King Elk Forest Skyscrapers

This place was beautiful, Sapphira thought, amazed by all of the towering trees around. They drew her gaze upward, and the tops of those trees seemed to pierce the sky. And in summer, the forest was as green and luscious as ever. Everything felt so alive, and so did she, despite her less-than admirable situation. She was considerably underweight despite it still being a good hunting season, as she was never the best hunter. There were a lot of elk around, and while they were stunning, they would not be providing food for her today.

Thus, she continued on her way in hopes of finding a pack. In the short term, she hoped she could find something she was actually capable of catching.

Evening had taken a liking to this forest, having been here once before. She was quietly napping in an abandoned animal den she had dug out a little bit, when the scent of wolf awakened her. She opened her eyes and immediately sucked in a breath between her fangs, making a hissing noise. It was the middle of the day and she was facing the entrance of the den (stupid, stupid!). She squeezed her eyes shut against the sudden light and then opened them again slowly. She wanted to just turn around to face the back of the den and go back to sleep, but anytime there were other wolves around, it put her on edge. As a loner, she couldn’t trust any wolf to be non-threatening until she’d interacted with them, and if she could smell them, then they could certainly smell her, if the wind changed directions in their favor.

Evening did not want to leave the den. She would be half-blind upon entering the forest proper and would have to stick to the thickest stands of trees to keep her body in the shade lest she sunburn. But now, more than anything, curiosity made her rise and stick her head out. What she saw caused her to blink and then stare. The wolf passing by, some distance away, was a wonderful silvery-blue color. Evening could not see much detail, for her day-blindness caused everything past a certain threshold to blur, but she knew she’d never seen a wolf that color before.

So struck by surprise was she that she didn’t think to make any kind of introduction. She only continued staring, with most of her body sheltered inside her den.

Suuuper distracted, so sorry if this is a shitpost wija;fgsdfgafd

Hearing a strange hissing noise, Sapphira whipped her entire body around in its direction. At first, she thought it was a snake and panicked, heart beginning to pound in her chest. However, all she saw was a den, and it was no snake den. Inside it was a snow-white wolf with a bright pink nose and strangely pink eyes. The wolf said nothing as they stared at her. How long had they been watching her? Oh, hello, She said breathily, breath still hastened from her little scare. Sapphira was uneasy at best about this wolf, but seeing as they were curled up in a den (and hadn't attacked her yet), they appeared to be no threat.

Evening continued to stare at the wolf with the strange coloring. She had never seen a piebald wolf before, nor a wolf with this coloration. Besides, everything was still blurry and now she was squinting to try and get a better look at the female. Finally, it registered in her head that she had been spoken to. “Hello,” she said, her voice soft and quiet. She hated loud noises, especially right after waking up, and since it was the middle of the day, she was tired. Usually, she would be asleep right now. “Who are you?” she asked after a moment.

The pretty wolfess softly returned her greeting, sounding quite groggy. Sapphira probably roused her from her nap. That's why she was squinting, too, she told herself. Though, her eyes did look strange. Not just the irises, but the pupils; they were not very dark. Her inner medic probed her to learn more about this wolf's condition, but her manners told her to be polite and not stare. I am Sapphira, She introduced, giving the stranger a small smile. I'm sorry if I woke you; I'm just passing through.

Evening blinked some more, attempting to clear her vision, even shaking her head a little. Unfortunately, no amount of squeezing her eyes shut and opening them was going to make her see any better, something that she knew by that point in her life. That knowledge did not stop her from trying, however. “I’m Flow— Evening,” she said, clearing her throat to get the grogginess out of it. She’d almost given this wolf her old name, Flower, in her tiredness. “I…” She hesitated. She was about to tell the female that she couldn’t come out of the den because of the sun, but she did not want to give away the fact that she was stuck inside the den in case the woman was not friendly. Her current position would leave her vulnerable to attack.

But that made no sense the more Evening thought about it. If the woman had wanted to attack her, she would have done it by now, surely. And she wasn’t blind, either. She could see Evening’s strange coloration, pink eyes and nose, the way her skin shone through her pearly-white fur. “I would come out, but the sun hurts me,” she finally said, painfully aware of how long she had been sitting there staring off into space and thinking of what to say.

This stranger was only becoming more strange as she struggled to find her words, even stumbling over her name. Sapphira gave her time to find them, though, and she was inrigued with what Evening told her. You have sensitive skin, then? She wasn't sure what condition Evening may have had, but it was clear by how she blinked her pink eyes that the light caused them discomfort. Sapphira could deduce that her odd pink flesh was likely connected to the lack of color in her fur. She wished she could help somehow with her medical expertise but didn't know of anything that could, aside from what Evening was already doing—avoiding the light.