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Post by Juniper on Oct 6, 2015 8:57:14 GMT 1
The fungus was tucked in the safety of his coat now, so Juniper was able to concentrate on the surroundings and the path beneath their feet.
"It is ... similar to this place." he then said, a little on his guard. "Not completely the same, but similar."
He was not telling the truth. This place and his old home were oddly similar, like he could stumble in his old homeplace and built shelters any moment. It was the old tribemates he did not wish to discuss. The treeshaper had taken a notice how some of the others missed their homes and their old tribemates. He had not felt attached to his own tribemates at all -- and how was he to miss anyone he had no affection towards? It was both a curse and a blessing -- Juniper felt at ease anywhere where there was trees, and therefore he had only himself and the forest to look after. But would the forest look after him, if he was to live old and weak?
Juniper rubbed his nose and snorted a little. The cold was nipping on his toes, fingers and nose, and despite being resistant to cold, the treeshaper was longing for shelter's warmth.
"I could not thrive in such a world, a world covered entirely in water." he then commented, "It sounds very alien, almost like a lie."
He did not -- of course -- mean it was a lie; it only sounded so unreal to him. "And your world?" he asked and turned to look at the cub, "It was young and raw, or do I remember incorrectly?"
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Post by Greywing on Oct 6, 2015 9:17:36 GMT 1
"Nor could I," she replied with a shiver, thinking of such a fantastical place. Rokuta's world must have been a difficult one.
"You remember correctly," Greywing said, her expression almost blank. "Very young. My mother said they hadn't meant to land there...they wanted a world that had nothing else on it, nothing like humans, anyway. But the ship crashed and...they just had to survive, somehow. And when Karis came into being, half elf and half wolf...so many embraced the land, but the originals are probably still in that ship, trying to fix it and fly away." She looked up into the sky, rubbing her arms; the stars would be out soon, and she had to admit that the starsong flowed much stronger in her than the wolfsong. If she'd had a choice, she'd fly away with the originals.
She chuckled nervously and looked ahead again instead of up. "It's good I was...taken? when I was. I...my father and his siblings, many of them had their own, very strict ideas about how we could best thrive on that world, with the gift we'd inherited from Karis. Before, I...I thought they made sense, they were good ideas, but now that I'm here...perhaps there's another way." Greywing had been expected to mate and have cubs of her own, but though she'd never admit it aloud, she often still felt like a cub herself. Before the beacon had taken her, she'd simply accepted that expectation as part of life, but in this place, she was free to do whatever she wished. It was...confusing.
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Post by Juniper on Oct 9, 2015 17:42:57 GMT 1
Juniper did not quite understand why someone wanted so desperately to leave. To him, any river bend was just as good as another. Did not mean to fish here? That's fine, there will be fish just as much here as in the place intended... That's how he saw his world, anyway, but he did not voice his opinion -- it was becoming clear to the treeshaper, that he and his companion came from completely different worlds and had backgrounds as different as possible. Maybe even time was different for them.
"You did not like their ideas, then, huh?" he commented, when he did not have anything else to say about the matter. For a brief while, he stopped to inspect some tree or brush, slightly in hopes of finding more scab-like fungus -- but no avail.
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Post by Greywing on Oct 17, 2015 9:32:40 GMT 1
"I did not," Greywing answered shortly, feeling stubborn...but that faded after a moment. "My people are a fragmented sort. The joining of two strong creatures, pure elf and pure wolf...it created conflicts. Conflicts which show up when we're born. I've sensed that I have much more wolf blood than many of the wolf-bloods here, but the wildness skipped me, and I'm far more elf than wolf." She said this without arrogance, as a plain fact. "Others weren't so lucky...their wolf sides dominated, some nearly wolves themselves, most torn between two identities, driving them mad. That's why we call them ferals."
The green-haired elf shivered a little, though not from the cold. "So many of them are...my mother would call them poorly bred. They received the worst parts of each being, and we needed the best. So...those of us who were of age were...obligated...to try to breed. Especially those of us who aren't poorly bred. I am already past the age when I would be expected to be nursing a cub." She crossed her arms stubbornly. "I...I used to think I could do that. Not perpetually pregnant like Karis, but do my part. A few turns ago, I would have been proud to. But now that I'm here, everything seems so...different."
She stared up into the sky as she spoke, an almost wistful look on her face. Her cloudy view quickly became a snowy one when she fell face first, flat in the white fluff.
"Ow!" she yelped, carefully pushing herself up; thankfully, her knee was braced against the edge of this odd sinkhole and she was able to sit back. She hissed sharply when she tried to pull her foot out. "Help me? I think my foot is stuck...oof, that's painful," Greywing winced, trying not to whimper.
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Post by Juniper on Oct 17, 2015 9:49:57 GMT 1
Juniper listened Greywing's words with care. The things the cub had to tell, it proved how of different worlds they were from. In his tribe, it was nowadays rare to Recognize someone, or give life to a cub without Recognition. During the harsher times, the Recognitions happened more often, because the tribe's numbers were low. Apparently, Greywing's tribe had faced a lot of harsher times.
The treeshaper was about to say something, anything, but then the cub tripped over an animal hole or something.
Juniper turned to look and walked to stand right in front of her.
"Alright, uhh, let's see..." he said as he knelt to examine the situation a little closer. "How much can you wiggle your ankle? It might be stuck with a tree root or something." he guessed, and wrapped his arms around hers to see if they could yank her out. If they would not be able to wiggle and yank, he could always see if he was able to do something about the root itself.
"What kind of pain is--" he was about to ask, when he looked Greywing in the eyes.
He hissed at the sensation, as an unfamiliar word -- a name -- began bashing his mind with the same tone and volume as spring ice on a lake's surface breaking.
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Post by Greywing on Oct 19, 2015 4:53:28 GMT 1
Juniper wrapped his arms under hers, lending her his strength to try to get out of this hole. She heard a thump in the back of her mind...it grew louder and louder, and she soon felt like her heart would pound out of her chest.
As their eyes met, she realized the sound was not a thump, but a word, a word she'd never heard before. Llud!
Llud, Llud, Llud, Llud, the word thumped at her; Juniper's soul, his very being, laid out before her to the beat of his soul name pulsing in her mind. And instinctively, Greywing knew that he was having the same experience, seeing all of Rakte flashing in front of his eyes.
She gulped, feeling like a frog had taken up residence in her throat. Words didn't come at first; she just stared, almost dumbfounded. "They didn't..." she whispered, "they didn't tell me it would be this...profound." She felt frozen in place.
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Post by Juniper on Oct 19, 2015 6:05:02 GMT 1
Juniper released Greywing -- although she was still stuck -- and stumbled back.
"Not you, not YOU." he said, raising his hand on his head, unwilling to accept the fact that he had just Recognized a cub! That was, at least, how he had seen her before. Now that the soul of Greywing was visible, it was so much more! Juniper just was not entirely willing to look or see that.
The unfamiliar, and in a way too familiar, name rattled against his mind, but the treeshaper did not speak it out loud nor did he send it.
"I... I refuse!" he snarled.
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Post by Greywing on Oct 19, 2015 7:24:29 GMT 1
"You can't refuse!" Greywing exclaimed indignantly. She could feel his disgust, his impulse to recoil from her, the feeling that...she snarled back. "I am not a cub! I might be young, but I would have been Chieftess by now if it weren't for humans! You can't refuse this, or me!"
Despite her angry protests, she'd meant what she said earlier; she never wanted to be forced into Recognition. She'd never wanted it to feel like an obligation...like she had to go out and seek it, like it was her duty. But now, she almost understood. "This holt is very small, if you haven't noticed, and elves come and go. A cub, a child's spirit, has chosen us to bring it into this world, it will be made for this world, how can you deny that? How can you look Choice in the face, pity his loss, and deny your own child?"
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Post by Juniper on Oct 22, 2015 8:53:29 GMT 1
"I can, and I WILL!" Juniper huffed, his huff puffing in cold air. Greywing was simply too sentimental about it.
Juniper was not willing to admit it, but he was honestly feeling scared of the situation. The treeshaper had expected Recognition to hit with someone, who already knew his heart and body inch by inch -- not by a stranger cub.
"My soulname known by you will not aid Choice." he growled, "It won't bring him his mate back, so don't drag him into this."
Juniper backed away and was about to leave Greywing to deal with her own mess. He took a couple of steps, but then cried out, as he felt the same pain as the cub felt.
"Out of my head, cub!" he snarled, as if Greywing had a choice in it. Juniper understood that there was no other option, and returned to the side of the maiden, trying to get her out of the hole.
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Post by Greywing on Nov 20, 2015 7:56:03 GMT 1
"Leave me alone!" Greywing protested; somehow his touch, even the feel of his hands through her leather, roughly trying to get her foot out of the hole, made everything more intense. Her ankle throbbed, icy wind froze her nose and turned the hairs on the back of her neck to icicles, she felt something poking her in her chest, fear, disgust, anger, a desire that made her ill; she choked back a sob as she realized what she felt, he felt. She couldn't sort out what feelings, what sensations, belonged to her and what belonged to him.
Finally her foot was freed and she scrambled back, falling into the snow. "I can't help it! You think I can, you get out of my head, then!" Greywing's eyes filled with tears. Her expectations of Recognition were different from Juniper's...she hadn't longed for Recognition with an elf she'd already grown to know and love so intimately, but his reaction was a far cry from what she'd expected. She's always thought whichever male discovered her soul name, she and he would answer the call, continue to grow the tribe, and if more developed along the way, fine, and if not, that was fine too. She was shocked to feel so rejected, so...unworthy, so small. It seemed like the disgust radiated off his wolf-spirit, and she wondered why he seemed to blame her so. Neither of them had a choice in this matter, and another thought struck her just then. What if he could refuse? In her birth tribe, it was unthinkable to refuse, impossible...but there'd been times when a pair had Recognized but hadn't had time to answer the call before humans happened upon them, or a hunting excursion went sour. It never ended well for the one who survived.
"You would let me die before giving me a cub, wouldn't you? Your anger at me only just hides all your fear beneath..." Greywing blinked the tears from her eyes and decided to focus on her breathing; she knew she wouldn't be able to stand yet, though whether it was her still throbbing ankle or the overwhelming mass of emotions making her ill, she didn't know.
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Post by Juniper on Nov 22, 2015 9:27:29 GMT 1
With Greywing finally free, Juniper crossed his arms.
"I have lived far longer than you, cub, and no one I know has ever died out of denied Recognition!" he snarled at the maiden. That was true, in a way. Usually his folks had decided to answer to the call before things got nasty. It still did not mean a denied Recognition killed elves.
"Don't think you know me, just because you weaseled in and grabbed my name!", he then spat, as Greywing claimed his anger was only hiding fear. Maybe she was right, maybe not. The treeshaper was now too much of an emotional disaster to start telling the difference. The blond mostly wanted to escape, by an instinct; but at the same time his moral code and reason told he could not leave the maiden with twisted ankle out in the cold.
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Post by Greywing on Jan 7, 2016 9:48:52 GMT 1
Greywing felt the deluge of emotions draining her of her strength. She didn't bother to hold back her tears anymore; they flowed freely as she glared up at her so-called "soulmate." It was a cruel joke, this Recognition! "Oh, and I suppose your experiences speak for all our kind, ancient and mighty elder?" she sneered. If he wasn't going to stop calling her a cub, well, two could play at that game. "I don't know you now, and you don't know me, but as time passes, we WILL grow to understand each other, that's just how Recognition works! Unless that isn't part of your experience, since you've Recognized so many times, right?" She sniffed and wiped the tears from her cheeks; as they'd rolled down, parts of the trail left behind became tiny flecks of ice.
"I didn't want this," she sighed, her ire subsiding as she wrapped her arms around herself. "You obviously don't want it either. Are you so devoid of compassion that you accuse me of stealing your very soul?" Greywing felt sick to her stomach, a feeling that only got worse as she tried to stand. "I know you feel this pain in my ankle like it was your own, but you can't feel the pain in my spirit? Pain that would be greatly eased if you could simply treat me like any other elf, not some...scheming thief or naive cub?" The hurt in her voice revealed itself in cracks and her downturned gaze, in her body language that leaned her as far away from Juniper as her ankle would allow. "You don't want anything to do with me, fine. I'll get back on my own." Slowly, she limped through the snow, hoping that a bump in the smooth, white ice a handful of steps ahead was a fallen tree branch she could use as a walking stick.
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Post by Juniper on Jan 17, 2016 10:09:19 GMT 1
Naïve AND overly emotional. That was the treeshaper's judgement of Greywing, despite the foreign soul name screaming and bombarding his mind. Juniper grimaced -- he clearly did not understand people who thought Recognition was the gift from the High Ones. Obviously, it was not. His emotions were too much in turmoil for him to make a distinction between his own feelings and emotions and the ones the unwanted link to the cub's soul made. He sighed, feeling mostly frustrated and somewhat betrayed as he looked at the maiden wobbling away.
"You're not getting anywhere like that." he then said. Juniper's morals were too high to make him flee the scene; even if escape was something he desperately wanted to do. Last thing he wanted was to touch the maiden or be close to her. Rather, the treeshaper would have wanted to get distance in between them -- as much as possible.
Juniper watched the struggled walking for a little while, holding an inner debate in his head. Finally, he groaned and rubbed his face with his gloved hands. He knew there was wild wolves in the forest, Badger had told about it. They would hunt Greywing down within heartbeats, if they got her scent and got the hang of her injury.
"Oh blistering branches." he muttered a curse and then closed the distance between them, grabbing the maiden on his arms. "I am ONLY helping you back to the cave, and then I don't want anything to do with you." he said, although the words were more like growls. Juniper would have rather held her by the scruff, preferably at arm's length, but as she was taller than he was, there was no chance to carry her back like the cub she was.
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Post by Greywing on Jan 17, 2016 11:03:29 GMT 1
"I'll get away from you!" Greywing snapped back; the risk of falling into another hole or becoming a decent meal for an uninjured predator seemed minimal in comparison to staying near Juniper. She grit her teeth with each step, clutching the edges of her cloak against the cold air. Her thoughts and feelings felt more disorganized than an angry swarm of wasps. First, the feeling of Recognition was like emerging from a thick forest onto a cliff overlooking a neverending ocean, so vast she couldn't fathom the end. Then, quickly, Juniper's disgust knocked her to the ground, leaving her feeling like the breath had been forced from her chest. After that, it was a noisy haze; Recognition took a stick to a wasps' nest and the bugs came flying out, searching for their attacker. But where Llud's wasps were full of anger, Rakte's were angry, confused, in despair. To isolate a single feeling would be to isolate a single wasp without being stung.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she was swept off her feet, finding herself in Juniper's arms. She yelped as he scooped her up, and struggled to not protest. She wanted to spit fire at him, beat her fists against his chest...but she found herself thrown off course. He held her in his arms...despite the layers they both wore, Greywing was keenly aware of his arm cradling her back, her knees draped over the other. She was close to his chest...quite close. Sure, she could beat on it in protest...or she could wonder if it was decorated with the same honey strands as the ones on his face.
Juniper's growls brought Greywing back to the ground, and she glared back up at him. "And how exactly will you do that? It's a small holt, will you just shape yourself a home in the trees and disappear?" She bit her tongue, quite literally, to keep herself from continuing...but she wondered if he really wanted nothing to do with her, the was he held her. He could have just pulled her arm over his shoulder and helped her walk. On the other hand, that would make their trek back to the caves longer. If he knew, or if he could sense, the way her thoughts fractured and wound about in all different directions, he would probably yell at her again, keep calling her a cub, rub his hatred of her in her face. The more he called her a cub, the more she saw him like a cranky elder, scolding her for some small mistake. He made her feel small.
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Post by Juniper on Jan 17, 2016 20:00:12 GMT 1
Had it been a loved one, or at least a friend, he could have made the idea of disappearing a joke. He could have said that he would do the same as bears, and sleep over the Recognition and awake when the pull would be over. But, his soul's 'mate' was not a friend, not even an acquaintance; and Juniper did not have any desire to get to know her. Everything had happened wrong way round, and he did not like the way he was not in control in this soul system.
"Shaping a den for myself sounds like a dandy idea." he said, and thought *Sealing the den with me inside sounds even better idea.*
Despite the maiden was taller than he was, she was still very light to carry. The treeshaper was very aware of the muscles the maiden had, and decided immediately she was too muscular and not soft enough for his tastes anyway. That Badger was whole another kind compared to Rak-- Greywing, but the wolfrider made such eyes at No-Sting, he had not dared to interfere.
At the very least, they were closing distance to the holt quicker like this, although the male was very aware of the scent of the maiden he had Recognized. The whole ordeal made him feel uncomfortable, and in the swirling storm of thoughts, there appeared more feral ideas and trails. Juniper shooed those ideas away as quickly as possible.
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