Firefly Glen [PHE] Soul's Seek Truth

Ajei left the two girls of Swiftcurrent shaken. She had not meant any offense by her greeting. But as it were large groups and many noises and she wanted to run away. She took a shuddering breath and another. Seeking, searching for any place she could hide from teh noise. Long enough to calm her racing heart. How she hated that she was not brave like her mother.

She found the nearest secluded area, that no wolves were to be staying and brushed a forepaw along her face and eyes. Shaking paws and bright eyes. She was unsure. But she took one breath and then another, slowly working herself down from the precipice of fear and anxiety. 

She would find herself a place to begin working. Enough mingling for one day.

ajei’s scent braided between the hard tread of many wolves. sobeille stalked it intently, noting with a savage pleasure that arrluk’s presence seemed conspicuously absent.

she followed the trail to a copse that stood away from the main thicket - it was secluded, and quiet. there in the shade sat ajei, her body hunched with tension.

sobeille immediately strode to her side with a possessive bristle. ajei, she so loved saying the girl’s name — it belonged on her tongue. what’s wrong?

She was startled and felt her shoulders tightened, and her ears curl to her head. And she felt her throat close up at a friendly face. She reached to touch her muzzle. Anxiety crushing her spirit. 

I believe I may have offended someone and I hadn't meant too. And there's so many wolves and movements and loud noises. So many more than last year.

Ajei took another breath. it's hard.

something unbidden sprang to life in sobeille to see ajei so out of sorts. as her friend reached for her, sobeille returned the gesture with a powerful hug — squeezing so tight she was afraid ajei might melt away between her grip.

when she pulled away, the spaces along her skin where ajei’s body had made contact with her were alight with buzzing fire. who? she brushed at ajei’s cheek, gaze hardening. fuck dem.

Sobeille was quick to give comfort that she sorely needed. And she felt out of sorts. She smiled as they parted and sighed softly.

Some wolves from uh Swiftcurrent I Think. I hope that I handled it well after the initial faux pas, but I am unsure.

She shuddered softly. Oh! She blinked surprised at teh vehement words that came out of Sobeille's mouth and then gave a soft tittering laugh as she covered her own maw. 

I could never say such a thing. But I am glad someone can for me.

sobeille did not want to let ajei or that moment go. but she did — her somber golden gaze traced ajei’s shaken features.

she felt something prickle her nape. how could someone be cruel to ajei? tell me what ‘appened, sobeille encouraged, feeling her heart skip from ajei’s tittering laugh. an’ you tell me who dey be, I’ll march over an’ tell dem myself.

Ajei didn't know how to handle herself always. Especially in big groups with multiple personalities. She was her own wolf. But she took everything to heart and sometimes. Sometimes someone hurt her and didn't mean too.

There is a wolf who is blind. And I wanted to help her, or make sure she was okay. But another younger wolf must have thought I was being cruel or looking upon her with pity. I wasn't I swear. A wolf like that deserves to be respected to battle such a handicap and survive.

Ajei sighed and tooka  little breath. Though she smiled all the same. What did I Do to deserve such a wonderful friend as you? But I think it's okay now. Or I hope anyway. I didn't stay to find out.

That thread is ongoing so I have to be vague. bahaha

as she stroked the deep russet of ajei’s fur she wondered if arrluk had ever dared get so close; so intimate — a flare of jealousy briefly eclipsed her heart.

turning an ear to her friend, sobeille digested what had been shared. a blind wolf would make an easy target, but what of the second? and how stupid could they be, thinking ajei ever meant harm?

it ached to be referred to as only a friend, but sobeille buried this deep. someday, ajei would have her in a different way. this sobeille was determined to see to fruition. what did dey look like, ajei?

As was the norm. Ajei was not privy to the jealousy that flared within the depths of Sobeille or even Arrluk at times. She herself had not had time to sort through her tangled emotions of what she thought of love or lust or anything. She would need to know more of it to fully digest it. 

Ajei's brow furrowed as she thought of how to describe. They were both bigger than me of course. The white one much bigger, just a few shorter lengths than the man who made this possible Rodyn and the black one was blind with many scars. Only Maybe slightly bigger.

She tried to make the measurements with her paw, but both were higher than her by much. She was small and petite. Not built large by any means.

ajei gestured in the air between them, signaling their height. sobeille could feel the warmth pull away from her as she did so, leaving a gust of air that left her side cold.

so tall wolves - and one was white. she remained outwardly impassive, though inwardly her emotions were a vile cauldron bubbling over as always. an’ what deir eye colors be, ajei? she asked softly, already drawing the arrow that would fire deep into the faces of ajei’s tormentors.

Ajei had to think hard. One had white eyes of course from blindness but they were perhaps blue at one time. The other sea green eyes. Shadess came to help me.

Ajei covered her maw. They were so awful Sobeille. The way they spoke. The dark one called me a umm.

She had to clear her throat and she motioned Sobeille forward so she could whisper. She called me a fake ass bitch

Ajei clamped her maw shut quickly and shook her head. I of course told them they were unkind and I would be letting rodyn and kukutux know of their behavior. But why were they so mean?

some wolves were just born with ugliness in their souls. but not ajei — her sweet ajei who made the sun pale, whose green eyes glittered brighter than evening grass. sobeille leaned in, the darkening in her eyes becoming more potent as she learned more of ajei’s disabuse.

a darker one, with milky eyes. that would be easy. a pale one with green — a little more complicated. both possibly from swiftcurrent. sobeille resisted the urge to glance in the direction of their encampment. oh, she would look upon them much later.

dey be mean because dey be stupid. she held back her urge to caress the disheveled fur along the back of ajei’s ear. and stupid wolves aren’t worth t’inkin’ about. dey will get theirs. sobeille would see to it.

Ajei didn't fully understand why there had been such unkindness. And shame filled her at her own behavior at teh girls. She should have simply walked away. She should not have criticized in return.

Ajei sighed and brushed paws over her cheeks. I wasn't very kind either. I told them that their behavior was appalling specifically to wolf that had helped to host. I also called them unkind and unfriendly. That wasn't very nice of me. Their language was awful.

Ajei shifted. But what if they weren't stupid. They were just nervou slike me and handled it badly. or maybe i Should go apologize?

in sobeille’s eyes, unkindness deserved to be met with unkindness. if ajei called them appalling or unfriendly, then they’d done something to deserve it.

no! don’ apologize. dey are de ones dat owe you an apology. sobeille would not accept anything else. it did not matter what ajei had done; speaking to her so roughly was tantamount to cosmic crime in sobeille’s books. as far as she was concerned, they invited such evil into their lives by treating ajei poorly. sobeille was just here to balance the scales.

i’m sure we will be seein’ dem aroun’. you stick close to me ajei, i won’ let anyone abuse you.

Ajei was not one that believed in an eye for an eye. She believed truly. Honestly that you should kill with kindness. She only wished to tell Rodyn and Kukutux not for the girls to get in trouble, but rather for them to learn that unkindness and disrespect was not good. 

Ajei was unsure. She had been unkind in her words towards the end. Nothing like these girls of course. But she had been unkind none the less. 

Ajei gave a soft watery chuckle and nodded. Alright.

once again sobeille suppressed the urge crawling up her spine; to reach out, to hold — she was afraid she did not know herself well enough to let go.

a sense of hideous possession articulated itself around her now. ajei, ajei, ajei. her friend. but more than that to sobeille.

flicking her gaze back to camp like a cat, sobeille wondered where arrluk was. maybe she could displace him, but for now she could tell by the weakness of ajei’s chuckle that she needed more than just sobeille here. fuck dem. she dismissed again, motioning towards where she saw val and some others preparing camp. would you like a walk? we can see what other packs ‘ave arrived. and maybe burn off some nervous energy in the meantime.

in any event, it gave her time to think.

Ajei did not know what Sobeille was thinking. But ahe knew her friend would take care of her. But how she hadn't realized.

Ajei was not surprised by the words that fell off of Sobeille's tongue, but her fur did rise a little. Only because it was not a normal thing to her.

A walk sounds lovely. and then she would find Kukutx and Rodyn.

sobeille rose, a gentle shake of her fur raising dust and leaf litter from her fur. she picked at a stray leaf from ajei’s hide as the girl did the same — a compulsion without forethought that briefly surprised her.

striding away so ajei would not see the conflict mounting in her gaze, sobeille looked to the camps. she noted ajei’s fur was still lightly lifted in rivulets of red, but accounted it towards how unpleasantly she’d been treated before.

i only know some of dese packs. sobeille confided as she scanned each retinue. who dey be? she pointed off in the distance, where fronds of strange plants heralded akashingo’s camp.

Ajei offered a small smile at the removal of leaf litter. Thank you. was all she thought to say. Another shake and a smoothing of her fur down. Something more so to calm the nerves of the current issues than any other reason. 

Ajei followed her paw and nodded. That is the pack Akashingo. APparently they are royals and very rich. Rodyn says they have things you can't even dream of to trade. But he also said their ways are different than our own and he is unsure how he feels about it. They keep servants.

the pair watched the procession. their garb intrigued sobeille, but she also thought it gaudy. her mind wandered to what might happen to one such ornately dressed wolf if it met the mouth of a seal.

servants? this was a first for sobeille. she studied ajei, as if she could extract from the girl every nuance of rodyn’s face when he told her of akashingo’s customs. to feed dem?

]

Ajei didn't understand such frivolity, but she loved simple things. The feel of fur on shoulders. Soft grass against paws. Stones found in the wild and left. Not collected for self want.

A nod. Yes and bathe them and clothe them. It's all very complicated it seems. I much prefer the simple things.

She studied these Akashingo wolves. I feel if you reach to high well. The fall is larger.

sobeille’s attention turned back to the retinue. she tried to pick out from the swarm of bodies which must be the servants — watching as they skittered around their focal figures like ants before their queen.

the thought of utilizing them was not without its intrigue. she wondered how one made a wolf servile; it was not in her nature to be accommodating and so, she assumed all other wolves had the same difficulty.

ajei had a point; simplicity came with its own virtues. who was to stop an embittered servant from slipping a blade between sleeping consul’s throat? who was to stop them from poisoning the larder? of course sobeille’s mind went to these scenarios, because these were things she would do.

de fall must not be so bad if dey have servants to land on, sobeille made a rare joke. ’ow do you t’ink dey break dem, to make dem servants?

Ajei did not understand it all. But she could see how these things happened. What would have happened to her had she been born as nervous as she was without the strong foundations of moonglow. Perhaps that was what bothered her so. She could see herself in the faces of the servants. And she disliked it.

Ajei stared at them. I think some Sobeille may already be broken so it wouldn't take much. Others too quiet, too nervous, to be anything but, but some perhaps in horrific ways that we do not need to think on.

would ajei make a good servant? or herself?

sobeille ruminated and decided she was just xenophobic enough to immediately distrust this practice of servitude. what would stop someone like sobeille from slipping poison in their goblets?

mmmm. sobeille decided this topic didn’t much hold her attention anymore. she was much more interested in militaristic packs — the gold and the glamour did not appeal to her darker sensibilities. what other packs be ‘ere dat you know about?

Ajei did not wish to think on the servitude of Akashingo and Muat Rya anymore. It bothered her greatly. And she wasn't sure if it were because it was so different. Or if it was because she felt it too closely. But she was glad when Sobeille moved on from the current topic at paw. 

There is the Brecheliant pack, they are near here. Moonspear a sister pack to Moonglow and Moontide. Kvarsheim in the valley as well as Bear Claw they are both near Swiftcurrent. A pack called La Muerte. Frankly they make me slightly nervous. They slink about in shadows. And one called Sun Mote. It has a horrifically scarred man, his wife and two children arrived. And I Think the Matriarch of the pack too.