Ravensblood Forest I Will Fall Asleep

Would be really cool if someone from AS could pop in (sea nymph/siren vs. selkie ooo), but anyone is welcome. c: No need to match length.

As the young selkie came up upon the end of the river she'd been following, she was met by what seemed to be a forest. The end to the water saddened her, as she had believed it might lead her back to the sea, but it only ended to make way for a forest. The girl contemplated turning around and heading the other way, but then the wind had shifted and carried an all too familiar scent with it—salt. It had to be an ocean, she was sure of it. To her there was nothing else in the world that could hold the scent, save for the sea and those who follow or dwell within it. She, being raised to believe she and the rest of her kind came from the sea itself, knew she was one to both follow the sea, as well as live and thrive within it. It would forever be her home, and she was excited to be so close to it once more. This caused Muirgen to waste very little time in entering the forest, and she then proceeded to follow the salty air deeper and deeper into it. She was sure that, to reach her home, she would need to pass through the forest entirely; which just so happened to be a task she was fully willing to take part in.

The seal girl tried to veer off the path she'd mentally set as little as possible, but sometimes it was an unavoidable thing. There would be something in the forest she didn't wish to run in to, so she would turn and take a longer route around to avoid it. It was tiring her little legs out much quicker than she'd anticipated, but she kept moving in spite of that, ignoring the protests her legs screamed. Their disapproval must have been muffled by something, though, as it never seemed to reach her ears. Or, maybe, it was actually her determination to reach the sea that caused her to keep moving forward. No matter the reason for her doing so, the end result was the same. She was eager to break through the other side's treeline before nightfall, or at least before the next day, but she wasn't all too sure she'd be able to anymore. It felt as if the trees were never ending, as if they would forever hole her in their grasp. Deep down she knew that couldn't be possible, as she'd always been a good child, but then a thought invaded her mind. What if she had accidentally done something to offend Lir, and her punishment for doing so was being kept away from the sea forever? Oh, she didn't like the idea of that one bit.

Muirgen soon came upon a stream, nothing big or fancy, just a little sliver of water. She halted in order to take a drink from it, quenching the thirst that had started to form within her, and then she simply looked at it. It was not the sea, not even a puddle of salt water, but she wondered if she could ask forgiveness from Lir for whatever she did through it. The passing thought was quickly sent away, as she knew it could not possibly work. Lir was the god of the sea, not the god of some tame little stream. She was certain he would take offence to it if she attempted to ask for his forgiveness through it, so she brought her head back up and turned back to face the direction she'd been heading it, following after the scent of the ocean once more.

Leu will be on the very outer edges of the forest, closer to AS and near the stream on the map :)

Day one.

Could she be an outrider? Well, if she could kill two birds with one solid swipe, she may as well try. Leucothoë wanted to be successful, and her ambition told her to try anything and everything to ascend as she worked toward the task of becoming High Priestess. She had plenty more to do, first, in the cultural aspects; but she wanted to be seen primarily, before any and all others. She would work for it; although the girl certainly felt herself superior to others, it was not for nothing.

With consent from the Sea, she was on her way. The youth contemplating her path—was she nymph, or siren?—moved with pride and grace in each and every step. Leucothoë never felt far from the Sea as she smelled of it, and whenever she felt she longed to turn back, she merely dipped her muzzle to sniff at herself and reminded herself she would return soon.

Nearby there was a stream. She recalled once finding a boy of the Sea near a river, on her journey here—Tryphon—and eyed it curiously. Even now, she could hear the Sea howling in her ear... guiding her to its daughter, the narrower bed of water that fed The Mother.

The Ocean's daughter did not delay. She made way toward the river, certain she would find something of interest.

Thank you for joining. c:

Several more times her body screamed for her to stop and rest, and several more times she denied herself the pleasure. Reaching the sea was her only quest since arriving within the new land, and she was not about to stop now that it was so close to her. It couldn't possibly be good for someone as young as herself to push herself forward as she was doing, but that thought somehow managed to avoid her mind entirely. Even if she were to harm herself in the process of returning to the sea, she was certain it would be worth it. She was returning to her true home, after all, so it was bound to be an amazing reunion for her.

As the selkie grew closer to the sea, a new scent invaded her nose. It was of the sea, but in a way that matched herself. The discovery answered her unasked question of whether or not anyone else from the sea thrived on the foreign land, and brought a smile to her face. Muirgen immediately thought that, by chance, the scent belonged to a fellow selkie. She chose to head in the direction it was coming from, rather than continuing in a straight line, her curiosity getting the better of her. The wolf side of the smell was difficult to pull from the salty smell of the ocean, but she did her best to anyways so she could have a chance at meeting the stranger. Each step she took made her go a bit faster, but never so much as to make her skin fall from her form. Normally, by now, she would have began carrying it in her mouth, but if it was another selkie she was to meet, she didn't want to come off as flashy by, seemingly, "showing off her seal skin".

Once Muirgen was finally able to spot the one carrying the sea's salt, she quickly realized it was not a selkie she was moving towards, as she held no skin with her. The seal girl was much more curious now, though, as she wished to discover just what the other girl was, if not another seal. She approached with light steps, and while she tried to appear calm, excitement and curiosity swam in her sea green optics. "Hello," she greeted once close enough, smiling as she spoke. "Have you been sent by the sea to lead me back to it?"

Of course! :D sorry my posts are so odd right now, at work so merhhreh

There was no delay in her step. And in time, another wolf came into her view. By the smell of it, the wolf was a she which pleased her greatly. Leucothoë had little patience to deal with the opposite sex, particularly so far from home. There was something shifting on the wolf, though, that Leucothoë noted... it was not fur. Curious now, she pushed onward. The other seemed to be heading her direction which caused her to slow some, until stopping entirely as the other did.

The words spoken were curious ones to translate, given they were not spoken in her tongue. All the Nereides spoke Greek. She noted the smile, but could not yet smile in turn. The she-wolf tilted her head, curious now. While Leucothoë knew there were others of the sea, it was strange to meet one that was not of her ilk.

Perhaps, she responds in English, her accent thick. Her demeanor was not cold, though neither was it particularly welcoming. Why have you left Her? The Mother, the Goddess. She would not lead anyone to the Sea who had abandoned her without first having them confess to the Mother. Sometimes sisters were lead astray; and any daughter of the Sea was a sister to her.

No need to apologize, your posts are just fine. :D

The other did not smile or seem as pleased as Muirgen was to see another born from the waves, which she found odd. Perhaps she was not as excitable as the selkie could be at times, or maybe she was as uncertain of her as she'd been during each of her encounters with the males. They had all seemed like older giants to her, though, which made her worries within reason. Not wishing to offend the other girl, she did not question her behavior. After he run-in with Sebastian, she didn't want to ever offend anyone as he had done to her momentarily, as she wished to never be the one to cause such emotions to stir in another's form. Even as she spoke in a very thick accent, the seal did not ask for her to repeat anything, no matter how difficult some of the words might have been to understand correctly.

Her inquiry was one Muirgen actually appreciated. She assumed the other must care for the sea as she does after hearing such a question. "In order to travel away from home and to a new land, I was forced to leave the sea's side," she answered. It had been a tough decision to depart from home, but her parents had given her their blessing, as had others in her rookery, and she even believed Lir himself had wished for her to see more than the bay alone. The encouragement had lessened the sadness involved in the departure, but only by a fraction. She had left alone, and at such a young age, too, so she'd expected to feel some sorrow after the fact. Now, however, she was glad to have left, as it seemed she was meeting a protector of the sea, and heading in the direction of the ocean all in one day. It was a miracle, almost.

Leucothoë remembered how her paws had itched prior to her travels here. But she also knew she would never have left Themiscrya were it not the will of the Sea and her mother (Minthe)... still. Leucothoë had picked up that the other desired to go to the Sea. And now you seek to return? She queries, one ear rotating atop her head as she caught the sound of something else nearby. It was this dappled wolf that had her attention, however, and Leucothoë scrutinized her. She was a pretty thing, despite her peculiar markings. The wolf before her did remind her of the Sea in a way she was trying to interpret now.

The daughter of the Sea would not tell her of home. To take her to the Sea would be easy enough, but the Sound was a private place; wolves knew the daughters existed, though certainly not where to find them. They were secretive and lived in quiet seclusion, and she would keep it that way for the while. Leucothoë only knew the other desired to see the Sea, to return to Her, not her relation to it.

Muirgen's love for the sea was something she could never give up or lose, as was her home, but she had needed to depart from the both of them to sooth her curiosity. She believed, however, that Lir was still watching over her, even now, as the sea god had lead her to the lake upon her arrival. Even now, he had been at work as he lead her in the direction of the fellow before her now, who also happens to have come from the sea. She nodded her head in response, a small reminiscent smile forming before she spoke. "Yes, I do," the girl informed her. "I have wished to find the sea since I arrived here, to have a chance at seeing my brothers and sisters, if they have made a home for themselves here." The selkie was, of course, talking about seals. She was sure none of her blood siblings had followed after her, but there was no telling just where the wild seals went.

Lir Séala Bay had been the only home she knew until recently, and still technically was, but she held a strong desire to change that. Muirgen had come to terms that the chances of her finding another selkie were slim, but clearly other sea dwellers lived here in their place—such as the salty-scented lupine she now stood speaking with. She still wondered just what the girl was, but felt asking would be rude, and might even come off as if she was trying to pry. Coming off as someone like that was unappealing in her mind, though in whose was it not?

Listening to her, Leucothoë became all the more intrigued... But the word “brothers” was a foreign one to her. Any and all male relations went without acknowledgment, and if she herself had a brother she truly did not know it. “I can take you to the Mother,” she offers at last, thinking it fair to do this for the other. If she was certain of one thing, it was that the woman before her was desires by the Sea in some way; certainly that was why she was here.

“Is she all you seek?” she asks at length, moving to circle the spotted girl loosely to further explore her. Noting the skin on her back, her tail waves. “It is good of you to have brought Her a gift!” she commends, her slender and sharp muzzle turning to regard the face of the stranger. The silver youth had no idea that this was no gift, but something from her own culture.

While the other's culture tossed away all knowledge of relations between males, her own was something of the opposite. Everyone was related through the sea god Lir and the seals in spirit, and no one was ever tossed aside due to their gender. She could name her brothers and father, as well as all other males from her rookery, just as well as she could the women the girls. "I thank you," Muirgen said, as happy as ever to be returning home at last. "For being willing to lead me back to the sea and his land." For the selkie, the sea was not a Mother, but a Father instead, as Lir was not only the god of it, but the personified version of it as well. She would never believe otherwise, but decided against sharing her views with the other girl out of both respect to her beliefs, and to the fact that she wished not to offend anyone she came across.

"The sea is all I seek, yes," she answered. She sought to see the seals as well, if there were any, and to make a home for herself there among or close to them. Muirgen did not add this in, but instead kept it within her own mind. Her head turned to follow the slender female as she circled her, curious about what she might be searching for. When she made a comment about her skin being a gift, the seal girl had to quickly shake her head. "I bring no gift." Inside, she hoped that the other would not change her mind about taking her to the ocean after learning she had no gift to give, but her exterior kept the same appearance as before. She looked back at her seal skin for a second before returning her gaze to the other. "This is my skin, something all selkies possess. They allow us to return to the sea, to our home." A selkie without their skin was just a creature full of a deep sorrow, since without one's skin, they can not return to their home.

The youth is quick to stop all movement when she notes the stranger refer to the Sea as a he. She smiles, her entire being reminiscent of a Southerner bringing their palm to their heart, shaking her head, and cooing, Oh, bless your dear heart. In her eyes, the girl did not know any better. Some were new, and this was what Leucothoë believed. For the moment, she did not think ill of the other. She corrected her politely, not knowing that the other had been brought to believe the Sea was a male in gender.

She, she corrects gently, Mother Moon and Mother Sea are both women. We are born of Her womb, expelled from Her depths. This she said with a nod, reciting words told to her thousands of times with the conviction of one who would not be told otherwise. Leucothoë thought herself the teacher in this moment; but the Mother would not forgive her if she allowed the other to refer to Her as, well, a he. Leucothoë was friendly in her explanation, her tail wagging slightly, happy to share this invaluable knowledge with the other.

Leucothoë nods at the other. She would take her. As Leucothoë was corrected, she grimaces—not at the others explanation, but at being wrong—and listens closely. Selkies. When the other finishes, Leucothoë finds herself wanting to know more. Selkies. I have not heard of your kind, Leucothoë admits, but also does not pry. Perhaps if the other would have wanted her to know, she would have shared more. What would happen if you were to lose it? Or, if it were taken? Would she never be able to return to the Sea? Would she be barred from it, forever? Internally she shudders at the thought.

The young selkie did not enjoy being corrected by the other. She had attempted to be fluid and not show her own beliefs entirely, but the other girl's words were able to show her that she did not have the same thought in mind. She is very thankful towards the grey wolf for being willing to lead her back to the ocean, but she could not stay silent when her beliefs were "corrected". They are a kind and generally peaceful bunch, the selkies, and especially Muirgen, but even she is unable to hold her tongue. With a gentle shake of her head, she opens her mouth in order to tell of the difference in their cultures, and in the way they each were raised up. "I will not ask of you to believe the sea a man, as my kind do, but I do ask you, please, not try to change how I see them." She is able to keep her voice as even and gentle as ever, and even went so far as to refer to the sea by a gender neutral term to avoid further disagreement. The sea would never not be a man when she glanced upon him, but she is willing to refer to him differently so as to not cause trouble between herself and her distant cousin of the sea.

A light laugh is able to leave her mouth as the girl mentioned having never heard of selkies before. To her, it seems as if not many have, but she is fine with that. It presented her with the opportunity to explain each time she met someone new. "Since arriving here, I've found no one has," Muirgen says, her face holding on tight to her smile in spite of the words spoken. To the first inquiry, her head tilts faintly, but enough to be noticeable. "I have never heard of a selkie losing their skin before," she tells her. "We take pride in how we care for our skins. Some have their's taken, though..." During her short life, she'd only ever witness one selkie from her rookery have their seal skin stolen from them. The sight had been a sad one, as she'd been forced to leave her true family, in order to wed the thief. "When one has their skin stolen, we must leave our families and marry the thief, even give them a family if they so desire. We can not leave unless our pelts are found and returned to us, but stories often tell of that taking quite some time." Speaking of such an event alone is enough to make any seal feel uneasy.