Haunted Wood Herbs

Vera was very excited to be recently accepted to Haunted Wood. She prodded her nose around, looking for any herbs or moss to collect. This would also be a good time to check out the surroundings. With winter descending, herbs and moss were extremely important. She moved her muzzle around the base of tree trunks, smelling for herbs, and looking for moss. She had heard a bit about the rivalry with Redhawk. even if she was a new member, she wasn't about to waste time frolicking around not doing anything. She had never gotten an order to look for herbs, but she wasn't about to wait for either an order, or someone to get injured and not have enough supplies. 

She found a good sized clump of moss and pulled in from the base of a tree. The musky earth scent overpowered her nose, and loose strands of moss tickled her nose. She let out a huge sneeze, spitting out the moss. She flicked her ears in amusement and walked to pick up the clump where it had fallen from her jaws. She scooped it back up and continued on her herb patrol. Vera began to get nervous, as the scent from the moss took over her scent. She wouldn't be able to smell trouble, or herbs. 

She found an extremely tall tree, one that would be easily recognized. She dug a fairly deep hole, spraying dirt everywhere. She placed the huge ball of moss in the hole. She covered the moss in a thick lair of dirt, and patted it down. The Redhawk rivalry kept popping back into her mind. She picked up another clump of moss that was on a tree fairly close to the huge tree she had found. She dug up the hole again, placed the moss in, and covered it back up. She wanted to know the number of wolves in Haunted Wood, and where some herbs could possibly be. She needed to know how many wolves she would possibly have to care for. She knew she would have to talk to @Lusa. She planted her nose to the ground, trying to pick out the twilight colored female's not yet familiar scent. After a while of not being able to pick up the scent, she gave up on her nose and relied on her eyes to try to scout her out.

The prairie had been a good place for him for a while but with the impending winter around the corner, the birds had begun to thin and his source of prey were becoming harder and harder to find.  He is also starting to feel a little stir crazy, having been by himself for the last few weeks.  When he woke up in wild, he hadn’t thought twice about where he was when he took off, stumbling out into the woods. It is a surprise he hadn’t been eaten within the first few minutes.  When the anesthesia wore out, he’d been back on his feet in no time.  This jungle of a world is far different than the concrete one he’d grown up in.  

When he catches sight of another wolf, Carrots lingers back a few seconds to decide his next course of action.  There were trees to his advantage, climbing one and being out of reach of the canine, or she could take the risk on the ground.  After the last one he’d run into, he needed to be a little more careful. He hides downwind, tucked in the foliage as he follows along until he finds a tree with low limbs he’d reach easily.  He clings to the trunk, scaling the side until he can tuck himself against the crook where the branch grows from the base.

“Lost something?” he asks from the low hanging branch, just out of reach for a wolf, with his tail idly flipping behind him.

A shiver went through Vera as an unfamiliar voice sounded from behind her. She turned her head in the direction of the voice, only to see a cat, sitting on the low branch of a nearby tree. She drew her lips up to a snarl and a growl escaped her throat. She had only seen a cat one other time, but it quickly turned into dinner for Vera. She drew down her lips, but her stinging eyes stared unmoving, and cold into the strangers eyes. She didn quite know how to react to this cat. It technically wasn't trespassing, but she wanted to rip it to shreds for distracting her. She had been notified of an ongoing rivalry with Redhawk, so she truly didn't trust anyone or anything other than her pack mates. "No, but are you lost?" She snapped. Her eyes still cold, her words escaped with the remainder of her growl.

"Am I lost?" he questions then can't held but smirk, stifling a little laugher. "Of course I'm not lost." His tail flips in the air and he yawns, looking down at the wolf with vague interest. Her immediate reaction to anger doesn't surprise him. The other wolves did too, but when he is out of their reach, he's far more likely to play around.

Carrots could go wherever he pleases, stepping over borders as if it didn't even faze him. He'd smelled the number of wolves that pissed out on the border and he presumed this is one too. Small, fresh. No one took them seriously just yet.

"I think you're the one that's lost, though. Want to know what my name is?" he asks lazily, holding a paw off the branch a little to draw the wolf in.

Vera rarely gets driven into the traps of others. She wasn't easily manipulated. She sat down and watched him. He had to come down some time. No food or water up there. She drew up the corner of her mouth to a smile. Whatever his name was, it soon wouldn't matter. Her tail thumped on the ground at the thought. "Yes, fat black cat. What is your name?" She asked. Her tone was cold and sarcastic. The paw he dropped was tempting, nut she wasn't an idiot. Her eyes piercing and cold as she continued to stare down the feline.

“I look fat to you?” he asks, looking down his body.  Muscular, perhaps.  Fat?  No.  Maybe he’d lost a few pound since he’d been released out in the wild but he certainly hadn’t gained anything.  Nonetheless, he held the other’s interest for a moment but she isn’t serious when she answers she wants to know his name.  He narrows his olive green eyes and takes a moment to consider.  She isn’t threatened by him, but he didn’t expect her to be.  He’s high enough she can’t jump for him and so, she isn’t much threat to him either.

That doesn’t mean he can’t have a little fun:  “My name is Bad Luck.”

A grin forms on his face and he looks down a the wolf, though the shadows of the tree hide much of his expression.

“And it looks like you’ve crossed my path,” he tells her with a sinister smirk that the shadows can’t even hide.  Slowly, he stands, and takes a few steps along the length of the branch out to where it narrows.  It doesn’t even budge from repositioning his center of gravity.  The next tree over wouldn’t be too much of a jump but he’d have to catch himself on the trunk and climb even further up the tree.  “There’s only one way to avoid the curse.”

Vera rolled her eyes. "I'm not an idiot, and your name is now fatty because you didn't answer." She moved her head up as she watched him jump up the tree. "Ok fatty, how can I avoid your bad luck, and be careful how you step on those branches, they might break under your weight." She smirked. She walked to the bottem of the tree, and begun to dig. Her claws kicking up earth. she was looking for some good sized rocks and roots from the tree. Her ears were still pointed as she listened for the felines' response.

Carrots tilts his head a little as she spoke.  He groans, putting a paw over his face.  “I did answer.  You didn’t listen,” he tells her with an irritated swish of his tail.  “So maybe you are an idiot.”  Carrots pushes against the branch, causing it to waver a little with the force more than anything just to make sure it’s steady.  It doesn’t move too much and he’s sure he can reach the next branch over if he were to jump.  As long as he makes the landing anyway.  

The other starts to dig at the base of the tree and he turns to watch her, stalking along the length of the limb.

“Because you weren’t listening:  My name is Bad Luck,” he tells her again.  “Or are your ears too full of dirt, you dirty wolf? Dirt Wolf.  That's your name.  How do I know you’ll even listen to me when I tell you how you can keep your pack from the curse, Dirt Wolf?”

Vera drew her lips up to a snarl. Her eyes were cold and she walked over to another tree fairly far away, she was still in ear shot of the cat. "No chubby, I heard you, that's a fake name. What idiot would name their shinning star kitty cat Bad Luck?" She dug her claws into the earth as she spoke. Her ears flicked as dirt flew into one.  She stuck her nose  in and pulled out a squiggly, dirt covered earth worm. She laughed and ran up to the tree the kitty was in. She reared onto her back legs. "Look chubster, a worm, isn't this the kind of stuff you ate in your home?"

The wolf doesn’t give in to his game, sending a shiver of irritation up his spine.  She has no reason to believe his name is Bad Luck but neither does she have reason to believe it isn’t.  He’s black and he’s crossed her path, that’s bad luck enough, right?  At least that’s what he’s heard through the grapevine. He knows to look out for himself around specific times of the year and it appears he isn’t going to get much out of this.  He’s already bored.  She digs at the ground some more and attempts to climb the tree but, a wolf as large as she isn’t going to be able to reach him.  With a swish of his tail, he takes a few steps further down, ascending easily to a higher branch so he can reach the one on the next tree over.

“Too bad I won’t get to hear you explain you’ve let a curse come upon your home. They’ll be so disappointed,” he tells her before he jumps, landing on the branch and disappearing further into the forest, leaving the wolf in a trail of his dust.

Feel free to reply or simply archive, it's the end for me!

Venus watched the cat jump away. She snapped at it's back. She has never heard of the myth, so she didn't understand. She just thought he was a kitty cat with a huge ego. She would possibly talk to Lusa about it, but it wasn't going to keep her up at night. She was a very logical wolf, and a cat with attitude was going to scare her. She wasn't superstitious, and didn't believe in anything she didn't see with her own two eyes. She shoved this memory in the back of her mind, and went on looking for herbs. A tiny cat was like a gnat to an entire pack of wolves, and if he came back to try and reck havoc, it would be be the cat that would have bad luck.