Wolf RPG

lord help me, blondine muttered, i'll be done lost m'damn tail before i make it there. being partially be blind was hard enough on its own, but adding snow into the equation made it all the more trying. just count it all joy, blondine. 

bearclaw valley was desolate. it was in the same state that it had been when she'd left; empty and abandoned. blondine huffed and cursed in frustration. where was indra? the last time they'd spoken... no, she had to make amends.

but in a land as vast as the wilds, how were they supposed to find one another. oh, give me the strength!, she called out, turning her head up to the heavens. was coming back here really worth it? did indra even want to see blondine? she sighed and sat back on her haunches, wondering where to go next.

Oh, give me strength! was not a thing he expected to hear as he prowled through the valley, but then again Larus couldn't make sense of anything for long. His memory had gotten a little bit better; he kept himself focused on a steady diet of rabbits and fish, reciting everything he could remember whenever he could, and all of that seemed to help. But he still had a hard time with locations - such as this valley - and the various wolf scents he crossed - such as this woman's path. Her voice did not clue him into any great mysteries of the universe either. Still, the man was lonely and curious, so only one course of action remained.

He moved purposefully, as if the words had summoned him from the nether and he was imbibed with a mission. The snow gave way beneath his weight, crunching, going slick across a patch of exposed gravel which reeked of wolf; but he had caught sight of the stranger's figure and would not be deterred. He was wary, too - careful and always checking his surroundings. This was mostly out of habit now, a way to force his brain to focus.

As Larus moved he thought he heard something coming from another direction and stopped, adjusting his weight as he scoured the trees with his pale eyes; but there was nothing. When he looked back to where the other wolf had been, he couldn't see her anywhere - and huffed, frustrated with himself for failing this one thing.

blondine figured that if she was going to spend the day pitying herself, she ought to move while she did it. no one ever got anywhere sittin' on their behind, and you ain't no different. there was only so much day left. at the very least, she wanted to decide on a direction before evening. 

there distant crunching of snow gave her no alarm and neither did the drifting scent of a stranger. the noise eventually stopped, so she figured that this somebody was nobody to worry about. blondine stomped along her path, huffing and mumbling angry -isms as she went.

to reiterate: blondine was missing an eye. she was blind, and although a year of practice had helped to improve her navigation, the occasional slip-up was unavoidable. for example, crashing into strangers was bound to happen every now and again.

the collision was short. it must've been a tail, or maybe a hock that'd gotten in her way. oh! she called out, then backing away and turning for a wider view, i didn't see you there, mister. blondine hoped that the masked man wouldn't be too upset, as a fight would've put a real damper on her day.

He stagnated for a moment, then as he turned to continue in his way something bludgeoned his rear; he spun sidelong quickly and was met with the one-eyed stranger speaking gruffly, candid with her apologies. He shrank back from them out of habit. This was definitely the same person he had been tracking but now that they faced one another, Larus seemed to forget the next step in socialization.

He clears his throat, and after a minute or two of awkward silence he finally says, Sorry, my fault. Was... confused. This valley is pretty. A dopey little smile spreads on his face but slips away just as quick, and he glances to the shadows lining the trees as if expecting something to rise from them.

the man reminded her of reigi. 'course, this one spoke, but his familiar demeanor gave her a sense of comfort. blondine wondered what'd come of the raven.

no, it's my fault, she laughed, you'd think i'm fully blind sometimes. it was meant to be a joke, a way to lighten the mood. blondine held the same rank as any other loner; it troubled her to see someone act so timid, as though they had a reason. 

she sighed and allowed her own gaze to drift. i used to live here, once upon a time. how long had it been?

When she admitted to once living in the area Larus felt deeply jealous, and then ponderous, wondering to himselt what it might be like to have a home with such beauty. To have any home at all - he had no memory of any such place, which had once been frightening to think about.

What is it -- er, what was it like?

Why did he even bother to ask? He wouldn't remember in the morning, the man thought bitterly. His gaze darkened with the thought - and while Larus had come to terms with his condition and even adapted to it, he still loathed a part of himself for the weakness within. The fluidity of his mind and the evaporation of every detail.

there was an eery silence about the valley. blondine thought about what it'd been like before, the theatrics and drama that were ever-present in their little home. it brought a wry smile to her maw, coupled with a muffled laugh. there were some good folks who lived here, she whispered, just... a little unique, 's all.

she pulled her gaze from the treeline to the stranger. he seemed confused, absent even. she frowned and continued, asking, where're you comin' from? was he lost? blondine was no scout, but she knew a bit about the surrounding area.

He tried to imagine what a space like this would be like with a bustling population; this amounted to weak images of faceless, muddy shapes swarming from the dark of the trees. He tensed as he watched these malformations travelling like gossamer across the grass, slipping over the snow and away again, melting from his mind's eye. She wouldn't have seen them - but such oddities were common to Larus. Something unique.

He broke from his thoughts when she asked after him, inquisitive and friendly, which he deeply appreciated... for a few seconds at least, until the question registered in his brain. He looked disgruntled after that, his brows nearly meeting as he frowned - looking very much like his dead father. Surly, almost.

Not from anywhere, and dunno where I am goin'... which sounded a lot like 'lost' but Larus was always in this state of transition, never really settling anywhere for long. He took a breath; the layered wolf scent around the two of them made him nervous. Seen anyone else around here? It sure smells like there's something brewing.

she inhaled deeply, taking in the scents drifting on the wind. blondine had noticed them before, but hadn't thought much of it until the stranger brought it up. i reckon we ought to get movin' then before someone gets the wrong idea. it wouldn't be the first time she'd trespassed in this valley.

y'don't know where you came from, but that's alright. you know your name? she figured where he came from didn't matter much 'cause it wasn't where he'd ended up. it wasn't really any of her business as to why he didn't want to say, anyway. my name in blondine, blondine abernathy.

That was probably wise - moving on, keeping ahead of potential danger. Almost as soon as she mentiones this Larus dismissed the thought; there were vague smells here but so far no threats, and he trusted that any threat could be handled. How he trusted in that instinct was a mystery within itself... was he a warrior? Maybe. He wouldn't know until something tested that part of him.

When the stranger introduced herself he gave a little shrug; names flit through his mind. He opened his mouth but didn't immediately fashion words, a bit overwhelmed by this simple enough request. Eventually he did say, Larus. I think. Muddlig through his uncertainty. Been alone a long time... You? maybe if he engaged her in coversation she wouldn't notice the inherent gaps in his behavior.

you think? blondine asked. what, you just found it or sumthn'? she laughed and moved to bump his shoulder, hoping that he wouldn't take offense. it was all for a good laugh. i think you ought to keep it. larus is a nice name. unconventional, but nothing too odd. it fit him, she thought.

after sneaking away from redhawks and leaving the wilds, blondine had spent some time back at home. a few months in, she'd made a turnaround and come back up north, having decided that it wasn't her time to go yet. it's been a little while, yeah, she nodded, but i reckon neither of us is alone anymore. not for the time being, at least.

He smiles. He cannot help it, her laughter and genial affect are infectious and he knows somehow that its something he has been missing. Comraderie, connection. How many people has he met and forgotten? How many places has he been, or seen in passing, only to lose them hours later? All of it innumerable, incongruent.

Larus recited her name in his head over and over between breaths; he stares a little bit too long at her face and tries to commit her face to memory, whatever that means. However long that will last. She seems so nice - how sad it will be to lose this.

Walk with me? He asks, shy and trying so hard to focus. Maybe if we work together we can find something to eat -- or, hmm, whoever is lingering here. He smiles again, inviting, trying to be warm, but the feeling doesn't extend to his eyes. They look sad.

taken aback by larus's stare, blondine decided to pose. is this good? she asked, turning her head coyly to the side and using a paw to line her jaw. she laughed and stood soon after, then moving to begin their stroll. there was something in there that larus wanted to say, something that was troubling him. the pair hardly knew one another, so she doubted he'd be comfortable trying to share. blondine chose to ignore it, figuring her company might be sufficient.

ain't much to hunt from what i've seen. she looked around. i reckon' if the valley wolves wanted to find us, they'd'a done it by now. still, she wasn't saying no, just pointing out two facts that might've been worth considering. but shoot, i'm willing to do anything but sit here. lead the way then, larus.

She posed for him - what.

That was new. Had to be. It made him feel strange; awkward and all that, but amused too, happy that it didn't appear to bother her so much. She played along and then they were roaming together, whatever residual weirdness brought on by Larus was as flighty as the rest of him. His chest was a-flutter.

But, she seemed agreeable. Together they would saunter about in the snow, with Larus occasionally giving her long looks. By her own commentary there wasn't much around here food-wise, which was a bit disheartening... it had been the same for a while now, not that Larus would remember as far back as the autumn.

He was quiet - focused on the study of the surroundings, or Blondine's face, and falling back to old habits of silent introspection. Clearly he had been on the road a long, long time.

the silence between them was welcomed with an open embrace. it gave them both some time to think without having to do so alone. alone, but together, blondine thought. she liked it.

they'd keep on this path until someone grew tired. they'd split, but she wouldn't wander too far. larus was good company, she'd decided. 

at some point, blondine decided that she'd had enough silence for one walk. you don't talk much, do you? she asked, well, that's alright. i've got enough talk for the both of us. i'll tell you about this girl, her name's laurel...