Silver Creek the world-eater wakes

WC: 630

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Having begun searching for herbs in case any were ever needed, Oryx had combed through their claimed section of the wilds in search of anything that she could find useful. At this point in the year, though, a great deal of the herbs that were useful for their leaves had turned brown and wilted, leaving stick-like stems that were deprived of their nutrients. She had to search for roots instead, as any bulbs or roots that were medicinal would be safe to harvest all winter long- but the more the ground froze, the more difficult it would be to get at them. It also wore on her, as digging was much more time consuming than simply plucking flowers, and it meant that as a proper lady, she had to clean herself after every plant was stashed so that she maintained a flawless appearance. This was all a bit much- and she would rather have spent her time hunting, but she would acclimatize at some point, she imagined.

She caught the scent of another wolf in the area and bristled lightly, but with a sudden wash of shame, told herself to calm down and lower her hackles. It was not her job to be wary of others- the males were to protect her, and she realized soon enough that this scent belonged to one of the males in the fledgeling group. A potential husband, she told herself, but couldn’t help her cheeks from burning. It was not for her to decide, and she wasn’t sure how many other males she wanted to meet- lest she should fall in love with one, but be given another. Still, she could hardly keep her curiosity in check, and wanted to see if this was another one of the Odolf rothers- as they were all so splendid.

When she tracked him down, she was surprised to see that he looked nothing like the Odolfs. Like her, he was sharp-featured, but perhaps even more so, as his physique hinted at a mixed heritage. She found it slightly odd that the brothers- all handsome in such generic ways- would take in another male who looked so different from them. She supposed, then, that they were going more for etiquette than for looks, which was a good thing for her- as she was fairly small, and not likely to have large litters if her frame had anything to do with how many pups she conceived. He was dark, svelte, and lean- and there were soft touches of grey to his pelt, and a slight hue of dark bronze around the tips of his guard hairs in the sunshine. He was not an unattractive wolf, she decided; until his face swung in such a direction that allowed her to see the hollow, sunken yellow gaze he sported. Something about it was unsettling, but there was a calm about him, too. Surely, he was simply being misunderstood.

Oryx gave herself a quick once-over, just checking to make sure that she had thoroughly cleaned the dirt off her legs and paws, and that none of it lingered on the fur of her chest or ruff, either. She checked out well- and she didn’t find any dirt clinging to her, thankfully. She had to present herself well, even though she loathed doing so at all. She didn’t want to speak out- and felt it was inappropriate to speak at all, until spoken to. She offered his a quiet chuff, as though to catch his attention though he had likely already spied her by then. To him, she gave a deep bow of her head, ears turned back lightly in deference. All of this interaction was still a bit too much for her...But this was what normal life was like, wasn’t it?

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