Larkspur took a moment, giving a fierce flutter of her wings with the intent of shedding the next set of her damaged feathers. The broken, smothered feathers went spiraling to the ground at her paws. She sighed, holding out her right wing while inspecting the bald patches - rain could really ruin a good day for any feathered beings. At least the place she had glided to was full of more than enough sand for the several consecutive dust-baths her wings and fur were going to need to spread the now washed away oils around again. It's going to be such an itchy series of days while the pinfeathers grow in, and she works through any water parasites clinging to her pelt.
The wolf released a sigh, sinking down onto the glittering stones with her wings splayed out around her. She'd been preening for a while now, an hour she thinks, so she could afford a little break. Besides, the fleetingly warm sunlight beaming down on her sore wings was a nice feeling.
"I wish I could just... magic my coat clean," she grumbled to herself, her thick tail giving a fierce swish that knocked a series of rocks and pebbles down the side of the mountain. The large she-wolf extended her forelegs, arching her back towards the sky and loosening her muscles before sinking her claws into the rocky earth. It wasn't easy, but her belly was a bit rubbed raw from essentially being dragged across the bottom of the river during the flood and the following rough landing from escaping the fire-lands while her wings were matted and messy.
She grunted a little as she started channeling her power, forcing a bit of mountain moss to begin sprouting from the earth before her. It was a bit difficult, the stone naturally resisting the roots attempting to take form but eventually it settled. Tiny, pink flowers appeared in the thick, tangled mass of moss - mountain campione. As soon as it appeared, she sank back down in the bed of moss with a soft little pleased sigh.
Cobalt blue eyes cracked back open as a shadow fell across her, blocking her sunlight.
"Unless you can start glowing, it'd be nice if you could move out of my sun," she grumbled, adjusting her wings as a reflexive shiver ran through her.
It hadn't exactly been Reed's intention to magically poof across the new lands when she wished she could find one of her friends she missed so dearly. She didn't know that the endless hole she had found in the ground, full of water, had been a sort of wishing well when she'd haphazardly tossed a leaf into it to test the currents of the water. It was a frightening sensation to suddenly be sucked into said wishing well, her body warping as the teleportation magic zipped her from one side of the continent to the other side. Reed landed with a thunk on the hard rainbow colored ground and groaned from the impact. She really needed to stop falling through random worm holes.
Welp, no time like the present to figure out where she was now. She didn't bother to figure out how she had gotten here. At this point, teleportation almost felt normal to her. "Sigh" she said out loud as she also sighed along with it. "I'm never going to find my friends at this rate." By friends, of course, she meant Balthazar and Pip. So, step by step, Reed made her way through the strange rainbow hillside. She felt exposed as she traveled with how little shrubbery and trees there were. Her exposure was confirmed when she crested a hill and looked over the other side, seeing a wolf laying and splaying their wings out around them.
Naturally, Reed may a beeline for the stranger, running and prancing down the hillside with her dagger and cutlass clanking together in her harness on her side. "Hey!" she shouted at the stranger, happy to see something else out here besides nothingness. "Hey! You! Hey!" She continued to call as she closed the distance between the two of them. By the time Reed got to the stranger, she was panting and talking through breaths. "Hey. Do you know where we are?" Only after she asked her question did Reed turn to actually look the stranger over. Her eyes noticed the damaged feathers and she wondered what the stranger had gotten into. Was there a monster at work here?
"Ah hells, you don't know either?" the wolf frowned, annoyance about the blockade from their sun-bathing temporarily put to the side. There went that fleeting thought. If this other wolf didn't know where they were, then Larkspur was probably back at square one as far as getting out of here - with her wings out of commission for at least another day, there was no way for them to guarantee their safety. Heading back the way they came, only fire and death awaited - so would they have to venture aimlessly out into these colorful mountains until they finally found something resembling trees? Of course, they could also try sitting where they were until their wings healed, but who knew what kind of creatures roamed this place at night. "We can lead each other in circles then."
They folded their better groomed wing (the right one) back towards their flank, stretching a little as they sat up a bit. It was rude and a bit dangerous to be laying flat on their stomach with a strange wolf standing upon them - especially one apparently carrying a sword around. Who in the gods really needed a sword?
"Larkspur," they said all the same, motioning towards themself with a brown wing. "Your partner in this rainbow purgatory."
---
Uh oh. Maybe she had been poofed to another realm, or land, or dimension, or literally any other sort of place of existence after all. If this wolf didn't know either, then maybe it had happened to both of them? Oh oh! Maybe that was why their feathers were damaged! Maybe they had been poofed as well, and maybe the poofening had been rough on them, just like it had been on her! Except she didn't have any damaged feathers of course. 'We can lead each other in circles then'. "Well uh, I'd rather not go in circles? That doesn't seem very productive. But I'd be happy to lead you! Or you can lead me. I ain't picky."
Reed stepped back to give the other wolf room to rise and stretch and instead turned her attention out once more to the landscape. It was pretty! But it was also... very not pretty. It reminded her of stories told to her long ago back when she was but a pup. In fact, she remembered her father spinning tales of his own pirate adventures, talking about how he had found lands that glowed with every color of a rainbow. He'd spoken of how magical they had been to gaze upon, a great relief after sailing for weeks on open water with their rations long exhausted from the redirected trip. He'd told her that even the air vibrated with magic and if she listened close enough, she would hear a feint hum. "It was like a banjo string being plucked under the water" Reed said out loud without realizing it, echoing her father's words from one of the few stories he had a chance to share with her.
Suddenly a name was offered to Reed, drawing her out of her thoughts and reminiscing of a time so sweet. "Oh, hi Larkspur. Nice to meet ya. The name's Reed Blackpaw, monster hunter by trade, pirate by choice." Like she did with every single introduction, she drew her cutlass from her sheath on her side and struck a heroic pose with her father's weapon grasped firmly between her jaws. There she held the pose a moment (like all heroes did) before dropping the pose and sheathing her cutlass. "So did ya also just uh..." How did she even explain what had happened to her? "Poof here? That's what happened to me. One moment I was lookin' in a puddle of water, tossin stuff inside to see what would happen, next thing I know I'm poof! suddenly in rainbow purgatory! Wait, I thought you didn't know where we were?"
Oh, she's one of those literal sorts, huh? Larkspur nodded to themself, making a mental note to be at least slightly more clear when they're being sarcastic. Usually, they wouldn't adjust such a large part of themself for a stranger, but if they were to be trapped together, the wolf knew they'd have to make a few concessions. In the name of survival.
They listened passively to the other's introduction, making an appropriate nose of impressment at the trick of tossing the knife and catching it again. Larkspur genuinely didn't mind listening to others ramble and talk. Though boasting could be annoying, it wasn't often that Larkspur was capable of carrying a conversation by themself. They chuckled to themself, the corner of their muzzle quirking up slightly in amusement as they twisted to continue nipping through their ruffled wings. This wolf - Reed, they mused - didn't seem to be too much of a threat and the sooner their wings were flight-worthy again, the sooner they could sort a way out of this admittedly beautiful rainbow mountain-scale.
"Poof, huh?" the winged-wolf chuckled, raising a brow. Well, given they had almost drowned and awoke in this strange world, they suppose vanishing and reappearing at random must be another possibility of the world. Distressing, but what could they do? "That's a far nicer way. No, some wolf must have pissed off a god of the seas because the river I was resting near flooded and the current swept me away. When I woke up, I was surrounded by fire and smoke."
They pointed their free wing back in the direction they'd come from.
"Forced me to fly on bad wings when the earth itself started growling - now I'm land bound like the rest of you," something that wore a somewhat bitter taste on their tongue. Larkspur enjoyed flying, had been in love with it since they'd properly figured out all of the mechanics behind it and though they didn't always fly, being denied the option in this way was frustrating. Another drizzle of broken, tattered feathers fluttered to the ground and with a soft sigh, they folded the wing in - alright, that was one down and one to go. For now, though, they stretched and arched their back, rising to their paws.
"Purgatory likely isn't the name of this place doll," said the brown furred wolf.
They cocked their head, offering a quirked brow, "If you're a monster-hunter, then you'd be able to fight any creatures that came after this injured bird, yes?"
Sure, they were laying it on a bit thick but by gods did they not want to risk running into some creature alone.
---
Larkspur unknowingly spoke of Reed's own gods when she mentioned the god of the sea being angry. She didn't interrupt Larkspur, but she did find herself wondering why Mar would be upset with them. "That sounds awful" she commented sincerely. She had never had the gift of flight herself, but she remembered when Pip injured his wing and couldn't fly for months. She remembered how sad Pip had been when he tried to fly and couldn't. Add that in with the whole being swept away and being dumped into fire in unknown lands and it was the perfect story to birth a hero from. "So you just escaped all of that then? You haven't been here long, huh?" She was putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Larkspur wasn't a wolf who had been here for a day or four. She literally just landed here with hardly enough time to clean her wings.
Reed's mind started to work on solutions. "Well, we'll just have to get ya back up and into the air then. Get ya all fixed right up." She didn't know how she would help Larkspur with that, but ya had to start somewhere, right? An idea seemed like a good way to start. "In order to heal proper, your body needs three things. Food, water, n rest. Well, we can't do the restin' bit right now since we ain't got no food or water, but now we got a goal. We'll find somewhere else that has what you need." A cheerful smile returned to Reed's face, her natural positivity taking over once more.
"O'course I could! I'm one of the best monster slayers around!" She wasn't going to point out how she was probably the only monster slayer around. "I got loads of stories about all the stuff I've seen n things I've slayed. I'd be happy to share one with ya, but maybe after we settle down to rest after we've secured food and water, eh?" Reed took a purposeful step forward, extending her left leg dramatically to indicate them starting on their way. Her paw never touched the ground, however. She held it poised and ready, waiting for Larkspur to take the lead.
"Yep, haven't even been here a night yet," Larkspur confirmed, shaking their un-groomed wing a little bit to dislodge the latest wall of feathers. Normally they would try to wait until the conversation was over, but it felt like the longer they stood still, the drier and more brittle they became. And brittle feathers felt very similar to her wing being full of bramble thorns, all sticking her at once.
They were a bit embarrassed to admit that their ears perked up, swiveling forward to focus on the monster-hunter standing before her at the remark that she'd be willing to help the feathered wolf return to the sky. Gods, that would be the greatest gift they could ever be given. Their tail gave a somewhat pup-like wag of pleasure, relief flooding their body as Reed began laying out a plan. Admittedly, they didn't feel very hungry (they never were when they were mid-molt) but water would be nice on their dry tongue and raspy mouth if they could find any. Another pang throbbed through their chest at the reminder that they couldn't just take off and scan the area for water - they would have to find water the old-fashioned way - on paw.
"...sure," Larkspur agreed, a bit relieved that their bid for help was successful. Seeing the paw sticking out, they mentally shrugged and picked a seemingly random direction (away from the burning mountains) and in pursuit of a proper, steep slope. "Water flows downhill, so I suppose we should find a low-spot."
They glanced up at the sun - still decently high overhead, but it wouldn't remain that way for long, they think. Before they knew it, the brilliant sun would be setting and Larkspur would be stranded on the ground in a strange place with a stranger as their only protection against any creatures that could be lying in wait.
With a direction picked, Reed stepped forward beside Larkspur. There was a prance in her step that hid the true turmoil she felt inside. Reed worried deeply. She worried about Balthazar and Pip and Tallulah. She worried about how now that she had been poofed away again that she had somehow ended up on a different world than those she cared for. How would she get back if that was the case? Balthazar needed her and admittedly, she needed him too. He was her rock, her constant throughout her life. Sure, she hadn't grown up with him from puphood, but the majority of her teenage and adult years had been spent beside him. He was her best friend and she needed to find him! 'Maybe Tyr's winds will guide me' she thought to herself as a breeze kicked up over the rocky, hilly terrain.
"Yeah, that makes sense to me!" she declared cheerfully as she turned to glance at Larkspur briefly and nodded at them with a smile. Reed only let a moment of silence exist between them before she started humming. Her tune was cheery and upbeat and matched the extra pause she added with each step she took. Then, abruptly, her humming stopped and she turned to spark up further conversation with Larkspur. "Hey, ya know what's kinda crazy? How out of all the places that I coulda ended up, I managed to somehow end up nearby you! Isn't that wild to think about? Speaking of you, you haven't happened to of seen a REALLY big wolf around, have ya? Maybe even in the area that you flew from? He's got huge dragon-like wings. He usually wears his goggles durin' the day, and his tail has a really cool scythe on the tip of it. Goes by the name of Balthazar. Black, gray, and red mostly. Got some scales on his face." Reed was confident that with that description, this wolf would know for sure if they had seen him or not. "He's my sailin' partner. Known him for a long time now. I was washed up ashore in a place called Muddy River alongside the scattered remains of my ship. He was on that ship with me, an' he wasn't there when I came to. I been lookin' for him ever since. It's been, gosh, a moon and some change now?"
Larkspur blinked, not all that bother by the she-wolf's chattering. Their nails clicked lightly against the rock beneath their paws, absorbing the description of the wolf in question - a scythe wielding wolf with massive dragon-wings?
"No sorry," Larkspur said, thinking about a wolf like that. And they'd thought their and their siblings' wings had been strange - so there were feathered wings like their own, insect-like wings like Snapdragon's and now dragon wings. Which they presumed were scaly and probably also not vulnerable to the inconvenience that was molting. A bead of jealousy briefly flickered to life in their chest before they dismissed it - their wings were beautiful and though feathers were on another level of infuriating to care for, they couldn't imagine themself any other way by now. "You're the first wolf I've seen in a while. Before the flood, I was moving through an empty patch."
They think it had been... half a month's time since the last time they saw another wolf? There had been some awfully large, awfully dangerous cats that claimed that patch of land and so they suspected that like themselves, any wolves in the area had been trying to clear as quickly and quietly as possible.
"Get me back into the air though... I'll help you look," Larkspur promised. And they meant it. If Reed Blackpaws could keep them alive and generally well enough to get back into the sky... well, what better way to search for another wayward flier than by taking to the skies themself? It was the perfect deal.
Reed hadn't realized that she had been desperately hoping that Larkspur's answer had been a yes until she felt the disappointment washing through her as she responded with a no. Her ears folded backwards, the first visible sign that Reed wore that she was worried and scared and held any other emotion within her besides happy. She also felt sorry for Larkspur as well. She had no actual way of knowing, but she assumed that she had family and friends that had been left behind in the flood. Was she looking for them too? She wanted to ask but couldn't find it within her to do so. Something stopped her.
Her green gaze shifted downwards to the rainbow colored rockwork beneath their paws. Each step, click click click, bringing them closer to more unknown. She was going to (for once) let silence fall between the two of them, that was, until Larkspur offered their assistance in finding Balthazar. Any hint of Reed feeling sorry for herself was immediately wiped away as excitement once again reanimated her. "You will?" She paused, turning to Larkspur with a serious look sprinkled into the excitement. "You mean it? You really mean it? You'll help me look for him?" A few others had already offered to help her look, but it was no less exciting to have yet another pair of eyes on the lookout, especially another pair with wings who could cover far more ground than she could. "Oh, that would be wonderful! Thank you. Thank you!" Reed reached forward to gently touch Larkspur with her nose on their shoulder - a gesture of thank you. "I hope I find him soon."
As the pair crested the top of a hill going northward, Reed paused at the top to stop and survey the lands below. Curiously, this side of the hill sported far more greenery than the other side of the hill. Perhaps it was because of the river (or ocean?) that she saw far off in the distance. "Welp, we found water. I'm not so sure that's drinkable, though. If I know one thing, it's that you don't want to drink ocean water. It'll twist your gut faster than goin' swimmin' after horkin' down a meal, it will."
