Sequoia Coast Somewhere in the darkness

ooc: located not far from Ankyra sound.

It was today that Osprey managed to leave the borders of Stavenger bay without having a panic attack. The fear hadn't gone away entirely, it was still present, raging at the back of her mind and being controlled by sheer will-power. The idea that she had to get back home was a strong motivating factor, therefore she had kept on walking even after she crossing the invisible border of her comfort zone.

Her path led along the beach - north this time, because this was something different, because she had to be sure that after bidding her goodbyes, she wouldn't come back running. Telling that she had lost her grip at some point. It was a lonely place - apart from the gulls - there was no one here and Osprey felt grateful for this solitude. She didn't want anyone else see her struggle, this was a fight she had to win on her own.

At the same time she was acutely aware of everything that happened around her and the sudden noise of the two gulls screeching, while fighting over a scrap of fish, made her freeze on the spot and eye them with fearful gaze.

Drawn to the strand by the raucous calls of two warring gulls, Caiaphas froze in the drizzling mist as she sensed she was not alone. Despite the damp and the cold, the scent of another wolf was present -- and vaguely through the nebulous haze she saw the form of another wolf halted much like herself.

The wolf seemed fearful. Caiaphas eyed her carefully, noting clearly the trepidation to her pose. The grey female was not close enough to the Sound where Caiaphas felt immediately threatened -- yet she was close enough the waif felt compelled to intercept her.

She uttered nothing as she strode towards the timid-formed wolf, her expression as austere as the cheerless grey of the sea that flanked them.

It took a brief moment for Osprey to realize that she wasn't alone here and that there was someone watching her. She turned just in time to see a grey she-wolf - smaller and younger than her - approaching her in a straight line, without saying a single word. Osprey frowned and reatreatead some steps, taking a defensive position - the fur along her spine bristled, she held her head low with ears flattened against her skull and kept her gaze focused on the other's face.

Yes - she might not feel entirely comfortable in these strange lands and this reflected in her aura, but at the same it was not other wolves that she feared the most. It was easier to face and not back away from them. She still had enough strength to pick up a fight, if the events were to steer that way. To warn the stranger to keep her distance, she let out a low, rumbling growl.

The female wanted little to do with Caiaphas' arrival. Without shame Caiaphas studied the creature -- the flat junction of her smooth muzzle, the apprehensive crease of her ears as they laid flat along her skull. She made no move to close the distance as Osprey retreated -- and if anything, her posture remained decidedly neutral.

Osprey's growl elicited a change in the pale waif's countenance -- instantly her ears flew forward in huffy outrage and her head heightened instinctively. She was being a dick pressing Osprey's sense of comfort, yet she had no remorse for this action. And yet, she made no further advancement -- instead, she elected to sit primly on her little haunches and scrutinize the female without fear in her yellow eyes.

The wolf understood Osprey's warning - it stopped and sat down, scrutinizing her with sharp yellow eyes. They had a predatoy look about them and, even though Osprey challenged the other for a brief moment by locking her gaze with the other's, she found it hard to keep it up, even distressing, therefore she looked away, thus admitting her "defeat" and telling that she had no wish of any conflict.

It was not only the color of the eyes that Osprey found odd, it was the look of the wolf itself too. It's appearance, stance, coat color spoke of something very foreign. The elder had seen wolves of all kinds and shapes in her life, but this was different. Otherworldly. "What do you wish?" she asked, breaking the silence between them.

Caiaphas' hackles ruffled outward for a moment as Osprey met her gaze -- yet swiftly, the grey colored wolf looked away. Caiaphas nearly preened with snobbish superiority -- she was being downright insufferable in Osprey's company. A thin and unkind smile pressed sparsely on her black gums as she continued her survey of the motley-shaded woman.

Her question did not perturb Caiaphas -- she often garnered that type of inquiry. Her smile flourished and faded, her expression transient in its lack of kindness. "To know more about you." She intoned darkly, setting her tail assuredly about her thin hindquarters like a predatory cat.

Osprey did not like the wolf's tone - in fact - she began feeling dislike for a lot of things in this wolf, but spoke none of it. Even tough it was smaller and weaker looking than her, she didn't want to provoke it in any way. She knew enough stories, which told you to be careful in your judgement about people you didn't know that well. They could turn out to be entirely different - more dangerous than you would have thought.

"What will I get from telling you about me?" she asked, studying the other's face.

The part she-wolf offered a dainty smile as Osprey returned the studying -- it seemed Caiaphas welcomed the contrary looks as she remained quite seemingly vulnerable despite her raptor-pose. She could sense Osprey was mistrustful of her intentions -- and for good measure -- it was not often a passerby enjoyed the skeletal waif's company.

"I'll tell you about me." She rejoined smoothly, her voice nearly a mewl of cocky self-entitlement. Caiaphas didn't consider for a moment that she was not as thrilling as she believed herself to be: as far as she was concerned, she too interesting an animal for Osprey to refuse the offer.

"Sounds fair," Osprey replied, studying the other's face, trying to find the slightest notions that would give the stranger's true intentions away, but having no success at that. Either she was not good at reading people or the wolf's character was just as peculiar as it's looks and way it acted.

Yet she could not deny that she liked to be in this unusual situation a bit. It was not every day you met people like these and, who knew, maybe she would find out something that would work as a material for future stories. Under these circumstances it was not hard to imagine that this wolf beheld a sprinkle of supernatural.

"My name is Osprey, who are you?" she began with a simple, harmless fact and question to test the waters and get to know the rules of the game they were about to play.

Osprey seemed wary of Caiaphas, though she did eventually venture into Caiaphas' speculated game. A broad grin pressed on Caiaphas' black gums as she revealed her name -- it was a harmless enough beginning to their game, and Caiaphas knew that if she remained as disarming as possible in her answers, she may just learn something useful from the inland wolf.

Osprey was the third wolf that Caiaphas had met in the valley named after another animal. She found this naming process quite interesting, and wondered if it was routine for the inland wolves. She flicked an ear passively, her gaze removed from Osprey's own. She answered readily. "I am Caiaphas Varkentje. I lead a pack on the coast. Where are you from?"

Osprey had expected the other wolf - Caiaphas as it turned out - to be just as brief in her answers as she had been. But no. This wolf had something to be proud of - first, a family name and, second, a pack to lead. It could also be that this answer was also the next question to her. Did she have anything of importance? Anything that could leave an impression on the odd wolf.

"From a pack far in the South," she told her, convenietly leaving out the name of it. She would deduce it either way, because there were only three packs to choose from. "I am a visitor of another pack at the coast. The Stavanger bay. What's your pack called?"

Despite their ready answers, both wolves seemed rather vague in the reply. Caiaphas' expression remained somewhat shrewd -- she turned her narrow head to the side and observed the wolf out of the corner of her eyes.

Her ears pulled forward as the wolf mentioned the Bay -- perhaps this betrayed her knowledge of the other coastal wolves not too far from her. She harbored many things for these wolves - resentment they shared a homeland -- idle contempt -- she had, after all, lifted a rather promising puppy from their ranks.

Tit for tat -- this was the game they played -- and as curious as she was, she knew Osprey's willingness to participate would dissipate if she with-held her pack's name. "We are called Charnel's Keep." She lied -- this was the name of her homeland, and the manner in which she spoke concealed well the untruth. "Why are you visiting?" Her eyes fell along Osprey's shoulder, which she had noticed the female favor earlier. "Extended recovery sabbatical?"

this house was my flowered heart,
but my petals have fallen.

Eerie... Osprey thought, when Caiaphas told the name of her pack. Yet suiting too in a way. For a moment she wondered, if all wolves were as creepy as this specimen here and, whether being plain scary was one of the elements that bound them together. But she would never find out and - truth to be told - she didn't actually want to see, what the wolf's homeland looked like.

"I was injured and they helped me," she replied - there was nothing more to be said about this. Details weren't relevant. "Is your pack recent or has been established here for a long time?"

A brief smile graced her dark countenance as Osprey took the lie without question. Caiaphas flicked her tail contently, watching the grey wolf as she drew forth an answer to her query. It was short -- clipped -- Caiaphas' ears strained forwards as if in disappointment.

Caiaphas did not find the answer to the nature of Osprey's injury satisfactory.

Her expression hardened then and her mouth remained shut -- outwardly, she shut down, irritable that Osprey had withheld the story behind her injury. Her expression grew somewhat turbulent, and the only answer doled forth from the stormy coywolf was a long and interminable silence.

Osprey sensed that for some reason she had upset the other wolf. Not that it suddenly felt offended or unhappy, but... she furrowed her brow trying to put her paw on the right word - dissatisfied. Was that it? Had she not told enough? On the other hand - what was her business anyway.

Her expression cleared realizing this and when she looked at the silent wolf again, a smile appeared in her lips. She suddenly felt light, glad for having a secret (even if she didn't know herself, what it was) that the other didn't. "I asked you a question," she reminded politely.

hahaha osprey is adorable

Despite Osprey's sensible reminder, Caiaphas remained resolute in her silence. Polite was not a mannerism the wretch chose to employ. Sulkily her shoulders hunched, her ears pinned -- and a dark and terrible scowl graced her razored features.

"You gave me an unsatisfactory answer." She spat, the retort clipped in tone. Nevermind it was an answer -- nevermind the game had been played accordingly -- Caiaphas felt herself the proprietor of this ludicrous exchange, the creator of the rules -- and if Osprey did not scramble quickly for a suitable reply, it was clear Caiaphas would play no longer.

Had it been moments earlier, Osprey would have felt concerned for the visible change in Caiaphas. Metaphorically speaking the clouds above she-wolf's head grew darker and heavier. There was only thunder rumbling, no lightening yet. She seemed too collected for that. But now she did not - it seemed that there was suddenly an invisible shield between her and the wrath of the other she-wolf. How oddly fitting did the pack's name "Charnel's keep" was to it's inhabitant.

"Am I here to satisfy your curiosity?" she asked innocently, tilting her head to the side, while the smile never left her lips.

Mercurial as ever, the game no longer suited her. Just as Osprey's innocent smile no longer amused her.

Caiaphas delivered an impudent stare laced with hostility, the yellow of her gaze ringed with newly developed distaste. Osprey had done nothing to garner Caiaphas' misguided rancor -- yet it mattered not.

"Am I here to truncate your existence?" She followed up rashly, rising to her narrow limbs. Her slender spine arched in the manner of a cat's and along her shoulder and sacrum her coarse fur flared with belligerence.

She stepped then towards Osprey, a guttural growl escaping her slavering lips. Inwardly, Caiaphas was bluffing and intended only to chase the female away -- outwardly, she looked every bit a threatening, manic psychopath.

"I do hope not," Osprey caught the dangerous note in the other's voice and stance and got up to her feet too, letting her fur bristle slightly on her nape and sacrum and lifting her tail slightly above the level of her body. She was not in her best shape and didn't want to fight, but would the other attack her, she would fight back.

"I like my existence - as you kindly pointed out - too much," she explained politely. "What about you? If you want - I can truncate yours," she offered, giving a measuring look at Caiaphas and letting her gaze linger at her throat and then at her neck, then she looked her challenger in the eyes. "It's not that hard to do," Osprey said with a nasty smile.

Shit, the mangy coywolf thought inwardly with her harridan gaze locked on the much bigger wolf. She hadn't exactly anticipated Osprey's bravery -- typically when Caiaphas dropped her marbles, her audience hastily ran.

She was not afraid of Osprey. At least not yet. With bold resolution, her fierce yellow gaze met the she-wolf's own. Caiaphas arched her back and scuttled sideways with her tail flagged. Her fur stood out in outrageous tufts, wildly misplaced and rowdy. Osprey's ominous words were given little thought.

"You know, last week I truncated this raccoon. Mad as a march hare and drooling -- babbling, stupid thing." Caiaphas cackled wildly, inching closer with her maniacal gaze locked firmly on Osprey. "But lately, I've been feeling peaked." The waif snorted, her muzzle slavering with frothy spittle. "Do you think he was sick?" She paused, her query almost innocent -- her eyes wide with feigned surprise. "Do you think.. I could get you sick?"

At this point, Caiaphas hoped to be close enough to Osprey that a lunge was not out of the question. If Osprey had not turned from her then, she would pounce forwards, her jaws snapping with frenzied vehemence to drive the pestilent creature away.

If Osprey had had a vague impression of Caiaphas not being right in her mind, then now she got a proof. Either because of the challenge that she had thrown right back to the coywolf or simply because the lady had not been completely sane to begin with, it got to her feet and began blabbering about some sick racoon she had decapitated and that she was quite convinced that she was sick too.

Osprey winced, retreated few steps and let out a low warning growl. However, she did not believe the other - not the least. She was playing well - that was true - but if she had wanted to make an impression, then she could have done well without all of that slobbering. "Bugger off," she bared her teeth. "You never know, if I didn't get bitten by the same mad racoon. I can get you infected too," she told her matter-of-factly.

With her shoulders formidably hunched, Caiaphas watched Osprey for any visible reaction. There it was -- a recoil -- Caiaphas practically squealed in triumph. She kept her act, a wicked grin spoiling her ugly muzzle.

The skeletal waif scuttled forwards like a beggar, her mischievous eyes brilliant with foul schemes. "I'm not worried." She giggled, her teeth chattering as she anticipated any move from the steelgrey female. Caiaphas still held her somewhat arched pose, her hackles upright and unbroken. "We can find out." She ventured, licking her lips once more as she hungrily watched Osprey for a reaction to her bluff. She was hoping at this point Osprey would have tired of her company enough to leave -- their encounter having the potential to be physical was enough to make the nervous coywolf try any ploy to drive Osprey away.

"Well, as much as I have enjoyed your company," Osprey moved a little to the side so in case Caiaphas decided to attack her, she would have a wider range to retreat to, as well as a chance to escape. As tempting as it was to test her strength against this scrawny witch, she felt a bit too wise for this kind of interaction. "I will have to leave you to your own devices," she finished and there was a hint of disappointment in her voice. Either because she knew that giving up was something the other female had expected her to do or because of a missed chance to fight.

"Let's find it out next time - when we are both rabid and happen to meet here on this beach," she said, winked mischievously and retreated in a safe distance to break the eye contact and go away. The further she went, the quicker her step became until she broke out in a full-scale leap.

ooc: last post from me, thank you for the thread!

thank you so much for the thread!! i was thinking the other day.. you played agnes, right?? i miss the agnes and ira threads! i played ira way back when... ;-; we will have to thread again soon!!

Caiaphas watched Osprey carefully, her brow furrowed in anticipation. She was not fully committed to her seemingly bellicose act -- and the second that Osprey turned Caiaphas broke her composure and tittered excitedly with relief.

She was not ready to leave just yet -- however, had Osprey turned course and headed back towards her, Caiaphas would have swiftly changed her mind. She squinted as she watched Osprey leave, her jaws tense. Was it a trick? Was the bigger wolf going to sneak back later? Caiaphas was suspicious, yet she hung back with a single forepaw lifted in uncertainty.

It was not until Osprey was completely out of her sight did the frail creature move, her ears rotating comically atop her skinny head. She then scampered wildly off into the bushes, making a wild dash back towards the Sound.