Ravensblood Forest hello, it's me

the long awaited thread is here! @Trick, time for a glorious entrance!

Ann had walked the long road from her home (the Sentinels, she learns from someone in the pack), past the shores of the sea, past the wind that cuts lines in her fur and messes up her silky locks. Long legs more suited for treading forest floor than the rough, grainy texture of slippery sand granules. A forest loomed ahead, and the woman made her way toward it, nape ruffled from the breeze and tender pads aching from the scrape.

Darkness and cool temperatures greeted her as she stepped in, haunting and eery in the most beautiful of ways. A foolish rodent scuttled over her feet; the femme crushed it with a heavy blow to the neck like she had been taught and watched the light fade from its eyes. Curious, she noted, how the will to survive is so strong. It struggled and kicked one last time, then it was no more, and Andromeda picks up her kill, moves to a rather secluded area shaded by trees and dusted with dew, golden light streaming in through young leaves and old trunks. She dipped her head, and began to eat.

Teehee!

After the little "incident" with Warbone, Trick had made up his mind. He would not let the lack of herbs stop him anymore from healing as fast as possible. The Keep had lots of them, even poisons and all, but today he had his mind set upon finding something outside his "home". And so, as the sun started kissing the horizon and painted the sky a bright pink, faint hints of orange even, he left the place where they all slept together. He was an early bird when it came to this. When he had his mind set upon something, he would do it as fast as possible.

He left the woods that were well hidden by the arms of the weeping willows, that endlessly rocked from side to side in the wind. He wasn't fond of the place where he lived, yet he had come to respect the willows. When the sun had almost rid herself of the earth that she used as a blanket every morning, he was on his way to the mountains. He was careful, extremely so, for he was terrified of the height. If he, with his agile, small body would fall, it would mean death. But he managed to get to the top from where he could see a forest. that's where he would go.

He made his way down again, cursing at himself because he hadn't just walked around the mountains, trembling here and there but not falling just yet. As soon as he entered the woods, he felt alive again. Yes, this was much better than both The Keep and the mountains. He put his nose to the ground and started sniffing for herbs, not knowing there was another presence near.

The dawnlight peers through the branches as Ann watches the last of the stars disappear into that bright, bright abyss where she knows not where they go to rest their heads each day. Do they linger there, watching the wolves down on earth, or do they attend to their own celestial matters? For a moment, she wonders what it feels like to be a star.

A scent impedes on her quiet time alone, and Ann's head whips up in order to get hold of the smell. It is fresh and spicy, not unlike the herbs she keeps at home - her real home, not Donnelaith where she lies. On her face, there is nothing but a mask of calm though her ears are attentively up, and her eyes are bright. The scent is near - too near, in fact, and while the woman is displeased with this interruption, she does not show it. There is snuffling, and Ann thinks the entity is growing closer, so she lies in wait for it.

"Oh wolf of the forests green, why do you linger?" Andromeda hums breathily to the air, but she knows it will carry, knows that the stranger will hear her words and hopefully, she will see who it is this time.

The sweet scent of celandine mixed with catnip filled his nose, leaving him to sigh. That was a good sign. There was also the scent of tree sap, which confused him at first. But as soon as he almost walked into a tree, he could see the red liquid run down. He looked at the liquid, watched it drip down like blood out of a wound. What it was good for, he didn't know, but he would definitely remember it. He found the scent especially enchanting, for it smelt so unique, so forest like. It was as if he were swimming in it, so strong was the scent to him. 

But his peace was disturbed. Not only by the smell of another of his kind -one that smelled an awful lot like another pack wolf- , but also by a voice. It sounded almost like a whisper, so far he was from the source of the sound. His emerald orbs looked around, almost lighting up with curiosity. Who was so well-spoken? So one with nature itself? He found himself ignoring the scent of celandine, catnip and the faint smell of chickweed now too, and made his way through the forest gracefully, full of himself.

Why do thou call out to the wind? Why do thou call out to me? He replied, voice as sweet as sugar, as honey, as flowery as a rose field. He could not yet see the creature, but he kept moving, like a shadow.

She awaits response eagerly, and she is not disappointed. From far away she hears her desired outcome and Ann's ears swivel around to catch the lilted words that ride on the wind. Why do thou call out to me? She hears, and frowns slightly, for the sentence is structured unfamiliarly - or at least she is not used to how it is used. Why do thou call out to the wind? The voice speaks, and she thinks male. His scent is of pack, but Ann knows not where he hails from; perhaps the one settled near them?

"This fair maid doth call out to thee, good sir, that mine eyes may see thy face." She calls back and she feels him coming closer, trailing the sound of her voice. Andromeda mimics his speech - she finds it slightly amusing, and her cyan gaze awaits his appearance before it. "Perhaps mine intention is to seek thee out, to find thyself and grace this gaze of mine with thyself. Wilt thou do me the honour?" A grin creeps onto her face now, intrigued by the mysterious man, this shadow that walks the trees, forest spirit who inhabits the homes of mortal men.

"I await thine presence in the grove of emerald, fair sir."

Gaah, how can you be so good with that weird language?! XD

He made his way through the bleeding trees, leaves crisping beneath his paws like woodpeckers, the wind around him getting colder and colder. Whoever he was speaking to, had found a good place to hide. The reason he was here left his mind, flew up into one of the bleeding trees, and waited there until Trick would come to his senses. He was chasing a voice, a voice that spoke like him, was like him. Had he found death? 

Lest I come to thee in the forest whither the trees drip of blood, whither the wind is cold and fierce, to lay mine eyes upon thee. He spoke. The voice sounded like a lady. Wow, female and intelligent? Kunkun could learn from that. Mine fair mistress, wherefore art thou? He called out, feeling more lost the longer he wandered.

His nose however, wasn't as lost as him, for it found the lady at last. He stood before her, a pretty comfortable distance away, and there he stayed. She was a mortal, and here he thought he was chasing a ghost. Then why was he interested in her?

I has't hath found thee... He purred, his green eyes inspecting her from top to bottom.

Oh, the sweet, deep voice of the man who did let his voice find her, let her study him was so delectably delicious. Ann allowed herself a shiver as his baritones tickled her alert ears, as his purr trailed down her nape. She lay among the trees, golden light bathing her body, paying no heed to the wounded trees; the blood-sap that trickled down their old trunks. "Good sir, I seek thee out not far from where thine feet stand. Let mine voice guide thee, lest thou should get lost amongst these mazes of wood." Her voice hummed out, mind growing accustomed to speaking an age-old language she had heard not in years. He became more fluent, voice flowing smoother, his honeyed tones tempting her soul.

He was surrounded in a halo, veils of light falling over him as he stood there, eyes roaming over her, and Ann dipped her head almost demurely as if she were truly shy that he should see her like this, alone and quite close, though he was as far as he was near, and the two wolves studied each other.

I hath found thee, he breathed, and the woman stood to meet him, closing the distance between their bodies, keeping a tight circle around him as he stood, whispering into his ears her dulcet tones before she too, stepped back. "And I, thee." Andromeda murmured in return, cyan boring into his deep, forest greens.

English is my first language... and I read the bible since I'm Christian (NKJ) so I have a bit of experience with it

She was a true sight to behold, he had to give her that. More build like Kunkun, yet slightly move female than Nova -also a little younger, but age didn't matter to him except when it came to respect-. The vibe he got from her was mostly mischievous, yet it was so interesting. Who knew someone, a woman even, could speak the language he had been learned to speak? He had chosen to learn it, had she too? Or was she a master of impersonating? Whatever it was, it kept him locked in place, speechless as she krept closer.

He didn't flinch, didn't look away as she did so. This was no show of dominance, this was pure magic where their wolf bodies didn't matter. bright forest green met shimmering cyan, and he was enchanted. His heart was racing, there, in the forest where the light surrounded them enough to see the dust speckles fly around, making the most beautiful of patterns in the sky. And I thee, where the words that she spoke, her voice as beautiful and sweet as a flower in spring itself. Even mother nature couldn't compete with her.

What art thee doing hither, mine fair maid? He managed to ask, his mind drugged. Thine beauty is beyond compare... He whispered after. Oh, how he wished he could get out of this trance she was putting him in.

She looked on in amusement as the male gazed upon her with earned wonder, eyelids dipping till they covered but half her eyes, looking out from under them to caress his cheek before she departed, her voice hushed and low, a rumbling purr in her throat - one that reeled others in, drew them close until she was able to reach in, figure them out and then... Ann puffed a breath at him, watching as warm air swept past his fur and was lost in the still surroundings, quiet except for their interactions.

"Watching thy face, thy frame and thine actions, gleaning what I may from thy grace and thy power." He watched her back, entranced, wrapped in her spider's web and her little ploy. And yet, she felt a stirring of fondness in her heart for him, for his elegance and his silky words, though she did not let it show as he did his own. "Handsome are thy features, so enraptured in them I have become."

She whipped away, beckoning him with a slow sweep of her tail to join her as she moved back to her meal and lay down once more to eat, inviting him to sit as well if he so desired. "What might I know thee by, good sir?" Ann queried, voice rich and light at the same time. "They of lands far call me Andromeda."

There was no way he was falling for someone, that the trickster would become the one being tricked. As long as they didn't touch, didn't sin together, he would be in control. Or so he believed. He had met many, many even like her, yet she was playing her part damn well. But two could play this game of lust. Her poison touched his cheek ever so faintly and it stung, her toxic purr penetrating his mind more than any poison he was ever exposed to -which was a lot-. He would not fall, he would not.

Her syrupy voice, sweetened by the ease of which she moved, it was too much, her compliments too honeyed. For a moment, he thought she was lying. But why would she? He purred, blinking his glittering eyes, watching her in all her glory. This woman was pure poison, but so was he. As she turned, showing off her nice features even from behind, he smirked. He didn't trust her, didn't trust anyone, yet still he followed.

He felt his bum touch the moist forest floor, sitting with her by what he called; a creature that was not fast enough to flee. All those dead were such creatures. She asked his name, and that was information he could give without spilling too much. Thou mayest refer to me as Trick. He hummed, his eyes fixated on her body.

Andromeda, another none specific name. He assumed this was her name given on birth, for it sounded so foreign. He nodded, not knowing what he was still doing here. From far, the thought of herbs noticed how he was feeling and it flew back to him. He still needed them! Can thee holp me findeth plants? Herbs?

"Trick, like a trickster," Andromeda hummed, tasting the word, tasting the scents that lay upon his coat. She knew none of them yet stored them away, hid them for times to come in which she would need the knowledge all while she danced with the man, spinning them in circles in time with the beat of their music and the rhythm of their song. "Herbs might I help thee find, and what shalt thou offer me in return?"

Her eyes twinkled, cyan pools almost glowing in the light as she moved, standing some distance away from him now, giving him the opportunity to consider his own offer in return for hers. Should he choose not to stay, the woman was fine by it, and she would continue her mindless wandering by herself. "Shalt I gain a share of the spoils granted by thy fair hand?"

Slender legs pulled the woman into a sitting post, awaiting her Trickster's reply.

He snickered when she said that. Yes, he was like a trickster. It wasn't for nothing he took on the name when he got bullied with it. He embraced it, for it was who he was. A liar, devious, a being no one should trust. Forsooth. He hummed back to her. He smirked, one that almost showed his true nature, but it was so vague that anyone had yet to think anything of it. 

It disappeared when she asked what she would get in return though. Aah, so she was still made of greed. She was not from his homelands, now he saw. She was like the others, all only looking out for themselves. Her tongue might twitch in such a way that she could speak like him, but she had yet to learn about debt. Sometimes, you just had to help someone to make them do something for you in the future. That was the sole reason why he had helped Warbone with his wounds. It was not about gaining.

Right, I fear our song is ov'r. He sighed as she moved away from him. Her poison maybe was as strong as that of the most deadly snake, but the antidote wasn't hard to find. He welcomed his sanity back, glad it hadn't strolled too far. He closed his emerald orbs, turning off the lights in the lively forest of green he carried with himself in his eyes, always. He stood now, strong and firm, agile yet manly. 

May the road rise up to meet thou, may the wind be ever at thine back. May the sun shine warm upon thine visage and the rain fall softly on thine fields. He quoted, turning to leave and find the thing he had been looking for in the first place. Celandine and Catnip!

"And until we meet again," Ann hummed to a retreating back, "until we meet agin."

He walked further, their dance at its end, her eyes gleaming with new knowledge.

"May God hold you in the palm, of his hands."

Then she, too, departed.

I HAVE NOT HEARD THAT IN 2 YEARS. IRISH BLESSING, SONG OF MY 12-YEAR-OLD YEARS

thank you for thread!