Red fields of heaven (Open)

[clockwork]

Clockwork strolled through the blindingly blood-red fields, searching for anything she may happen to find. She knew that many wolves had died here, but Clockwork had never fully understood why. Her coat blended in with the fields, but only slightly.

She tried to ignore the flowers, but their scent was filling her nose, making her sneeze repeatedly. She tried not to breath in the fumes, but she had no choice. She ran over to a clump of trees, in hope of getting rid of the irritating pollen. She brushed her head in a convenient bush, only to discover that she had scared a small creature. it scampered away as she cursed herself for not catching it.

The sun was almost setting, but not quite. There was still time left to hunt, but she doubted she had much chance before nightfall. Besides, she preferred to hunt at night if she could. However, she still searched the clump of trees for any food she could find. It turned out that her noisy arrival had scared any prey away.

So she walked over to a nearby pool, sun setting now, making the flowers grow darker. She drank thirstily, pausing every now and again to listen for others. All she could hear for now was frogs croaking quietly in the distance. She returned to the clump of trees and lay down.

Clockwork sighed. Perhaps she could understand the wolves deaths one day, but not today. She couldn't help thinking that perhaps the ghosts of the dead haunted here, making her fur stand on end. She shook herself, trying to dislodge the thought, but she was unable too.

Now when she was listening, she could swear she could hear something, moving closer. She leaped up to her feet, searching for the source of the noise. The trees blocked her view, so she decided to remain hidden in them. Perhaps she would get through this night sleeping, but doubted she would be able to now.

[falinn]

A female wolf opened her eyes to a sea of red. For a moment of panic, she thought it was a vast ocean of blood, but she regained her memory as she became more awake after her nap. The red came from the flowers that grew all over the field. Falinn stood up slowly, shook out her gray fur, and walked toward a small pool to take a drink. The water flowed refreshingly over her tongue and down her throat.

Falinn stood up straighter and looked over at the horizon line. The sun hadn't quite started to set yet, but Falinn sensed a coolness in the air that revealed the approach of dusk.

The distinct sound of another wolf sneezing broke the silence of the late afternoon. Falinn instantly was crouched in the flowers despite their heavy aroma. Had the other wolf seem her? What of this stranger wasn't friendly? Falinn swiveled her ears, trying to pick up any more sounds the stranger might make. She heard a bush shaking, not far off to her right. Falinn began feeling paranoid. What if the other wolf had been watching her in her sleep? It was certainly possible. The thought sent chills down Falinn's spine, causing the hair on her shoulders to stick up.

As quietly as possible, the tundra wolf crept toward where she had heard the noise. She raised her head just high enough to see over the flowers. The figure was another female wolf, about six lopes away. Falinn wasn't sure whether to greet her or not. If this female had been spying on Falinn, then she felt she should either run away silently or confront her. On the other hand, it was highly possible that the other female didn't even know of Falinn's presence.

Falinn decided she should remain neutral until she found out for sure. Just then, the other wolf stood up. Falinn decided to make herself known then, or it would seem as though she had been spying.

"Umm... hello," Falinn greeted the other wolf, standing up as well.

[clockwork]

Clockwork leaped around, fur flying out. She turned to the stranger, growling deeply. The other female looked slightly ghost-like with her pale gray fur. But luckily for her she had an un-ghost like quality about her. Clockwork still felt the fur raising up along her back. She backed away slowly.

"I don't know who or what you are, but you will introduce yourself now or suffer the consequences," she snarled.

She didn't mean to be too harsh on the stranger, but she was suffering badly from the combination of noises and the flower's intoxicating aroma. She glanced around the fields wildly before returning to the stranger with an insane gleam in her eyes. She remembered countless wolves she had met, and a memory stirred up a couple that looked like the one before her. So, a tundra wolf, she thought, that could get interesting.

She paced around the stranger, remaining a set distance away. She never let the stranger leave her sight for one moment. She could sense a vague helplessness rising within her, or perhaps a blankness. She had felt this before, and it had never ended well. She tried to calm herself down before it took over, but she couldn't remain in control for much longer.

Stumbling over the flowers, each breath she drew was ragged and harsh. She felt winded, panting already. Clockwork knew this could be considered a weakness so she let up, slowing down a little. She tried a more positive approach, but saying 'hello, I'm Clockwork' didn't sound appropriate after her previous actions. No, that would be foolish. She didn't want to be foolish already.

So she contented herself with gazing on in silence, heartbeat returning to normal again. Clockwork sat down, ready to spring up at any moment. Caution seemed to be the right thing to do in this situation, she reassured herself, it was just like her parents had taught her.

Oh, yes. Her parents. She whimpered out loud as she remembered their expressions so many years ago.



((OOC from Staff: Please bold your speech! Thank you!!))

[falinn]

The red wolf was pacing around Falinn, whose shoulder blade fur rose in agitation. The stranger was as suspicious of Falinn as Falinn was of she; the tundra wolf could tell by the low snarling of the crimson female. Being circled didn't help Falinn's paranoia at all. She backed up, but this stranger wouldn't let her out of sight. The gray female struggled not to turn to blind panic and run away, for the red wolf would certainly chase her down then.

Falinn was then asked who or what she was. What kind of stupid question is that? Does this freak think I'm a ghost or something? She stood up straighter, attempting to retain dignity while being circled like a deer being selected for a future meal. What did this wolf mean by consequences? And why was the red wolf so demanding when requesting Falinn's identity? Falinn recalled greeting her with a simple 'hello,' and from a respectful distance at that. Suspicion was aroused in the gray tundra wolf, and she faced the red wolf, doing her best to avoid meeting that gaze that hinted at insanity. Falinn's pale gold eyes were masked with dull apathy, only her twitching ears revealing the fear of this red wolf facing her.

Suddenly the once-aggressive female sad down, seemingly calmed, and let out an unexpected whimper. Taken aback, Falinn let herself relax slightly, but her eyes still flickered around the field and at the other wolf. She was still heavily suspicious of her, and feared another random spasm of madness.

"You have to tell me who you are, too, though," Falinn began cautiously, "but I am a wolf." Will you need me to explain what gender I am, as well? Falinn kept the last remark silent, supposing it wasn't wise to start out with harsh sarcasm. "My name is Falinn," she added. It was slightly easier to talk to the red wolf now that she had stopped circling her and snarling.

[clockwork]

Clockwork blinked. So this stranger wasn't a ghost at all. She felt slightly foolish, and glanced away hurriedly. She felt the blankness draining away from her heart and mind, relief washing over her. She watched the gray wolf's eyes for any hint of imminent mocking.

"All right Falinn, I am called Clockwork." she said carefully, eyes never leaving the other wolf's. She knew others had made fun of her name before, but here and now she would not accept it.

After a while, she shut her eyes, concentrating on remaining calm. The wind rustled over the flowers, bending their stalks gracefully, like waves over an ocean. An ocean of red. And in that ocean, she sat, tiny in comparison. She opened her eyes, now fully calm once more.

"What have you been doing here?" she asked, more calmly and less aggravated than before. She realized that that had been a bit of a dumb question. Walking forward to reduce the distance between the two, she quietly said, "um..sorry?"

The fields were now truly swarmed with darkness. A few meters away, something began to rustle again. Panic darted into Clockwork's eyes again. She retreated swiftly, running to the clump of trees. Fear numbed her senses, and she had no clue as to the other wolf's location or doings. She just had to get away from that noise, no matter what the cost.

When she reached the trees, she turned around calling out to Falinn.

"Watch out! There's a ghost!" she whimpered, truly afraid of nothing. In her panic she stumbled over a log. Pain shot up her legs, making her stop. She lay there for what seemed like ages, whimpering. She hid the best she could, tail poking out from the log. She tried relaxing but it was no good.

She thought of the fields, and remembered how they were rumored to have been battlefields or something similar. She instantly regretted the thought.

She glanced around, and finding no ghosts, she realized what a fool she had made of herself. Clockwork shook her head out of disappointment. How could she have been scared of what was probably nothing? As if to make her shame worse, she began sneezing again.

[falinn]

Before Falinn could answer Clockwork by saying that she had been minding her own business and relaxing, a noise not far off spooked the red wolf. Falinn watched her dart behind a log and warn her of a ghost. Uneasily, Falinn backed toward the log, facing where the noise came from. What could be out there? If was a ghost, what did it want?

The noise seemed to multiply in Falinn's head. She head not one, but several repeated rustling noise. Not knowing if they were in her head or actually happening, Falinn ducked on the other side of the log Clockwork was hiding behind. She looked behind her several times, just to be sure there weren't any ghosts. You've got to be kidding yourself, Falinn. There can't be ghosts here, or anywhere.

Unsure whether to feel embarrassed at her own panic or weary of any future noises, Falinn peered over the side of the log. "So, um, Clockwork... Do you think there are any ghosts here?" She swiveled her charcoal-furred ears. Only the sound of the wind stroking the flowers met them. Falinn relaxed slightly.

[clockwork]

"Haven't you heard the stories?" Clockwork whispered hurriedly. She was in no mood to be friendly until at least morning came. However, she drew her head out of a hole in the log, and faced Falinn.

"There are rumors that a lot of wolves died here." she whispered again.

Perhaps there had been nothing to worry about after all, she thought, me and my stupid beliefs. It looks like I've freaked out Falinn too. I'm such an idiot.

"Um... Let's just forget that, okay?" she asked hopefully. "I mean, ghosts don't exist right?"

She stood up, confident she would find whatever had scared her in the first place. She strode out into the fields, limping slightly on her hurt paw. She glanced around for the source of the noise. She could hear nothing but the gentle rustling of the flowers. She sneezed, and just on the edge of her hearing she heard a faint rustle over to her left. Ghosts didn't make noises, did they? she wondered.

She bounded back to Falinn. She looked excited and nervous, shaking in both fear and excitement.

"Whatever it is, it's near!" she said, "do you want to go see what it is, or do you want me to go alone?"

Her ears pinpointed the location of the sounds. It was about ten meters away and not moving at all. She whined before thinking about how bad that would sound. She quickly silenced herself. Her eyes reflected the glowing surface of the moon. It was about midnight, and clouds were moving in. They had to move fast to be able to see in the darkening light.

[falinn]

"Lots of wolves die in lots of places," Falinn replied rather unemotionally. She looked around in a vain attempt to locate the noise. She couldn't pick up a scent for all the pollen in her nose. Whatever's out there has to be solid... Falinn thought nervously. Unlike Clockwork, she had more fear of the noise being caused by another wolf rather than a ghost. The more the gray tundra wolf thought about it, in fact, the less the thought of a ghost worried her. What can the dead do, anyway? she mused. The living can do so much more harm.

Falinn noticed the clouds nearly covering the moon. It was almost full, only a sliver away from the monthly full moon, and the night was very bright. Though she preferred the dark, it was more convenient to investigate mystery noises in the night.

"I'll go, too," Falinn answered Clockwork. With that she crawled forward towards where the noise had last sounded. The wolf was not five meters away now.

((OOC from Staff: Please be sure your posts are near the 300 word minimum. While an occasional short post is alright, two of these posts are over 100 words shy of the mark.))

[clockwork]

Clockwork strode forward, trying to block her nose at the same time as sniff out the noise. It wasn't working whatsoever, and occasionally she would sneeze, causing her to stop her strides. Her reddish coat looked purplish in the moonlight, and her eyes glinted insanely when she approached the sound's location.

'I will find the source of my earlier fear... and make it pay dearly for it's actions', she thought grumpily. She began snarling louder the closer she got to the noise. her anger was rising up inside her, increasing her tension with every step. She waited until a cloud passed in front of the moon, and then pounced quickly, limbs straining in the action.

However, she found herself slightly to her right of the noise. Her annoyance increased hugely, fur bristling as the anger pulsed through her. She felt the blankness rising up again, and after another failed pounce, it took hold of her.

Her eyes looked normal, but there was a hint of blindness about them. Clockwork strode almost placidly up to the source of the noise, ears, legs and nose twitching occasionally. She had completely forgotten about Falinn. She spoke almost robotic, voice straining to pronounce words.

"I..don't know... what or who...um...you are," she said, constantly stopping and twitching, "but...you are...going...to...DIE!"

And with that, she launched herself at the source of the noise, growling, snarling and slashing without pause. She didn't stop to check where she was hitting, taking delight in the fact she was acting. Her fangs slashed rapidly at the source, ignoring the pain of every jolt of action. For a brief moment she returned to sanity, puzzled at what had happened, until the blankness rose again. But in that moment, she understood what was happening, wishing for someone or something to restrain her.

Again, she could feel sanity approaching, and in her mind, she strained to reach it. But the moment didn't come. Sanity was beyond her until she managed to either kill the noise, get restrained for a while or get killed by the noise.

[falinn]

The dark gray tundra wolf watched in bewilderment as Clockwork attacked the ground beneath the flowers where the noise had been. She began to feel uneasy; the red wolf seemed to be in a state of uncontrollable rage. As Clockwork continued attacking, Falinn became more certain that this wasn't anything natural. She took a hesitant step forward. "Hey, um, Clockwork..?" No response. Falinn somehow doubted that this wolf would be able to hear her even if Falinn spoke louder.

As the struggle continued, a large cloud passed over the moon. The already dim light was swept away, escaping the cover of the cottony cloud like a rabbit avoids the shadow of a hawk. The field of blood-red flowers was engulfed in darkness. The only light was the dim starlight. Falinn could hardly make out the mass of red fur, highlighted with the silvery starlight, which was Clockwork. She walked closer to the mass of fur, wondering if she dared to interupt.

Falinn strained her ears. She heard the squealing of a small animal beneath the cries of rage coming from Clockwork. Huh. So that was the source or all this stupid panic, the tundra wolf thought with a little embarrassment. To think something that small could freak us out so much! She shook her head to regain focus on the other female wolf. This is insanity. I've got to stop her. Falinn took a deep breath and approqched Cpockwork; she was now only a few steps from her.

"CLOCKWORK! Stop it, it's dead already!" Falinn shouted. Still, the reddish female showed no sign of comprehension. Acting on compulsion, Falinn darted at the wolf, colliding into her shoulder in an attempt to push her away and break the trance of violence.

[clockwork]

Clockwork gazed up, the shock of the impact on her shoulder making her blink. The fuzziness seemed to drain away from her world, the realization that someone was shouting drew heavily on her conscious. She looked up guiltily, wondering why blood covered her front. She lowered her head apologetically.

"Um..." she whispered, not knowing what to say. Her tail drooped, her shoulders sagged and she held herself low to the ground, breath ragged, still recovering from the outburst.

"What just happened?" she asked, dreading the answer. She gazed up at Falinn, eyes full of sadness. Clockwork sort of had a vague feeling this had happened before, but she waved it away. The only important thing to her right now was that the sheer embarrassment she was suffering overwhelmed her. She sat down again, breath finally returning to normal. She regretted the impulse to snarl, but managed to contain it. Perhaps this wolf can help, she thought.

Clockwork barely contained her sorrow. Still, may as well not waste the creature laying near me. Strange, I never killed anything, and I don't remember Falinn doing anything. Oh well.... She hadn't realized that one had been killed, so she sniffed it, checking for traps. She padded over to the dead animal, enclosing her jaws around it slowly and deliberately, pausing to check she wouldn't get shouted at again. She returned shortly after, dropping the animal at Falinn's paws.

"Here, you have it," she said quietly, still befuddled as to how the creature's death occurred.

There wasn't much left of the creature, but it was a decent snack. It spread limply over the ground, leaving another pool of blood. The scent was intoxicating, but Clockwork felt that there was something expected of her to make up for her earlier behavior. She snuffled it vaguely, still cautiously checking for traps. She couldn't find any, so she darted back a couple of meters, watching Falinn expectantly.

[falinn]

Falinn stopped abruptly as she rammed into Clockwork's shoulder. Stepping back a few paces, the tundra wolf watched her to see if she was alright now. Falinn thought Clockwork seemed rather adrift, looking around guiltily with obvious confusion. Falinn's breath came out slightly heavy as she watched the other lupine recover.

"Well, uh..." Falinn wasn't sure how to answer Clockwork's inquiry as to what had happened. I guess I'll just tell her straight out, she thought. "Well, Clockwork, when the noise didn't stop you kinda freaked out and went into this weird trance where you didn't respond to anything and were just attacking that animal," Falinn answered rather conversationally for the present situation. She sensed Clockworks embarrassment and cast her eyes downward at the bloody corpse of the rodent. "Nice snack, though," she added as an afterthought.

Falinn looked at the creature lying in the pool of blood on the ground. It was a rabbit, Falinn decided. Clockwork offered it to her, probably a token of politeness, but the gray tundra wolf suddenly had her doubts about it. What if it was a trap? Paranoia began to cloud her thoughts even as Falinn thought those words. Maybe it had been eating the flowers growing in the field. What if they were poisonous; the blood-red petals would have dissolved in its stomach and spread toxins throughout the blood, ready to poison the consumer of the rabbit. If this were true, then perhaps Clockwork knew that the rabbit could be unsafe to eat. Is she trying to poison me?

Falinn looked at the rabbit, frozen as though made of stone. "Um, I couldn't eat this all... you're hungry too, you must be. Let's share," Falinn suggested. She looked up invitingly. If Clockwork refuses, she must know it's poisoned...

[clockwork]

Clockwork noted Falinn's distrust of the rabbit, however she had no clue as to why. She picked it up again, breaking it into about half. She offered the slightly larger piece to Falinn, dropping it again near her paws. She didn't know how to reply to Falinn's explanation, so she simply ignored it. She doubted she would be afraid of some rabbit, let alone in company.

She hurried away again, still slightly nervous about Falinn. She began to chomp on the rabbit half. She was very hungry, however, she did notice that the meat had an odd flavor to it, so she paused.

"Falinn? Does this rabbit taste weird?" she asked, tilting her head to show her puzzlement. However, Clockwork disregarded the taste and continued to eat the rabbit until she had finished. She licked the blood from around her muzzle, tasting its warmth on her tongue.

She gazed around, lying down contently. Somehow, she decided to trust Falinn not to attack her. She would of attacked when the...weirdness happened if she wanted to attack at all. Clockwork wrapped her tail up close, settling down. Her gaze fell on Falinn.

"So, where do you come from? Why are you here?" she asked politely, not realizing how rude this could potentially sound. She was feeling weird again, except that this was not the same feeling. Her heart was light and she felt no anger, instead she felt light-headed and dopey.

"That rabbit did taste weird..." she murmured, resting her head, blinking slowly. Clockwork tried to remain focus, trying to see what Falinn was doing but her thoughts kept on wandering off, unable for her to grasp. She forced herself to open her eyes clearly a couple of times, but they inevitably closed again.

"Falinn? What's happening?" she asked as loud as she could, but it sounded like a whisper.

(OCC: Sorry for the late reply!)

[falinn]

In the back of her mind, Falinn wondered if it had been stupid to consider the possibility of the rabbit being poisoned. After all, it had been just freshly killed. The tundra wolf noticed Clockwork's slight confusion at her wariness to eat but was grateful when she didn't inquire further. The majority of Falinn's fears were put to rest, however, when Clockwork proceeded to consume the small mammal. The dark gray female followed suit. The feeling of meat in the belly, even if the meat was slightly tough, was welcoming to half-starved Falinn.

When her portion was finished, Falinn noticed Clockwork relaxing on the ground. She at back on her haunches, trying to relax but her black-furred ears remained pricked and alert. It's best to never lose your guard... you never know who could be watching you or when... She looked back at the red wolf, who asked about Falinn's background.

To be honest, Falinn didn't feel like answering. She remembered her unloving parents and dead brother, the one who had given her the scar on the side of her face before he died. I guess I don't have to give a detailed answer if I don't want to, Falinn decided. She began to answer Clockwork. "Uh, you know, I've been all over, kinda drifting around I guess... Hey, you don't look so hot," Falinn added. It looked almost as if Clockwork were struggling to retain consciousness. She mumbled something about the rabbit tasting weird.

"Hey, it might just be that the rabbit was old, and maybe if you just got here you aren't used to this type of prey, and those things combined might make you nauseous" Falinn suggested hopefully. She realized that if there was something wrong with the rabbit, then she herself was poisoned also.

Falinn suddenly began feeling sick herself. She felt a sickening lurch in her stomach, and without another word Falinn ducked behind a tree and coughed up the apparently rancid food. She felt a lot better, even if her stomach was empty again.

"Try barfing, it'll make you feel better," Falinn suggested bluntly to Clockwork, backing up from the mess behind the tree.