Meadowlark Prairie i'm a ruin

all welcome! but secretly hopin for a BFW wolf or two >:3c

 ah, fate! that cruel mistress that should keep her lady-love from her heart. their blissful reunion had been brief and tongue-tied the witch-coy hadn't managed to confess anything. at least this time she knows it is not her own wanderings that have ruined the tempetuous pairing - no, kinkajuú left of her own accord - without a sound or word. all witchbaby can do is hope that the delicate angel returns to  her again - and through her own sorrow she thinks, well, maybe this is just punishments, for her own nature would inevitably betray her again.

 and at least now her weetzie is here with her, if nothing else. 

she is humming to herself as she slips through the praire. she edges by the forest - suspecting correctly from the smell of dark and feather that this is the home that ashen boy, neo, had told her of. her impulse is to slip in and see the grotesque border for herself, but she hesitates just slightly, thinking of her wayward brother. not yet, not yet, she sing-songs under her breath, and continues on her prancing trail.

Ty had wandered off from her home again, wandering south toward a pack she did not know. She had her eyes peeled for wolves—even those that were in packs—that she might be able to coerce to her cause. That, of course, was her main objective. She had felt better about it the past several days, gathering wolves where she could, collecting them like trinkets.

When her eyes fell upon yet another, she honed in on the figure and approached with no hesitation. "Hey there," she said, posture welcoming and friendly, "I'm Tytonidae Vasanta. You wouldn't happen to be looking for a pack, would ya?"

 her frolick is interrupted, but witchbaby finds herself slightly relieved that the interloper is a woman - the boys have been quite all-right but the men of teekons have left something to be desired (the camera flashes the puckering of scar tissue against her throat knowingly). her crooked smile fixes her mouth, pink eyes brightening playfully. "oh, oh, i was thinkin' about it just now," she says, misunderstanding tytonidae's point, "'cause ain't it close by? but you don't smell the same as him," she hums thoughtfully - the boy's scent had been distinctive but perhaps it was the fault of the acrid ruins they'd met in - but the forest itself smells so similar, that sooty-deathy odor emenating even at this slight distance. 

 nevertheless maybe she's wrong, and so she glances away from the woods to the long-legged creature before her with a flourish and a croon: "m'names witchbaby."

She stood puzzled for a moment, not quite sure what "Witchbaby" (a name she had to hold back giggles for) had meant by the nearby pack, but she caught on soon enough, assuming her newfound acquaintance figured she was part of that pack, and not one on the coast, away from here. "Oh, um... my pack isn't really close by. I live out on the coast, a place called Ocean's Breath Plateau," she replied, hopefully clearing things up in one fell swoop.

"I am recruiting, though!" she added, wanting to make sure that part was particularly obvious. "What brings you to these parts?" Ty asked, attempting some semblance of a normal conversation instead of doing the super hard sell.

 it takes a moment for the woman's words to illuminate her misunderstanding, but, ah - what an odd thing to lead with! witchbaby thinks, and after-all no one has ever really tried to recruit her, and certainly not for a wolf's pack. it does do her ego some good, even if the woman isn't trying to recruit her specifically (ha, but of course she is) - and either way the notion of not close by sounds pretty appealing right about now.

 "well," she says, drawing it out just-so: we-e-ell; "i was lookin' for someone close to my heart, an' then we found each other - but then she vanished, again," witchbaby's voice is mournful, near theatrical, though the sorrow she feels is sincere. "i met a boy from the pack in the woods an' i was thinkin' of paying him a visit, but... maybe i just ain't in the mood," she sighs, glancing back to the woods, pink-gaze lingering. 

a beat. "so tell me 'bout this pack a yours, then," the scarlet witch says suddenly, impulsively. kinkajuú'd talked about founding something, once, back before the storm. witchbaby doesn't get the appeal but maybe it makes sense in a way - though she'd have to see, wouldn't she?

Witchbaby (a name that was going to take a lot of getting used to) dumped a lot of emotional baggage on Tytonidae all at once, and the young leader gulped. Maybe WB was just in a rough mood today. Sounded like she had a lot going on, and that would explain the... uh... sudden coughing up of all this rather... seemingly personal information to what amounted to a stranger. In any case, that didn't disqualify WB immediately from Ty's recruitment, and the strange wolf wanted to know more about the pack, so...

"Well, like I said, it's on the coast. I'm hopin' we'll organize there, but I don't think I want to stay in a permanent location, so we'd move every few months. I want merit to be based on skills, so you'd be expected to find your passion and follow that. Mine, for instance, is scouting, recruiting, that sorta thing." Tytonidae paused, giving WB a chance to soak up all that information and respond.

 it doesn't occur to witchbaby that she's oversharing - after all she's not slipped names or dates or the depths of her dear love, but the juiciest bits nonetheless. perhaps to her it is all just tantalizing, snippets of a dramatics worth telling - oh, but she loves gossip.

 the pack, though, the pack! the scarlet witch laughs, surprised delight shaping her eyes. "you'll move?" and there it is: the one - well, the biggest - problem with wolf-pack, solved. witchbaby needs to roam (even if it's what costs her stable commitments, from, say, her angel-faced soulmate). "an' scoutin' - that's just roamin', yeah? i like doin that," she says, all thoughtful-plating. she's got lots of skills, she's just never thought about them in that context - but scoutin', sure, and maybe things like acting and cheering and being, generally, herself, the best skill of all. "an' if i was scoutin' it'd be cool if i went 'round, yeah?" she checks, because that's the other caveat of a similar stroke: she's just gotta move!

Ty nodded, answering the question with a smile. It seemed a lifestyle that appealed to more than just herself, which was a welcome surprise. Tytonidae had known so many wolves who seemed content to stay in one spot, but maybe that was just because they didn't know (or didn't believe) any other way of life was possible. WB seemed totally on board (even excited) by the prospect of moving around a lot.

"You betcha!" Ty replied, "I'm a scout m'self, so I can't very well go harping on others who like to do the same thing I enjoy." She gave WB a grin, then added, "So, WB, you in?" The nickname she'd been saying in her head during this encounter had finally been verbalized, and she hoped the strange little wolf would like it.

 she's been in since ty first appeared like a summoning, but she doesn't say that, instead giving a faux-coy hum that turns delighted chuckle - WB! brilliance - her tail a wagging flag. "yeah, i'm in," the scarlet aesthete croons, expression sparkling. she takes a step as if to start bounding towards this aformentioned plateau, but pauses: oh, right, the fine print. "i gotta let my brother know," witchbaby says, "an' also, which way should i be headin'?" look at her, responsibility made life! her brother will be so proud.

WB announced that she was in! But first, she wanted to track down her brother and inform him of the good news. Ty thought to ask if WB's brother would also be coming with her, but she didn't want to push her luck. If he showed up, Ty certainly would not be sending him away. "Almost directly northwest of here," Ty replied. "It's got a lovely view of the ocean, and it's lush with prey."

"gotcha," she chirps, dashing pink eyes following the direction ty says, as if to trace the path from her current earthbound position. as if reading the black woman's mind, the coywolf adds, "might rope 'im along with me but he ain't a big fan a' wolves, y'see," thinking she should give fair warning - after all weetz-and-witch were a two-for-one, much like they'd all once been a three-for-one... but at least she's giving her brother the consideration of a real good-by (and an invitation, though she suspects he will refuse her with some nonsense about not trustin the big ol wolfies). she flashes a final crooked grin and starts to move off, crowing a "see ya later, ty-by!" in farewell - and well, she'll workshop the nickname, eventually.

Thanks for the thread! :D

Ty quirked a brow at WB's brother not being a fan of wolves (assuming he was one) but didn't press further. Instead, she listened as she was granted a nickname of her own, then watched as WB scuttled off to attend to her business. Renewed in her faith for Bhediyon, Ty felt light at heart and mind as she departed, slowly making her way back toward the plateau to check in on her pledges.