Alpine Lake A Thwack of Thought

Life begins twice. Once, when your eyes open and the world flutters and stirs, welcoming you with her elements and complexities. This was a commonplace staple for all wolves and their next of kin. It didn't get much simpler than that and was a known concept to all.

What some may not have known was the time in which a life begins anew. This set event had no real commonality across the web of lives that lay strewn across the many biomes in the world. One day, out of nowhere, it came for every single individual. Today, it just so happened that it would strike Cassian Nevuma from behind.

Quite literally.

Alpine Lake. The water here tasted fresh, cold, and almost...sweet? Lapping at it, Cassian felt a wave of relaxation wash over him. Patches of stained fur coaxed with blood mixed down into the sanctuary. It was the last remaining tale of a rabbit that had made its careless mistake in getting within his formerly starved, aching belly. Rising his head from the pool of water, Cassian took several steps back. A single shake ran across his entire body, getting the last few remaining droplets off of his maw.

Stretching, Cassian's tail went high into the air with his body arched low. A long, strained yawn fumbled out from him and right when he closed his eyes the wolf began to scamper off. Due southbound, into a stretch of densely packed forests. Brushing past trees, into bushes, and going about aimlessly. Then, while making his way through, a single tree branch caved with his bodyweight. It bent, but it did not break, and on its way back up it resounded with a force strong enough to smack him upside the head.

This would've been trivial to anybody else, but to Cassian it woke him up. Blinking once, twice, and then a third after the initially pained yelp fled his maw, a confused breath left him. His stomach was filled, his mouth was wet, and yet...

What was he doing here? Why? What was the purpose behind it? And, more importantly...

"Where am I going?" He asked himself, sitting his rump down in temporary thought.

After finding her way to the sweep, Masquerade rediscovered that woman’s scent leading northward into a neighboring copse. She gave the place a wide berth, though she made a mental note, complete with a curl of her lip.

Beyond that, their scouting continued. Masquerade couldn’t help but compare every potential territory to Shadewood. They all came up short. Still, she persisted. Today, she thought about the place where she’d first met Sable and went back to take a second look.

By now she was developing a rudimentary mental map of the area. Masque realized the lake was much too close to the copse and sweep, right along the time she happened upon a dazed stranger. He was talking to himself.

Crazy? she answered his question in her head, though out loud, she replied much more seriously, Well, you’re headed straight toward not one but two claimed territories. I’d tread carefully.

"I am?"

Cassian blinked once, twice, and then a third. Territories. Treading carefully. Oh, it was all coming back to him now. Yes, yes, there were two area he needed to be both careful and mindful of when passing through here. Bits and pieces of knowledge were accessible to the individual, but they came in random, ambiguous spurts. The voice. Where did it come from? Looking to the left, then to the right, Cassian repeat the motion once more before seeing the wolf who rose their voice and spoke into this well appreciated cautionary tale his way.

"I am."

Furrowing his brows in thought, Cassian rose a single paw and gently swatted the top of his head. The place where the lone branch had smacked him still hurt! It left a stinging, burning sensation and when his paw came back down for examination he noted the fresh patch of blood that lay upon it. Sniffing it, Cassian's tongue extended before licking it. Based off of taste and taste alone, this was definitely his. Shame, he'd hoped that it had been from whatever he'd eaten earlier that was now in his belly!

"Where are the territories? How do I check?"

His eyes held a certain glaze over them. Yet, he did not move. Instead, Cassian stretched, leaned forward, and then lied down entirely. Yes, this was a good spot. It was so warm and made his belly feel juuuust right.

"You seem pretty lost yourself, I think. I mean, you found me, haha! Are you sure that place up ahead belongs to anybody?"

Maybe her sarcastic inner monologue wasn’t too far off the mark. Masquerade stood with an inscrutable expression as the wolf rubbed at his head, examined what looked like a spot of blood, licked it, then plopped to the ground. She stiffened, though there was concern in her marigold eyes.

Did you hit your head? she asked, then amended, How hard?

Cautiously, she ventured closer. She sniffed, picking up the traces of blood. It didn’t seem like a concerning amount, though she was no healer. She paused about two yards from him, dark paws planted on the snowy ground and long tail swinging pensively. She examined him with shrewd eyes.

I’m not lost, she said, and all you need to do is use your nose. I’m not part of these packs but I just assume they don’t take kindly to trespassers, so that’s why I suggest you watch your step.

(OOC: My apologies, I'm still learning forums and didn't know you replied!!!)

"Use my....nose." Blinking blankly once, then twice, it came flooding back to Cassian. Using his nose! Inhaling deeply as if he were a newborn, the wolf's tail began to wag from left to right across the floor, coating itself in dirt and debris. Yes, he could smell it! Scents, they permeated the very area that they were surrounded by. Why, how had he not noticed this before?

"Thank you for the information, I did hit my head a while ago. It wasn't anything too hard, but...I don't know. I feel different. New, even."

She grew closer, stopping at about two yards away from him. Cassian didn't know her, his body sent out warning signals to step away from this stranger! Adrenaline began to pump, his eyes dilated, and the fur on all parts of his body started to feel more...dense, somehow. Lifting a single paw, claws came out, and instead of aggression the wolf seemed...confused.

"Why's that happening?" He asked, curious...no, fascinated by it. Staring at his paw, Cassian run his tongue across the claws. They were sharp, he naturally avoided the bits that could pierce him, and they tasted...revolting. Of course they did, he'd have to have gotten here somehow! "If you're not part of these packs, why are you here? I appreciate the advice, but is that because you're speaking from experience?"

Part of her—her inner Caru—felt bad for this confused stranger and wished she could help him. But she withdrew a few feet as he questioned his own body parts, as if afraid the condition might be catching. Masquerade was well out of her depth with this kind of disordered behavior. All she could offer him was more advice.

I don’t know, she said evenly when he licked at his paw again. I’m here to scout. If you’re asking if I’ve ever trespassed on another pack’s claim: no. It happened occasionally where I used to live, she explained, a breath shuddering from her before she continued, and we never took kindly to it. Often our Bjerns went straight for the kill.

Hopefully her cautionary tale would knock some more sense into him. Masque arched a brow and felt torn between lingering here with this intriguing if unstable stranger and continuing her own task. Perhaps had he been of sounder mind, she would’ve considered combining them a little and trying to recruit this man.

Her marigold eyes cut from the crown of his head to his overgrown toenails and Masque could only think, There’s no way. That decided her: she didn’t want to waste anyone’s time and would dip as quickly and politely as possible.

No worries. :)

@Masquerade

Scout. The wolf’s eyes pinned down to the dirt whilst the new stranger spoke.

When that singular word spewed out of the woman’s maw it eased a wave of relaxation over the amnesiac wolf. The golden, sun-kissed threads of fur that lined his frame went down and the claws that eagerly made themselves apparent moments ago retracted. Innately, there was a functionality built within that instinctually told him that this being before him bore no threat. That there was no reason to pounce when there was no reason to fend to begin with. While she spoke, Cassian’s eyes glazed over her frame time and time again. As if he were painting her figure and essence into his mind, in a corner where it would be etched and never forgotten. A special encampment within the inner banks of his mind for the first wolf he’d conceivably crossed paths with.

They spoke words that did not make comprehensible sense. Bjerns. The way in which it coiled off of their tongue made it almost skirt past Cassian’s attention span. A foreign word, maybe? Somebody else of a higher mind might’ve been able to pick up on such an anomaly, but instead he opted to let it flee. The context clues that surrounded it were far more than enough. They were beasts that hunted. Killed. They took life from others and he wondered why. Why would somebody so easily and eagerly take a life simply for encroaching on territory?

Brown eyes skirted back up to meet marigolds, and in them he found a vessel of experience that could be tapped into. Something, someone, who chose to take an inordinate amount of time to vest some knowledge into him.

”Why would you kill another for crossing over an imaginary line? Going straight for the kill? Taking a life that easily? It seems…”
 
A pause for momentary silence, spanning no more than a few seconds as the chirps of crickets and the cadence of birds trespassed amongst them.

“...cowardly.”

His comments made her spine stiffen. On one hand, she felt defensive of Redtail Rise, who had every right to deal with trespassers however they wished! She even felt her face twisting into a sneer. But then Masque caught herself, realizing she didn’t totally disagree with him. Her masked face quickly relaxed into a blank expression.

That approach doesn’t suit everyone, she concurred coolly, but it’s always smart to tread carefully around marked borders.

With this advice reiterated, she was more than ready to be on her way. Masquerade took another few steps back, her body language telegraphing her intent to depart before her mouth opened again.

I have a lot of ground to cover, Masque said, already turning. Good luck out there, were her parting words before she began to lope away.