Ravensblood Forest this place is right where you need to be

naturalist thread V ; toxicologist dabbling

moving through the twisted wood, surrounded by bleeding trees underneath a dark canpony-- amatsu was positive there had to be more to this mysterious location. poking her nose around various plants might not have been the best idea, in hindsight; but amatsu wasn't really one to think before she leapt. she took in many, many scents inside the wood, some of which were pleasant where as others weren't. this didn't bother her, as she had never been in such an expansive area, she was far too excited to consider the consequences... however she was curious, surely, some things here were definitely not ideal for any living being to come into contact with; and so, her journey of plant investigation continued.
amatsu wasn't quite sure of what would differentiate a toxic plant from a non-toxic one, but she was determined to find out. moving ghost-like through the wood, the heavenly hound prowled silently through the greenery, darting her pupils around, looking for something to settle them on that would pop out to her as out of the ordinary-- not that she really knew what the ordinary was, in here, anyway. after minutes of her slithering, she came across some peculiar looking leaves-- they were much lighter than the rest of the shrub around her. twitching her ears, the silver sylph sniffed the leaves, poking them with her nose and pawing at them, wondering if anything would happen.

Things with his mother were better, but he still felt a familiar strain between them that he knew would still take some time to move past. When you spend so long being angry with someone, you can't just get rid of those feelings overnight just because you've decided to finally forgive them. So, sometimes he still found himself fleeing far from the Drageda borders in search of some kind of distraction from his confusing feelings.

Today brought him to an eerie forest just east of his home; he had always known this place was here but had never really stopped to explore it. As he moved through the odd red-stained trees, he kept a watchful eye on his surroundings, his warrior training always in the forefront of his mind. He froze when his gaze caught movement up ahead. He searched for a moment before finally resting his gaze on a silver and black female. He couldn't quite tell what she was doing but was curious as usual. He took a few more steps towards her, letting out a low chuff when he was close enough and coming to a stop with enough room between them that she could easily leave of she didn't wish to have company.

amatsu, being the stupidly curious wolf that she was, oftentimes let it get the best of her. unaware of what this plant could be, having no idea if getting close could cause negative side-effects-- her pondering continued. she circled around the plant, her ears twitching at the caws of ebony birds in the canopies. she scanned her surroundings, looking for anything similar-- although the forest was too dark for her to make anything out to an object more than a mere shadow, the forest was a place of unholy descent to her.
her investigation was cut short when she heard something from behind her, a chuff, a low, quiet noise uttered by a creature other than herself; a creature who, might have lived in this forest, for all she knew. cautiously she turned her gaze towards a tawny-pelted male, larger than she, although his steps were slow & seemingly free of any malice. she cocked her head at this man, as the gap between them closed, her tail started beating slightly. she enjoys company, he was welcome; more than welcome, to join her. ,,hello,'' she croons at him, stepping forward lightly, taking in his scents although far enough from him to not be invading his personal space.

She was very friendly, something that surprised him a little given that they were out here alone. What if his intentions were bad? She really had no way of knowing. Thankfully, he was mostly a good guy. He supposed it was ultimately her life, so she could put it a risk if she wanted to.

The warrior dipped his head in response to her greeting. Hello, he answered back, watching her sniff the air between them. He had already inspected her scent and determined she was lone. What were you doing before I interrupted you, he asked curiously. Might as well get to the reason he had greeted her in the first place--his ever-present nosiness.

ignorant, blissfully almost; although she knew better than to remain as such for very long. her friendliness, as she's aware, could be taken for granted easily-- a downfall of her personality, a flaw in such that not does she trust too easily, instead that her guard is never up as high as it should be. she watched as the bull-like man dipped her head towards her in greeting-- which, to her, furhter pushed the belief that he had no ill intentions towards her.
a question arose from his throat, quickly, there was no beating around the bush. amatsu's ears perked upas she took in his scents; there were many of them, she had never met a pack wolf until now. surrounding herself with loners and outcasts alike, it makes her feel secure in her sense of self. ,,oh, i wasn't doing much,'' comes her answer, a few beats after his response. she quickly motions her head towards the leaves she was investigating, ,,i've been wandering around, and i came across these bright leaves. they're much more vibrant than anything else here. i want to know if it's a different type of plant.'' as her words escape her maw, she starts lightly itching her body.

She explained that she was studying the leaves here. East thought it sounded kind of boring really, but to each their own. He hadn't even paid attention to the color of the leaves. When he wandered around, he was more concerned with whether or not there was anything that might be a potential threat. I see, he said, humoring her anyway. What else have you noticed about the forest? the warrior asked. If anything, he was interested to see what this place looked like through the eyes of someone that wasn't constantly addressing threat levels. He moved closer to her, motioning for her to lead the way so that they could walk and talk. Might as well map out the area while he was here.

the itching continued, as much as she tried to resist it. ,,one second--'' curling onto the floor, amatsu brought her leg up towards her ear and used it to scratch herself, providing temporary relief from what, unbeknownst to her, would be a consistent feeling. lifting her body off of the ground she shook out her fur as the wolf moved a little closer, motioning with his neck for her to lead. obliging, amatsu lead the way slowly deeper into the forest, rambling mindlessly as the pair went along. ,,well... i've noticed the trees are especially peculiar--'' moving towards one of them as she stared at it. ,,the bark. they look like they're bleeding.'' now, amatsu didn't know much-- but she knew that trees weren't made of blood (...or were they?). she cricled around the twisted sequoia, glancing at it from all directions to try and see if she could find the source of this mysterious not-tree-blood.

Oof! Sorry for the terrible wait!

He waited patiently, watching her somewhat curiously as she maneuvered around to scratch her ear. Finally, she got to her feet and fell into step next to him. East listened quietly as the woman discussed the trees here, occasionally casting his trained gaze around them to check for any signs of danger. She mentioned the weird substance on the tree trunks that resembled blood; he had noticed it too but hadn't given it much thought other than to think it was a little strange. 

He watched her circle one of the trees in question, following her gaze as it drifted up the tree. Curious as always, he made his way over to there as well, bringing his nose to the strange, red goo and inhaling its scent. It doesn't smell like blood, he noted, wrinkling his nose a bit. The scent of blood was something he knew well, and this stuff did not smell even remotely close to it. Instead, it had a sickly sweet smell that assaulted his senses a little. What was the point of this stuff? Everything had a purpose in life, so the warrior wondered what the purpose of this strange, oozing substance was.

don't worry about it! <3

her step syncing with the male next to her, circling around the odd-looking trees, the peppered wolf inhaled the scent of the 'blood' dripping off of the tree. he was right, it definitely didn't smell like blood, but what else... was it? the canine wrinkled his nose at the smell, seemingly trying to make sense of it as well. the itching continued as she rubbed her cheek against the bark of the tree, whimpering a little as she scratched. what... was this? she was at a loss, for many things in this forest, but the trees were what reall interested her.

she circled around next to him, also sniffing the not-blood-- it was so sweeeeeeet. surely something this sweet-smelling couldn't be harmful... right? flora was lost on her, honestly. the shuck didn't know anything of the greenery that peppered the earth although she thought she should-- but the skies, the clouds were her domain. she was perfectly content, the ground might have made her a little uncomfortable anyway. she moved around to flank eastwood on his left, asking him a question ,,what do you think it is...? maybe it's... food? for insects... perhaps?''

East watched her curiously as she circled around the trees to inspect the strange substance seeping from them. She rubbed her cheek on one of the trees before coming to stand next to him again. She seemed to be scratching that same spot almost incessantly, and he wondered why, but he kept the question to himself for now. 

He thought about her question for a few seconds, looking to the strange stuff as he considered her suggestion. It is most certainly not food for us, he answered first. It smells much too sweet to be appetizing. He would never want any food of his to smell in such a way. Insects makes more sense--or birds maybe. Some of them ate sweet things, right? He Leaned closer to sniff the goo once more, pulling his back quickly and wrinkling his nose as he confirmed that yes, he definitely didn't like sweet things.

it was less than graceful-- watching a canine scratch itself so much-- but she didn't understand where this sudden itchiness came from. it's not like she hadn't been itchy before but this was quite consistent.. something she wasn't sure if she could decipher the reason for or not. as the pair investigated the trees, the man spoke. his statement mirrored and reflected her own: confirming his thoughts that he, also, assumed that this odd substance could feed those creatures who were attracted to its allure.

the itching continued-- as it became overwhelming, more whimpers had escaped the shuck's throat. ,,you think it would cause constant itching...'' her tone was riddled with hints of comedy as she fought the urge to scratch the skin off of her body. yeah, it's was definitely less than graceful.

His curiosity grew into concern as she continued to scratch, releasing a strained whine as she did so. He moved a little closer to her, gaze inspecting the area that seemed to be bothering her so much. His brows drew together at her question. I am not sure, he answered first. Did you get any on the spot that is itching so much? he asked. He didn't think she had, but maybe if he helped her think logically though this, she could find some reason behind what might be causing her such discomfort. Maybe she had encountered something on her walk through the forest before running into him since he clearly was not plagued by an incessant itch.

whimpering grew more consistent as the itch worsened. the larger wolf posed a question to her, to which she responded promptly. ,,no... i didn't,'' she was thankful for his concern: as he did not know her, he had no reason to be. but still, she can't help but let this itch take over her entire body. ,,i was fine when i came into the forest... the itching started after...'' racking her brain for what could have caused this, something clicks. her neck snaps upwards as she looks towards the direction the pair had come from-- something from back there. ,,it started after those leaves. the bright ones.'' bringing herself back to her feet, ignoring the itch that was turning into a steady burning sensation, she tilts her head slightly to the left, meeting eastwood's gaze with her own.

He looked to where she motioned and then met her gaze. He didn't feel itchy at all, so it seemed he had gotten lucky and not brushed against the plant that was causing his company such discomfort. Maybe if we get out of here and head to the ocean, you will be able to wash it off, East suggested. He knew nothing about treating something like this, but logically, that seemed like a good solution. He looked around a few times before starting to make his way in the direction of the water. Follow me; I'll lead you to the water. It's not very far from here. with a dip of his head, he began moving, hoping she would follow and that his plan would help soothe her itching.