The Tangle court dismissed, bring in the dancing lobsters
we don't need another ruler
all my friends are kings
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#1
All Welcome 
Since the attack, a lot of attention has been placed on the cliff’s borders while the tangle remains an afterthought. She isn’t necessarily… upset, she understands the purpose. If she hadn’t been over there to intercept the Rusalka wolf, could it have been worse? There was no way to know about the other party, especially with the distraction, but she’s thankful there’s enough of them now they can spread out and keep the borders secure.

Tanglewood just… gets shuffled into the background. She has no doubt it’ll still happen. Blixen hasn’t said anything about not doing it anymore and the others still spend time here. This morning, she comes out of the tangle of trees into the rocky plummet. The trees are sparse to the north and the area is mostly open, offering fresh air from the thick of the trees further south. From here, she can see beyond the tangle to the north and feel the brine of salty air at its thickest.

i'd give anything to hear you say it one more time
that the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes
you've still got a little lightning in you
572 Posts
Ooc — mixedhearts
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#2
Easy liked all her new packmates, with the small exception of @Artaax, who made her a bit nervous but seemed alright nonetheless. Mostly, though, she liked Mallaidh. Something about the other woman made her feel a bit more at home - and she couldn't help but think that, if she were to run into Lavender or Dawn again someday, they might get along just like this.

Either way, she was determined to be a better friend to Mallaidh than she'd been to her sisters. She loosely tailed the Gona as she made her way through the thicket, following her scent trail as exactly as she could in order to avoid the worst of the brambles.

She emerged on the other side to see that she'd caught up to the ink-dipped shewolf. Easy let out a low chuff in greeting as she moved to stand by Mallaidh's side, tail wagging lazily against her hocks. "You know, I've lived in this area most of my life - but I've never been here."
ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier
JoiMorningbreeze!
we don't need another ruler
all my friends are kings
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#3
She has a few moments to herself, looking over the rocky terrain. If she’s going to live here, she’s gotta learn how to know how to handle every part of the territory. She’s confident enough on the cliffs and most the surrounding territories. Even most of the tangle, she’s good with, but these slopes give her a little unease.

The chuff pulls her attention a little and she snaps too, her foot hovering the ground to take a step but quickly placed back on the ground.

“I’ve been here a few times. I mostly stay in the forested part,” she explains with a slight shrug. “But I caught a fawn here, once, and some creepy black wolf kinda stalked me.” She tries not to think about it, the weird interaction, as if he’d come straight out a horror story. It’s been a while and she doubts the creature still haunts this area but it doesn’t hurt to be extra careful. “Want to go with me?”
i'd give anything to hear you say it one more time
that the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes
you've still got a little lightning in you
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Ooc — mixedhearts
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#4
Something about the short anecdote seemed to disturb Mallaidh, so Easy closed the remaining inches between them to stand firm against the other woman's side - the way she might've had to with her father when crossing treacherous terrain.

"Sure," she agreed, looking dubiously down the slope. It was a pretty scene, but it looked rather arduous. Still - "I don't know if I mentioned it, but I'm a pretty accomplished scout." Of course, she'd be reeling if she knew how much more walking Mallaidh's paws had done. Easy was merely passable, compared to her.
ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier
JoiMorningbreeze!
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Ooc — Stevie
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#5
Artaax was scowling as he walked, which should not be surprising to anyone at all. First off, he likely shouldn't have been traveling with his injury still fresh, but it was merely a flesh wound, hardly consequential. He wanted to see this territory his sister had pleaded with them all to allow her to claim, and with the new year and his highly anticipated rendezvous so near, the white wolf was feeling incredibly restless. So, here he was, in this tangled, chaotic mess of a forest he was apparently soon to call his home.

That was the second reason for his scowl.

The Tangle was absolutely not the place for one such as Artaax. He was a lion in wolf skin and this was a territory for weasels and ferrets. He struggled to get through the thick trees and soon enough found his limbs aching from the constant up and down of the rocks. If there was any redemption to be found in this awful place, it was that Artaax found it to be a challenge. He was still in his completely-hating-this phase of thinking, but eventually, he would embrace his hatred and rise to conquer the wood. keyword: eventually.

Artaax’s sigh of relief upon reaching some damn spacious ground in this hellhole was short-lived as he realized quickly he had come upon two others. He tensed, his guard raised, but recognized one of the voices after a beat. Mallaidh. And... someone else. Curious now, the pale lion padded forth and eventually came to them in a few minutes time. He recognized his friend of course (even from the front AHAAAA sex joke y’all), but not the other, in spite of having met her before. Not one to be aware of social norms, Artaax merely looked between the two of them, wordlessly inserting himself into their conversation.
 
we don't need another ruler
all my friends are kings
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#6
“I don’t think you did,” she answers with a shake of her head, looking out to the daunting task. She’s been through before, so she can use that to their advantage, but she won’t say she’s anymore skilled than the next wolf. “Me too,” she quips with a smile, finding something else she has in common with Easy.

She’s about to start their journey just as rustling occurs behind them. Her ears twitch and she anxiously looks to Easy, then back as a white shape emerges from the brush. Oh, she thinks. A sigh of relief. Sort of. Now she can bank on awkward.

“Hey,” she offers. “We were about to look around down here,” she explains, gesturing. Wanna go?
i'd give anything to hear you say it one more time
that the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes
you've still got a little lightning in you
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Ooc — mixedhearts
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#7
Easy stiffened slightly when she noticed Artaax standing there. She imagined his silence as judgemental silence, not knowing that he didn't recognize her without a fresh coating of mud. Today, her fur was clean and shiny and vaguely turkey feather-scented, so it sort of made sense.

She kept quiet while Mallaidh invited him on their excursion, sort of wanting to say excuse me no but obviously not having the nerve. Besides, Mallaidh seemed fond enough of the male and Easy didn't want to be mean to her friends. So she just wagged her tail in a half-hearted sort of way and hoped that Artaax would say he had better things to do.
Well, I want him to come along!
ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier
JoiMorningbreeze!
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Ooc — Stevie
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#8
Both females seemed to tense at the sight of him, which Artaax took an odd bit of pleasure from. He, of course, assumed it was because he was just such an impressive sight. It would never occur to him that it was because he made them both feel awkward. What would they even have to feel awkward about? They were the weird ones. But anyway.

Mallaidh explained promptly what they had been up to and Artaax followed her gesture to peer down the cliff. He frowned a bit, looking back at his friend with a curious/dubious expression. He didn't know much about the other girl she was hanging around with, but Artaax at least knew that Mallaidh scaling cliffs was a terrible idea. She was going to need him. So, he nodded and flicked his muzzle at her, accepting the invitation and then telling her to lead the way. Hopefully her friend was a medic because Artaax at least was pretty sure this was going to end with the both of them mopping the gona up.
 
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#9
No one speaks out against the idea, instead they both shift and prepare for the hike ahead of them, she turns on her heels and picks what she thinks will be the easiest path. She doesn’t say anything at first, realizing she’d had some questions for Easy that she can’t ask in the presence of Artaax and well, she also can’t say a word to Artaax that can allude to anything that may or may not have happened between them. The last thing she needs is someone suspicious, especially after her night with Blixen.

Mallaidh is careful, far more graceful than Artaax would give her credit before, but it doesn’t stop the occasional slip of her paw when loose grovel rocks beneath her feet. If she’d known Artaax’s thought, she’d have scoffed and worked harder to prove him wrong.

Eventually, she comes to a stop on a flat-topped ridge, turning and waiting for the other two to finish their descent. The only way down is a sharp decline, about twenty feet downward, that certainly wouldn’t kill them but would give them a bumpy ride with one wrong slip. Mallaidh peers over, uncertain she wants to be the first to make it down.
i'd give anything to hear you say it one more time
that the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes