The Heartwood nimble is the heart's desire

AW.. just trying to break in to her character once more. ><

Vega would not have suspected herself to return to Teekon Wilds – after the avalanche that had rolled over her after joining Northstar Vale, and the injuries the swarthy female had sustained, she had not been able to put enough distance between herself and what she had considered this hell hole for a while.

But here she was, and while she kept the Vale at a wide berth, the lissome female did find her bright gaze drifting to the direction of it, an emotionless mask shrouding the possibilities of her thoughts. She had thought little of how the pack members had fared – she had not held a chance to place any form of roots there, and as time had passed, her wayward paws had found her still drifting, and still not settled.

But winter was a dangerous time to be alone, and while the mercenary would have been content to maintain her lifestyle, she also felt the familiar pull of companionship tugging at her chest.. easing her to the idea of a lifestyle change.

But first, she would need to scope out the packs of the area, because the last time she had played Russian roulette with her decision, she had ended up buried in a shit ton of snow.

In all his time since joining Blackfeather, Kove had never visited the Heartwood. He'd been curious of the forest that loomed near the one he called home, but never so much so as to get up and go explore it. He was getting antsy with it, though, and had decided to leave the borders he often lingered by in order to head over to the other forest. Perhaps, if the visit was interesting enough, he'd have a story to tell to his red-eyed friend. He hadn't seen her in awhile, which was a bit disappointing, but understood that they were from two separate packs, and held two separate bits of responsibility. Still, though, he couldn't shake the urge he had to head up and visit the place near Duck Lake again. In other words, both his want to check the place out, as well as his need to know how long he could stay from his pack, is what brought the brute to the Heartwood. It was a bit of a selfish impulse, he knew, but couldn't bring himself to care in the moment.

Kove hadn't needed to travel all too far into the forest before he caught the scent of another wolf. If they'd been near Blackfeather, he would have raced to confront the other, but they weren't. This lead him to be cautious, moving in and out between the trees as he moved towards the smell, wondering who it was. From what the pale man could tell, the other was definitely a wolf, as well as female. He hadn't met a wolf of every pack, that was true, but the scent that lingered around her didn't match any of the ones he had met. Instead, it was foreign, seeming to not belong to the Wilds. Perhaps she is new to this land, or simply returning from a long travel away. There his conscious went again, giving him a few ideas as to where the wolf was coming from.

When the woman came into his line of sight, the ghost slowed his pace and looped around a time or two in order to check the other out. He wanted to see if they could, potentially, be sick in any fashion or able to bring harm to him. In truth, he was sure any wolf could bring harm to another if they tried hard enough, so he was mainly checking for any signs of disease. Without having been to the woods before, he didn't know what to expect within it, but his overly cautious mind was quickly laid to rest when he couldn't find anything that seemed to stand out. Kove didn't think twice before stepping from where he was to approach the woman, his posture holding no threat for the time being. "Hello," he greeted. "Pulled to check this woods out as well, or are you just passing by?"

There was an intricate scent in the wind – though the heady scent of wood was dominant about her, she could still tell something was off, and it encouraged her nimble form to pause as her eyes gave a quick sweep of the area. Nothing stood out to her – that was until a ghostly form popped out from the brush, stirring a wolfish brow to quirk forward as the stranger made his presence known.

“Passing through,” she responded, not missing a beat to pause and debate his question. She held no true interest in the landform itself, and neutrally, her tail gave a quick swish through the air. “Why so curious?” She was quick to deflect the questions form herself, and instead, her swarthy figure straightened, waiting for a reaction and response. The scent that emanated from him became more apparent now – though she did not recognize it. Perhaps some interesting developments had occurred since her last visit to Teekon Wilds.

Either way, this stranger was a pawn to sue for information, and with careful calculation, she kept a decent distance between the two.

Kove was slightly disappointed that the other was not there to explore the area as he wished to, but refused to allow such an emotion to show towards a stranger. She seemed quick to ask a question of her own right after answering the one he'd presented to her. He didn't think too much about the question, and gave a shrug of his shoulders. “Not entirely curious,” he told her. “I Was just trying to start a conversation. It would have been rude to just walk by you as if you didn't exist, right?” In truth, he really could have come up with a better way to start off a conversation, but the question had been the first thing to come to mind, and so he just rolled with it. No harm done it seemed.

He was able to noticed the distance being kept between the stranger and himself, but made no move to close it. For now, he'd keep his distance.

His words were interesting to her -- a kind soul was a rare things these days.. but Vega was a wolf who had grown accustom to the life of a lone wolf, and she did not trust as easily as most. "Not many hold that notion when dealing with those outside their pack," she offered, her bright eyes casting him a quick glance over. "Especially to a lone wolf." A solitary creature at times, of course the rogue felt the pull of pack life.. the desire to hold companions as she once had. But as a lone wolf, she spent much of her time being chased away -- the bane of any pack wolf.

"Perhaps you can share some insight with me to these lands now. The Northstar Vale pack seems to have been eradicated. Do you know of them?" Not that she was searching them out to rejoin them -- her stay with the pack had been extremely brief. Still, her curiosity begged to know the reason to their disappearance.

Kove took a moment to listen to her words, saying nothing as a few seconds passed. He knew many were not too kind or reasonable towards those outside of their own pack, but what reason would he have for doing so? The pale being was working towards becoming a Warden, that much was no secret, but since they weren't near his pack's land, and because the other was a woman, he held no use for being unkind towards her. “We aren't close to my pack, and I was once a lone wolf myself, so what would I gain from acting in a negative way towards you?” The question was rhetorical, of course, and was followed by a simple look at the surrounding area.

To the mention of another pack, he perked his ears a bit, then shook his head. “I've never heard of them,” he admitted. “They must have disbanded before I arrived in this land.” Either he had just never heard of them, or what had happened to them had come about before his arrival in the Wilds. Whatever the case, it made no difference. He could not assist the other lupine in finding any living members, or even point her in a direction that might hold some answers to any questions she holds for the pack.

She chose to ignore his question -- not because she held no answer, but because discussing the antics of others was the last thing she was truly interested in. Instead, the she-wolf took much more interest in the fact that not only was Northstar Vale truly gone.. but its legacy had been erased from the lands as well.

Amusement would stir within her -- she had not felt close to the wolves.. for they had left her buried in a small avalanche of snow. The pack had left a bitter taste in her mouth about placing trust in others for awhile.. but that did not mean the swarthy she-wolf did not feel the pull or need to find a group she could instead trust.

Doing so, however, would be a challenge. "Can you tell me anything about the packs that currently reside in the Wilds, then?" She was using him purely for information -- this, he must have concluded to by now.. but she felt no guilt for it.

Whether it showed through or not, the pale being could tell when he was being used. As one who was taught the ways of lying to receive information, detecting when another was using him for the same cause was easy to see. He, however, didn't mind, nor did he give it a second thought. As long as the woman didn't try to get anything to use on Blackfeather, he didn't care. So, for now, he decided he would comply and answer whatever questions she came up with.

"Depends on what you're wanting to know," Kove answered, unconsciously digging through his mind as he did so. The man did not know of all the packs of the Wilds, nor did he know where some of them were located, but he could give most of it a calculated guess going by those he'd met over the course of his time there. "Names, locations, ones you should stay away from... Anything like that?" He tossed out a few suggestions for specifics on what she might be looking for, not wanting to jump right in and start speaking blindly.

"All of the above," she mused, her tail giving an idle flick as her gaze softened upon him. he was proving to be rather helpful -- and even happy to be so. It was a small gesture of kindness, and she found her tensions lower slightly as she awaited an answer. Her bright green eyes would stray to the cirmson marks on his shoulder every so often, but would once more flit to rest upon his cheek. It was an interesting marking -- one that could be said did not imply friendliness, but he had proven otherwise.
 
Perhaps, he would have even been handsome, had he not stunk of death and rot from the blood he was marked in.

The woman's thirst for knowledge seemed to be even greater than he had suspected, as was proven when she gave her answer on what she wished to know. All of the above. He was curious about why she would need so much, but didn't bother thinking too much on it. She probably had her reasons, just as he did when he asked for things from another. Too bad for her, the man had limited information on the pack's of the Wilds, as he'd hardly traveled anywhere since settling into a pack. “I don't know a whole lot,” he admitted. “But I do know of a few packs. Duskfire Glacier, Swiftcurrent Creek, and Blackfeather Woods.” Only three names were currently known to him, but eventually his knowledge wold expand. “I don't know the names, but I believe there to be packs close to a sea somewhere. I could smell salt water on one I've met before. Duskfire is up North, and so is Swiftcurrent.” The man did not share the location of his own pack right away, as he wasn't sure if he should or not.

Kove was quick to make up his mind, but only because she would need to know of his pack. “You'll want to stay away from Blackfeather. It's Southeast of here, but I wouldn't recommend searching for it. Getting too close to the dark forest could very well cost you your life,” the man informed her, making a point not to include the fact that he was a member of said pack. He was loyal to them, yes, but that didn't mean he couldn't warn others from going near it. The woman seemed decent enough, and the last thing he wanted to see was her lifeless form tossed around through the shadow-filled lands.