Silver eyes blinked, fluttering open squinting against the bright sun shafts that cut through the huge pines. No...not just her head, everything hurt. Saida groaned, testing her muscles as she slowly rocked her weight to one side so she could pick her head up. Dark tipped ears pinning back against her crown, alarm rising in her chest as she realized the usual weight of her ram skull was gone. Groggily she looked around, where the hell was she? And...her mask...where was her mask? Blurry vision became more and more clear as she came to, her good eye coming in to focus ─ nothing but dense woodland and huge ancient trees every direction she looked. Gauging the way the light barely filtered through the trees and the air was blanketed in a layer of lingering darkness, it was early morning.
She allowed a light sigh to slip past her lips at every aching muscle, finding in her no desire to rise just yet with no immediate danger to drive her limbs to move. Instead she scanned her surroundings again, searching until she spotted the mass of bone, it was quite a ways from where she lay but she could pick out the stark ivory against the green backdrop. Something to at motivate her to get up. Which proved to be just as difficult as she thought it might be.
Every muscle and joint screamed in protest as she rose, stiffly making her way over to her battered ram skull; cracked and broken in more than one place. Her shoulders slumped, sitting down as her heart sunk as she assessed the damage. The nose shattered off, a gaping split in the seam of the face that had nearly separated the two pieces entirely, and one of the horns ─ snapped off. Memories flooded her, from the attack and her shame regarding her mangled face, to her the man who raised her, gifting her this mask to boost her confidence.
A piece of him she carried with her always; destroyed.
The summer heat was thick on the lands driving the lanky legged wolf to search for a colder climate to find relief from the heat. After Caedwyn had informed her of the mountains to the north, she'd gone exploring to see just what she could find. There were hunting grounds to be assessed, potential homes to be found, and of course, there were wolves to be met. The encounters with others had gone better than she had anticipated, though not all encounters had been pleasant exchanges. She'd spend a bit more time in the north before she would make her way to once more find Caedwyn and report her trip. If she was going to make a report, she wanted the report to be full of information - she wanted to prove to him that she was trying and succeeding.
Her roaming brought her to a peculiar place. She was drawn in and almost entranced by the massive trees that towered far larger than any she'd seen before. That was really saying something considering the places she's been and the worlds she'd seen. If there was ever a place that made her feel small, it was here in the forest. Her long legs carried her at an easy walk through the woods, her ears alert and eyes wide and keeping a lookout for any dangers that may be lurking in the shadows. She was mesmerized by the tall branches that stretched out above, intertwining almost like the roots that grew below her paws. She suddenly found herself wishing that she could be up there in the branches of the trees, stalking along them and looking down on the world beneath her, hopefully oblivious to those who were terrestrial. There was no ill-will in her desire, but she simply wanted to watch and observe the world from a place she could go unnoticed. Alas, Enya was not gifted with any ability to make her way up and into the trees - at least not without a large effort on her part. She could make her water element work in her favor, but without a large source to draw from, she would be pulling from the trees their selves. She didn't want to kill the very things that had made her pause and look up at them awestruck.
Ah well. She could continue on paw and she did, moving yet further into the forest and admiring the light shafts that fought their way through the canopy of branches and pine needles from the morning sun rays. It nearly felt like there was magic in the air and her body grew more animated at the thought of it. Before she realized, her slow casual awestruck walk had turned into a prancing jog, bounding her way through the underbrush and ferns and caring not what or who heard her. Morning songbirds sang beautiful melodies to wake the diurnal animals. Rodents - squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks - scattered at her presence, but she didn't bother to give chase. This place invigorated her and couldn't find a reason to force herself to feel otherwise.
Until she suddenly saw another wolf through the underbrush camouflaged with greens and easily hidden by the undergrowth its self.
Enya's prancing jog slowed to a halt and she stopped to study the wolf, tilting her head this way and that, tail held level with her back and swaying to and fro slightly. Her teal eyes sparkled with interest and she took a slow approach towards the stranger, her eyes shifting from the wolf to the pile of bones at her paws. Bones! Oh, a wolf after her own heart! But... was the wolf trying to eat them? She looked healthy enough at first glance, but hard times fell on everyone eventually. She'd reduced herself to sucking marrow from bones in her past to stay fed when she was hungry. Something was better than nothing when it came to an empty, raging stomach. "If you're hungry, we can find something more filling than bone marrow. I'm happy to help you with a rumbling tummy." Like always, she ignored the common practice of offering up her name to the stranger. Some old habits died hard.
"If you're hungry, we can find something more filling than bone marrow. I'm happy to help you with a rumbling tummy." Saida startled, she'd been so lost in thought and focused on her mangled possession that she hadn't alerted to the other approaching. She shuffled, pivoting to rotate and face the owner of the voice, already speaking before she'd turned to see her. "Oh...no, that's ok..." she answered. Ears drawn back as she tilted her head slightly to get a look at the woman with her good eye, she was far more interesting than herself. Back bathed in an off red and her underbelly dressed in bright tropical blue scales.
Saida realized as she had turned, how bare she felt, how exposed she hadn't displayed her face to the world, ever. When the accident happened, she'd hidden away in the den and then Rhett found the mask, which albeit a bit big for her at the time. But it gave her the confidence to be out and about again without the entire community seeing her mangled face and ruined eye which remained in a permanent squint from the damage. She turned her face slightly, lowering it to try and hide as much of it from view as possible, "It wasn't....I actually wore it." she shook her head, composing herself. "Can you tell me where I am?"
The wolf startled at her words and part of Enya immediately felt bad. She hadn't meant to scare her. She only meant to help her. When the wolf turned towards her, Enya immediately noticed the scar across her face and the presumably blind eye that accompanied it. Enya had once an intimate relationship with a wolf who had been blind. When younger, she'd seen blindness as an obvious weakness, a handicap and something that a wolf would be better off dead than to have. However, after her relationship with the blind wolf Wisteria, she'd changed her opinion. Blindness was not a weakness, and anyone who thought otherwise were fools in their own rights. To this day, Wisteria was the sole wolf who could give her a run for her money. Not once had her blindness hindered her, and in fact, Enya had grown to respect her greatly for overcoming her condition.
The wolf with the scarred eye turned her face away, as if trying to hide the wound from Enya's view. Enya thought to call her out on the action, but it could cause conflict between them. She wasn't particularly interested in putting the other on edge more so than she already had by startling her. So instead, Enya acted as if she didn't see the wound on her face. 'I actually wore it' Her ears perked up at the statement. So, she wasn't trying to get what little nutrition she could from the bones shattered at her paws. She was presumably mourning the loss of her prized possession. Already Enya was liking this girl more and more.
"I've been calling it The Realm." she answered casually, stepping forward to examine the bones at the wolf's feet - though she didn't dare to get too close in case she was protective over the remains. "I take it you've just arrived here? From what I've gathered, it seems commonplace for wolves to simply wake up and appear here. Are you hurt?" The scar on her face didn't look fresh, but that didn't mean that she was uninjured.
"I've been calling it The Realm." she nodded, looking around briefly. "I suppose that's easy enough" it didn't really tell here where she was or how she got here, but at least she had something to call it. Her eyes trailed the woman as she approached, studying her close now that she was closer. The rich blue scaling, the printing upon her legs, and scars of her own that decorated her shoulders. Saida shifted, looking back at the broken remains of her mask, it was gone now there was no undoing that fact. She could likely find a replacement, but it wouldn't be the same, wouldn't hold the sentimental value this one did. Only act as a keeper of her shame regarding her mangled eye.
"I take it you've just arrived here? From what I've gathered, it seems commonplace for wolves to simply wake up and appear here. Are you hurt?" Saida glanced down at her paws, inspecting her body before getting up again. She hadn't really paid any mind to if she was hurt when she awoke. Too focused on everything else going on; as she rose she tested her limbs before looking back to the woman. "I seem well enough, my head is killing me and I'm a bit stiff, but otherwise everything appears to be intact" she mused. "...yes that was the same for me. I woke up just over there," she nodded her nose toward the place just behind the woman.
"Oh ─ Saida by the way..." she offered, forgetting she hadn't even given her a name.
An aching head. A stiff body. Nothing terribly dangerous to one's health - at least nothing immediately dangerous. Enya racked her brain for cures and remedies taught to her by Zehr, a wolf of her past, and concluded that a couple herbs might be in order along with a long rest - but not a sleep. No. Sleep could be dangerous for aching heads if it was a concussion. "How about we find you some rosemary then, hmm? It's a great remedy for headaches." So, it was another wolf who'd just suddenly popped into this realm of existence. Interesting. She'd feigned knowing of many others following the same path that she'd taken, and in doing so had gleamed such information from the situation. Now it was up to her whether she shared that they possessed the same history of appearing in this realm, or if she simply kept it a secret. "Nice to meet you, Saida." Her muzzle curved with a larger smile, a warm smile that tried to convey a friendliness. It was even accompanied with a tail wag, however she was sure to keep it high above her back.
"After we find you some rosemary, we can find you a place to rest. Perhaps we can find a fallen log for you to recuperate within." Maybe it was odd just how friendly she was being, but she was really trying to make a good impression on this wolf. Besides, her affinity with bones - even if it was a broken skull - touched a soft spot in her heart. She had been raised to collect such things, earn herself a hoard of bones from trials and battles that she faced down. Her hoard, as a matter of fact, was largely gone from all of her years of travel and realm hopping. She would have to start anew for in her mind, her saddle bags full of goodies and her bone armor didn't count as a hoard. It was simply her belongings, which she'd left tucked away back where she and Caedwyn had taken up temporary residence in the jungle.
"The name is Enya, by the way. I've been around The Realm for quite some time now." Which was the truth. It had been nearly six months that she'd been a resident of the realm. Already six months. Time really did fly by the older that you got. Six months, and her son and familiar had yet to present their selves to her life. Her goal would remain, but it felt more and more fleeting that they would ever appear to see the home she was creating for them. "So, what's your story? You must have a story to tell. Let's chat while we walk and search. Oh, do you want me to help you carry those broken bones? Where I'm from, we create hoards of items that are important to us - mostly bones of our vanquished enemies or treasures we've stolen. Just because it's broken doesn't mean it's unworthy of your hoard."
