@Qiao but AW, preferably only
one other if anyone else wants to join, also edited to acknowledge others are around, since The Tribe intends to claim Verdigris Ravine first <333
She came from the south.
Unassuming and passive, silent, alone.
Leaving the coven as a yearling had been ill-advised.
Wait another year, her Sisters had urged.
Yet she insisted upon leaving anyways.
The Coven had been good to her, and taught her much, all the skills she could hope for was only a bonus in her eyes.
Arachne felt the heat of the sun, ever-constant in the blue sky above.
The skies, clear and cloudless.
There was no shade for many hours, until the Medic finally stumbled upon the edges of a ravine.
She studied the area and so far found no other sources of life beyond the water below, aside from plenty of scents wafting about...
Climbing down with care as to where she put her paws, the shadow eventually made it to the edges of the water and began to drink.
It was cool, refreshing, and much needed after hours of never-ending sun with little to no shade.
Gods, how she thought she would die to the relentless rays of the sun!
Arachne stopped long enough to assure she wouldn't throw up from drinking too much at once, and then would continue.
She did not stop, at least not yet, to see if anyone else who shared their presence with this place would intercept her.
a spiderling-thing claimed the opposite bank. qiao watched from the reeds as the creature bent to sup, and then bent some more.
she might have assumed it a warbeast of the tribe's were it not for the distinct lack of coyote parentage. there was just enough hellion in qiao to consider raising the alarm -- but in the end, her own curiosity won over the inviting thought of chaos.
thirsty?
the seer set aside her to'lang, olive eyes resting on the wanderer.
The spiderling startled abruptly at the voice that spoke through the reeds on the other side of the water.
Thirsty?
Arachne inhaled sharp enough to make her cough on the water in her throat, which she spent many moments attempting to clear out, holding up a paw as she did so, as if a nonverbal one moment, pls and ty while she got ahold of herself.
After that, and a clearing of her throat, the shadow's ears slanted back and she began to back up a pawstep at a time, "I-I'll leave, I apologize..." She uttered, sheepish to her guilt of ignoring such strong scents to sate her own thirst.
The witchling began to turn, to try and climb back out of the Ravine, and hesitated for a long, awkward beat at the steep rock, before she took a breath and made forth, the effort to climb upwards.
She got all of a foot above the ground before she lost her footing and tumbled down, landing in a messy heap of flying limbs and tussled black fur.
Arachne got up, with a visibly wilted expression, and stared into the reeds.
"I'll assume you aw that..." She murmured with an awkward, half-hearted smile.
qiao’s ears turned as a spate of coughing rustled the reeds. this hapless woman, choking on her own spit!
her gaze followed arachne; her tongue may be still but her face conveyed clearly every thought that crossed her mind as she watched the spiderling scale the red cliffs and then land in a heap at its bottom.
her gaze was humorless and hard. i saw it all.
still, she made no motion to break camp alongside the river.
Arachne noted the hard olive stare, the unamused tone.
With a sigh, the spiderling eventually looked around again and would tentatively ask...
"Do you know a different way out?" She was hopeful, but given the unwelcoming presence she mostly expected the crone to suggest death instead of something actually helpful.
there’s always two ways out.
qiao’s gaze traveled the high red steps — but her gnarled finger pointed downriver.
she cast the sigil bones. they clattered across the red stone, their orientation composing a story. you would do well to avoid the coyotes here.
this was not divine prediction spoken by the to’lang. it was simple courtesy. the to’lang, however, evoked the image of a star and a bear. the bear is your star-sigil. safe travels as you leave this place.
Arachne only came closer by a couple steps as Qiao threw her special stones, telling a story...
The dark girl understood this as Craft, but she did not voice her recognition of it despite the glint in her eyes that told her knowledge
"I will leave in haste. Thank you, na-...uhm, miss." The spider chuffed softly as she began making her way downriver, and hopefully, out of this already-claimed place.
She hit herself mentally for the verbal slip-up as she traversed, attempting to be silent and swift in her footsteps to shorten her time within the walls.
the girl mispoke. qiao set her bones aside and studied that bright face, the gleam of knowledge fading.
what was it that hung from the tip of her tongue?
tatatte, web-strider.
qiao said with a sense of finality; this girl’s fate traversed a dark path, and the woman was relieved to see her quit the red springs.