The Heartwood all we can do is try.

So, it turned out that Neverwinter Forest wasn't haunted, as much hope as the very name of the place had given her. Fin wandered along the edge of the Whitefish, peering across the churning river at the tall trees across the way. From what she had learned from packmates, this forest was called the Heartwood. It didn't sound to her like this was going to be the sort of place she had dreamed of; a place where she would spend a night of fun and horror, chasing the ghosts of lives long past.

The sun was nearly gone past the horizon as Fin settled down on her haunches upon the edge of a tree trunk that had long ago fallen and created a causeway across the river to the quiet Wood beyond. A frown twisted across her muzzle, pulling her lips back almost enough to show her teeth. There didn't seem to be anything haunted about the thick umber stalks and surrounding lively sage and emerald foliage that surrounded them, but maybe she was being too critical. It wouldn't be the first time she had been surprised by something unexpected.

So, she turned her gaze to the West, watching patiently as the last rays of the sun disappeared, taking with them every speck of light that would otherwise disrupt the complete black she so desperately desired for an evening such as this.

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Viggo had left the spine to scout out the lands around them. Now that Ouroboros was decidedly his queen's, there was less reason to make sure that its inhabitants would follow her. Sure, there had been some resistance, but that was to be expected. However, the natural order of things made her their new leader, and they would have to come to terms with that sooner rather than later. It was to their advantage to do so. They would realize it or leave the spine. That choice was theirs, and theirs alone.

The Ostrega came to a forest, and he entered it without hesitation. It was not so close to Ouroboros Spine, and yet he felt protective of it. It was here that Ptarmigan and her followers would feast if their own land ever failed to produce enough food for them. He stepped quietly beneath the trees until he spotted a fine young lady sitting quietly beneath the branches that loomed overhead. She smelled strongly of other wolves, and Viggo knew at once that she belonged to another pack. But that did not stop him from approaching.

“Greetings,” he said smoothly, once within earshot. “Are you out here exploring, too?” he asked.

A scent carried by the wind startled Falwasi from her early-evening nap. She lay there in bristly grass on the outskirts of what packs around her called 'The Heartwood', wind soft ruffling her velvety fur. Blinking her striking copper eyes open, she got up slumberously, intrigued by the scent. She stretched her long cream colored legs, shaking herself awake from her sleep and yawning. She padded slowly towards the scent, unsure of whether to introduce herself to the wolf-scent. She had arrived at Teekon Pines that morning after a long and treacherous journey.

A male voice caught Falwasi's attention directly north from where she was standing. She couldn't make out what he was saying over the rumble of the river so she walked over silently nearby and sat next to a tree, twenty feet away. Of course the wolves would soon smell her unfamiliar scent, but she would rather the introduction be delayed. "Just wait," she thought to herself.

The soft breeze of the evening made her drowsy, so she lay down, overcome by the quiet sound of the wind. Her eyelids started to droop, but she fought to keep them open. She watched the male and the female wolf up ahead with interest.

Eventually, her muscles gave way and she closed her eyes, basking under the moonlight.

Thanks for joining! Just an FYI if you missed it--it's night now :3

The sunlight had just about exited the land completely when bright gold of a different kind flashed into Finley's line of sight. She heard his steps before she heard his voice, and with a turn brought her gaze to the face of the Spine wolf. He was a handsome one, cloaked in somewhat muted tones and well-muscled beneath. His voice tickled her ears and brought a smile to her face. Maybe she wouldn't be going on this adventure alone after all.

I am indeed, but I'll betcha I'm looking for something way different than you are, Fin replied with a teasing grin. She knew that nine wolves out of ten would look at her like she was insane and keep on walking when she outright told them she was on a ghost-hunt. The trick was to intrigue first. Reel them in when they weren't yet sure of the bait and hook them right before their first taste.

The scent of another wolf tickled faintly at her senses, but Fin was too preoccupied to notice even though her better sense was sending exasperated cries to her brain. As a creature living a life in the world, survival instincts would have suggested she always be on guard and alert to things like strange scents or noises, but Fin was a single-train-of-thought kind of girl. Especially when there was a pretty boy around.

I totally forgot that I replied to this the other day, hah!

Viggo did draw in the scent of a second wolf, but he ignored it for now. His attention was squarely on the female whom he had greeted, and it would stay there for as long as was appropriate. She was a pretty little thing. Silvery coat and brown eyes. That alone would not have been much, but she also sported a lithe and attractive frame to boot. Viggo was not so stupid as to look past such things, especially considering that he was a male in his prime.

“Oh?” he asked when she noted that she was looking for something different. That, of course, assumed that she knew what he was looking for. And the answer to that question was not even one he could answer. “And what is it you seek?” he asked, head tilted ever-so-slightly to one side.

Falwasi opened her gleaming eyes to the voices speaking. She was so close, she could hear every word clearly and loudly. She lifted up her slim face and the darkest part of her, her chocolate ears, perked up as she listened in. She would soon leave; she didn't want to be a spy.

The two wolves, a male and a female, continued conversing. Fal was shocked they hadn't smelled her yet, especially since she had just joined the pack and still had her old pack's scent. She could tell the two wolves were part of different packs (though she could not tell which), and was shocked that they were flirting. In her old clan it was forbidden to see another pack outside of Gatherings.

She never minded it until now.

The more the young woman absorbed about the male before her, the more confident she was that he would be up for the little nighttime stroll she had planned for that evening. Something about him spoke of the sort of boldness of character that she so prided in herself. She was fairly confident that he would prove to have a flair for adventure as well. Fin just needed to give him the opportunity to prove it.

"Thrills and chills," Fin said, only a little bit with a tone that suggested a more primal sort of chill-inducing activity. She gave him a cheeky grin before she continued. "Do you believe in ghosts, Mr. Sparkly-eyes?" She raised a single brow as she watched him, again too eager to hear the way he would respond to notice that there was another wolf in their presence. No doubt, she would probably be deep in discussion about hauntings and creepy things when the stranger made herself known and Fin would freak the hell out as her mind jumped to absurd conclusions about what she was seeing, but that was an occupational hazard of being a ghost-hunter.

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“Ghosts?” he repeated, pondering the word and wondering if he did believe in them. He had never given the paranormal much thought. His own mother and grandparents had never really talked much about such things. “I suppose I don’t know one way or another,” Viggo decided. “Are you going to try and prove that they are real?” he asked, tilting his head to one side. Depending on how the night went, Viggo might very well be convinced that they did exist by the end of it.

He hadn't even noticed the "Mr. Sparkly Eyes" part of her comment, if only because he was too busy thinking of all the things he could do once they were sneaking off into the night. Sure, he was bound to Ouroboros Spine, but Viggo had yet to swear himself to anybody in that sense. He had every right in the world to look around and attempt to woo any lady he fancied. And he wholeheartedly intended to do just that.

Falwasi's blood ran cold at the mention of ghosts - the female who had spoken of them was intriguing and somewhat peculiar. Was she a ghost-hunter? The golden hued wolf had heard of them in her old pack; but they were only myths. Interested enough to not turn on her heels, Fal steeled herself and padded towards the two stranger wolves, unmeaning to ruin their flirtatious conversation.

'Thrills and chills you're seeking?' she asked, smiling softly. She gave each of the wolves a polite nod, noticing the detailing of the wolves. The female had fur that was many different shades of grey, small scars across her slim body. The male was a handsomely large tan agouti with bright, 'sparkly' as the female had called them, golden eyes. 'I didn't mean to interrupt, but ghosts are too interesting a subject to pass by.' Fal said, furrowing confused eyebrows at the female.

Maybe she had explored a little too much, travelled too far from her pack territories. But she was happy to meet wolves outside of her pack, expanding her social circle, maybe.

This story brought to you by Redds Apple Ale--The ale-iest apple you ever did has!

Fin wasn't really a believer in ghosts herself, but when it was the dead of night and you had spirits and scary things on the brain, a good old fashioned haunting could happen anywhere. The Blackthorn could attest to that. She was dead certain she had never actually seen anything. In the end, she passed whatever it was off as a trick of the moonlight or the wind or some animal screwing with her. But then she went out hunting again, and that little flicker of doubt resurfaced.

The eerie feeling that came with this sort of activity settled on her again as the thoughts ran through her mind. "Nah, I'm just going to let them prove it themselves," Fin said with a grin. There was something in the man's eyes that she couldn't read, but an image of them huddled together in the underbrush, hiding from something, bodies close and trembling... Hmm. Finley had to admit, she sort of liked that thought. Another face popped into her mind, trying to take Viggo's place in the scenario, but she shoved it forcefully away. Denial was sweet.

Something suggestive was dancing on the tip of her tongue when suddenly, a third wolf appeared. Though the girl's approach was steady and polite (not like she leaped out at them, shrieking), Finley still jumped a little as she approached. She glanced at the tawny male, hoping he hadn't noticed, before shaking it off and listening as she spoke. Inwardly Fin was cursing herself for being so damn interesting that wolves just appeared around her and interrupted her devious scheming. Fin stifled her desire to frown at the girl and snarl at her to keep on moving as what she had in mind required privates privacy. But that would have been rude, and there was a chance that her handsome companion did not like his girl-meat rude.

"I know, right?" Fin replied with an ever so slightly forced smile. "There are rumors in my pack of a wood in this area haunted by a pack of wolves that was years ago murdered by another pack," not really, she's totally lying, but she's super good at that, "There was a wildfire, and the usurping pack took advantage of it by trapping the others in the woods. They were burned alive in the middle of the night, unable to escape." Fin looked upon her audience, giving a little grin. "When the fire had cleared, the usurpers pissed on their ashes and moved on to conquer other lands. Their children's children returned years later to settle there once the forest had begun to regrow, only to be forced out by the angry spirits of the wolves they had murdered."

Fin gave the pair a dramatic look, studying each to take full enjoyment of their expressions. "Pretty sure my packmates are full of shit, but you never know, right?" she finished with a grin.

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Just as Finley jumped, so did Viggo, but he managed to hide his with at least some pride to spare. He, too, was disappointed that they would not be sneaking off into the bushes together, but he supposed it was likely for the best. Doing such things often led to complications, even if he was not likely to admit it.

He listened as Finley spun a tale of a murdered pack and the ghosts that haunted the forest, gasping at all the appropriate times and even giving her a little "oh my!" when she finished her grand work of fiction. Of course, he did not know it was fiction. Nor would he have told her if he had known. Believing a girl was one of the quickest ways to get what he often wanted out of their pretty little faces.

“Only one way to find out,” he said with a wink to each of the girls. “Why don’t we go see what we can find?” Viggo could play the big, strong, brave man, and they could cuddle close to him whenever they got frightened. It was perfect.

Falwasi snickered in a friendly manner as the female jumped slightly, not noticing whether the male had, too. As the female forced a small smile at her, the honeyed wolf couldn't help but feel slight disappointment radiating from the two wolves. She stood still as the small grey wolf dictated her myth, chills creeping up her spine as they always did when she listened to horror stories. Her expression remained placid, though, contradicting the cold she felt in her body from being alone with two strangers in the woods belonging a different pack.

The female was dramatic, for sure, and Falwasi found it amusing. She believed the first part of her story, but the part where the descendants of the wolves were forced out of the forest? Not so much. She turned her head to look at the agouti male who had begun to speak. 'Only one way to find out,' he said with a wink that Falwasi didn't take any notice of, 'Why don’t we go see what we can find?' he offered. 'I'm up for it - what do you say?' the lithe wolf agreed, looking at the female for confirmation. She was going to have to spend the night in this territory anyways, and what better way to spend it than getting to know the wolves while exploring the pack's history?

Finley smirked as Viggo responded. She had a feeling that he didn't really believe her, but he gave no signs to prove that she was correct in her thinking. She admired his lack of hesitation after her tale was told. It seemed he was ready to jump right in. If she had it her way, that wouldn't be the only thing he was jumping right into tonight...

...but oh yeah, the other chick. Fin suppressed a sigh, but shook the frustration off of her shoulders. "You know I'm in," she replied with a bright smile--a real one this time as the excitement of heading out on their adventure really took her. She gave both of her companions a significant look before hopping to all four paws and darting across the log, over the little stream, and into the trees that made up the haunted Heartwood.

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If you two want to continue the thread, you may powerplay Viggo tagging along (or just fade out here). I'm no longer going to be playing him. :3

The two ladies seemed keen on the ghost hunting, so Viggo began to slowly walk through the forest, eyes and ears alert for any strange noises. He was not quite sure where they would go from here, although being followed closely by two lovely ladies wasn't the worst thing in the world. Quite the opposite, really.

With the two in tow, he would explore the forest and press close to his new friends whenever they needed his comfort. And if they saw any ghosts, he would hightail it out of there with no hesitation.