Firestone Hot Springs Hot Blood

Hoping to count this towards a scout thread? Anyone welcome to venture with this cowboy ;)

As Kaistleoki settled in nearby, so did the cowboy, but his desire to know what laid beyond the borders grew ever strong. During one of his trips around the border, he noticed a spot shallow enough to cross the river and managed to travel a short distance before the smell of rotten eggs hit his nose.

Tobias recoiled at the smell, his muzzle wrinkling in protest, yet he traveled on with full intent to find the source. Soon enough the steamy pools came into view and left probably a million questions running through his head. The main thought circling his brain now being since when did water make clouds?

Despite having called many territories within the Teekons home, there was still a vast amount of terrain the she-wolf was not familiar with. As much as she hoped to look to her older haunts such as Neverwinter Forest or Nova Peak—hell, even Jade Fern Grove, she withheld for the moment, braving the idea of simply being home once more. She wasn’t sure why she had so insistently coaxed @Shrike from the safety his family provided them.

Her miscarriage hadn’t helped. The feeling of doubt and self worthlessness that she could ever provide her mate with what he deserved—a legacy of his own. Stability. A place they could grow perhaps, reign over.

So much haunted her still, that she knew returning would also be the only way to face a life long past. Her capture—the beatings and physical repercussions she had endured. The death of her family, one by one… As far as she knew, she was the last Frostfire standing—Whit had died, and too long had passed since she had seen Cypress, Pasha and Swift. Rannoch, assumed dead. All of them were gone.

The wind ruffled her fur, and she glanced up as steam clouded the air in heated fury. A small frown pulled at her delicate features, and the slender woman took a tentative step forward, sharp aqua eyes only now falling upon the stranger.

Perhaps it was foolish that Tobias did not look to see if he had company. His brain was rather straightforward when he put his head to something he wanted to be done. Some might call the cowboy reckless, but he'd only respond that they lacked the call of adventure.

Surely Evergreen would want to hear more about these pools generating clouds. If you knew him, you could bet he would make a story later about how he found where the sky was made. Tall tales aside, he grew closer to the stinky pools to investigate further. Heat rose and warmed his pelt from the steam leading him to cautiously dipping a paw in to see if there was anything dangerous about the natural sauna.

Ever faithful, Shrike was not far behind Allure. He'd gone out on his own earlier, to track something down for them to eat, and had come upon a young fawn, hiding in the grass. Too young to keep up to its mother still, it had hunkered down when the rest of the herd had run from his presence- but Shrike knew to search the grassy field that the deer had been in, having seen fawns with the adults earlier. And his wisdom did not disappoint- he found what he was looking for, and was mercifully quick in seizing the easy meal. 

He'd stowed the meal away, so that Allure could have it later. He could still feel her heart hurting, and he did not want it to effect her physical health any more than it already did. He failed at providing words to express how he felt, or to properly respond to her own feelings- but Shrike was more the sort to speak with gestures and physical affirmation and support than anything else. And he'd been working on fixing the blank look that he almost always had on his face. 

When he caught up with her, she wasn't alone- and she was watching another wolf not far away who, thus far, seemed oblivious to her presence. He moved silently to her side and touched his nose to her cheek, and turned his piercing silver gaze to the male.