Neverwinter Forest when i am not around

figured id go ahead and get this up! optional but tagging for ref, lmk if i need to edit anything~ @Fiadh @Tegan @Lucca @Clover

mother'd gone back to drageda without her. she'd explained why (though blixen didn't really understand most of it she'd gotten the gist - she's probably due for a birds and the bees talk by now) but it still stung. and with artaax off doing whatever it is nomi asked him to do, and furi... she's feeling more than a little disjointed and isolated. she doesn't know any of the redhawk clan she travels with - @Raven, @Ben, @Lagan, and @Orca - though they seem fine, she hasn't talked to them much, taking up post more as a silent guard, consumed by her own worries. 

she misses furi. she should be there too, fighting with her. she could ditch the kids -- they don't need her, they have their family -- and be there. how mad would nomi be? despite her impulsiveness, she does the job she's assigned, but -- being here in limbo, away from mother in drageda and furi in potential danger is twisting her up inside. she could go back to drageda too -- but she thinks about what might happen if she's not back to make sure everyone is okay and that stops her. 

frustrated, the teen looks up to realise they've made it to their destination. she looks at the redhawks and sighs. she'll just have to figure out a way to get through this on her own.

He felt torn. His inner compass told him to head north and east if he wanted to find his way back to Marauder's Keep. There was something familiar about this smaller mountain range and he was almost certain his birthplace lay somewhere in the foothills on its other side. But he felt compelled to go in the exact opposite direction too, toward the mountain where Wraen lived.

It came down to living in the past or the present (and possibly future). Tambourine spent several days in the shadow of a glacier as he deliberated, then eventually arrived at a decision. As much as he cared about what had ever become of wolves like Stark, Banner and Silas, he doubted he would truly find closure. And did he really want to revisit the cave where he'd grown up only to be left behind, abandoned?

It was time to fully let go of the past and decide what he wanted to do with his life now. He woke up this morning feeling purposeful. He readied himself with a hearty breakfast of rabbit before setting off on his trek toward Moonspear. He wasn't sure what he planned to do once he arrived there. Just play it by ear, Tam, he said to himself even as he trotted through the same pine forest he had traveled through a few days prior.

This time, he definitely caught the scent of wolves. Yet he was sure he hadn't somehow crossed any borders. Feeling both cautious and curious, he slowed down and crept through the trees until he spotted them: a large group consisting of as many adults as pups, by the look of it. Tambourine licked his lips, eyes catching on a red figure in particular as he noticed the look of turmoil on her face.

have a tegan...

tegan was not well trained in anything. he'd play-fought with his siblings plenty of times, sure, but he'd never once cared to take towhee up on her offer to train or patrol. he just really didn't care to. he didn't care to hunt, or to learn plants or stars or... anything. the only thing that brought tegan any sort of joy was making up stories to trick others-- or really just causing any kind of trouble. though, as much as tegan liked to believe he was the worlds worst, making everyone's life a L I V I N G H E L L... he was annoying and a mild inconvenience at best. 

so, while his siblings were typically complaining about not being allowed to fight, tegan was off looking for ~*inspiration*~ for his next story-- and his next victim. today, it was the big red fluffy gal that was in charge (?) of them. tegan liked to believe that no one was in charge of him-- he just happened to be going in the same direction as them, and all of his plans just so happened to line up with theirs. it was mere coincidence, no one here could really tell him what to do. but this wolf, who tegan very well knew the name of, seemed a little... eh, down in the dumps. he could smell it on her. he guessed it was cause her mom left, that skinny red lady. and tegan knew very well who the skinny red lady was too-- he just pretend he didn't care to remember. and as obnoxious as tegan was... he wasn't a monster, maybe he could use his tall tales for good today-- just this once.

"yo, blister!" he yipped, doing a few jump steps to catch up to where she was. he was completely unaware of the other wolf-- the one not part of their group-- but ignorance was tegan's best quality.

blixen is broken out of her self-pitying reverie by movement and the weird sensation of being watched. blinking, she looks and spots the boy amongst the trees. he doesn't look dangerous and they're far enough away from blackfeather that it should be fine but the gona puffs up defensively anyway. she's about to call him out when one of the baby cousins catches up to her, pulling her attention away. "hey squirt," she says, ignoring his mispronunciation of her name, and finally glances away from the trees. she's hesitant to let the stranger go completely, but - the other kids are with their packmates presumably and anyway, she's good at her job. if he lingers, she'll deal with him (and she shoots him a look as she decides this, wondering if he'll call out to her or keep moving). "whatcha up to?" blixen says to -- which one is this, again? she doesn't actually know. let's go with little redhawk one.

Those conflicted eyes met his and Tambourine gulped as her fur began to raise. He took a step backward, pausing only when a childish voice shouted, "Yo, blister!" He watched as one of the pups bounded up to the red she-wolf, the two of them engaging in familial banter. Now feeling more like an intruder than ever, Tambourine slithered backward out of view. He made a point to backtrack quite a ways before moving forward again, giving the group a wide berth so he didn't disturb them further.

blixen shot a name right back at him, and tegan thought about it for a moment before deciding it was weak. "mmm that's a sad effort," he offered with a shrug, "i think you could've come up with something better." though, truthfully, tegan couldn't think of anything better at the moment either. but she didn't know that.

"we're all doin' the same thing," he then responded, cause it was true. they were all putting around like losers as they waited for some sort of news. not that tegan minded, it gave him time to think. and, though the stranger made to leave, tegan still hadn't noticed his presence, so he made no comment about it still. "nah, i was gonna tell you somethin' cool, you wanna hear? it's about a cougar."

when he brushes off the nickname she can't help but laugh, even though she hadn't really been trying to insult him. "well, sure," she says, and sighs, "but it's kinda boring, isn't it?" her eyes flick over to where the stranger had stood. the shape is gone and so she puts it out of her mind for now, instead making a show of crouching next to little redhawk one. "sha," blix says, "sure." why not? she doesn't have anything else better going on.

she was damn right it was boring. tegan wanted to go out!! do stuff far away from the watchful eyes of these wolves. but he knew better, though he totally could've just up and left right now-- he just didn't want to. "hell yeah it's boring," he agreed with a snort, ears flicking as his nose turned up in half genuine disgust-- though tegan's face was far too cutesy to ever be considered an adjective that paired with 'angry'. 

"bless you," tegan responded, then sniffed and waved his tail-- it was story time. 

"so there's this cougar, right? mountain lion type creature, you know what i'm talkin' about. but he's like, kind of lame--" can't relate, "--cause he lives in like this wintery place with all these like snow white and grey cougars and-- you wouldn't believe it--" pause for dramatic effect, "--he wasn't grey. he didn't look like any of 'em-- looked like you, actually, all red and brown and stuff. everyone thought he was a total loser, had major loser points."

as far as useless baby cousins go, this one isn't bad. they'd all been pretty scrappy, ready to go fight, and she didn't blame 'em one bit -- she'd been the exact same way. though it had taken mother's kidnapping to wake up that side of her. sometimes she wonders what she'd have been like if mother'd never been taken by blackfeather -- would she have stayed the sort of airheaded naturalist puppy she'd been? just hanging out and looking at the stars? (furi likes stargazing, so maybe that wouldn't be so bad, either.)

anyway. little redhawk one starts a story about a cougar that .. had red fur like her. and - hey! "oh, yeah? i bet he was secretly way cool," she challenges, settling with her paws crossed as he talks.

tegan flashed her a toothy grin, tail wagging. "maybe, too bad you didn't take after him," he responded smoothly, plopping his own rump unto the snowy ground. haha burn! dumb dragon wolf didn't see it coming. tegan was a master of comeback, not a single wolf could ever get him down or out of his groove. 

"nah so listen, home boy sticks out, right? it's wintery and whatever and all these lions have this cool camouflage--" towhee taught him all about that, "--that blends them into the snow, except for that one cougar who just stands out like a sore thumb." then, out loud, tegan said "smh." 

he did a little hum, thinking about what direction he was going with this. ah, there he got it. "so after a particularly cold part of the year, suddenly, this big ole rock just came plummeting out of the sky. probably a star, but i'm not a damn naturalist so i dunno exactly, but-- space, rock, ground. boom."

ugh, this little kid has such a smart mouth! blix is not the sort that can keep up with clever quips -- she's not stupid but she is kind of a dumb jock. she makes a face but doesn't respond, letting him continue his little story or whatever. 

he talks about something falling out of the sky and she immediately thinks back to stargazing with furi, when the girl had insisted on stars falling. "stars can't fall," the gona scoffs, "and there aren't like, rocks in the sky, that's just dumb." (of course that she has no idea what she's talking about -- her specialty is plants not the sky -- has no bearing on her firm opinion that little redhawk one is full of shit in this moment.)

"hey, hey, ma'am," tegan said with a raised paw, "who's story is this?" how rude of her to interrupt and question his credibility like that, redhawk wolves were much nicer in that regard-- towhee neeeeever interrupted him. besides, he'd seen a shooting star before-- so he knew this was legit. cause... where else did they go? he wouldn't humor blixen with that. 

"but so the rock hits the earth, and all of a sudden the weather just changes. all this snowy shit just melts, and all of a sudden all those dope ass snow cougars just don't blend in anymore, and like, that shits baaaaaad. cause now all the black bears-- who like used to have a disadvantage from standing out or whatever, have the upper hand! and they invade the cougars territory."

stars cant fall! blixen refuses to buy it. she scoffs at the boy but ceases her interruptions, her brows creased as she listens to the next part with a dubious expression. but really, he's testing the limits of her ... it's just a dumb story! "a rock made the weather change?" the gona snorts before she can help herself, then mutters "sorry" hastily lest little redhawk one start scolding her again.

SORRY this is so far back in my thread log i forget about it ): we can wrap up whenever! tegan's about done!

"yeah, hit the ground, big rock, ground, boom, boom is so massive the earth just gets hot. were you listening?" stupid dragon wolf, you'd think with such a cool pack name you'd be able to keep up better? smh, thought tegan. "i don't make the rules," he added with a big shrug, "i'm just repeating the story that's all."

"but so these bears attack, and all the cougars are standing out. it's frickin' nuts, cougars are dying left and right, blood e v e r y w h e r e, but that one cougar is safe cause like? ya know, camo and all that. and so he escapes! and runs far far away where he finds a pack of cougars that look just like him! and it's crazy cause none of them are assholes to him about bein' different cause, ya know, they're the same. and he lived happily ever after." 

he thought for a moment, lips pursed. and then, in a matter-o-fact tone and a quick nod, he added, "the end."

although she still finds the entire story unbelievable at this point blixen keeps her mouth shut, not wanting to be scolded again by her baby cousin. 

but the ending leaves much to be desired. "that's it? a big space rock kills them -- which totally doesnt happen -- and then happily ever after?" the redhead scowls, unimpressed -- but well, hey, she's not depressed about being stranded out here all alone anymore. sighing, she bops the boy with her snout and says, "thanks, little redhawk one," before picking herself up to do one final patrol and then sleep.