Sunspire Mountains i'm pretty but i'm tough, like a diamond or beef jerky in a ball gown

After her brief visit with Ford, Mallaidh takes up the evening under the cover of the ridge. There’s no way she was getting back to Drageda by nightfall and she didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself by irritating the wound on her shoulder. She’ll give it through the night to start to scab over once she’s cleaned it and she’ll make the journey back home.

When daybreak comes and illuminates the dark reaches of her cover, she stretches all four legs outward like a cat despite the pull of her shoulder, and then she draws them back in to give herself a few more minutes. Her head doesn’t hurt anymore and there’s no more ringing in her ears; she’s been free of them for a few days but she always worries they’ll show back up. She hasn’t heard her mom in days, either.

Mallaidh slowly picks herself up and gets her legs moving. As much as she desires to go home, she ends up in a different direction to bide her time. The mountains stand tall in the distance. It’s the area she’d found Kiwi before her return to Drageda but otherwise relatively unexplored and eerily quiet in the cold, snowy morning.

I was drawn by the beef jerky title ;P Beef Jerky for the win!
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A flock of screeching birds had awoken him earlier than he wished and wanted to. The birds -- probably stirred in the face of danger -- flew over him like a single, large dinosaur like shadow. Epic grunted while muttering some inaudible words; he didn't like being disturbed when he was sleeping so sound and steadily. He had probably dreamt of taking down a dear on his own (as if a lone wolf could do that), and now even better yet, enjoying the spoilts of war and eating like a hungry king. Instead his stomach rumbled disobedient, yesterday's scraps weren't enough to keep him going. His enery was low. 

But even worse; he was grumpy and hungry. Today he typically started off searching for scraps, as was the life of the twiddlesticks straggler. How big his world problems appeared to be, it was all forgotten when his nose twitched and he caught the metallic scent of a lingering wound. While golden eyes scanned the area, he noticed that a wolf nearby was hurt. The wolf had many other scents attached to her, some faint and old, some new and familiar to her. This told Epic she belonged to a pack. Hmm, what was she doing out here, in the wildlands? He was about to find out.

You look hurt -- Epic said with with a soft-spoken tone of voice as he carefully glanced at her, then back again to the sound -- Can I help?

I think you forgot to close your OOC tag. :P

Mallaidh is lost in thought (or maybe lack thereof) when she first notes the scent of a stranger. Her head slowly turns, passively scanning the area until she notes a disturbance against the snowy backdrop and stares at him for several seconds before reacting to his presence. Her ears tip back slightly as he begins his approach but a surprisingly soft tone comes from him and she blanks back the haziness.

“Maybe,” she says after a moment, nose flaring but nothing is familiar about him. At least he doesn’t smell like Rusalka (primary concern). The thought alone causes her fur to bristle but she shakes out her fur a bit to smooth it over. “Who are you?” There is reservation getting help from a stranger, especially when Drageda has pulled its fair share of enemies. He doesn’t smell like Blackfeather either, or Redhawk, so she doesn’t feel the need for such tension built up. Maybe he simple wants to help.

Observantly he looked at the outlines of her feminine, nearly feline-like silhouette as her shadow danced across the ground. Her coat was a mixture of different shades of white, silver and black and any color in between. Epic's heart skipped a beat as his throat suddenly became itchy and dry; he realized how attractive she was, like a shining diamond. Quite a contrast to how he regarded himself, as an itsy bitsy beef jerky (minus the ball gown, mind you).  He smiled secretly at her. His thoughts about how pretty she was, would obviously be kept private. After all, he was here to help out if she wanted and needed it; nothing more (like flirting) and nothing less.

"I'm a lone wolf." Epic held no loyalty to any pack, he was free to go as he wanted and pleased. That sounded romantic and ideal; in reality it meant being hungry (and often grumpy) a lot. Strangely how his sour mood had disappeared in her presence. That said, he knew very little of pack politics in this area. "Epic - my name is Epic." He nodded gently after his introduction. And while he was hardly the shining knight on a horse, helping out a lady in dire need -- Epic figured that even a small gesture of kindness could go a long way. And if not, he would be on his way. "What's your name? And how can I maybe - per chance - help you out?"

He states his lack of loyalty first and she narrows her eyes. She hadn’t noticed a pack (she recognized on him) but he clears it up with one statement easily enough. Being a lone wolf doesn’t make it any easier to trust him but he offers a bit of a smile, his name, and she feels the tug at the corner of her lips.

“Mallaidh,” she introduces, though she doesn’t really have much of an answer for him after that. She doesn’t know much about medicines other than keeping something clean; she really should pay more attention to Rose when she’s being patched up on the off chance she finds herself in a bind. Kinda like now. “I don’t know. I’ve cleaned it,” she says. It’s been a while but the blood is dried and pinkens the fur around it. “I’m just trying to go home without drawing too much attention.” If she could get home, Rose can take a look at it and help her out, or Blixen, or… well, someone that she actually knows, but finds the request too weird to ask.

Thank-you for the kudos ^_^ Very nice! Also best wishes for 2019!

e__e ooc text is eating my post again!

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It was often said that trust was hard to come by and would fly out of the window as soon as it was gone. Epic realized he was at a disadvantage when he offered her (medical) help; after all, why would a random stranger do that? Were his intentions alright? While Mallaid -- as she introduced herself -- had nothing to fear as Epic was quite sincere, he decided not to go the extra mile to push it. While remaining polite, she made it obvious to him that she was in doubt of wanting or needing his help. He nodded understanding, a wise choice that he probably made as well if he had been part of a pack. Besides that, it wasn't like she was bleeding to death and needed 911-emergency help. "You'll be fine, Mal."

When his newfound crush mentioned being on her way back home without drawing much attention, he gently smiled while taking a step backwards, making the path clear so she could move on. Although, he paused momentarily. "I was heading higher up the mountain to enjoy the scenery. Feel free to tag along if you need a break from a long journey." The choice was up to her. Then, he added lastly. "I heard the scenery up there is really beautiful." The sentence wasn't quite finished, for nearly inaudible he unconsciencly added. Like you. She didn't hear that last part, or did she?

Are you not closing the tag?

Flirting isn’t something Mallaidh is very good at. Being on the receiving end is even worse. Tall ears pin back against her head as he insists that she is fine and, instead of picking up her clues, suggests the opposite. It’s a little weird where he puts the emphasis but her eyes do not follow his direction on where he wants to end up. Instead, she shakes her head. Traveling, especially up an incline, will make the wound on her shoulder even worse. The trip she’s taken has put a damper on it already. Instead, she wonders what his real intention is.

“Uh, no, I’m going this way,” she gestures with her nose her current path. If he was headed toward the mountain, he’s welcome to continue, and she takes a few steps in her current direction. She isn’t going to let him slow her down anymore.

You're totally right.  I forgot to close it.

While his intentions came from a good heart, he sometimes missed a social hint or two. Sometimes that could lead to socially awkward situations like this. Only when her tall ears glued to her skull and she shook her head, did he painfully bit his lip. It wasn't like he felt gutted for a decline of his invitation, instead her wound was more severe than he realized. He wanted to cheer her up, instead he was only holding her up. Even worse; he had been trying to flirt with her. "Oi!" Like an apoly his own ears glued back to his skull as he looked away, pondering for a moment how to make up for it. Epic suddenly felt very uncertain; more like an epic failure.

"I-i-if your wound really h-h-hurts. P-p-put Comfrey leaves o-on your wound. Small mountain rose herb. S-small leafy-green w-with p-purple f-f-flower. Should be native to the area." Maybe even the tidbit of information would help her out. Still feeling apologetic, he allowed his golden eyes to look to the ground. Man-yourself-up. Epic thought for a second, taking a deep breath and raising his eyes once more. With this information, hopefully she had an advantage to treat the wound. If there was more he could do, he would gladly help out; but maybe the best help he could offer was not to stand in her way anymore or hold her up any longer. 

I hope you don't mind the fade, but I would love a new thread soon?

Okay, well, that was not what she expected. Soon enough, he’s stammering over his words in apology, offering some weak advice on how to take care of it. She doesn’t acknowledge any of it since Rose knows what she’s doing and she’ll seek her out when she returns home and she tries to wade through the awkwardness now apparent between them.

“I think I’m going to go,” she says and watches him a few seconds, wondering if he’ll try to offer anything else or get in her way. She turns a bit, attempting to move around him and return home.

Of course :) And I'd love for them to meet soon!

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His social skills were fuzzy; thus he yet again entered a situation where he didn't know how to respond properly. Instead, everything that came to his mind would probably only worsen the situation. His ears flattened as he almost bit his charcoal leathery lips while he opted to remain quiet for now. "Safe travels." The young male muttered gently while he stepped forward into the opposite direction as they parted ways. There was a moment when he looked over his shoulder minutes later, looking at a faint, shimmering shadow before continueing his journey onward while discovering the great unknown.