Duskfire Glacier Baby love me, apocalyptic

for @Pandora <3

Eldritch felt different these days. The storm, the fire...it all still felt so new, so clear. Was this what trauma was like? This severe? Was her old sister...did she feel this way, once, or even still? Father was a vicious, sick man. Would she, or her long lost sibling, turn out like him somehow?

Thoughts swirling, Eldritch padded through the territory, passing ghostly through the terrain on silent footfalls. A lifelong gift, these silent steps. 

Coming upon a solitary cavern, Eldritch twitched her ears some and came closer, sniffing with caution in case the wolf who claimed it was around, or didn't want company.

@Eldritch Sorry Pandora went inactive. :( Will you take Lane instead?

Weaning was not going well, and the frazzled mother's ears were still ringing from Wayfarer and Veteran's pitiful cries. They were eating regurgitated meat now (albeit reluctantly) and so Lane had some hope at least that she would be able to take her scout's trip soon. She really needed a vacation, especially after this week. 

Lane wasn't entirely surprised to find that a fellow packmate had retreated to the outskirts, given the racket her children where making at the center of their claim. The raven-pelted woman lingered near a cavern, Lane noted, and she recalled something that someone had mentioned about a strange herbalist woman living somewhere out here.

"Oh, are you the witch?" Lane asked offhandedly, her smile twisted into more of a bitter smirk given her mood. She was mostly kidding-- she didn't believe in magic and potions and all that in the least bit. The epithet was spoken as a mockery of the superstitious wolves who did believe, and not really meant to be an insult to the "witch" herself.

Not a problem! Thank you <3

 


Eldritch heard the footfalls of another, and at the voice, inwardly she frowned upon meeting the face with the bitter smirk.

Outwardly, the once-worshipper stared into Lane's eyes, as if looking directly through her. 
"I was, once. I have since thought heavily of abandoning my practice with my gods." Her voice, Otherly, almost absent of mortality. 

Slowly, slowly...insanity buries its seeds in the raven-fur's mind.

Normally any mention of "the gods" or other such hogwash would be Lane's cue to bail on a conversation, but she wasn't ready to return to the chaos of motherhood yet. So she indulged the woman's comment, despite her unsettling stare.

"Why? Do they no longer speak to you? I've heard they are more talkative in certain places, and less in others." Lane had been eager to explore the Blackfeather Woods for exactly this reason-- not because she expected to hear from the gods, but because the scientist within her sought a logical explanation for the voices that so many wolves claimed to hear.

tag for reference!

 

The questions that game forth seemed genuine. Genuinely interested, maybe?
But the jest at spirituality had not been missed, and in the chaos of her own mind, El wasn't sure how to process it aside from nonbeliever 

"I still hear them. Often times now, I just tune them out. I...had a coven-sister, once. Her name was @Aerenys. But we were separated by a fire in the Blackfeather Woods, and I have not seen her since then. I worry that she is dead." Now, the unsettling and eerie stare that was Eldritch flashed with mortal feelings - love, worry, loss, grief, sadness, anguish. 

"I loved her. And I know she loved me too." 

Eldritch sighed after her words, looking absently back to the cavern mouth. Perhaps she could take up residence here, if the original owner of the cave wasn't around anymore?

I still hear them.

Oh boy. Lane wondered if Wintersbane maybe hadn't screened this one thoroughly enough, because she was sounding a little cray cray. 

But.

Lane also heard her pain. Even insane people loved and lost, and this ex-witch woman was going through some stuff. 

"I'm sorry about your friend." She meant it, it's just, Lane wasn't great with emotional stuff. 

"Did you say Blackfeather? Was Ivory Rose wiped out? Rowan and Zephyr?" Lane was unable to contain her curiosity, despite the sensitive topic. Yeah, her bedside manner could definitely be improved. 

She should have known that this nutty ex-Witch came from Blackfeather. It was the origin of all things paranormal, seemingly.

Eldritch noted the genuine sympathy this woman showed. 
And the curiosity. 

No offense was held against Lane for asking, however. Instead, El took a deep breath to tell of what happened. 
"Rowan disappeared shortly after Zephyr did. I was the beta, and to try and keep the group together in Rowan's absence, I took his title as alpha. But much to my efforts, Ivory Rose disbanded. Me and Aerenys stayed behind while the others left, to continue our ways as witches. And then, as I said, the fire that seperated me and mine. I have not gone back, and until I arrived here, I hadn't stopped moving, either. I traveled until my paws were worn raw and then some, all without rest or food." 

That was the tale, and it was clear Eldritch felt sadness for everything that transpired. Quietly, the ex-witch turned her face away again.

Lane was not a great reader of faces, and when the ex-witch turned away in sadness, she read it as guilt. 

"It really sucks, and it's not your fault or anything. My last pack, Firefly Glen, dissolved away just like that. Well, instead of a fire it was a fallen star..." Lane shrugged, failing to see how a wildfire and a meteor strike were all that different. 

Both Rowan and Zephyr disappearing before the natural disaster was weird though. Despite not really believing in all that nonsense, even Lane could tell that those woods had some bad juju. This news just reinforced her suspicions.

"If you never went back, how d'you know that your friend is really...?" Really dead is what she meant, though she didn't finish the sentence aloud. It was weird that the ex-witch already spoke of her friend in the past-tense, especially without ever having returned to confirm her suspicions. 

"Maybe we could go back sometime and look around, when your paws are healed?" Lane suggested, sensing an opportunity for a scouting mission. "Didja need help with that, by the way? Your paws, I mean?" The Duskfire caregivers had been pretty busy with all the children; Lane didn't want to let a medical need fall through the cracks, so to speak.

Eldritch glances with some sadness back to Lane, listening to her words.

"I ran after I almost got struck by lightning. The force from it threw me several feet..." She blinked, shedding a few tears. 

"I would appreciate going back to look...as for my paws, I'd definitely like to get them looked at if that's doable." The ex-witch said after a long pause, having been thinking.
She was understanding, especially with all the new youth in the territory.

Lane belatedly realized that lingering on the subject of the fire was a poor move. The ex-witch began to shed tears, which was a little awkward. Lane had never been entirely comfortable around expressions of emotion. 

"Oh, uh.. yeah.. that's.." she murmured, trying and failing to find something comforting to say. But.. that was pretty bad, wasn't it? That she'd just bailed out and left her closest friend behind to burn to death? Fuck, no wonder she looked racked with guilt. 

Fortunately, the woman seemed encouraged by the suggestion that they go back to look around, and then she agreed to a check-up. This was better. Scouting and doctoring, the things she was good at. Duskfire Glacier was in desperate need of a counselor.

"Let me see," Lane coaxed her, turning her attention to the woman's paws. Now that she was officially a patient, Lane was compelled to ask, "And what's your name, by the way? I'm Lane." 

oof sorry for all my short posts ;w;

 


El tilted her head slightly as Lane struggled with her words. Not impatiently by any means, but with curiosity. 

Ah, yes, her pads. 

Offering one of her forelegs to the medic so she could look at her still-healing paws pads, the darkling smiled ever so gently "My name is Eldritch. It's nice to meet you, Lane." 

short posts are my favorite kind. <3

Lane peered down at Eldritch's paws, which were healing as well as possible given the lack of medical attention. Eldritch would be fine, in time. Lane had seen much worse during last winter's blizzards-- she'd experienced it firsthand, in fact. That had been a new experience: using her own bandaged paws to bandage up other wolves' paws. 

"You've taken good care of them," Lane noted, nodding to Eldritch to let her know that it was okay to drop her paws now. "Is this your den?" Lane tilted her head toward the opening of the cave. If so, Eldritch could rest here while Lane tracked down some supplies to make a poultice.

As Lane looked over her paws, Eldritch noted her seeming surprise at how well kept her pads were. 

Dropping her paws once told, she responded. "I was a medic for a time while in Ivory Rose, but I want to pursue that trade again so I may help others too." 
Turning now, to the cave filled with herbs... 
"No, it's not mine, but perhaps I could take care of it until the true owner returns?"

Another aspiring medic. Lane nodded. 

"Duskfire Glacier is a good place to train. You can't hardly wag your tail without hitting a medic." 

Eldritch's denial of ownership was all the invitation that Lane needed. She slunk into the cavern, casting her gaze around the half-light. Her entry kicked up the layer of dust that had settled upon the various herbs, and she sneezed. 

"I think it's safe to say this place is up for grabs," Lane replied. It had been a few weeks at least since anyone set foot in here. 

"This is what I used in a poultice for torn-up paws last winter," Lane recalled aloud, using her paw to indicate the piles of dried horsetail and marigold. "..But yours aren't infected or bleeding right now, so you could probably get away with just..." She glanced around. "This," she said, resting her paw on a pile of dried coltsfoot. "Coltsfoot, to soothe and soften."

It was just a suggestion. No doubt a previous medic would know how to mix a poultice, so any further assistance from Lane would likely be unnecessary. Eldritch had more or less claimed the cavern, and Lane would allow her to settle in uninterrupted. She needed to get back to her pups anyway. Veteran had developed the terrible habit of sneaking into Tzila's chamber when Lane was away, and she suspected that he was probably making a nuisance of himself trying to nurse with her. 

"I ought to get back to my pups.." she noted, a bit regretfully. For a certifiably crazy lady, Eldritch had been surprisingly good company. Lane wagged her tail, intending to depart unless Eldritch indicated that she might need more help.

Eldritch peeked in as Lane entered the cavern and looked around. 
The dust was suffocating, though at Lane's sneeze, the crazy lady offered a soft chuckle. 
Noting the herbs lying around, the darkling nodded at Lane's suggestions, a grateful smile ghosting her face. 

"I'll have to clean out everything that's expired and clear away the dust, but I think this cave will make a decent den for me." She agreed, solidifying her new claim, at least in words.

Wagging her own tail, El nodded in understanding at Lane's need to get back to her kids. No hard feelings there. 
"May I come see them, when they're old enough?" She asked, though her aura twinged with hesitation. Would she be allowed? 

fade? <3

Eldritch confirmed her desire to settle here, and Lane could see the merits of the place. It was quite far away from the whelping den, so she would have a fair shot at some peace and quiet. 

"I guess that makes you the new witch then," Lane joked, raising an eyebrow. "Watch out for anything toxic. I heard that the former witch was meddling with poisons."

Oh, Eldritch liked pups, did she? She could visit whenever she wanted. Hell, she could have them if she wanted. Not really. But kind of.  

"They're old enough now," Lane said, turning to leave. Her final words were delivered over her shoulder. "Come by whenever. See ya."