Blackfeather Woods why you get loose, get loose, get low, get low

sobeille continued her journey. she traveled light, wondering if @Chani had made it back home, or if she was somewhere trailing behind.

she came upon a forest so dark it reminded her of the monolith forest to the south of her home. besides the occasional rasp of a raven, she heard nothing save her own footsteps and the clank of the small bones in her peltskin.

she found a path that lead her into the forest, to a clearing bearing red-boughed trees. the snow here was thin, and the ground dry. sobeille set camp by what looked like naturally placed stone steps.

as she bent to place down her peltskin the contents spilled; three of the four small bones bounced away. with an annoyed groan she went to collect them, pausing as she saw that three of them oriented the same way -- an improbable thing, if she had not witnessed it herself.

the fourth bone, the high arch of a deer vertebrae, sunk deep in the earth like a dagger. danger? she looked around her. the woods were quiet.

why would three of them point that way? she collected them with a sigh, and it was then she froze, catching sight of a dark tunnel mouth in the very direction the bones had pointed.

thank you god for a sobeille AW post :prayer:

since meeting the brecheliant woman, shirin had gone back east to retrace her steps. she traveled alone and so had many hours to think. she thought to herself, i wish to know the world deeply, but the world seemed to be closing itself off to her.

fine, then, she thought. two can play at that game. she found a small depression in the earth, maybe an abandoned fox den. she couldn't care less what it was.

inside, she became used to talking to herself, and then not at all. she spent many hours in the confined space with the smell of her own breath, walking out only for water.

but a noise caught her ear: a muted clatter, then a sigh.

a familiar anxiety saturated her, but she crawled out above ground for the first time in nearly a full day. sunlight, though steely and overcast, smashed her face in. it lanced through her skull like an ice pick lobotomy.

stunned and squinting, shirin stood there dumbly and waited for the spots in her eyes to disappear, her heart in her mouth. who are you?

sobeille also longed to know the world intimately; to learn from all religions, to strip back the flesh from all traditions -- to take and macerate old-world customs and bend them to her own design.

as she hunkered down to collect the bone a pair of eyes stared back at her from the dark. her hackles bladed instantly, but as a figure broke from the denmouth, sobeille realized she was staring at the countenance of another wolf.

this one was decidedly pretty; an otherworldly marking wrapped around her face like a shawl. she looked confused -- sobeille put the last of the bones into her peltskin. sobeille. who be you?

the girl spoke boldly and in a sort of argot that shirin was unfamiliar with, but did not find unpleasant.

ise- she stuttered and stopped herself. akh, how do you fuck that up? it's been three seconds.

she gathered the scattered pieces of her attention with a strained breath. when she felt steady enough she released the grip with a shaky, self-deprecatory laugh and a tight flick of her ears.

i am shirin, the muted light glimmered on the moist gutter between her lip and lower teeth. why do you carry all those bones?

through a wince, please tell me if you mind me asking.

she spoke as if anticipating verbal, perhaps even physical punity.

the girl spoke something unintelligible, then laughed — a nervous sort of noise that focused sobeille’s attention.

but she need only ask of the bones to win the girl’s good favor. she pushed them forward, noticing the stranger’s anticipatory anxiety for her interest. this was another alien concept to sobeille, who had only ever been unapologetically ruthless in her thirst for knowledge.

dese be signal bones. dey can tell me t’ings, if i can concentrate enough to decipher dem. de bones had a funny pattern before. she flicked her gaze back to the den, wondering if shirin was the danger or in danger.

to her endless relief, sobeille did not snap at her. still, her heart quailed at the possibility of rejection.

funny bad or funny good? shirin wondered aloud, her voice soft with thought. in response to the girl's remark, shirin realised there were a handful of avenues to take, splaying out like the foot of a loon.

mocking: do you really think that a bunch of bones can tell you anything? i stopped believing in that shit a long time

inquisitive: how does it work? how do you read them? i heard you have to be born with

maybe even obsequious: could you read them for me? i just picked up some scratch-off lotto tickets and

suddenly her bearing turned brittle.

don't you know that there's nothing? she forced the words out through clenched teeth.