Panther Park i.ii : so have a good drown as you go down all alone

{dogs}{part one, episode two}

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Getting away from whatever had gotten into Flicker's brain had only alleviated her fear for a short time. It crept back in on her again when the woods were far behind her and she had skirted the lake to enter a small glade. Nightfall had fast approached, and the pale wraith soon found herself traveling in the dark, weaving through unfamiliar trees. There was nothing but the hoot of owls to keep her company; the wind through the boughs seemed more foe than friend.

She should bed down soon, perhaps. There was a lot of journey still to come, and she needed her strength. Some respite at Undersea, and then. . . She would have words with Flicker when she returned. If the woman was going to dabble in drugs, she should at least have the presence of mind not to snap at her friends, regardless of what danger she thought was ahead for them.

Maegi scoffed, continuing on. There was a feeling like spiders crawling up and down her spine, into her ears-- She gave a violent shudder and stopped suddenly, her breathing coming hard. God, when had she become so unnerved? She had thought that the past moons in Blackfeather had drilled all of that out of her. Yet here she was, shaking like a child. . .

Molag Bal. How dare she bring him into Maegi's head again?

Now he would stay for a long while, like he always did.

@Dianne, dated back to the evening of the 16th

Editing why she's on this trip due to the unexpected turn in her thread with Greyback! All of her actions are the same, though.

She'd been traveling for several days now, and Dianne covered a lot of land. This little adventure had been pleasant and just what she needed — distance. She needed distance between her and that man, though Valette was told she was just struggling to readjust to pack life. The scenario was all-too familiar, and she refused to let it happen again. Greyback was absolutely massive; there was no way in hell she could ever fight him off like she did the last one. None of the other Easthollow wolves seemed particularly terrible, but Dianne wouldn't let her guard down; or perhaps it was that she couldn't. She hadn't been part of their pack for long, and she wanted this to work out — she needed it too. Dianne didn't know where other packs were located, nor did she know how full or welcoming they were. It wasn't worth the risk... not yet, at least.

It was nighttime now, and she needed to find a safe place to rest. All this trotting around and hunting on her own wore her out, which was a good thing. Sleep had been coming easier than it normally did, though the nightmares still liked to plague her mind. With a small huff, Dianne brought her attention back to the outside world. Tall coniferous trees bled into view until she was surrounded by them, feeling quite small in their presence.

The smell of cougar assaulted her nose, but the scent was fortunately stale. Ideally, it would stay that way. It looked like there'd be some good hiding places to take shelter in here. After a little ways further into the woods, a ghastly white figure in the distance caught her eye — wolf. Dianne's hackles raised instinctively, but she fought them back down. She really didn't want to find a whole new forest to sleep in just because one wolf was prowling around at night. It was a woman, which admittedly worried her less than a man's presence would.

The wolfess was facing away from her and holding one of her legs up awkwardly, but Dianne couldn't tell what was wrong with it at this distance and with so little light for her eyes to work with. She appeared distraught by something; maybe it was her leg. Whatever, like hell she'd make that her business. Dianne made to skirt around the ghostly figure, though the wind was ufortunately not in her favor. Hopefully, the wolf would stay occupied with whatever was bothering it and not pay any attention to her.

She knew she wouldn't remain alone for long. It simply wasn't possible. Too many souls in this land, as wide as it was. Maegi turned to stare down the dark-headed woman, remaining silent for a while. She shifted on her paws, not breaking eye contact. And then she spoke.

What do you want?

There was nothing really malicious in her tone, nor yet annoyed. Just a flat query in an even flatter tone, an emptiness to match that in her eyes. She was even less trustworthy of wolves outside the woods than she was of wolves within it. This woman could be either friend or foe. Her next move would go a long way in determining that.

The girl turned fully to face her, and Dianne could not catch her shocked expression before it showed itself on her face, brows shooting up in surprise while her mouth hung ajar. Absentmindly, she stopped in her tracks, as well. The grisly tear across the wraith's maw could not be ignored, forcing her to front a snarl towards all she faced. The exposed teeth glistened with spittle in the moonlight, and the girl stared her down with contrasting, mismatched eyes. Dianne now discovered that the foreleg she once thought was broken to instead be horribly disfigured in a way that left only a birth defect as the culprit. Had she been superstitious, Dianne would've thought her a true specter.

"What do you want?" The tone of the question was not aggressive, but the verbiage was not welcoming, either. It was as flat and lifeless as the wolfess appeared. By this point, Dianne's expression had returned to its default, emotionless state.

She was tempted to offer a witty answer like "To get some sleep," but she decided against it because she found it unwise to divulge that to a stranger you don't trust in a dark forest. Being asleep at night in a strange place left you vulnerable, and Dianne was taking no chances. So, she settled on a curt response: Nothing. It was as devoid of emotion as the other wolfess' response had been, but that was typical for Dianne. She knew it sounded suspicious, but that was sort of what she was going for — it was either that or something that'd irk her, so Dianne chose the safer option. If she seemed suspicious, the girl would probably leave her alone and go away... unless she was mad, in which case she may have put herself in further danger; but Dianne was banking on the stranger not being totally homicidal.

Not feeling inclined to stay for chitchat, she picked up her pace again to walk away, hoping that would be the end of that. However, Dianne had learned that things rarely went the way she wanted them to, so her expectations of the wolfess' response were low. She kept a slender ear swiveled in the others' direction just in case she tried anything strange.

Maegi didn't miss the look of horror that flitted over the woman's face, even if it was just for an instant. Back home, or on the island, she had gotten used to such looks. Out in the open in an unknown place was a different story. She still smarted from every shocked glance, every bit of disgust shown. Not even Peryite could alleviate the shame she felt in those moments.

Really, nothing? the girl asked, speaking to the stranger's back. Maybe you shouldn't make fun of wolves you don't know if you truly want nothing.. Her lips curled in a snarl, her claws curved against the ground. Her face burned, like someone had set it ablaze.

Calm down, child.

Get the fuck away from me, Maegi spat, ignoring the daedra's words of wisdom inside her head.

The girl spat venom at her backside, and Dianne scoffed at the notion that she was making fun of her. Talk about projection, She wryly thought, unfaltering in her pace. This kid needed to work on her insecurity issues. How the hell did she expect people to react upon seeing those hideous deformities? Whatever, Dianne couldn't care less if the girl thought she was making fun of her or not. She had her own issues to worry about, she didn't have time to squabble with some angsty teenager. Dianne was fully intent on not saying another word until the brat felt the need to toss in her stupid attempt at some kind of jab. Oh, so she also had control issues.

If Dianne were in a better mood, she would've kept silent. But she wasn't; she was hurting as much as the stranger was, though Dianne was far better at keeping the pain under control (read: repressed). She was briefly reminded of why she was even here in the first place, out in some forest by herself now getting an earful from some troubled kid. Her suppressed emotions boiled within her, bubbling to the surface until they spilled over. She stopped.

That's the plan. Can you see that, or are your eyes broken, too? Dianne finally spat back, shooting her an icy glare over her shoulder. Any pain that may have shown itself on the girl's face wouldn't phase her one bit. Her intention was to hurt, and she'd feel no remorse about it. After she'd gotten her bite in, Dianne would keep walking. Yes, she was a bitch, thank you for noticing.

Something cold flashed over Maegi's face, and then there was no expression at all. Beneath the mask lay wave after wave of hurt, but the girl instead stared at the woman, even after she had turned to walk away. My eyes might be broken, but I won't be the one rotting away from disease, she called out, voice emotionless. Peryite loves me. Anyone who speaks to me like that, Peryite will visit you soon.

She began to hobble away, in a slightly different direction but one that still took her past the stranger. I'll be there when worms crawl out of your mouth, you--you bitch. With that, her composure was utterly spent--she was in bad form, today--and Maegi broke into an awkward lope, slipping through the trees with embarrassed tears hot in her eyes.

She would stop eventually and take some poppies, falling into a deep slumber filled with dreams of her enemies' demises. Ah, sweet bliss.

Thank you for this thread! I really enjoyed it. ♥ I think they both got a long-term whump from this experience.

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Dianne's brows furrowed as the girl spoke again. What the hell is she on about? She asked internally. When she mentioned this... "Peryite", Dianne laughed. How ridiculous. So the kid was deluded on top of everything else. Wonderful. None of her words held any sort of weight; the girl may as well have been talking about the Bogeyman coming to get her. Dianne wasn't overly worried, continuing to "get the fuck away" with a disappointed but not surprised shake of her dark head.

However, the girl hobbled in her general direction to utter some form of a threat. Now that was potentially concerning. Would the indoctrinated freak leave it to "Peryite" to do her in, or was she going to try something herself? Dianne just couldn't know, and she wasn't going to say anything else, lest she dig herself into a deeper grave. Well, there it was — she no longer felt safe in this forest. It wasn't worth being within hobbling distance of this demented kid. Perhaps what little faith she had left in a tiny percentage of wolves was still too much, since she was now possibly in danger from pissing off a crazy one. How unsurprising — close proximity to wolves equalled higher risk of harm no matter where she went.

Dianne stalked far away from the wraith, eventually settling on an abandoned den by the lakeside to sleep in. When she woke, it was still dark. Odd. A strange groaning sound came from behind her, startling her out of the den. When she turned back to peer at what was inside, a ghastly white wolf of gigantic proportions pulled its front end out of the hole. Half of its face had completely rotted away, leaving the sickly yellowed bone of its skull exposed. Maggots wriggled about in its empty eye socket, and some of their plump bodies fell to the ground.

"Peryite will visit you soon," It rasped, voice echoing eerily in the crisp night air. More maggots spilled from its gaping mouth, and Dianne fled in terror. After an indistinct amount of time spent at full-sprint, two figures came into view. When Dianne approached them, she recognized them as William and Greyback. She came to a screeching halt and turned tail in some other direction, but they pursued her, eventually joined by the wraith. Dianne tripped, and her perpetrators got closer and closer. When she closed her eyes, they opened in reality. She was left panting as if she truly ran all that way.

That was all the sleep she was getting tonight, pulling herself out of the den. Dianne briefly glanced back at the hole with anxiety in her breast before she chided herself for being ridiculous. Shaking the dirt from her pelt, she headed back for Easthollow. She'd been gone long enough.