Lost Creek Hollow what i've done

The past couple of days had been filled with plenty to get her mind rolling. Her sister was alive, for one thing. Deciding to join a pack, the next... and then there was meeting Riordan, who she had met after the attractive, swarthy Scimitar. Of all these things, none were quiet easy to come to terms with. Eshe was incredibly confused but for the first time, reflected on it. Typically she pushed her problems away for the next day, but, that next day never came. Eshe knew she couldn't let it all pile up... she had to think a little bit.

Absent of company, her mind was clear. There was no particular face that came to mind, but as she came upon a recent scent trail of his, she detected the handsome @Riordan nearby. Her heart skipped a beat and she thought to follow the trail idly... and then broke off of it as she thought of the day, and what the next day would entail. Maybe she would see @Scimitar if he came... he had said he would try.

With the two of them, nothing was really clear. She felt affection for the both of them. Eshe could not think of why, but when she thought of one or the other, she could hardly swallow or breathe, and she felt all sorts of warm and fuzzy... Her feelings didn't make much sense. Hell, she couldn't identify them. All she knew was she wanted to see them again, more than anything else in the world. One was a near-guarantee, they lived together after all. The other she had a fifty-fifty shot... and she thought of the time she had seen him last, three days ago, and how she had felt with him.

Eshe was supposed to go to the Moors tomorrow. And if he did not show up, okay, there was her sign. Fate, destiny, whatever it was called... she would just know. For all the bad that had happened in her life, the world presented her with a choice to make. A choice of where her next life would begin, and, who would be beside her in it? Obviously her sister... and she had already decreed loyalty to the pack here and nothing could deter her from that—

Unless, of course, the Verdant leader asked her to join him and stand at his side. Man-and-wife. Sudden and quick and a whirlwind...

She was being stupid. So, so stupid. She figured that when she got to the end of the road these choices wouldn't be her own after all. Eshe plopped down into the center of the forest, resting her head over her paws and trying to empty her thoughts of all things real and imagined. It was all idiotic. Scimitar likely had no real affection for her; it was probably her own mind working up his feelings for her. And Rio? That handsome, dashing foreigner...

The Endore tried to think of her sisters words. But it did little to stop her hammering heart from bludgeoning her rationale, anyway.

leaps at the chance for another eshe thread hue hue hue hue hue. also wanna discover an internal territory???

The pack hadn't been settled for very long, but already Riordan was getting the lay of the land. He was happily picking through the forest and creating some wide natural paths, thanks to his bulk, while also seeking something more interesting in the process. The hollow was beautiful, but it was boring - there, he'd thought it plainly enough. And for Rio, boring just wouldn't cut it. Being a wanderer was hard, but it was rewarding too - in the sense that, you never knew what each day would bring. The same logic could be applied to pack life, except as the wolves became further ingrained within the territory, they would all adapt and the enticing strangeness of the foreign soil would drain away.

So he was exploring. Dredging through the thicker patches of forest, sniffing around the base of strange looking trees, finding bizarre animal scents he had never encountered before - namely a badger hole, but he had no idea what a badger was, only that it smelled strange and new and amazing - and, apparently, getting himself nice and lost in the creek lands. When he heard something moving behind him, Riordan crouched as far down as his burly body allowed him, and waited. He tried to get a good look at whatever was moving - maybe it was a deer, or the weird thing he had smelled in the abandoned hole?

When the thing got close enough he leapt out to greet it - fur spiking softly along his scruff, while his head was low and protective over his throat. He was preparing a super manly roar (teeth bared and all) when he realized he had leapt right in front of Eshe. "Oh -" he murmured, sliding his lips back over his great big badass teeth, "- sorry! I thought you were... I dunnae, something else."

(Well she was something else, but in a different sense.)

I'm sorry, I had to.

Bhreac was putting concentrated effort into spending time away from her sister. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with Eshe, or that she couldn't find other ways to occupy herself, but she was still getting used to dealing with wolves she didn't know inside and out. There was danger there, and Eshe was safe, and familiar, and she'd missed her. The thread of anxiety she felt whenever she was terribly far from her sister, lately, though made her wary of giving into that impulse too much. She didn't want to close herself off to others, nor shut herself away from the possibility of truly starting over.

Eshe seemed to find it easy to grow find of new acquaintances — Bhreac could barely bring herself to admit that she liked somebody as a friend. And though she envied her sister's openness, it worried her, too. She was about to head out on her own for some more exploration of the area, though, when she crossed near enough to catch her sister's scent nearby — and then Riordan's. After Eshe's blushing not-nearly confessions the other day, despite the fact that Bhreac liked Riordan quite a bit, she felt instantly protective, and wary.

Sighing, she headed toward them, and caught the tail end of the interaction — Riordan leaping out at her sister, teeth bared. Startled, Bhreac hurried to Eshe's aid, but by the time she arrived at Eshe's side, butting up against her shoulder, it became clear it was a misunderstanding.

"I was going to defend you from this great beast," Bhreac said, squinting, "but I think he's all bark and no bite."

*rubs hands together*

All tells of an approaching wolf were missed by Eshe who dwelt in her own head. Trying to empty it was proving difficult and that was the very moment Riordan sprang into her head—

Oh, no, not into, he was actually there! Eshe reeled backward, surprised by his entrance, but there was a moment when it became clear she might roar right back as she put herself together. Eshe didn't like being scared to death, which she wrongly believed she nearly had been. But instead of an angry roar, as he apologized, the roar that came from her was one of laughter, relief sprinkled in its song.

"I thought you were a bear," He certainly was the size of one, wasn't he? Eshe imagined he had the strength of one, too. But while he hadn't roared like one, it was only in appearance, gaping jaws and hungry eyes. She liked those eyes. "Your turn, what'd you think I was?" Her tail waved as she righted herself, forgetting any and all thoughts of tomorrow as she thought of today, and now, and Riordan.

Oh, sh-Bhreac? Her head turned and Eshe looked her over for a moment. Pretty, beautiful Bhreac. How simple and small she felt beside the pale-of-fur woman, one of a kind in this place. "I didn't hear a bark," she valiantly defended, shifted to nip at her sisters face gently. Eshe tried to swallow her insecurity, but there it lingered.

Landing before her, Riordan felt a great swell of guilt when he saw Eshe's reaction; but it did abate, gradually, and he was ready to continue with his apology - but then there was another figure, pale and quick, which charged out in Eshe's defense. In this tense moment all Rio could think was, look out!

In the end, he recognized the pale woman from before. It surprised him to see Bhreac - and apparently surprised Eshe as well, but a minute later she was chiding the other wolf in a half-friendly, half-gruff way. Riordan was perplexed at first, and sank to his butt, confusion slipping across his round face and lingering a bit too long.

Then, ding!

"I didn't know Bhreac was your sister, Eshe!" But that had to be it. Bhreac had mentioned following her sister this way, and they were interacting as if they had some kind of familial bond - unless they were lesbians together, the only thing he could think was, siblings! Which... Now that he thought about it... Made his stomach feel odd and twisty. To try and remedy this, Riordan focused on Eshe for a moment.

"I'm so sorry. I've been lookin' around here all day, and I thought you were something new. You kinda spooked me," he let out a snicker at this - the big, strong Dash being afraid of a little girl! "Do you want to help me look around?" He asked next, flashing a smile at both of the ladies; they may as well get used to working together.

The moment after she'd automatically darted out in her sister's defense, it immediately set in how weird this was. She knew Eshe liked Riordan embarrassingly much, but Riordan didn't know, and despite a lack of some social graces, she was aware that hollering it to the unsuspecting male would probably not be copacetic. On top of that, she was very nervous about this whole situation — she didn't want Eshe to get hurt. She didn't want anybody who wasn't one hundred percent worthy of her sister's trust and affection to receive and ounce of it. Riordan seemed lovely, but then, she'd learned in the time she'd spent with the pack that had attacked her family, many of them seemed lovely when their teeth weren't bared, too.

Nipping her sister back, Bhreac turned to Riordan to watch their relation dawn on him. She wagged her tail a bit at the invitation to have a look around, unaware of her sister's insecurity — though perhaps that was part of the cause — because though the whole situation made her feel slightly uneasy, she liked the prospect of chaperoning. Not that either Riordan nor Eshe knew that's what she was doing. Well... Eshe might realize. But still.

"What're we lookin' for?" Bhreac asked, ever practical. Knocking her shoulder into her sister's playfully, Bhreac peeled off to the side, taking a few steps and pausing to look back at her newly appointed travel companions for them to come along. As a chaperone, she couldn't possibly leave them alone behind her — and then, of course, there was the niggling but growing desire for attention herself, and a vague sense of displeasure at the thought of Riordan and Eshe pairing off and leaving her on her own. Neither half of that equation made her feel particularly thrilled, but she tried to tamp down on it as best she could.

When it connected, Eshe, too, grinned. She hadn't mentioned anything about having a sister ever, but it was relatively obvious, and not only that, Bhreac had mentioned it, probably, at some point. It wasn't easy to tell off the bat, one white and one tawny, but they had similar eyes, neither adopting the familial green or icy-blue... among other bright colors. Her sister nipped her in turn, and Eshe sneezed loudly. She pawed at her nose before moving to place her paw right over the face of Bhreac. A side-eye was all that was offered in way of explaining that. Her sister knew why. And ideally, Riordan would chalk it up to sisterly love.

At the invitation, though, Eshe wagged her tail and stepped toward him. Oh, awkward, too close perhaps. She stepped aside and around him, as Bhreac began to drift ahead. Yes, that way. She moved beside the tawny Irishman now, and at her sisters question, Eshe tilted her head and grinned at Riordan. Smitten kitten, indeed. "Something new?" Before she internally shook her own shoulders and moved to nip at her sisters hindquarter to spur her into moving away quicker.

Now that he knew, it was easy to tell that the two women were related. The way they struggled with one another (not quite fighting, not quite making up) was familiar, and Riordan basked in their presence. It was just like he had never left home at all, and he quite liked the feeling. He let out a little snrk as Eshe planted a soggy paw upon Bhreac's face, but then he was a bit more serious as she launched herself to her paws and took the lead. 

"Not sure really," he announced in response to Bhreac's question, "There's a lot in the hollow I've never seen a'fore, or smelled." But maybe they were things that Bhreac or Eshe could identify? "Are either of you very -" Eshe pulled ahead and nipped at her sister, and Rio watched with a bit of chagrin, "-skilled with plants an' herbs?"

Back at home, he had been taught some basics. It wasn't his cup of tea though, being an outrider at heart, and ultimately too carefree at the time to adhere to the guidelines. "Or maybe you wannae chase somethin'?" he looked to Eshe then, reminded of their introduction to one another.

never 4get cow wolf

Oh, this was a terrible situation, Bhreac realized as Eshe sidled up beside Riordan and nipped her flank, as if to tell her to hurry along. It wasn't just the difficulty of not wanting her sister to get involved with somebody she barely knew anymore — Eshe's urging, as though she wanted to be rid of Bhreac and just plod along with her new friend made Bhreac feel somewhat rejected, and consequently a bit competitive. 

Bhreac started to move again, but was careful to make sure Eshe's shoulder never fell behind her stomach. She wanted to chaperone, but she wasn't going to be a silent participant in Eshe's fantasy date, which she didn't even approve of. Not that she didn't approve. And not that she felt inspired to compete for Riordan's affections. Not that she didn't. Bhreac huffed a quiet sigh — life had been much easier when they only had cousins to talk to.

"Depends what you mean by talented," Bhreac said. "I know not to eat strange berries, or mushrooms. There endeth my knowledge, however." Unaware that the offer to chase something was a reference to an event to which Bhreac was not privy, but noting that the question was directed at her sister, Bhreac fell silent.

Eshe knew not at all of what her sister thought, and so played the part of the drifter. She moved first to her sister, shoulder to shoulder, before slowing to get Riordan to move alongside her, not wanting him to feel the odd one out. It didn't occur to her she might make her own sister feel that way, truth be told; she was blind to that very idea, because she could never get enough of her sister. Although in this situation, she would have preferred the one-on-one time, if only because her sister was privy to knowledge that wasn't even true...

But as Riordan mentioned the day they had shared together, Eshe smiled and knew, yes, it's true. "I know as much as she does," she admitted, frowning. Like him, it hadn't been her cup of tea, but she was interested in it to some degree. Eshe was better suited for sending out messages when it needed to be done. As far as chasing something went, she humored hunting Bhreac with him... only to steal off with him, but, thought better of it. She didn't want to run from her sister quite yet... but if she could read minds, she might have.

"'m always down for a good chase," she offered, her ears swiveling in the direction of her sister.

So they were all on-par when it came to plants and such, and that was fine. Riordan knew that Eshe was quick on her feet and that Bhreac could swim like a salmon; with these two as his companions, he believed they could conquer anything that lay in their path. Except that Rio couldn't think of anything they could do. Then, he remembered the burrows.

"I found some weird holes before," he paused in his walking, looking back from where he had hidden away before the kerfuffle. "I have no idea what could be usin' them as a home, but it smells like... Hm," like rabbit, but also like mouse, definitely bigger than both. "I dunno that either. But its gotta be as big as a fox, maybe bigger, and I bet it'd be fun to chase it down." That, and it would make the territory safer, probably. Anything bigger than a fox was likely another predator.

Before waiting for confirmation on the plan, Riordan began to move. He backtracked to where he had been hidden, then backtracked some more - it was only a few feet away, made out of the roots of a big old tree. He sniffed at the hole's entrance and then stepped back, looking for either of the girls. "This, here. I dunnae what could live in there."

Riordan quickly figured out something they could pursue, which was good, because the alternative was Eshe blushing, Bhreac bristling, and Riordan being oblivious to the whole thing, which was less of a fun time with friends and more of a farce. Tail wagging, Bhreac followed along to investigate the holes, sniffing around the edges. It wasn't anything she recognized off the cuff, and the holes were certainly too big to belong to mice, which would've been her guess.

"Giant snake," she suggested, mostly kidding, but then, these were strange lands, so who knew. "Very, very fat rabbit." She delivered the suggestions seriously, but though her nose was to the ground she was smiling slightly as she circled the big, gnarled tree, pausing only to blunder into her sister playfully when she passed her. About a foot from the edge of one of the holes was a small tuft of fur. It looked grey, but given how small it was and variances in lighting, it was hard to say. Popping her head up from the ground and wagging her tail, she offered a final suggestion: "wolves who got tired of how fucking hot it is in the summer and moved underground."

Eshe threw a look to her sister as Riordan mentioned seeing a place of interest. But then she remembered that Bhreac was as new as she herself... how could she know? They were lead to the place and when they arrived, Eshe stood beside the tawny male. As he withdrew from sniffing at it, and her sister kept at it, Eshe joined in, tail swishing as her sister came up with all of her theories. Eshe had a theory of her own.

"A hybrid of a rabbit, wolf, and snake." She wiggled her brows, but her snout could not identify whatever may or may not rest in the earthy hole. Still, she would try to sniff it out. "Do we dig?" She looked to Riordan, wondering if he had more experience in forest settings and the critters that inhabited the land. The Dry Canyon offered no exposure at all to animals exclusively for the forests.

"Lets dig!" Riordan responded promptly, giving a nod to Eshe as he moved closer. He took a spot near one side of the hole and probed at it with one broad paw, as if the smell inside might coalesce in to a some kind of monstrous creature. If it was a Frankenstein'd beast, something made up of myth and folklore, a hodgepodge of different beasts, they were all capable of handling it. But it wasn't Riordan's nature to believe in such ridiculous things. He bowed his head closer, sniffing for more clues before finally taking a few swipes at the dirt.

PP'ING BHRE INVOLVEMENT

Eshe pawed at the earth, and when Riordan swept at it, she nodded to her sister and they begun to flex their muscles and dig. They tore at the earth beneath their paws and opened up the earth until there was a decently sized hole revealed... and Eshe's tail waved as she sniffed. The scent hadn't become any clearer... if anything, the dirt flung haphazardly lodged into a nostril hindered her ability to determine exactly what was within there. So instead she lowered her head to peer inside the dark hole...

A bad call. Two beady eyes blinked blearily open at her... and then it launched at her face. She withdrew with a laugh that gave away her anxiety as a wolverine landed a painful scratch upon her nose.