Kintla Flatlands wrapped in life in ultra greens

Technically set along Whitefish River where it begins to branch out and enter Sequoia Coast.  Open for anyone, though. :)

With the days that were slipping by following the fire at the plateau, Mordecai branched out to the surrounding territories.  Even out here, he could still smell the woodsmoke clinging to his frame.  But the scent was not as overpowering as it was where it lingered heavily on the ridgelines of the plateau; the relief from it was as welcome as it could have possibly become.  He felt burdened by what had happened there but not from guilt.  With Dante yet to turn up dead or alive or otherwise and the same going for Osprey, he had expanded the scope of his own search further out.

And so, the river had seemed the most logical place there was to go.  The day was clear and warm, the humidity kept as bay as the sun hung lowly overhead.  The warmth was of no concern to Mordecai, though all the same he had stuck to the shady aid of trees and shrubs, trekking his way along the muddy banks of the swollen river.  The ground felt marshy in places and it did not take him long to acquire a film of mud to his underside as he pushed his way through boggy grass patches and waded through the water that had surpassed its natural levees.  Yet even here he could not draw the scents of his companions, his packmate and leader.  The time it had taken to come out there was fruitless in its endeavor as well, much like the search ground what he considered the hallowed ground of the plateau.

Sighing heavily as he paused to drink from the muddied waters, Mordecai wondered if the worst was the answer.

Perhaps they were truly gone from the earth.

glass animals — pools

the Plateau had taken on a melancholy air and Casmir did not like it. he watched how his father was quiet and his mother's eyes grieved -- he had never known junior, and perhaps would not remember the one time he had laid eyes upon her, but the quiver of sorrow in the air perturbed him, as it did the others. keen eyes caught sight of Mordecai departing the borders, and, bored, as well as pleased to be away, the pup followed at a distance.

tall as he was, Casmir was still half-formed and gangly. yet each foray out alone strengthened his body and his senses; he was not as profound a tracker as Eilidh seemed to be, but he was fair at the skill. he lost sight of the Ostrega several times, but the broken stems here and there were testament to Mordecai's trail.

"Moldy-eye!" the boy hooted playfully, jumping from his cover into the shallows as the man dipped his muzzle to drink. "What're you doing?" the boy asked, tail wagging affably behind his hips as he eyes curiously the mud caked on the older wolf's pelts. 

As he slaked his thirst, a commotion from the wet brush around him brought him pause. Just in time too, as the ever-growing form of Casmir pounced out. Mordecai couldn't help but smile thinly at him, as it was clear that he had acquired a much younger shadow. Fair enough. The company was more than welcome, partially for the distraction it would offer alone.

"Well, I was trying to get a drink. What're you doing?" he inquired, turning the question around with mirth and a wave of his tail. How much of the situation Casmir understood, Mordecai couldn't have guessed. He was about as clueless with children as he was in regards to points of romance. Maybe the boy wanted out of the Plateau for a while, easy-peasy.

Young. Male. It was that scent which drew her away. Her search would be a persistent one. It could not end. The cycle continued.

She loved him when she saw him, but as she came upon them, they were not alone. Shego investigated with a sniff...

Words conveyed they knew one another.

"Winds," she hummed under her breath, "Bring him to me again." And she sprinted off, her heart thudding loudly in her chest, a burn spreading hotly across her cheeks. What a feeling! To feel it again... "Bring him to me again!" And she left the scene, swift as she had come.

as amused as Casmir was by the affable rumble of Mordecai's voice, he did not miss the dark flash of fur as whatever had been near them turned to flee. he whirled in the shallows, splashing clumsily as ears perked high atop his head. the boy paused, one foreleg lifted quiveringly -- his eyes were wide as he glanced toward Mordecai. "what was THAT?" he exclaimed.

childish interest gripped him; he ran to the top of the nearest rise, searching about for who or whatever had been close, and quite ignorant of the danger therein.

sorry for holding this up, ebs. <3

The flash of another was missed on Mordecai, his back turned to the fringe intrusion of their meeting. But Casmir's reaction to the whole thing was not lost on him, instead drawing his attention sharply to where the boy turned and pointedly looked. There was nothing there initially, but the rushing figure of the younger wolf going towards it was enough to prompt Mordecai to join the investigation.

He left the shallows and followed suit across the marshy outerbanks, wordlessly trailing the youth. Though he scanned their surroundings for some sort of sign of what had been seen, he also never let Casmir slip outside his field of view either. Who knew what was bound to be lurking out there — with the flush of prey to the flatlands, he wouldn't have been surprised of some of their challenging other predators were darting about. And of course, there was also the hope that perhaps they had spotted on of their missing own.

"What was it?" Mordecai queried the dark-haired youth. The rise he had found put Casmir over him, but he did not join the boy on it. Partially because he didn't want to spot it for himself just yet, and partially because he wanted to see what the ever-growing wolf would spy for himself. But in that time, he curiously tested the air to see what had been spun up, not yet coming to the realization of what had been lurking just beyond their place at the river.

no prob!

Mordecai didn't join him, but that was okay by Casmir, who stood trembling with the exertion of clinging to the thin scent. "It was a wolf," he answered confidently, and then, with quite a bit less machismo, he added, "a girl!" and was suddenly hot in the cheeks. girls were something he hadn't puzzled out, as Eilidh was genderless in his mind, the same as Constantine. and at his age, the boy hadn't the faintest clue as to the true intentions between male and female, but the other sex intrigued him all the same. "Why did she run away?"

Amused, Mordecai was just as pleased that Casmir came swiftly to the same conclusions as he did. Though he hadn't caught a glimpse of the wolf, it was peculiar that she had taken off. Still, he couldn't help but assume it was for the better, half wanting no trouble, and half welcoming the distraction from reality.

"Perhaps she was busy," he said, canting his head thoughtfully. "Maybe she was just making sure we weren't up to anything suspicious and headed on her way." Maybe she had been spying on them, but who knew. The medley of scents that rose in her wake didn't mean anything in particular to him, though it was safe to make the assumption that she was not one of their wolves.

Mordecai didn't seem particularly worried about anything, and so Casmir calmed himself, though he continued to look for the girl momentarily. "what if she was spying?" he asked, inadvertently voicing the older wolf's thoughts. he was bored with the entire thing already, and so frisked back to his companion on his too-large paws, tongue lolling. pretending to snap at the Ostrega's ankles, Casmir laughed. "Maybe she will come back?" 

honestly he didn't know what he would do if he ever saw a SPY, but that was for him to know and Mordecai to never find out. Casmir must maintain his playful demeanour.

i'm such a fail lol... ;__x

"Maybe," he said, bouncing out of the way of Casmir's playful snaps. He returned a set of his own, tail launching into a haphazard wave. It didn't take much for him to be caught up momentarily in the playful nature of the youth with him, and it may have been for the best anyway. "What would you say to her if she came back, hm?" Mordecai queried, dropping into a playful bow where his bouncing had stopped.

not at all! wrap up after another round? :) im gonna miss these two as well D: 

Cas chortled, dancing around to avoid the affably clicking teeth of his playmate. "Wellllllll," he crooned, barking once at the Ostrega as he circled, trying to find a way past Mordecai's guard. "I'd invite her to go fishing! I'm not very good at it," he admitted. 


he lunged then, splashing through the water and tripping on a moss-covered rock; the boy had time for one surprised yelp before he crashed unceremoniously into the shallows. the liquid filled his nostrils and he surfaced, giggling and snorting. "That was all your fault, Moldy-eye!" Cas hollered before he leapt at the older man, determined to bring him down.

i hope they meet again and have fun lots more! ;__;

but i'll fade this out since i've held it up long enough now, ugh. i'm so sorry ebs! D:

As Casmir avoided him, Mordecai let him slip past with an amused snort. Fishing, huh. And as he turned, just in time to watch the dark-haired youth make an ungraceful swan dive in the shallows, his amusement came out as a laugh. But even that was forced to be clipped short, as it would have seemed Casmir was more interested in getting him to play now more than ever, and Mordecai obliged. It was a much need distraction from the horrors beyond their gaze, and perhaps conclusively horrors of the mind as well.

And so they played and played, at least until one of them tuckered out.