Fox's Glade and when you’re right, the strength to stand your ground

@Whisker

she had been here before; the glade held a small corner of her tender heart, for tadec had been fond of this quiet sanctum and they had visited together often. now, it was stripped of its verdant flourish - winter had crept in on long-reaching grey limbs, posing as the beginning touches of fall.

walking among the ruins of summer, the hollow husks of tall reeds and the shivering bare faces of sagebrush, Indra was distracted. her mind kept its own fleet pace, and she was drawn to thoughts of stigmata, of xan’s relative absence in their lives despite occupying the same fishbowl valley, and of whether or not there was any truth to stigmata’s portentious words that winter would doom them.

He had lost Wraen’s scent somewhere along the way. One day he’d woken up, began to track her, and her trail had evaded him over and over again, no matter how hard he tried to pick it back up. He cursed himself for hanging back for so long. He should have gone right up to her, but he hadn’t. For whatever reason, he was terrified at the thought that she would reject him, even though he hadn’t asked anything of her. She was just so goddamn perfect, and he doubted he would ever find anybody like her ever again. No such thing could exist.

Whisker continued to seek her out, but he came up empty. That didn’t stop him. He resumed his search, and although he did not come across her scent, he did come across another. She wasn’t far off, and he followed for lack of anything better to do.

He woofed when he was close enough, offering a friendly, Hello! when she was within earshot. Maybe she could help him find Wraen.

indra was so lost in her thoughts, that a woof pulled her sharply out from them: she froze - she hated being caught off guard, especially alone. already a faint razing of hackles rose along her back, and she whipped around to face the creature that hailed her in both surprise and a thick vein of defensiveness.

her first assumption of him was that -- well -- it was a he -- that was enough to rackle her and make her feel justified in her defensive posture. despite being male, he seemed friendly enough; there was a warmth to those sunny eyes, and a friendliness in his greeting.

he could be lying, indra reminded herself: don't let your guard down. she steadied her stance and delivered a rather cool inspection of him: he was lanky, black, and accented by sharply contrasting white whiskers and little white toes that poked from his paws like marble in a slab of onyx. "need something?" her tone could almost pass as amicable -- were it not for the fact that warmth fell quite short of that shadowed mahogany gaze.

lol, now my previous post makes no sense, b/c I think Wraen's gonna let him follow anyway. O H W E L L

Well, that wasn't exactly the warmest greeting he had ever received, but he was getting used to that. Everybody around here really needed to lighten up and get the sticks out of their butts. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try asking her about Wraen. What was the worst that could happen? Okay, there were plenty of bad things that could happen, but Whisker shoved those out of his mind and cleared his throat.

I'm looking for my friend... maybe you've seen her? The yearling paused, then gave his (admittedly poor) description. She's grey and white with green eyes. Smaller than me. A real cutie— cue a blush Her name's Wraen. Whisker paused there, eyes full of hope and expectation.

he seemed undeterred by the frostiness that met him; perhaps, like a wane trickle of sunlight, whisker was used to such cold terrain, and warmed it with his implacable cheeriness all the same. sharply the she-wolf's ears rose at the sign of a throat being cleared: that rough and unfavorable noise earned him a second, equally unfavorable look.

she wasn't about to extend her help to a stranger -- least of all a male one -- and was distractedly composing ways in which to give him the slip right up until he mentioned a name.

wraen.

anyone could describe a grey wolf, and it would be anyone's guess who they spoke of -- but to put a face and a name together was a different matter. indra's suspicious gaze swept across his tall frame -- from the unremitting black of his sable pelt, to those absurd fans of white whiskers that sprung from his muzzle in the same prehensile manner of a catfish's barbels.

he may have mentioned a name, but that didn't earn her trust. he might catch the flicker of recognition in her gaze -- she didn't hide it -- but then she blinked, and it seemed as if somewhere in her, something had closed with the finality of a finished book.

"i've seen her. but i don't know where she is." indra wasn't being entirely forthright -- but she wasn't lying either. wraen had mentioned leaving the sunspire, and indra had not seen her since. all the same, she kept what she knew of wraen close to heart -- there was a very real possibility this male was not to be trusted, and indra would be loathe to give away the location of her friend if it put her in danger.

The way she reacted, Whisker sensed that she knew Wraen in more than just a passing manner. Oh thank goodness! he replied. That meant he was at least headed in the right direction. How long ago? If it wasn't too long, he could probably catch back up and things would be okay. If it was long ago, at least he could get an idea of where she might be headed. For whatever reason, it didn't occur to him to ask where Wraen had been headed. He didn't claim to be the brightest star in the sky, and there was a good reason for that. Besides, he'd already been told that this lady didn't know where she was.

Realizing that it might seem a twinge odd that he was on the prowl for somebody, he shook his head apologetically. I was supposed to follow her, but I got turned around somewhere and lost her trail. She said she was gonna take me with her! At least, that was what he had gathered from their encounter and following it. Then he'd had to go and lose track of her which had really donked things up.

it was odd indeed that a stranger was looking for her friend; at least in indra's cynical opinion. she was visibly uncomfortable -- but more than that, she was palpably cold.

it didn't matter whisker was perfectly polite, and seemed completely amicable. what mattered was that he had possibly encountered the worst kind of friend of wraen's to encounter, if he was going to encounter them at all -- he might have had better luck extracting wraen's whereabouts from a rock.

for indra was too cautious, too broken by the malign motives of the world, to possibly trust him and his word. he could have described stories wraen had told indra and even then, he still would have found indra remained steadfastly closed.

"a few weeks back". she answered tersely enough, drawing a slow blink that suggested she was not going to go into much more detail. she would tell wraen she had met this fellow -- and then, if wraen mentioned she knew him (and that he was not some homicidal maniac come to take her tail or her life) indra would divulge she had not given him a fair chance; in other words, had presented poor whisker with quite the hard time.

Well, that bit of information sealed the deal. He had seen Wraen more recently than that, so it was outdated information. Dang, he muttered, visibly disappointed that it hadn't been an answer like "yesterday." Sounds like I'm not even on the right track. He pondered which way she might have gone, but he really did not have a clue. Wraen, like him, was a loner, which meant she could be just about anywhere. It was just so stupid of him to lose track of her. Not that he had wanted to crowd her by being right up in her business twenty-four seven. Surely he would be able to find her again if he just kept looking. Either that or he would have to give up and hope that whatever fate had brought them together the first time would repeat.

Well if you happen to see her, can you tell her Whisker—that's me!—is an idiot and lost her, but he's still lookin' for her? he asked. Not that this wolf seemed terribly fond of him in any way, shape, or form, but maybe she would do it for Wraen. I think I'm gonna circle back to where I first met her—that big lake—and maybe see if she makes her way back over there. Whisker hoped that these details would get passed along as well. Maybe the two would find each other again somehow. Alas, the world was a very big place, and he was worried that they might never cross paths ever again.

for a long moment indra measured the male before her with a cutting gaze — whisker, he had said. she hoped her recalcitrant demeanor would not cause wraen any trouble - but at the same time indra would much prefer the inconvenience of a missed connection over hearing some evil had befallen wraen on her behalf.

finding whisker was still not entirely deflated by such little news, Indra offered a rounded shrug of her narrow shoulders. ”too bad. if I see her, I will let her know.” and that was a promise too —not for his sake, but for wraen’s.

Thanks! he replied, truly grateful for her help. With the promise that this lady (still unnamed, but that wasn't an issue for Whisker) would pass on the news to Wraen, should she see her before Whisker did, he began to trot in the direction of the large lake where he would await Wraen's return.

thanks was a pleasant enough rejoinder, particularly considering Indra has been as friendly as the pointed side of an iron stave. she smiled, but it was a manufactured gesture - wasted anyway, as the sable pelted male with his peculiar whiskers had already turned away.

she would think no more of him today - perhaps for the better - for if she found out the male met his demise shortly thereafter (and she had, in a way, had a part in it) she would have been destroyed with guilt.

yet blithely, life went on - and it would be some time again before whisker came to the surface of indra’s mind.