Hoshor Plains my reputation's kinda clouded with dirt

the doe she's tracking is obviously unnerved, as is she. the rest of the herd is scattered. almost a week of attempting to scope them out is wasted, now, and the steadily increasing quakes can not be ignored. the fire at dawnlark had had no warning signs, but its effect had been disastrous. she can only imagine whatever these shifts in the earth are leading to, though she has no doubts that it will wreak more havoc than the fire. the prey is reacting, and so should they, but without any idea of what is to come, she does not know what advice to offer Ira and Evergreen. 

the doe begins an odd zig-zagging pattern across the open plain, as if attempting to flee from the minute shifts in the earth that have only just begun again. of course, with no concrete threat to flee from, or instinct instructing where to flee too, the motions of the doe are unsure. she crouches low among the grasses, watching it go and waiting for the movements to subside before deciding on a course of action. 

@Nightstar!

Things seemed to grow more and more uncanny the longer he was awake; the ground was coming alive under his paws. He'd withdrawn himself from the woods to try and decide if it was his imagination or not. (Could he imagine something like this on his own?) The prey seemed to be acting strangely, but that could be all in his head as well. Perhaps he simply didn't know the way that things were supposed to act anymore -- he couldn't figure out how he was supposed to act, at least.

He came out of the brush and stood in the path of a zig-zagging doe. She was headed straight for him, and he stood stock-still for a moment, wondering if she might simply pass through him like a ghost. But she avoided him at the last moment, a frightened bleat escaping her as she turned away.

Nightstar stood blinking in the open, a rather stupid look on his face. He was tired, but he was afraid that if he closed his eyes for too long, time would get away from him once more. Besides, every time he blinked he saw flashes of the pale stranger he'd dreamed about, and there was a frightened and frightening voice in his head that kept begging him to return to her, she must be worried about him, the kids...

But it was only a dream. He was needed here, wasn't he? Except what use was he to anyone if he still wasn't sure whether he was awake or asleep?

she followed the deer's trail, until quite suddenly it almost collided with a stranger. she rises, watching as the doe bleats and changes direction abruptly. more interesting than the rapidly repeating hind of the doe, is the reaction of the dark male, or rather the lack of it. her brow furrows as she takes in the empty expression painted across her face, and some part of her curses him for not reacting in some way. however unlikely, she was half-hoping to make a hunt of it. 


she chuffs out towards him as she makes to close the distance, the dry grasses catching in her pelt as she pushes through them. "you alright?" he looks like he'd just woken up, or perhaps sustained some kind of traumatic head injury. he appears to be in good health, outwardly, and she offers him a quick once over.

The doe was gone, her scent quickly dispersed by the warm, dry breeze. Now a different shape was gliding toward him through the tall grasses, and Nightstar found himself just as uncertain about whether or not she was real. She spoke to him, at least, and he was so relieved that, for a moment, he forgot to respond.

"I — yes," he hurried to say when he realized he'd just been watching her come closer with an increasingly apprehensive look on his face. He wiped that away now and tried for polite interest, succeeding only in broadcasting an aura of tired uncertainty "Do you feel the ground shaking?" he asked abruptly. He couldn't risk anyone in Blackfeather thinking he was nuts, but he decided it was okay if a stranger who might actually be his imaginary friend thought he was nuts. "Because things have been strange for a while, now, and I don't know if it's all in my head."

Wasn't that a relief to get off his chest?

he doesn't exactly look it, but she accepts the answer without probing further. she's a stranger, and he's unlikely to tell her even if he isn't. he appears apprehensive, and she stops where she is, tail wafting at her hocks in a small attempt to put his wariness at ease. 

his next question is a little surprising, and she blinks, hesitating a moment before offering a reply. when he elaborates, she's sympathetic, if not a little put-off. but on this topic, at least, she can offer reassurance. "it's definitely rumbling, or shaking, or whatever you want to call it." she glances down, as if expecting it to do so again. "wish I knew why." 

his scent is entwined with that of others, so he can't be without a pack. despite herself, she echoes, "strange?" it'll be good to ensure he isn't a maniac or anything of the sort, before moving forward with the conversation. she hopes he's referencing only the ground, but if he's seeing ghosts or anything of the sort, she'll tread a little more carefully.

Well, that was — not quite a relief. The ground was shaking, after all, and that would never be a relief. But at least he knew now to be worried about it, and that he could and definitely should talk to people about it. To not to would be suspicous.

"It must be the mountains," Nightstar replied without thinking. He wasn't sure why he thought this — just that when he looked around, everything was flat and still and then wham, there were some big rocks jutting out from the ground. "I just mean," he hurried to explain, realizing what a non sequitur this must have seemed, "if there's something going on with the ground, that's the first place I'd look. Everything here's flat and still, and mountains look a little more..."

Okay, no. That probably wasn't a lead anyone should follow. "I wish I knew, too," he concluded, admitting defeat.

Her question startled him, somehow. He thought for a moment about confiding a little further in the woman — but he didn't even know her name, and she probably had enough on her mind. Besides, he wasn't entirely sure it wouldn't get back to his pack. Somehow. "It's probably just the shaking," he said after a moment of awkward uncertainty. "It seems like a bad dream. I keep thinking I should wake up — but then I don't."