Otatso Wetlands Flatworm

Marsh. Muck. Stuck to dark limbs, dripping each time one lifted from the brackish depths; not so deep here, just about a quarter up. Worm felt the slime of mud between each digit. 

Oh, but there was something nice about swamp. No place so untamed, so unable to be subjugated or bent to the whims of whoever came next. No no, the bog swallowed everything, made it apart of itself. She hoped to die some place like that when the time did come. Somewhere that would not give up its dead. Somewhere that made them its own, kept them close.

This place was one. She heard it on the wind, whispers in the spaces between the croaking of frogs, and the chirping of crickets. The tops of a shadowing canopy swayed in the gentle wind, the air a symphony of eerie creaking. Haunted. Most certainly, but was it this place or was it she herself? She was drawn here regardless, maybe just to catch frogs to feed her hungering form, or maybe to give voice to the voiceless dead.

Well, they needed to speak up.

She let her gaze drop to the water, reflection not mirrored, not in darkness like this. The bog took her face, too. Added it to the rest, a compiled menagerie of souls; she saw them in the water, brief and fleeting, more faces swirling in the muck, wordless. The vermin girl pressed her face to the surface, nose hardly a hair away from the water. Here, she would stare, stare until they all went away and crept back to their graves. She sent them back. Erylis saw ghosts and Worm dismissed them. She had no place here, nor anywhere. Dead dead dead. Bog take her too, she haunts me.

Frogs.

Gentle, tentative breath fell from her jaws as she lifted back up, and tredged further on. No more muck in this small respite, she dragged herself to a patch of not-so dry land, but land all the same. She'd snatched a frog from the reeds on her way up, the little green beast gave an unlucky bounce towards jaws quick enough to catch. Soon she would move on, soon she would find someone to entertain and be entertained in kind. Dull eyes of glimmering silver pierced through the rolling fog, watched her surroundings while she scarfed down her meager meal.

The marshland was oppressive. The air was heavy, thick with the scent of rotting vegetation and stagnant water. Morwenna stepped lightly through the mire, her stark paws darkened with each step as the bog clung to her. The landscape was unfamiliar, and yet, it resonated with a sense of untamed power—a place that refused to bend to the will of wolves or any other creatures.

She moved carefully, her silvered eyes scanning the shadows for signs of life. The swamp was alive with sounds: the rhythmic croak of frogs, the occasional rustle of unseen things. It was eerie, unsettling even, but Morwenna was not easily deterred.

And then she saw her—a shadowed figure crouched on a patch of damp earth, her dark form blending almost seamlessly with the surroundings. Morwenna’s ears twitched as she watched the woman devour a frog, her silvered eyes reflecting the dim light of the bog. She was strange, this one, her demeanor neither inviting nor hostile. It was as if she belonged to the swamp itself, another piece of the untamed wilderness.

Strange place for a meal, Morwenna called softly, her voice carrying just enough to reach the other without disturbing the marshland’s uneasy stillness. Her tone was even, measured, and laced with a curiosity she did not bother to conceal. She stepped closer, but not too close, her posture neutral.

What brings you to a place like this? she asked, her gaze fixed on the dark woman. The bog isn’t exactly known for its hospitality.

There was no accusation in her voice, only a quiet inquisitiveness. She stood, waiting, her star-hued fur stark against the murky backdrop of the swamp, an observer seeking answers from the stranger in the muck.

cameo; tag him in if u want him to join! <3

this valley was not his to claim. sun eater only followed the herds which streamed through herbforest, lakeshore, forest; all trudging inexorably for the taiga. when he found morwenna's scent again, a grin wreathed his muzzle; he did not quite follow, but he kept her trail near to him as he discovered where caribou cows had gathered to break ground for succulent roots.

the stinking mire did not deter them and so he would not avoid it, though here morwenna's tracks verged with those of a stranger. upon a close look, he found a smear of pure darkness nearby, crunching something he was not able to make out.

here upon the wetlands, his tall frame was plainly visible; cold wind lifted his hackles into cutting spikes, and after a long glance he turned away, heading past the two into the bog's inner secrecy.

Sun eater is fine by me to join! :)

Spike-furred coy bristled at a voice on the wind, for a moment she looked to the water, as if it had come from there, and then frantically the other direction as footsteps sounded closer, closer. 

Nothing malevolent. Only a wolf. Only a stranger. No teeth bore down on her yet. That frantic moment was fleeting and in only a moment her expression soothed, softened; sensitive and gentle. Maybe I thought it might be private. She murmured, eyes skimming the ground and then trailing up to match the gaze of the woman before her. There was almost a tease lingering in her tone, she knew such things could keep the peace.  Not that there is any issue. I don't mind the call of company, even if it finds me when I don't expect it.  She played it hesitant, best to safe for now. ..I could ask you the same question, what has brought either of us to this... inhospitable place? For me, it is because this is where my legs have brought me. I chose to go through instead of around, I don't fear getting my legs wet, there are worse things.

Worm straightened her hunched posture, sat up a little. She let her eyes slide up the form of the other woman, mapping her out in her mind in a way that was almost lecherous, perhaps tinged with envy. Intent remained concealed, and before any could've been gleamed, she dipped her head politely. ...If I have crossed boundaries, I will atone to you. Forgive me, scent markers are hard to smell in swamp.

morwenna’s ears twitched at the woman’s words, catching the faint tease in her tone. she dipped her muzzle briefly, her gaze steady and calm, though curiosity lingered in the depths of her starkissed eyes. i’m scouting, she replied simply, her voice soft, carrying no threat. the bog may be inhospitable, but it holds its own secrets. sometimes, it’s best to see where the path leads.

her attention shifted as her nose caught a familiar scent carried on the wind. the woman before her faded slightly into the background as her gaze lifted, locking onto a tall figure in the distance. @Sun Eater. his unmistakable presence loomed like a shadow cast by the low-hanging sun. her heart quickened at the sight of him, though her composure remained intact.

without hesitation, she stepped closer to the edge of the bog, her voice lifting in a clear call meant for him. sun eater, she called, her tone a mixture of warmth and curiosity. her paws carried her forward a step, the mud squelching beneath them. though he moved as if he meant to disappear into the deeper mire, she hoped he would pause, would heed her call.

her gaze flicked back to the dark, lanky woman briefly, offering a small nod before her focus returned fully to the chieftain. the pull of his presence was impossible to ignore.

morwenna was not a saatsine woman, sun eater reminded himself as rangy limbs halted his traverse of the mire on the blueflower sound of her voice. such sensations had only preceded trouble; the death of gheli, the betrayal of red leaf.

by all rights indeed he should turn away and aside, turn his face and continue after the lamed caribou he had come here to find.

instead he strode toward the swiftcurrent woman, his own face betraying no emotion nor the burgeoning interest that had begun to grow in spite of his best efforts to end it preemptively.

but he did not often hold one's gaze the way he held that of morwenna, and an undercurrent of unutterable electricity coursed the air before he turned that single knowing eye on the second woman.

built of shadow and lightless silk, the wolf's appearance offered a good deal of intrigue to sun eater. blood was here; a meal consumed. the sun clan chieftain glanced between the striking faces. "i hunt. you come? i find more than frog," he offered dryly to the she-wolf whose name he did not yet know.

A second one, come closer now. Man, one-eyed and tall, draped in the same cloak of night as she was. 

Seemed inhospitable places were rather popular. She wondered if they too felt the pull of death in the air. Perhaps they just itched to add to it. I come. she echoed, sparing a glance between the two who clearly knew each other. Their easy invitation offered more than just the prospect of a meal, it offered connections. 

Perhaps a place to hold out a while. Perhaps.

She kept her thoughts locked up. What are we hunting? lanky figure rose, dared to step much much closer, barriers of hesitance, suspicion, all abandoned. 

She would make herself useful. Worm built herself off of that very drive.

morwenna nodded once, her silent agreement a subtle shift in her posture. stepping into line with the black-furred woman, her strides were smooth, practiced, her focus split between the task ahead and the presence at her side.

as they moved, morwenna tilted her head toward the stranger, her voice low and calm. what is your name? she asked, sparing the woman a sidelong glance, curiosity mingling with the quiet resolve in her tone. i'm morwenna. that's sun eater, a chieftain.

her gaze flickered forward, landing on the strong, unyielding figure of sun eater. her eyes lingered briefly at the base of his neck, where his shoulders rippled with every deliberate step. she felt a pull, subtle but present, grounding her in the rhythm of their movement.

morwenna spoke his name; its sound was an inexorable pull. compelled to look at her, he kept the communication of their eyes brief. "i am caribou hunter. my clan is saatsine. today we follow young one. bad leg. lose one —" he gestured to the left side of his crown to say their prey had broken an antler.

he moved somewhat ahead, as much to track as to keep morwenna out of his eye lest his own expressions betray him.

sun eater did not enjoy the sensation of being unbalanced.

Morwenna. Sun eater. Strong names, beautiful names. Chieftain, hm? Recognition in the eyes of both was not lost on Worm, but not yet wholly identified, either. The chieftain avoided, and Worm caught this breadcrumb. So she was to be a buffer, in a sense. Eerie glass eyes stared like a hawk between the two, her tongue roved over her teeth behind her lips.

This one is called Worm. said the beast of shadow and lightless silk, quickening light feet to fall in alongside the two. She'd never tasted caribou, seen but never dared, not with herds like those ones. Confidence could quickly find itself stamped beneath the hooves of hundreds strong. 

One invited defense. Three incited panic. Already, the vermin girl anticipated the drip drip drip of blood from her chin. 

You like it, don't you? She asked, a quieted snicker rumbling in her throat, long thin tail sweeping the ground as they moved.

morwenna’s pace faltered briefly, her gaze drawn to sun eater’s broad back as he moved ahead. the chieftain avoided her eye, and though she did not voice her thoughts, the sharpness of her intuition gnawed at her. was he embarrassed? the notion puzzled her. if embarrassment had taken root, then what had led him here, to her? had he followed her steps, sought her out intentionally? the questions coiled in her chest, heavy and unanswered.

she turned her attention to the black, lanky woman, her pale gaze settling. it’s nice to meet you, worm, she said evenly, though the name tugged at her thoughts. odd, she mused silently. peculiar. but there were things morwenna knew she could not judge, names among them.

still, the strangeness of it lingered, a thread in the fabric of this unusual meeting in the thickest of bogs.

worm. an odd name, but then again sun eater had come to anticipate strangeness outside the saatsine. practiced ears caught the brief oddity in morwenna's gait, but he steeled his profile away from her.

"we honor them," he said at last, glance for worm now. indeed she was indeed a shadow-creature, bound beside he and the creek woman as if she had always been there.

but when he slowed to drop his head, to turn them rightmost into a thicker tangle of trees drenched to mud halfway up their bark — it was again morwenna he watched now for a helpless and inscrutable moment. "here he lay," sun eater muttered, motioning to divots in the muck. "then he get up. keep going."

the last two words, an exultation as much as a revelation.