Neverwinter Forest Kama

@Hotaru but crashers welcome

The cat had followed an old, familiar smell.

Though her home had slowly become the Sunspire mountains, Umi was not a creature to shy away from adventure and travel. The morning before, she had come through Whitewater Gorge and eaten well from the spoils of a juvenile deer. It was rare that she entered into the interior between the mountain ranges, but in this case things were different.

On the wind, there was something familiar. She knew it almost immediately as @Haruki, whom she had attempted to help rather unsuccessfully to find his mother. Once upon a time, the pup had been located somewhere in the Sunspires. Of late, she knew of no one other than a single band of wolves in the canyons that kept the Sunspires as their home. Strangely, Haruki's pack had evaporated.

The cougar followed the scent of the young wolf to the border of a heavily scented wolf pack. The forest before her was thick and real and intimidating. She could not howl to get the attention of the strangers. She was not sure how to proceed. Normally, Umi was extroardinarily careful when interacting with wolf packs, generally avoiding them where possible.

In this case, she continued on, strolling through and awaiting something to find her.

the smell—it wasn't right.

cam picked it up while on his way to the stream to fish. the water wasn't quite frozen yet, and he wanted to get in some good practice before everything truly iced over. the scent stopped him dead in his tracks.

it was alien, pungent. not wolf, and certainly not of neverwinter forest. feeling trepidation rise up within him—already on the edge with moonspear's encroachment—cam followed the trace of it on the breeze, his heartbeat picking up speed as it became more prominent. burning his nostrils. . .

his mother had been killed by a creature not of their own kind. and as he shoved his way through the thicket and the cat came into view, all he could see was 

blood

you can't be here, he said loudly, hoping to attract the attention of any packmates nearby. he stood tall, squaring his shoulders and trying to control anything that would give away his fear. you don't belong here. leave.

the words were brave, but underneath was a quaver.

keeping a little vague since hotaru hasn't been accepted into NWF yet so just in case she wont be LOL

There were still so many conflicting feelings stirring within the pale girl. Even since Miriam had brought her to Neverwinter, nothing settled with her. This forest could never be a home. Since speaking with the packs Alpha, Hotaru found a way to linger from the pack. She never wandered too far from their borders, but she needed a plan. She couldn't just sit around forever.

Unlike her brother, Hotaru had never encountered a cougar, nor had she smelled one before, so you can imagine her surprise when she came across the strange trail... it led into the pack's territory. The ex-empress stood frozen for a moment, hesitant as to if she should follow or not. What if it was dangerous? Should she warn them? Then again, those two pack wolves that visited had smelled different too, what if they were just visitors?

Her debate only lasted a moment longer before she followed the path, only to be interrupted by a voice.

"you can't be here"

Hotaru froze, not sure if it would be one of the other kids Liliana had mentioned. It was clear that she didn't want her here, and from the way she spoke, she wouldn't be surprised if more felt the same. Ah— s-sorry I thought I...smelled... the girl's words trailed off before dropping completely as she found herself staring wide-eyed at the creature before her. She hadn't even considered that it wasn't her the boy was addressing, but now she seemed to freeze with a blank mind as she watched the cat.

She didn't expect what found her.
It was a dark-coated wolf. He looked rather like Eleuthera had, only darker. He had a similar litheness about him. Just as she had, he stood far away from her, but shouted nastily at her. Umi's ears fell a bit sideways, anxiety grabbing hold as the pack wolf yelled at her.

She pulled one of her paws up as if to step back, but as she did, another answered for her. At first, Umi was positive that it was Haruki. The wolf held the same white coat and had a similar smell about her. Umi's nose twitched and her eyes remained alert. This wolf was much bigger than the puppy she had met and held a distinctly feminine voice. There was a quiet about her.
Umi was confused.

I'm sorry, it's just, she said slowly, making sure to keep her distance. Her breathy voice didn't carry very well, so she had to practically yell at them. I was looking for someone I know. His name's H-Haruki, she said, staring at the young white wolf. She had been positive she had smelled the pup from the Empire. Perhaps her nose had been mistaken, and it was this similar-looking stranger that had left the trail.

had cam been a little more observant, he would have recognized both the pale girl that emerged from the trees and the name 'haruki.' as it was, his head was in the clouds and neither were familiar to him. he swung his head toward the youngster and then stepped in front of her, shielding her from the cat. 

i don't know any haruki here, he said with a fair bit of confidence. (oh, how wrong he was about to be—well, in his defense, he truly didn't know anyone named haruki. . .but they were here. and now miryam is rambling.)

cam fixed the creature with a hard stare. you need to leave before other wolves come for you, he commanded. it's not at all polite to cross borders without permission. it's trespassing, actually. and others have suffered the consequences for it.

a twinge at the jagged scar along his thigh, and the scent of moonspear. other packs would not be so kind to this cat.

The girl had been shocked before, but to hear the giant cat speak in a tongue she understood was even more surprising. She had never understood any creature before unless they were a wolf, was it really possible to speak with other animals? And to top it all off? She spoke her brother's name. The cat's eyes found her as she spoke, almost as if she knew they were related. Did she know?

The Neverwinter boy moved to now block her off from the predator, his dismissal ringing out once more as a warning, but something didn't seem right. Wouldn't she have attacked already if she was dangerous? She might have not recognized what kind of animal the cougar was, but it was clear that she was a predator too. Haruki— that's my brother's name. H-How do you know him? Chances were she would be chased out anyway, but she had to at least know her connection to Haruki.

Umi had known upon entering Neverwinter that she was likely to encounter hostile wolves. She had never met anyone from the forest before, and was generally wise enough to stay away from wolf territories. But Haruki had been a soul that had really touched her heart when they had met. She had worried that something terrible had happened to the pup and his family. A missing mother was not something to take lightly, and Umi had to learn more when she found that he might not be dead.

The dark wolf knew nothing. He demanded that she leave immediately.
To be honest, she didn't really believe that passing through a territory should count as trespassing. Wolves were so uptight about things.

He was right, of course. If she didn't leave, surely more of them would come, and she'd have no choice but to face injury. Uh, okay, she said, feeling disheartened. Once more, she made to leave and backed up a couple of paces, but as she did so the young white wolf spoke.

A sister. Of course.
I um.. well we m-met.. she stopped mid-sentence, eying the dark wolf. She wasn't sure what to do. She worried even that inviting the Haruki sister to outside of her pack territory would cause both of them grief. So, she did what anyone might do and asked politely. Sh-should we talk away from here? She asked it to him, for he seemed to have all of the rules written in his mind.

cam turned to the girl in some surprise as she confirmed that she knew haruki. was he here, too? man, he was behind the times. so much had been happening that he was struggling to make sense of it all.

should we talk away from here? you can talk right here, where i can see you both, said cam firmly. he trusted the cat about far as he could shove her—and given his lean build compared to her musculature, that wasn't very far at all. get it?

at least, with them here, he could keep an eye on the young girl and apprise any passers-by of the situation. one wrong move, though, and the creature would find herself headed for the hills in a snap. he would make sure of that.

he took one step back, allowing hotaru a better view of the one asking after her brother, and kept a stern gaze on them both.

you can skip him from here on out! he is just observing

In all honesty, the ex-empress was still shocked that the cat could even understand and respond. If it weren't for Cam, she probably would have thought this was all a dream. The strange creature looked to the older of the two wolves, clearly stuck on if she should leave or not, though when her question was posed, Hotaru wasn't sure if she would even want to wander past the borders with...whatever she was. Luckily, the boy insisted that they stay here where he could see.

The pale girl gave a silent nod as purple eyes glanced back to the woman. Who are you— what...are you? And why do you know my brother? The last question was repeated once more as Haruki's involvement piqued her interest far more than the first two. Something told her that this wasn't...normal. The boy didn't seem to like her presence and one look at the cat threatened to raise the fur along her nape, but she did her best to suppress the urge.

The dark wolf told her she could talk right here. Umi felt quite uncomfortable, but she supposed he was doing that intentionally. She had never heard of a lion attacking a wolf. Her mother had always told her to be cautious around wolves, but thus far they had really never given her any trouble. She nodded to him silently, giving him a small, rather frightened smile.

The girl, the sister, she asked all the questions. Umi's tail flicked curiously, and her weak smile transformed some into something much bigger. The girl didn't even know what she was. She seemed tense, but the cat ignored it.

I'll just answer those in order, she teased, winking at the purple-eyed girl. I'm Umi. My kind are known by many names, but most commonly in these parts as cougars or mountain lions. Personally, I prefer lioness, she continued, whiskers twitching in pride. She sat down, carefully so that the dark male wouldn't think her movements were a threat. And your brother... I met him when he was small. Back in the sunspires. He was looking for your mother, and I tried to help him find her, she explained. Her smile faded here. She had spent a fair amount of time with the boy, clambering around the slopes in search of the white wolf. Eventually, Umi helped him return to his pack, since leaving him alone seemed wrong.

They never did find her. Umi feared that she had died, and the search had always been in vain.

Hotaru watched carefully as the cat— mountain lion moved to sit. She found it interesting that there were different names for her. Did wolves also have different names? Her curiosity wouldn't last long though as the spark in her eyes died out, replaced with a more knowing downcast look. She knew what day that was...the day Haruki was missing, and the one where she had found their mother. Oh...I—

Purple eyes fell to stare at her paws, a thick lump forming that she forced herself to swallow. That's nice of you to try to help. We found her... There was still no telling what could have done that kind of damage. The way her throat had been ripped open leaving her head at an unnatural angle. The blood turned black that had coated and caked white fur. She shook her head, bidding the image to leave with a squeeze of her eyes. Um— you're looking for Haruki?

Something changed in the girl. Umi saw it. Her eyes watched the girl, her ears falling a bit as she seemed to know what had happened. When she looked at her white paws, Umi looked at the ground, lowering her head, whiskers drooping. She had been right, and the little siblings were without a mother. Even though curiosity prodded at her, she felt quite sad about this bad news. The cat said nothing, though she was about to give her condolences when the sister shifted the subject.

I just wanted to make sure he was okay... When I came back to the mountain all of the wolves were gone, and I thought maybe something bad happened to him. And then I smelled him here! It was a simple, true story. She didn't have any particularly special bond with the boy, but there was something that had stuck with her the day she tried to help him. Though she didn't often concern herself with the goings on of wolf society, she would have hated for something bad to have happened. Well, I thought I did. Maybe it was you I smelled.