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Post by Badger on Apr 10, 2014 7:13:23 GMT 1
OoC: This happens after the two named elves have left the Beacon Room. Open for anyone to join.
~*~
Without her steed, the elf was not too fast. Badger had never been a swift runner, but at least she was able to keep up a steady pace. They had not ventured too far from the shaped cave, yet, and the fisher had a feeling they would not do it anyway. Badger was still a little wary of her company, not to mention the animal, panther, in the company's company. She felt a little heartache, hoping that Trotter was alright.
"I'm afraid we don't find anything to eat or drink." she said to Panaetha, "This is ... really unfamiliar territory to me."
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Post by Panaetha on Apr 16, 2014 6:14:27 GMT 1
Panaetha could have flown over the area, but if they were to be here very long, it would be better to explore the place more fully, which could only be truly done on the ground...and it was better for establishing relations with the other elves. She wasn't too close to Badger, but not terribly far either; she peered over her shoulder, seeing the yellow eyes following her. She frowned slightly; she had no idea why the panther stuck so close to her. *Is he to be my new bond?* In her centuries of life, she'd only had a few bonds, a hand at most...her last one had died turns and turns ago.
"To me as well," she sighed, looking down at the smaller elf nearby. "We'll explore it in time." The glider wasn't ready to be any more vulnerable than that; what if one of the elves was their captor, like Keleero hinted at? Or was whatever, or whoever, called them here saving them from some unseen dangers in their home tribes? What mysterious things lurked in the forest? She lashed her tail in frustration, but kept her breathing steady; no reason to worry over the unknown, it would eventually be found by the light.
She strained her ears listening for anything, but the forest seemed empty and too quiet, even for night. Was there no prey in this forest? No tracks, no leaves rustling, no babbling brooks. In her efforts to sense prey, she ignored what was under her feet. The panther behind them growled and yowled, but it was too late; with a yelp, she fell through a leaf trap. Panaetha flew out of it, watching the leaves and thin sticks fall into a steep pit with sharpened sticks poking out of the ground below. Nothing was down there, but she could see that it had been used many times before...and successfully. She floated there, her expression a mixture of shock and horrified curiosity; someone had to have made this.
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Post by Badger on Apr 16, 2014 6:28:43 GMT 1
Badger's mind was somewhat filled with worry, and suspicion. What if the grey-skinned elf was putting on an act and was here just to get rid of the wolfrider? Nervousness around the panther did not really help, the wolfrider felt outnumbered in this company. She wanted to believe in the general goodness of the other elves -- so far only hostile elf had been Hollythorne, back in the Shadow Woods -- and even that maiden had been blinded by jealous rage...
"Oi!" she exclaimed, when she heard the yelp -- Badger had kept her eyes in the ground, but missed the trap by luck. Worried for the stranger in her company, she sighed when Panaetha just glided up from the trap, then the realization dawned to her. There had been someone, who'd made the trap... Badger was thoughtful; who could it have been? The wolfrider held her knife tightly, as if a monster could bounce out from the trap. "Are you alright?" she then asked the grey-skinned elf.
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Post by No-Sting on Apr 16, 2014 21:00:03 GMT 1
(( OOC: No-Sting just open-sent this in the Beacon Room thread: **Mother? Mother are you here?** she open-sent, stretching her abilities to their limits. **Whatever the trolls are demanding from you, don't give it to them! Swift-Wind and I are unhurt, we will find a way out of here!** You don't need to reply to it or anything, just thought I'd let you know that your elves should be able to hear her ))
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Post by Silverthorn on Apr 22, 2014 16:05:40 GMT 1
((OOC: And now Silverthorn sent this at Panathea, though both should be able to get it:))
**Panathea.** His sending reached out to the huntress whose name he had caught. What was the other's name? He'll have to find out, and remember. **Where are you two? Have you gone far?**
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Post by Panaetha on Apr 23, 2014 19:40:19 GMT 1
The glider continued to float, then rubbed her temple a little. "Y-yes, I'm alright...oh, I'm just tired." She sighed and set down far enough from the trap that she was in no danger of falling in again. Panaetha looked down at Badger then and smiled faintly. "Honestly, I drifting off to sleep before...awakening here. I think the rush is wearing off." Her head tilted back, and she looked at the stars for a moment. "I don't think the daystar will come soon...the night still seems young," she sighed. "I spent the day running after kits...our children. Including my little sister...I've been teaching her how to hunt." Panaetha's gaze grew wistful, but no tears came; she wouldn't be defeated by this mysterious land.
"And now others look for their families," she sighed again, an unfamiliar voice entering her mind. "She mentions trolls...do you think trolls could do this?" she asked Badger, motioning to the trap. Back in Tiger's Eye, it was rumored that her mother, Qellara, kept a handful of trolls shackled and imprisoned deep in the mountain, forced to make her whatever she wished, from weapons to jewelry. Panaetha wasn't sure if the stories were just fun ones the kits made up around the fires, or if there was any merit to them, but they certainly colored her view of trolls; if her waifish mother could keep them trapped, they couldn't be terribly capable.
Another voice invaded her thoughts, still unfamiliar; she'd only remembered Badger and Keleero because they'd all been the first to appear. After that, her panic had started to take over, and names were lost...but she thought this voice belonged to the wolf-elf. **We are...** she looked up at the sky again, but she couldn't see the Hub Star. **...if you come out of the caves, it is mostly just trees. There are more to the right than the left. We are there.**
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Post by Badger on Apr 24, 2014 8:19:10 GMT 1
"Trolls?" Badger asked, and a thoughtful frown appeared on her face, "N-nooooo, not the ones I know of. Er, well, the troll smith I knew was maybe a little nuts, but I do not really believe he would have been capable of something like this." 'This' referred to the everything happening around the elves, all unfamiliar surroundings, new and all different elves appearing all the time. Different sendings cut her off for a little while, but the female wolfrider did not feel like she had the right to answer. Someone was looking for their mother, other one demanded to know where they were.
In a grim situation, Badger smiled a little and sighed. "Now they suspect that we are the culprits for the elfnappings." she joked, not sure if they could move along or if they needed to wait for reinforcements.
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Post by Silverthorn on Apr 24, 2014 17:26:40 GMT 1
Panathea's sent response got a pulse of acknowledgement from Silverthorn, tinged with a little relief that the stranger elf hadn't simply up and vanished. His next sending reached out to both her and Badger. **There are two more elves here now. We go to search for water. Keleero and Sunset remain in the cave. Keep in sending range!** It was more order than request. He was determined not to let them scatter.
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Post by Panaetha on Apr 25, 2014 9:20:52 GMT 1
"They're free to come investigate with us if they like," Panaetha shrugged with a half-smile. "Come on," she motioned to the smaller elf, walking at more than a safe distance around the trap. "I wish there was something I could do to make this more obvious or disable it, but I guess I will just have to hope that others will be paying better attention than I," she said; if her skin hadn't been so dark, Badger would have been able to see her blush. Pardus rumbled and padded nervously around it as well, hissing at the faint smell of either the trap's last victim, or the trap's builder.
The send from Silverthorn made the glider's nose wrinkle. *"Keep in sending range?" Really? I will go where I please!* She stayed silent though; not even a ping in response. She didn't want to cause any trouble with her independent nature, but she wouldn't be given orders either; she was determined to help these elves set up...whatever they needed, and then she would be off on her own to find her pride.
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Post by Badger on Apr 25, 2014 21:16:53 GMT 1
Badger did not say anything to the sending either, not being the confrontational kind of an elf. She only replied with a sense of acknowledgment, but did not make any promises to the weird, unfamiliar wolfrider male -- after all, she had not been addressed by name. Badger was not sure of the plans, but she was sure she was far away from home; maybe even too far to ever reach the old holt. In a way, it was making her feel very uncomfortable, considering she might have to learn to cope with other strangers.
The blush got unnoticed, as suspected, but she hastened her steps to follow the grey-skinned elf. Had the female wolfrider had better equipment, she might have left a piece of clothing as a sign to the busted trap. But, as she did not, Badger only could hope for the best this time. They moved on the path a little further, but soon her ears picked up a sound of something familiar.
"Uh, wait!" she exclaimed and stopped to listen for a little while, hoping to pick up a clearer sound.
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Post by Panaetha on May 3, 2014 3:29:50 GMT 1
Panaetha stopped and watched Badger listening, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hear whatever tickled the wolfrider's ears. Having accepted her mixed heritage long ago, she didn't often dwell on the traits she lacked from both sides, but she sometimes wished her hearing was as sharp as any other catrider.
She lifted just above the ground so she wouldn't make any noise while waiting, and peered back at the panther behind them. He stared back and sat calmly, curling his tail around his back legs. The glider's own tail puffed a little, annoyed with the cat. *What is he expecting from me?* she thought, looking at him with a frown. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't put her finger on it. *It's just the legend of the Great Panther he's making me think of, that's all,* she thought, brushing him off as she turned away.
::Water.::
Panaetha's head whipped back around to peer at the cat, who just slowly closed his eyes, then started licking his paw. Her brow furrowed, but the panther ignored her; she looked back at Badger and carefully set herself down on the ground again. "He says there's water ahead...I think. That's a good sign..."
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Post by Badger on May 3, 2014 21:34:16 GMT 1
Badger's suspicion was confirmed, when Panathea mentioned that the panther had told there was water nearby. For a brief moment, she wondered how, but then shrugged the wonder off, because she realized the wolfriders communicated the same way with the wolf bonds. This incident made her miss Trotter even more, and the fisher sighed a little. "Yes, I think I hear a sound of rushing water." she then said, her voice low, a little sad.
The maiden pointed in a new direction ahead of them and said, "I hear it that way." Badger tried to smile an encouraging smile -- "It is not far away." And then she hopped on the trail again, jogging swiftly to the direction of the sound, hoping to find a river or some other brook. Then at least one thing needed was covered, and she could find good rocks for her sling too.
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Post by Panaetha on May 11, 2014 8:46:20 GMT 1
Panaetha jogged lightly after the smaller elf, her gaze alternating between what was ahead, and what was underfoot; she didn't want to stumble on another trap. The image of the spikes sticking up from the pit, some broken, all bloody, still flashed in her mind. It wasn't the worst trap she'd come across in her long life, but the brutality still shocked her. It seemed...messy and cheap.
The closer the pair got to the water, the easier it was for the half-blood to hear. As they ran, the rushing sound came and went, but quickly became steady. Soon, she didn't need Badger to point out where the sounds came from. Occasionally, she'd peek behind her and was simultaneously comforted and annoyed that the panther still followed.
It wasn't much longer before they arrived at the source of the sound, but it occurred to Panaetha, and likely to Badger, that the sound they followed came from more than just a river. Their arrival proved them correct; the two elves stood on the bank of a rushing river, fueled by a majestic waterfall. It wasn't so large as to deafen them with the sound of water crashing into the pool below, but it was loud enough; the way the moonlight gleamed on the surface made the falls glitter, as if the stars themselves were falling.
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Post by Badger on May 14, 2014 7:32:40 GMT 1
Badger huffed a little, it seemed like the comfortable life in her old homeplace had made her out of shape -- therefore, the wolfrider was glad to be out of her comfort zone, it was time to get sharper again. "Seems like we found water." she said with a smile, glad to have found at least something; maybe next they could move onward to find some prey and hunt it down. She would be able to find some decent pebbles and rocks in here, as well.
"Also, I think I could find a spot to fish." she then mentioned, eyeing the stream, "In case, you know, we are not successful in hunting." The wolfrider remembered there had been quite a lot of elves appearing to the strange room in the mountain, not to mention the new sent voices they had heard. The maiden suspected there might be even more mouths to feed.
"What do you think?" she asked her company, "Hunt or fish?"
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Post by Panaetha on May 20, 2014 7:30:42 GMT 1
"Fish, definitely," Panaetha grinned, flexing her claws. Though her hands were like any "normal" elf's hands, the cat-elves of her pride had harder nails, and they kept them sharpened. "My talon-whip isn't too good for hunting in such dense foliage." The other advantage fishing had was that sight was the primary sense used; Panaetha's hearing wasn't as sharp as elves who were fully animal-blooded, but her eyesight was keen.
"We'll have to walk further downstream...I think we'll have an easier time catching fish there." She also didn't want to be near the waterfall for too long; whoever made that trap could be watching, and the roar of the waterfall would make it much easier for them to sneak up on the pair.
Panaetha frowned with a slightly frustrated sigh. "I wish we had a net. We're going to need a lot of fish if elves keep...popping in to that room. Maybe the other three will have some luck hunting too," she said, referring to Silverthorn, No-Sting, and Swift-Wind.
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