Runaway Bride

[rainstar]

Two dull, blue eyes reflected from the still water's surface, blurred and hazy through the dense fog that hovered eerily over the lake. The eyes blinked shut for a moment, casting a single tear that dropped swiftly into the dark water, sending ripples wide across the deep blue, almost black surface.

I won't stay long.

Athabasca raised her head and gazed quietly out across the water, pondering what to do next. She knew she had to get as far away from Kamari as she could, in case Koli came looking for her. He could not find her, and that's the way things had to be. Both Koli and Atha were on their own now. The black femme's eyes hardened and her brow furrowed suddenly, and with a stern face she rose to her paws and turned away from the gently rippling water.
"Get over it. This is what you wanted, so take it now." she hissed at herself through gritted teeth. Why was she acting like such a soft little puppy lately? It was this whole issue of love and friendship that was making her this way. The only way to be strong was to be alone- her whole life had been a quest to find someone to hold on to, from being in a pack to finding a mate- but whenever she got close, she let her guard down, only for her feelings to be hurt, and it was her own fault.

But now, she had better leave this place before she was spotted- these were, in fact, pack lands now. Athabasca remembered how foolish she had been, letting herself befriend the Salen- and she had nearly joined them. The black brute Exodus ruled over this place, and Atha knew he would be less than thrilled to find her here again. It was time to leave- but where to go? It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was getting away from here.
But wait..

The femme's ice blue eyes rested on a small island in the center of the lake, riddled with a dense cover of dead trees and shrubs. To Athabasca, it looked like the perfect place to hide away for awhile, at least until she found her way again. The only problem was.. She'd have to swim to get there, and she despised swimming almost as much as she hated humans.

With an annoyed grunt, Atha stepped warily into the shallows of the lake, the icey cold water sending shivers up her forelegs, and the sleek black fur on her neck rising fiercly. The dame narrowed her eyes and waded further, until the cold water lapped around her neck. A growl emitted through shaking gritted teeth and ATha pushed off with her hind legs, the muddy ground dissappearing from beneath her paws completely while her front paws churned the water for support. The thought of drowing in this abyss nagged at the back of her mind, making Atha only more determined to make it to the island- but from here, the little piece of land seemed miles away. Finally, the drenched female's legs were kicking in unison, taking Atha closer to the little island with every stroke. With her ears flat against her head and her nose high in the air, she swam away into the fog.

~*~

After what seemed like hours of swimming, swallowing mouthfuls of freezing water, and nearly drowning, Athabasca lay exhausted on the muddy shore of the island. Her sides were heaving and her fur was plastered to the sides of her shivering body, but a wide grin was set across her face. The femme rose shakily to her paws and shook the water from her glossy black fur, all thoughts of Koli distant at the moment.
"It was always meant to be this way.." she sighed as she ducked out of sight, into the thick undergrowth that dominated this eeire new sanctuary.

[rainstar]

There came a small crunch as Athabasca set her paw down on a dried twig, the sound muffled by the dense surrounding fog. This little island seemed a lot smaller from far away- but, like an illusional trick of the mind, it was really much larger than Atha had thought ot would be. She was guessing from her current position that it was about 50 meters across at its widest, which wasn't really that big of a deal. But it was easy to get lost anywhere if you're surrounded in a heavy cloak of fog. The island was also a lot more lively than it had seemed earlier, Athabasca noticed as she occasionally looked up to the tall green trees and thick tangles of branches around her. It seemed that the fog in Drarynough concealed the beauty in everything.

Suddenly, a fresh scent of rabbit drifted by and Athabasca's ears shot up- she had expected that she would have to swim to the mainland to find anything to eat- but it seemed that there was life in this desolate place after all. As the femme quietly slipped through the bushes, twigs combing through her damp black fur, her nose lowered to the ground and she tried to find that delicious smell of food once more. Within a few minutes, the was crouched silently before a small hole in the undergrowth- the rabbit den. Her eyes were fixed, unmoving, to the shaking brambles as the small furry creature poked its head out into the foggy world. Its beady eyes darted to and fro and the little pink nose was twitching like a leaf in the wind- but it would know that there was a hunter nearby. Athabasca knew that in this dense fog, only the most keen of eyes and noses would be able to detect any danger- and in this situation, it was she that had the advantage.

As the rabbit cautiously took a few steps outside, a strong black paw shot out from the mist and slammed the rodent to the ground, the muscles in Atha's long forearms snapping to in an instant. The hungry femme lunged forward and grasped the struggling animal in her large jaws and trotted toward a nearby clearing with an unseen smile on her face. She sat down on her haunches, than lowered herself onto her elbows before tearing into the humble meal. As she ate, her eyes wandered from one tree to the next, wondering how no wolf had ever seen the beauty in this place. From the looks of it, no one had set paw on this island in a very, very long time- perhaps even for decades. There were no signs of any wolves- no tracks, no stale scent, no abandoned dens, nothing. It was just the sort of place Athabasca had always wanted. It was far away from everyone, it was peaceful and quiet, and the scenery her was astonishing for what it was worth. Still, the nagging thought that it was another pack's lands kept her at bay from making this place her home. If the Salen ever found out she was here, they wouldn't be pleased.

But they don't have to know...

Athabasca quietly reasoned that she could stay here without anyone knowing of it. She had all she needed here- food, places to sleep, and plenty of water- she didn't need anyting else. For all she cared, the world could forget about her forever. Koli would have to eventually give up on her, whether he liked it or not. That's just the way things had to be.


[ooc: if anyone noticed, the picture in my siggie is the little island. yay!]

[jiminiminy]

Solitude. After meeting so many different wolves in the past month, Siscarm saught some sort of meditation area to sort out his thoughts, not to mention his return to the north. Those lands held memories not of what he had done right, no, he had come to terms with his failures. The regions had taunted him with the concept of happiness, reminding him of innocence and play, family and friends, but giving him nothing more than the long decayed wisps of memory, something that tormented him more than poison.

Siscarm should not have gone, not have gone with the giddy femme known as Crise to the former Kamari Lands. The lush and beautiful lands were gone, and very few would ever know that they existed, save in song. The only mental pictures lay with him now, unless some other elders had managed to survive the scourge, which seemed unlikely. He'd barely lived himself, forced to slink about like a rat, foraging in waste and trash, fearing imprisonment by men, or death by his friends.

"Caught between the bear and the mountain*." He said, quoting the old phrase his father had learned. That seemed ot happen to the elder moreso than he would have preferred, but choosing the lesser of two evils worked out well enough thus far, so he was now in the Salen pack lands, preferring trespassing on 'Sir Exodus'' lands more than staying in Kamari. He'd come here many times previously, before the lands were claimed, always to the same small inlet that lay offshore in the waters of Drarynough. He called it Xenoss, 'The thinking spot.' Very few knew about it, so he didn't expect any visitors, but he wouldn't have been able to see anyone's tracks in the fog anyway.

Siscarm was camoflagued. THe dusty landscape of Kamari had rubbed off on him, and now he was a deathly white, akin to that of a ghost, and he floated among the mists like an ethreal spirit. Except for his snout of course. The white of that had flown off when he sneezed about three miles back, staining all of the trees nearby. He desperatly hoped that the swim to Xenoss would rinse him clean, both literally and metaphorically, so that he could get on with his life.

Poolk

Kava acermari! I can't see my own damndable snout in this god-forsaken fog! Who falls in a lake? Thru montagi!"

Amidst the incoherient curses and alien languages, that phrase was pretty much the only thing said. Blinded by fog and...blindness, Siscarm had walked right off the eroded south cliffs and now rolled and sputtered about in the shallow water like a half-dead duck, trying to get at least three of his feet on the ground below. After about three minutes of cursing and gasping, he was able to right himself and bring order back to his mind. Puffing himself up, Siscarm looked at himself and admired his pelt. After several months without any sort of bathing excercise, he'd forgotten how the timeless dirt dulled his sheen.

Snuffling the water out of his nose, Siscarm turned his snout northwards, where he vividly remembered the island being. He hoped a few things as he set out into the deep water, hoped that no one had heard him, hoped that the turtles weren't set to bit him, but foremost hoped that, in his mind's current state of affiars, he was going in the right direction.

*We in humanland know this expression as; 'Caught between the hammer and the anvil.'

ooc: He'll land tomorrow. You can post, or not, you don't need to.

[rainstar]

Athabasca lay her head on her paws softly, closing her eyes to the world in deep thought. If this was to be her new home... Things would be perfect. It was her eden. It was her sanctuary. It was hers. The femme yawned and stretched her hind legs out behind her, rolling over onto her side with a long, drawn-out sigh of contentment.
"I think I'll name this place.. Edanna." she mumbled, eyes opening halfway before slowly drawing closed again. It was a nice name, she thought, and this place might as well have a name, even if she was the only one to ever use it.
"Edanna.." the word gently rolled off her tongue like cool water, flwoing away as her sides rose and fell, slowing with every second. Within moments, the wolf was asleep in the center of the clearing, shrouded in fog and concealed in the shelter of the trees of Edanna.

~*~

A distant splashing woke Atha from her gentle doze, the femme's ears shooting up and her muscles jerking like a frightened lizard.
"Whowhat?" she gasped as she scrambled to her paws, her eyes darting to and fro. "Koli, s'that you? Where- oh." Her head hung for a moment as she remembered where she was, and that Koli was not here. The femme lifted her head and glared into the fog, her brilliant blue eyes reduced to narrow, glowing slits in the fog. She couldn't see anything, but she was sure she had heard something. Slowly, she set a paw out before her, then another, and another until she was trotting quickly through the heaps of tangled bushes, heading toward the shore. As the lake slowly appeared in the distance ahead of her, she slowed down a bit and swung her head from side to side.

It's useless- can't see anything in this damn fog.

As Atha continued to stare toward the mainland, gently rolling ripples made their way toward her like eerie waves on a beach. Someone was out their, wading around- or drowning- at the edge of the lake. Suddenly, her heart felt as frozen as a blizzard- what is it was Koli, come to look for her? What if he came to the island and found her here? The femme shuddered and turned away from the shore quickly, making a mad dash into the undergrowth. As she ran, her wet paws squelching in the mud, her fear steadily turned into a fierce anger.

Why can't people just leave me alone?

[ooc: just decided to give the island a name, so I could stop calling it 'the island' or 'the tiny island' or 'the little island' D: plus, I like the name Edanna :3 ish pretty.]

HI SCARMY and welcome ^^

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm swam without any real purpose anymore. He probably shouldn't have started at the far shore, espically in his old age. Placing each paw in front of the other, he sighed the best that anything could possibly sigh while swimming. He was getting old, that was a fact that was now forcibly placing itself upon his mind. Old gets replaced by new, until that in turn fades away. It had proven correct time and time again, almost becoming a sort of mantra to him. He had seen those that were young grow old, die, then be replaced by the young, until they too followed, only to be replaced by their sons and daughters. And always, he had sat, watching, waiting. There was a sort of fell irony to it, but Siscarm was both too tired and too wet to properly identify it.

Almost shaking with either cold or some sort of emotion, Siscarm landed on the island. The mists still lingered, and he again failed to see his company on the tiny shores. Shaking himself to a comfortable level of dryness, he began to stalk his way upwards onto the sodden dirt, his paws sinking about an inch into the mud with each step. He didn't mind any of this though, the elder was further occupied with bringing order to his memories and thoughts, which seemed to be just as clouded as the fine old day.

Muttering random words that seemed to be nothing more than an indistinguishable run on sentence compiled by his divided mind, Siscarm plodded through the soaked ground, staining his grey paws brown as he set about getting to his destination, a small cave that was truly nothing more then a hole in the ground. He might even be a little suprised that it was not as abandoned as it had been when he had left it several months ago, but that seemed unlikely.

[rainstar]

A pair of glowing blue eyes peered furiously from the foggy shelter of a gnarled bush, well-hidden and perfectly still and unblinking. In a silent storm of fear and rage, the black femme to whom the frustrated stare belonged to crouched silently in the shadows, waiting for her follower to appear. Atha was sure it was Koli- he had tracked her here and might even be angry that she had abandoned him. What would he do to her when he found her hiding from him? She was to be his alphess- surely he wouldn't be pleased that she had run off, leaving him to give up the fight or- whatever? Would he try to bring her back? By force if needed? Athabasca was not afraid of him and knew she could fend him off if it ever came to-

What am I thinking?! Don't get too ahead of yourself.. It always causes problems.

The femme's thoughts scattered like startled rats as a dark shape became visible through the mist, letting out a small gasp as she pressed deeper into the tangled mess of thorns and branches, wincing a little as they snagged in her fur. The blurry form slowly manifested into the clear outline of a wolf, the features still hidden. Atha cringed and held her breath, careful not to make a sound. But, as the wolf approached, the dame was able to see, to her relief, that it was not Koli at all. It was another male wolf, noticeably older and with a vaguely distinctive coat of brown or grey- she couldn't tell. Not Koli. Not Koli at all. Athabasca slumped a little in her hiding place, her stern gaze never leaving the other wandering about in the mist. Obviously unaware of her presence, the stranger plodded about with his nose to the ground, muttering things that Atha couldn't quite understand.

Suddenly faced with a decision- whether ir not to greet the wolf and ask him of his business here, or not- Atha growled inwardly and decided to wait a little, and see what this wolf would do. She was safe here for now, out of sight and with the thick fog to mask her scent, no trace of her to come by.

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm was almost at his destination. But then again, on this tiny slip of an island, you were always very close to where ever you needed to be, without any real exceptions. That was mainly why he had settled here, during the worst of the human plagues he had been able to comfortably hide out here for periods of time that could span months. It had proved its usefulness in the past, and the mists that often graced its gentle shores would hide him from the watchful eyes that seemed to have followed him so intently in the past. Now the mists did nothing more for him then mask his scent from the acute senses of Sir Exodus, and, judging by the unnoticed watcher, it was proving more of a force against him then for his favor.

The mists parted before Siscarm, almost immeadiatly folding back around him in its wispy embrace. It seemed to hide everything, scent, sight, and sound so it seemed, as he no longer heard the squelch of mud beneath his paws, though he still felt his legs sink under the soil with each step. Then it was broken. There was a soft noise, that would sound like a crinkling of foil to human ears, but SIscarm knew better. Sticking his head below the fog level, his snout was nearly impaled on the tiny ribcage of a reciently deceased rabbit. He could now smell the blood and saliva that graced the bones, most of which were now buried in the dirt from the previous impact. This was fresh, barely two hours old, and, seeing as he had heard no one in four days, whomever was here had not yet departed.

He raised his head from the murk, looking in his immeadiate area. Though the inlet was miniscule, it held more then enough places for a wolf to hide. Siscarm had to avoid appearing any sort of threat to avoid the risk of the other fleeing into the water. As such, he did nothing to draw attention. He simply continued the remaining minute to his little hole in the ground, where he hoped that he might gain some rest. But as he walked it was no longerwith an air of obliviousness to his surroundings, no more words came from his mouth as he stalked silently through the mirk.

[rainstar]

Athabasca held her breath through tightly gritted teeth as the older wolf padded curiously toward the remains of her previous meal, her glowering, angry eyes following his every step. You idiot!! The dame screamed to herself as the stranger bent and sniffed the rabbit carcass, his eyes watchful. She had been careless to leave it there, for by now the male must have known that he was not alone here. However if he did, he did not show it as he casually sauntered away, leaving Atha chuckling inwardly, although still furious at herself. We have a winner. The wolf was smart, there was no mistaking it and no way that Atha could convince herself otherwise. If she was going to remain unnoticed, she was going to have to exercise precise tactics and extreme caution. Any wrong move and the strange male could be bearing his teeth to her face, (if he turned out to be that kind of wolf..) and Athabasca was not going to give him that chance.

Suddenly realizing she had been holding her breath this whole time, the femme silently puffed and heaved her lungs slowly, her intent eyes still fixed to the back of the other's head as he stalked quietly through the mists. It promptly struck her as a very humourous situation to be in, playing this little game of thiers. However, one chilling thought clung to the back of Atha's mind- was she playing the role of the hunter, or the hunted?

[jiminiminy]

The cave, though 'cave' was a great compliment, had been formed long ago by a sizey tree that had blown over in a storm, it's extensive roots had torn up so much earth that it became a crater about twelve feet across but nearly half as deep, sloping away from the rotting shell of a trunk that stood silent guard over one of the only suitable shelters, and even then, only in summer and fall. Otherwise it was a small pond that provided fish, and the edges of the pit were rank with the smell of dirt and algae. Usually the smell alone brought a large number of scavengers, but they must have stolen from another kill, for not a crow or gull picked at the rotten plants.

Staring down through the mists, Siscarm looked at the lumpy and irregular face of the crater, the many random stones and overhangs providing the only way in and out, as well as creating a near perfect canopy from rain and watchful eyes. He slipped forwards, allowing himself to drop down to the base. THe impact sent squelching mud everywhere, as well as allowing the wolf to sink nearly to his body in the filth. He began to work himself out, inwardly cusing at how the grit stained him nearly half brown once more. It was truly annoying, and the individual grains made it their mission to work through his thick and matted fur to irritate his skin. It irritated him, but he began to put a plan of sorts into action.

Siscarm soundlessly lept back to the surface, halting at the final level. The mists held fast inches from his head, giving a little more than a foot of space between the ground and the fog. He looked around through this tiny gap, crating a mental image of his surroundings. Squeezing himself into this space, the elder remained out of sight beneath the fog, beginning to travel towards a bush that would serve as an observation point for locating his tracker.

It was time the hunter became the hunted.

[rainstar]

Athabasca's blue eyes glinted eerily as she silently witnessed the older wolf disappear into the ground, a hidden cave of some sort. She wasn't surprised, Edanna seemed to have enough secrets to hold on to, let alone a cave?

A wet, squelching sound echoed from inside suddenly, causing Atha to flinch in surprise, her crystal gaze snapping back to the little hole in the ground. Promptly, the head of a very muddy male wolf came into view, the eyes searching... It must have been hard to see through this damned fog, for even Atha had to squint a little to the brute's face. Quietly, the wolf seemed to crawl from the shelter of the hole and advance forward on his belly, nearly dissappearing from view through the dense mist that hovered over the ground like a ghost. Sheer panic swept over the femme like an ocean wave as she saw only the fur on the stranger's back, spiked up from the cold, slowly making its way toward her as a shark preparing to strike its prey. Atha rose to her feet swiftly, but silently, and looked around in the bush she was hiding in. There seemed to be a wide opening in the tangle of branches opposite where she had been watching her 'prey' (or was he now her predator?), and with a gulp, the dame placed a black paw before her, careful not to snap any branches or twigs littered on the ground. Any sound and the other wolf would know exactly where she was- and the only option then would be to run. Escape, for she didn't know who this wolf was and what he wanted.

Athabasca placed another steady paw forward as she ducked her head, maneuvering her sleek body so that her fur did not graze the sharp tangles that faced inward like fangs in a gaping mouth. The femme turned her head and looked back from where she had come, beginning to worry a little as she could no longer see her follower. Whipping her head around, she looked for a way to escape. Up a tree? That might work, if the nearest branch wasn't ten feet up... Atha's brow furrowed in frustration as she craned her neck to glare up at a tall pine tree before her, almost like it was taunting her by dangling its sturdy branches high above her head. She wanted to growl at the tree, to claw at it.

It's. just. a. tree. okay?

With a frown, she returned her stern gaze back to eye level, scanning her surroundings hastily until her eyes rested on a somewhat large boulder not 10 paces away- and what luck! She might even be able to reach the tree branches from there. With a grin of triumph, Atha quickly, but cautiously, made her way to the boulder and began to scramble up its face, her hind legs scraping the hard rock with a purpose. Once she had reached the top, panting, she picked her way toward the tree, avoiding the dried-up pine needles that seemed to cover the rock like a heavy blanket of snow. Briefly glancing over her shoulder to see if she could spot her follower, she wasn't sure if she was relieved that she could not. Anyhow, she turned and placed her front paws against the trunk of the tree, not daring to look down in case she were to slip and fall. The nearest branch was now only inches from Atha's chest with her paws placed against the tree, and she swiftly heaved herself up and onto it, leaning precariously against the trunk again for balance.

Ha!

Her crystal blue gaze slowly and triumphantly returned to the mists below, awaiting a sign of the other player in this little game of cat and mouse.

[jiminiminy]

At the loss of his prey, Siscarm inwardly cursed his large, rather bluky fur. Though the coarse hairs were ideal for keeping out the cold, water, and, on some occasions, bees, in a situation that called for stealther movements or remaining unseen, it would have been better it he had a bell around his neck instead. At least that could be muffled or adjusted, but his fur was always hindering him in one way or another. He would have like to have had a pelt like that of Kadhi of Crise, thin and sleek, yet still moderatly effective in cold or wet conditions. Plus it would take off about a foot of his waist.

Crouched behind his little bush, Siscarm looked for some sort of hint as to where his company had gone. All he saw was a few small pits where someone had stepped, but they were half full of mud and he had no way of knowing which direction they were pointed. If the elder followed one, it would be a fifty-fifty chance of whether he was going towards or away from the intruder, though at this moment, he had more merit to be the intruder than the wolf he was searching for. Knowing that the half chance was too great for him to base his descision upon, Siscarm was forced to come to a conclusion using a different mix of facts.

Sticking his head back above the mistline, he brought himself back to his feet, no longer caring if he was seen or not. He no longer had a bearing of his prey, and thus any efforts to remain hidden would likely be in vain. And why should he waste his effort doing something that had no point, that made less sense than this whole game of cat and mouse. Siscarm was beginning to consider canceling his part in the mock hunt, but then shook such thoughts out of his mind. What was happening here was much more exhilirating than anything that had happened to him in a long while, and he would much prefer to do this than speak with the stotic Sir Exodus, or the confused Sir Xinelil.

Looking at his surroundings, Siscarm spotted a large outcropping that stood several feet away, and, luckly for him, it was the only point of interest that had tracks leading to it. The elder considered the liklihood of the area for hiding, but came to no conclusions other than someone could hide behind it, or perhaps behind the tree that stood defiantly on top ot it. The thought of a wolf climbing the tree did not cross his mind, nor would it as he stalked his way towards the hill. Such a thing was preposterous the the elder, a wolf in a tree was no less a story than a wolf that could fly.

[rainstar]

Grinning, almost savagely, from her roost in atop the tree branch, Athabasca's blue eyes searched the mists below. Amidst a few tall stones and shrubs appeared the head of the older wolf, a puzzled look swept across his face.

Ha!

Athabasca chuckled quietly as the wolf turned away into the brush, the branch she was balanced atop beginning to quiver under her weight. The femme sighed contentedly and looked around, wondering what to do next. What she had in mind wasn't exactly what the branch did, and her eyes went wide as a loud, splintering crack split through the still air. Suddenly, the branch dissappeared from beneath her paws and Atha lingered in the air for one sickening moment longer before dropping to the ground like a stone sinking into the lake. The black dame's paws flailed in the air, reaching for something to grab, but there was nothing there but the dense fog. A piercing shriek echoed across the island as she hit the ground, red-hot pain searing the nerves in her leg, which had only recently healed from her injury in the mine shafts. Atha lay on the ground, her legs splayed like some young fawn who had not yet learned to walk. With a grunt, she stumbled to her paws, and to her relief, discovered that she was quite alright, but she'd be sore for a number of days after this..

As the fallen femme's head cleared and she became a little more steady on her aching paws, she promptly recalled with a frustrated gasp why she had been crouching on that branch in the first place. Her cover was blown, and there was no running now. The other wolf had to have heard her fall (her shrill scream of surprise was still ringing througout Edanna, much to the dislike of the birds) and was probably on his way back here now... Crap, she thought, thinking it to be no good to run like a coward. Athabasca sighed heavily and glared into the fog, her tail stiffenening and an irritated, defiant look passing over her face.

Game over.

[jiminiminy]

Had Siscarm been closer to the intruder than he had thought he was, he likely would have heard the breathing of the femme, as well as the creaking strain of her weight on the branch. Unfortunatly, he was not as close as he would have hoped, and, if luck didn't run out for the femme, he likely would've lost all track of her completely. Perhaps it was a worse day for her than she had woken up to expect.

At the splintering noise, Siscarm turned his head, grinning softly. He had won, and that was good. As he began to trot towards the noise, the shrill cry reached his ears, and he began to run, though his movements were encumbered by the stucky earth. By the sounds of things, someone could be hurt, and he didn't particularily need Sir Exodus hounding on him for murduring someone on 'his lands'. That would only lead to trouble, and, likely as a direct result, him being injured or killed in turn.

There was a thin scrabbling noise as Siscarm tried to climb up onto the large stone, then a thud and a splat as he fell back to the base. This trio of sounds repeated themselves several times as the old wolf tried his hardest to leap to the top of the boulder, all of the times in vain. He normally could've made this leap in his sleep, but the ground gave way under his coiled legs each time he attempted to reach the proper height. He didn't want to overextend himself and wind up busting a leg, so each time he tried to leap a little bit higher until he reached the appropriate strength. After two or three dozen tries, Siscarm skittered his way onto the surface. Pausing a moment to catch his breath before he could speak, the elder wolf looked over his adversairy.

She was younger than he, but then again, everyone was on this rock, perhaps around the same age as Crise. The femme appeared to stand about the same height as himself, as well as weighing a good amount more than he did. She seemed to be shaking slightly, likely from the fall, and her face was stony and defiant, as though she were making surrendering terms. As well as all this, Siscarm couldn't help the feeling that he had seen her before, though he could not quite place her face, but he had seen alot of people in his life, and this feeling was nothing new. Regaining his breath, he managed to pant out a question.

"Are you...okay? That fall...probably hurt...I can get...some herbs...if you want..."

[rainstar]

As the male approached, Athabasca lifted her head and tail slightly, showing him that she was submissive in no way. She had been careless, but she would never become soft for it. She would show this wolf that this place was hers, pack lands or not. She had settled her heart here in Edanna, away from Koli and other wolves who judged and bothered and distrusted her. Athabasca didn't want things to be changed by this male's presence, whether he was kind or not. She had never been the social type.

"Are you...okay? That fall...probably hurt...I can get...some herbs...if you want..." the wolf panted, out of breath. Atha considered that he was, perhaps, even older than she had suspected he was. Even as she realized he wasn't a threat at the moment, her posture remained stubborn and dominant. "I'm fine." she snarled, half lying. Though she hurt all over, she remained glaring at the male, her eyes narrowed distrustfully. She added in a quieter, hostile tone, "I don't need your help."

The femme growled and padded over to the boulder, her narrowed blue eyes fixed coldly to the other, staring him down. She paused for a moment at the base of the rock, bathed in the darkness of its looming shadow, as if waiting for the wolf to move or say something. Without awaiting an answer or reaction, Atha swiftly leapt atop the boulder, all her four paws touching down on the cold stone at once. Pain engulfed each of her stiff black limbs, and Atha winced a little. She turned silently, crouching down onto her forelegs like an eerie black cat in the fog. She felt the dark fur along her neck and spine rise to the sky, pricked up like a thousand tiny daggers. Her ice-blue eyes became the only visible feature on her grimacing, unfriendly face, two glowing, narrowed orbs.

She sat in silence.

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm frowned at the femme. Her posture showed her displeasure at his presence enough, but he didn't need hostile words to be spoken to him. The few words she said were spoken with a snarl, and she looked at him as though he were a bug that had landed on her kill. He didn't like it when people did that, it showed disrespect and the anger towards a general group, not a single person. He would have been more comfortable if her hostilities were directed towards some sort of fault about him, because then he might have been able to do something about it, but her mistrust and contempt was just directed towards him in particular, so he could do nothing about her dislike.

As she skipped atop the boulder, Siscarm initially did nothing more than allow his eyes to follow her movements up there. He couldn't shake the fact that he'd seen this femme reciently, and that feeling was doubled by the fact of her familar voice. At the moment he couldn't do much more than follow her to the summit, hoping that his memory kicked in at some point.

This time no mud hindered him, and he leaped after the femme without any sort of difficulty. His paws touched the stone without any noise at all, something that his years in the mountains had perfected. Gazing upwards from the stone, Siscarm saw only two glittering eyes watching him from the darkness, the mists surrounding any form that hid in the shadows. It was then that his memory responded to an event a few weeks ago.

With the sound of stones falling, Siscarm immediately whipped his head towards the top of the cliff. Narrowing his eyes, he saw nothing in the mist. Watching the waves and curves with intent, he immediately spotted the difference, a flash of blue in the slate mist, but right after came the grey smears again. Growling softly deep in his throat, he watched the overhang, though he saw no more than the smears of the precipitation.

A few moments later, a femme, black as the night, came into view. She had been the one who had caused the disturbance. She spoke to Sir Exodus, requesting permission to travel the lands or something. Their tones were low, and his hearing was a little poor, but he heard enough to know the gist of the conversation. A name drifted to his ears, Athabasca. At the time it meant nothing, but now it returned to him as the name of the femme that stood before him..

"Athabasca. Last I saw you, you were in the company of Sir Exodus and the Salen pack. Why do you hide here now, sulking about like a thief?" He cocked his head, his slate coloured eyes meeting her blue ones, creating a warped image of her body in their coloured frames.