh would rip from somewhere inside him. Golden eyes watched the creature toddle away and Cutthroat fancied that it walked with a hint of
embarrassment in it’s step though he was not sure if they felt embarrassment as wolves did, or not.
A voice rose through the fog then, soft but loud enough to cut through it, though it became apparent soon after that it had probably not been muffled because she had not been far away. The other woman had - at some point - merged into his line of view, noticed from catching her movements through the writhing fog out of the corner of his eye but he had peered at Bazi when he had felt her shoulder nudge against him in a manner that did not feel threatening. Cutthroat studied Bazi studying him, swept in the moment of forgetting where he was and, perhaps more importantly what he was to these wolves. Bazi made him forget those things too easily, though this was probably because so far she was one of the very few that had not treated him with hostility - not even when they sparred.
His lips parted then, to tell her that he thought she was beautiful before he remembered that they were not alone at Bazi’s question aimed at their other that had joined their party though she had not looked away from Cutthroat; not to mention it was probably extremely inappropriate for a Captive to tell one of the leaders that he found her beautiful - that could only come back badly, somehow, he suspected. The inky Pirate cleared his throat, remembering the metaphorical chains he wore with a forlorn air of disappointment and glimpsed at Sky. He recognized her a little from the mini meeting Bazi had held though if not for Bazi’s use of her name he would not have recalled it on his own. “We are the crew of the lost, it would seem,” While he wasn’t sure about Bazi, but Cutthroat knew he was certainly lost.
"Yea I seem to be lost, I was at the creek I live by and I went to go find Fox and the others, but I have seemed to have gone the other way." Sky was wandering for a few hours just to find a wolf that would help her back. Tonight was a full moon and Sky was hoping to howl at the moon with the pack. She was wondering if Bazi and Cutthroat would maybe join her.
Cutthroat stared back. Bazi felt her pulse in her ears. The feeling that fluttered in her chest reminded her of that encounter in Ravensblood Forest, when Tiarnán had shared her bed for the night - a confusing, hot excitement that she had craved more of ever since (source was irrelevant). Galileo's gallant manners and witty flirtation tickled the same nerve, but he was much older - and a committed loner. This creature was her handsome subordinate, and a prisoner to boot. He was practically tied to the Creek. He submitted readily enough, but she saw the glint in his eye - this was not a wolf that loved to bend over backwards, and that only made lording it over him even more satisfying.
It was certainly not ideal that Cutthroat was the result of a one-for-one swap with the Tortuga clan, and she did miss feisty little Bones - to an extent. Wherever she was, the pirate girl was with family, and they would at the very least keep her alive. Plus, the price the clan had paid served her current interests better. Though she was technically eight months shy of physical maturity, the pale girl's brain was already revving up for what would undoubtedly be a very interesting first season.
Bazi licked her lips. The air felt thick, and not just because of the mist. Cutthroat had opened his mouth to say something before Sky's intrusion, and the compliment's intended recipient was itching to know what it had been. At the mention of 'the creek', she finally broke eye contact and swiveled her head around to address the other girl directly. "'The creek'? You mean Swiftcurrent Creek, right? Or don't you den near everyone else..?" It seemed strange for a wolf to live apart from her fellows, and Bazi wondered if anyone had made Sky feel unwelcome.
"No I don't live by everybody else, I have a creek by Swiftcreek, I just have been there for like forever. I don't know why I am there it just feels like I have a strong connection there, like I was born there or something." Sky had lived by that creek since she was about 2 months old. She went there after her father had died. and then it hit her, no literally the buffalo kicked a rock at her. She got hit right in the head with the huge rock and she fell over unconscious. Her head rushed of blood. She remembered her creek, she remembered it when she was there for the first time. She was born there. And her memory faded slowly.
Cutthroat's exit, sorry it's kind of abrupt but he's a butt like that. xD
Bazi’s stare felt intense, and his skin under the inky fur that covered it grew warm though Cutthroat could not claim it to be embarrassment. He wasn’t shy, didn’t
get hesitant around women — the Gods of the Sea alone knew he had grown up with plenty of women around him. As it was, he felt more comfortable surrounded by the ‘fairer sex’ than he did around fellows males. Cutthroat had never known his father, Ateer, and had never grown up with any kind of ‘male role model’ to aspire to be like. Instead, he was left to grow into the kind of man he imagined he would be as a young boy, and well, that had been that. The break of Bazi and his eye contact was almost
relieving to Cutthroat, who had by that point turned his attention to the other woman. For a moment the Pirate entertained himself with the consideration that either Bazi would, maybe, seek him out to find out what had been lingering on the tip of his tongue, or she wouldn’t and that it would be the little mystery between them.
The Pirate had not been paying much attention to the womens’ conversation, as his eyes attempted to cut through the fog as if it were at all possible, to trace a path back to Swiftcurrent’s creek; which ironically Bazi and Sky seemed to be talking about, he vaguely caught the word though he was only paying half attention to the words they exchanged. He shifted away from Bazi then, spoke “I’ll see you lasses later,” Probably being rude and interrupting one of them when they spoke (well he was a Pirate after all and they weren’t known for their chivalrous manners) before he allowed the fog to swallow him as he attempted to find his way once more, braving the thick and opaque fog.
Bazi's eyes turned hard and glaring. If Sky was not willing to commit to the Creek by denning in the heartland, why bother joining at all? Before she could reprimand the verbose newcomer for her lack of dedication, Cutthroat made his excuses to leave. The beta's face fell visibly, as did her ears. "See you later," she turned to murmur, but mist had already swallowed the pirate. The sour look returned as soon as he was out of sight.
Bazi rounded on the marked female. "Find a den near the Creek." she snarled, and whipped around without further word to find Cutthroat again. He was their prisoner, after all, and if she wanted his company she would have it.