Wolf RPG

Her trip to Silvertip Mountain had been just as disappointing to her mission as the rest of her random rendezvous thus far (at least probably I think?), and so Harlyn had continued on in yet another random direction.  This time, she drove South towards the plains.  Even in doing so, the druid knew she was not likely to find Mordecai there.  He was a wolf of the forests and the mountains, not of flat lands and empty fields.  They were the same in that manner.

The area was well established to assist her in one manner, though...  Harlyn hadn't eaten a thing since arriving in the Wilds except the leftover scraps of an old mountain lion kill.  That was days ago, though, and her belly was back to aching as though there was a fire in the pit of her stomach.  Fortunately, the land had heard the rumblings of her belly and they had provided.  The weasel that dangled from the druid's jaws had a good bit of meat on its bones, plenty to sustain the female for a few more days.

Which is exactly why her entire body ached in protest as she tossed it into the pool of warm, bubbling water.  She shut her eyes and hushed the cries of her hungry body, focusing on the prayer that hummed in her mind and through her blood.  It was because she needed food that she chose this as her sacrifice to the gods that they might help her find the one she sought.

This place smelled like farts. Sulfuric, rotten egg farts. It wasn't a pleasant smell at all which makes one wonder, what the hell was Fossil doing here in the first place? Looking for a tar pit to toss his sorry self into? (Maybe.) Fossil was scampering along with his head in its usual downcast position, his gaze flickering between strands of grass which waved in his passing, or the occasional tree - solely to avoid walking in to it. But he was distracted; the hunger in his belly had far outmatched his desire for adventure. The boy was so distracted by the pit of his stomach that he didn't notice the last tree drift by, or the increasing scent of sulfur (farts) until the stench all but slapped his stupid face.

And when he stopped, brows raised and expression curious, he tried to get a clean gulp of air by lifting his head. That only made things worse - leaving him retching by the side of a pool, and just at the moment when something plopped in to the water, a few feet away. When he turned to look, he was doing his best not to inhale a drastic amount of air. And that was when he saw her - a smallish girl (at least from this distance) who didn't seem to mind the smell at all. But then, why would she? A plump, bundled lunch (likely a fresh catch) hung limp from her teeth.

Fossil, in his great need, sucked in a subconscious breath - feeling saliva fill his mouth, either because of the girl or the weasel - and then the girl did the unthinkable. She threw the bloody thing in to the water! An unholy screech tore out of him at that sight, and before Fossil could stop himself, he was stumbling her way. Gulping air, trying to stop himself from throwing up bile, and looking positively dismayed by her behavior.

He was beside her in time to see the body drift deeper in the water, hearing a blup. With a slackened jaw, Fossil turned to the girl with the most defeated, what the hell look upon his face; and then promptly turned away, because his lungs had unwittingly become host to a cloud of noxious fart-air. In the next moment he was retching across the edge of the hot spring.

It was true, the hot springs did not have the most aromatic scent.  Harlyn had noticed of course, but she wasn't overly bothered by it.  She had other things to pay attention to at the moment as her sacrifice bubbled away into the depths of the pool.  And then in the next moment when a body suddenly appeared beside her, just as she finished her silent prayer and was bowing her head.


Harlyn's dark lids lifted to reveal the brilliant flames of her eyes, which settled upon the stranger's face.  It appeared that he was quite put out, which startled the druid for only a few seconds before a glance back towards the pool connected the dots in her mind.  He had probably seen her throw the kill into the pool and was not overly fond of her decision.  Harlyn parted her lips to explain herself (not to apologize - she did not regret her gift to the gods no matter how others felt about it), but she stopped in the next second when the wolf twisted away to retch.

Again, shock fell upon the Cinderloch.  "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, turned towards him fully.  Her gaze swept across him, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary to her about him physically.  He could've used a good meal, to be sure, but... Was that it?  Was he sick over her sacrifice of the meat?

"Come on, let's get you out of here, you need fresh air," Harlyn urged, pulling on a confident, dominant air.  She wouldn't bully him into going, but his weakness brought out the protective, nurturing side of her.  She slipped into the role naturally, giving him a meaningful look as she stepped closer and leaned over to nudge his shoulder lightly with her muzzle.

Nothing spilled out of his mouth really, despite the great effort of his revolting stomach. He tasted bile and felt the tingle of acid at the back of his throat, but Fossil's belly had been empty for a few days now. He felt his eyes beginning to water as a result of his body's rejection - or maybe it was the air itself? Whatever. His belly clenched and felt like it was twisting itself in to a knot. And when he was able to lift his head and look across the pond once more, Fossil stared at the spot where the weasel's body had drifted; almost forgetting the girl who had been dumb enough to toss away that morsel. When she spoke she seemed concerned, and somewhat surprised.

"Yeah that'd be great -" Fossil hastily agreed, squinting his eyes in her direction, and licking his chops. But he didn't even move one step before starting to retch again. Spittle flew from his lips, a dribble of sour saliva landed on the rocks beside the pool. It was quite a show. "God damn this place is - hnnng - its so rank," Fossil stumbled and side-stepped away from the girl, as well as the pool. With the momentum finally acquired he managed to stomp his way to a clearer patch of air, and gasped hungrily for it. "Ughh, nasty."

Luckily, the stranger was not at all opposed to obeying Harlyn's suggestion.  He made a decently hasty retreat, one that the female joined him dutifully in.  Again, she measured his body language as he moved and again, he struck him as being physically well enough to function as he did.  Perhaps he was just extremely sensitive to the smell.  For a moment, Harlyn doubted her assessment.  Once she got him into cleaner air, though, she felt far more certain.  Especially when he shared words that even further confirmed her beliefs.

"Just relax here for a moment and catch your breathe," she replied, her ears slipping backwards for a moment as her concern overrode her need to push him further, "Once you feel up to it, we can keep going and get you out of here fully."  She leaned forward to snuffle comfortingly at his cheekbone, then shifting her muzzle to lick away some of the spittle that had collected in the corner of his mouth.  It tasted sour and unpleasant, but she was a wolf - I swear canines have no tastebuds.

It didn't take too long for the wolf to recover and while he was gracious enough in his thanking her for her help, he was quick to take his leave.  Instead of departing, Harlyn chose to linger.  It wasn't the greatest smelling place in the world perhaps, but it was certainly interesting, and thus she began to meander along the outer edges of the collection of hot springs where the air was a little clearer.

Well wasn't this different? He'd never seen such water before, it's steam curling up and dissipating into the air. A paw swiped at the pull, dipping into the water only to be yanked back with a hiss. It was hot and such a thing had been unexpected. Yet... He liked swimming. Was swimming in hot water any different? Slinking into the pool with little more than a ripple, Red decided that yes, it was different. But in an amazing way.

How long he stayed there, he didn't care but at some point, he became aware of some damned canine lingering nearby. His muzzle wrinkled in disgust. Guess it was time to get out. Making no motion to stay quiet, he rose out of the water with a heave of his paws, his red eyes glinting as they focused on her. "Little wolves should not stray so far from the pack." Because he just couldn't leave things alone, right?

Harlyn failed to notice the cat until it was rising out of the pools right towards her - a dangerous glint in its fiendish eyes.  Instantly, her hackles raised along with her head and tail.  A snarl rumbled in her chest as she faced it.  "Stay away from me, beast," she warned with a growl, "And I'll stay away from you."  Harlyn had no intention of engaging the creature - she was no fool like other wolves.  All she wanted to do was leave unharmed, and perhaps track down the wolf that had recently left her company to make certain he knew there was danger in the area.

A terrible grin showed his teeth off, his tail whipping and curling behind him. His laugh was cruel and his eyes perhaps slightly crazed. "Stay away from me beast!" Her words were parroted back at her, the voice he used to mimic her high pitched and mocking. "Aren't you cute?" Shifting his weight, Red lifted a sizable paw to brazenly un-sheath those wicked curved claws. 

"It's been a while since I've had wolf meat. I'll give you 'til the count of three..." That muscled feline frame coiled, readying into a pounce even as he warned her. The bastard enjoyed toying with them, and even more when he could see the terror in their eyes up close and personal. 

"Three."

He leaped. Whoever said his warning was going to be a fair one?

Harlyn's eyes flickered briefly to glint of his claws as they scratched upon the ground.  Her lips peeled back in a snarl as she took a step back, her ears flattening.  She did not like to be mocked, especially not by an inferior species.  She had a certain respect for all of the earth mother's creatures, but none were as great and worthy as wolves, and the least of those were these devil cats.

The snarl continued to rumble in her throat as he threatened her.  She too lowered herself in preparation for whatever the beast did next.  Harlyn saw the twitch of his muscles that gave away his move, and she responded with a swift jump to the side to avoid him.  As soon as her paws hit the ground again, Harlyn was running as quickly as she could, straight into the mists of the hot springs, trusting her form to disappear into the mist and thus lose the beast in her wake.

His laugh followed her, he followed her, his legs carrying him swiftly after her fleeing form. He didn't run long, mostly because he didn't want to. He was lazy and had wanted her out of his current vicinity. Red did not tolerate wolves around him unless he was toying with them. Chasing the female off was a normal activity for him. With the creature having disappeared in the fog, Red padded back to his pool and settled in again, ears swiveling atop his head to listen and make sure she left him in peace. Should she return, maybe he would be eating wolf tonight.