Blackfeather Woods Dreams of Reality

[size=x-small]This starts in Great Bear Wilderness! and will end in Blackfeather Woods! Once they get there the Thread will be set as 'All welcome' @Kove
[/size]
It was dark, icy and quiet. Her senses of time and space appear to be active now. Lacinia found herself surrounded by darkness yet she was still able to see snow flakes fall lightly around her. As she turned to look behind her she saw a ringed circle with only a piece of an ice shard in it. She approached it and looked at the shard. No matter how she looked at it she was never able to see her full reflection but even the form she saw in it was a blurr. The shard reminded her of a friend who was close, Nexi.. which was the only memory she had recovered.

Suddenly a voice from the broken ice mirror spoke. "You know it's thanks to her that we are both still alive." Even though the voice was calm and soft it startled her. The first thing that came to her mind was asking if this stranger knew her. "Wait, then that means you know who I am right?!" She asked, getting her hopes up. It would be great to finally get her real back.

After a few moments of silence an answer was given. "No... I've never seen you before. Nexi was also a friend of mine who saved me." Of course that was a disappointment for Lacinia she desperately wanted to know someone who knew her.

The voice continued. "I'm aware that you have lost your memories but it is up to you to remember them one step at a time. I think the best way would be to join a pack of wolves. But be warned, I can see that you are not strong. The males will always take advantage over the weak. Don't let them target you."

Lacinia looked down at her paws, she thought about Kove. Does he count on taking advantage of her? Suddenly the voice got loud and frightening. "Watch where you place your trust!" Lacinia quickly looked at the mirror shard seeing a Fiery eye with a dark flame surrounding it. After that moment she instantly woke up.

With her heart pounding she quickly rose and looked around her. There was the corpse of a deer she had hunted with Kove and then there was Kove himself. It would appear to be early morning and Lacinia was feeling much better than the day before. She looked at Kove for a moment and realised that she was sleeping on him. What was this? She never gave him permission to be her pillow. Her dream help create a large amount of distrust towards him. Who ever spoke in her dream was right. Males do take advantage. She looked at him unhappily and counted on punishing him. She can't allow him to take advantage of her, she'll make sure to make him regret it.

Sometime during the night, the combination of being tired and being bored had dragged the man into the state of sleeping. Even unconscious, his body had seemed to stay alert, running on what could only be described as a sort of “autopilot”. His dreams had been filled of images of home, of his birthplace and his family, as well as some thoughts of the strange female who'd fallen asleep against him. The idea of not knowing who he was or where he was from was extremely unappealing, and he couldn't even begin to imagine how the woman felt. What it was like to be blank, to have no memories to rely on when needed—it seemed wrong. Silently, his unconscious mind had wished her luck in recovering all the memories she was able to, as he felt she deserved to at least know something about herself.

Movement pulled Kove from his slumber, tearing his eyes open quickly and pushing his ears forward in order to assess the area. Nothing seemed out of place, really, except for the fact that the unnamed woman was up and looking at him. The look on her face was not even close to being a happy one, but could he really blame her? She'd just woken up to find herself laying against a man she'd only just met—such an experience was bound to make anyone unhappy. “Morning,” he voiced, letting his words mingle with a small yawn at the end. “Were you warm enough? Is the cold the reason you look so unhappy?” The Northerner was curious, and so early too. “Did you learn anything from your dreams, or were they just nonsense as some usually are?”

Kove had no way of telling what was running through the darker being's mind, nor did he have a clue to the fact that she believed he was deserving of some sort of punishment. All his mind was currently on was bringing him up to his feet, and making him stretch out his limbs and body. The ground hadn't been too comfortable, what with it being frozen and all, but he didn't bother to complain. His current companion had enough on her plate as it is, and he didn't want to be the one to add more to it.

Lacinia was no where happy, in fact she was getting angerier by the second. The male didn't seem like he would apologize, not only that put it appeared that he was going to pretend it was nothing. That clearly meant he took advantage and hides the fact that he enjoyed it. Her anger was reaching it's peak but this time she had the energy to do something. It's time for Kove to answer to his sins.

She rose her paw and looked at it's claws then at Kove's sides. There was place where she felt it would hurt him alot if she jabbed it with her claw. She aimmed unknowingly at a pressure point. She expected to harm him without injuring. "How dare you take advantage of the situation!" She yelled as she decided to strike quickly and accurately with her paw. But for some reason it didn't feel like it was enough to satisfy her. Once the male would turn his head towards her she would headbutt him with all she had. She didn't think that would hurt her just as well as it would to Kove.

The pain she would feel on her head would make her turn around and start complaining "ow ow ow ow.. Why did that have to hurt me?" She said with a whiny voice. She would sit and place her two paws on her head in attempt to bare the pain.

Out of everything that had happened so far with the female, the last thing he'd expected was to make her angry at him. In his mind, he'd done nothing wrong, but had done the opposite instead. To him, he had been helpful to the girl, and had by no means taken advantage of her. Why would he, anyways? He knew her even less than she knew herself, and couldn't possibly have gained anything by taking advantage of her. He'd just wanted to be polite and let her rest, rather than wake her up before she had the chance to regain her energy. That being said, it was no surprise that the female had actually hit him both times, but was quite the surprise to Kove.

Between the new pains in his side and his head, he saw the best solution to the situation being to lay down. The pressure point had hurt, but the headbutt was worse as bone against bone contact was never a pleasant thing. After inspecting himself and giving a shake of his head to try and clear away the steady throb, he set a coppery glare on the dark woman. “What the hell was all that for?!” he questioned, voice raising up ever so slightly. “I didn't take advantage of anything! I take you out to hunt and then let you use me as a source of warmth after you passed out against me, and then this happens?” Slowly, he rose back up to his paws, wincing a bit as the motion did nothing to help the headache that was steadily forming. What had he done wrong? Did she come from crazy land that saw kindness as taking advantage of someone? “I'm thinking I should have just left you out here to freeze on your own! Would have been much more comfortable for me back home.” Kove was both angry and upset, but even through that he felt a bit bad about his own words. The woman was without any memories, save for a few, and then had woken up after passing out from exhaustion laying against someone she'd only just met. While he wanted to ignore all that and just continue on being mad at her for attacking him, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Quietly, he released a deep sigh and started to sit down, keeping his head low to further ease the pain that was slowly going away. “Look, if it'll keep you from freaking out like that again, I'm sorry for letting you use me as a pillow.” Saying it out loud sounded pretty foolish to him, but if it helped the situation he didn't care. If it didn't, well, then he would just apologize for whatever else he did until there was no longer a risk of him being attacked. He didn't want to harm her out of retaliation, either, as that would go against what he was taught growing up. By his mother, anyways. If he went by his father's teachings with everything, he would have attacked the dark woman the second he'd seen her, rather than try to help her.

Kove's reaction didn't make her think twice of what she has done. Lacinia still beileved that she was completely in the right and that kove was wrong. Although she didn't expect to get a headache out of all this. Headbutting was no longer an option but atleast it gave Kove what he deserved.

Her dream continues to give thoughts of distrust towards him. She didn't bother turning around to look at him, instead she pointed her nose into the air. "You deserved that for making fun of me from before, and I don't approve of us sleeping together!" she steadily said as she gave reason for her actions. "Your punishment wasn't as bad as it could be! That's your reward for helping me.." She said returning to a calmer tone

There was still something important to take care of. The voice in her dream advised her to find a pack to settle in, and the only solution to that was to follow Kove. If she is going to spend more time with him then she had better keep him under control. Now that the punishment was settled, maybe she could be a little nicer to him. If he ever does something wrong, she'll be ready to teach him the hard way.

Situation now called for Lacinia to ask for his help again but this time she had plenty of energy to do so. She only turned her head to see him at the edge of her sight. "I'm not forgiving you that easily but you are the only one who has helped me since I lost my memories. My dream wasn't as helpful as I thought, it didn't help me remember anything new. In a way I'm kinda glad the first wolf I met was you. I can't imagine what would happen if I met someone without your kindness.." She turned half way around so he could see her fiery eyes. "I still need a place to stay, A home to go back too. Can you please help me with that?" She said sweetly hopeing that he would consider aiding her join his pack.

It was in this very moment that Kove realized he would never be able to tell what the heck was going on through the other wolf's mind. He didn't think he deserved it, but did think she was overreacting either way. However, he didn't say anything about that, so he wouldn't risk further starting anything that would end with him being sore. “It was just a little joke,” he countered. “And we did not sleep together. It was you who passed out against me!” He wouldn't make any comments about whether he deserved being punished or not, but he felt he needed to make it clear of what actually happened. Having her know what really went about just seemed important to him.

While he wouldn't be forgiven right away, he could live with that for the time being. After all, he didn't do anything wrong in his mind, so it's not like he had any guilt eating away at him. His mind was clear—throbbing with pain, yes, but clear all the same. “If you'd met anyone so close to Blackfeather, I'm sure you wouldn't have been allowed to get away unscathed,” Kove commented, his voice a bit low as he spoke. It might not seem entirely right, but that was the way things went. No one could get close or trespass in the Woods without some sort of price needing to be paid. It was lucky for the woman that she'd managed to have the ghost come across her, or else who knows where she might have ended up.

Kove offered her a smile and a light chuckle when she brought up wanting help. “That was the whole point of this, wasn't it? For me to help you join the pack?” His chuckles died and faded into a simple smile. “Of course I will help you, but we need to address something first.” He allowed his gaze to fall over her, seemingly examining her. “If you show up claiming you have no memories, and especially no name, your chances might be slim. I would suggest leaving the part about amnesia out, and then all you need is a name...” Still, and man looked at her, his gaze focusing on her black coat before something came to mind. “Aklaq!” he proclaimed, a light sway to his tail. He would keep the meaning to himself as an inside joke of sorts, as the temper she'd shown him could resemble that of a bear's at times. Not a black bear as the name meant, since they were generally calm, but he could imply that the 'black' part was just to complement her coloring. “It fits you well, and it is much better than calling you 'blacky' or 'wolf'.” He grinned a bit, both out of pride for having remembered a name from his family's line, and also out of humor towards the 'blacky' comment.

Oh, so it was her who passed out against him? That just confirms that the male really did take advantage. He could have just moved away without any problems but he stayed and enjoyed the blessing. There was no way that Kove could turn it against her. It was so clear to her that he did take advantage, the effort of trying to blame her for the event only made her a bit angery again. The time for punishing was over but she really wanted to jab him again. Luckly she was distracted with other matters.

She was glad to hear the Kove still had the intention of helping her. That's a good boy, maybe he learned that he shouldn't turn her away. She rubbed her head with her paw, still feeling the pain from the headbutt. Then Kove offered a name as a plan to increase her chances of getting in the pack. 'Aklaq'? She didn't exactly like having a different name but it was better than nothing. She wondered what it meant though, Lacinia didn't feel like it did fit her and is not entirely pleased with it at all.

"Aklaq? Is that really the best you can come up with?" she said coldly. She spent a moment attempting to come up with something better but quickly gave up. She wanted her old name, not a new one to remember. She completely turned to face him "Well, I suppose it will have to do for now but the name appears unusual, does it mean something? or is it just a random name?" She asked.

She didn't have much to show but it's still better than the first time she came to the pack territory. She wondered if the male had more to his plan, she can't just walk in and present a fake name. "A fake name won't be enough, I'm sure I need to appear useful or something like that." But something was a bit off, She didn't exactly feel like she could trust him at all. He may have an idea but she would have to make sure not to follow it, he could be try setting her up. Oh, if he ever thought of that then he would be severely punished! Still.. she needed him. "Don't you think we should be heading there now?" She said as she started to stand, ready to move.

In truth, he'd put very little thought into coming up with the name. It had just popped into his head, and after recognizing it and it's meaning, he'd decided to roll with it. The name had belonged to one of his family members, a great aunt if he recalled correctly, and the wolf before him now reminded him of her. Both were hardheaded and bent on their beliefs being true, except his aunt had not sported a black coat. Not entirely, anyways. It had greys and white running through it, giving her the appearance of being rather old. Of course, young Kove had never wasted any time in making comments about “the old bear” and her age. To this day, he still thought it was pretty amusing.

“Yes, it is. The name belonged to a family member of mine,” he informed her, standing back up as he did so. The headache had grown fainter, which he was glad for, and allowed him to move without feeling a throbbing in his cranium. He gave a nod in response to her question, but didn't actually plan on sharing it with her. “It does have a meaning,” the pale wolf said. “All I can say is that it fits you very well, and that it is a compliment to your coat.” It was a compliment that he'd offered a name from one of his family members, but the name itself was a joke when given to someone like her. From how she'd reacted just because he'd allowed her to use him to sleep against, telling her that seemed like it would be an extremely bad move, so he didn't. He would keep it from her for as long as he was able, in the hopes that he could save himself from any further jabs and headbutts.

“You have a point there,” he murmured, more so to himself. Kove went through his mind, before something came to light. “Tell the Queen about your hunting skills,” he suggested after a few moments had passed. “Between that and your little attack on me, it should be enough to get you into the clear and seen as being useful.” Whether or not she planned to listen to his suggestion, he couldn't tell. Everything about 'Aklaq' was a bit strange, and she seemed to like making things difficult for him—in his mind, anyways. When she mentioned heading out, he took a few steps passed her, heading in the direction of the Woods, before stopping and glancing back at her. “Come on, then. Once we're close enough, I'll call for the Queen, and then the rest is up to you. Make a good impression.”

There was something Lacinia realised. To her Kove didn't seem to be as smart compared to what she though. The name came from one of his family members which is what made her believe that the male didn't think at all about the name and just threw one at her without any meaning. He wouldn't even be the one who came up with it. It's a disappointing thought, She couldn't wait to recover her real name.

Lacinia approached him and moved at his side. While he was looking back at her she would look at him sweetly, tilting her head a bit and blinking quickly for a moment. "I'm sure your family is very proud of you for coming up with this great name!" She said in a sweet sarcastic tone. She hoped she didn't encourage something out of that but she was indirectly calling him an idiot.

The pack would she could join might be interested in hunters but hunting was still difficult of her without the knowledge she once had. The hunt they did was only a blurr, she couldn't figure out how she manage to do all the work with the little strength she has. There was no way to explain it either.

"I don't really know how to hunt, or atleast I don't really remember how to. I don't know if I could pull off another hunt like that on my own." She said, doubting her real abilities. She wasn't sure if she could even make a good impression. She didn't have a clue of what she should say. "I really don't know what I would have to say. If I fail I might have to go back out there alone. It's worrying." Lacinia swtiched to a more worrying look. If only she could remember some of her interaction with other wolves, maybe she could figure out what works and what doesn't. For now it looked like she was going to have rely on Kove. If he makes it harder for her he will be sorry.

In response to her blatant use of sarcasm, the man simply grinned and shook his head. “Like I said, the name is definitely befitting,” he told her again. “I'm sure my family would be proud if they'd meet you and hear the name given to you.” His father would not have found it to be funny, he knew that, but his mother and siblings probably would have. They were always much lighter in spirit compared to his father, and the thoughts made the man miss them. Seeing his parents again was impossible, as they were dead, and he didn't know where his living siblings or distant family members were. He had an idea, but that hunch wasn't one he was willing to pack up his life for and follow after. Such a journey would have ended up being nothing but some wild goose chase, anyhow.

Whether the woman believed in her ability to pull off another hunt again or not did not matter in Kove's mind. He was well aware of what he'd witnessed, and knew that she could do it again. Even if she had to, metaphorically, turn her mind off and rely on instincts alone, it would still be her hunting. He was confident that she would be able to do that, and confident that she would be deemed useful as well. If not, well, there were other packs he could try to direct her towards.

“Even if your mind doesn't remember how to hunt, your body does. If you need to hunt before you regain the memory of how to do so, just rely only on your instincts. They'll lead you down the right path.” Down the right path and after any animal she wanted to eat. It would be interesting to watch her hunt again sometime, as not many relied on instincts alone. It was about the mind and outsmarting your meal, as well as having the strength to overpower and take them down. Everyone had their own plan, it often seemed, but watching 'Aklaq' had been quite the sight. “Tell her about how you took down the deer alone, and how you are skilled in hitting others where it hurts. Or just say whatever pops into your mind at the time. I am sure you will not fail.” Kove was not lying when he spoke, either. The pale wolf really was sure of the fact that she wouldn't fail.

Strangly the male still haven't shared what the name meant. He should know the meaning, It's a name that come from his family but why couldn't he share that with her? Unlike 'Black Rose' that rings in her head still the name Aklaq had memories it was connected to but it wasn't her memories. Surely there was a memory that would give the reason why she remembers only these words 'Black Rose'. She didn't like not knowing what Aklaq meant, she was starting to perfer having a completely new name instead.

She walked ahead of him and flicked his nose with her tail. "I barely remember how but everyone should be able to do what I do. Everyone has instincts normally, but the difference will be their experience compared to me who doesn't remember any. I'm sure one wolf from your pack could take on a whole herd of deer. I don't see me being useful If I can't do that." She said calmly.

She didn't think about the fact that killing so many deer was pointless but she believed that it was a required skill. She actually thought of a use for killing so much. Removing a herd can cripple a pack if they couldn't find anymore. Seeing how she could take on a deer without problems then maybe she could lie about being able to take on a whole group of them alone. Surely it would make her useful if she pulls that off. She grinned at the idea, yeah maybe she'll tell them that.

A small piece of Kove kept the meaning hidden to see how not knowing would effect the dark woman, but the larger part was simply to save his own hide. It had been made clear that she held some hidden knowledge of points on the body that cause the most pain, and he didn't want to fall victim to such a thing again. It almost made him feel as if he wasn't in control of things, though he knew he could deal and evade it if he really wished to. Still, it was slightly worrisome knowing that the woman knew such things, and also rather intriguing. He wanted her to get her memories back nearly as much as she did, just so he could learn of the place she was born and where she came from after that. What area held the ability to teach other wolves of such points, and as it connected to her memory loss? The man wished to know.

When her tail hit his nose, he kept himself from letting the slight tickle it's cause show through. “If someone from any pack attempted to take on an entire herd of deer alone, I don't think they would do so well,” Kove mused. “Those antlers on the males are dangerous, and without another wolf to help and weaken them or cause a distraction of sorts, they would be bound to either get stabbed or miss out on a good meal.” Maybe if it were a small one made up mainly of does, and the wolf picked them off one by one discretely, working their way up from the weakest, it could be done? Such an action held more risks than what it was worth, and hunting in pairs or a group would go much faster.

Kove made his way passed the woman to take the lead as they headed back towards Blackfeather, but not before catching the grin on her face. “What's on your mind that's making you grin like that?” he inquired, unable to help the want to know more about her. “Have a good memory, or did you think of something funny while spacing out?”

She was starting to think it would be rather easy to hunt down a whole herd. Being quick was all that was really needed. Lacinia had an idea of her abilities now. It didn't seem hard to remember where to strike, it came almost naturally to her. All there was to it was avoid, strike, repeat no matter what their size. "To me it would seem easy to take on a whole herd. I think the trick is to hunt them at night." She said as she giggled.

She jumped lightly and quickly back infront of Kove facing him. Her movement was nearly as silent as the wind. It was possible to hear her moving through grass or a bush but that didn't mean it was possible to hear her steps easily. "Imagine being unable to see what is attacking you, and not only that but you have no time to save yourself." She said as she lowered herself then lunged at Kove's neck. She snapped her jaws together before she got to his neck, giggleing as she was faking an attack then she lept to the side turning back to the direction they were going, ready to continue following him.

Having recovered her energy really did make her feel much better. Still she wasn't sure if she actually wanted to join a pack. Maybe all she wanted was an excuse to be with Kove, so she could play with him more as she keeps him from taking advantage of things.

Care to end this soon? :o Since the plan to join BFW has been changed, I figured this thread could be placed before the one with Scarlett. That way it keeps the timelines from getting all screwy, and also helps it make more sense (sort of).

Depending on how much time one had, hunting an entire herd could maybe be done. It would take a lot of patience, though, and you would need to be quick enough to round them all back up when they'd scatter after each kill. Most didn't have the time to just blow off in order to do that, and what would be the point anyways? Over half the meat would end up spoiling before anyone ever got to it, and hunting prey animals without being able to eat them was just wasteful. “Says the girl with amnesia,” the man commented, some humor lingering with his words. “It might seem easy, but depending on what you're after, it probably isn't.” Deer would probably be the easier to test her theory out on, but a small herd would need to be located in order to do that, and he hadn't seen a small one in what felt like ages.

“You don't need to see everything in order to know what's there and be able to protect yourself,” Kove mused, making no move to get out of the way as she lunged towards him. While he didn't need to rely solely on his eyesight in dark places—such as the tunnels running below Blackfeather—he did let himself use it all the time when he could. With those coppery orbs, he hadn't seen an aggressive stature on the woman, so he'd assumed she didn't actually plan on attacking him this time. Plus, she still needed him until she regained her memories, or at least until she started to make some friends.

Every so often as they walked along, Kove would toss a glance to 'Aklaq', scanning her face for anything he could find. He didn't know her, nor did she really know herself, and because of that he couldn't get an accurate read on her. True, he could detect any aggressive behaviors, or those that supported any other basic emotions, but that was about it. Reading deeper into her was damn near impossible for him to do currently, but that didn't stop him from hoping that, eventually, he would be able to learn what she's thinking or feeling simply by glancing at her. Until then, however, he would have to settle for asking actual questions to receive answers.

[size=x-small]Alright then this thread ends here :P[/size]

Killing a whole herd wouldn't be for food but instead for the thrill of being able to kill them all. To lacinia it sounded completely fun to try. Those creatures are larger than her so it feels great to be able to take them down alone. These ideas come from a happy memory with her best friend Nexi. It was really all thanks to her that Lacinia was able to hunt them without needing alot of strength. If only she was here now things would be at it's best. It was sad that Lacinia would never see her again. Atleast she has Kove now.

She was happy that Kove was willing to spend time with her. He was still far from what she wanted him to be but it was already good enough to the point she was willing to toy with him. She really wondered if she would still be alive if it wasn't for him. She owed him, she wanted him to stay at her side so she could reward him when he deserves it. Lacinia felt like being with him is the only thing she can do to stay happy.

She smiled happily each time Kove looked back at her. Atleast he wasn't taking advantage of her anymore right? Kove will be hers to play with if this continues. She couldn't wait to do more fun stuff with him. But as she was about to say something until a howl from the distance was sounded.