Blacktail Deer Plateau Poppied Up

@Grayday and or @Dawn. Maybe @Shale. Set after this thread Would tag Anatha but shared player.

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It was a longer then usual walk back to the territory. Pema had been walking along side and guilding Anatha back to Morningside. Pema didn't know her name or what had happened to her, but she was very frightened with minor injuries. She hadn't said much and only really expressed her desire for Shale to stay away from her. 

Along the way Pema had been walking against her side. She had a tendency to lean over, a likely symptom of eating those poppy seeds Pema had given her to relax her a bit. When they reached the border Pema called out for Grayday and or Dawn. She told Anatha that, "You can rest here." while she waited for at least one of them to arrive. Pema was a leader as well but she wanted more opinions on the matter. It was after all very unique and unusual.

Pema's instructions were followed without word, the girl resting back on her haunches, shoulders hunched and gaze riveted to the ground before her. Her forelimbs were drawn together, her tail still curled tightly around her backside. She was motionless, waiting, for what she did not know. Her gaze moved once to the woman, staying on her for a moment before slipping back to the ground, tracing the outlines of a weed half poking through the snow.

The male knew at once that something was going on. Pema wouldn't stand at the borders and call for him if she was just coming home after a short trip, or even if she'd brought along a friend or a joiner. There must be something she wasn't sure about - but at least she didn't sound frightened. Still, Grayday made haste to the borders, sending the kids back the way they'd come when they tried to follow along.

"Pema," he greeted when he reached the borders. She smelled strongly of Shale and one other, namless wolf, and faintly of healing herbs. "Who've you brought?" he asked, his head turning blindling toward the scent of the other. He'd not noticed her at first, but as the breeze shifted, he realized they were not alone. Here was the wolf whose scent she carried, and in the girl's scent, the male detected fear, blood, sex. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end at this combination, but his body language remained largely docile.

only post

He had kept well clear of Pema and the girl on their return to the plateau, a silver shadow in the distance. He closed the gap just a little when they reached the border, and Pema called for Grayday and Dawn, but still remained many paces away from the duo. He watched the girl slump with exhaustion and from the intoxication of the poppies. He wished he'd taken some himself.

Pain, emotional torment, surged through him, making his body ache with the intensity of it all. He could hear his daughter's starved mewls, his wife's strangled cries, four of them, as each of their children had died. And layered above it all, the hazy stupor of poppies. He had given Lucy poppies, to ease her path into death.

Day appeared, looking quizzically at the scene. "I found her at the hot springs," Shale croaked, his voice barely audible above the wind. "She needs rest, and care. Pema treated her a bit." He fell silent, looking to Pema to say her own thoughts on the matter.

Grayday came to the border with haste making the wait much less intense. She looked back to Shale who had been following along. Offering him a smile that she ment to say Thanks. Both for following her back and for being willing to stick back a bit for the females sake.

When Day posed his question Pema's first responce way "Well... We're not really sure." After that Shale explained the situation a bit to which Pema nodded along to before continuing saying. "We don't know her name, or how she came about these wounds. She didn't say much other than something about a male wolf that was comming... Either to her pack or some other place. It wasn't clear. she said explaining the reason she was uncurtain and had acted for the audience of the other leaders. "But she does need time to recover." she stated finally. Giving the reason as to why she thought to bring her to Morningside in the first place.

Another male arrived, and she tensed, but did not move. Her gaze stilled, stopping its tracing of the weeds and falling to rest on the snow. The male spoke, and the female replied, words she listened to dully. It was a moment before she spoke, gaze creeping up to the man's chest and resting there a moment as she murmured, "anatha." She ought to speak, attempt to secure a place here to rest, recover, and think, but she could not pull the words out of her throat.

Grayday's ears flicked back. He felt distinctly unsettled by Shale's subdued manner, as well as by the state of the girl. Anatha, she'd said. Of course, there was no amount of unsettled that would cause him to refuse a young girl succor, and he gestured for Pema to bring her along, not wanting her scent to lay too heavily on his borders. Not if there was someone looking for her.

"Take her to the Door," he instructed, not wanting her at the rendezvous site, where the kids would bother her. "When she's settled, come and see me."

For the moment, he set off after Shale, wanting to get his brother's take on the situation.

Sorry! Exiting Grayday. Em, do you mind if Shale tells him what he knows behind the scenes? Or we can thread. Up to you.

Oops, Sorry. Forgot Shale was only posting once.

She nodded along with what Day said, happy that she had choosen to ask for another persons opinion. She might not have thought about the Door on her own. "Come on." she said grudgingly as she helped lift the girl back onto her feet. "It's over this way." she said leading the way to the Door where she could get some much needed rest. She would talk to Day and then check in on her in the next day or so. Making sure that she knew not to venture too far off and to keep away from the rendozvous site for the time being. There was still alot about her that they didn't know, but a name was a good start.

Feel free to fade after me.