Verdant Basin the stray

out beyond the woodland and into open terrain, the ghoul traveled with her head held low to the earth and her eyes sweeping in search of any who should approach her without warning. every so often, she would pause in her trek and draw her crown upward to gaze back in the direction that she had traveled from. the further that she extended herself into open territory, the more fearful she was of finding herself in the company of someone that she did not wish to be around.
 
still, lucy pressed forward, and her eyes were set on the glade that stood in the distance. she hoped that she could reach the trees before nightfall so that she could spend the night beneath the boughs of the protective and looming giants. winter was so cruel, and she did not think that she could endure it for much longer on her own.

Familiarizing himself with the general area surrounding the Copse in the hinterlands after marking the borders brought Fluke wandering a bit further than he had before, trailing along the edges of the plateau and through a glade until the wilderness stretched before him, reaching all the way toward mountains that seemed to string along the Southwest, disappearing at one end near the ocean and at the other off into the white-covered wilderness. He had no idea that there were other packs further South, but seemed to enjoy the fact that there was a good enough deal of space between them and any other packs. Not that it would matter much, anyway- the Firebirds had the Redhawks, and the same vice versa. He felt confident that should any other packs challenge them for hunting ground rights that they would come out on top. 

Normally he reacted to the presence of another wolf with an eager sort of surprise or interest- but something about the dark female he saw in the distance stopped him in his tracks. There wasn't much to her- she was a fair slip of a wolf with a determined yet fearful look to her gaze as she made her way toward the glade where he stood slightly in the shadows. He drew forward slightly, lowering his head respectfully and allowing his thick, bushy tail to wave between his hocks, so that his posture would affirm the fact that he meant no harm. A small thing like her would be able to outrun him in almost any scenario anyway, what with his bulk and lack of trained muscle slowing him down. He woofed to her softly, hoping that his presence wouldn't stop her, and that he hadn't simply ruined her day just by being there.

thanks for joining <3

the sound of a masculine woof sounded from behind her, and her first reaction was to clamp her stump of a tail tightly to her rear. the girl’s gaze widened as she turned to head to peer over her shoulder. at first, the image of the dark man was enough to make her feel as though the wind had been sucked from her lungs. she was reminded of him, and she writhed beneath the gaze of the brute before she was able to calm herself down and recognize that the dark male was a stranger. lucy had never seen him before, at least as far as she could remember. the wavering of his tail was a sign that he was attempting to be friendly to the girl.
 
she was filled with a violent distrust of all men, but she did what she could to not flee. with all her strength, the ghoul focused on her task and straightened her hunched frame so that she did not appear quite as neglected. then, her cosmic blue gaze searched the features of the male for any signs of danger before she offered a tentative wag of her stubbed tail in return. “h-hello,” the dark shadow offered him in a voice that sounded like the desperate fluttering of a moth’s wings.

Oh, I've been a-waiting for a Lucy thread for like...A year, heh <3

As soon as she turned to see him, and winced, Fluke cowered apologetically in response, though his fluffy tail continued to sweep from side to side in a hopeful, friendly gesture. What he hadn't noticed before was the fact that she didn't have a tail- not much of one, anyway. Instinctively, though, she'd made as though to tuck it, and that made Fluke's heart sink a bit, to know that her first reaction to meeting a stranger was to cower. It reminded Fluke of how he'd seen other wolves behave when his nomadic birth pack had taken control of their lands or their freshly made kills. He hadn't just surprised her, he'd triggered her. 

Still, she seemed to recover, and he hoped that perhaps she'd just been startled- it was hard to tell, with the brave face she put on, that did everything to cheer Fluke up. He was quick to want to believe that everything was OK, and gave her a warm smile when she spoke. "Hi!" He greeted, with a soft but enthusiastic voice. "I'm Fluke; I live with the Firebirds, in the Copse," He said, gesturing through the woodlands that would lead back toward his new home. "Sorry if I startled you, there," He said, lowering his head apologetically, flicking his ears forward in hopes that he would easily be forgiven.

<33

his voice was warm and charming in way that wasn't overbearing. he spoke with eagerness that she hadn't heard in a long time, but it wasn't enough to overwhelm her into shrinking away. there was a genuine gentleness to his words and his actions. though she wanted to trust him, she knew better than to be won over by the sweet words of someone. after all, the dark man who had attacked her had been kind to begin with too. he had changed quickly, but he had been kind... she hated to think of him, and so the dark shadow forced the image of his haunting yellow eyes from her mind.

“fluke?” she repeated his name in a soft voice. it was cute, she thought. it would have made a perfect name for a young pup. she didn't dare admit this out loud, but she did offer him a weak smile. “i like that.” it was then that she realized that the man spoke of many things that didn't really make much sense to her. there were words that she didn't recognize, or couldn't piece together, but she assumed that he belonged to a forming pack.

“what's a firebird?” lucy inquired with a slight cant of her skull. she did not want to recognize that he had indeed startled her when he had first appeared. more than that, she did not want to show weakness in a world where she knew it was so easily taken advantage of.

He smiled gently when she complimented his name. "Thanks. It's actually Finbar Finchley. But my family gave me the name 'Fluke' because they thought I was lucky." In reality, the nickname had come from a series of events which had ended up in Fluke's favour- but his brothers and family hadn't believed that he was actually capable of performing whatever task he'd done, and brushed it all off on chance, rather than capability. He, though, preferred to think it was a compliment, and took to his nickname proudly. He was about to ask her what her name was when she asked a question that made him brighten up considerably. 

"Right?!" He asked loudly, and then laughed, a full, round belly laugh. "I asked Wifi the same thing when I met her! She's the alpha. I thought they were like...Cardinals, or that there were actually real, firey birds around," He said, and gave her a fond grin. He liked this girl- he liked anyone who asked the same questions he did. "It's the name of the pack Wifi runs; sort of like a sister-pack to the Redhawks, who live over on the plateau. Except the redhawks really do have a tame redhawk," He said, fawning audibly over what he considered to be Towhee's pet hawk. "I think they were a bit crowded over there, so a bunch of them split off to live in the woods, but still close by." He said. He gestured. "I could show you, if you'd like? Maybe we'll see a cardinal while we're there," He teased, hoping she'd join him for the walk.