Kintla Flatlands wrought in stygian visions

For @Osprey. Set nearish to Blacktail Deer Plateau~

Breathless as her final attempt at scoring a meal eluded her, Echelon lumbered to an ungraceful stop. It had been a foolish attempt, thinking she could have capture a thin mule deer on her own, but she had given it her best shot. But even it had managed to lose her in a winding copse, and would more than likely live to see another day. She hadn't come out of it unscathed either, turning her attention briefly to where she had skinned flesh beneath her winter coat. It stung, no doubt bruised, but the cold had staved off most of the pain. It almost went without mention, but she knew she would feel the bruising come morning.

As she gathered her stamina back, the dark-haired Phase drew her gaze to the bare canopies above. It was late in the day, the sun having set beneath the sea somewhere ahead of her. The west, that she knew. The only thing it left behind now was the trailing twilight, and a haze that spoke of the clouds that were beginning to roll back in from wherever. She hadn't paid mind to the weather lately, but she didn't foresee it becoming worse. It was cold, but nothing like the bitter chill that had set upon the wolves of Tartok as they had chased her loose of their grasp. The warmer climes here were more welcoming... not that she was keen on being welcomed. Her bearing were beginning to come back to her through the days and while she couldn't pinpoint where she was, she had recognized the mountains to her north. The plateau that she hadn't investigated, the coast to her direct west, there were bits and pieces in her gaping mental map.

This was the region where she had lost sight and trail of Tonravik. Where her aokkatti had left her behind. Resisting the temptation to sulk and fall to her haunches, Echelon pressed onward. She would make good of things in time, she hoped.

the sword — how heavy this axe

Osprey had woken with a start early that morning - she had been sure she had heard the thundering footfalls of many deer go nearby and was quite surprised to find out that everything was quiet in the plateau. Let alone the fading musky and earthy scent of the resident blacktail deer. It meant that they had been nearby, but gone hours before. It took time for her to calm down and eventually leave her bed to wander in the woods.

She had first stopped by Blue willow's den - spending time listening to the sounds that came from there. Nothing seemed out of order, the scents around the den also indicated that no stranger or a dangerous being had ventured here. This was a good sign. After failed hunt in the woods she found herself near the borders - it took only a moment of self-persuasioin and she was off, running off to the wilds.

Osprey didn't get far though, because she noticed a foreign wolf short distance away. She came to a halt and observed the stranger warily.

With a steady pace, Echelon came weaving naturally through the dense wood. The terrain was of varied level, dipping and rising at times in jagged form. It was terrain that she was comfortable in, terrain that made her pick and choose where to go and how to handle the damp snow at her feet. Melting snow, she was willing to venture, as though perhaps winter's hold was willing to let go of everything. So focused in her task to move onward, Echelon didn't spy out the silvery glimmer of someone watching her, someone who had gone on alert that she was beginning to stray very close to somewhere she shouldn't have been.

It was the fact that she was dwindling close to a pack that made her move with some haste, with some sort of hope that she would not draw unnecessary attention to herself. Echelon did not want the ire of creatures far more well-fed and kempt than she. Weariness had clouded her judgment thoroughly; an Echelon of the past would have veered well away from a pack, unless she was willing to be antagonistic.

It didn't seem like the stranger had taken any notice of Osprey being nearby. Either because it really hadn't seen her or had decided to ignore her. Which was good and not so much at the same time. She felt a natural spark of distrust for this person and growing dislike too. The dark wolf wasn't trespassing the plateau's borders, but it was getting too close to the them for her liking, therefore she left her spot and began to follow the wolf in a quick pace eager to catch up with it.

"Oy, you!" she called, when she was within the hearing distance.

The call felt as though it had come from nowhere. That in itself was like a cold jolt; an icy plunge down a path that Echelon wasn't sure she intended to go in the first place. Her trek stopped dead in its tracks, saving the part where she wheeled around sharply to face who had called out after her. They were bound to catch up with her, so she was going to make it easy for them. Except for maybe the way she was standing. It was expectant, impatient, non-verbally demanding reasons why she had been stopped in the first place. It wasn't like she really had anywhere to be or anyone to answer to per se, but the point was across. It wasn't appreciated.

This time the wolf noticed Osprey, stopped in his tracks and waited for her to catch up. As she came nearer, her steps became slower until she came to a halt not too far away from the stranger that was expecting an explanation for the sudden intrusion of reaching a set goal, only she was aware off. However, this did not put off the confident Redleaf, she scanned the stranger - letting her gaze catch all the neccessary details to make a first impression of this wolf. Finally her green eyes briefly locked with the other's intense blue ones, then she broke the contact, by looking to the side. A polite gesture.

"Who are you and what are you doing so close to my home?" she asked.

Out of her politeness, Echelon felt she received a bit of deference. But it gave her plenty of time to trace her eyes along the profile of the other, long enough to make her own determinations of this and that. No doubt this wolf had come from the nearby pack, but the inky Phase doubted she was the leader. A sentry then, perhaps. Not there to start a fight, just there to deter. Then again, the possibility existed that she was wrong, not that Echelon was entirely inclined to believe she was wrong in any sort of spectrum. Not today at least.

"Just travelling through," she said, adopting whatever semblance of reassurance she could. "I won't disturb your borders." Questionably though, perhaps she had. While her eyes lingered on the greyscale form of the other, she kept her tone level. Respectable. With any luck Echelon hoped she would seem business-like enough to deter the pale-faced sentry from holding her up for too long, or trying to escort her to whatever she deemed as a more acceptable path of travel.

But no doubt she looked like some heathen coming to pillage and plunder through their wares.

Just traveling through. Three words, but they sparked Osprey's interest imediately and she once again looked at the female with all the "wheres, hows, whys" reflecting in her green eyes. Questions that demanded to be asked, curiosity that needed to be quenched like thirst in a hot day. She waivered, sensing that the other thought she was wasting her time on the plateau dweller. It was almost a pity that she had not trespassed, then there would be a valid reason for her to keep her here and inquire for more.

"You better shouldn't - we don't take invaders too kindly," Osprey said, recalling the time, when there had been someone raiding their caches regularly. "Where are you heading?"

So I was reading somewhere on here... I totally didn't realize you had played Ivarr! I used to stalk his threads. >_>

The words that followed up her statement were aggravating, but then again Echelon knew she shouldn't have been surprised. It wasn't the first time she had been politely told to step off — a warning was better than no warning. But there was a sense of obviousness that came to her that left her feeling just the tiniest bit slighted, as though she wasn't capable of acknowledging that a pack didn't take too kindly to strangers.

"Obviously," she said with a tight, thin smile. It disappeared quickly in favor of speaking more. "I'm headed towards the coast." It wasn't entirely a truth but not entirely a lie either. She really wasn't sure where she was about to head, but the coast seemed like as good of any place to start building a plan. Shifting her weight idly, she wondered if that would be the last of any interrogation or if she'd soon find herself another unwanted companion for a short duration.

When Osprey had warned the dark she-wolf, her intention hadn't been to make her feel dumb or slighted in any way. She had simply stated a blunt fact, just in case the other had had the slightest idea to trespass. Or raid caches - they had had one thief that had stolen plenty from the food reserves - enough not to tolerate another. "That's good," she nodded and attempted to smile at the wolf to tell her that all was well, but it soon faded, since it was hard to keep an upbeat posture, if the other one clearly wasn't interested.

"To the North side then?" Osprey grasped at the last piece of information she could weave in a conversation, but she was giving up on this case entirely and was ready to let the stranger go, wherever she wanted.

ooc: wow - I never knew that there were so many characters that liked him. Makes me feel honored and special!

I don't think we had a thread together back then but I definitely liked reading his threads! Fade maybe with your next post? :D

As their conversation (or lack thereof) seemingly plateaued, Echelon sensed that she was arm's length away from being let go. It was a small ego boost for her, as her last few conversations had been tiresome to a degree. Having been a solitary creature for so long, she found the difficult in conversing. She should have been in truth, because there was resolute safety in numbers. Survival depended on those numbers, more or less, and she was scrounging around for mere necessities.

"More or less," she admitted, though that decision was more than likely to be made once she got there. It was hard to say what she intended to as far as things went. Finding scraps or leftovers had come as she needed it, just as finding a safe place to bed down for the crisp nights that were yet to come. Knowing that the female was only doing what she needed to do — that in itself, admirable — she decided to impart a decision in return. "Feel free to follow me at a distance if you'd prefer."

Not waiting for a reply, the dark-haired canine chose to venture onward then.

Osprey didn't follow though. She remained at her spot, watching the other woman go with a furrowed brow. It was hard to put a paw on, but there was something suspicious about this foreigner. Therefore only, when the dark wolf was merely a tiny, moving dot in the scenery, she averted her gaze and padded back to the plateau. There was a reason to feel smug in a way - she had rarely had a chance to fulfill a true guard's function, more often being away from the lands than residing within their borders. This gave her a feeling of a job "well-done" and lifted her mood a bit.

ooc: thanks for the thread!