Dragoncrest Cliffs tread lightly in the heart of the forest
51 Posts
Ooc — xynien
Offline
#1
All Welcome 
There are many changes in Drageda as of late; Heda has left for Trigeda, and taken with her many others, including the odd twitchy man she'd briefly tried to befriend. Blixen leads now — a fact that only intensifies her regrets about avoiding her. But it'll be alright if she just, uhh — works on filling the caches, yeah?
So she sets about hunting for the day, trying to ignore the distress and confusion over her place in the pack that is definitely her fault. She catches two hares before she decides to take a quick break, half-hoping she'll run into Blixen or someone on her way to deposit what she's caught. It strikes her as a little masochistic, though, so she crushes the feeling and keeps her head down.
587 Posts
Ooc — Kat
Master Ranger
Offline
#2
Bat woke from a nap on the beach, her mouth dry and a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She sat up and it all came rushing back: nomi was gone, Ephraim too. She wanted to go after them, yet Wildfire had guilt tripped her into staying put. Bat felt a great sigh work up her throat and burst from her mouth. She was tempted to go back to sleep, forget about all of this.

Instead, she wandered into Hougeda, then emerged on the far side. Wildfire wasn't where she'd left her. Bat felt relieved, which made her feel guilty. She truthfully couldn't bear the woman's turbulent emotions. Why hadn't they simply gone with nomi anyway? Bat shook her head, biting back another sigh as she stumped through the woods.

The smell of fresh meat drew her, even though Bat wasn't hungry. She came upon a strange wolf adding some kills to a cache. Bat watched for a moment, trying to muster up enough energy to step forward with a greeting and introduction.
51 Posts
Ooc — xynien
Offline
#3
Just as she reaches the cache, she feels a pair of eyes on her. She's not sure at first if she's just being paranoid — or wishful, perhaps? — so she ignores it as she drops the hares among the other prey. When she turns to leave, though, she notices a dark pup; she knows Heda and their other leader, Dio, have had pups with their respective mates — but she hasn't met them, and knows nothing beyond that.
So she's not quite sure whose pup this is, but it probably doesn't matter that much anyway. Casting a quick glance around to see if anyone else is in sight, she approaches the pup and chuffs. Hey there, She says, offering a smile. She's not really sure what sort of conversations one is supposed to have with children — she's not really into the whole kids thing, really, although they seem cute enough from a distance. What's your name? She decides to ask, settling back on her haunches with a quick internal apology; sorry, kid, I'm really boring.
587 Posts
Ooc — Kat
Master Ranger
Offline
#4
Before she could pull herself together and push forward, the stranger looked up at her, offering a greeting and a question. Bat did not return her smile, though her tail flicked in acknowledgement. A little stiffly, she padded closer, coming to a halt again just a few yards away. She was usually easygoing and friendly enough, though there was a strange set to her jaw and an uncharacteristic tension about her youthful shoulders.

"Hi," she said, more or less tonelessly. "Bat. What's yours?"
51 Posts
Ooc — xynien
Offline
#5
She notices immediately that the child seems sullen, tense — oh, it's not her, is it? Jeez. She's just that bad with kids, then. Bat, huh? Branwen, She answers automatically, resisting the urge to apologize to the kid for being a bore already.
It's nice to meet you, Bat — who, uh, are your parents? To be fair, she has no way of knowing this might be a sensitive subject right now. Well, actually she does, but it hasn't really clicked just yet. There's sure to be a fair amount of regret when it does, but for now she's blissfully oblivious.
587 Posts
Ooc — Kat
Master Ranger
Offline
#6
Before Bat could answer the question that made her stomach twist and her chest feel heavy, a third voice broke into their brief conversation. "There you are!" came Wildfire's familiar dulcet tones, striding up to the Goufa, a little out of breath. "I thought you'd run off again. Please stay close to me, Bat, you're going to give me a h—" Abruptly, the fiery she-wolf noticed the Kru and her mouth clapped shut.

It opened again a heartbeat later. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. You're Branwen?" Wildfire guessed, then motioned her smudged snout to the uncharacteristically sullen Bat. "I'm Bat's mother. One of them," she amended, the pang that hit her clear in a flash of her chestnut gaze. "Wildfire," she finished in a quieter voice.

"My nomi is Heda," Bat piped up loudly, as if to compensate for her mother's hush. She spoke the phrase entirely in Trigedaslang without really noticing, certainly not bothering to pause and ponder whether Branwen would understand her. There was almost a defensiveness about the words, as if Bat was somehow afraid that Thuringwethil might be forgotten in her absence.