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+--- Thread: Barrow Fields wayward (/showthread.php?tid=66268)
wayward - Disa - September 05, 2025
Disa did not want to go home. To grief that wasn’t hers, to Soto's lantern eye. The desert was losing its shine.
Barrow Fields was the northern, grassy twin to the desert. A whole lot of nothing, except for the occasional super-sized mole hill. It wasn’t conventionally spooky, but nevertheless gave Disa the creeps.
The sand-and-cinnamon girl walked slowly north, head held low and eyes moving nervously between the grey sky and the ground. Was that a belly rumbling? Or a growl?
RE: wayward - Aureli - September 05, 2025
Aureli, too, was traveling slowly. This was partially because he knew he needed to pace himself, and partially because his familiar was darting in and out of the waves, panting like a demon each time she clawed her way out of the water and raced higher up the beach.
And, well — he had no place to be. Why rush?
But...
"Come away from there," he ordered the little cat, who ignored him. "Moke. Come here."
The cat ignored him and began digging in the wet sand. Aureli sighed, standing vigil for a moment while the hole filled the salt water, and then the crest of the wave came to knock the cat off her paws.
Politely, he did not say, I tried to warn you. Mainly because he was sure the cat was still deaf to his chiding. Instead, he turned away from the beach entirely and began the steep climb up toward the headlands. The cat caught up eventually, stinking of the sea, and Aureli heaved another put-upon sigh. They did not speak (and she couldn't, as far as he knew) until long after they'd reached the rolling fields. As they crested the next hill, however, Aureli stilled.
There was another wolf heading straight for them.
"Stay down, dear one," he said to the cat, stepping neatly away from her. His steps were purposeful as he headed down the hill, barking a greeting to the stranger to get their attention. His body language was cautiously friendly, but his eyes were hawk-like as he assessed what sort of threat she might be.
He had taken a vow to do no harm to his fellow wolf, after all. It behooved one of his sacred order to know when and how to R U N N O F T.
RE: wayward - Disa - September 05, 2025
The duo appeared just as Disa's gaze turned south, and the sharp bark caught her unawares. Adrenaline brought the hairs along her spine to attention, and it was with uncharacteristically wide, fearful eyes that she turned to see who had called.
A wolf. Dracarys, she thought for a moment, but no - a gradient of red and sand to white. A stranger. Two, in fact, but the second had yet to make an appearance.
Disa came to a slow stop, one rear paw suspended over the grass. "Yes?" she called at the approaching wolf, a little more tersely than she had intended.
RE: wayward - Aureli - September 05, 2025
The tone the other wolf employed was not lost on him, but he was accustomed to being greeted in such a way. Wolves were wary of one another — rightfully so — and lone wolves were especially vulnerable.
Aureli gave a stiff wag of his tail, letting his head drop a fraction in deference.
"I am a healer," he told her, hoping this might assuage her concern. "...looking for more of our kind. Do you know what sort of wolves occupy these lands?"
He'd drawn near enough to take in a wisp of her scent. He sensed no ravening disease about her. No festering. No deep-set starvation. She did not smell like a wolf-eater, at least.
RE: wayward - Disa - September 05, 2025
His display succeeded in lowering Disa's guard a fraction - her shoulders visibly sank. Just a man finding his way.
"I've.. I met one wolf on my way here," she told him, a little surprised at the realization. The south was a bustling place - these wilds were more of a waystation. "Two others a while back, but one was alone." She wondered what had become of the sad boy in the stone circle.
A chill crept up Disa's spine. She did not mention Verapaz. "You need company for the winter." Not really a question, but a universal truth. And a healer was useful.
RE: wayward - Aureli - September 05, 2025
The news was concerning. Aureli's brow furrowed. Fall and winter were popular times for young wolves to disperse, anticipating the coming breeding season. To hear that there had been so few made the healer wonder what might be keeping them at home — or else killing them off.
Closer, now, he assessed the female anew. She seemed healthy enough.
"Ah — no," he replied, politely but awkwardly. "I do not require companionship. My vows restrict me from taking a mate — until I've trained an apprentice into a fledged healer."
In his own way, he attempted to let her down easy.
"Are you from the area?" he asked her, his concern clearly showing despite his professional demeanor. "That is very few wolves."
RE: wayward - Disa - September 06, 2025
Disa felt a sting of embarrassment. "Not like that," she said, grimacing. "I meant for food. Protection." He was eyeing her – not as Beau had, with lecherous intent; this was clinical.
"I'm staying with a group in the south," she grumbled, feeling uneasy again. "It's.. not working out."
RE: wayward - Aureli - September 06, 2025
The woman's denial and its accompanying distress did not seem to affect Aureli, and he offered no follow-up answer when she clarified the intent behind her previous words. In truth, the answer was the same: his vows precluded him from adequately contributing to a pack — that, at least, was how several leaders had felt in the past. It remained to be seen if other packs would feel the same in these (possibly blighted) lands, but he did not feel that the stranger would find much use in the knowledge.
He'd finished with his visual assessment. What he could finish, at least, without beginning to circle her like a buzzard. His gilded gaze returned to her face, and then sharpened while the rest of his features seemed to soften — just a fraction.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, and he meant it, despite his professorial tone of voice. Obviously, this was a wolf to whom community was synonymous with purpose and survival. This was the way of many wolves, and a way that Aureli had had to painfully exorcise from himself in his first several months on his own.
"May I ask why?" he probed, searching her face. And then, seeming to sense a misstep, he corrected himself: "Were you in danger?"
If it was petty squabbles, he was far less interested in hearing about her woes.
RE: wayward - Disa - September 09, 2025
He made no further comment, and his eyes returned from their field trip and made a home in hers.
"Danger?" She hadn't thought about it. "Different.. goals, I suppose. But it'll start to get cold soon, so," She shrugged. "We're stuck with each other." Unless she could gather a healthy foursome before the first snow. "What about you? No mate, fine, it's not even the season - but no pack?"
RE: wayward - Aureli - September 09, 2025
Differing goals — if this woman's was survival — seemed ominous to Aureli, but he felt that she would already have expanded on that thought if she'd cared to explain it at all. Perhaps she felt some loyalty to them still, or perhaps the thoughts were painful.
Either way, it seemed it was not for him to know.
She questioned him further, in fact. He thought it was kind of her, though somewhat misguided. As a healer, his own origins were as irrelevant as the life story of her last meal, were they not? Unless she, too, thought to take up the noble path.
"A pack would distract me from my work," he replied, attempting to return her kindness in his tone and his countenance. "I stay with them if there are long-term patients they need me to care for. If there are not, I move on and search for the next place to help people — or to further my studies."
He offered her the ghost of a smile. Smile-flavored Le Croix, if you will. "I have survived all my winters so far. I'll be fine."
But it was kind of her to worry. Part of him — dwarfed by a part that was terribly uncomfortable — appreciated it.
RE: wayward - Disa - September 09, 2025
This seemed insane to Disa. She had certainly traveled, but had ways found companions - some she liked, some she didn't, all of them necessary to survive.
"You're weird," she said, tacking on a stiff smile when that sounded harsh. "I guess there's no point asking if you would consider picking a base? Trade your healing powers for meat on a retainer?" She needed new companions, and someone with skills beyond the usual was a catch.
RE: wayward - Aureli - September 09, 2025
Weird, Aureli supposed, was one of the more neutral insults he'd been paid. Still, he gave a shake of his head.
"I have taken my vows," he replied, not quite contrite. But — "If you are hungry, I wouldn't mind a hunt. But I cannot settle where my skills are not being used or honed."
"What is your name?" he asked her, hoping to get off the subject of settling. He did not offer his own; he was only a healer. His name did not matter.
RE: wayward - Disa - September 12, 2025
The healer stood firm - Disa shrugged. "I will come through this way before the leaves stop falling, if you change your mind," she told him; final offer. Some time alone in the cold might soften his hold on those vows.
Her ears perked up at the suggestion that they hunt. Disa had not taken down anything bigger than a rabbit since the business with the bison. The scar on her thigh was still itchy, but the look of it bothered her less.
"Disa," she told him. "You? There are deer wandering the edge of the forest," she offered, meaning the arm of Ravensblood Forest that was squeezed between the Sunspire Montains and Horizon Ridge.
RE: wayward - Aureli - September 14, 2025
Although it would have been an impossible feat, Aureli pretended not to have heard Disa's plans. As with many things said to him throughout his life, he'd managed to feel offended by the implication — real or imagined — behind Disa's words. But, as with most moments of indignation, he was willing enough to move on without fuss or acknowledgement.
"Aureli," he replied, his tone brisk. "Lead the way. I am happy to leave the lion's share with you — though, I hope you will not mind if my familiar also eats."
He looked behind him for a moment, but Moke did not materialize.
He turned back to Disa.
"She's around here somewhere," he assured the woman.
Happy to write the hunting, but happy to fade or timeskip also! I am not going for any hunter trades with this character.
RE: wayward - Disa - September 18, 2025
Would love to time-skip!
It seemed unlikely that they would cross paths again, so his name climbed into one ear and bounced out of the other – it wasn’t important for the hunt. Aureli was a tightly buttoned man, but had his feelings leaked into his expression, Disa would not have picked up on it. She was not a master of subtleties. Not even an apprentice.
She nodded assent to his request, assuming his friend was some kind of bird - they were flighty, literally and often figuratively - and steered them towards food at a brisk trot.
The hunt went off without a hitch. Instinct took over, and ancient hands played yet another game of wolves versus prey. A buck lost its life, and the wolves filled their bellies.
When a bird did not appear, Disa raised her bloody face from her half of the liver and asked, "Is your friend real?" No teasing, no joke - just a question.
RE: wayward - Aureli - September 24, 2025
Fitter wolves, he knew, could take down deer on their own. This had never been Aureli's lot in life. As much as he prided himself on the ability to live life as a lone, traveling physician on his own terms, it was a boon to find another wolf willing to hunt with him. He strove to contribute as much as she did, and as a result, was panting and exhausted by the end.
Thus, Disa was allowed first pick of the kill while the physician recovered.
His voice was just a little hoarse when he answered: "Yes."
Shortly and simply. The question, while not quite offensive, was one he found quite tiresome. Especially as tired as he was already. But, obligingly, he lifted his head to give a low, crooning note. It was a beat or two before the brush began to rustle.
"There she is," he sighed — for Moke was no more impressive as a real creature than she was as a fake one. "Yes, hello," he said to the animal, who had come out of the brush to ram her head affectionately against his paws.
RE: wayward - Moke - September 26, 2025
The cat was curious about the stranger, too. She stepped forward as if to offer her a similar greeting, but then stopped and offered a grating, drawn-out mewl instead. Bug-eyed and anxiously purring, it paced back toward its protector and meowed again.
"Eat," the wolf commanded the cat.
The gazed dumbly up at his face. She did not seem to understand until a paw was placed on her head and shoved gently downward. Then she saw her portion of liver and fell on it like a starving creature.