Neverwinter Forest all for the best

Tags for reference, but y'all are welcome to hop in! Attn: @Laroche

A thick layer of evergreen pines stand sentinel. Arm in arm, they weave their boughs together, creating a dense canopy of branches that fend off both rain and snow. The forest floor is shadowed. Here and there a beam of sun penetrates to the ground below, but these rays of light are seldom and few. Where they touch, infant life reaches for the skies. Soft ferns and saplings spread, cloaking the ground with downy moss and fallen pine needles. This forest protects itself and with it, has become home to several herds of deer.

After meeting the neighbors and hearing the incessant howls of a nearby pack that seemed to have just moved in, Cyclone reluctantly decided that as much as she liked this little safe place surrounded by mountains, she couldn't safely make a home here. Begrudgingly, she sent up a call alerting @Dashiell, @Ingram, and @Vyn that she was going to travel back in the northwestern direction again and search for a more suitable place for all of them to live. With that out of the way, she sat there for a long moment on a ridge, looking down into the valley where she had spent quite a bit of time now. She took a deep breath in, said a silent goodbye, and bid it farewell.

Her feet took her slowly and steadily through the burnt-down forest, and she eventually came upon a much nicer looking forest that barely looked touched by the weather outside. The canopy overhead was thick, the ground below scarcely scattered with snow, and it was rather peaceful. Maybe, just maybe, this would do.

without wardruna, imrathil was lost. it was easy then, for him to put trust in cyclone — a wolf possessed of most unusual confidence, according to the misplaced eyjolfur. 

he followed her then, past field and bramble. in truth the forest she had selected was not familiar to him, and neither would their next destination be. long ago he had resigned himself to never recognizing the terrain they traipsed, and with a dutiful sense of loyalty, imrathil trudged after cyclone’s tracks in the snow.

Looks like Laroche is inactive.

Imrathil, sweet Imrathil, was hot on her heels, and she glanced back at him. What do you think of it? she asked. It was quite different from the valley between the mountains, but it still had the qualities she was searching for: quiet, a good distance away from others, and plenty of prey. She did want buy-in from her pack mates though. If they were all to start this thing, they all had to be happy with where they settled. The last thing she needed was for somebody to be upset about where they lived.

She wondered how far behind Dashiell and Vyn were, but she figured they'd catch up in their own time. Now she was just eager to gather more wolves and start to make their home here, provided the others liked it as much as she did.

imrathil had not given the forest much thought beyond trees, snow, more trees -- so when cyclone turned and inquired as to his own opinion of the bosk, imrathil slowed and glanced at the tall spearing heads of black pine around them as if seeing them for the first time.

he noticed then the forest was populated with a wide variety of conifers - black pine, whitebark, douglas fir - and in studying them, he saw small grey birds flit from tree to tree that he had never noticed before.

a forest, he had learned, was as good a place to rest your head as any. "it's quiet." he offered in a tone that was not disapproving. "what do you think?"

Dash had been keeping up with Cyclone from afar, always within earshot of her howls but never quite feeling the need to answer. She was not his alpha yet, and perhaps she never would be. Dash wasn't the best with commitment, and he wouldn't want to give Cyclone the impression that he was loyal or dependable or any such thing... that would just be setting everyone up for disappointment. Even so, Dash kept tabs on the would-be alpha... he liked Cyclone, and he liked his options open. 

Dash had been watching a blacktail deer herd for some time, learning their interaction styles and keeping track of their movements. For reasons he couldn't explain, he found almost everything about non-wolf creatures immensely facinating. How incredible was it, that deer could live just by eating grass-- grass! It was everywhere, all the time! Why was it that wolves considered themselves the highest of creatures when there were other species out there that had managed to find a way to never, ever worry about where they were going to get their next meal? It was a breakthrough wolfkind had yet to achieve, as far as Dash knew. 

It was entirely by coincidence that Dash's herd was migrating through the very forest Cyclone was investigating. He raised his head with interest as her howl reverberated through the woods. What should he do... answer her maybe? But! What if she tried to make him do stuff or whatever, like alphas were always doing? He was busy! Deciding to ignore the howl, Dash dropped his nose to the ground to continue tracking his herd. He did so until he heard voices drifting through the trees. 

It was her. Well, damn it. He was too close to just fuck off now, they had probably smelled him. Plus, Dash was a little curious about Cyclone's conversation partner. Was it another recruit? He released a bark to let the pair know he was close, and he reluctantly parted from his scent trail to wander toward the voices.

I think I like quiet, she replied, bumping her snout against his cheek. Before she could say much more, she heard Dashiell's barks, followed quickly by his appearance from behind a tree. Dash! she beamed, prancing over to greet him with a lick to his nose. Cyclone had always been the affectionate sort, and she had no plans to stop anytime soon.

This is Imrathil, she said, glancing back to him and gesturing for him to come meet the other recruit. Imrathil, this is Dashiell. She knew they would have met eventually, but she was glad to be here for the occasion.

imrathil's tail stirred at the brief contact -- cyclone's muzzle brushed upon his cheek before a bark alerted both of them. standing attention, imrathil felt his hackles prickle as a wolf came towards them.

his cause for alarm was unwarranted, for in a spry fashion cyclone quickly departed from his side, and sprung towards the lean agouti with spirit that could only suggest the two were well-acquainted.

shifting rather reluctantly (and feeling so very guilty for the uncharitable prickle of...competition that he suddenly felt overcome him) imrathil's gaze swept over the male, assessing him as warmly as he could manage. "hullo," he ventured, suddenly feeling troubled by a flash of a memory dredged to his mind -- one that just as quickly dissipated, leaving imrathil with a rather troubled countenance.

Cyclone's enthusiasm was catching, and Dash's apple-green eyes sparked energetically. When she licked him on his nose, the boy snapped playfully in her direction, teeth clicking shut just shy of her muzzle. He stepped forward with the intention to initiate more of a game, but Cyclone's words directed his attention once more to the dark stranger. 

His name was Imma.. Imra.. what was it again? Gods, why did people have to have such complicated names? "Uh.. hey," Dash responded, adding a good-natured tail wag. No matter what his name was, Cyclone said he was a friend, and that was good enough for Dash. "It's just Dash," the seawolf corrected after Cyclone introduced him. He looked back and forth between Cyclone and the other guy, who had kind of a weird look on his face. "So.. what's up?" he asked after a beat. "We still tryin' to start a pack and all that?" Dash had maybe (just maybe) been a little out of touch recently.

If there was animosity between the two, Cyclone was too wrapped up in seeing them both together that she didn't notice. They exchanged pleasantries, and Dash asked if they were, in fact, still doing this whole pack thing. You betcha! she replied with enthusiasm. I think I like this location better. It was getting a wee bit crowded back at that other place, as much as I liked it. I think this'll work out better for us in the end.

She glanced between the two of them, briefly wondering where Vyn was. It would have been even better if all four of them could have been together for a little while, but she supposed that would happen in time. For now, she was glad to have these two around. Have either of you met Vyn? She's the other one in our little group.

surprised by how prickly he was feeling (for little reason, to boot) imrathil was happy to take the backseat as dash and cyclone conversed. he wondered how many other wolves had been recruited -- part of him looked forward to being in a pack again, though a nagging figment of his mind reminded him he remembered little of his past life, and even less if he liked packs or not.

he supposed he would find out eventually - he thought he might be a pack wolf, but with how shitty his memory had been lately, imrathil had also become somewhat detached. jolting suddenly from his thoughts, he realized cyclone had asked a question. mutely, he shook his head -- for he had met no such wolf by that name.

"Hmm," Dash responded, not entirely enthusiastic about the idea of settling down in a forest. The seawolf was used to open skies and endless stretches of ocean, and he had a difficult time spending extended time in any place where trees obscured his view in all directions. 

"Vyn? Nope, not yet." Is she hot? He almost asked, but he remained quiet in a rare show of restraint. 

"I was just tracking a deer herd," he mentioned instead, "Anyone wanna come with?" If they were going to be a pack, they ought to hunt like a pack, Dash supposed.

is she hot lmfao -- slight pp to wrap up <3

imrathil could not skulk for long -- as soon as dashiell mentioned a hunt, he rose. he was ready to prove his prowess - especially to cyclone.

or vynn, if she did indeed end up being hot.

ready then to pursue their afternoon meal ticket, imrathil fell in step behind his packmates, for once feeling he was not out of place or left behind.