Felltree Marsh I wanna be disco

The chirping of winter birds stirred her from sleep. Yawning and stretching, Wildfire departed the riverbank and continued northeast, following the unseen coastline. Eventually, she began to veer more east, a course that led her to yet another winding river. She crossed it, then paused to lick her red coat dry before proceeding. Before long, she found herself standing at the edge of a marsh. There was absolutely nothing appealing about it—it looked like it had been ravaged by the previous year's storm—but with alps on either side, she didn't have much of a choice; she would have to wade through it.

The young outrider reminded herself to embrace the exotic landscape. She began to pick her way through the treacherous, mucky pools and over the tangles of broken tree limbs. By the time Wildfire neared the far side of the swamp, her legs and belly were slathered with bracken and a bad odor clung to her. But there was a smile on her lips. She was living the life of a ranger and that made her happy, even if she stunk to high heaven.

ooc: OH-HAY!!!
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The sticky stuff of a swamp might have pleased her mother to no end, knowing that close to one she'd be able to find a great deal of helpful plants, but Ravel herself took no interest in herbs. The girl wasn't vain or picky about her appearance, and though she kept herself quite sleek and clean, she did not usually mind when the rain came down and the mud got deep- they were only things that could hinder her from moving forward at her usual pace, not things that made her feel self conscious or disgusted. But on this day, she'd found another use for the smelly marsh, as just two days prior, she'd found herself being tailed by two rogue bullies. 

She'd known she was being followed for about a day when they finally caught up with her, issuing catcalls and making idiotic remarks. They couldn't have been more than a year older than her, probably two brothers, she supposed, or friends, who left a pack at the same age as she. Deciding they were harmless but bored, she'd picked up the pace a bit, but when they continued to follow her tracks she decided to throw them off by losing her scent completely. Apparently, it had worked- trudging through shallow, murky water had both covered her tracks and her scent, and allowed her to change direction without them knowing where she'd been headed. It had only been a matter of time before they became disinterested anyway, but she didn't want the distraction. 

She'd just cleaned the majority of the muck off her legs before she began moving again, figuring she'd have an easier time if she found a clean water source to get properly clean, and until then she could ignore the smell and the feeling of mud drying on her legs. She was skirting along the edge of the marsh when she heard the sound of someone or something wading through the sluck. Her ears perked and her sea-foam green eyes scanned the marsh until she could just discern a shape moving in the distance, toward the edge of the waters. For a moment, she thought it might be a fox, by the colour of its fur- but it didn't move like a fox and had a larger build. Coyote? Perhaps, but she was too far away to tell, and left her assumption at coyote. Disinterested, she continued moving along the edge of the marsh, figuring that even if they were headed in the same direction, the coyote would probably spook and leave her alone.

HEY! :D

"Déjà vu," she murmured to herself when her feet found dry land and she promptly plopped onto her hindquarters to begin cleaning and drying her coat for the second time today. She shifted to face the marsh from which she had just escaped, amber eyes trailing over the miry landscape even as her tongue drew over her legs, chest and belly. She would have to get a drink as soon as she was done, though she wouldn't go anywhere near the bog's brackish offerings. No, there must be clean water somewhere nearby.

Clean but damp and a bit cold and with a crick in her neck, Wildfire rose and pivoted just in time to spot the wolf moving in the distance, away from the swamp's edge. The young outrider licked her lips, eyes tracking the other canine's movements, before she decided to trot after him (or her). Aside from that strange pirate fellow, she had been on her own for a few days and she could use some company for a little while.

"Hey there!" she called as she drew closer, eyes picking out the stranger's decidedly feminine features even as her scent infiltrated Wildfire's nose. "You exploring too?" she questioned amiably as the distance closed, suddenly tasting the muck on her tongue and absently peering around for a source of fresh water.

@Wildfire



As she moved along the swamp and away from the banks, her eyes scanned the horizon, tracing along the edge of a stony ridge ahead, with a craggy peak reaching up into the sky behind it, and along to her side where the plains stretched out. From where she was, she had no idea the ocean was beyond the marsh, only that a far more intimidating mountain range was behind her and the East, from which she'd come, across the plains. Surely there would be a stream or river passing by the mountains before her, she thought, and though the smell of the marsh was still stuck in her nose, she could have sworn that she could taste fresh water on the air. She was wrong, of course- but she was really quite thirsty. 

Having paid little attention to the creature she'd decided- from a distance and with an incapacitated sniffer- had been a coyote, she was surprised when it called out to her, and did a little sideways shuffle in surprise, the hairs along the back of her neck rising slightly, but slicking back down as soon as she realized that the voice had come from the coyote...Which, as she neared, took the form of a wolf, though with a striking coat colour and pattern. Not the type of wolf, Ravel thought, you would ever mistake again after having met her. The voice had been friendly, as were the bright features on the young female's face, so Ravel turned to welcome the saffron and rust female into her company with a wave of her tail. 

To her question, Ravel tilted her head from side to side, as though weighing each answer in each ear, before she nodded, grinning wryly. "Always," She nodded, with a slight laugh. "I'm a perpetual wanderer," She admitted, noting that the female who had approached her was tidy, fit and spry. She looked a bit younger, but was obviously in good health and good spirits. "I'm Ravel," She added, then, with a nod of her head, ears perking to elicit an introduction from her companion.

So gorgeous. Thank you!

That answer elicited an immediate smile and sense of kinship. "Outrider?" she guessed, using the colloquial term for a scout. "Me too," she said, both in response to her own question, as well as Ravel's self-proclaimed title: "perpetual wanderer." Wildfire's head tipped as she considered the name, as well as the wolf who wore it. She was beautifully gray-scale—the smoke to her fire, perhaps—her eyes a delightful shade of green that reminded the yearling of spring.

"Would you happen to have come across fresh water in your explorations? I'm thirsty." Realizing that that sounded like some strange introduction, she clarified, "I'm Wildfire. And I knew you could unravel but I didn't know you could just plain ravel," she quipped. She was neither a male, nor old enough to bear children, yet she seemed to be full of dad jokes all of a sudden.

An outrider? The term wasn't one Ravel had used often, given that she was under the impression it meant someone who was in a guardian position, the one who traveled ahead to make sure a route was safe for those who followed. Still, she supposed the term was fit enough for her, with the exception of having some sort of follower, and she nodded with a small smile on her features. This female was a lot like her, she imagined- someone who couldn't be tied down. Perhaps a bit more outgoing than Ravel was, not to say Ravel didn't enjoy company, but this female seemed even more friendly- especially toward strangers- than Ravel was inclined to be. It made her feel comfortable. 

She gestured toward the rise to the Northeast, and licked her lips. "I could use a drink too. Haven't passed water in a little while, but places like that usually have some sort of spring." She said. Even if it was just a temporary spring from snowmelt, Ravel knew that higher altitudes were pretty good for hiding a water source that was always fresh and cool. 

Ravel laughed at Wildfire's comment, and shook her head. "Ra-velle" She clarified, just in case Wildfire hadn't heard the pronunciation of her name the first time. She didn't bother to roll her tongue on the first letter of her name, as she figured that would just sound pretentious and she really did not want to have a rolled R in her name anyway. "I think it's French. Not that I speak any, but apparently somewhere back in my family there were wolves who did," She said. "I think on the DeMonte side," She mused quietly, with a half-smile. She wouldn't expect any such thing from her mother's side- Baskervilles often struggled enough with the English language, let alone learning a romantic one as well. "I don't know if there's a 'ravel' either. Maybe it's what you do when you curl up when it's cold." She said with a joking shrug.

Ravel playfully corrected her pronunciation and Wildfire simply smiled in response. She mentioned her family's French surname and the yearling paused. It sounded familiar, though even after a moment's thought, she couldn't place it. She shrugged inwardly, turning her attention back to their quest for water. Ravel was thirsty too, so they could look for a source together.

Despite the brevity of this encounter, Wildfire had already established a sense of companionship between them simply due to their similar interests, so she fell into step easily beside the other she-wolf and began a conversation rather breezily. "So, do you live around here? Or are you just passing through?" Perhaps Ravel would find the query redundant; she had called herself a wanderer, which typically implied no allegiance.

But Wildfire identified as a ranger too and she most certainly had a home base, so it could go either way. She found herself hoping that Ravel wasn't part of a pack, though, so that she could attempt to recruit her. Not only did she already like the other wolf, she wanted to finally bring home someone worthy to Charon, to make up for all her previous, abortive attempts.

"I don't really know," Came Ravel's thoughtful answer, and the answer came quite freely to her. Planning ahead had never been one of Ravel's priorities. She'd lived more as a spur-of-the-moment type of wolf, going when she figured she ought to go, and staying in one place when it suited her until it didn't suit her anymore. She hadn't intended to change her ways, but she knew that she really didn't have much for intentions, anyway. Or long term goals- she didn't yet feel any need to find a mate, settle down or have pups, though she was aware these things might or might not come with time. She wasn't going to try and force any ideals onto herself in the present, however. She was not entirely disenchanted with the idea of being single her whole life or being considered a spinster by the time she was four if she was still alone. It didn't mean, to her, that she hadn't lived a full life. 

"I just kind of do what I want." She said, after a moment of thought. "I think if I find a pack I want to live with, or someone I want to live with, I'll do it. I'm just not exactly looking for anything in particular. Either I'll find it, or it'll find me, or neither." She said, blithely comfortable with the idea of any of those things happening, so long as she was happy with wherever she ended up. She turned her head to her ginger-coated companion then, still unable to trace any scent of other wolves on her coat likely because of the swamp smell that still clung to her fur, and the fact that Wildfire too liked to wander from her home. "What about you? Have you been in this area long?" Apparently, Wildfire didn't know if there was a water source nearby, so that meant to Ravel that if she was from this wildland at all, she wasn't from this area in particular. But given that she'd asked Rave; if she was passing through, it hinted that she'd seen others do the same.

Some might call Ravel's lifestyle noncommittal but Wildfire would have chosen a word like carefree. It sounded like she did what she wanted, when she wanted to do it, without tying herself down or worrying much about what the future might bring. The yearling felt a stab of envy. But then a pragmatic voice rose up in the back of her mind, asking, How does she survive? Ravel didn't look like she was struggling, yet a lonely life on the road must be taxing, especially in the winter.

She had so many questions, though Ravel had asked one first, so Wildfire made to answer it. "I was born here, in a pack called Redhawk Caldera. I've since moved to another but I've never left the area." Her mind briefly flashed to her recent conversation with Tez, the way it had made her feel afterward. Her brow furrowed thoughtfully. "How do you do it? Survive without a pack? I love the freedom of getting out and exploring but I can't imagine not having someplace to come home to at the end of the day."

The two of them had been plodding along all this time, walking somewhat parallel with the marsh's edge, and Wildfire suddenly spotted a pool of standing water covered in a thin skin of ice. She used a pointed tap of her paw to break it, then took an experimental taste. Despite its proximity to the bog, it tasted fresh. Wildfire lapped greedily, eager to wash the mucky flavor out of her mouth, before backing away and allowing Ravel room to take a drink too.

Ravel couldn't quite tell whether Wildfire's expression spelled fascination or disbelief, but she figured probably a bit of both. She was younger, Ravel guessed probably by a year or so old, and she was obviously quite taken by the idea of being the lone ranger sort even though she admitted to being apart of a pack. Ravel didn't hold it against her, or think her as less of a pack wolf simply because she had a wanderer's spirit. That was exactly what Ravel had been before she had left her pack, and she wagered she'd been about Wildfire's age when she'd first branched off on her own. It would be a year, perhaps plus or minus a week or so, since that day, something she hadn't even thought about until now. She'd been a lone wolf for half of her life. 

Wildfire had found a little pool of ice-covered water and broke through, tasting and then beginning to drink the water once she deemed it acceptable. While she lapped, Ravel spoke. "I had an easy spring, summer and fall on my own," She admitted. "The weather was on my side for most of it, and I ate whatever I could, whenever I could." She said. My father was an excellent hunter, who taught me well- and my mother knew plants and told me which ones could be eaten if food couldn't be hunted." Wildfire had stepped back to allow her to drink, so she moved forward, leaving her winter story to stand for a moment while she quenched her thirst before she too stepped back. "I found a couple other wolves my age in the winter and we tag teamed it to get by. Once the weather started to turn around, I left since they had plans of joining a pack somewhere, and I figured the goodbye would be easier the earlier it happened." So she hadn't gone it totally alone, but hadn't had to join a pack, either.

As Ravel talked of her experiences, Wildfire couldn't help but wonder how she would fare, should she ever decide to uproot and travel on her own. She was becoming quite an adept hunter, especially when it came to small game. Would she be able to keep herself fed as she wandered the world? She had to admit that the idea tugged at her heart strings. But, of course, she immediately thought of Floki and the pull there was much stronger. Although, maybe he could come with her...?

Ravel finished and Wildfire considered her words for a moment before saying, "Your life sounds... awesome. I'm kind of jealous," she admitted with a shy smile. "Although I have the best of both worlds, really. My Alphas don't mind if I wander—it helps that I use it to benefit the pack sometimes—and I have a home base." She rolled a slender red shoulder. "I get the joys of the road but also the solidity of a family," Wildfire mused aloud, almost as if she were talking to herself more than to her companion.

She recalled her earlier thoughts regarding recruitment. "You might like Moonspear, Ravel," she said, "I mean, if you were thinking about ever doing the pack thing. Although I guess winter's coming to an end, so you're probably even less likely to settle down now...?" she guessed, a supposition which Ravel concurred, a bit to Wildfire's disappointment.

But she'd planted the seed, in case Ravel ever changed her mind. Not wanting to beat a dead horse, the aspiring ranger said, "Well, I think this is where our paths diverge again. Best of luck in your travels, Ravel. Take care," Wildfire said, moving off to continue her own expedition. Despite her earlier efforts to clean herself, she sensed a lingering odor—freakin' marshes, she thought—and decided to stop for the day, find somewhere to give herself a more thorough bath, then resume her travels in the morning.