Bearclaw Valley they don’t know where they’ll go

tw: vomit

There is laughter. First subtle but growing ever so loudly by the minute. It disrupts his dreams, tears his eyes open and forces him to face reality once more.

Nothing has changed since the last time he was awake. He was still enclosed in the den, helpless and weak.

Even now when he's awake, the laughter was still heard. After a few moments the boy came to realize it was not someone's chortle, rather a strange bird's call. One that was much closer than usual.

Curious to find the source, the whelp twisted his body so that he could face the entrance. Much to his surprise and joy, the sun's rays did not filter into the den, only the night's crisp breeze.

The outside world was not completely void of light. Two orange orbs hovered just above the floor. The boy blinked, completely dumbfounded by this. Was he still dreaming? He had to get a better look.

Once again the boy attempts to lift himself off the ground. It's a struggle, but he managed to get farther than last time, even if that was just crawling forward. 

Those orbs were not a figment of his imagination, nor were they some supernatural entity. They were attached to this small bird that confidently stared him down as he approached.

Its presence mystifies him. Never before had he witnessed a bird with such courage. Usually such a small creature would fly away as soon as a predator would make eye contact, but this one let him get so close that he could reach out and touch it with his nose.

He wants to say something, but the words are lost in his throat. mmm.. mm i- i- the struggle to speak combined with the energy needed to keep his head up drained him. Some sickly feeling bubbled in his belly and rose into his throat. He soon began to retch, causing him to fall to the floor.

The bird was startled by this and promptly flew to a tree. Still, it stayed nearby, watching the boy puke what little he had in his system.

as roangeda grows, so too does praimfaya's confidence; and while she knows she has a ways to go before she is ready to ascend to wanheda the goal does not hold the same feeling of impossibility it had directly after her mother's death. to her mystification — or perhaps it was the work of sheer determination and will alone — the pieces were beginning to come together. it was still daunting, in those moments of quiet solitude where praimfaya is able to slow down and take it all in, but it's also incredible. she does not always venture so far from roangeda without a setnes — and as she has every time she's ventured out she has let them know, giving them an option to tag along or not. she doesn't linger around long enough to see. she goes, figuring they will fall in step with her, catch up with her or await her return.

part of her thinks that perhaps a diversion to diaspora is in order, borne of that part of her that is guilty about how abruptly she ( and her father ) fled. without warning and without explanation — though blodreina's broken body should be explanation enough. the mere idea hitches the breath in her throat and twists like ice in her stomach and for now she tucks it away, focusing on her intended path which has brought her to a path lined with boulders and conifers. once upon a time, praimfaya would've looked to the single entrance of this territory as fortifiable ...but not all she sees is a death trap. she resists the urge to flinch away from every boulder she sees, fighting the roil of her stomach as the sound of her mother's body breaking beneath the unbearable weight echoes through her ears.

this is a mistake, she thinks. this is a mistake. 'a fear. one that you must come face to face with and conquer, commander.' linkoln's 'voice' was soothing but her nerves were a bit too rattled and she hurries out of the passage and into the yawning valley with a deep, greedy breath. the sounds of water moving: a lazy river, draw her deeper into the territory in the hopes that a cool drink might help to clear the buzzing in her head. to dispel the lingering feeling that those passage walls had been about to cave in on her, made more threatening by the greedy shadows of night playing where the moonbeams did not and could not reach.

but the sound of retching catches her attention and her path automatically alters towards the origin of the sound, ears fluttering back to rest uncertainly against the proud curve of her skull. hei? praimfaya calls out, her steps tentative. the bird that sits in the tree goes unnoticed by the young to-be commander as she fixes the young ebony boy collapsed against the forest floor in her gaze. are you alright? a stupid question, praimfaya realizes as she peers down at the puddle of sick but the only one she could appear to form given the situation.

so sorry this is so long and rough, it's just because i haven't wrote w her in quite a while so was trying to get back into her mindset and stufff

miniscule paws thread lightly through the night, carrying with them a lightly shivering dove. there is no real destination in mind, a desire to move all that propels her forth. since the return of her siblings, polaris had grown....distant. she does not know what to feel and it daunts her beyond words. everytime she glances upon zephyr's face her insides twist painfully and her eyes burn with the onslaught of conflicted emotions. there is a breathtaking relief that the wolf she undoubtedly still does and always would love, still lives and is home with them safe yet then they're chased away by shadowy tendrils of much uglier emotions. doubt...fear....upset and sometimes even, anger. for lainie's face would then float up out of the darkness and polaris would be unable to escape the haunted, paralyzing fear in the dark girl's eyes as she choked out what she'd had to experience. that their sibling, had killed another of their blood, a baby. even now the silver's breath hitches and her heart hits hard against her chest. how the rest of her family seemed to welcome them home without a heartbeat had her so lost, did it make her cruel that she could not help but hesitate against the natural want to feel happiness? 

so not knowing what else to do, the girl had chosen the coward's way out and avoided them completely; avoided everyone actually. she spent most her days outside the territory; finding a release in the discovering of new lands. it was a relieving reminder that despite everything that happened back home; the world spread forth with so much more and the heaviness that dragged her close to the earth as she skulked around the territory would lift once she escaped. her steps would have her almost floating as she sped nimbly over the free lands; no boundaries, no duties or responsibilties; nothing but her and the whole world. it left her breathless, the sheer idea that these mere paws could carry her forth to anything. what different types of land and wolves lay out there? it was a dizzying thought. yet fantasize as she did, the girl did love her family above it all and would still find herself returning to swiftcurrent without hesitation despite a growing dread as she neared the familiar borders.

all she could do was hope that with time, the air would grow lighter there too. so for now she continued to wander against her parent's wishes; the shuddering of the earth did indeed terrify her but at already half a year old; polaris refused to let it hinder her hunger to roam free. it wasn't like helios or zephyr had even tried to approach her and it had succeeded in bitterly reminding the girl that they still seemed to have a bond beyond her and lainie which had caused the initial anger; convincing her that they cared for no one else but them. their actions had no consequences in their eyes unless it concerned each other. 

so lost in thought about the familial issues she claimed to currently be escaping, the dove would halt with a start at the sound of..retching? accompanied quickly by a voice. ears leaned forward as she took tentative steps in their direction, uncertainty not standing a chance against her curiosity until she caught sight of a shadow of a boy and a pale girl. bolder now that she was aware that these were both wolves of similar aging to she, polaris ventured forward; skinny frame moving with a silent grace until she stood by the two. wrinkling her nose at the stentch to invade her nostrils, ears lean back slightly as the girl glances uneasily between the two. "i don't think so" she finally supplies softly to the other's enquiry. with a shaky inhale she dropped into a crouch, wispy tail swishing as she tried hard not to gag at the intensity of the smell. she really doesn't know what else to say as she observes the boy as close as she can without getting into his personal space. he reminds her a bit of zephyr with how fragile he seems which has her swallowing uneasily. "did something happen...?" is all she can think to ask, did he eat something weird? glancing helplessly back at the other girl, polaris leans back once more. she really feels quite out of her element yet bi-eyes lighten upon spotting the small feathered creature beyond. a soft smile passes fleetingly over her jaws as the tip of her tail gives a curious wag; it was rare for birds to venture out at night and it watched them all with such a sharp intelligence that left her feeling both taken aback and comforted at the same time. yet she's quick to avert her gaze with the sudden worry that the other's might see it as a food opportunity, she didn't want to get off on the wrong paw with them but not a chance would she stand for that.

The boy continued to retch, hoping that something would come out. Perhaps that would alleviate the pain. It was a useless endeavor. After he had puked out a small amount of bile, there was nothing more. A foreboding sense of fear began to overtake him. All of this movement was physically taxing and he knew his body would go into another convulsing fit. It was only a matter of time.

The newcomer's presence would have gone unnoticed if it were not for the bird's high pitched hoots. The child lifted his head to see why it had called, only to be greeted by two pairs of eyes. These girls were unfamiliar to him. They must've been around his age. Both wore silver pelts rather than the gold of his keeper. This thought immediately causes his heart to hammer in his throat. What business did they have here?

He ignored the question, opting to shuffle back into the confines of the den. His worried gaze never left the pair.

not very long after praimfaya appeared on the scene did another sound of footfalls flutter upon the earth, drawing nearer. frostbound silver gaze lifts from the boy — still retching — to fall upon the newcomer, the bristle of guard hairs along her nape smoothing down as the other girl is labeled as 'not a threat'. without her setnes, praimfaya feels exposed ( nevermind that she's done a lot of exploring like this lately ) and wishes that she was not so stubborn and would've had an adult accompany her. facing the ill boy ...well, that falls beyond her knowledge which lays in diplomacy and warfare. praimfaya is no healer.

the other girl replies for the boy with a i don't think so — praimfaya doesn't point out that she can see that but in lieu of anything else to say it seemed like the easiest question. i don't know — the worlida replies as the boy retreats away from them. hei! wait...we're not going to hurt you. she assures him in common. — i found him like this. she stage-whispers to the other girl, her gaze breaking from the place where the boy had retreated back to the other girl.

you wouldn't happen to know anything about medicines, would you? or at least something that might help to settle his stomach — though as praimfaya has already admitted: she isn't sure what the cause of it was. she is further from roangeda's than she normally'd like to be but even if she wasn't ...she isn't so sure that they have a healer among their ranks. it doesn't matter, she thinks, her gaze flitting back to the shelter the boy's retreated into. the best way to figure out why he was sick was to ask him and she'd rather not talk to the mouth of his den.

i'm praimfaya, she gives her name, to both of them and then hesitates only moments before adding, you can call me pri, if it's easier. a beat passes and then she speaks again, this time to the boy. what's your name? praimfaya attempts to lure him back out with soft tones though the question is aimed at both of them rather than just the boy.