Cassiopeia's View it's not as depressing as it sounds

The trio had covered a considerable amount of distance, falling into the company of many peculiar individuals. They all occupied a portion of his mind, keeping him company as he pulled away from his travelling companions that were beginning to doze off. In the forefront of his, that evening was the woman with the pelt woven with starlight; her eyes ignited with the intensity of the setting sun: Liffey. He had thought about her a great deal since their last meeting, savouring the foreign feeling that she had given him. 

His mind regressed into a simpler pace as his paws carried him gingerly through the vegetation. He had very little said in where he went; it was a though his body had been put into autopilot and allowed himself to succumb to this, not giving it much thought. Instead, he kept his eyes on the darkened road ahead. Despite the fact that he was growing increasingly drowsy, he continued, his body bringing him unknowingly closer to the place where he had met Liffey.

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She was lost.
The winter had turned into Spring, and yet, she was still unable to find her bearings. Every turn seemed like the right turn but the wrong way altogether, and as each day passes, she retreated further and further into herself. At night, she laid within her abandoned fox den and recalled the names of her family, the family that left her behind. Mama, Bramble, Hawthorn, Kieran, Rose, Bramble. The death of her twin could not be forgotten, and yet, she refuseed to become what she witnessed Hawthorn be. Utterly broken. They were gone, but she was still alive, for now. The girl had barely been living off the scraps of what others left behind. Carcasses, the remenants of birds and small prey. There had been a stranger not too far from her saty, who had come to feed her once and a while, but he too had disapeered. The girl was alone once more. That was, until the boy came swaggering by.

The heavy footfalls of the tank of a boy startled her from her sleep, as beneath him did the twigs snap and the ground crunch, and she poked her nose out of her hole in the ground, eyes peering towards the burly boy as he approached her place of hiding. Tulip, who had only ever been around such large wolves in the presence of her mother, had little idea as to how she was supposed to react. He would come by and smell her scent, no doubt. It was only a matter of time, and as his tracks grew louder did her heart beat faster. She needed to get out. Scrammbling to free herself from the hole in which she had been stuffing herself within the last few weeks was no easy feat, for on the regular, it took a ddecent amount of time to angle her feet right and use the right amount of leverage to hoist herself out. But in the threat of discovery did the process slip her mind and she found herself with one leg out in the air and her hind quarters stuck within the den; a futile position to be in when you had everything to fear. She let out a yelp, instincively, tears brimming in her eyes as the threat of defeat loomed in. The girl was a mess, and utterly heartbroken; it seemed only fate that he'd come along.

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There were times in which Rannoch did not fully realise his side. When he thought that he was walking lightly, somehow, he still managed to make a ruckus. He only did understand this as a sudden commotion occurred underpaw and he paused, looking to the floor with a frown as his eyes fell upon the broken twigs. Having been alone for so long, Rannoch knew how stealth could work to his advantage, and he was less than pleased that he had managed to make such noise. But he didn't have long to dwell on this as a startled yelp drew his attention from his (literal) misstep and towards a nearby cave. 

Perking at the sudden cry, Rannoch found the struggling girl quickly and tensed at the situation he found himself in the middle of. She was a sweet-looking girl; delicate with the grace of youth that he had shed months before. With the assumption that he had made in regards to her age, he felt a swift kick parental inclination to his gut; a strange and foreign feeling for the young adult. 

Despite the oddity that was this urge, Rannoch listened to it. Driving himself closer to her. "Can, I, uh, help you get out?" He asked awkwardly, wagging his tail and lowering his ears as if to portray that he was to be trusted. If there was anything that Rian had taught him, it was that discretion a necessity when it came to new wolves. Though she appeared helpless, Rannoch would remain guarded in case that wasn't the entire truth.

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tears slipped past her lids then, and she trembled as might a leaf caught in a gale. she lurched against the earth again, but it held her fast. what consternation was this! the brute moved closer, and she shrunk back; perhaps she could slip back from where she had come and hide beneath the earth until the brute moved away from her sanctuary. but such actions proved futile, for in her lurch she had only succeeded in trapping herself further. utter dismay was painted on her face when the male came into view, and she quivered, heart beating against her chest in panic. 

then he halted but a short distance away, and her gaze squeezed shut, expecting some horror that she could not comprehend and unwilling to face it. she peered through clenched lids when none immediately came, instead words, broken and awkward, yet offering help.

"No," She instantly snaps, fear coursing through her veins as her tiny optics size in on the size of his paws, whom of she is sure were big enough to smother her entire face. Her fear of such wolves sprouted purely for her inability to stand up for herself in such situations; she had not had the need before. But, he had a kind face, kind eyes, she realised as her gaze drifted upwards. Despite the size he held, there seemed little inclination that he meant her ill will, despite being the very thing that caused her such a fright. from betwixt her lips slipped a wavering, "um...yes"  she blinked, shapes made wavering by the tears that had gathered over blue orbs. ears pinioned to her skull, tail tucked close over the hindquarters, she offered but a shivering nod, watching the brute with huge blue optics, not quite recovered from her shock.  

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He wondered what have possibly driven the other to tears. With a quick glance around them, Rannoch searched for any indication of the cause of her squalling, but he found nothing. He returned his attention to her as he was granted permission to assist. Advancing, Rannoch came to realize how distraught she was and he became increasingly concerned for her well-being. 

"This might hurt a little," forewarned Rannoch once he was standing over her, a smile surfacing in an attempt to calm her. "But, I'm going to get you out of here." This may have been a tall order considering he had no idea how fastened she was in the divot, but, he didn't take such matters into account. Lowering his head so that he could grab her scruff, Rannoch did just that. He felt as though he had given her enough warning and as such his lurched his head suddenly in an attempt to free her from where she had was confined. When she was not instantly released, he repeated the motions, his head jerking vigriously as he paid mind to how tightly he held on, not wanting to hurt her.

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He grips her in the trap of his jaws and pulls, his reassurances of her well-being was not enough to sate fear of beging swallowed whole. He tugs and he tugs, and she clamps her eyes shut. Try as she might, she is unable to block out the fear and the sensation of his teeth on her neck, so close to the pluse of a heartbeat that beats rapidly. Was this how her brother felt as his murderers tore into him? The question is brief, momentary as a massing wind but present as a stale residue within her mouth. And she screams. She screams and she screams, but unknowingly she is freed from the confines of the hole and his teeth no longer sit on her neck. The fact does not help her fear, and she wails. The fragile being is wholly alone, left to wander the wilds with only the memory of her beloveds. She exists purely in what was, but not what could ever be and she is alone. So alone.

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The heartbeats of the rescuer and the rescued seemed to beat in tandem as Rannoch worked on releasing her from the predicament that she had gotten herself into. He wanted to do everything in his power to avoid any injuries or discomfort to occur. Despite his careful manner of going about the rescue, the blue-eyed child was still shaken by what was going one. 

Once she was free, Rannoch let go and back peddled, feeling as though he had been the one to cause her to cry. His ears lowered at this thought, and he frowned, uncertain of how to approach her wailing. Despite some initial fumbling, the aspiring Alpha only felt it was right to apologize if he had hurt her. 

"Hey, I'm sorry if I hurt you," he began softly, his tail wagging slowly as he reached out to her. "But it's going to be okay, I promise." 

she stops screaming moments later, as his formerly brooding presence morphs into one that she feels undeniably safe around, and when he reaches out for her, she lets him. tear stained eyes look upwards, searching his with a hopeful disbelief that shows a vunderability that cannot be broken further. to do so would mean her downfall, for she cannot be let down again. "really?" her soft whisper of hesitance forces her to not truly believe what he speaks of, her life had been nothing but eternal bad luck and she cannot force herself to believe otherwise. after a while, it seemed a curse hovered above her that she could not shake free and she had accepted that; yet, now he tells her she will be okay. how is he to know of this? but she wants to believe him, and she wants to believe it is true. she searches his face, willing to see further truth written within and internally, she begs it to be so.

They way in which Tulip so quickly latched onto his promise gave the turquoise-eyed man an insight into just how broken she was. Though he had suspected something was amiss, he had not considered the gravity of her situation to be as wide-scaled as she was presenting it to be. Rannoch wanted nothing more than to help her in this time of need, to make those crocodile tears go away, and for a smile to return to her face. Though he wasn't sure what would make this happen, he proceeded in his ambitions delicately. 

"It will, and I will help you," replied Rannoch kindly, the gentle strum of his baritone low as he attempted to quell her worries. Teetering on the next topic, as Rannoch knew it might be too prying, he tried to approach it as carefully as he could. "Do you know anybody around here that might be looking for you?" She was young, and Rannoch assumed that there might be others looking for her. Knowing that this may have been too brash, Rannoch added quickly: "If you bothers you to tell me, please don't. I just want to see if I can help you."