Qeya River antlers and lullabies

When the wilds of her birth came into view, Vairë had laid down and cried until her eyes were swollen.

She hadn’t wanted to go. But, shortly before her first birthday, Old Doe had reared her head after seasons of silence, and drove her out to wander. It was what deer did, after all. She had struggled out and into the world, Old Doe seeking the deer she should have become, Vairë desperate to go back home. No doubt her mother would miss her, her sister. She had to return.

(Old Doe had hidden the truth, which was that her mother and sister were gone from their forest. Only Kukutux and Aiolos and their children remained of her once extensive family. She was an outsider looking in, a wolf with a prey spirit)

And, after struggles, she had found the deer herd. And among its numbers, she had found him. A buck, a yearling like her, still dusted with snowspots, but with flashing eyes like a canine. She was brought before a deer soothsayer, their wise woman, who took one look at her and had started laughing. Her answer to Vairë’s symptoms of wanderlust was nothing. There wasn’t anything to be done. She was stuck like this, always affected by it. A deer never settled down anywhere, Vairë would be infected by a wanderer’s soul for all of her days.

(She wouldn’t pretend some part of her wasn’t relieved. Why would she stay where so many had already gone?)

Vairë had left without any help, but the does had held her down before she did, the buck using his antler to carve a crude depiction of his own across the side of her face. A deer wearing a wolf’s skin, they’d called her. She hadn’t wanted the scar, she hated it, hated how it had grown hot and infected (it still was hot and infected, she didn’t know how long it had been like that)

The river caught her ears, and the wheat girl stumbled forward, a happy call on her breath. The river where their sister village lived! They were here! They had to-!

There was no one here. She stopped.

What day was it? They were all supposed to be here, right? She took several hesitant steps.

Right?

He continued to explore this new area and wandered to the northern Snowforest Taiga. As it got later and later into Autumn he expected the weather to get colder but had a feeling that the cold feeling of this river was abnormal to the other more southern regions of the Wilds.

The sound of a river caught his attention as he mosied in that direction. Along the way, he caught sight of a wheat-colored figure. Its movements subconsciously struct the hunter as prey-like and lured him closer. But as he approached he could tell that this in fact was a female wolf lingering. Her movements looked unsure and uneasy.

He chuffed to alert her of his presence without alarming her and said "Hello Miss. Are you alright?"

She licked her nose.

This was the river, right? She was in the correct place?

The voice rolled over her ears like water rolls over duck feathers. She took in a sharp breath, letting it shudder through her and closing her eyes against it.

No. She croaked.

But I will be. I just.. A wobbling step.

I need to go home.

In her responses, Andr could tell this woman was troubled and perhaps sad about something. She expressed a desire to get home. She also appeared a bit uneasy on her feet. He stepped a bit slower to her so that he might speak with her more face-to-face.

"My name is Andromed Dorian, though you may call me Andr if you wish. I'd be happy to help you return home if you require a sort of escort. I am new to this area so I'm afraid I may not be the best guide but I'd like to do what I can to help you." he said earnestly.