King Elk Forest and those who chance upon it, should never step inside

Backdated a bit.

The light of the moon flickered through the trees, littering the earth in a spell of azure that seemed to be touched by some ethereal hand. The wind that brushed through the woods was one that he had known well enough in his time; the kiss of winter lingered on the last sweeping note of it. In the boughs of the trees, an owl released a mournful sound that filled the night air and grasped tightly to the little creatures that lived below. It urged a warning to remain beneath the fallen leaves and cold earth – the light above was meant for the predators.

Within the same breath as the owl's cry, a swarthy figure swept past the thick trunks of the trees. His pace was almost unnatural for how carelessly he sauntered forward. Though he belonged to the predatory folk, Sojourn did not appear as though he was hunting. Purpose and drive pushed him onward, through the tangle of brush and woodland sounds, but even the squeaks of prey nestled nearby did not stop him.

Not a hunter, but a savage gypsy.

Mag: just let me know if you'd rather I edit him out! :)

They were back on the road again, at long last! All the emotional duress of the past week or so seemed to fade away behind them as she and @Tegan set off on a jaunt to the south. It made her glad that he was finally feeling better, plus it was simply nice having company for a change. Bat had gotten pretty good at solo scouting, yet if given a choice, she would always prefer to tag team with her best buddy. And that wasn't just her crush talking.

When Tegan decided he wanted to eat some beaver for dinner and parked at Tuktu Weir to creep on the dams, Bat continued meandering further south. She stayed within howling distance even as she ventured into some trees, a sense of déjà vu surfacing. She'd been here before, she realized, with Ambrose. Ignoring the darkness that fell, Bat wandered the woods for a bit before beginning to backtrack back in the direction of the beaver dams.

Just as she was oblivious to the life-altering events unfolding back home at the plateau, she remained unaware of the shadow lurking nearby in the trees.

While she may have been unaware of him, the gypsy was not oblivious to her. Sojourn had learned well how to keep himself protected, and he had found that a sharp eye was key to his survival. It was with poisonous, glinting, optics that the dark hound met her. Only then did he pause on his determined trek. The fur along his neck and shoulders swayed with the touch of the breeze, and his flesh rose in goosebumps. It was not the younger wolf that drew the response from his unwilling frame, but the chill of winter and the promise of what was to come.

The wanderer took a few steps forward, but his focus was so drawn to the slate-coated stranger that he missed his step and his rear paw made direct contact with a twisted branch. The sound of the snap was enough to send most creatures fleeing. Even the owl that had sung overhead took flight, releasing another warning cry as it passed. Sojourn exhaled sharply; his breath filled the night air like a looming cloud before it vanished. It was there that he froze and waited to see if she would turn.

Bat paused suddenly and planted her hindquarters to scratch at an itch behind her ear. Because of the soft herf herf herf of her paw swiping against the side of her face (not to mention the low groans of satisfaction), she almost missed the sound of the twig snapping. But she heard something and her foot froze. She slowly set it back on the ground, her spine straightening as she peered off into the darkness. Her huge ears swiveled softly in response to the faint rustle of wings in the night.

For a split second, Bat wondered if it was X out there, maybe catching and snacking on mice. That would explain the crack. But she dismissed the notion. The hawk wouldn't be swooping around in the darkness; he wasn't a damn owl. Besides, the noise had come from close by, nearer to the ground. And abruptly she broke out in goosebumps beneath her pewter fur, certain she was being watched.

Bat chuckled self-consciously, wondering if that was as stupid as her idea about X, before abruptly yelling, "FUCK YOU, TEGAN!!!" at the top of her lungs.

The watchful glint of his gaze did not leave her frame, but he was moderately surprised to see that she had shown less of a reaction than was expected. She seemed to stiffen and her large ears swiveled atop her crown in a way that suggested she was searching for what had caused the disturbance in the wood. Sojourn held his ground well until the younger stranger threw back her head and released a loud yell into the darkness of the woods.

It was then that he bristled; the fur along his neck and shoulders seemed to stand like jagged quills. The gypsy was quick to lower his skull toward the earth and peel his lips back to reveal glinting canines. This was all reactionary; it took a long moment before the swarthy vagrant understood that she was not speaking to him at all, but instead to another body called 'Tegan.'

Had he any sense of real humor in his bones, he would have laughed at the reaction, and then at himself. Instead, he stepped through the brush without caring to conceal the noise of his lean frame. There, Sojourn drew his crown upward and chuffed into the dark hold of the nightfall. The gruff sound of his voice seemed to hitch against the back of his throat on its way out.

Nearly as soon as the shout left her throat, Bat leaped back onto all fours and whirled, fully expecting Tegan to ambush her. But the wolf that materialized a few feet away definitely wasn't her fellow scout. Silver eyes flew wide as she thought, Holy fuck, it's Ambrose! But before Bat could feel any elation at unwittingly tracking down Niamh's wayward brother, she squinted. Hadn't Ambrose's eyes been bright blue, not green?

"You're—" Her breath hitched. "—not Ambrose," she finished lamely, suddenly moon-walking several feet to put more space between herself and this apparent stranger, who was making ominous huffing and puffing noises, like maybe he needed a nebulizer. "Or Tegan," she offered, a stab at humor despite the spookiness of the situation. "Uh, I'm Rory, and you are...?" Now that they'd thoroughly covered who he wasn't.

“Observant of you,” the dark crow offered to her fumbling of names. There was a twinge of sarcasm that latched to the word, not bothering to be hidden by any form of social grace. Everything about his demeanor suggested that – while spooky – he was nothing more than a gruff hermit who seemed at peace in the dark loneliness of the woods. There wasn't much harm that would have come from him, unless she had it in her mind to pick fights with shadowed strangers in the night.

The stranger introduced herself as Rory, and while the stygian figure did not entirely see it as being important, he nodded his head to her in a curt manner and offered his own moniker, “Sojourn.” Once he had lifted his muzzle back up to a level position, he canted his head ever so slightly to the left. While his features remained rather surly, there was a hint of curiosity there.

“Do you frequently shout at strangers in the woods?”

Sojourn sounded like the sort of name Bat would have to steal someday. For now, though, she could only laugh sheepishly at his dry jab. She could've been embarrassed or felt stupid—and she was and did, a little bit—but it was more in her nature to find the humor in these situations. Probably thanks to Tegan's influence in her life.

"I mean," she rejoined, "Tegan isn't a stranger, so..." Ha, check! She paused, then explained, "He's my sidekick." That would probably bake Tegan's noodle, which secretly amused Bat. "And it'd be just like him to sneak up on me in some dark, creepy woods, but it was just you." And checkmate!

Sojourn didn't seem particularly impressed by the youngster's humor and it wasn't long before he pardoned himself and glided away into the dark woods. Bat licked her lips as she watched him go, then proceeded in the opposite direction, headed back to Tuktu Weir to tell Tegan about her spontaneous rendezvous and see if he'd taken out any sleepy beavers.

12/20: It looks like Sojourn's gone inactive, so I'm concluding for us!