It was warm enough today that whatever snow piled onto the ground was turning into mush, a slow melt that dripped ponderously from the branches of the bare trees. But his eyes were not drawn to the passage of time marked by icy droplets falling from the limbs; winds had begun to rise and stir up the stiff tufts of grass that stuck out from the small rug of white. Just last fall Dovev had traveled here to inspect and explore, and now he returned in the midst of winter, privy to silence the season brought- where birds had fled their perches and elk huddled on the frozen wasteland.
He never thought he would be bound to such an entity as Swiftcurrent, for in his mind, Dovev had always pictured a pack to be a contiguous shape that never seemed to settle, impermanent on the landscape. But to his surprise the familiar smell was etched into the air, warning whoever strayed even this far that their kingdom was growing. And how could he explain his little hiatus when even the slightest mishap could easily throw the pack into war? They were already so close when the arctic stalker had slipped away.
Moving out from under the angular shadows of the wood, Dovev took a few paces across the crunchy wet ice to mount a small hill on the frozen plain. His gray eyes were turned to the southeast, where he knew the creek still flowed in some parts, it's power never conquered by winter. How many faces would he recognize if he ever decided to stray back there?
@Dovev in case you forgot about this one ;)
The ground was white, the sky was blue, and the trees were naked. A perfect day to hunt for larger prey; the foliage they so depended on to hide behind was stripped bare, and so was their shield of sorts. It would only be so much time until the leaves began to grow and the slush disappeared completely, so Falwasi wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. Everything was set in place until she commenced her short walk to the Emberwood. Every step she took became a gradual factor in her recognition of her wounds that were inflicted but two days ago, but she tried her best to shrug it off. The huntress wouldn't let her petty wounds get in the way of her lifestyle.
Falwasi stopped before she reached the ambiguously marked border of the forest, where the trees seemingly came together. Something had caught in the wind, and the smell was familiar. Too familiar. Her heart stopped at the possibility of it being her brother, but with her pulse racing she walked forward and.. saw.. No, it couldn't be. He was gone. He left them. Mixed emotions — 75% anger, 5% relief, 10% happiness and 10% nothing — stirred viciously through her mind as she walked to the base of the hill came to a halt.
She did not move, and instead called out emotionlessly from the bottom of the hill,
"Dovev." Falwasi felt no sting from her tonality, and if the Tuq wolf was expecting some grand reunion, he was wrong. She stood, immobile, and studied her friend. Tufts of grass stuck in his fur like burrs, and Falwasi remembered something from their last encounter:
"You on the contrary look vigorous," she said, a sly look crossing her features. But it was Opposite Day; Dovev looked like he'd been idle and Falwasi was impassive as she watched the male.
oh ty for bringing it back to life xP
He glanced over his shoulder; there was a single line of pawprints stemming from his feet, slowly curving back towards the forest. The snow seemed to be a muted white against the matte winter light, with clouds obscuring most of the sun. Dovev was about to turn his head back around when he saw someone else trudging through the thin layer of snow towards him, cresting the small rise of earth and stopping to stare at him.
The arctic wolf returned the impassive stare, recognizing the wolf instantly. It was one of the few of which Dovev had found to be worthy of any sort of positive thought within the group, for the others he had just passed over.
Normally, he could imagine that he would try to shrug off this awkward moment by playing it up- cracking a sly joke, inducing play, anything. But those yellow eyes of hers demanding something different, and so Dovev fidgeted silently. He honestly was at a loss for words, and kept his mouth closed as his gray eyes wavered over her
. Falwasi had said his name, and all he could do was curtly nod in return.
She had expected anything but silence — a mere movement forward, or backward, a whisper of 'hello', a smile, an attack — anything but silence. But it was silence that she received, accompanied by a mere nod and the return of an impassive stare. Falwasi clenched her teeth and her hairs barely raised off her straight back, sending sharp mental reminders of her most recent grapple.
"You're near Creek territory," she said in a voice laced with ice. It was all she could say; she was angry and conflicted, and his response caught her off guard and disappointed her a little. The huntress wondered if she was wrong for wanting the wolf to bow and beg for her forgiveness, but she immediately thought not. It was most definitely appropriate for him to do so.
The tall wolf held Dovev's stare, amber versus grey in this silently personal moment. The air stilled to aid the quietness of the moment, its pent-up thoughts threatening to spill through the tongue like a glass ornament on the arm of a pine. Falwasi had no idea how this event was going to play out, but she had every intention to find out.
The white wolf had remained oddly still, his lips curled into a thin line as his ears flattened. Falwasi seemed to have a quite a few things brewing on her mind, and all of them were perfectly called for. Dovev had been the one to put himself first and ignore whatever foundations that were laid out in the Creek.
I know, he spoke with little conviction in his voice. There was a slight tint of sadness in his voice, but the male had moved closer with small steps. He was now facing her, nose twitching as his eyes silently studied her. Falwasi had been a generous and his closest companion in the pack, but Dovev had never thought about her past whether or not she'd be able to join him on a patrol or a hunt. He didn't need to- the mentality of subjugating sexes in his northern family was so rampant that the male never imagined he'd have to interact with a female on an intimate level ever again. But he rather liked the iciness that had turned Falwasi's warm golden eyes cold, no matter the fact that they showed how pissed she was.
His banner waved slowly, the bottom half curled and eventually tucking between his legs as he lowered his skull, plaintively looking up at her. I was curious to see if you were still there.
Crappy post from me, sorry. In the airport and a little rushed! :(
If she was still here? Falwasi was partially deaf for the time being, but she knew she'd heard the male clearly, as clear as the damn blue sky above. Of course she was still here. This was her home. But her recent twilight conversation with Scimitar surfaced in her mind and, she might not remain for long. Maybe that was why Dovev doubted her stay — if Scimitar had told him of the possible relocation.. but he hadn't even told Kaskara.
"I am," she replied, watching the Arctic submit himself with an ambivalent expression upon her slim face. She'd thought this is what she wanted him to do — to apologize and beg and kiss her feet on the snowy floor, but no. She changed her mind, and his approach had been enough. The battle had been too recent for her to want to watch someone suffer, since she had herself.
After several frozen moments of her supremacy of which only the movement spent was the vapour exiting Falwasi's nostrils, she asked pointedly:
"Why did you leave?" If she should've known why, Dovev hadn't expressed himself clearly enough. He'd shown signs of aggression at the mention of moving, but that was months ago. So why had he left, of all times, with drama at its peak?