Whitefish River that man is not your maker

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Katrina and Styx — the dominant pair at the head of Neverwinter, as it were, for to Jinx they were nothing more than that — had taken what she had said of her voodoo knowledge, and made her a Surgeon. The Kesuk probably should have been honoured to be considered useful so early in her pack life, but it was almost a slight upon her name and her God to be given the task of saving lives rather than taking them, as she was better trained to do. However, the girl had graciously accepted, and shortly following her inception into the pack and her brief meeting with Kerberos, she had set out to begin stocking her own private cache in the event anyone ever needed her aid.

She had always hated using plants, much preferring to use stones and incantations for her magicks, but plants had their uses, and many of them were good ones. Today, the lithe woman was seeking the commonplace bracken fern, whose spores were toxic, but granted the wearer of an amulet inset with one a form of invisibility. Not true invisibility, of course, but stealth and protection; the Loa wove a cloak of concealment around the wolf bearing the bracken spore, and that wolf was then protected from prying eyes.

It was practically a necessity for a raider, she believed, and Jinx was absolutely a raider first and foremost. Neverwinter was more peaceful than she might've liked for a rogue pack, with their adherence to the rules of parley, but that didn't mean she couldn't sneak around like she always had. She had been an accomplished Headhunter, and that wasn't about to end now.

Jinx was well-versed enough in herblore to know the fern would grow best on a decline, and so as the sun peaked in the sky to signal noon, she made her way to a depression in the Wilderness' forest that led down to the bank of a wide river. She didn't pick her way down to the shore proper, but chose to hover about halfway up the slope, and it was here she pressed her snout to the earth and breathed deep, seeking out the telltale scent of the bracken fern, which persisted by releasing chemicals (hence the telltale scent that she had learned early in life) to inhibit competing plants.

She spent a while outside her pack's borders, though eventually Turquoise felt compelled to return despite her personal drama. She didn't want anybody to think she'd run away or anything, especially after she'd blabbed her problems to Styx. Turq winced as she recollected that encounter, inwardly rebelling at the sense of vulnerability it engendered. She then sighed through her nose, painfully aware that there wasn't much she could do about it now; she couldn't exactly take it all back.

On her roundabout way home, Turquoise came to the river bank and padded alongside it until she found some calm shallows. Without hesitation, she strode into the water, which came up to her chest at the deepest point. Even as she slogged through it toward the opposite shore, she spotted a white figure on the yonder hillside. Turq paused, the sound of splashing diminishing as she stood still. Then, more intrigued than anything, she finished her trek across the river and hopped onto the bank, giving her tawny fur—which shone a deep, lustrous gold now that it was wet—a hearty shake before launching up the hillside.

"Hey!" she called, happy to seize upon a distraction that would stall her arrival home and the inevitable confrontation with Rivet. In all her inner turmoil, she'd pretty much forgotten that Rivet knew nothing of her hot and heavy encounter with Dany and that she probably never would've suspected anything if the Gunner hadn't inexplicably run off for several days. Turquoise had really dug her own grave. There was part of her that was so far ahead of herself that she was considering just breaking it off with Rivet the instant she saw her, to save them both from the fallout.

But all of that was crammed to the back of the Sigma's head as she loped closer to the pale-furred, black-footed stranger. "I like your socks," she said cheekily. It was funny to her because Turq herself wore knee-length black stockings on her own four legs, which were sore from all the running around in the past few days. She stretched them even as her gemstone eyes scrutinized the other she-wolf. "Are you in Neverwinter...?"

Ugh I ramble nonsense in posts lately, sorry for the length!

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It was quiet here, save for the rumbling of the river as it tossed over its banks and smashed haphazardly against rocks. It was the kind of river that brought some faint, almost irrelevant nostalgia of home, for in some places its turmoil left foam curling on the surface, reminiscent of the sea itself. The gentle whoosh as it thundered along was the only noise to accompany her search; even the birds were silent here, and the hum and whir of insects was almost inconsequential. The tranquility of the riverside was unlike any she had ever experienced, both at home and here in this new land.

Perhaps that was why a sudden disturbance in the form of a sploosh was so startling to Jinx. Her head whipped around suspiciously as her gaze darted up and down her leg of the river, finally locking on a wolf's head protruding from the water. It might've been a normal thing, if the wolf's head hadn't been pointed right in her direction. Months as a loner had put the lean Kesuk on edge one too many times for her to be at ease with a stranger coming toward her; true, the packland was at her behind and she could turn and flee for the security of Neverwinter, but the thought of running was also shameful to her. Her ancestors never would've run, never would've depended on the safety of others, and neither should she.

It became blatantly clear the moment the amazonian Blackthorn exited the water that although Jinx and her were more-or-less evenly matched in height, the odds were heavily stacked in the Gunner's favour. Turquoise was both longer and definitely heavier, so a battle would only ensure that Jinx emerged the loser. It took only a moment to size the other woman up and determine that this was the case. However, she couldn't help herself fixating on the other's stark black markings, and wondering why she hadn't been born with a beautiful blaze upon her snout, or ears lined with ebon, although she was grateful her spine wasn't adorned in it. It was probably cool for your back to make you resemble a snake against the snow, she thought, but also probably a dead giveaway.

Regardless of the certainty of her defeat, the Kesuk very nearly squared off against the other wolf in case of an attack, until a called greeting surprised her. She had almost expected the other woman to be angry with her for some reason, but then again, the former Mambo wasn't exactly used to being approached directly. Often she stumbled upon others, or they stumbled upon her, as was usually the case in forested settings, but she had brilliantly misinterpreted the Blackthorn's approach as being… Well, purposeful. The Surgeon's head lifted an inch or so with confusion evident in her eyes, especially because Turquoise's manner and choice of words was entirely innocent and left Jinx scrambling for a more appropriate reaction than she had been prepared to give.

Uh... Thanks. They're not as cool as yours. There was a faint awkwardness, almost disorientation, in her response, as if Jinx didn't really know what to make of any of it. She supposed Turquoise might take offence to her hesitance, but felt it was easily explained away as previous loner nerves if brought into question, even if it was actually just the yearling's raw suspicion. Up close, she could see the brilliant green-blue of her new companion's eyes, and was almost reminded of her mother, but Nanuq's had been much icier; the pack Gunner's were prettier, definitely. The almost-familiarity of the colour, however, was even more disarming than the woman's greeting had been, and between that and forgetting her manners, she merely blurted, Yeah, I'm the new Surgeon… How'd you know?

It's cool because I really like your writing. ;)

The stranger seemed a little surprised by her approach, not to mention her evident knowledge. "I didn't," she replied with a wink and a wave of her tail that sent an arc of water sluicing through the air. Oblivious, Turquoise added, "Just a lucky guess, I guess. I'm Turquoise, Sigma and Gunner. " And girlfriend of Rivet, she wanted to add, a thought which made her stomach feel hollow. The corners of her mouth fell.

Not wanting to let yet another stranger in on her personal affairs, Turq looked around at their surroundings conspicuously, as if she was looking for something (or someone), then let her eyes return to her new acquainance. "Call me Turq. So, you're a Surgeon, huh? What does a Surgeon do, exactly? And what're you doing out here?" she wondered, aware of and unapologetic for her own nosiness as her damp tail continued to swish to and fro.

Aww, thank you! I've always loved your writing, you always make it so concise and so detailed and involved at the same time, and my poor brain is always like HOW?!?!

It was so weird, being in another wolf's company after all this time. She had seen Kerberos not terribly long ago, but Kerberos wasn't a stranger. She had only briefly met with her leaders, something Jinx would likely need to rectify in the coming days — even if she was unsure how she'd fit into the pirate-themed pack, she knew avoiding her superiors wasn't the best way to go about proving herself to anyone — so they scarcely counted, either. Turquoise was the first wolf she'd shared conversation with that wasn't technically her wolf, as Kerberos was, in many moons, and she was uncertain how to proceed.

Luckily, the Blackthorn female was quick to carry the conversation herself, and Jinx found herself grateful for that. Fitting name, she pointed out, perhaps obviously, before tacking on the first polite thing she'd said so far: it's nice to meet you. I was beginning to wonder if maybe the crew was… Well, a ghost crew. But then again, Kerby wasn't a ghost, but when her only other "shipmate" in sight had been her former Mariner, then of course it would set her mind wandering.

She had been considering asking what a Gunner did, having no concept whatsoever of guns or shooting them and what they might signify, and even started with, What's a G- but Turq beat her to the punch and requested Surgeon knowledge, which sent a flutter of nerves through Jinx's tummy. It's like a Medic, I think, where I come from. I'm a Mambo where I'm from, so I know lots about what to do with plants, but… Never really used them to heal anyone before. Her lips quirked to the side as though she was a little ashamed of her inexperience with being a Medic, but it couldn't be too much different from being a Mambo; she just had to use her powers for good and not for evil, which was a tough concept.

I'm looking for a certain fern, she explained, throwing her gaze around her as though looking for an example but turning up empty-handed. I can't find any here though. The spores bestow the power of invisibility if you make them the core of an amulet… But they're also toxic. That probably wasn't a very comforting thing for a Surgeon to say, so Jinx quickly cleared her throat and tried to change the subject with, so what's a Gunner do, then? I've never heard of that rank before.

Thanks! And sorry for holding this up. I didn't want to half-ass a reply. :)

Jinx's explanation made sense to Turquoise, except for that part about being a Mambo. "What's a Mambo?" she questioned, her gaze curious. When Jinx satisfied that bit of curiosity, Turq shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm not actually very experienced at fighting, if it makes you feel any better. I guess we should both get better at our jobs, though, or we could be in bad shape," she joked. "I'll get my ass kicked in a fight and you'll just run around trying to heal me with a magical leaf." The mental image this produced made the Sigma laugh out loud.

In the next moment, Jinx explained the specifics of her search out here. Turquoise looked perplexed when such words as spores, invisiblity and amulet flowed out of her companion's mouth ever so casually. Without an ounce of explanation, Jinx appeared to grow momentarily flustered, then switched gears, asking what a Gunner did. Absently, Turq realized her joke a minute ago might haver gone over the other Sigma's head. Yet she wasn't even thinking about how to explain her duty.

"Wait, wait, before I get into it... you can't toss out words like invisibility and amulet and not expect me to ask some questions." She spoke with the air of someone who was skeptical, maybe even incredulous, but who might actually buy into things like magic. She asked the next question in that same, that's-unbelievable-but-I-want-to-believe tone. "You can become invisible?" Pause. "How?"

She was shocked, in a pleasant sort of way, to find out that Turquoise, like herself, wasn't well-acquainted with her role in the pack, which seemed similar to a warrior from the woman's brief touch on the subject; perhaps it was something the females would need to bring up to Styx, since there seemed to be a lack of clarity on the subject of rank, but maybe that was to be expected with a newer pack. Jinx's experience with packs was limited to Shearwater Bay, which was in her mind a permanent fixture of Seahawk and had never not existed, and Neverwinter, which was definitely new. For her, it was an issue that needed addressing, but it was possible the leadership believed these things would become comfortable knowledge over time.

She shared in Turquoise's laughter when the Gunner revealed the scene of the pair of them, inexperienced as they were, and Jinx was woefully afraid that the real scene would probably look very similar; the bulk of the foliage here was somewhat unfamiliar to the Surgeon, so Turq was, unfortunately, probably right in thinking Jinx would be running around with a leaf trying to cure her. “Just don't get your ass kicked,” she chuffed, “and I won't have to try to patch you up with dead flowers.” As for being inexperienced with fighting, she couldn't say she was any further along; in a fight, she was almost guaranteed to lose if her speed didn't save her, so she couldn't even give pointers, nor would she try; Turquoise was larger and probably much stronger.

But then came the interesting part, the part she almost regretted saying: her companion, easily likeable to Jinx at this point but also still quite unfamiliar, locked onto her explanation and immediately picked out the hardest-to-explain part; Jinx believed everything she had ever been taught, but teaching those things to other adults and expecting them to believe them, that was tougher. Turquoise wore the look of someone who hoped that it was truly possible, but Jinx was certain — although it was a guess at best — that her companion had well-hidden incredulity, as well.

“The spores on the bottom of the bracken fern are sacred,” she explained, feeling no need to explain that she was religious because, to her, that's all there was in life, and non-believers were heathens in a way. “My Gods view them favourably and bestow upon them the ability to conceal their wearer. Should a wolf use the spores in a construct — I like to stick them to blessed stones with sap and adorn them with feathers and bone fragments — then the wolf carrying the construct, which my family and my Shaman always called amulets, will be watched over and granted immunity from sight by the Primary Loa, and can pass by their enemies undetected. Their power is weakened under certain moons and if the wolf is not devout,” she added, sort of an afterthought, as she remembered some wolves were incapable of tapping into the power and magick of the voodou, “but a wolf devoted to the Gods and who serves the Loa faithfully will be given their blessing.”

Because her curiosity was genuine, Turquoise listened raptly and silently, though some bits totally threw her for a loop. Rather than interrupt Jinx, she waited until the other she-wolf finished before bringing up some of the two thousand or so questions now swimming around in her head like a frantic school of fish.

"What are loa?" was her first question. Before firing off another, she let Jinx explain that. Then: "Okay, so, you have to worship these gods and loas and shamans, then you can be invisible? But only if you're a devoted follower?" she clarified. Turq thought, Damn, to herself; she definitely wasn't devout. "Can you, like, show me? I want to see you become invisible," she said eagerly, momentarily forgetting to be skeptical.

Turquoise came from a clan with its own faith and beliefs, though she'd never really dabbled in spirituality much herself. She knew some, like her own litter mates, were much more connected to that type of thing. Spine had mentioned magic and fairytales (or their ilk) many a time and though these things had never quite captured Turq's imagination, she'd been exposed to the subject enough times to be at least slightly open-minded, if not more...

I have, no lie, been trying to reply to this for days and couldn't come up with a suitable way for Jinx to respond so I gave up and went for this. >_>

To her companion's first question, Jinx motioned for the other female to walk with her, supposing she was up for a walk, and started with, they are the spirits of the world, but more importantly, they serve the Gods. They are everywhere, and some of them are... Difficult. There was the fact that Loa possessed a ritualist when they arrived, rather than becoming visible -- although there were documented cases, at least in the memories of Shearwater wolves, of Loa revealing their true forms -- but, so as not to alarm Turquoise, she left that fact out. Likely that explanation brought forth as many questions as it answered, but the Mambo was ignorant of the ambiguity in how she spoke, and in fact, how she always spoke.

She would've been content to reveal more details of the religion, subtly drawing on Turquoise's rapt attention and weaving a spiderweb trap of the promise of magical prowess and power that the woman, enthralled, would've eagerly fallen into, had she not instead requested the very thing Jinx was there for: to see the power of invisibility. Jinx, ever-vague, merely shook her head at first, thinking for an instant that she would get away without an explanation, but succumbing, likely before Turq could comment, to an inevitable sense of guilt in promising an ability but being unwilling to display it.

I'm afraid it is not so simple, she started, doing her best to sound more apologetic than relieved. You see, the Gods are the ones who weave the protection. It takes hours of preparation, prayer, and many offerings to secure their assistance, and then the spore must be used to form an amulet, on whose person a wolf must keep it. The Gods will then shield them... But it is not as you think. The Gods will fill the ears of nearby enemies with fluff and dampen their senses, so the devout may pass by unnoticed... It is the enemy who is acted upon, less so than the wolf seeking to pass by. Whether that was true or not, Jinx couldn't really say. How these things worked was a mystery to them all, but to her, the effect was often upon the deceived and not the deceiver.

The Gods are also not so generous, she finished, as to grant power where it is unnecessary. You are not my foe, so I suspect I would be unable to deceive you. Still feeling somewhat bad about being unable to show Turquoise this supposed, mysterious power of Sos, and yet wishing to make amends for revealing enough to potentially cause disappointment, she offered, if I go out soon to spy upon a pack, if I have the materials, I will invite you, that you may see the way they do not notice me at a proximity they ordinarily would.

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Edit: Since this has 9 replies, I decided to narrate a quick conclusion rather than scrap it entirely. I hope that's cool...

Walking alongside Jinx now, Turquoise listened raptly, her face slowly taking on an incredulous expression at the given explanation. Her skepticism, which had taken a quick coffee break a moment ago, returned and she eyed Jinx sideways, wondering if the other she-wolf was trying to dupe her. It sure sounded like a scam, now that she thought about it. Rather than feeling angry, Turq really only felt disappointed and even a bit crestfallen. She had really wanted to believe in the magic.

"I guess," Turq answered dubiously. "It all sounds really tedious anyhow," she added with a shrug, "so even if it worked, ain't nobody got time for that." It was meant as a joke, so she smirked, though she still looked at Jinx with both disbelief and a bit of suspicion backlighting her turquoise eyes.

When Jinx offered a consolation prize of sorts, Turquoise deliberated whether to buy into it again or just opt out. Not wanting anybody to pull the wool over her eyes or waste her time, she shrugged again. "Maybe... sure," she said, having a change of heart even as she spoke. Despite herself, she was still intrigued. How cool would it be to see a wolf become invisible, after all? Well, she would still be able to see Jinx herself but she could witness how the others couldn't, which would be neat enough. "Come find me if the opportunity ever presents itself."

They walked a few beats in silence before Turq complained, "Though I still wish I could see for myself. Guess I could always just become your enemy," she quipped playfully, of course unaware that Jinx would one day leave the pack to establish her own, at which point Turquoise might unwittingly get the chance to see her in action after all. "Just kidding," she added with a wink as the pair of them continued their walk and talk and eventually arrived back home in Neverwinter Forest.