Blackfeather Woods us and them
Ghost
1,738 Posts
Ooc — mercury
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#1
Joining 
@Coelacanth @Moorhen @Reigi @Kove @Relmyna AW to anyone else who wants to join

She had expected it to be scarier than she remembered.

But the skulls were gone from the border, the bloodstains barely visible. No, besides the sheer darkness of it, it seemed much like any other forest. Different, yes, from the sun and surf that had been her life for the past moons. It was not, however, the place of malevolent shadows that she remembered.

Was it that she had grown up and lost her fear? Or had things truly changed here?

Maegi breathed deep, taking in the mix of scents. Kove and Relmyna--those aromas were sharp. Others, though. . .there were many faint smells she recognized, but none so prevalent. Her mother, still absent. Cicero, gone. If her brothers had rejoined the pack, their scents were not a part of the border markings.

Who would meet her, today?

She flashed a nervous glance at her traveling companions, her eyes lingering on Coelacanth the longest. The guilt of dragging the Aralez back to the place of her nightmares would never fully leave her, and she drew closer to the inky woman, touching her muzzle briefly to the silken shoulder. A twist of her stomach--

Was this a mistake? She supposed she couldn't go back now, not after all the preparation and travel. There was always the possibility of visits, true, but once she stepped over this line, she was no longer a Daggertooth. She would never be a seawolf.

She would be Maegi Melonii, spiderling priestess of Blackfeather Woods, once more. Her destiny, her desire, from birth.

With a troubled quirk of her ruined lips, the girl tipped her muzzle to the sky and howled.
457 Posts
Ooc — mixedhearts
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#2
Moorhen did not fear the dark woods, but she was acutely aware of her companions' mood. The Shadow had grown more and more fretful as they drew nearer, and Maegi had remained uncertain and aloof throughout the trip. Venninne, at least, was a wolf she could count on. It was hers and Venninne's duty to return the Aralez to safety.

She wished they would be ferrying the pale girl back to the island as well.

But they would be leaving her here. Moorhen let out a tiny breath of some unnameable emotion and stood tall over the Aralez, just behind their young charge. Whatever happened, Moorhen would be ready for it.
i'm going to bring it all back to you
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Ooc — Lauren
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#3
her mood had been spoiled by the toad's death. it had clung to life and endured each bitter insult lobbed in its direction by astara's design, and yet, after ceaseless torment (unintentional, of course -- astara just wanted a plaything) its life had shriveled and it had fallen to ruin.

relmyna's night-cub was as close to mourning as she was capable of. hoping to cease her sunken spirits she searched for @Averna or even her uncle, who had been absent for days beyond astara's counting capabilities.

weaseling through the woods in search of her sister's pale pelt, she drew to a stop when a fluted howl trickled through the cold forest. drawn immediately to its source, the girl broke from cover and was met by a concierge of wolves, every one as bit as alien and different than the next.

astara glanced from one unknown face to the next, noting a (not)wolf who bore a pelt dark as she, a wolf sharing much in common with averna, a wolf colored of clay with a swarthy mask, and finally, a wolf who bore curious markings across her flanks. the dark cub's eyes were lit with wonder, but she was silent as she cycled through each face with hungry inquisition.

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oh but my darling, what if you fly?
138 Posts
Ooc — Cyprin
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#4
Shisu was humming peacefully while making her way around the forest. She was doing simple exploration, as well as calming her own nerves... It was peaceful to simply walk through nature and enjoys its beauty, but it was harder to enjoy the eerie forest. She felt the need to constantly take deep breathes each time a crow was heard, or a raven flied by. When a howl disrupted the usual ambient of Blackfeather Woods, she jumped in fright.

"Oh gosh!" Shisu nervously looked around, wondering who it was. Though instead, her eyes seemed to be caught a familiar darkened pelt... Why was that pup always alone! Was this mischevious lass trying to get another toad? Or... Was she going to follow the howl? "Oh dear." Worrridly, the silver lass would follow along the figure's direction. She couldn't bare just letting the pup wander alone.

"Oh my... Please come back." Her words would fall faint, she kept forgetting the pup was too young to hear her voice, but the lass kept trying nonetheless with her pleas. Like Astara, she emerged from the dark forest in the pursuit, only to come face to face with a party of wolves.

"O-oh." Oh dear, oh my, oh gosh; Shisu froze at the sight of these strangers.
1,293 Posts
Ooc — Talamasca
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#5
It wasn't his duty to watch Astara, but he had come to depend on her visits to pass the time and keep him from slipping in to the dark pit of his mind. Every time the boy closed his eyes he thought he was back in the cavern with the creature, and so he had found it difficult to sleep without aid. At times this meant he would fall asleep with the use of poppies or herbs with Relmyna's assistance, but sometimes he would wake to the feeling of a body pressed close to him — and those few times he managed to turn and look at the lump, it would be Astara. He never dared to disturb her, and would feign sleep should she wake.

So when he woke this time and found himself alone, Mou felt a great sadness. He could smell her scent in the grass beside him but she was not present, and the spot was cold. Mou decided to search for her — she could not be far — and so he got to his feet and with trembling steps, wove his way in pursuit. It was difficult because of his weakness, but also because of his state of mind; his last dose of poppies had been strong enough to knock him out and keep him from noticing his visitors. He felt himself reaching with each step but he could not be certain he was treading on the earth, for example. 

Mou floated along until he saw a flash of movement among the darkness of the trees, and he stumbled as he tried to adjust his angle of approach. By the time he arrived on the scene he was muddy and trembling with exhaustion, but he wasn't aware of how worn out he had become. He looked at the gathered wolves and recognized Astara was there, which calmed him down somewhat. He thought he saw Shisu as well — and then he saw the pale girl beyond them, and his dilated gaze drifted across his beloved Maegi but did not connect any dots.
587 Posts
Ooc — KJ
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#6
The sheepdog had developed a series of nervous tics the nearer and nearer they drew to la forêt de tourment, and now she was in its shadow, close enough to feel the foul pulse of its heart as it stroked cold fingers and dirty nails over her naked body. The borders were changed, but she did not see them clearly — for Seelie, the skulls and the blackened blood and the thick, oily ichor of death remained — and her breath came in short, shallow puffs. Now and again, she flicked a feathered hind paw like an agitated cat seeking to shake herself free of some unpleasant sensation, never mind that her paws were clean and untethered. She did not see Maegi’s concerned eye upon her but was briefly brought back to earth by the physical contact of the Melonii princess’ muzzle drawing tenderly against her high-riding shoulder.

“Tell me your name and I will spare you.”

Coelacanth looked at Maegi at last, her eyes sharpening and focusing, piercing through the nightmare and the memory and homing in on the present. Her mouth worked, but for a prolonged moment, she could not speak. When she finally could, it was still more akin to mouthing the words, with soft ticks and hisses where the consonants lay. “Maegi, precious, dear. Find happy. Peace be.” Really, that was all Seelie had wanted for the girl from the very beginning — and yes, of course, she wished Maegi could’ve found it on the island. She wanted that for every soul who found safe harbor at Undersea, but not all wolves were meant to live that way.

There was a buzzing in her ears, tinny and irritating, growing louder and louder; the ensuing misophonia lifted her hackles, but she tried to hold on. “Welcome…Undersea…ever,” she parceled out, working through the pain that drilled holes behind her eyes and the anxiety that crawled like a host of maggots along her flesh.

Apologetically now, “Love, Maegi,” the Aralez eked out feebly, and then the appearance of others stole away her breath and numbed her tongue. It lay in her mouth, thick and heavy, a carving of moss-covered stone. She watched the approach of the puppy with faraway eyes, wondering how something as precious and beautiful as a child could grow up happily alongside the violence that coursed through the veins of every tree trunk — and then a stumbling at the edge of the meeting caused her to flinch abruptly, tufted ears flicking indecisively between being thrust forward upon her skull with a need to know what manner of family the Melonii girl was going home to, and being slicked back against her crown with a need to avoid punishment.

But she knew him immediately.

She mouthed his name — “Mou?” — but could not muster the breath to utter it fully. He looked worse for wear, and her immediate and unfair instinct was that this had been done to him by the Blackfeather wolves — but he did not flinch or turn away from them, looking instead with recognition upon the small girl who regarded her company so raptly. Indeed, the spacy look in his eyes and the sway in his slow, uncertain steps reminded her of his long days of recovery on Wheeling Gull Isle.

He seemed oddly to belong here, and she felt…

She felt…

Well, of course, she was happy that he was being sheltered and provided for. Of course, she was happy to see him again after all this time. It was a lucky coincidence, finding him here, and she was as fond of him as she had always been.

(Wasn’t she?)
killing is the most natural thing in the world; we're created for it
651 Posts
Ooc — ebony
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#7
a congregation of wolves, and she not yet greeting them. the priestess had heard the call of her one-time child, and lengthened her stride. but she was not alone, maegi melonii. alongside her a wolf earthswept; before her the soft bundle of slimlegged silk that was shisu. her own inquisitive astara, and the scarred boy who had come among them not long before.
and then there was maegi, taller, horribly scarred, no less beautiful than she had been. 
the priestess attended the gathering then, stepping quietly into their midst. her turquoise eyes swept those who had come; their scents entwined with the sea. nosing astara, casting shisu an approving glance, relmyna turned to maegi then. what had been done to the young melonii, to etch her so? but it mattered not. her own ragged lips curved in a soft smile.
the way that the young silent thing gazed upon the throng did not go unnoticed by relmyna, but for now would go unaddressed. the spirits of blackfeather guided those who were open of heart, and in time she knew they would do the same for him. there was no undue aggression here that she could see, and so the listener came in affability. but for maegi alone was her gaze.
welcome home, came her silent whisper.
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Ghost
1,738 Posts
Ooc — mercury
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#8
I wanted to start another round once a pack mod had jumped in, so here it is

She struggled to process all that crammed the minutes following her call. First the girl, coming toward them with no real fear in her eyes--her eyes. An image of Ramsay flashed through her mind; this girl, whom she assumed was one of Relmyna's, could have been her stunted brother's mirror image--but no deformity marred her features. Following her was a silvery wolf, looking concerned--

Then Coelacanth was whispering to her, voice barely audible over the hum of the forest, and she turned to take the Aralez into her embrace when a ghostly figure emerged from the trees, glazed eyes staring at the vistors--

"Mou," Maegi burst out, and was stepping forward to bring herself close to him--Mou? here?!--just as Relmyna appeared. The woman looked just the same as before, her crystalline eyes warm with welcome. Maegi's gaze shifted to the scars along her muzzle; she realized they had something in common, now. Her disfigurements had never been a problem to Maegi, but now, they endeared Relmyna to her all the more. She nodded at the whispered sentiment, a smile coming to her lips.

Her paws shifted, torn between rushing into the woods and sticking like a burr to Coelacanth's side. The seawolf trembled, clearly distraught, and Maegi cast her eyes at Moorhen and Venninne--please! take care of her, she implored silently. Of course, they would. But her guilt drove her to ask the question, anyway.

And. . .Mou. She turned to face him, her countenance a strange blend of joy and relief and anger, too. Perhaps not so much anger as irritation. And shock. Mou, here. She wouldn't have dreamt it in a thousand years. Blinking slowly, as if under the stupor of the poppies once more, she finally started to walk toward him, a somnambulist--this was a dream, right?--and placing her muzzle against his cheek, taking in his scent.

He was real, and he was here. Her stomach fluttered with a joy she would not dare attempt to express in words, and instead her tail began to wag happily. "Mou," she whispered, choked. And breathed in the forest air, the sickly-sweet aroma of a nearby swamp--and began to cry silently, tears cutting through the silken ivory of her cheeks.
i'm going to bring it all back to you
848 Posts
Ooc — Lauren
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#9
skip me. This thread seems important <3

wolves came now, faces of the recognizable entangling with the strangeness of many. yet none seemed so strange as the warm greeting of her mother, which delivered itself to the limping she wolf that unknown to astara, shared her blood. 

jealousy, or something uglier yet, dourly made its home in her heart, for astara yearned more than any for her mother’s approval and watched with reproachful intensity relmyna’s courting with the scarred she-wolf. she said nothing, did nothing, though she studied each of them with the glittering gaze of a spider, cold and full of dull wariness.  

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Atâtak Atsanik
918 Posts
Ooc — Kuro
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#10
Kove was not near when the girl’s tones travelled through the woods, but the song found him all the same.

It was familiar, the voice, though he was unable to place it immediately—but the moment it hit him, he was off.

The northerner wasted as little time as he possibly could, long legs propelling him through the woods with a sort of newfound youthfulness. He did not stop nor even slow until she was within his line of sight—until they all were within his line of sight. From one face to the next his gaze jumped, nose picking through the scents to separate his from theirs, before his eyes found the marred expression that was his former apprentice; she looked different now, older, and also terribly scarred. Frowning, he refrained from closing the space between them entirely, going just far enough to stand ahead of the others, beside his Listener.

“You found your way home,” he stated. “But you’re not alone?” Again, he glanced at those accompanying her, silently questioning their intentions. Were they merely escorting the youth, or had they formed a bond and intended to remain with her? Was Maegi even to stay? Although he had questions to ask, he did not voice them, allowing her to speak first before the risk of overwhelming her was taken.
1,293 Posts
Ooc — Talamasca
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#11
Gonna pull Mou from the thread, he's very stoned and I don't wanna hold anyone up~

The many faces swam around him like specters; they looked more like silhouettes seen through frosted glass, whisps of incongruent things that occasionally manifested a face, or a feature, but he never recognized them. Maegi saw him, and they looked at one another, but Mou looked beyond her - and soon was drifting between the bodies, heading off again.
killing is the most natural thing in the world; we're created for it
651 Posts
Ooc — ebony
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#12
relmyna was growing less affable to the gathering of wolves who had come to bring maegi. and while there was gratefulness in her heart for their trek, all she could think of was the redhawks' swift and savage attack. nary a creature here had given relmyna reason to believe this was such, but she glanced with a mild expression of concern toward astara all the same.
an almost tangible relief swept the priestess at kove's arrival; she steadied herself upon the edge of the dark master's presence and looked at maegi. the decision to come back suddenly belonged solely to the young melonii, and while euron and ramsay had gone, there was a place in blackfeather for the older children of cicero. she was quiet, her gaze warm as she rested it upon mou and his departure wonderingly, and then each of the other wolves in turn.
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Ghost
1,738 Posts
Ooc — mercury
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#13
One touch, and then he was gone. Maegi, frozen, watched him depart, the tears drying slowly on her cheeks. But he was real. . .right? Not just the ghost that now vanished into the shadows? She looked back at Coelacanth, feeling helpless, before another pale figure caught her eye. Kove.

Maegi had thought often of how she would react upon seeing her old mentor. The emotions ranged from joy--how could she not be happy?--to anger, almost a blind rage, that he had not sought her out himself but had, instead, sent Moonshadow. But none of these applied now; all she felt, as she took in the familiar lines of his face, was relief.

Amid all the changes, the spinning of the world, there at least was some constancy. There was constancy to be found in Kove's leadership--for he must still rule, based on how he carried himself?

"They took me in when I couldn't find my way home," she explained, gesturing with her chin toward the seawolves but keeping her gaze locked on the Dark Master. "I owe my life to them. But they will return to the sea. . .and I've come back to stay." If you'll have me. The unspoken addendum hung in the air, a silent question.

She stood solidly in the woods now, between the Undersea wolves and her old and future packmates. Every other bystander escaped her concentration, now; her attention was solely for Kove and Relmyna, standing side-by-side.
oh but my darling, what if you fly?
138 Posts
Ooc — Cyprin
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#14
just gonna toss one last post for shisu of her leaving !!

She wasn't sure what was happening, but all the wolves seemed to know each other. Shisu dipped her head toward her own packmates as they arrived, meeting the newcomers. She was curious on the relations, especially when Kove arrived and knew one of the females. She hadn't seen him in a while, and was a bit surprised he came out. However Shisu then knew this was a more personal matter between the wolves..

When she saw Mou dip out, she followed along, leaving a few moments after he did. The silver dame dipped her in courtesy to all the wolves without a sound, before slipping back into the dark woods. She didn't want to disturb them and eavedrop on their conversations.
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Ooc — KJ
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#15
The sheepdog trembled at the arrival of a third stranger, pale of fur and bright of eye. Her scars were helpful identifiers, but they did not detract from her ethereal, otherworldly beauty. Coelacanth noted the warmth exchanged between the Melonii girl and the piebald acolyte — the mouthed, “Welcome home,” — and her heart turned uneasily over in her chest. She watched Maegi cross the distance to Mou, and within her finely-wired rib cage, her hummingbird heart thrashed and protested — but her dainty paws were still. All will be well, bespoke the steadying calm of her body; her tufted ears stopped their nervous flickering, her plume hung with soft neutrality betwixt her hocks, and her hackles smoothed. Her Neptune eyes, when she turned them on Moorhen and `Io, were serene and clear. “Peace be,” she breathed.

It wounded her to see Mou turn and leave without another word, and perhaps this flash of hurt glimmered briefly within her cerulean eyes, but she stood her ground. There would be time later to grieve — for now, her priorities were her seawolves (a title that included Maegi, no matter where she chose to rest her wings). The Aralez did feel it was just about time for the raven and the marsh hen to return home to the isle, lonely as the journey would be without their Daggertooth in tow, and whuffed a soft sound of agreement with the words the bi-eyed girl uttered.
Atâtak Atsanik
918 Posts
Ooc — Kuro
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#16
It was hard to believe that, after so long had passed, his former apprentice was returned to the woods. He had hoped that she would someday return to them, and had wished to venture out and find her on his own, but the lengths he could travel were limited; between needing to oversee the happenings within the woods and his aging body, there was only so far he could go. But she had found her way back, with the help of others, and for that he was grateful.

“Of course you can stay,” he voiced. “This is your home. You will always be welcome here.” No matter how far she might go, or how much time might pass, she belonged nowhere else. Inviting her closer, he then glanced at each of her travel companions. “Thank you,” the man said. “For bringing her home.”
killing is the most natural thing in the world; we're created for it
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Ooc — ebony
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#17
shisu took her leave; it was maegi before the leadership, bordered by the wolves of the sea who had brought her home. and when the dark master rumbled witn an intonation of his gratitude, relmyna too glanced toward the ravenfurred woman with a soft and thankful gaze. but her attention was for maegi; there was no question within her own mind that the girl would be welcomed back into her natal pack. a delight rose in her, a satisfaction, something warm and tempered with cool relief.
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i'm going to bring it all back to you
848 Posts
Ooc — Lauren
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#18
last post for me. just wanted to get one in for RAISONS <3

several of blackfeather's wolves had elected to depart; like astara, perhaps they felt out of place in this strange congregation of family and not-family; not a single stranger was above astara's reproach, least of all the tattered visage of relmyna's doppleganger, who received the full brunt of astara's scrutinizing stare.

the nightcub was even more discontent to see kove greet the stranger in the same familial manner that her mother had; this was too much for the little brat to bear, and on hotly snapping heels she quickly spurned the company. the gloom of the forest was quick to conceal her form, but astara lurked just on the fringes of visual perception - all that was evident of her presence being the unblinking indigo of her cold stare.  

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Ghost
1,738 Posts
Ooc — mercury
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#19
She dipped her muzzle first to Kove, then to Relmyna. She no longer felt the strong connection with the Dark Master she had once enjoyed, but perhaps, with time, it would be forged yet again. For now, her place here was cemented once more; now all there was to do was say goodbye to the wolves that had been so kind to her these past moons.

Tears coming once more to her eyes, she turned to the trio of ladies standing just shy of the border, gazing fondly upon them. One by one, she bid them adieu: a stately nod of her head to Moorhen and a murmured thanks, then pressing herself into Venninne's embrace, enjoying the warm, solid comfort of her flesh, and finally turning to Coelacanth, bittersweet emotion tightening her throat.

"Thank you, Seelie," Maegi whispered, nuzzling the seawolf against her silken cheek. "Thank you for everything. I will never forget you, or the island." Something akin to a sob shook her shoulders as she stepped back, giving the Undersea wolves a tremulous smile.

Then she turned to face her past, her future, and stepped forward into the trees, turning the page.