Blackfeather Woods the unending fight, to call yourself alive

she is near the borders but has not crossed! you're still welcome to rough her up if desired though!

It was a strong scent that smacked her in the face and held the straggled thing at bay. Marked lands. Claimed. Her paws lifted and planted back down into the earth over and over again (tip, tap, tip, tap) as her form stayed submissively hunched. It was an anxious dance she did, easy enough to read for any possible onlookers. Her form then skittered down along the wall of scent markers by a few yards as she repeated that dance again.

This continued for a few drawn out minutes.

It had never occurred to her that she might have better luck just turning back and heading elsewhere. In her mind, it was constantly forward never backward.

he had somehow tied himself to the blackfeather wolves. it wasn’t from the need to split from the nomadic lifestyle, he never had a problem with it. no, it was from sheer curiosity. how did they live under this dark canopy? one encounter as an outsider wouldn’t answer that question so he’d let himself in. and if he was dissatisfied with his stay, he could just leave.

zeus was not a social creature, so of course he wasn’t eager to meet anyone else. he was unsure whether the pitiful woman was a part of their group. he watched her dance to and fro from the shadows. eventually he drew closer. she did not smell of blackfeather. “you’re a little too close don’t you think?” he grunted with annoyance. how hypocritical of him to get frustrated by something he had done just a day before.

Aha!

Someone had spotted her during her dance. She paused with a bit of a dumbfounded look on her face. The male was marbled like winter slush. Browns and whites. His words cut deep even if she did not entirely understand them.

Her form shrunk close to the earth as her tongue swept out to nervously lick her inky lips. Jakoul's tail even gave a few cautious waves before finding shelter beneath her willowy form. Perhaps if she was on her best behavior she could appease the stranger. Whatever they wanted her to do she would do. Anything to make it through another day.

the girl did not speak, instead she anxiously shrunk. and while her form became smaller his grew. zeus took a step forward and his tail twitched irritably. he was tempted to drive his teeth into her flesh, but he held himself back. things were different now that he wasn’t alone. actions had consequences now. “what are you doing here?” he growled. “speak girl.”

Things had a way of not working out like she planned. She thought her form would have pleased them and perhaps she'd be left alone to pitter-patter her way around the borders again. Instead he grew into something that, in her eyes, resembled an indestructible monolith.

Here. She breathed the word back to him. Here? This time it came out posed like a question. Jakoul did not know where she was. What the importance of this place was. Instinct told her the scent meant this was a group for someones but who were they? Where was here?

He hears voices among the trees - not familiar - and pulls himself from the undergrowth; through the stone grotto and the tunnels, until he is a whisp of white in the dark. Creeping through the forest quietly but with purpose.

He can smell Ramsay in the air; it is faint, overshadowed by the musk of a stranger, and draws him closer. Not one stranger but two. A pale beast like himself and - he wasn't sure what the other creature was. Deer like, hungry, ragged. Mou does not approach her but he drifts, settling by the pale wolf - smells Ramsay's scent again, lingering across this wolf like a weak perfume.

If Ramsay has met this wolf then he must be one of them - but what if the other? This corpse?

ah so she did speak. but she hadn’t given him an answer, no, just another question. “yes, here,” maybe she didn’t understand what exactly she was doing. “prancing around on pack borders... you must have a screw loose.”

another soul came drifting towards him. he was not unlike the other two blackfeather’s he’d met. he too had his imperfections; a missing eye. it reminded zeus of the time he took his brother’s as a trophy. the memory always bought a dastardly smile to his face.

perhaps the ghost had more patience in this situation, cause he surely didn’t. “if you have no business here than leave.”

There were plenty of words that Jakoul did not grasp and she failed to make any sense when someone spoke a lot in a row. Yet Jakoul may not have had a screw loose but perhaps she had a few missing marbles. Not exactly in some evil or crazy way. She was far too timid for that. She was just not as well socialized as her current company.

Leave.

Her soul reveled in joy at a word she knew. It was typically not a good word but she had heard it plenty before to know what it meant. Which was good. Carefully she did a smaller version of her previous dance, scooting down away from the men but never crossing that peculiar scented warning.

Leave. She hummed softly as her dainty paws pattered across the earth.

She was an odd one. Not a word passed her lips, and that would've been fine considering the ghost could barely speak himself, but then she did, and it was to repeat something Zeus had said. He slunk closer and glanced between the guard and the strange black-bodied corpse woman, unsure of what to do. He wasn't accustomed to evaluating strangers on the territory edge and didn't immediately think about offering - or chasing her from - his home.

Her dancing reminded him of Seelie of the island; it pained him to make the comparison, because this woman was longer, leaner, bigger, and wasn't as nuanced in her movements as his dear friend. The reminder that he'd left his friend behind served to weaken his resolve; he looked to Zeus sadly, but didn't hold the expression long.

Name, he slurred, and looked to the shadow — Speak name, or go. That was a start, anyway.

permission granted to skip Zeus

Jakoul thought she was leaving, that she had been ushered away and would be free to tap until she could move forward once more. She was, as usual, wrong. A new voice rattled around her brain. It halted her dance. Hesitantly silver eyes glanced to the tattered statue of a man. He had been her but it seemed like she was just now registering him.

"Speak name, or go."

Simple words with a simple request. Her tongue swept over her lips once more and somehow she attempted to make herself a bit smaller. Jakoul. The word was heavy and this time it was not a repeat of what someone else had said. It was a name. Her name. She could only wonder what they would do with her new acts and words. What request would be presented this go around?

She was an odd one. A shadow that did not use words — but like him in that way, so perhaps not so odd. Perhaps she belonged here with them, thought the ghost. She spoke her name and Titmouse felt his ears twist towards her voice; she understood the request and — oh.

Finally, the boy took notice of her posture shifting. It happened so quickly, so fluidly, but Titmouse was more attuned to such things than most. He had to be. Words failed him too often. Without further consideration he moved towards her — bold, forthright, and his tail arched high like a white flag of peace, of dominance.

He investigated the scent of her; tasted her breath with a soft probing of his nose in to her space, and pressed her further: crowding her just a little bit as he investigated, wondering how the shadow would react to his presence. If she reacted with teeth he would merely leave her to Zeus.

She played well (in her mind) with the tattered male's investigation. Perhaps it was because they had not been agressive yet. Jakoul had not been presented with a reason to not trust or judge the strangers before her.

It was with a slowness and carefulness that she attempted to roll onto her side from her formerly crouched position. She wished to expose her underside as a show of good faith to the investigator. Her tail even gave a few steady waves against the earth.

She did not know if it was foolish to be so trusting of him just yet. There was a chance she would learn soon enough though.

He advanced as she rolled, finding the display to be curiously effective in assuaging any lingering doubts he held. So she was a soundless creature — whether it was by choice or by nature, he could not fault her for it. She smelled of the woods primarily and nothing else; good health abounding, youth. Titmouse continued to crowd her even as she lingered there on her back, and with a step too close he was looming over her, sniffing and probing with his nose until he was satisfied; then, feeling fully content with his inspection, he rumbled a soft note in the back of his throat. It came out as something different from what he intended — a crackling sound that bordered on airy nothingness. He coughed, stepped over her, and with a whisk of his tail he settled to a more neutral posture so that she would know he was finished. She could stay.

exciting and interesting thread, loved it. <3

Not even a peep stirred from her lithe form as she was further investigated. Perhaps another would have been fretful of a figure looming over them but she did not feel threatened. No one present had done anything to trigger some sort of fight or flight response from her primal mind. No teeth, growling or even harsh words.

It was those things combined that made her content to stay around once the investigation was done. Something soft rumbled in the back of her throat as she aimed to roll back into a crouched position. Yet her neck stretched outwards and from between her jaws swept out her tongue, seeking the investigator's chin. A silent show of thanks.

Very cool thread! Welcome to BFW!!

He felt something wet and warm touch his chin, but didn't startle. When he flicked his gaze around a bit, Tit's singular eye lingered on the black shape of the girl and he felt his ego swell a little. This was one of the first times he'd ever felt powerful and in-control, even if the process of recruiting wolves to Blackfeather was something simple. He rumbled at her again - tried to, anyway - and stood up, slinking off in to the shadows and leaving her with Zeus so she could acclimatize with (or without) his aid.