Bramblepoint clandestine meetings & longing stares

Referencing the MSP calamity.

Something glinted in the sky which caught Ibis by surprise, and at first she thought it was a particularly shiny piece of snow, or maybe a bird returning to the area after the winter storms had died down. There came a distant rumbling and then the sky overtop the mountains darkened; all the while Ibis was roaming closer, completely fixated on the abrupt change taking place, transforming the sky from frosted, pallid, and ethereal to something much darker.

By the time she'd made her way from the fen to the edge of Lake Rodney, the calm had returned. There were tendrils of darkness clinging to the mountainside and trailing up in to the clouds, turning them stony and gray, which gave Ibis an ominous feeling she disliked greatly. She knew that turning around would be a safer bet — Lilitu would be wondering where she had gone, as would Wraen and any others — but the curiosity within Ibis was too strong.

She ducked among the conifers of the Bramblepoint for a moment to rest, keeping to the southern edge. There was no telling what lay in wait for her in this place; it had been ages since she'd traveled of her own volition and as freeing as it was to run and explore, she could not shake the feeling of doom that had crept across her with the rising clouds.

He had meant to return to Firefly Glen much earlier on account of Charles's offer, but he'd gotten sidetracked (as one does), and he'd gotten stuck in the snow, and then he'd simply forgotten for a little while. He couldn't say for sure what reminded him of the possible arrangement, but by the time he was on his way back, months had passed. He wondered if the offer was still open, assuming Charles had asked and gotten an answer.

Draper was near Firefly Glen when he saw the strange flash of light in the sky. It was no lightening strike, considering there was no cloud in the sky. It did come with an odd screeching sound, and it unsettled him. He sought shelter in a nearby forest, once again getting sidetracked from his mission to talk to Charles.

Oh, hey there, Draper said when he realized he wasn't alone.

Did you see that weird light?

Hopefully this wolf was one of the nice ones.

Watching the heavens gave Ibis an ache in her neck, but she wasn't ready to drop her stare just yet. She wasn't sure what she was looking for; there were plenty of trees blocking her view of the mountains but if she angled her attention a particular way, she could make out the shifting gray mass of clouds as they gathered and that - along with the sulfur smell in the air - worried her.

The approaching stranger wasn't so much ignored as overlooked; and when they spoke Ibis finally looked around herself to find the owner of the voice. At first she thought it was the ginger woman from her moonlight tryst and felt her face flush with warmth; her belly fluttered too, as if she had swallowed a little bird.

No, this wasn't Teya — this was a man. Distracted as she was by the goings-on overhead, Ibis failed to recognize a key factor of the stranger: they were a coyote, not a wolf. It was rare enough that she venture out of the fen, let alone meet a friendly face.

It was very bright, she said as a way to confirm with him. Yes, she'd seen it. I thought it was the sun rising, but it moved along the horizon rather than beyond it, and... well, the sun was up already. Yes, now that she thought about it, she'd left the fen in the very early morning and the flash had distracted her enough to lure her here.

That was no sunrise, he agreed. Whatever it was, it was unlike anything Draper had ever seen. Not that he claimed to have seen it all. He was still young (or at least in his prime), and there was plenty more in this world he did not know. What he did know right now was that he had no plans to return to Firefly Glen. It was much too close to whatever that light had been, and some deep innate fear would keep him away.

But hey, this lady seemed nice, so maybe he could pester her instead of Charles. And maybe Charles would show up in his life again someday.

I’m Draper, by the way. Are you from around here? he asked. She wasn’t chasing him off (yet), so he assumed it was cool to keep chatting.

That was no sunrise, the man — calling himself Draper — seemed less interested in the sky now that they were together beneath it, and Ibis could feel his eyes upon her.

There was a feeling in the pit of her belly that was familiar, a twinge of something she hadn't felt since before her girls were with her. She ignores it in favor of watching the sky and doing her best not to look at the man; thankful suddenly that there was a cataclysm on the horizon.

South. My family has claimed the fen. I am here because of that light, but... the weight of the disaster is slowly sinking in, her face creases in a frown. Those people on the mountain, they couldn't have survived whatever that light was. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Someone should help them.

Doing so would be at great personal risk, which was not something Ibis often took in to account when lending aid; but this time around she was lacking a daughter and a husband. She could not put herself at risk if it meant leaving her remaining daughter motherless.

Perhaps she could get a closer look before returning. Do you know this area well? She asks the man quickly, finally glancing his way.

The fen, eh? Draper felt a fleeting sense of protectiveness for his old home, but he reminded himself that it probably wasn't worth fighting over. If an entire pack of wolves had set up shop there, it was really his own fault that it had been lost to them. It wasn't as though he could have held them off if they'd wanted to take it. Still, he did feel a little bit sad that he couldn't come and go freely there any longer.

She mentioned more about the mountain, and Draper shuddered to think what might have happened to anybody who might have been there when it had happened. Those sounds were decidedly not good, and he had no intention of going anywhere near that place for a good long while.

I used to live at the fen, he admitted, so I know a little bit here and there. I travel around quite a bit just for kicks, so don't feel bad about takin' up residence there or anything. It's my own dang fault for being gone too long. Not that he expected she felt particularly bad about it.

Oh? Ibis was surprised; she had not seen any sign of life within the fen except for the various water birds in the distance, or the slowly growing caches when the group had taken it as their home; but by the point Ibis and her family had arrived there had already been a wolf presence, with her aunt Wraen taking the fen a few weeks prior. To be truthful Ibis hadn't thought about what the place had looked like before they'd moved in.

I didn't realize someone had been living there, she admitted, but kept the details to herself. I'm sure you would be welcome to live there again, if you wanted to. My family lives there and we're not... a small group, but... We have room if you would like a safe place to wait out the winter. He seemed like he could use a place to rest, somewhere to fill his belly. He was a very thin looking fellow.

Well, wasn't that something?! First Draper, now this complete stranger, offering to let him hang out with a whole wolf pack. He couldn't really bring himself to jump on the offer, though, figuring there was something nefarious about it. With Charles, at least, he'd had a little bit o' repertoire. He didn't even know this lady's name!

Oh that's, uh, nice of you, but I'm the solitary type. Draper didn't want to get involved unless there was a reason to, and he'd done alright on his own. Maybe if he met a nice lady, they could settle down together, but so far, that hadn't happened, so he was content to chill by himself until that day came along.

She was disheartened for only a moment. Lingering here would do her no good and Ibis knew that. She wanted to investigate and simultaneously escape from the flash of light and the strange smells in the air, but to do anything invited danger and Ibis was tired of putting herself at risk. She did not know what to do and chose instead to stagnate, keeping company with the man while they shared confusion over the sky.

It strikes her that she knows his name now and that she had failed to offer her own. It was a lapse in her mind and she wanted to remedy it, although he seemed amiable enough not to have noticed. Well if you change your mind and drop by, ask for me — for Ibis, I mean. I can vouch for you. Hey, there had to be some perks to her new position right? With a smile she ducked away from him and began to journey away, still unsure of which path to take — to help now, run and hide, or go home. As always, he path would lead her where she was needed most.

Fade?

Can do!

She gave her name, then sauntered away. Draper waved his paw as she left, glancing back up to the spot in the sky that had been lit up. It was unsettling, but he supposed it was nothing serious. And even if it was, what could he do about it? He could barely control his own life, let alone whatever was falling out the sky on any given day. He picked a direction and began to meander, eventually finding a spot to sleep the rest of the moonlight away.