Broken Boulder Who carries a mighty sword,

forwarded to 7-19-2020

Amongst the forest was a perculiar sight. While continuing onward for her search for the Déorwine brother, she seperating herself from her siblings, and Célnes had found an oddity in the bracken woods. Amonst the forest there was a large clearing, but within was even a larger boulder. She couldn't fathom how it existed, almost like it was a mountain by itself. The elk was fascinated.

She stepped closer in wonder, ready to inspect it.. Célnes spotted the dark entrance and started walking toward.

here he could feel the bite of the mountains he had once crossed. it reminded him of the icy spires outside his homeland, where shelves of rock burdened by defiant trees that bore green needles barred expanse to wilder climes. he had come out of whitebark in search of the herd, which this time fled toward the taiga.

germanicus followed a half-day behind, catching sight of their tails as they leapt into the bracken. he himself pressed lightly into it, adjusting as he moved to the new scent of the place. sunlight gliding through the silent trees reflected from an odd surface of stone. the soldier closed in on it, halting his step as he watched an unfamiliar figure glide toward the cleft.

The elken woman stood at the entrance, pumpkin eyes curious at what could be inside. She had seen mountain caves, and tunnels, but not a boulder, with a dark interior. Her head kept inkling toward the left and right, almost like she was trying to peer in, but hesitated going inside. There was a bit fear of the unknown for Célnes, as all she knew was her previous home, and nothing more. Cautious and careful..

Though perhaps the High Elk meant not for her to enter, as the scent unfolded of someone she did not recognize. It was a hope that perhaps Ken had found himself to the trio's location, but she was left seeing a stranger. Unlike the brown she was familiar with, he was a silver man, of pale red streaks. 

How long had it been since she seen any other since the fire? Besides her own blood, there wasnt any. There wasn't a memory either, of the woman seeing someone not of the Déorwine name. It was a fascination, but perhaps it was rude to stare with such an interest.

"He-," she coughed, a bit embarassed, "Hello?"

her eyes, flickering toward him like torches against the darkened tombstone of her mask. "hail," he grunted softly, involuntarily. he came out of the brush now, offering no threat with his careful form. gaze glided then to the hallway cut into the great rock. "what do you think caused this?"

careful, probing. conversational. he was guard of whitebark, but artyom's pack was not so close now. and she was no threat, with her sculpted chocolate limbs and easily turned interest. germanicus did not speak again, only sailed closer to the boulder to inspect it with a rough snort of his muzzle. his attention, then, had begun to shift, and he would relax if the stranger gave him no reason to otherwise react.

He greeted in such a strange way, but she didn't comment on the thought of being polite. The singed woman could not judge these wilds, as their customs were different from her own. She couldn't help but admit how uncomfortable it was to be in such an odd place.. But she needed to be stronger, and to now get used to it.

Especially since her homeland, had been burned to the ground.

She choked back the thoughts, and hoped the strange man deluded it to simple thought on this boulder, "Perhaps an earthquake," she mused, "it's fascinating. I wonder what's inside."

she wore burn marks, firebranded beneath healing fur. he surveyed them only momentarily, turning his focus more fully to the subject of their discussion. "perhaps bones," he suggested, thinking of what beasts crawled into holes to die. "perhaps a nest," the soldier murmured again, daring to scent the entrance to the place before looking back toward his companion.

"it seemed you were about to find out, before i arrived." a level look; he backed some feet, gesturing with an encouraging lift of his crown that she should be first to sort out what treasures lay therein. in the interim he pondered why she bore such scorchings, and how she had escaped what he knew many did not.

"That is.. Interesting." She gave a rather awkward chuckle with a smile at the thought, not wishing to imagine further. He had a rather grim view on what could be- and if so, she was determined to whisk her siblings far away from this land. She could only have a lighter part of her laughter, imagining @Cenric not believing her. 

"Indeed, I was." The man politely moved back to let her go forth, however with the thought it was a possible nest of a monster, she wasn't so sure anymore. But the elken sylph didn't want to admit so, and only lightly stepped forth, before stopping just at the bay of the entrance. 

It was odd, as she was often the one to explore her homland.  She enjoyed the wonders of what was there in Kingsled, but now that there was true mystery, she felt hesitant. Unfamilarity, seemed to scare Célnes. However perhaps there was also a hint of excitement she didn't wish to admit deep down.

With that thought, she slipped into the darkness, momentarily looking back to see if he would follow.

pragmatic as ever, germanicus had not meant to follow. he would remain as a guardian out-of-doors. her invitation, then, only invited a briefly confused look. in the next moment the centurion had paced closer, eyed the stone edges that did not come together, and the glint of her torchlight eyes glinting with encouragement in the dim grey beyond.

gathering himself, the soldier slipped into the natural archway, finding his path narrow and pelt brushing against that of the woman's own. a flick of his ear in apology, and then he put his senses to exploration. small stones against the pads of his feet. air hanging close and stale in one place, and then refreshed with taiga-green wind in another.

he squinted at a patch of mushrooms, pausing to consider their edibility.

Is was dark, dark enough where the elk felt the man brush against her and gave a wordless apology. However, she became more focused as it seemed they were slipping downwards just a bit, rather then the same slope they previously were on. Pumpkin eyes adjusting to the darkness, looking between her newly found companion, and back toward what was in front.

"A cavern?" Célnes thought out loud and looked back to him, only to find him looking at a pair of mushrooms. She almost thought he would eat it, and asked, "edible?"

"i am not certain," germanicus murmured in answer. due to his unsurety, he would not recommend the odd mushrooms found in the middle of a strange cavern to be a meal. he too had noticed the new slope downward; he focused upon it, moving with controlled movements lest a pitfall of sorts open beneath them.

he rejoined her, blinked against the blackness. the atmosphere here began to grow cloying with the scent of dirt, of the mysterious unseen things that crawled in it. germanicus did not enjoy the sensation, but the light from beyond them was growing into a pinprick. and so he continued on, curious in spite of himself, glancing into the compelling glint of the woman's firefly stare.

Her sister being of the more doctor amongst all their siblings, knew of the vegetation that had use, and those who should not be touched. She wondered what @Fréobearnn would think about it, but like the man, she didn't wish to eat what was not known. Perhaps another day, the elken sylph would bring her sibling to see.

Especially so, as the cavern they entered as small, but enough for a group to be fit. The fear she held had dimmed with quite a curiosity springing forth, as her eyes eagerly looked around in wonder, "Perhaps previous densite?" She could note the remains of wolves had left behind (The Bracken Sanctuary and others). However with time anything that had value such as food had long been gone, perhaps just trinkets, and dried up herbs alongside with bones.

Instead of a monster den, it seemed more a pack once lingered in the cavern.

wolves had once lived here. the remains of their time in these underground dens were well visible. he moved forward, delicately sniffing the end of mummified bones, the tufts of old fur caught in stone crevasses.

"it is interesting that they left, and so long ago," the soldier said aloud. the network was finely built and protected from both wind and rain, so far as germanicus could see. but it had stood abandoned for some unknown amount of time. "it is a piece of land worth holding," the centurion added, glancing back toward the she-wolf and her radiant curiosity.

"It's fascinating no one else claimed it though." The entrance seemed like just an abyssal crack between the two halves of the boulders, if one dared to be brave enough to venture further, they'll find themselves going downwards to a chamber. However upon entering itself, the area was barren to life, and hasn't been touched in quite some time. It was clearly a perfect area for any pack to claim, yet, remained untouched.

Venturing further, Célnes stepped onto a bone fragment unknowingly, and stepped away to avoid crushing it further. Though she found it perculiar, "cat bones?" The elken woman looked toward the male in question, seeing if he could confirm the same thought she had.

he followed the trudge of her foot, greyscale snout dipping in a nod. cat, indeed. had it been killed down here? germanicus allowed himself a spark of intrigue, the mind's suggestion that a beast had been driven down into this lair, and slaughtered by the wolves who had once called this heathen place their home.

he suddenly longed for whitebark, for the open air, for something beyond the clasp of earthy air to all his senses, crowding close and clammy. "you find it fitting for yourself?" the soldier grunted, wondering if the rogue saw more in the place than he. interesting, to be sure, but not a locale he would choose to revisit.

The elken sylph did find it a decent place to stay, as it provided shelter and a clear indication of being hidden from intruders, "I do not," she said however, with a short smile. It was a prime canidate for others, but not herself. She preferred, unknowingling like her companion, the open space, and unconfinment that the world provided. 

"My home is within the tree's." Célnes expressed, her reasoning to not settle within the cavern, "you smell of Pack, can I assume you live nearby?" He wouldn't want the cavern either, she thought.

ah, so she was merely an explorer. germanicus nodded, steps carrying him in the direction of the passageway they had taken to descend. "whitebark," he answered, glancing back along one shoulder to regard his companion. 

"it is not far. across the taiga." the eaglebound gestured once in the general direction of artyom's kingdom. secretly pleased that this hollow would house no wolves, for now, the soldier was eager to taste the freshness of outside once more.

Célnes took a mental note, as it seemed there were packs within these lands. However as she was unfamiliar with the land, the amount was still unknown, for now at least one was counted. It was a.. Thought to take however, as momentarily she glanced at the man, who was of silvers, then of the browns she knew of at home. They were definitely, not from Kingslend, and it gave a slight internal worry to her family, who held.. A bit of judgement, toward those without brown pelts.

The elken woman held more neutraility compared to some siblings, but it mostly taken the fact she did not care. Her brother and herself were often more distant, then compared to the rest of the family. She at least took a bit of pride, on maintaining a social momentum.

"Then I suppose you should head home, as I should as well." While a nice adventure, but she couldn't determine how much time had passed in this cavern. Célnes figured her sister would be worried by now, and the man as well, who had a home that was near.

"I am Célnes Déorwine," the woman said, "it was a pleasure."

ty for the thread! feel free to fade w ur next post or archive <3

a curve came to his mouth, but only for a moment. whatever goodwill he felt faded at the sound of her name, which held the sound of a world he had once known. the wild forest tribes had stood against the legion of his father, against his grandfather. how could they come to find themselves here?

perhaps it was only an assumption, the eaglebound chided himself, dipping his broad head in a respectful bow. "i am germanicus julius caesar," he offered in response to the decorous title upon her tongue. he had enjoyed her company, but it was true he was ready to return to whitebark. "safe travels to you, lady of the rock," and here his gaze lingered upon her, before germanicus turned and was gone into the bracken forest.