Silverlight Terrace i.ix : who was breaking away from the pack

{dogs}{part one, episode nine}

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Maegi was tired of the sea. The salt, the constant sound of waves. . .everything she had loved about Undersea, she now detested. All she wanted to do was go home. There was, however, one thing that needed to be accomplished before that happened--and by gods, she would see it through.

It was with pleasure that she traveled inland, over field and through forest, relishing the smell of trees and grass. She came upon an open expanse of land as morning broke over the wilds; the sun was warm on her back, the air crisp and fresh. For the first time in a while, she felt at peace.

The girl began to nose around at the plants, looking for herbs and poisons both familiar and unfamiliar. A short pit stop couldn't hurt, right?

dated for the morning of the 27th -- @Revui

This time, when he left the mountain, he was alone. There was nobody to escort, no dangers to guard against. The mountain was at peace and the rest of the valley seemed to be just as lethargic; there was snow in the higher reaches but he wasn't going higher today, he was going lower — descending in to the fog of the foothills and beyond, where the mist collected like a great white sheet across the terrace. As he moved through it, the stagnant air barely stirred, it was ethereal — unnerving to the leviathan, but it did not prevent him from roaming.

The fog withheld the sights and smells of the world, but through it came a drifting shape that he almost missed. Revui paused and watched, listened, sucked in some chilled air in the hopes that the taste of it might lend some clues — but there was nothing. So he drifted closer and closer, a hungry shark on the hunt, lurking in the mist with hungry eyes. Whatever he'd found wasn't as sharply angled as a deer (not that Revui would've expected something large like that in the middle of nowhere, and alone), and was larger than a fox, but all he could smell was salt of all things.

He turned his head and huffed in to the mist, clearing his nose and trying again. When he turned back, the shape he's spotted was gone again — and this perplexed him. Revui wasn't accustomed to this setting and he didn't understand the intricate nature of the weather; so he lurched after the shape, and as he came upon the path through the snow that indicated where the stranger had been he saw her, drifting much like himself, but with her head down.

Whatever morning mist gathered, the sun was rising to dash it away. The crunch of pawsteps behind her grabbed her attention, and Maegi turned, meeting a pair of bright green eyes. If he was younger than her, she didn't know it--he was big and burly and smelled of the mountains, which gave her pause. It was a scent she was unfamiliar with; he must live close by, surely?

Hello, she greeted, tempted to go back to the herbs and pretend that they hadn't crossed paths. Am I intruding? She wasn't really sure what else to say; she hoped that he was better prepared than she was. He had been the one to sneak up on her, after all.

The stranger's head came up, and he was reminded briefly of that spooked look that rabbits get when they think they're being watched. He hadn't seen any rabbits lately, what with the snow, and wasn't aware they might've shed their warmer colors for something much colder and more discreet for the winter. Still, she seemed rabbit-like to him, until she took notice of his heavy steps and turned to face him.

She called out a greeting to him but he was silent, at least until she said, Am I intruding? — that earned a lazy grunt, and then a small shake of his head. This wasn't his land and he wasn't about to enforce the laws of Moonspear out here in the middle of nowhere. He hadn't gotten much of a look at her face before he turned to regard the surroundings, licking his lips to warm them up as if that would prompt his own speech -  but he said nothing, just sort of sulked.

As much as Revui wanted a fight, he wasn't about to pick on a stranger. Little did he know, this particular rabbit came from nefarious stock.

Whatever she had been looking at before seemed to be abandoned, so he stepped around her in a wide crescent, his face showing off his curiosity. Revui was reminded of a moment a few days ago where he followed a wolf in to the eastern woods, and she had been scouring the earth just as thoroughly as this pale girl. The reason still eluded him — but he sought to understand, and probed at the soil with his snout for a few seconds before lifting his head and peering at the white rabbit, perplexed.

There was a question in his gesture, in his eyes. I'm looking for herbs, Maegi explained. I thought that maybe some would be alive, under the snow. That's stupid, though. She had wanted to hold on to something useful, but winter had dashed those hopes entirely. Now she felt like an idiot.

Who are you? she asked, cocking her head. He hadn't said a single word. Do you live around here? Nor had he made any move to chase her off. He didn't seem territorial in the least. Just quiet and stern. He reminded her of Ramsay, in a way. The thought made her stomach clench.

Oh, how she wished he were Ramsay.

She explained herself after he glanced at her, which was surprising. Typically the wanderers he'd encountered were beasts that needed verbal cues to get his meaning, and he was subtly delighted to have someone that understood him without his need for speech. Still, Revui didn't know what she wanted here on the terrace; the snow had been blanketing the region for a week or so now, and any plant life would've been frozen overnight. Her admittance that it was a stupid thought made his head tilt ever so slightly, and his ears slipped sideways - Revui felt like she'd just read his mind, and that didn't sit well with him.

Who are you? the white rabbit inevitably requested of him, do you live around here?

He naturally moved his head and began to point towards the mountain but, oddly, he chose not to. Instead he looked around one way, then another, and then shrugged his broad shoulders. A non-answer. He didn't want to tell every stranger he saw about Moonspear, it wasn't Revui's duty to recruit anyone (and he'd be too hard on possible recruits if that were ever the case); better not to answer. That way he wouldn't have to lie.

Then, he looked down at the earth again and nosed around in the snow. When he caught the scent of green, he lifted his snout free, huffed, and began to clear away snow with a few swipes of his claws. It took a few seconds before some mostly-frozen vegetation was exposed — but he didn't know if it was valuable. It could've just as easily been some wild grass, useless to the wolf.

Ah, he wouldn't say. That was fine with her--Maegi knew too well the compulsion to stay anonymous, to keep one's home hidden. She felt some kinship with the boy--a boy already much bigger than her--in this regard. Wherever he came from, they at least had a shared experience. . .right?

The Melonii watched as he digged around with his snout and then uncovered something green. It did look quite like grass, and Maegi bent to sniff at it, not recognizing the scent. Only one way to find out, really.

Wonder what this does, she remarked with a grin at the young man, and then took a sample perhaps the size of a wood ant between her teeth, letting it slide down her throat. It wasn't until it was already within her stomach that she considered the possibility of that being an incredibly daft thing to do.

Well, we'll see soon, Maegi answered herself, chuckling nervously.

She came towards him and he tensed a little, but her attention was drawn to the plants he had uncovered more than anything, so he permitted her close proximity for the time being. Before he could protest (although he wouldn't know enough to protest) she was grappling with the frozen greenery and with a little bit of effort, uprooting some and eating it. Revui had never seen such behavior before and it made him curious but also unnerved; he bent his nose in to the small hole that he'd made and sniffed at the plants again. He thought he smelled a dampness and flicked his tongue across it, only to discover it was some saliva she'd left behind. It didn't gross him out - it was sour tasting, and granted him small clues about her. Whether she'd eaten recently, whether she was sick — and if she had been sick, well, Revui would've gotten infected too. It was a natural progression of events, more or less. BUt she was soon commenting on the plants again, and his ears twitched - what did she mean?

Hindsight was 20/20. She should have noted the slightly "off" taste of the grass, but she had thought nothing of it. But as she continued to nose at the plants, after a short while, there was a gurgling in her stomach. Like thunder on the horizon on a hot summer's day, ready to wreak havoc.

Uhhh, Maegi groaned, eyes squeezing shut against the dull ache. Then the nausea came, nearly knocking her over, wave after wave of dizzying sensation. She cast her gaze to Revui, suddenly, fright clearly etched upon her face.

The Melonii stumbled sideways and lost her footing, lurching into the snow. She did not even register the ice against her pelt as she began to vomit the contents of her last meal, steaming and reeking of blood and bile. Blood.

She tried to climb back to her feet, only to be assaulted with yet another wave of nausea, yet another convulsion of her throat. And vomited again, this time dry heaving, drool hanging in thin strings from her black lips.

Revui was about to get a crash course in herbology - or rather, what not to do when investigating plant life in the wilds. He kept a careful watch of the pale girl as she consumed the grass and didn't think anything of it; often he would chew on fresh grass when he'd eaten too much, and as a beast that often emptied cache after cache, he'd therefore eaten his fair share of grass. It wasn't so strange that she would try and eat what he'd uncovered, except that Revui had smelled something strange about the half-frozen lump that she'd grabbed for and he'd assumed she'd have noticed too.

Well, she was noticing it now. As she stumbled he took a half-step backwards, and when she began to vomit his ears perked and he lurched towards her with a mixture of curiosity and concern. The smell of blood rose from the snow, which would've probably brought his bloodlust to the forefront had it not been so acidic in quality. The sharpness of the vomit's smell was strong enough to make him back off some, but he didn't abandon the stranger yet. If anything he was treating this as an experiment. Revui really wanted to know what was wrong — and he sort of wanted to know how to fix her, if only so that he could fix someone of Moonspear if they should fall prey to the nasty grass too.

She felt his eyes on her, and had enough presence of mind to feel annoyed that he wasn't doing anything. That he wasn't even trying to help. Then again, what would she have done, in his shoes? It was possible he'd never seen anything like this before. Perhaps his father hadn't been a toxicologist, his mother addicted to poppies. . .

Ya--yaaaa-- She was cut off once more with more wretching, the force of it shaking her thin shoulders. Yarrow, Maegi gasped when it had ceased, licking her chops and grimacing at the taste. She felt empty and weak, and noted that out here, she wasn't safe. Out here, he could do anything he wanted to her. And she couldn't stop him.

The girl closed her mouth, her eyes, shaking her head slowly, feeling as if she were being cast about in a torrential sea. Yarrow makes you vomit, she mumble, afraid to move her mouth more than a fraction in case in induced the hurling again. It gets rid of poisons. But since I've vomited already. . . She opened her eyes a mere slit and cast a disgusted gaze at the reeking puddle.

I'll be okay, Maegi slurred like a drunkard, staggering to her paws. I'll. . .I'll be okay.

She was trying to talk. The blood had mixed with the fur of her muzzle and given her a garish appearance, but the beastly boy found that more appealing than before; it also gave him a moment to pause and look at her properly, and until now he hadn't seen the large scar curving across half her face. It wasn't typical that he would miss something that obvious but he wasn't in the practice of staring at people - least of all chancing their wrath if he should meet their gaze one-on-one. Combining the scent of blood, her appearance, and the scar — she might've been the most intriguing wolf he'd ever come across.

Then she spoke, and whatever small spell she had cast was broken. She mentioned something called yarrow but that meant nothing to him; he lost interest as she began to explain what it was for, and licked his lips as he thought about something. Then she began to calm herself down (or so he assumed, her tone seemed exasperated, frightful), and he departed from her side.

He drifted away with his snout low again, seemingly ready to disperse and leave her to her fate. Revui wandered for ten or so minutes before finding some scent, and then his figure was lost in the mist. When he returned it had been about half an hour, and he had something hanging from his teeth - something solid like a stick. The closer he got, the more obvious it was that he carried a small bone that hung awkwardly out of one side of his mouth. On the end of it was some sort of root system for a plant that resembled mint, of all things.

Revui was no herbalist. He had brought the bone because it was full of marrow - it was from a small cache he'd found during his exploration of the area. He had planned on eating it before returning home and going about his rounds, but.. Evidently, this stranger might need something in her belly after her vomiting was concluded. He dropped the bone a bit too close to the pile of bloody vomit than he meant to, and then side-stepped away from her.

She was tempted to leave when he did, and even tried. After a few aborted attempts, it was clear that her body was too weak to move for now; she sat back on her haunches with a huff, breath fogging on the air, trembling with exhaustion and slight chill. Her mismatched eyes found him some time later, coming back with a bone in his mouth.

He deposited it right next to her vomit, stepping back. Thanks, Maegi said dryly, bending to drag it a good distance from her own bile. She laid down and began to work at the ivory with her teeth, seeking the marrow. It was quite tasty, a good snack post-trauma.

Thanks, she said when finished, with considerably more gratitude in her voice than before. She lifted her gaze to his--if he hadn't left already--and gave him a shaky nod. That helped. Not yet ready to rise to her paws, she instead crossed her forelegs and stared blankly past him for a long moment, lost in the chaos of her thoughts.

He listened as she grabbed for the bone, turning to look at the surroundings of the terrace while she worked at it. The boy settled to his haunches. He resembled a greyscale lion because of his winter coat billowing around his large figure, not that he'd ever know it; there was no reason for Revui to linger any longer, but he did it anyway. The boy was so used to following members of his pack and guarding them while they worked, and without someone to follow and to watch, those behaviors apparently displaced on to the white rabbit. It wasn't like he minded - but he knew that his siblings would question his motives. There was no reason for someone to protect a lone wolf. Revui was as xenophobic as they come, but still... He remained.

Finally, hearing the bone splintering and listening to the familiar sound of someone gorging themselves (which was usually his own role), there came some quiet. The boy glanced to the spot where he'd left the bone and the weed that had been attached to it, and saw that the stranger had finished breaking it in to pieces. There was more - but he wouldn't share the rest. Her voice lilted, Thanks... That helped, and then seemed to lose focus. Revui turned an ear in the direction she was staring just in case something was on approach, but didn't hear anything.

Eventually he broke the silence himself - his deep, rough voice murmuring, Uyo Revui. Is... my name.

She snapped back to attention when he spoke, voice even deeper than she expected it to be. She smiled as he gave her two names, supplying two of her own: Maegi Peryite. Melonii was left unsaid. She wasn't sure about it anymore. Not when her own uncle could abandon the woods so readily, just to seek power.

Maybe the honor of the Meloniis had died with Meldresi.

You don't have to stick around, she said, watching him. You probably have other things to do. I'll be okay. At least, she thought so. The nausea had largely passed; only a few small stirrings in her stomach remained, and those would pass, too, eventually. Then she could be on her way again, with only this small delay to blame.

She spoke; it wasn't a name he knew, all things considered. He knew of the wolves of Blackfeather because they were the wolves of the dark, the things that went bump in the night. They were the stories he'd hear before bed as a child but they were not so specific as to name names. So he heard her, and he accepted her name - committed it to memory along with the look of that creeping scar and the scent of her bloody vomit. 

You don't have to stick around, she mentioned, which was a good point. He never had to do anything he didn't want to. This was something he chose, just like any patrol or escorting job he sought out. But if she didn't need any further aid then he would leave — but first, he lurched towards her. Even before she finished speaking he was striding towards her - which might've been seen as an attack, with the quick manner in which he moved - but he stopped when he was looming over her. With a slight canting of his head he nosed around in her coat, taking a few deep breaths. Beyond that saline scent that hugged her figure he could find no scent of true illness; he caught her natural musk, and added that to his knowledge of her. Then, as sharply as he'd approached, he withdrew.

A few moments later the mist crept in to where he had been standing, and his heavy steps resounded across the terrace as he left her company.

thanks for the wonderful thread as always <3

She flinched as he suddenly drew closer, though it was only to sniff at her, it seemed. Committing her to scent memory. A little strange, but not completely insane. She wondered if he truly would remember her, if their paths crossed again. If not by smell, then certainly by scar.

He left, and Maegi watched him until he disappeared. Then, with a sigh, she placed her chin on her forepaws and waited for some semblance of strength to return. All the while, she was aware of how exposed she was here, and the uneasiness did not abandon her until much later.