The Bracken Woods A northern visitor

The weather was kind in her travels and the world calm. But she could hear, still, the echoes of her family's concerns:

“Be alert at all times, be weary of other predators.”

“Yes, papa,” she had promised.

“ÂnnitailiKattagit.”

“Yes, mama, I will be safe,” she had assured.

Throughout the length of her journey, the voices of her parents stayed with her, reminding her that this would not be her end—no, it was a new beginning, if anything. A new chapter in her life, the creation of her own story—something she hoped to someday share with her family, just as her father, and his father before him, had done so many years ago.

“Â...!” she gasped softly, pulled from her memories by the prick of a thorn as it lodged itself between her toes. This was not her first experience dealing with the thorns, their torment having spanned the length of several days now, at least.

Slowing to a stop with her right forepaw raised, she held her breath whilst assessing her surroundings: it was quiet, save for the soft rustling of the smaller wildlife and the sing-song calls of the birds overhead. Tilting her nose upwards, she welcomed the western breeze and its lack of concerning scents; she could smell no others of her kind, nor cats or bears, all of which her father had warned her to be cautious of. Content with her findings, or the lack thereof, the young female settled back on her rump and pulled her paw towards her mouth, using her incisors to search for the end of the thorn. Once her grip was secured, she pulled gently on it, careful not to break it before the whole of the thorn was extracted. She'd become something of an expert when it came to thorn removal, trapped in the forest by her father's directions:

“Keep south from here until you enter a forest of tangled tree limbs and an unkind floor,” he had told her. “You will travel through there for what feels like a lifetime, until the treeline finally gives way enough that you can see valleys and a snow-capped mountain.”

Shaking her head whilst the ghost of a smile tugged at her lips, she slowly lowered her paw once more, testing it against the ground to confirm no pieces of thorn remained. “I hope this is the place he described...” she muttered, each day that passed without a clear end of the forest trying to convince her otherwise. Nevertheless, she continued southbound, determined to explore these lands that her father once called home.

For Lilia, the unknown was what lay beyond the great forest to the North. She’d tread in the shadows before, skirting along the edge but the trees grew thick and shut the light out, making it appear as though a traveller could pass through in days of ominous darkness before seeing the sky again. Such an adventure did not interest her, as she preferred shorter journeys and better views, but she felt inclined to investigate the area nonetheless.

It wasn’t long until she found herself irked by the thorny bushes, and realized with a yelp that their previously she’d or broken branches made for a prickly carpet beneath the green fern fronds. She mumbled darkly as she licked at her offended paw pad, but continued to rove a bit deeper into the wolf woods, wincing every time she stepped on something prickly.

She paused when she saw a beacon of light in the distance, only to discover it was a wolf- pure white in colour, at least from a distance, and tall. Lilia eyed the stranger, sniffing the breeze to identify anything familiar or unusual about their scent, to discover only that the stranger was female. She bristled lightly, knowing there was no way she could run if she needed to, not with these thorns underfoot. She heaved a sigh and made to step forward when that very step proved to be her downfall.

She shrieked with anger and frustration when a thorn lodged itself in just alongside one of her claws. She dropped to the ground, turned her paw over recklessly tore the branch away from her foot, which left the thorn very much imbedded still. Now, she had to worry the thorn out with her teeth, and she was not happy about it.

Ever light on her feet—just like a ghost, her father used to joke—the northerner was careful in how she moved, avoiding the thorns and brambles the best she could. It was all but a full-time job, however, still something she could not devote as much attention to as she would have liked. Remain alert, she inwardly reminded herself. Stay safe—

The thought was hardly finished before her body was jolting upwards, startled by the shriek. Almost immediately thereafter, her ears were shoved forward whilst her body went rigid, gaze scanning the woods surrounding her. And had it not been for the sight of movement, and a temporary interruption of gold from within what otherwise just appeared dark, she might not have noticed the other wolf at all.

“Hello...?” she called out, more a question than a greeting. Was the shriek from the other wolf, she wondered, or prey? Uncertain, Kovette refrained from advancing forward and held her ground instead.

She grumbled quietly to herself when she heard the other wolf's voice, disappointed that she'd not been able to get the thorn out yet, and that the other had probably heard that horrible sound she'd just made. She lost her patience and dug at the flesh around her claw until she weeded it out of the skin, clipping that particular claw short in the process. The nailbed bled, but she'd just have to tend to that later. 

"Yah yah, I'm fine," She said, sitting up and licking her lips where a couple droplets of blood had collected on her whiskers. "Jutht thethe damn thornth," She said said ruefully. The worst part was that she'd still have some distance to go before getting out of the woods. "Uh, you know a quickuh way to get outa here that'th leth prickly?" She asked.

When words met her ears rather than a grumble of any kind, Kovette visibly relaxed. And with the short explanation, she realised that the shriek must have been the other wolf, rather than a rabbit. “They have been unkind to me, too,” she returned, referencing the thorns. Is there one stuck in her tongue...? she wondered, the peculiar speech pattern noticed. “Maybe it’s the common way here?” she asked aloud, quiet, a mere utterance to herself.

“I’m afraid not...” she answered next, a careful step forward accompanying her voice this time. “I have been searching for the end to this forest for... many days now, at least.” Come to think of it... exactly how much time had she spent in those woods already? Kovette thought back and attempted to count the transitions from day to night but, ultimately, couldn’t come up with a clear answer. After awhile, the days started to run together.

“Do you live near here?” asked the traveller, a hopeful lilt to her voice. “You asked about a... quicker?”—she paused for just a brief moment, in case she had misunderstood—“way out of here, so does that mean you know another way out?” Even if it was not necessarily quick, or anything close to less prickly, she couldn’t see herself minding too much. Any way out was better than no way out, and she was more than ready to be freed from the grip the forest had on her.

She snorted. ”Pain in the ath if it ith,” She commented, referring to the thorns. And from how it sounded, the whole forest must have been this way, for the wolf to have spent days travelling through. All of a sudden, she felt like she’d had it easy. How many thorns would the copper-eyes woman have stepped on in that journey?

”Sheeeesh,” She breathed, in awe of the one who’d had the patience to travel that far in a forest that was basically a bed of thorns. ”Well, I got good newth for ya; I do know the way out, an’ it’th not too far. Jutht gotta put up with thith shit for a bit longer’n we’ll be out in the valley,” She said.

Of course, it would’ve been more encouraging if there’d been a shortcut- but at this point, she was ready to head back exactly the way she’d come rather than taking her chances trying to cut a new path. ”C’mon. I’ll show ya.”

How lucky could she be? The first to encounter over the last several many days and she knew the way out! Kovette’s tail swept at the air behind her as she breathed a sigh of relief. “I was hoping you would say that,” she noted, light in tone but her delight evident. And then to have that way out offered to her? The northerner was elated, to say the least.

“Thank you,” she said, beginning to (carefully) close the distance between them. “I was told this forest was large but I’m afraid I underestimated it.” A part of her felt embarrassed for needing to ask for help, as she felt this journey was meant to be hers alone. But rationality won out in the end and she swallowed her unease—accepting help in finding her way from someone that seemed more familiar with the land was nothing to be ashamed of.

“I can help with pulling any thorns you pick up,” she offered, as she had little else to provide as thanks. “Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of practise.” This was accompanied by a light-hearted chuckle, although the offer itself was sincere.

As she neared, Lilia lifted her gaze to properly appraise the woman, and found her cheeks growing warm in light frustration. She'd managed to walk through this forest for days and still be in good spirits? She didn't look tough and scrappy, so Lilia had to wonder if the fluffy, white-pelted woman was simply more light-footed, and less likely to step on something as hard as she had. Regardless, Lilia marked her down in her mind as not a threat. Friendly, not foe-like. There was no shade of corrosion in her copperpenny eyes. 

"Took ya two dayth to get through it? Three?" She asked. As a ranger, she was interested in such facts. "An' you come in from the North thide of the foretht?" It would save Lilia finding out for herself, if she could simply take the woman's word for her travels. "I'm a thcout," She explained. "Juth-t athkin' for my own referenth." She added, lest the woman think she was being either critical or nosey. 

She grimaced at the thought of stepping on more thorns, and a little at the thought of having someone else try and pull them out. She'd done a botched job of the one that had become embedded in her nail bed, though, and left behind little droplets of blood as they went. The stranger seemed to have fared better- her feet weren't as gruesome as Lilia would've expected them to be. "Uh, yeah, I think I'll manage. We'll jutht go thlow." She said, turning down the offer as politely as possible. "I'm Lilia, by the way," She added.

When asked about how long it’d taken her thus far, her brows furrowed and her nose scrunched ever so slightly, thinking back once more. She could recall at least three changes from day to night, bedding down possibly four... “I’m afraid I’ve lost count of how many days I’ve spent here,” she eventually answered. In truth, after awhile, she had simply stopped counting—around the same time, she’d discovered that the less she thought about how much time had passed, the less homesick she felt. It allowed her to enjoy her travels, rather worry about her family back home.

Kovette was slower to answer the next question, contemplating her answer up until the woman made herself known as a scout. “Ah, yes,” she then replied. “The far north, originally. Thankfully this forest does not extend that far but... it is still quite large, otherwise.” Too large, she’d go so far as to say. Not the largest she’d ever encountered but the thorns and brambles definitely made the journey through it feel like it'd take a lifetime.

With the offer turned down, the wolf wondered if maybe she had been too forward. No matter, she followed after, watchful of the ground underfoot as she went.

“It is nice to meet you, Lilia,” she said, pausing briefly to exam her left forepaw, feeling a soft prick. “My name is Kovette.” Thankfully, the thorn did not lodge itself into her paw this time, too small to do anything more than poke at her. “Do you know this land well?” she asked, pressing onward. Perhaps she could give her some better directions—her father had not been the greatest at explaining, ever so vague in his teachings.

"Huh," Lilia grunted, speculatively. If she'd lost track, Lilia figured it had to have been five or more days of travel- of course, if she was going as the crow flies. She could have been wandering in circles for all that Lilia knew- but based on how hostile the terrain was, she wasn't keen to go exploring through the forest simply for the sake of figuring out just how many days had to be spent in misery walking through it. She wondered how far the forest stretched to the East, and if it could be something that one could go around, if necessary. It was almost as troublesome as a mountain range, she thought. 

She paused to allow Kovette a moment to investigate her foot, though she hadn't cried out in pain. Once they started moving again, Lilia bobbed her head. "Yeah," She said, casually. "I live in a pack not far from here. I'm thcopin' out all the land around our claim tho I know thith area pretty good. There thomewhere you're lookin' to get?" Having come this far, Lilia wondered if Kovette had travelled with an end goal in mind.

Thankfully, the other did know the land well enough—once more, she considered herself lucky and thanked anything and everything that might have guided the other across her path. “What is the name of your pack?” she asked, curious. Was it one of the ones her father had mentioned before? Depending on the answer, it could be either a good or a bad thing—but that also meant she would have to try to recall which one was bad and which one was not. Oh, how she wished she could better remember.

Snapping back to the present, Kovette pondered how best to answer before saying, “Yes, there are a couple of places that I set out to see.” It’ll be a long journey, her father had warned. But... you’ll enjoy it. “There’s a circle of large stones,” she continued. “And a waterfall with a cave!” They were the places she wished to see more so than anything else, the latter her father had always spoken fondly of. A hidden home, he’d reminisce. “Atâ—” she cut herself off, then quickly corrected. “My dad told me about them but... he’s never been too good at not getting lost and his directions are not so easy to follow...” The northerner couldn’t help but chuckle. Perhaps she should have planned better but sometimes she just couldn’t help but act impulsively.

While Lilia normally experienced a bit of paranoia when asked about her pack by a stranger, Kovette seemed harmless enough. Learning the pack name of a helpful stranger could do little but improve their reputation, she thought. ”It’th called Redtail Rithe,” She said, stifling a muffled squeak when she stepped lightly on a thorn. She shook her paw and dislodged it easily enough. 

The places Kovette described were not familiar to Lilia, whose travels had not taken her far enough through the Taiga to reach the packs that lived in the valley. ”I think I theen a waterfall onthe before…But not one with a cave, thowwy,” She apologized. ”What’th your Dad’th name? Maybe thomeone aroun’ thethe part-th might have known him,” She said.

By then, she struggled less to decipher the other woman’s words. Redtail Rithe—Redtail Rise, she figured, although neither name was familiar to her. Sorting through memories, pulling what names she could muster up and—a quick yipe, attention diverted enough that she’d managed to ensnare her hind right paw in a particularly thick and angry tangle of brambles. Similar to a cat that’d just stepped on something sticky, she shook her paw vigorously a couple of times until she was freed, gaze cast downward and a frown tugging at her lips. Be more careful, she reminded herself gently and, with a lengthy exhale, she proceeded onward.

The places described were as unknown to the other as they were Kovette. Oh, well... she thought, knowing that luck could only be on her side for so long. Or could it?

Kovette was not so quick to reveal her father’s name, visibly conflicted as her face contorted into something halfway between skepticism and outright worry. Her father had warned her to only ever give what information was necessary, to not overshare—but would this not benefit her, help her in her travels, in the end? Maybe, she reasoned.

“Alexander,” she finally answered, watchful moreso now of Lilia than the ground underfoot. “But he hasn’t been around here in a few years now, I think...” The elder northerner had never given too much detail in regards to the matter—he’d always said that there were certain stories he would never burden her or her siblings with the knowledge of—but one thing he had warned was to be careful of those that knew him. Some could be considered friend but those that were clearly foe? Be smart and run. With the warning fresh in her mind, Kovette searched for any sign of recognition from the other woman, ready to make like a rabbit in a moment’s notice, should she need to.

She grimaced, as though feeling Kovette’s discomfort, showing relief too when she she’d her paw of the thorn. Fortunately, she could see the brightening in the distance- like dawn, the light began to peek through the gloom of the forest ahead of them. 

She showed no sign of recognizing the name, though she nodded. If he hadn’t been here in a few years, it was likely that the impression of his name had faded. She wasn’t sure she’d know anyone who knew him. A new thought occurred to her, though. 

”Tho, you’re not lookin’ for your Dad, you’re jutht lookin’ for platheth he lived er thomethin’?” She asked. It seemed a bit unusual to her, for a wolf to travel this far (and through so many thorns!) just to see a place she’d only ever heard of.

When no signs of recognition crossed the other’s features, Kovette settled once more. And perhaps she was being too paranoid, she could not outright deny it, but to be safe rather than sorry was never a bad thing in her mind.

“No, I’m not looking for him,” she confirmed. She knew where he was—still back home—but was more interested in where he’d been. “He used to tell us stories about the places he’d seen before going north,” she continued. “I know our home almost too well... it was time for a change and some of the places he described sounded like they might be worth seeing.” It was a long ways to travel, she knew, but she hoped it would be worth it in the end.

“I want to bring my own stories home...” she added, voice fading to a murmur as she neared the end, focus drawn towards the light ahead. There came a slight increase in her pace, eager to be freed from the dreary woodlands and feel the sun again. “It looks like we’re nearly through,” she noted, hopeful that it was truly the end and not some false clearing. By then, her paws were aching—worse than getting cut up by ice!—and she was ready to feel some good ol’ grass underfoot again.

Permission to PP the exit!

Lilia hadn't known someone to wander from their birth pack, simply to go and see the lands a family member had spoken about. It made her believe that Kovette yearned in honest to be a traveler or a permanent scout. Little more would be achieved, other than searching for her own happiness. Untethered, she could wander like a loose balloon, lost but loving the view. 

The stone circle kindled Lilia's interest, as well- and the mention of the waterfall with the cave...She would have to keep an eye out for these places as well. For Lilia, the chance to explore and scout was always enjoyable- but she had something to gain from it. She reported back to a leader, and felt more useful for having done so. She imagined, then, that she and Kovette weren't too different- but at the end of the day, Kovette travelled, inspired by memories she wanted to have, and Lilia traveled in search of validation. 

"Yeah, thith ith it, here," She said, as they stepped out into the light. She heaved a sigh of relief; but could sense that Kovette would wander on. Recruiting her might be useful- but Lilia didn't want to distract her from her voyage. "I'm sure you'll have thome good oneth to tell," She said softly. "If yuh find the platheth you're lookin' for...Come let me know, huh? I live in the Rithe, jutht there. Gimme a howl; tell me yuh adventureth before yuh head back home." She said, with a slight smile, and a casual shrug. "Theeya roun'!" She said, before she parted ways with the fellow traveller.