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+--- Thread: Hushed Willows i always make such expensive mistakes. (/showthread.php?tid=25337)
i always make such expensive mistakes. - Artaax - February 03, 2018
set for tonight during the snowstorm!
Apparently, today had not been a great day for Artaax to decide to go wandering off on his own. He hadn't thought much of the snow when first it had begun to fall. Now that it was steadily deepening around him and making it harder to travel, he was beginning to think a little more about his situation. His sense of direction had begun to fail him with the drifts sweeping heavily across the paths he may have taken, steering him away towards the ones he should have passed by. He was quickly becoming lost, and though he was aware of this fact, he was awfully stubborn about things like finding his way back home.
But when the sun had crept down below the horizon with the temperature following right at its heels, Artaax had finally decided to do something intelligent. The willows danced wildly in the winds, snapping against his sides and buffeting his face when he came too close, which was easy to do in a grove of so many. He had long since stopped snarling and snapping at them when they struck him. He needed to save his energy, for the storm was growing worse, and the rocky outcroppings he was headed towards were still ahead of him.
When at last he reached the mountain's face and crept into an opening in the rocks, he felt nearly frozen. The boy slunk into the depths and gave his coat a hard shake, sending snow and ice flying from his fur. He blinked at his surroundings and was surprised to find it was actually rather spacious. The wind bit at his back still, and so he crept deeper into the cavern until it couldn't reach him, and there he settled to wait out the storm.
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Oqdis - February 04, 2018
If he had ever been uncertain that the Wilds were not the sacred lands he sought, all traces of those doubts had quickly been erased from his mind once the winter storm grew in fury. It had started as light snowfall, which Oqdis relished as he strode through a tranquil forest, wondering if Holden had gotten ahold of any jimsonweed plants around this area. Yet when the snow began to fall through the foliage and blanket the ground, he realised this was the beginnings of something greater. It only steadily got worse until finally, the man found himself being buffeted by winds, the cold nipping at his skin as he danced through the deep snow banks.
Oqdis, unlike the young boy, readily welcomed being tossed around by the blizzard, letting out cries of joy as his God sought to test his mettle. He would not perish here, not yet. His God was one borne of mountains and fire; this was only a hint of what was to come. He thought of his flock, but knew if any were claimed by the biting winds then that was the way their God intended them to go. What an honour!
Up ahead, he spotted a figure amongst the white landscape. He had barely been visible, but the man caught a glimpse as he slipped into a dark, rocky cave. Oqdis began to stride forward with swaying, playful steps — a deranged, crooked smile on full display. "Child!" he cried to him, scenting wolf. He stood at the entrance of the cave, wind biting and pulling at his grizzled fur, urging him back into the wild snow. His voice was nearly lost to the raging weather but he threw it forward into the cave, summoning the young stranger. "Do not cower in fear!"
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Artaax - February 04, 2018
Artaax had barely settled in for the night when the shouting began. He blinked back out toward the mouth of the cave and spotted him - a murky shadow at the entrance, crying out against the storm. The sight startled him back onto all fours with hackles raised and lips peeled back in alarm. He tilted his head, trying to listen and was startled once again at what was being said. Do not cower in fear? What the hell?
"What do you want?" Artaax barked back at him, not coming any nearer. It was a testament to how unsettled the boy was that he didn't just charge at the wack job and drive him away from his shelter, though that would probably be coming shortly.
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Itsy - February 23, 2018
Itsy came to these willows for one thing; new sights. She landed upon a branch, flittering from tree to tree. And just below, she spotted a wolf. So many wolves! They all seemed nice, every one of them she had met. So how different could this one be? "Pale wolf, pale wolf!" Then she heard them bark something. Maybe they weren't so friendly..."Wolf friendly?"
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Artaax - February 25, 2018
The strange wolf said nothing. His form seemed to fade away into the thickly falling snow as he stepped back and, presumably, left. Artaax breathed easier at this, but apparently he was not done being pestered by strangers. A new voice sounded over the storm as the boy was settling back into his temporary den. His hackles prickled as he looked around, searching for the source of the voice but seeing nothing. Alarmed, he frowned and called out once again, "Who's there?" Apparently snowstorms brought the ghosts out.
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Itsy - February 26, 2018
Itsy felt extra chipper, and she watched as the wolf below. The storm had been hard to get through, but she felt fine despite how cold she was. "Itsy is here! Itsy! Little bird, little bird!" She flapped her wings desperately as she was almost blown off by the strong winds, barely holding on.
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Artaax - March 02, 2018
Artaax squinted out into the storm, but try as he might, he could see nothing but gray, streaks of white and constantly bending shadows. He half expected the voice to have been coming from his own head at that point, but again it chimed and the hompleia blinked in surprise. A bird?
He still suspected that this was some sort of trap, and so the boy didn't drop his guard as he crept towards the mouth of the den. He paused before stepping back out in the cold, trying to search once more for the source of the voice to make sure that it really was just as little as it claimed to be. "Where are you?" he called.
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Itsy - March 03, 2018
Itsy the bird heard the voice respond. She was wary...but, she did want to at least be seen. So she fluttered down then, almost blown away from the storm winds to land on the ground some distance away from the mouth of the den. "Itsy here! Itsy on ground! See, Itsy bird!"
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Artaax - March 03, 2018
After a moment, he heard the creature again. It was closer now and thankfully more descriptive of its location. Artaax looked down towards the ground, or at least where he thought the ground likely was to be found. The snow made it very difficult to see, but finally, he thought he glimpsed the little creature. It was indeed a bird. A very small one. That, or it was quite an elaborate ruse by the creepy guy that had left not long ago.
Either way...
"Come this way, there's shelter," he called, stepped back into the den to give it room (not that it needed much, but he knew how jumpy the creatures could be considering he was a hunter and birds were his specialty. Totally unrelated I swear).
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Itsy - March 03, 2018
Itsy the bird now was most unsure of this. Being asked to get so close to a wolf... "Is wolf kind?" the little bird chirped back. She was most unsure, even though it was very cold. Not a good time to be outside like this, she'd need a place like a hollow tree....
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Artaax - March 04, 2018
The bird didn't immediately obey him. It seemed anxious now, which Artaax couldn't fault it for. He was going to try to eat it, after all. But it didn't need to know that yet. "Obviously," was his only response to the question that was posed. He had offered it shelter, hadn't he? Could you get any nicer than that? The boy stepped further back out of the way as a gesture of good faith.
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Itsy - March 06, 2018
The bird was still cautious, as she rarely came close to wolves. Or any other creature larger than her, despite her bravery. So she hopped a bit closer, looking about the shelter. "Wolf has nice shelter. Comfy, comfy like nest."
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Artaax - March 11, 2018
Only someone who knew Artaax well could've seen the hungry pleasure sparkling in his mismatched eyes when the bird finally accepted his invitation and hopped in from the cold. It was timid still, so he knew his time was not now. But soon.
"Stay as long as you like," he commented, as though this den truly did belong to him. Which it did, if only for the night. Well, let's be honest, Artaax would always think of it as his from this point on. That's just what happened when he set his sights on something he liked, regardless of how inconsequential, or of his ongoing ability to protect that claim. This bird as a good example as well - it was his now. He just had to find his moment to claim it.
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Itsy - March 11, 2018
Itsy was not one for personal space, so once the wolf told her to stay as long as she liked, she hopped right in, but only just in the entrance, huddling in there in a corner. Her eyes stayed on the wolf. "You are kind wolf...Itsy is happy to meet kind wolf...what is wolf's name?"
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Artaax - April 01, 2018
Wanna wrap up? :)
The bird came closer, and so too came Artaax's moment. He made no move to ready himself, knowing that the bird's sharp senses would pick up on even the slightest hint of a threat. The catch he'd made earlier that day was starting to seem like hours ago, though, and his patience had worn thin enough.
"Don't worry about it," he murmured seconds before leaping at the little creature with jaws wide. He could swallow it whole, if only he managed to close the distance between them in time.
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Itsy - April 01, 2018
Itsy kept her eyes to the wolf. And as he spoke, he suddenly leaped right at her. The bird hopped to the side, extending wings and flapping them wildly while cursing aloud with a string of swears. "Bad wolf, bad wolf, bad wolf!" she started repeating, flying out into the rain.
Sure!
RE: i always make such expensive mistakes. - Artaax - April 04, 2018
DAMNIT.
Artaax's jaws closed on empty air. He attempted to recover, darting forward and snapping again as it sped away, but he didn't bother taking more than a couple of steps towards the mouth of the den in pursuit. He knew well enough that if he didn't catch the bird in his first lunge, then his chances of success were very, very slim. Birds were too quick. It was what he loved and hated about hunting them. They were so difficult to catch, but that made the victory even sweeter.
But he wouldn't taste that sweetness today. Artaax frowned out into the wall of white for a moment before turning back into the inky blackness of his temporary shelter. His meal from earlier that day would just have to tide him over until morning. As he settled in at the back of the den to wait out the storm, he consoled himself that the tiny creature would hardly have made a difference anyway. He would sleep and dream of eagles instead.