Phoenix Maplewood When the buzzards get loud

Trade thread ~ for ranger or hunter (#3)

North, still, but the sky was darkening and Larus knew he would have to make camp soon. The marsh tapered to the northwest and he could recall a memory of a forest ahead; so, that was his choice. The man paused when he saw a flicker of movement overhead and looked expectantly after it, watching as a pair of blue herons became thin lines towards the mountains. He thought briefly of going after them but, in the end, didn't.

The maplewood surrounded him soon enough, welcoming him with a sway of skeletal branches. The man couldn't stop a yawn from pulling at his gut and his yellowed maw gaped wide, teeth clicking a moment later. It was quiet out here and Larus could feel the descending dark, the sweeping cold that would only get more intense. He roused himself by shaking his shoulders and whipping his head about, but it was hardly invigorating. Perhaps this was as far as he would go for now.

bumped to present day with permission! ranger sounds good for me.

she hadn't wanted to be here. not home. but her heart had pulled her here and her feet had obliged. it was a sanctuary she hadn't wanted to revisit, for fear it might not be real.

but the trees looked real as she passed under them.

and the snow felt real, under her paws.

and the cold -- it was real as it raked through her, raw to the bone.

she thought about skowl and how he had responded to the scent that clung to her. she thought about laurel and xan, and that mute wolf -- and her failed hunt with blondine and that strange wolf that had the nerve to look at her lack of tail like it was a scarlet letter worthy of shame. all of these thoughts troubled her and enveloped her completely, so much that she was oblivious she was nearly upon a wolf until he shook and startled her.

she drew back, pulled from her inward turmoil by his movement. there was no greeting, no warm or sunny 'hello' -- just a spooked wolf, feeling out of place before him. she did not realize it yet, but it was the same wolf she had encountered so long ago at larksong (and also the wolf she had briefly seen interact with reigi)-- they had both grown so much since their last encounter.

Larus did not have a good memory when it came to faces. He wasn't so great with scents either, at least where wolves were concerned. He could tell the basics if he tried: the gender, the general age, the level of health. Having never spent much time within a pack in his lifetime, the boy had become a man with finite skills; remembering who he'd seen, what he'd been through, it was often too difficult for him. Being a loner had meant developing a different skill - compartmentalization. Where it had been a great asset before, as a pack wolf now, he found his memory just didn't cut it. He could not turn off this gift that circumstance had granted him.

So when he had woken up properly, and the flailing puffs of his fur had settled, he was ultimately just as surprised as the girl when he turned to see her skittering backwards. He did not recall meeting her at any point previous; then again, she had grown since then, and lost a piece of herself too. He stared at her like a deer in the headlights for a split second before bowing his head and sheepishly attempting to relax the situation: S-sorry! I -- I didn't know you were there. You spooked me too.

indra eyed the stranger mistrustfully -- despite the fact he seemed as startled as she by their sudden encounter. her morose thoughts were abated temporarily as she struggled to identify where she had seen him before. his golden mask was distinctive - at least to her - and a deep line furrowed down her russet brow as she struggled to remember.

the mute wolf -- he had been the stranger to intercept her. indra looked up from the ground, wondering if he was a friend of the silent cur that hounded bearclaw's borders. despite every aspect of him being disarming, indra was relatively guarded as she assessed his scent for any sign of allegiance. finding none, she settled somewhat, though the fur along her neck was still slightly bristled.

she looked about them with a frown, unsure of how to ease into conversation. she had been defensive for so long -- and what if he turned out to be like skwol, or that patchwork monster outside of blackfeather? what if he was that slavering wench's friend?

no amount of internal coaxing seemed to loosen her tongue, so instead she simply offered a roll of her shoulders and looked away.

The memory of her came to him in a rush. He recalled a tall tree with the sun glinting through the boughs; leaves shining with a liminous glow; the call of a sharp-beaked bird of some sort and then, after a struggle, the look of the red-tipped feathers as they formed a boquet in his mouth. A mess of blurry images that came and went through his mind.

She still didn't seem that familiar (or that interested) so he did not say anything about it. He did, however, notice the quick glances and deferrential shifting of her body as she put some distance between them and shrank away. The boy was curious about this reaction - he couldn't recall ever harming her, or being the type to harm strangers (save for when they ventured too close to the borders or molested the food stores), so Larus was at a loss.

He did notice the scent of the Valley upon her - notably, Laurel's. Oh, you're Laurel's sister, he realized breathily, his brow raising as this epiphany dawned. That meant she was a survivor. Are you -- okay? Do you need anything? The boy asked softly, cautiously, as if to make mention of his knowledge would spook the poor thing away.

she whirled around then, paw suspended in midair and her ears strained at the mention of laurel. her gaze revisited him anew, the corner of her eyes narrowed in a squint.

how did he know laurel?

she regarded the golden-faced agouti with a stony expression, her ears pulled to each side in perplexion. a frown worked its way across her tightened lips. the revelation he was at least an acquaintance with laurel did not immediately assuage her circumspect demeanor -- she had been let down too many times by strangers.

"how do you know her?" she queried, suspicion fringing her voice in subtle tones.

Almost instantly, Indra was looking at him in a different way (one that Larus wasn't comfortable with) and her tone made him shift uncomfortably prior to his own reply. His ears flipped back briefly, but he tried to relax, giving her the benefit of the doubt - whatever she'd been through had probably affected her judgement in some way. Couldn't she see he was a friend? Oh well.

I met her a couple times, he admitted, I'm from Easthollow. If you live in the Valley - well, we're neighbours. His tail wagged and he smiled awkwardly then, trying to think of the best way to ease her suspicion but not really having any idea. His posture was slack, he tried not to look at her too boldly or make strong eye contact, deferring to her in every physical sense, but it didn't feel like enough. We um, we have similar names - me and your sister. I'm Larus.

her frosty demeanor had put him on edge. good, the red girl bitterly thought. if she appeared unapproachable, unfriendly, perhaps that would protect her in the future. it had been her mistake to be too soft, too warm -- and that was why from a mile away monsters like ithrik were able to hurt her.

she would never make that mistake again.


indra shifted at the mention of them being neighbors, her little muzzle turning back in the direction of the valley. she had known of easthollow, but only by boundaries -- now she knew the name. she looked back to him and studied the soft golden aspect of his muzzle, and the clement sunflower of his gaze.

"indra." she had wanted to hold her name close to her heart, but his knowledge of laurel had at least tempered her frigid mien. she did not say anything else, and should he accept that as the end of their exchange, she would give him one last fleeting look before she turned back for home.