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+--- Thread: Shadowwyn Moor he's got eyes, but he can't see (/showthread.php?tid=30213)
he's got eyes, but he can't see - Terance - October 15, 2018
@Indra <3
terance took past the borders, mostly to observe the surrounding territories. now that he was here, terance had to admit that he didn't understand why this was the scouted territory. east hollow was literally right next door. and beyond that was another pack-- i mean, what gives? didn't they leave sunspire to deal with a food crisis? why did they travel somewhere to deal with more competition for prey...
but, hey, what does terance know?
he stepped through the moor, ears angled forwards. he hoped this was the right decision... and even if it wasn't, terance hoped it'd work out in the end.
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Indra - October 16, 2018
indra hated that tadec and piper had left. it didn't make sense to her since she had already sent mona scouting for the boy; she wrestled with it, contested it, and finally, despaired of it. that tadec accompanied piper was of no consolation to indra; she wanted her family here, with her -- not out in the stormy wild, vulnerable to whatever beasts she was certain had taken lucas.
her step was snappy and irritated as she resentfully picked her way further from the valley. she had been half-hunting, half-searching for tadec and piper, hoping to convince both of the idiots to come home. her search was largely fruitless, and game was elusive -- but she was not alone as she headed across an open swath of land. perking her ears, the she-wolf froze as she realized their paths would cross: a black male darkened the goldenrod sweep of late-fall grass, moving through the moorlands at a slow clip. indra canted her muzzle to the wind, but its course did not favor her -- and from this distance, she did not recognize the male headed slowly towards her.
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Terance - October 28, 2018
until you were close enough to see his scars and face, terance was generic enough. burly, muscly, dark-furred brute. perhaps his eyes we're characteristic of him-- his smile, even. but from a distance, he was just another face. indra, however, terance found he could spot her in a crowd. he saw the short-tailed red-head and paused, recognizing her in an instance.
his feature's softened slightly, and his tail flagged. "indra!" he called out to her, headed in her direction in a light trot, "how are you?"
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Indra - October 28, 2018
under the light of a late-autumn afternoon, the two beings seemed to freeze - one russet flame stilled, one dark shadow moving embracingly towards it: indra regarded the 'stranger' coldly until he exclaimed her name, and then she realized her folly.
terance.
he swung towards her in a light dog-trot, and the scars barely concealed by his thick fur were unmistakable. she should have recognized him sooner and an apologetic smile fluttered to her tired features: "oh -- terance. i'm good - i didn't recognize you, sorry. what are you doing here?"
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Terance - October 28, 2018
she recognized him eventually, and terance gave her a warm smile to assure her that it was fine-- he didn't take offense to it, not in the slightest.
"sunspire relocated, we're neighbors now," he told her with a wave of his tail. hopefully she wouldn't frown upon that-- he wasn't too fond of the notion that they were so close to other packs, but it was what was scouted... and terance found allies with east hollow and a friend-- at best-- with indra. "lost creek hollow," he added, to clarify their location.
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Indra - October 28, 2018
terance offered a reassuring smile; it was enough that the redleaf let go of her embarrassment - he had not appeared to take her lapse in recognition to heart and for that she seemed to move now with an easier tread than before. as they closed the gap, sunspire's formidable beta shared news with indra of their relocation: she was about to blurt out but where? when he supplied her with an answer to her unspoken query.
lost creek hollow was not a land she knew - not well, not intimately, not even at all. her ears seemed to fold slightly as she tried to envision where this was: that they were neighbors made her more sheepish to ask, because she had never ventured into the territory described: "where is that? close, i know, but where? why'd you move -- is wraen with you?"
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Terance - October 28, 2018
ah, the questions followed-- at first easy and generic-- and then another question that terance also received often but was still alarming. everyone always asked about wraen, and as her brother, he always had to answer.
"there was a famine in the mountains," he told her with a gentle dip of his head, "it's on the east side of east hollow." and then with a small sigh, small smile still pressed to his lips, terance added, "no, wraen and our younger sister, maia, left to... ah, forge a new path for themselves, i suppose." it was simple as that, but it didn't feel that simple.
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Indra - October 28, 2018
it appeared the shortage of food had been dire enough; indra felt sorry for sunspire - as much as she could for wolves she didn't really care for (terance and wraen excluded, of course). moving an entire pack was no small feat, and not at all something she would wish on most wolves.
she was not surprised to hear wraen had not gone with them: from her last conversation with the pewter she-wolf, it had been evident that wraen had some doubts about partaking in the relocation herself. indra managed a sad smile; this meant her friend was somewhere unknown -- but maybe, she would be happy in this new venture -- indra hoped so dearly.
"oh -- that explains it -- i have not gone much past easthollow. our leader is family with them, though. sorry to hear about wraen and -- maia -- do you like this new place?"
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Terance - November 02, 2018
terance nodded once, rather solemnly, in response to indra's condolences. he was interested to hear that easthollow was family to the valley-- but since she did not dwell on it, terance did not ask any further. "they will find what they need on their own," he responded with a small smile. it hurt, so much, but terance was not going to let it affect him. not on the surface.
"i do," he replied, finding the topic far more lighthearted, "it's got good cover from the elements, plenty of prey-- even as the weather grows colder." those were the most logical reasons to like it, but terance tacked on for good measure, the small smile on his feature's gaining a cheekiness to them, "plus it's pretty."
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Indra - November 02, 2018
terance might have put on a stoic face, but the language he chose -- well -- indra considered herself a studied scholar of words; the way one picked and arranged them was often just as important as what was said. often, one could tell more by the delivery of a message than one could tell by simply listening to the words.
he hadn't said they'll be fine, or that he missed them, or that he hadn't agreed with their going -- he had said "they will find what they need on their own". indra mulled this strange statement; it weighed down heavily in her mind like a stone dropped in water.
"but that leaves you; did you find what you needed?" she gave terance a rather straight-forward look: the kind of look one might give a toddler that conveyed 'don't try to pull the wool over my eyes' or some other silent imposition. even if he thought this new location was pretty, indra knew moves were not without their wounds -- it took a lot to shake the roots the living liked so dearly to set deep in the earth - and often in the process of extracting them, one tended to shear off a bit of themselves and leave those fractured remnants behind.
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Terance - November 02, 2018
it was not words of congratulations or words of mild concern for the chosen territory that terance heard-- in fact, it was not related to the territory at all. terance found himself shocked to hear indra ask about him. it didn't show more than a flick of his ears, but terance was surprised. his head turned, gaze falling upon her amber features, studying them. and then, finally, he responded. "we don't know what we need until we find it," he responded, like he had all the wisdom in the world.
but terance knew nothing. had nothing. except for rannoch, and maybe treason. he suspected treason would leave as soon as she got bored, but terance found her company worthwhile and her presence valuable-- so he didn't dwell on it. and as long as rannoch was well, terance's nose was floating above the water. that seemed to be all he needed to keep going.
"i've seen a lot this year," he began, head turning again to face away from the valley girl, "but i'll see more. i'm content where i am." and he was. nothing was ideal, but he was alive and breathing, and so he was well enough.
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Indra - November 03, 2018
we don't know what we need until we find it.
once more indra thought the selection of words peculiar. she drew the sentence over in her mind, outpouring quiet thoughts, dissecting its structure, and at last sighing and putting it to bed with a flick of an ear.
terance, bless his heart, seemed battered more mentally than the very hide he wore like a tattered cloak. indra surmised enough from his words to hazard a guess that, like her, he might have found his world was slowly crumbling away.
it was strange, feeling the solid ground ebb out and slowly filter away from you. surreal.
indra supposed her world was laurel; who had terance's world been, and what had roughly stolen it from him?
he said he was content where he was, but again, indra didn't quite take his words for granted. she supposed it was good enough that he liked his new physical location, but that didn't mean he was happy with his own personal progress, did it?
"well, that's fine and good." indra answered in a conversationally wry way, an ear flickering once more. "maybe they'll come back."
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Terance - November 04, 2018
she seemed unconvinced, terance could tell. her wry expression and vague choice of words-- perhaps as vague as his-- didn't slip past him. but terance didn't have anything more to say on the matter. he didn't have a solid grasp on how he felt about anything-- just that he wasn't going to let his world crumble away as fast as it was trying to. rannoch was currently the last solid piece of earth that he stood on, and that was what was keeping him together-- for the most part. he'd made a conscious effort not to let himself slip.
so even if rannoch did, terance would not fall down the same rabbit hole he had when he'd been hurt by the bear-- when lyra confessed she did not have the same feelings for him-- when rannoch had asked him to leave moonspear-- when he and hydra had fought-- when they'd fought again-- when seabreeze left with both children-- when they'd blamed their leave on him-- when he and seabreeze fought-- when wraen announced she'd leave-- when maia ultimately said she'd follow... terance would not be hurt again.
he gave her a wry smile. "oh, i doubt it," he replied as politely as he could, "but they might visit from time to time."
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Indra - November 04, 2018
between the two of them, there certainly was a world of undiagnosed hurt; sorrows that had been reamed and sown, griefs that had been choked out, extinguished, and roughly buried. brick by brick, these sorrows would undo the careful work their walls had fashioned; stone by stone, they would eventually resurface.
but for now, between the two of them, these troubles sat beneath the surface, restless and fitfully crawling under their skins, waiting for the moment for their tough hides to unravel, for their vulnerabilities to be exposed. eventually those walls would tumble down, and manufactured walls had a way of smothering their builders, and crushing them under their laden weight.
indra sighed again, feeling unsatisfied. she wasn't even wraen's sister, and she wasn't pleased with the news wraen had left. even though she had known a few weeks prior to terance that wraen had been afflicted by the wanderlust bug, it still didn't make the aftermath any easier.
"well - i will miss wraen. did she say at all where she planned on going?" indra tried for a new subject, finding she didn't much want to talk about her experiences the last year, either.
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Terance - November 04, 2018
terance built the wall up higher and higher each day-- it kept him safe, protected. within his walls no one could hurt him-- and if it killed him, so be it. if anyone took him out, it would be himself.
"me too," he replied with a small, appreciative smile. though, truthfully, it meant little. and then he shook his head. "no-- but maia promised to return and tell me where they'd go," terance said, somewhat thoughtfully. he imagined wraen might go back to the sea-- the place that they were born. terance remembered he'd promised seabreeze, when the pups were older, that they would go together.
but, alas.
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Indra - November 06, 2018
promises were a strange thing, Indra thought. we promised and we hedged our faith into what merely constructed as words - promises, Indra had found, were just as breakable as thin twigs in a winter’s coldsnap. that they were articulated as an oath meant very little. it was just as easy to go back on a promise - just as easy as it was for the wind to change direction, or the tide to change its swell. in some ways the fickleness of a promise mirrored that evercoursing wind - strong and hale as it shrieked through the atmosphere, yet frustrated at every turn by rocks and trees and topography until it was scarcely a trickle.
she pursed her lips in disapproval but said nothing else on the matter; one wolf’s bitter opinion of the worth of a promise does not a prophecy make.
”well I will look out for them for you. Wraen is my friend, too.”and Indra meant it as she searched the emerald depths of his gaze: wraen, other than laurel, was of incredible importance to the russet redleaf.
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Terance - November 11, 2018
terance smiled, albeit a bit sadly. "thank you, indra," he returned. he was glad wraen had also made friends with indra. wraen and he had very different personalities and opinions, but he thought rather highly of indra-- just from the few conversations they'd had. that wraen seemed friendly with her as well meant a great deal to terance.
"i should get back, though," he commented with a gentle sigh, looking over his shoulder to peer back at the direction from which he'd come. and then his emerald gaze settled again on her, and he gave her another small smile. "it was nice to see you again," he told her. and he meant it.
RE: he's got eyes, but he can't see - Indra - November 12, 2018
it still troubled indra that wraen had gone -- she had liked their encounters, and had come to rely on the pewter she-wolf for her pragmatic approach to things -- and her worldly sense of humor. like terance, she began to make motions to leave, though her expression remained somewhat troubled.
her countenance lost its sour expression at terance's last words -- which seemed imparted with a sweetness that was soon lost to the cold air. it had been genuine, but it was there one moment and gone the next. "it was nice to see you too," she responded somewhat lamely - though she had come to look forward to her occasional visits with terance the same way she had with wraen. as she watched him pick his way between brakes of fir and oak, she thought he seemed much more melancholy than the last time she had met him. of course -- he had much to be melancholy about in light of his sister's departure -- but it wasn't that. to indra, it seemed as if something were eating him, dogging his heels down through the aisle of douglas pine and yew. something she couldn't quite put a name to.
she frowned, rounded her shoulders, and then departed back to bearclaw.
little did the redleaf know, things would all change drastically in a matter of weeks.