@West I'll have Anouke pick the poisony flower in my next post. <3
The silver saddled she-wolf moved beneath the starlight, the moon a mere crecent among the stars. The rainfall had ceased at dark and the clouds had quickly cleared. Being a fair ly nocturnal wolf by nature, she preferred to walk in the night, feeling safest when she became an all but invisible shadow, her coat the perfect nighttime camoflauge. Anouke was glad to step out of the caverns and into the forest after a day of keeping shelter from the rain there. She loped down the slope, pausing here and there to pluck any particularly beautiful or interesting plants from the earth. By the time a quarter of an hour had passed, Anouke held a nice green boquet in her jaws, with a few colorful flowers in the mix. It would be several weeks yet until all of the springtime flowers were in bloom. But she liked the green plants just as well, happy that Spring had come at last, bringing forth new plant life.
She’d spent a good portion of her morning monitoring the field that stayed east of the caldera while taking a few for own enjoyment. Everything is right with the world at one point and it puts her legs into motion that sends her farther than she’d meant to. By the time her high had worn off, darkness is upon her and trying to get back when she really doesn’t know how she got there doesn’t seem like the best decision. Hunkering down for the night and giving herself a rest until morning seems like the best option and she attempts to find a cave or nook along the mountain to provide enough shelter.
However, the scent of another catches her attention and her ears swivel forward. With the sky clear of clouds and free of rain, West is able to see the outline of a darker wolf in the distance. Something is in their body but from where she stands, she can’t decipher it, and instead worries between making her presence known to show she means no harm or to settle somewhere out of view; the wind is blowing away from her and she has the benefit that the other won’t be able to smell her (especially if something fragrant is in their mouth). A few seconds of debate goes by and she settles off to the side where an incline and boulder keep her from view, lowering herself into the smallest nook she can fit in.
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She placed her paws carefully, so as not to lose her footing among the loose dirt and rocks of the mountains slopes. A flash of pink caught her eye, growing in among the brush, the magenta blooms rising from bright green stalks. She had nothing pink among the flowers in her bouquet, but she knew not what these plants were. From their shape and form, however, she guessed that they were not harmless. She knew of flowers alike which were not poisonous, and from this assumption the pixie rounded up on the pink flowers and carefully picked a number of them, her jaws now holding their maximun capacity.
When Anouke rose from picking the last flowers of the bouquet, her pale shimmering eyes caught a flash of movement. The agouti fur of the hidden female was difficult to see, but she saw it, nevertheless. Obviously, this wolf did not want to be seen, and her pelt smelled foreign. In all honesty, Anouke did not want to approach her, with the fear that doing so would bring trouble to herself or her new pack. She wavered a moment, taking a step back and looking over her shoulder towards Ryujin. She decided, however, that if she fled, the hidden wolfess may pursue her, and she would be lost, anyway.
In the end, Anouke peered into the space and found a pair of beautiful emerald eyes blazing from among the earthen tones of the female's fur along with the rocks, trees and foliage which surrounded her. The slender wraith chuffed through her mouthful of flowers. Then, an idea struck her. Having planned to decorate her cavern with the flowers, she chose in that moment to do something else with them. And so, Anouke approached the stranger and dropped the bouquet in the space in front of her.
She lifted her head. For you, she cooed. The sweetest of smiles curled her lips.
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Her hiding spot doesn’t do her much justice; she knew she didn’t have time to really get settled so the other didn’t see or hear her. She curses to herself when she hears the footfalls get closer and peer up at the girl that stands before her. It takes effort to keep her lip from lifting in warning, shuffling back and out of the way.
“You’re awfully bold,” she says, looking down at the bouquet of flowers. There’s something that reminds of her Kitsch with a similar innocence that can’t be faked but can be destroyed. One brow quirks, studying what is at her feet and filtering through them with an extended claw. “Do you know what you’re picking?” she asks as she begins to sort them away from one another to look at them on an individual level.
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She came forward, and Anouke cowered in an involuntary manner, her ears pinning themselves firmly against her skull, her shoulders slouching. It was an automatic response to anyone who seemed greater than herself, which was pretty much everyone, and it was something that she could not help. She smiled shyly, having been asked what each of the flowers were. By the confident way in which the woman sorted through the bundle, Anouke wondered if she had knowledge of plants, as well. It seemed a likely assumption.
The dark she-wolf was intimidated then, and when she spoke, her voice wavered. Nevertheless, she named each of the flowers, pausing when she came to the last of them, the pink bulbs. I am... not sure what these are. Do you know? Her smile warmed. M-my name is Anouke. Just... so you know. She had a feeling that this stranger was not interested in knowing her name, but it seemed like the polite thing to say, anyway.
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The girl shrinks back a little and West watches her movements, scanning the rest of her form. When she explains what each plant in her grasp is, with the exception of one, she heaves a new sigh of frustration. The bouquet would have been a nice gathering of flowers in their beauty, but the unknown could have been a danger to anyone a little too curious.
“It’s poisonous. Even the pollen,” she explains. She hadn’t seen the flower since she’d lived at home and she takes note to its growth here on the mountain. For now, she wants to dispose of the plant entirely but she just shakes it away from the rest of them, buried beneath melting snow and dirt. West lowers her head and nudges the flowers back, picking herself up a moment later to put space between them. She hadn’t meant to engage with the girl at all but now she has to work on her way out.
“You should be careful and don’t pick things you don’t know anything about.” Most of the time, it would probably be okay, but a few too many chews of the stems and her organs could shut down or her brain would seize up. Her nose wrinkles at the thought as she brushes off the thought, realizing she’d been introduced to. “I’m West.”
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So, the pink flowers were poisonous. Of course, the only harmful plant among them had to be the one she could not identify. Anouke's face grew flushed and hot; were not not for the dark fur on her face, she would have appeared visibly ruddy. Oh.. she spoke in a quiet voice, looking away, ears folding backwards. She could not recall the last time she had been this embarrassed.
I-I'm so sorry, m-miss. I should have known better. I could have... could have hurt you, Her periwinkle eyes shimmered with moisture. She squeezed them shut, and when they reopened, twin streams rolled down either side of her face. Her voice broke. I'm so st-stupid... She shook her head at herself, ever the overly sensitive creature. She didn't know what else to say. She had hoped tha the gift of the bouquet might earn her a new friend, but it had backfired on her. Horribly.
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The girl shrinks back when she receives the information and one brow lifts as she rambles an apology. She hadn’t really done anything wrong. It is a simple mistake any other wolf could make if they don’t really think through their actions. Most of the time, everything is harmless, but there are dangers out there. Anouke is the outlier.
“You’re fine,” she tells her when her rambling comes to an end. Her emerald green eyes focus on the petite girl. Her coat carries more than one scent, it seems, and she wonders where she’s come from. Her eyes turn in the opposite direction, uncertain where she even is. West stands and moves away from the cover she’d tried to use in hiding, despite being found, and gets back onto the path she’d been on. If anything, she can follow it all the way back. “I’m rather far from home,” she comments idly with a frustrated hum.
The dismissal of her rambled apologies caught Anouke offguard, such that her ears leaped forward, her tail lifting curiously. She had, perhaps unreasonably, expected more wickedness toward her mistake, but the opposite was spoken instead.
The dark wraith fell quiet a moment, tiptoeing onto the path and walking to the side and a bit behind this intriguing agouti acquaintance of hers. A soft lament was uttered, and in the interest of soothing West with some sort of help, Anouke blundered a response. Well... You're just southwest of Ryujin. Does that help? she wondered, curious about where exactly the woman had come from. Where is home for you? Eyes darted to and from West's lovely face, as if unsure of where to settle.
The information doesn’t mean much at first but she thinks of the male she met when she’d first arrived. Inari. There’s something about her that’s familiar enough for her to connect the dots but she remembers the disconnect he had to his pack. Perhaps he isn’t even there anymore. She hasn’t seen her friend since their first time together but she doesn’t inquire further about it. The girl doesn’t seem to be able to handle much more than one thing at a time and West smiles to give her a little nod. It doesn’t really help.
“I’ve not heard of your pack,” she explains. Inari hadn’t been one to talk about it and it’s not even confirmed it’s true. “But I live at Redhawk Caldera,” she adds but shrugs a shoulder. “I should probably try and make my way back.” West stands onto all four feet and straightens out her limbs, stretching a little before she shakes off the collected dust so she can get her feet on the road.
Close up here? <3
In all honesty Anouke was not shocked that the woman had never heard of her pack, not that this bothered the dark wraith. Her new home was small but proud, and she had the impression that most of them kept to themselves. There was no real reason to stray far, as the caverns provided a shelter that was both practical and esthetically pleasing.
West named her pack before informing Anouke that she must return. The tiny girl nodded, figuring that the woman did not care for her much, an assumption which hurt terribly despite their being mere strangers. Her ears lowered and her tail drooped as she spoke her goodbyes.
Oh, okay. Well, it was n-nice to meet you, West. Have a good day.
With that, the short encounter was over and the females went their separate ways.