Lake Rodney Headed straight for your heart, like a bullet in the dark

Aria is fidgety and I'm testing out trades with her-- maybe scouting? hoping for the wonderful @Pearl who has gone MIA... <3

Aria had never been one to announce her absences. It tended to clash with her personality and ideals, but she believed that Lasher and Dante knew she'd be back. She had worked hard in Donnelaith and had deemed the place home, there was no reason to leave all that behind... at least, in her eyes. subtweet

The pale girl had decided to venture out. No longer looking for her beloved Casmir, but now just searching for the sake of searching. She had lost motivation to do so many things that she'd loved... she didn't even deal with medicine anymore, something she'd grown up doing. Aria was a little bit lost, especially since half the wolves she'd come to know and love had left- minus Behati, who was a pain in her ass and peacefully forgotten.

She wandered now through a territory that was beyond beautiful. It was green and smelled of the birch trees that grew all around her, and she was quite happy among them. She paused when she caught sight of the lake through the trees, padding towards it and perking her ears. The pale princess dipped her head and lapped at the calm waters, the cool water rejuvenating and much needed. For a moment, she forgot why she had been so discouraged recently.

MAGGGS

 

After that unpleasant experience with her heat had been over for a few days, she headed out to the incredibly large lake to the northwest of the territory, tipping off Sebastian before she left. It pained her to take a break from him and the pack while so much needed to be worked out, but she desperately needed some time to think. 

Pearl trotted steadily along the shore of the lake, eventually coming across a pale figure in the distance. Pearl cocked her head slightly, wondering why it looked familiar. Coming closer, she recognized it as Aria, a joyful surprise to see her again. She quickened her pace, barking at Donnelaith's beta excitedly, closing the distance with a wolfish body slam hug. "Aria! How are you?" she said, tail waving freely. 

Had she not have been so absorbed with the beauty, Aria would have scented Pearl coming her way. Even better, she might have heard her bark. The pale beta was so out of tune with her senses and so wrapped up in the lovely lake, she had become uncharacteristically ignorant. So instead of returning the love and happiness that Pearl so graciously slammed her way, Aria countered with a loud snarl and a nip to the shoulder. She would have bitten harder, but she realized it just before she sunk her teeth into the pale coat of her friend. The icy-princess went limp, letting out an apologetic whine.

"Oh Gods..." she muttered, rolling from her friend. Her head lowered and her ears flattened. "Sorry- I had no idea it was you..." she stopped, head raising slightly. "Wait... Pearl... Pearl?" she repeated the name a number of times as she stared at her friend, "Pearl... where have you been?" she asked, eyes clouded.

Pearl was equally surprised to see her as she was about Aria reacting like that. Well dang, second time this week. A sharp pain went through her shoulder, though she tried not to show any expression of pain, though her face did display hurt. That is, until it was apparent her barking had not reached the ears of the other, and had not recognized her. Pearl instantly went to nose her up. "Hey, it's alright," she said, trying not to let her thoughts wander to why else she might've reacted like that. 

Aria started to repeat her name, which confused Pearl, and then it was revealed that Lasher had not told the pack about her leaving intentionally. Oh gosh, now she'd have to explain why she left, which could easily be misinterpreted. "Lasher didn't tell you guys? I went to go join my best friend's pack, southwest of here," she said, heart heavy, prepared for the worst snap back.

Aria let out a soft sigh, giving her friend a quick nudge as she reassured her that her lashing out was forgiven. She waited patiently as Pearl explained, but didn't really feel much better. "Oh," was all she responded at first, followed by a short silence. "How is it?" she then asked, giving a weak smile and an even weaker wag of her tail. She wanted to be happy for the white woman, and there was no reason for her to be so angry with her for leaving. It did seem like everyone was doing that anyway, no reason to take it out on one in particular. She was a little more hurt that Lasher hadn't told her- or maybe he had? For the first time in a while Aria couldn't remember half of the most important things that she'd nagged herself so often to remember.

Pearl watched Aria's expression and body language, trying to detect the slightest change. And yet, all she got from observing was sadness hidden behind a weak happiness. She wondered about what had transpired in Donnelaith since she had left. "It's great, it's a beautiful territory and a good group of wolves. How's Donnelaith?" she asked, head cocked slightly to the side in interest.

The girl smiled, still trying her best to be happy for her friend. "I'm glad you're doing well," she told her, tail wagging behind her a bit faster now. She hesitated, silence her only answer as she looked out over the beautiful lake. Her head fell to the side as she thought of an answer. "It's alright," she finally said, shrugging. "Empty," she added quietly, giving her friend a weak smile. She didn't blame Pearl directly, but her leaving certainly didn't help. 

Pearl nodded with her, Donnelaith feeling empty was one of the reasons that spurred her to leave so quickly. She hadn't very well thought of how individuals were doing, though it did cross her mind once and a rare while. Most of the time, she was busy with hunting and exercising with Kinra. She felt a pang of empathy in her heart, realizing how lonely it must be up there now for Aria. She had the pups there, at least - right? But something just didn't seem to fit.

Pearl nudged her again, coming to sit next to her and look upon the beautiful aquatic expanse. She could sense something off, and intended to find out. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked softly.

The girl shrugged, shaking her head. "Sorry -- I haven't seen you in like... weeks... I should be more peppy," she shook her head again. "I didn't mean to turn this on me..." she added quietly, eyebrows furrowing as she looked forward. She fell silent again, wondering about how Pearl's new home was. Did she have a mate? she wondered, was this friend something more? Maybe that was why she left. Aria saw no real reason for anyone to leave Donnelaith. It was home. You can't just leave home. You can't just leave family. 

But she kept her confusion silent, shifting her paws.

"Casmir left," she said quietly, pursing her lips. "I dunno if you had left yet or not... but he left." 

Pearl's brow furrowed, wondering what had happened back at the coast to make Aria act like this. "No, you're okay..." she said, trailing off. Finally some sense was made when it was made clear Casmir had left as well. She blinked in surprise. "Wha...Why?" she asked, confused. It was to be assumed now that everyone leaving was the reason for her sadness. Aria had never really been close with anywolf other than herself and Cas, and now both of them were gone.

Aria chuckled. It was an unfitting sort of chuckle, one that filled an awkward hole that questions roamed unanswered in. She had a smile painted across her white muzzle, but it was wet still, and seemed to drip down her clean features. "Me, probably," she told her friend, the smile still disappearing into an empty expression. "Behati... I think something happened between him and Eilidh as well-- he didn't explain, really," she added quietly. She stared forward, still away from her friend. 

"I know we decided we didn't need anyone but... I think I got a bit too ballsy," thinking back to their last conversation, Aria had sort of delivered a fatal blow. Just friends... of course he wanted to leave her.

There was something undoubtedly wrong with Aria, Pearl could tell easily as the girl's forced laugh faded into an expression of nothingness. Pearl looked worriedly at her, wanting to force her way into her focus but refraining.  "Why would you say it was you? It's not your fault, Casmir was always a bit unstable." she said, trying to coax out the answer. Technically, she could be a counselor by now, so naturally she was applying her methods.

The girl shrugged, but sort of new the answer. "I mean-- so am I," she replied, not that that really had anything to do with their topic, but was somehow relevant. "He was sad about Behati--" she paused, looking to her friend, "Who died from infection and starvation... I believe you were aware of that right...?" she added quietly, genuinely struggling to remember when she had stopped seeing Pearl around. "But.. anyway, I asked we take it back a step, ya know? Move forward as friends and figure things out," she continued with another shrug.

"I don't think that really helped."

struggling to find a balance for aria... she's super matured etc. but also emotional and still a teenager and it's hella hard to mix that into one. sorry if she sort of goes against anything she's previously said :l working on finding the healthy medium....

nah you're good

Pearl nodded along with her, mentally commenting, yes, yes you are definitely unstable. Another reason why those two were never actually right for each other. Maybe in the future, but not particularly in the foreseeable one. "Yes, I left after Lasher returned from his trip." she said, hoping that would clear things up a little. 


She shook her head no, because while it was the mature decision, they were still too young to handle it. "How exactly did he respond to that?" she questioned, having not acquired that key piece of information.

"No particularly well..." she replied quietly. "He just seemed taken back-- and then he sort of ran off," Aria paused, shaking her furiously. "I moved past it," she said suddenly, her tail waving once behind her. "He doesn't want to be found right now, and it sucks but it's fine," she told Pearl quietly. Her inability to decide where she stood with her emotions probably was one of the reasons she and Pearl would never be as close as Aria wanted. She shifted topics completely, regardless if her friend wanted to or not.

"I'm starting a journey soon, going to scout out newer territories. That's kind of why I came down here," she explained, her head tilting.

The sudden switch of topics put Pearl off, the words she was about to speak dying on her lips, her facial expression turning into something that quite closely resembled Jim from The Office. Dang it Aria just talk about it, she wanted to say, but her consideration held her back. She made her frustration known with a quick snort.

 She turned to her friend with a forced but interested smile. "Really? Where are you planning to go?" she asked.

Aria skipped over her friends snort easily, deciding that avoiding was the easiest way to get over something-- for now, anyway. "Back home after this, but South of Donnelaith. This is the furthest I've been from home in a while, I figured it was time to branch off and gather information," she explained, feeling less jittery as she fell into the new conversation. Much easier to talk about, much easier to forget. No reason to dwell on Casmir, he was gone and wasn't coming back. She'd find something new later on. No worries. No harm no foul. "I'm nearby your pack-- do you have a name for this lake?"

Pearl slid rather unwillingly into the newer conversation, still looking at Aria with somewhat of a 'done' look. She nodded, looking out towards the lake. Aria would more than likely run into Casmir if she did go through with the journey. Would they be able to handle each other after that? Would Aria even make it back? Pearl couldn't help but briefly worry over her young cinnamon roll friend. Returning to the question, she shook her head. "Rodney. Lake Rodney. How far are you planning to go?"

Lake Rodney-- good to know. But still, Aria could sense the frustration in Pearl even as she engaged in the conversation. Give into friend? Oblige unwillingly even though it was probably good for her? or continue to be a pain in the ass? She weighed her options carefully.

"I'm not sure yet. I don't know what's out there, honestly..." she trailed off, looking at her pale friend. Finally, the girl gave a long sigh and shook her head. "I'm sorry," she muttered, looking away. "I looked for a while. I don't know where he is. There's too much I don't understand to fully come to terms with this," she finally said, falling back to where Pearl had clearly wanted-- or preferred, rather-- to be. "I don't even know what I'd say to him if I had found him. I don't know if I'd apologize or what-- and I know you're trying to help and I'm being a pain but... I don't have anything to tell you that you probably couldn't guess on your own and... and that's all I've got,"

"Donnelaith is lonely, but I'm working on it. Life's gone on-- ya know? The pups are getting older-- Blue Willow stepped down-- Osprey mentioned pups with Dante although I'm not really sure if that'll happen or not..." Aria shrugged. "It's getting better, Casmir or no Casmir it's getting better."

*victory cheers from Pearl in the distance*

Silent victory bells went off in Pearl's head as soon as she realized Aria wasn't avoiding the topic anymore. After she listened to what Aria had to say about Cas, she began to interject her advice. "It's okay, you're gonna be alright. It's better to distance yourself for now, but it'd be better if you would let him go." She wasn't too sure how well the teen would take that, but hey, it was the truth, and the truth hurt. No use lying to her, it would only make things monumentally more difficult. 

She had to say she was surprised when she mentioned Dante and Osprey with the possibility of having pups. It was a risk, but their kids would literally be 50 shades of grey and cute. Blue stepping down she could understand, and she was glad to hear Aria was getting on well enough.

tempted to add slightly bipolar to arias personality damn i can't pick a side

Pearl interjected advice that wasn't super useful-- but what else could she say? "I'm trying," Aria responded desperately. "I have nothing to go by. Nothing! He didn't say why... just that he needed to leave. And then he did," she added with obvious frustration. She would've made a comment directed straight at Pearl, but decided not to start anything with the white wolf who was only trying to help. But really? Distance herself? From what? Everything had already left. She couldn't get any further away from the things that troubled her so much. 

doo ittt and watch Pearl flounder XD

Pearl truthfully didn't know how to respond. She kind of sat there, just thinking. Having been so consumed in coaxing Aria to speak, she hadn't been focusing on how to actually help her. She knew that advice was more or less crap, and struggled for something else to say, but not letting it show. She let Aria calm a bit before returning an answer, for her friend's sake or her own she wasn't sure. She knew she was part of the problem, but didn't know how to fix it, and that frustrated her. "First off, you need to pick yourself up. It wasn't your fault and he obviously is running away from his problems, a sign that he really isn't ready. It's different with you, you're just choosing to take a break, and going back. I know I didn't help by leaving, and I'm sorry for that. But you're strong, and I know you can handle it." she said, nudging Aria. She didn't like seeing her this way.

Obviously not ready. But neither was she, really. She pretended she was, and had a better understanding of how things were supposed to work-- but easier said that done. She could talk the talk, but couldn't walk the walk. Aria nodded along as Pearl spoke, sort of droning on she thought. It wasn't that she wasn't being helpful, it just wasn't new advice. Aria had told herself these same things day after day. She'd moved on in her own way, but she knew that Pearl had to know she'd never truly move on. You can't move on from the unknown, it was just an awkward hole that would never be filled. She gave in anyway, unable to give her friend any other information that would be useful to help.

"You're right," she murmured softly, ears cupping forward. "I know I can," she added, but wasn't fully convinced. 

whoops sorry XD

 

Aria gave a response that wasn't remotely convincing at all, and Pearl didn't pay any attention to hearing that she was right. Her eye almost started twitching from frustration, more like desperation when she thought about it. She wanted to help Aria as much as she could, but she knew this was a girl that couldn't be easily helped. She wasn't about to give up on her, though. No one was a lost cause. 

If she couldn't use words with Aria, Pearl concluded, she'd use what she could. She leaned against the younger girl, offering her physical support. "It's gonna be okay, alright?" she said.

The girl smiled, leaning back onto Pearl in return. "Yeah," she murmured. "I guess you're right," 

Aria let out a soft sigh, eventually leaning away from her friend. "I should probably return home-- I didn't announce my departure," she told the other, giving her a weak smile. "I know I'm a pain, but thank you Pearl. Your words mean mountains to me," she told the girl, dipping her head as she stood. "You know where to find us, if you ever need us," 

Then, after a quick glance to the lake, the pale princess departed, her hips and tail swaying behind her.

last here! thx for dealing with emotional teen (: