"stay and rest," chakliux urged
@Dutch that morning misted in a cold flurry of icy snow. they had tucked themselves near the edge of the valley, but hunger gnawed bellies. dutch had come to this place with him and had hunted the monster; he would keep the moonsong wolf warm and fed.
he went off into the storm to hunt. the herds had run before him and chakliux was against the mountains before he found their spoor again.
the dryer sprawl of the forest called him, not only for meat but for more comfrey. chakliux stalked carefully among the shadows, eyes alert.
The scent of a man pierced the forest. Glaukos was on alert for signs of Djinn or Mercedes, or foxes to cull for Javelina, so to find a man was unexpected - and suspect.
He strode through the dark like a bear awoken too early from sleep. When he saw the pale figure he bristled, studying the man from the obscurity, trying to find his physical limits despite the shadow and snow. It took some time, some trailing.
The man appeared interested in the forest; maybe for its scents? Glaukos rumbled a warning and cleared his way through bramble, seeking to be seen then. The only scents beneath fox musk included himself and Jav.
Single post from me here! :)
The snow did not phase her. Ciri prowled on through the frozen wilds, her focus with memory of her brief time there a year prior. She'd come with the intention of putting down roots, of
settling, but found herself unsuited to such a lifestyle she thought her heart had craved. The swallow had been much too young, she realised.
Since then, she'd better made peace with her past. Her stride was confident in her return, her intention to go once more to Kukutux and her village. Life had been kind to her there in the short time she'd spent with them and she was sure, this time, that her place was among them.
Ciri lifted her gaze and spotted movement through the snowy haze. She paused to regard the rogue, lifting her chin and ears with curiosity. Something else drew her attention away, a low sound from the throat of another - and the dark she-wolf was swift to remove herself from the scene and far from any conflict that may result.
there were wolves here; the seal hunter was not alone. the scarred face of a somber man soon showed itself, and perhaps the shadow of another beyond.
he lifted his own muzzle proudly, stepping back as if to show he was no threat. "i hunt. i am looking for herbs," he said to the unknown man, wondering if he would be given passage.
was this his land? then chakliux must make amends.
The sound of something moving elsewhere drew the flick of an ear, and Glaukos waited. Maybe this man was not alone? He did not want to remove his attention from a potential threat and so he watched, and he waited, and soon enough the sound dispersed — telling him that whoever, or whatever else had crossed in to the forest now fled it. Good; he was a large man and a trained soldier at one time, but even Glaukos understood the dangers of the many versus the one.
The pale man seemed briefly curious of the sound as well, which indicated he did not know who followed.
He wanted herbs? Glaukos breathed deeply, releasing some of his pent-up tension in the process, and gathered scents from the man. All he could detect was further masculine musk and — blood, maybe? There is plenty here,
he offers, —the forest protects much from the snow.
His shoulders give a shake, diffusing some of the prickling of his nape. I can show you.
And in that way, keep an eye on the stranger in case he meant to do harm. Better that than leaving him to his own devices; plus, Glaukos did not want to spare much while Javelina recovered.
there was no desire in the seal hunter to go anywhere with this man, but he saw that he had trespassed. "all right."
saying nothing of dutch, chakliux stepped toward the stranger. "is this your land?" he inquired of the rich forest and its dry floor as he fell into step where the large warrior might lead.
It is a place where many find themselves.
He answered. That did not affirm or deny who owned the forest, though. He did not consider himself in control of any place; only defensive of the area because of his current charge.
This way.
Their path forked. Glaukos could have gone one way towards the camp with Javelina, and urged the man another direction. It was a roundabout; they would find themselves among well-frosted trees and frozen, moss-hewn logs.
Closer to the forest floor, protected from snow, were frozen ferns and various late-to-rise root vegetables, with some wood fungus clinging to the underside of these logs, while further along there were patches of what might've been flowers, had the season been warmer.
Glaukos did not know if any of these things were of use, only that they were plentiful and far from his camp.
the man followed, lowering his eyes to the profusion of plants which grew in this area. he skipped over the ones he did not know and sharpened upon the stand of comfrey, which he began to dig up at once.
then, thinking better of it, the man collected lichens as well, glancing once at the silent large hunter.
"your land is good," chakliux complimented in a masculine grunt, before he went back to perusing for other things.
He gave a grunt of acknowledgement, and thought to add that it wasn't his land, but decided against that. Better to have the man think it was claimed so he would be quick with his gathering and out of here, so that Glaukos could know for certain they would not be further disturbed.
He saw the way the man worked at some of the plants and wondered if they were valuable; he watched what was tended to, what was picked at and what was given more care, and made many mental notes in his silence. Once the man appeared to have much of what he needed, Glaukos moved again to escort him.
You may take what you need from this patch or anything that way,
he motioned to the rest of the forest, which might have been a tactical disadvantage to Glaukos as he was also indicating where the man could not go, as it was where he held his own camp, but so far the other man had not been abrasive in any way and Glaukos was unafraid to let this be known.
If the man came back with reinforcements then he'd deal with him then — if Glaukos and Druid were still in the area at all. He doubted it would matter.
chakliux nodded at this, and was soon done finding the things that he would need for dutch. there was curiosity in him, wariness ebbing. he wanted to ask more.
but his desire to be back with the panther demanded higher focus, and so he straightened. "i am going."
warm gratitude entered his face; the seal hunter was turning then, heading out of the herbwood.