In times of bother, one found their comfort in the things that reminded them of home, or in any instance brought them calm where the words of others might fail. Rather than seek out the warm presence of her denmate and companion, since her dismissal from the Creek, the warrior had chosen a hole in the mountain to find peace. But even in the cramped crevice, there was only so much security she could find in the earthen walls. Only so much calm she could attain before sadness crept into the delicate flesh of her heart.
She has been shunned away many a time in her prior home. It came with the territory of being a traded female rather than one born and raised in the fold. But never had she been dismissed by one she called friend and trusted. It was a strange, hurtful feeling that took a while for her to realize that it stemmed from assuming her presence was no longer wanted. And it worsened when such words had indeed fallen from the mouth of her mentor. She did not believe herself deserving of the consequence, and yet she was forced to endure it none the less. She had lost something precious while the Creek carried one dismissive of their transgression. Such a backwards way of looking at things, and she could not begin to wrap her mind around it.
By the afternoon of the following day, her thoughts had not changed. Still she clung to the disbelief of their audacity, but it had lessened somewhat as was the result that came with time. With some internal motivation, she managed to peel herself from the inner walls of her keep to fill her lungs with the warming mountain air… yet in doing so she caught the wisps of a scent nearby. An all too familiar scent that brought her hackles to stand on end. They had only just dismissed her, now did they seek to further drive their teeth into the still fresh wound?
Merciless.
Soundlessly, she emerged from the den assuming claim to a rock adjacent to her hideaway. With head high and tail curled, she surveyed the lay of the rocky scape in earnest, hoping to find hide or tail of the Creek wolf before they crossed nearer to the Vale. She glimpsed a shock of white then among the rocks, familiar in its coloration that it elicited a draw of her lips and a rattling call for attention. Why on earth was he here now? |