Phoenix Maplewood sweet adieu

Through the thinning canopy, a lone figure emerged, her presence silent, almost spectral against the dying colors of the forest. The warmth of summer had long since faded, replaced by the crisp bite of autumn air, yet the woman welcomed it like an old friend. Each step she took was measured and fluid, leaves crunching softly beneath her paws as she moved with the unhurried grace of someone accustomed to solitude. Golden and russet hues swirled around her in the wind’s gentle dance, their fading beauty reflected in her cold, glacial gaze as it swept over the distant treeline.
For a moment, her expression softened, thoughtful, then hardened again as her mind returned to the purpose that had drawn her here. Yvonne had wandered far beyond the borders of her homeland, crossing forests and forgotten paths in silence, her reasons known only to herself. Whatever had compelled her to leave still lingered behind those ice-blue eyes, a secret waiting for the right moment to surface.

Safiya is trying to recruit someone for her pack. She needs to in order to rise in ranks. You needn't accept lol. But hello, also :)

Safiya had turned away from the sands of dryness. Instead she walked for greener pastures and more easy wolves. Wolves that were not as strong as she perhaps. Wolves that she could strong arm if she must. After all, her task was a steep one. She was unsure if she could recruit someone. 

She was thrown from her thoughts by the sound of another. And singular eye turned towards the sound. A quiet chuff of greeting and she waited. Wary, but open, anxious to see if she could perform a task that was not her usual.

hii!! So glad to rp with you once more <3
We’ll see where this goes! :)

The sound of another’s greeting pricked her ears, breaking the quiet rhythm of her steps. She halted with practiced grace, her icy gaze gliding toward the source. A woman stood before her, fortunate, Yvonne thought, that it was not a man, draped in shades of crimson, her presence marked by a single sea-green eye, the other lost, perhaps, to an old battle.
Yvonne inclined her head in silent acknowledgment. „Do you know where is…” she began, her voice a low murmur as her eyes flicked toward the dark canopy above, then returned to the stranger. This one seemed familiar with the forest’s tangle, and, more importantly, with the secrets of this unfamiliar land. „The glacier?”

the wind shifted through the valley, carrying with it the faint bite of cold and the scent of strangers. from the shadowed rise above, sega watched. his shape blended with stone and frost, pale fur streaked with the dust of travel, golden eyes glinting faint beneath the treeline.

two women—one flame, one ice. their voices drifted to him on the wind, low and careful, the sound of those who did not yet know if they stood in safety or in danger. he did not move at first, only listened, the rhythm of their words falling between the hush of the forest.

when at last he did stir, it was with the weight of quiet authority. his paws pressed soft into the earth, his frame cutting through the fog like the rise of a mountain. not hostile, but present. a guardian of this place.

he said nothing yet. only the faint rumble of breath through his chest, the low exhale of a hunter accustomed to being seen only when he wished.

gold eyes flicked from one to the other, measuring, patient. the chief of the great sky, silent among the pines.

Hello! Very glad to see you.

Safiya had lost her eye indeed in a battle, but it had not been a long ago one. Had it even been a year yet. She no longer could remember. But she wore it proudly. A wound she had healed from, overcame. Much like the rest taht riddled her and the ones that ate at her heart. 

Safiya shook her head. I'm from the desert. My first time up this far I'm afraid.

She tilted her head and shifted. Singular eye roving up the hills and mountains. Pointing with her maw. Up there be your iciest regions.

The glacier; her mother had spoken of it often, weaving tales of a realm forever cloaked in snow and silence. She had spoken, too, of Yvonne’s father, of his strength, his greatness, how he once roamed those frozen lands long ago.
The desert flame before her stirred a flicker of curiosity. If this woman hailed from the sands, what business brought her so far north? Yvonne’s gaze followed the stranger’s lone sea-green eye as it shifted away, then returned to meet her own. „Why come this far?” she asked at last, her tone calm but edged with suspicion. Surely there was purpose behind such a journey.
Her icy eyes swept the clearing; and then she saw it. A glint of gold amidst the shadows: a watcher. Yvonne’s muscles tightened. Was this mere coincidence… or had she been stalked all along? She stepped back, widening the space between herself and the flame-clad stranger, all while keeping that golden silhouette in sight. Straightening to her full height, she narrowed her gaze, voice low and cutting. „If this is some sort of capture attempt,” she spoke coolly, „it has already failed.”

sega stepped from the pines like something carved out of fog and stone, not rushing, not looming—simply there. the gold of his eyes caught the thin morning light, steady as fire at the bottom of a pit.

his paws stopped well before he reached them, space left wide and open. no trap. no circle. only witness.

no capture, he said, voice low and rough, broken common softened by calm. hn. great sky not hunt women. not hunt wanderers.

his gaze moved from the desert flame to the ice-blooded girl, reading the tension in her stance, the tight set of her jaw.

i watch only, he added. land mine guard. not you.

a faint tilt of his head, almost a bow. rain clung to his fur, breath warm in the cold air.

you safe, sega murmured, firm but gentle. wind bring you here… not me.

then, a beat of quiet, his eyes narrowing just slightly—not threat, but recognition.

no fear. i stand alone.

Safiya's own fur prickled, and she had seen the man. But he had seemed not to bother, so she had left him be. She tilted an ear and felt her ruff stiffen. 

I do not know him. She said it firmly, without letting room for any argument. She was many things, but a betrayer was not one. She would not be held responsible for something seh did not do. The male moved closer and she shifted so that he was in her line of sight. She was immediately on guard.

The tension that had pulled taut between the three of them did not snap, but rather dissolved, slow and heavy like mist rolling off a morning river.
Yvonne held her breath for a heartbeat longer, her icy gaze dissecting the male who had stepped from the pines. He was a creature of stone and fog, massive and still, yet his voice carried a roughness that spoke of earth rather than violence: Great Sky. The words were broken, tumbling from his jaws with a clumsy sort of gentleness that contradicted his imposing frame. He claimed to be a witness, a guard, and, perhaps most importantly, alone.
Her attention flickered sideways to the desert flame. The woman’s denial was sharp, immediate, and ringing with offended pride. Yvonne watched the stranger's ruff bristle, saw the way she pivoted to put the golden-eyed male in her line of sight. It was not the body language of a co-conspirator; it was the reactive instinct of prey realizing there was a bear in the woods.
They were strangers to one another. The realization allowed Yvonne’s own muscles to lose that wire-thin rigidity, though she did not lower her guard completely. She was small compared to the rock-hewn male, a drift of snow against a boulder, but she maintained her posture with a practiced, freezing grace.
„Then I stand corrected,” Yvonne murmured, her voice losing the cutting edge of accusation, though it remained cool, like wind passing over a frozen lake. She offered a slight, diplomatic dip of her chin, not a bow, but an acknowledgement of the peace he offered.
She looked from the golden eyes of the guardian to the sea-green glare of the woman. „A coincidence of timing, it seems. If you are the guard of this land,” she addressed the male, her pale eyes narrowing just a fraction as she assessed his stature, „then you have nothing to fear from me. I seek only passage, not trouble.”
Yvonne shifted her weight, light on her paws, ensuring she remained the third point in their triangle, distant enough to run, close enough to speak. „Though I admit,” she added, a dry, faint humor touching her tone as she glanced back at the flame-furred woman, „it is a crowded day for such a quiet wood.”

sega’s gaze moved between them, measuring the bristle in the desert woman’s stance and the pale one’s wary poise. neither smelled of trap or tie. their tension was theirs, not his.

he dipped his head once, steady, the motion smoothing the air around them.

hn. i see. he rumbled.

he turned his muzzle east, toward the distant mouth of the valley where mist gathered like breath over the pines.

my land there, he said. east. great sky.

then his tone softened, carrying the quiet hospitality of a nomad accustomed to offering shelter to strangers on long trails.

place for travelers. rest, warmth, meal, he added. we welcome you if you come with peace.

his golden eyes returned to them both, calm and open.

woods open today. no fear from me.

Safiya eased her stance only a little. But her gaze held the male's. He was larger than her, but she was not afraid. Safiya was never afraid. She had seen too much to be afraid and that was an emotion the girl was not born with. She often wondered if she was broken because of it. 

A tilt of her head. And a dip of her nose down. I am of Verapaz. It is in the desert. Not far. But thank you. She looked at teh man then remembering her manners,e ven if she was on guard. For the offer.

She looked to the woman yvonne. It is a bit busy. More than usual. A small flicker of amusement in the sea of her eye.