Blacktail Deer Plateau I will remember your face

I will remember your face

'Cause I am still in love with that place

But when the stars are the only things we share

Will you be there?


"Atlas hands" B.F.Leftwich

ooc: BDP mini-plot - a storm and a forest fire caused by lightening that destroys part of the Northern territories. The extent of the damage is up to the rest of the pack members. Osprey's final post here - she is neither seen, nor found after this.

The past few days had been very hot and even with the last bits and pieces of the winter coat gone, Osprey found it very hard to bear. Between occasional patrols along the borders, hanging out with friends and family, hunting, she spent the major part of the daylight hours sleeping and resting, preferring to go on hunting and scavenging missions either early in the morning or during the twilight.

Though the sky had been clear and the sun had shone brightly instinct told her that there was a storm and heavy rainfall coming. And she was not mistaken, because around mid-day dark rain-ladden clouds appeared, hiding the sun. The air was heavy and wind picked up, hitting the trees with such force that they bent, creaked and moaned mournfully. The low rumbling sound and flashes of bright light were the unmistakable indicators of what was coming.

Osprey had found a shelter early enough and was there, when the lightening hit a tree nearby, shredding it to pieces and sending tiny burning particles in every direction. The sun-dried grass, moss and twigs caught fire with ease and it began to spread rapidly, engulfing everything in flames and smoke. Lightening-trees-grass-fire - the pattern repeated itself over and over again, the wind helped the fire move and grow into a dangerous and unstoppable force that didn't spare anything in it's way.

A little too late did the gray she-wolf realize that she was in deep trouble. The smoke, sudden difficulties to breathe and horrible headache had forced her to leave her hiding place and go out in the open to seek a different spot. However, what she saw around her, didn't give much if any hope. The heat was unbearable, she could barely see anything through the thick blanket of smoke and the crackling of the burning wood, as well as the sight of open fire, confused her even more.

Osprey was an old and experienced wolf, yet nothing that she had learned before, had prepared her for this. She stood amidst the fire, her vision blurred by the smoke and fighting for breath, yet she could not force herself to run, even move. Her mind was blank, no rational solutions left, when her life was at stake. Then a nearby tree gave up the fight against flames and wind, it broke and fell, hitting the ground not far from, where the she-wolf stood. Embers hit her fur and muzzle, making her yelp in pain and finally run.

Step by step the forest-fire drew onwards, destroying everything it touched. Moments later one could hear a shrill cry of fear and despair, which joined the ghastly symphony of the roaring wind, the rumbling thunder and the crackling fire. This was the last sign of Osprey in the plateau - her scent, footprints, maybe herself even... was mercilessly turned into ashes.

gotta get a response in here!

When he heard the crack, a sound that rang out like a gunshot, Dante barely hesitated before barreling towards the sound. The alpha knew such that danger likely lay where such a sound was made, but his position was one that required he investigate and deal with threats, not run. Instinct drove him forward where others might be driven back.

He saw the flames just as Osprey's call resounded.

His ears pinned back and his lips twisted into a snarl, rage at the flames and fear for his packmate making him immediately seek a way deeper in. The fire had spread quickly through the dense corner of the plateau, the trees igniting and burning white-hot, throwing embers and sparks as their branches cracked and splintered. He made it only a short way before the smoke became unbearable, pushing his way through. A brand hit his side and he backpedaled, leaping out of the flames and loping a short distance away, eyes streaming and chest heaving. He was forced to stop as his stomach expelled itself through his smoke-raw throat, and he backed up further still, breathing the fresher air frantically. He couldn't get through, and her call had come from the other side.

A frantic whine escaped him, and he threw back his head, a scratchy howl relaying the danger to the rest. This was a threat he'd never come across, and he gave it a berth, but continued to linger, hopelessly seeking any sign of Osprey or a way past the viscous blaze. In both counts he would be disappointed.

Strong wind buffeted the plain and a heavy darkness fell upon the land. The soft glow of the sun was replaced with intermittent bursts of light and rumbles deep in the pit of the sky. Malachi pressed himself closer to the mountain wall and flattened his body to the ground. The weather had graced him with fair travel during his five-day trip throughout the flatlands. He felt no surprise things would shake up now that he was only stretches away from the confines of the Plateau.

His folded ears rang with each boom of thunder, and the blue of his narrowed eyes glowed with each streak of light. He felt no relief even when his paws passed the invisible border marking the end of free land, and any comfort he gained was swallowed by what happened next.

A shock of light, a vicious crack, a peal of thunder that shook the earth. His paws stuck like rocks, but his flattened ears pressed forward and his eyes widened despite the biting wind. All senses locked in the direction of the noise: there was something wrong on the horizon. The clouds seemed to have fallen upon the forest and draped the land in darkness. But there was something else, and the sharp tang of smoke met him only seconds after a curling cry chilled the air.

Malachi launched forward, paws abuzz and mind numb to the time that passed. Grass blurred in his peripheral, and adrenaline pushed him on to where a raging sea of flames swallowed a corner of the land. Another voice filled the air, and Malachi barely recognized the scratching call as Dante's. His eyes landed upon the scouring man a moment later and though his leader's call had been to alert them of this danger, Malachi let no hesitation prevent him from running up to where his leader paced. "Dante!" His voice spluttered to a cough against the heavy smoke, but he sealed his watering eyes on the Alpha and his brow creased. There was a desperation in the man Malachi had seen in others before, and his fur rose when he remembered the cry. "Who's in there?"

No doubt like others along the breadth of the storm, they had seen how quickly it had engulfed the sun and swallowed it whole.  No doubt to those well outside of the purview of such a storm they would have seen the towering monolith of clouds reaching towards the sky, perhaps even heard or felt the percussion of what would be oncoming.  This storm was one of many that had come across the wilderness in recent days, pushed ashore from lands unexplored and told in the west.  Some had come barreling angrily, others had been no more than all bark and no bite.

But there had been something in the air on that day that told Mordecai that this was no ordinary storm, that it possessed the spark of something more.  Perhaps it was the hue that the sky took on as the sun became blanketed, or perhaps it was simply the ever distant rumble of thunder come close.  The songbirds had ceased, the chattering wildlife in the undergrowth found their voices muffled.  He hadn't paid it much heed at all, hadn't even paid any mind to the deafening crackle and strike of lightning.  It was an awful din, but not uncommon.  Yet there were the core fundamental things that could not be shook from the wolf's memory; among these first and foremost, was the smell of woodsmoke.

And then he too, heard the strangled cries of those who realized what it was.

As Mordecai crossed the distance of the plateau with ease, he felt the first few drops of stinging cold rain meet his muzzle.  The smoke rose thick and dark, blacker than the clouds themselves it would have seemed.  The lightning turned the usually idyllic countryside of what had been his home since the turn of winter into a nightmarish landscape — the trees were gaunt and old, riddled and raised like gaping maws and reaching arms.  Wisps of flickering flame glowed now as he found Dante and another, though he did not register whether or not they were someone he would have known.

A solitary draw of breath turned into a stifled cough; the burn in his lungs from the run now turned into the burn from smoke alone.  Though he was one from a much warmer climate, the heat here was climbing to the point of little tolerance.  The fire was spreading fire and with fury, pushed by the winds and far from doused in the rain.  The worst of the storm hadn't even come close to them.  "We need to find somewhere upwind of this," Mordecai concluded with another cough.  "The fire's spreading towards us!"

since we don't want too large a portion destroyed, I figure a short time and then some rain? ^^ forest fires spread quick and the plateau has pretty dense trees, don't want to make it too uninhabitable!

I'm gonna go ahead and take Dante out of this thread, feel free to continue!

He was joined by Malachi, who grasped the situation immediately. "Osprey." He managed to get out before turning back to the wall of flames. His call, it seemed, had also summoned Mordecai, though it had been a warning intended to keep others back. "Go, please. Find Blue and Lasher, make sure the kids are safely on the other side. I can't just leave her, not without trying to go around." The smoke-driven itch in his throat made it hard to finish the sentence, but the orders were as decisive as he could make them.

He didn't wait around for a confirmation, but instead ran for the plateau's edge, hoping to get there before the flames blocked him once more. The safety of his wolves was his responsibility, and he'd be damned if he was giving up that easily.

Sounds good to me (:

Osprey. He struggled to place the name, but Malachi felt the gravity and honed his attention back on the fire, raking the trees for any sign of movement - a blur of fur, a hustle of motion, anything that would signal the presence of the one trapped behind the flames. But the billowing smoke dried his eyes and funnelled fire down his throat and he wretched a cough again just as the voice of another rang behind him. The large drops of rain that fell from the sky sizzled in the reaching flames, and his lungs begged him to follow the man to higher ground. But Malachi did not budge, only returned his eyes to Dante to know his course, and a deep ache filled his heart for their Alpha at the words that scratched from his throat.

The recklessness in Dante's pursuit was all but lost on Malachi. He had been driven by the same desperation before, and he only felt a cold skip of his heart as the smoke swallowed Datne's retreating body from sight. Malachi backed away from the fire and turned to the man who remained with searching eyes. Dante's instructions were clear, and though he felt a thrill of fear for their leader and the one still lost to them, the pack rested in their hands until Dante returned - because he would return. His paws itched to follow around the flames, but their charge was with the pups and he waited on his packmate to move. There had been a time when others would have looked to him the same, but after all the ways he had failed before, he couldn't bring himself to be that wolf any more.

Thinking maybe we could have the rain start by the time they get to Blue & Lasher's? Feel free to move it along how you see fit too!

Much to his surprise, Dante ran towards the flickering flames and thick smoke. Mordecai started after him for a second but held back, knowing better. Dante would have likely outran him anyway, easily driven by a force that was just as fierce as it was swift. If Osprey was somewhere in there — and he sincerely hoped not — then all he could hope for was the best. Yet on some other level, he was prepared for the worst.

Turning towards the other, Mordecai registered that he didn't know him. It came as little surprise that new wolves had come to the Plateau however, and in the present situation Mordecai cared little whether or not they had been properly acquainted. After this, he supposed they would be. "Let's go find the others," he called over the grumble of thunder. He didn't wait for a reply either, turning and bolting away. He knew where to go, and only hoped that Blue and Lasher and their blood had holed up for the oncoming storm. It would make them easier to account for, and keep clear of where the fire was liable to go.

Malachi stole after the older man and followed in the path he forged. Once out of the trees, the air cleared of the fire's thick plumes and the sundry man sucked in the welcome relief of oxygen to his heart. Another flash of light lit the land, and he counted the seconds that passed before thunder pealed in reply. Four. And when they neared the shelter of Blue Willow and Lasher, five. The storm was moving away, and Malachi squinted to face the sunless sky. The clouds remained a dark blanket above, but no longer held streams of fire. The humid air broke, heaviness lifted, and rain fell to purge the land.

With a compulsive start, Malachi rent forth a howl, both to quicken the rain, and to call for Lasher and Blue Willow and the children they reared. Though they had come near enough they could have beckoned the Betas with gentler words, the churning of the storm wrought him thick with tension and Malachi's voice escaped him before he could give himself a second thought.

@Lasher, @Blue Willow, @Eilidh, @Casmir

"come, come," the beta murmured at the first drops of rainfall, herding his children into the thickest tree-copse near the rendezvous site. while storms were welcome sources of water, and enrichment of the earth, the racing winds and forbidding underbellies of the clouds caused apprehension within lasher.

no sooner had he gathered his children and the willow among the tightly interlaced branches than electricity crackled suddenly in the air. eilidh cried out, and constantine glared balefully at the sky. "what is it, papa?" casmir inquired, shouldering his way betwixt his parents. "it is lightning," taltos answered.

all at once, the too-near flicker of fire razed his interest into fear. the acrid smell of smoke crept into his nostrils, and his hackles reared with terror. forcing calm into the harried cadence of his heart, lasher pressed his lips against blue willow's ear, but before he could speak a word, malachi's tense voice rose into the air.

"stay here!" lasher ordered the four of them, exchanging a pointed glance with his lover, before setting a long-legged lope in the direction of the other. a tendril of dante's scent floated to him, but it was rather overpowered by the thick ash in the air. throwing back his head, he called to the wolves of the plateau, imploring them to rally unto him.

Blue saw the rain as it began to fall and followed her lover and their children. And she too waited while the storm raged around them. Blue shook beneath her fur, the terror of the moment very real. But she fought to keep her outer emotions and expressions calm for the three little ones that pressed against them both. The smell of smoke made her lift her head, nares flared as she looked about her. She made to run after Lasher, terror licking at her heel, but rather she stayed put. Murmuring soft sweet things to her children. Trying to keep them calm in the wake of such destruction and natures anger.

Eilidh didn't mind a little rain, but it was the storms that set her teeth on edge. She cried out as lightning flashed across the skies and snuggled closer to Lasher, her knight in dark armor, the one who would protect her from all harm. But he soon left them, and she whined and whimpered, instead curling against Casmir and Constantine and their mother, protective woman that she was. She was afraid, but she would not leave her mother's side now. Not ever.

In their plight to get to Lasher, Mordecai heard his call reach out to them through the thick forests ahead. It would have seemed that their race to find him and his family was to be cut short, as the darkly-colored beta had caught sight or wind of the fire that plagued their vivid countryside. And as the rain began to fall harder, it was not much further ahead on that path before Mordecai spied Lasher's figure emerging from the woodland.

He barked at him, partially to be accounted for but also in warning as well. They had come from the fire that raged, the very place where Dante had gone charging in after Osprey. As his feet brought him to a breathless stop near that familiar face (and incidentally, familiar place), Mordecai could not help but cast his gaze back against the elements to gaze at the spread of flames left behind.

"Dante's gone in there to find Osprey," he found himself saying as he swung his head forward; his voice unsurprisingly hoarse and strained. "He sent us this way to find you — is your family safe?" And on the flipside of the coin, he considered calling out for Harlyn, only hoping that she remained safely tucked away somewhere on the other side from where the fire raged. He thought perhaps if things persisted in worsening, he would go for her himself.

Lasher's voice came to them, a rally on par with the thunderous rain. Hope pulsed in Malachi and he charged to follow. They came upon the dark Beta shortly after and drew to a sharp halt. At a rest, Malachi could feel the stinging of his throat even stronger than before, and he winced when he panted alongside his agouti companion, who managed to find his voice quicker than he, to Malachi's relief.

Mordecai turned his face to the flames, and Malachi cut his gaze to follow. The rain obscured the distant land, and Malachi narrowed his eyes to clear his sight. Far beyond, the flames blurred into a frenzy of wild light - uncouth and untameable, a dangerous beauty that made him tremble with a fear unlike any he'd felt before, and Malachi could not pry his eyes away even when Mordecai turned his attention back upon the Beta male. Only at the mention of the Mayfair family did he swing his head back around and he searched the father's face with troubled eyes.

from the clouds of damp smoke rallied mordecai first, with words upon his lips, and silent malachi. "blue willow and the children are safe, beyond the reach of the flames." dante had sent them. "where is he, mordecai?" the beta asked, his body tense and tones stiff -- had he entered the flames? if so, why? eyes searched their faces, and with a grim nod of his head, he gestured that they should follow him back to where blue willow waited with the trio of half-grown pups.

he looked to mordecai once more, then malachi. "did you see any others?" he inquired softly, dreading their answers and hoping that the scattered members of the pack had fled the fire.

An inaudible sigh of relief escaped him when Lasher mentioned that all of his were accounted for; Mordecai was loathe to think about what the situation would have been like had it the answer been any other. But he had little time to dwell on it as the situation progressed with turbulence, coupled with the urgency unspoken in their equally unspoken languages.

"I couldn't follow him long enough through the smoke to see where he went," Mordecai said, going to answer the first of two questions presented by their beta. "He went east, towards the climb of the terrain into the mountains. Osprey's the one who sent up the warning call, so I'm assuming he went to get her." Of course, Osprey's warning call had been more of her terror towards the eruption of flame on their normally quiet homestead. It had been enough to draw their attention and likewise, warn them of what was occurring.

"But I didn't see any others on our way to you," he went on to say, then looking back to Malachi. "Did you see anything?" For the most part they had either been incredibly lucky not to see anyone charging towards the flames, or unlucky that they had missed someone stock-still and slackjawed by what was going on.

Malachi felt his shoulders unravel when Lasher confirmed the children were safe, but the relief was short lived. With a tight jaw, he again allowed Mordecai to answer for Dante's accord while he himself remained silent. The larger man answered with a control Malachi wasn't sure he could deliver himself, and Malachi was thankful he hadn't been the sole member to see Dante before the Alpha had leapt into the flames. Though the crisp air cooled the burning of his throat, his voice was still stolen by the sharp imagery of fire, and the greyscale man disappearing into the smoke.

The young man swiped his tongue around his parched mouth when Lasher inquired of others, and he glanced to Mordecai, shaking his head. "No," he steadied his voice, and he turned his eyes back on Lasher, "No one." No others had joined them or responded to their call, and he prayed they had holed up for the storm, or had found residence off the Plateau to wait it out. He stifled a tremor of dread; the alternative was too heavy to think on.

posting to keep this moving! anyone is welcome to hop in!

the relief of his packmates was palpable as he revealed that the children lived -- with a jolt, lasher realized that his brood were next in line for the leadership he held, if dante had no pups of his own. such was the hierarchy of wolves, though who could know what occurred in the years to come?

his lips thinned into a grim line at their negative responses; he was not pleased, but neither had they brought news of death. throwing back his crown, the beta issued a rallying call for any plateau wolves who had scattered, that they come to him, and then he nodded at the two.

"we can do no good here, not now," the man said softly. "come away into the woods with us until the ash has settled."

With little choice but to do anything else, Mordecai resigned to the fact that Lasher was truly right. There was little they could do until the fire had been quelled by the falling rain, and to do so would surely merit stories that none of them would enjoy telling. Provided they survived to begin with. His thoughts lingered over Harlyn for a moment at the beta's suggestion, but something suggested to him that she would stay safe and sound where she was. It was still prompt enough to draw him to cast another gaze back towards the fire, which even in light of the downpour that came upon them was only showing signs of being slow, not snuffing itself out.

He nodded then in absent agreement, seeing past Malachi before bringing the other into focus. "Let's get to somewhere safe," he said, reality sinking in akin to a stone breaking surface tension of a still lake. Once they were there, Mordecai had already made the decision to seek out Harlyn. In spite of his certainty that she would stay safe, he also knew that she had not felt well in the days past. That alone was enough to spur him to fully make certain that she would not need relocating, as well as seek out those that may not have heard the call.

Malachi heard a ringing in his ears - a dangerous quiet. His bustling mind streamlined to one desire: run, scour the pluming smoke, find Dante, find Osprey. Do anything but watch and wait. But he imagined the swift sting of the fire, the choking smoke, and his compulsion surfaced only as a tremble in his legs. The flames were not a predator they could fight: they were at the mercy of the storm, helpless to do anything but watch and wait.

At the words of both his superiors, Malachi felt the weight of exhaustion slowly sink between his shoulders. Surviving the storm, ensuring the pack remained strong. That was their duty, and Malachi resigned with a bow of his head. But every step he took after Lasher and Mordecai felt wrong inside, and all that stopped him from tearing the other way was the vivid reminder of how the trees looked when the fire stole their own life away. The rain held the balance now, and with a final glance at the starless sky, Malachi tore his gaze to the passing land, searching for anyone who had heard Lasher's rally call and keeping himself from looking back.

lot's wife -- that was how lasher likened malachi, watching the tension fill the man's shoulders as they beat an exhausted plod back to blue willow's side. he himself glanced back several times at the gommorah of the inferno behind -- he did not fear salt, for it dripped in bitter rivulets down his cheek. he bent one foreleg to wipe them away, giving a short bark as the trio approached the copse where he had left his lover and their children.

"willow," he whispered, wishing fervently that he could nose into the velveteen fur of her bosom and fall into a fitful sleep there. "the rest must be scattered. safe, but lost for the moment," he explained, motioning toward mordecai and malachi. his pups were given a once-over, and then he sent a friendly wave of his plume toward the male wolves.

"i think that the healing den is untouched. perhaps we rest there for the eve."

Willow watched for them, and felt her heart leap when Lasher materialized from the smoke. Look little one's there's daddy. Then she waited, nosing lasher between the shoulders and giving him a once over to look for wounds. Thus far, it was just ash and smoke that stuck to him. She did the same to the other two present if they would allow her. Just because she was scared and nervous and sad, didn't mean that she couldn't offer her healing where it was needed.

Willow nodded her head, Yes it is too far away to get touched. Come there's enough room for all of us. I made it big enough.

Eilidh waited impatiently for her father to return. Though she loved her mother and wished to emulate her grace and goodness and love, there was a special connection between father and daughter. So the golden girl paced back and forth, back and forth, while they waited for some sign of her father's return. When he did come back, to the whisper of their mother, saying look, look, Eilidh went barreling toward him and the others, barking and yipping happily.

"Pappa!" she crowed, nuzzling him under the chin, reveling in his scent and presence. Then she took a step back and repeated the process with other two men, a little less enthusiastically, a little less personally, but she still nudged each one on the chin in rejoiceful greeting, before whisking back toward her mother.

The other emerged from the copse as they drew near; the sight of them enough to still the remaining concerns that for whatever reason, something would have befallen them too. Blue Willow was perhaps out the gate first, her preening and examining of them given little thought. Briefly Mordecai could not help but marvel at how much the pair's children had grown, as Eilidh was hot on her mother's heels to follow suit. He broke from the seriousness of the situation long enough to nudge her back with a faint smile. She was no longer the quiet soul that had gnawed away at his limbs once upon a time. Now she could properly make the attempt to bowl him over if she wished.

And once they had been reunited properly with one part of their pack, Mordecai dawdled over the talk of moving towards a den. His restlessness was evident and there was little hesitation in his voice. "I'm going to seek Harlyn out," he said, though it was a quiet announcement. "If we come across any others, injured or not, she'll be able to help as well." If nothing else, he imagined that she would prevail to have a cool head in all of this as well, provided she was feeling up to it.

last post for me!

lasher hesitated at mordecai's words, wanting to forbid the ostrega from departing. but he was not such a cruel sort -- the restlessness was apparent in the agouti creature, and so after a tense moment he nodded, releasing a breath he had not realized had been held so tightly. "please return tonight," he murmured. "i would like all of us together in the twilight hours."

nodding at mordecai, the beta turned back to his family, proffering gentle nuzzles and a soft glance toward malachi. "let us find rest for the evening and begin anew tomorrow."

with that he set a quick pace for the healing den, looking over his shoulder several times to see that the others followed.

likewise!

"Of course," he said, willing to make good on that request if nothing else were to come of it. Mordecai set off without so much as another comment, his action to move away in time with Lasher moving to guide the others to a place of safety. He headed towards the last place he had met up with Harlyn, hoping that she had found some abandoned burrow to house herself in.