Seaside Moors You laugh and smile at me but you don't see a thing,

A lot happened that Grímnismál clearly was staying away from. It deeply reminded her of her isle, the ambition they all held for something higher. Brutal as so, constantly sparring as warriors of the sea. However, she was but just a medic by her mothers teaching, and knew not of what had happened.

An eye was watching it all come forth, for the attacks that could be. However the reaper was not needed, and especially felt intimidated when the sparks flew. But, he retired the throne to the wives, not the previous Alpha. So she thought, but was never sure. Grímnismál did not meet the Alpha known as Annigan, and only known Erzulie.

So, she felt pleased to know she was to lead. With such thoughts and more comfort, the small girl took a morning stroll.

Once it was deemed safe for the children to be returned, Chacal- worried for what might have transpired- shadowed her family for some time- straying very little from either of her mothers, and sticking closely with her siblings as much as they would tolerate her nearly tripping over feet and bumping into their flanks when they moved or stopped abruptly. 

So she eventually felt that she ought to give them a bit of a break, and was encouraged to go out and stretch her legs, wandering about the moors and investigating the clumps of sea lavender which had lost their colour since the autumn had come. The moors were still beautiful though, even moreso in the waking hours of dawn- and Chacal's spirits were eased knowing that her mothers were safe, and that they would lead the pack. There was no perceived difference to Chacal, who still felt every bit as cherished now as she had before their ranks had changed, though there seemed to be less tension in the air once the ranks had been settled. 

She was oblivious of most of the theatrics which had taken place- and she didn't mind being out of the loop.

She hummed softly as she walked along, a little bit of a skip to her step. The melody she wove was little more than a fragment, and it repeated itself over, and over, and over again. Every now and again she would finish the phrase, only to draw in a breath and return to her favourite lilt again- and continue to chirrup her little tune like a record skipping back to a favourite groove. 

When she caught sight of her packmate, she slowed and fell silent, as the wolf was at a distance still, but so remarkable against the drab, earthtones of the moors. Quietly, with her large ears tipped forward, she began to stalk the remarkable, tailless female, wondering how close she might be able to get before she was caught.

Grímnismál by no means, was the best stalker, hunter, nor' warrior. She was well adversed in herbs, and perhaps a lil' wise if given the chance, but besides that, the wolf counted herself useless. When someone was trailing her, the reaper did not know someone was. She simply kept upon her day, a slight smile to her white mask, and gleaming red eyes, staring curiously ahead.

Though she did have a faint feeling of being watched- the small medic chalked it up to just not being used to the new territory.

Chacal's eyes glimmered like flickering torches in a dark alley; she hadn't been caught yet. She continued to wander along, seemingly relaxed and nuaware of the little shadow who trailed along behind her, doing her best to match the female's pawsteps so that hers might go unnoticed. Occasionally, she had to do a double-step to keep up, as she was smaller than her distinctive packmate and she had come ground to cover yet. 

She would be foiled, though, when she brushed up against a dry branch which snapped and rattled as he broke against her shoulder. Holding her breath, she tucked and rolled swiftly to the side, hunkering down and hoping to hide herself from view behind a sparse sage brush, biting her lip to keep herself from grinning too wildly.

Crunch. Wildly did ruby-eyes looked around in concern as she heard the sound of branches crackling in the background- it really felt like someone was watching her so. However she was in Rusalkian territory, surely she was safe.. Right? At this point Grímnismál was wary and paranoid, she felt like a rabbit in the opening and had the desire to hide so.

Chacal remained unseen, but gave paranoia to the reaper. 

She felt like crying a bit. Perhaps a bit of tears started to well up within her white face.

wc: 206

Through a tiny gap in the branches she peered with an owlish, golden gaze at the beautiful, pale face that turned toward her, gasping silently as she noticed just how the female's ruby eyes gleamed. They stood out against the dove-white mask the same way the lines of an enchanting poem could leap off the page. She felt the woman's gaze sweep over the area without fixating or pausing on the bush that concealed the youngster, before she turned her gaze away. Chacal would not see the shimmering light that began to pool in the woman's eyes, nor would she sense her fear. She was far too engrossed with her game of sneaking.

When she felt she might have a chance at sneaking closer, she collected her little feet beneath herself again, and began to move from where she'd been concealed, hoping to inch her way closer. A bluejay cruised overhead and emitted a sharp 'keer keer!' which spooked the girl so much, that she bounced a good two feet into the air, and hit the ground with her paws pedaling herself forward and straight toward the female she'd been spying on, with the intention of burrowing her shy face into her packmate's fur for reassurance.

Like a cat in fear, the reaper seemed to bristle with a scare. Wildly so, her ruby eyes surprisingly looked at the figure before her so. She heard the bird, and the adrupt sound of leaves bristling so, but didn't expect anyone to run out, and swarm into her fur. Grímnismál by any means, was not a big wolf, she was even below average one can easily say. She felt like the child nearly knocked her off her feet.

"Uhm.. Are you okay?" Meekly so, the reaper asked. Tears that once were streaming down had adruptly stopped from the surprise.

wc:313

For some reason, though the wolf's fur was soft and comforting, the muscles and posturing beneath was firm, pulled tight by surprise and a lack of familiarity. They'd both stumbled sideways when Chacal had come into contact with her, but it hadn't stopped her from neeing to press her face into the pale fur of her flank, where her dark cape trailed off. She was a flighty child, easy to scare, but also easy to reassure, and when she was spoken to, Chacal pulled back slightly, and first, sent a look up to the sky. She'd thought that the blue jay had been a hawk- but she'd been wrong. Either way- it was gone, now, and she felt close enough to the female that she'd be safe if it did come back. She also failed to realize that she was far too large for a hawk or even an eagle to carry off- but birds, for some reason, frightened her.

Her packmate was stunning- with such contrast between the dark and light hues of her pelt, and the ruby red of her eyes, so when Chacal's worried gaze fell back to her, her expression lightened considerably with curiosity. She took a step back and it was only then that she noticed something that struck her as being so unusual, that it sucked the breath out of her- this wolf had no tail! Flabbergasted, her stark gaze swept from the female's hind end and to her face, as though to see if she was at all concerned with the fact that she had no tail- surely she was aware, wasn't she? Or was she simply hiding it? Concerned, she leaned forward, nose-first so she could get a better read of the female's scent, noticing then that there was something earthy about her- which reminded Chacal of the way that flowers smelled in the sun.

She did not know what scared her, not realizing the bluejay flying away. Only could stare worryingly toward the other, who remained wordless. The other was deeply tucked into her chest, until finally decided to release herself just slightly, to take a look above. She too, followed upwards before realizing nothing was there, and returning her ruby-gaze back toward Chacal in confusion.

Though, they met a gaze. Being looked at so earnestly gave Grímnismál anxiety, feeling being watched and judged, and surely she was. There was a moment of relief upon the other removing herself further away, only to further study her so!

"Uhm.. I don't have a tail." The reaper said, following where the gaze may be.

wc:217

There was something like trepidation and worry in the ruby-eyed wolf's gaze and voice that made Chacal wonder if she'd done something wrong. It was easy enough to see that Grimnismal had no tail- though Chacal didn't possess the words to ask her how it had happened. When she noticed the worry in those ruby eyes, and the moist trails from tears upon her soft cheeks, Chacal immediately recalled a trick she'd often used to bring a smile to her mothers' lips.

She huffed, and began to circle, perhaps carefully at first, but after making sure she had good footing, she curved her spine and really leaned into her movements, and began spinning faster and faster until she reached out and with a click of her teeth, caught the end of her tail. She staggered to a standstill again, her eyes roving this way and that as she tried to shake the dizziness from her mind without letting go of her tail. Once the world had stopped spinning, she teetered around just enough so she could see Grimnismal's face over the curve of her own rump, and raised her eyebrows. If she hadn't been holding onto her tail so tightly, she would've been waving it, to try and encourage a smile from her packmate with her antics.

Grímnismál was never not confused, for not once, did they speak to her. Instead, resorted into what seemed like a never-ending circle, going round and round... And round, even more. She could feel herself spinning at the look and had to momentarily look down to the ground to make sure her eyesight didn't fade.

Then finally, when she looked up- Chacal caught her tail. The reaper only looked at her speechless, not really sure how to act.

wc:196

She grinned wolfishly, obviously quite pleased with herself for having caught her tail, but the look she received in turn made her blood run cold, and made her features droop. Grimnismal was looking at her with confusion, which was quite a disappointment. This was supposed to cheer her up, but she had failed. She let go of her tail and it drooped back toward her haunches where it hung lifelessly. She pouted for a moment in disappointment, before she realized she probably shouldn't act like such a child. Maybe Grimnismal thought she was just being stupid because she'd never had a tail of her own to catch. Regardless, her attempt at bringing cheer had failed, and this caused Chacal to lose interest. This woman wasn't willing to fawn over her the way her mothers had, and it was discouraging.

So she heaved a sigh, and gave the masked woman a bit of a nod, and an apologetic shrug of her shoulder before she began to saunter off, ears drooping and head bobbing barely above the level with her withers. She'd resign, for now, and would try to find someone else who was perhaps easier to impress.

Grímnismál was at a loss to the mute counterpart. Firstly with but a stalking motion, scared and finally ended up chasing herself with her tail. That itself was impressive, and she almost wished to try, though it was often that the reaper forgot she no longer had a tail. Then the other now looked at her with a defeated expression, ears down like a kicked puppy..

Oh man.

"Uhm, you want to play..?" Is that what she was trying to do? A game of sorts?

Play. 

Her ears perked, and she turned swiftly on her heel to regard her packmate with an expression which had forgotten its sorrow from only moments ago. Naturally, she took this as an invitation and she padded back toward Grímnismál, with a question in her eyes. She wasn't sure what her packmate was volunteering in terms of a game, but she was interested to see what she might have in mind. She tilted her golden-crowned head to the side, and her tail began to wave as she bit her lip in an expression which conveyed both curiosity and willingness.

"You want to play uhm... Hide and seek?" She imagined a child would enjoy the game tag far more, but Grímnismál was no runner. She could barely catch up to prey, and during that mysterious time of losing her home and before Rusalka, she was simply scavenging anything left to survive. Her mother really only did focus on herbs rather then teach the natural ways of a wolf, which did not seem to come naturally for the reaper.

The other also seemed so excited at the mention of 'play' that now she felt she had no choice, "I hide, you find?" the other hid quite well for a while, she didn't have confidence to find her.

Editing a conclusion to this and archiving it. If/when Grim comes back, I would adore another thread with these two :)

Hide and seek? She knew that suggestion, and even before Grímnismál had begun to explain, and offer an explanation of their roles, Chacal whirled, spinning like a top a few times before she hunkered down against the ground in her little cloud of dust, and placed both forefeet over her eyes. She knew not to peek, and would simply assume that shortly, Grímnismál would stalk off to go and find somewhere to hide- meanwhile, Chacal did not count out loud. She did not make any vocalizations- but she did begin to tap her tail against the ground with the steadiness of a metronome. She wasn't sure exactly how long she should wait, or how long she could count- but she'd wait until she could no longer hear Grímnismál's footsteps- and then a little bit longer to make sure she'd found a place to hide.

Back and forth they would take turns, hiding and then finding the other, with Chacal often spinning in dizzying whirls before the renewal of each round. It served to endear her to the piebald wolf, who had graciously taken time out of her day to play with her.