The Heartwood please swirl me in your mind, so i can be a color painting that you’ll look upon

@Rannoch
still set in some dark moldy place haha

 
Though the shewolf was on the tail end of her season, the pervasive sense of restlessness persisted. It drove to Olive to travel great lengths, oftentimes in circles from the meadow to the cache and then across the mountains and then east again. It was how the sylph spent most of her time anyways, simply roaming — even more so when coupled with the vivacious energy that pulsed through her veins and dispersed into every molecule of her being. This terrain would be conquered, and her twiggy paws would do the conquering!

At times, Olive looked for the silent stranger and hoped, prayed, beseeched the gods that her might reappear before her, as he always had done before. Oh, yes, then they would make wonderful, passionate love and then lay together, fur intermingling, and perhaps they might learn something new about one another. Olive would have learned anything at all, if it meant being close to that man once more — but alas, he did not materialize and the sylph went on wanting.

Her wandering feet took her to a place that was familiar, yet largely unexplored by thine own eyes. A creature of the night, Olive easily melted into the aphotic forest milieu and nosed at the mosses and molds that painted the stone faces as if with watercolors. The dim rays of sunlight danced with the dust the arose from her shuffling movements. Here she calculated, categorized and memorized the flora of this place, particularly looking for anything that might cool this fire, albeit fading as it was.

Tags for reference!

With @Liffey, @Terance, @Wraen, and @Bernard just behind him, Rannoch pushed away from the group to patrol ahead. Since the five of them had reconvened at Firefly Glen, they had agreed on a plan of action: to get to Northstar Vale as quickly as they could. 

It was in the mid-step that a familiar scent caught Rannoch's attention. Without another thought, he stopped suddenly and turned his attention towards the near-by area which Olive's perfume emanated from. With his head cocked to the side, Rannoch regarded the territory before him curiously. 

"Olive...?" Rannoch after a moment of contemplation; it took him a moment to remember whose scent he smelled. "Is that you?" 

follows for drama

terance trusted wraen and liffey to be on their own-- even if he didn't want to. he tried not to baby wraen so much, but especially after the cougar incident... it was just scary. but they had bernard with them, he'd protect them, so terance was even more at ease. but, the fact that bernard came was suspicious to the dark male. terance would have to keep an eye on him around wraen, brotherly overprotection was about to become full fledge.

he pushed after rannoch, deciding he would prefer to be with him now. "hey, ran," he called out, padding forward, but paused as he realized his friend was speaking to someone else. immediately, terance couldn't help a scrunch of his nose-- he was typically so good at hiding his own opinions of others, but he slipped up. his own gaze fell upon her with concern. what was she doing here?

The weather was still frigid, but there was a certain wetness to it that certainly heralded the coming end of the winter months. This pleased Olive immediately, as she was a woman of the summer and felt nurtured, cushioned, by the earth’s fecund radiance — but in the meantime the earth beneath her feet was sodden, the air continued to sting her nose and though the canopy of the heartwood kept out a majority of the snow, it was hard not to notice how it melted upon the leaves and dripped down to the forest floor below.

But, this also meant that there were plants beginning to bud and could be seen poking through the soil here and there — they were few, but they were delightful. The flora that she couldn’t see with her eyes were perceived as energy felt in her body, as she usually felt lighter and genuinely happier when in a forest environment, even when it was so nascent in spring’s regrowth. or maybe it was just her season, finally getting to her. 

The sylph snuffled around the forest floor, pushing about small mounds of earth as she investigated her surroundings, but a voice pulled her attention from her goings on. A truly splendid smile split across her maw; Rannoch, one of the few Moonspear wolves she had taken a liking to! The man has a genuine soul [Olive had a sense about these things, though Rannoch did not make this difficult to learn] and that was a quality she would always appreciate in another. A springy step was taken closer, and she called out to him across the distance between them with a bright “Oh, hello!” but the sound of footsteps heralded the arrival of another. Olive offered Terance a cursory glance and nod of acknowledgment — but the scent of Moonspear was faint upon them, and the perfume of others — strangers — was strong. A roving band, for now? Maybe. Probably. Olive wondered if Charon, or god forbid Hydra, was with them. 

The arrival of both Terance and Olive simultaneously divided Rannoch's attention. Although he was pleasantly surprised to see the star-kissed sylph, he instinctively turned towards his dark-pelted friend and nudged his cheek affectionately. Terance's expression did not go unnoticed by Rannoch.

Once Terance had been adequately greeted, Rannoch's attention returned to the woman that stood before them. The perfume that emitted from her pelt was intriguing to Rannoch; although she lacked an established pack scent, the gentle spice of the end of her season was present. "What're you doing all the way out here?" Rannoch asked his former packmate with a slant of his head.

terance remained quiet, offering olive a slight dip of his muzzle in greeting. rannoch asked the same question he had, and so he waited for an answer-- opting not to add anything else to the conversation. what more was there to say? terance certainly did not have much else to say.

quietly, terance wondered if rannoch would be inviting olive to come along with them-- something terance was not positive he agreed with. then again, it was a while ago, and perhaps he needed to learn to stop holding grudges... but something about her way back when just stuck with him, and maybe it was merely the cerberus' influence, but terance was not as fond of olive as rannoch appeared to be.

the amount of times I had to edit out the word "ranch"…

The dichotomy between the two men was palpable: one was pleased and one was not so pleased, though Olive could not really make sense of it at that moment. Instead it sat with her, unsettled her; so Olive stepped forward and flashed her best smile in hopes of elevating the mood entirely. After all, she was happy to see them — why should they be anything but?

Olive was never certain how to face her status as a lone wolf, when it came to explaining it to others. Her departure from Moonspear had been voluntary [for once], and she had found a certain sense of peace in her solitude. However, some had a tendency to pity her and her aloneness, no matter how serendipitous it might be. “I’ve been traveling,” is what she chalked it up to, as it wasn’t far from the truth. “Studying,” she clarified to Rannoch, gesturing to the plant life that abounded around the trio — though, it all might be missed by a wolf without an eye for botany. 

Glancing from Rannoch to Terance, Olive turned the question on them [still very much hoping to gain clarification on her Charon/Hydra concern]. “What are you doing down from the mountain?” 

     

Rannoch's eyes regarded the foliage underfoot as Olive explained the cause of her absence. He nodded, and returned his attention to the woman before him; although Rannoch was intrigued to know what she learned, he knew it was not the time or place for that conversation. 

"We are not a part of Moonspear anymore," Rannoch answered with composure. Although the pain from their departure from the pack was still fresh, he would not reveal his anxiety to Olive. "We're looking for a new land to claim— heading towards Northstar Vale." He stole a glance of Terance then and wondered if he had anything he wanted to add.

DIDN'T REALIZE IT WAS MY TURN SORRY

his nose twitched, listening to olive. studying-- oh, plants. he'd known she was a naturalist, they'd stargazed together once before. but he didn't know much else. he wondered what she'd learned-- if any of it was useful to him, but he didn't vocalize this concern. he nodded along when rannoch spoke, still not contributing to the conversation. his friend had about summed it up, and there was certainly nothing that terance wanted to add... he wondered what she'd make of all of this.

Rannoch explained that the small group had extricated themselves from Moonspear’s ranks. That certainly hadn’t been the situation the woman was expecting, but she quickly settled into the idea. Her ears craned forward in interest, so many question leaping into the back of her throat. How interesting, for the gods to thrust such an opportunity into her path — and so plainly! Rarely did they gods send signs so conspicuous. 
 
Terance, however, said nothing.

The mood sobered.“I left Moonspear because they attacked my child,” she said plainly, not that they had asked. It wasn’t the only reason, but it was certainly the most significant. The picture seemed forever etched in her mind — charon’s jaws wrapped around her son’s little neck — and sometimes the image even made reappearances in her dreams. In reality, there had been more than one slight against her children, but it was probably for the best that she didn’t know of them. The result would have been the same, but the pain would have been so much more.

The Moonspear wolves were disagreeable at best. Olive would always be thankful for their hearth in her time of need, but the druid felt more at home on the road, as alone she was, than she when she lived amongst them upon the mountain. Her pale banner swayed from side to side, as her focus intensified. Olive wished to know the true nature of Rannoch and Terance’s emancipation — while it was not particularly difficult to find oneself at odds with the Moonspear wolves, it was not a battle she wished to engage in. As far as Olive was concerned, that part of her life was behind her. “Why did you leave…?” she questioned, leaving the end of her question to trail off, for either of them to fill in.  

"Attacked your child?" Rannoch asked with evident concern. He glanced at Terance, and wondered if he knew that Olive was talking about. After all, he had been closer to Hydra than he had, and Rannoch couldn't recall hearing anything about what had occurred. After a beat, Rannoch returned his gaze to Olive and prompted, "If you're comfortable with talking about it..  what all happened?" 

What asked about their departure, Rannoch kept his answer concise. "A lot of unfortunate events led up to it that made me question how leadership ran the pack. But, ultimately, Liffey did not feel safe anymore, and I wasn't going to force her to stay. " He hoped his answer sufficed.

 

skipping with permission
just for my own reference, i’m talking about these two instances: 1, 2

Rannoch seemed as perturbed by the idea of accosting an infant as was she. This silently pleased the woman, as sometimes she doubted her ethical and moral compass — so many of the things she believed to be good were actually not so good, and it was much of the same when it came to bad things. Olive had always known that Charon brutalizing her cub felt bad, but was it actually? They had claimed that Aries had been misbehaving after all, but the punishment still felt unjust. Rannoch’s apparent incredulity was all she needed in order to fall further into the belief that Moonspear’s actions had been unjustified. 

The druid nodded her head firmly — of course she would talk about it. “Aries was only a month old, maybe two.” She paused, thought for a moment, then amended herself. “Aries is my son,” she mentioned, not sure if Rannoch and Terance needed a clarification. Aries had disappeared right around the time Rannoch had joined their ranks, and no one seemed to care too much about the boy’s dematerialization. They had all been so preoccupied with their own happenings. “He had been misbehaving, though I wasn’t there to see it. They decided to punish him…” To Olive, pups were supposed to frolic and play — that’s what they do! “They were all so rough with him, like they really would have done him harm.” Everything she said was the truth. All things considered, perhaps it wasn’t a surprise the Aries had fled after all.

Olive vaguely remembered Terance being involved in one instance, but time had healed that particular wound. Judging where the dark pelted wolf was now, he must not have been too indoctrinated into Moonspear’s ways. “You… don’t have problems with them now, do you?” she asked carefully, not sure if she should keep her distance from Rannoch's small band and their pack politics. The last thing she wanted nowadays was strife, especially when it came to the Ostregas. 

Rannoch found himself shaking his head by the time that Olive's story had concluded. He couldn't believe that they had treated a child in such a manner— it made him sick to his stomach. "I could only imagine how devastating that would have been for you," he admitted, "I don't blame you for leaving." 

To Olive's inquiry, Rannoch glanced at Terance and shrugged. "I know that they are not happy that we left," he admitted. "But, I'm not sure if they'll come looking for us to seek revenge, either." To Rannoch, the effort seemed like a waste of time. "Hopefully we will all just be able to live in peace." 

Once again, Rannoch’s opinion of the situation mirrored her own. Perhaps the two had more in common than meets the eye. For a brief second her gaze fell upon Terance, silent and stoic, and wondered what he made of this whole situation. He had been pretty amicable with the three dark sisters, if her memory served her correctly. Were his intentions as true as Rannoch’s?

The sylph bobbled her lithe head in agreement. “One can only hope.” If it did not worry Rannoch, then it did not worry her. In fact, throughout this entire interaction, Olive had warmed up to an idea that [until this moment] had managed to escape her: packhood. After her relationship with Arturo collapsed in on itself like a dying star, her loyalties had seemed to waver indefinitely; she had a difficult time pledging her body and soul to another, to make herself so vulnerable and open to pain, and responsible for so many. After Teaghlaigh, no single leader had been worth the sacrifice — but this guy, she could follow. It was easy to see that they upheld similar values. 

Olive gently cleared her throat, then spoke with a little more volume and intention. “Do you have room for another…?” she inquired, ears pressed forward in extreme hope, with a mildly expectant smile dancing upon her lips. It just felt right.         

Rannoch had not expected Olive's request; his expression revealed the excitement that had sparked within him as he had comprehended what she had proposed. "I think we do," Rannoch beamed as he turned to his companion. He was unaware of the ill feelings that Terance harbored towards Olive. 

"What do you think, @Terance?" he asked. Although his mind was made up, he knew that this wasn't his decision to make alone.

terance didn't mention he'd been part of the roughhousing of aries-- but he had taken part in one incident where the child was being? horrible? an absolute pain in the ass? terance hates aries-- even though he was just a child. and olive's sweet talking about the child just made terance agitated. it was bad parenting-- plain and simple. he remained silent throughout the conversation.

but rannoch offered up the spot, and terance would never argue with rannoch over something like this-- so he merely nodded. "plenty of space," he agreed, rolling his shoulder nonchalantly. "should we head back to the group soon?" he added, eager to meet up with wraen instead of stand around and catch up with olive.

You can wrap up, if you’d like! Olive will follow ♡

Neither male proved to be an imposition to this idea, which gave Olive great comfort. It was always told to her that the best of all situations generally were the ones that flowed seamlessly from one to the other and did not cause a huge upset or incite a real issue. Sometimes that was needed in order to shake the entire system and challenge the status quo, but for the most part, the gods supported what was meant to be and smoothed the path for it to unfold. It was those who couldn’t see the universe’s signs that floundered and pulled hard against the reins. That’s why the sylph followed whatever she knew in her gut to be good, and this was certainly good. 

Olive nodded at them and grinned from a deep place of pure authenticity. If they had the room, she would gladly take it. The life of a loner was a difficult one — she often drifted between the vicissitudes of aloneness and togetherness, and while she had been alone for so long, now she felt she wanted to be together; a part of a pack, once more. That's what would serve her journey now. “Oh, I’d love to meet the others.” she chirped, rather elated at how this entire situation turned out.   

Terance agreed, and Olive's acceptance into the pack was finalized, and Rannoch motioned for his packmates to follow him. "It's settled, then— welcome to the group, Olive," he acknowledged with a smile, "Let's go back to the others." 

Rannoch and Terance led Olive back to where they had settled. She was introduced to the others, and, to Rannoch's relief, she seemed to fit in perfectly.