She'd been delusional to think there was any chance of getting back home. At first she'd thought--she'd hoped, that she still existed in her own world, just in some strange new part of it, but that first night of tracking the stars to find her way south had lead to an unsettling realization: she didn't recognize any of the constellations. The following nights proved equally unsuccessful, though the setting and rising of the sun at least proved a very basic understanding of which direction to travel in. Still, Ida had clung to the desperate hope that the world would become more familiar the further south she went, so she'd left the snow and bubbling springs behind to travel perpendicularly to the rising sun.
The huge brute panted, hot air puffing from her open jaws and fading away into the cold mountain air as she lumbered through the woods. The trees here were like that of the springs; tall and cone shaped with spicy, dark sap she'd long since abandoned trying to chew from her matted pelt. Black soil clung to her paws along with clumps of pine needles and dried blood which oozed from the cracks in her aching paw pads, and the dull stinging which jolted up her legs with every step only burned the fire in her chest ever hotter.
On her journey she'd taken to snapping up loose pebbles and rocks, still not having found a proper quarry to feast and instead supplementing her diet with whatever small creatures were unfortunate enough to cross her path; most of the time they were too fast entirely, but the few animals she caught were either somewhat recognizable or alien entirely. She'd assumed meat would sustain her fine enough, but hunting for every meal was a nightmare, and between that and her constant walking, she was tired and crabby and just wanted to go home. It was her stubborn nature that kept her plodding on, pausing only to collapse for the night or veer from her path to catch a morsel for the road.
Evening light dappled through the leaves as Ida rasped her tongue around her jowls and was reminded of the strange, drowsy rabbit she'd managed to snatch at dawn. The thing had had antlers, and an uncharacteristic boldness that had nearly gotten her eye gouged out when snapping her jaws around its throat. She huffed irritably, the scratch on her cheek giving a weak pulse at the memory as she continued on. Slowly she could hear the faint echo of rushing water growing, and her steps quickened with its volume as she huffed and snorted and shoved her way through the sparse, coniferous undergrowth in desperation to see something that may be familiar after so long walking.
Instead, Ida stumbled out upon a rocky bluff. The trees thinned here, allowing her to step forward and leer down where further below water erupted from the cliffside and gushed into a massive, unfamiliar mountain range. The drop from there was dizzying--higher than which she had never seen or known of in her previous land. The entire landscape beneath her was foreign, dotted with mountains and pine trees and deposits of stone she could only appreciate once her temper cooled. The huge dog curled her lip and dug her claws into the earth as the hot rage boiling in her chest finally bubbled over. She was never going home.
She let out a wordless roar that split the distant rushing of the waterfall, lurching away from the bluff's edge and charging towards the nearest tree and raising a massive, heavy paw to slam into the rough wood. She'd had enough of the goddamn things--between the strange creature she'd seen take that form and the endless seas of them she'd traversed only to end exactly nowhere closer to what she wanted, she wanted her old trees back. She wanted her old world back.
She beat furiously into the bark, splintering and chipping at the trunk with every swing of her calloused, bleeding paws as she spit and cursed and reveled in the destruction her rage brought upon it. By the time her fury wavered, her limbs pulsed with aching muscles and torn flesh, and she sat heavily down and threw her head back to pant desperately for air. Her lungs burned, and with the burst of her realization spent, she was left with nothing but the truth of her predicament.
--
DICE ROLL: Constitution
Succeed: Ida uses her callous ability to harden her paws and lessen the harm she does to herself during her fit.
Fail: Ida suffers -1 to her health from the wounds sustained to her front legs and paws.
DICE ROLL: Strength
Succeed: Ida manages to splinter and knock the tree over with the force of her blows, making her commotion even louder.
Fail: The pine tree is still standing despite the damage, mocking her.
Character Diceroll 1: Success Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Constitution.
564 was added for Level 4.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
4 was deducted for C. Vagrant Penalty.
Character Diceroll 2: Success Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Strength.
553 was added for Level 4.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
2 was deducted for C. Vagrant Penalty.
After her encounter with Duskorna and the resulting events, Enya had convinced herself that she needed time away from her Kingdom. She'd been on high alert, doing endless laps around her territory day after day, waiting and watching, looking for Verdantis to make the retaliation against her and Duskorna. She'd stirred the pot as a shepherd of Tsillah and she wondered exactly when the pot might boil over. Patience, however, was not a trait often found within Enya. The longer they dragged their paws on their retaliation, the more and more anxious she grew. Sleep came little to her. Those who offered her council commented on her withered appearance, a shell driven by the need to protect and defend. At first she resisted, insisting that she was needed to patrol alongside the rest of the guards and sentries that lived within their Kingdom. When Caedwyn himself, however, made a comment, she listened and obeyed. He knew her better than any of the others. If he said it, then it must be true.
Enya departed late into Fall with her saddle-bags filled with rations, medicine, and makeshift tools. Her goal was to gather fresh supplies to craft another set of armor with. Her current set - while still operable - was old and several times repaired. It didn't exactly make the most intimidating presentation when stepping into combat. Once she retired the set, it would become one of the most valuable pieces in her hoard. Each bone held a story, each story a memory and window into her past.
Her trek had started just outside of their mountain range, the Midnight Mountains. She'd traveled westwards, skirting the woods and cutting through the open passage before finding herself in new lands untraveled by her before. When her gaze fell upon the mighty bluffs, she stared in awe. The waterfall that cascaded downwards fell for what looked to be many many lengths. Even from a distance she could hear the roaring of the water as it crashed down upon whatever lay beneath it's force. Enya was immediately drawn to the waterfall and the might that it displayed. When she approached the river that the waterfall emptied into, she stopped and stared with appreciation. She would have to bring Caedwyn here sometime so they could play in the water together.
She'd camped out near the base of the waterfall for several days, slowly working her way up and down the bluffs as she scouted for anything worthy to be worked and twisted into armor. Finding nothing in the lower regions, she packed her things and headed up to the top. It was time to inspect what was at the top of the waterfall. Her climb had started early in the day. By the time the sun had moved mostly across the sky, signaling early afternoon, Enya was panting with the physical exertion of climbing the rocky terrain. She relished the aches and pains that she felt, but also knew that soon she would need to rest for the evening.
Just when she was thinking about finding a spot to settle down for the night, she heard a sudden loud roar followed by consecutive loud bangs. Enya paused mid-step as she listened, trying to determine if the banging was moving in any particular direction or if it was stationary. She listened for a good while, long enough to recognize a sort of rhythm in the beats. When she decided that the noise was stationary, Enya altered her direction and made her way towards the booming sounds. She wanted to see what was causing so much noise, and wanted to evaluate if it would pose a threat to her.
What she saw made her believe that yes, this creature absolutely could be a threat to her. She heard the crashing of timber and stepped carefully, trying not to startle what might be ahead. Her figure poked out from the tree line a ways away from the wolf and she stared at them, her eyes tracing over the hulking figure, brawny limbs, odd growths on their face and countless scars. A warrior, a killer.
"Is there a reason why you're felling logs all the way up here?" Enya inquired as she stared down the wolf head-on. She was also a threat, after all. "Is this claimed land? I did not smell any markers on my way up." Her forked tongue flicked from between her jaws, scenting the wolf at a distance. Female. No odor of Verdantis. No odor of Duskorna. No odor of his Kingdom either. A vagrant, perhaps, or was there another Kingdom lurking about in the lands?
The buzzing in her head quieted as she panted, breaths slowing again to an even pace as she curled her claws into the peaty soil and relished the satisfying throb which coursed up her forelimbs. Agitation still pulsed faintly in her chest, but she could at least think again now that she'd burned a proper sweat and sent the towering pine splintering beneath her. It made her feel secure. Powerful. That even after everything, she was still capable of such destruction. She had nearly forgotten then, lost in the euphoria of her rage, that she had been anywhere other than home.
A voice split through the daze, and Ida's beady eyes snapped open again. Her head whipped towards the direction of the noise, lips curling preemptively to display her blunted fangs, but instinct only had its hold on her for a moment. Her expression fell to surprise as she caught sight of the strange wolf speaking to her, and it took several seconds for the adrenaline to fade and the brute to realize that yes, this was another wolf and not some horrid abomination of this new land. A real wolf, like herself, and she was asking her a question.
A tumultuous mixture of relief, annoyance, and unease washed through Ida all at once; although her snarl lessened and the fire left her eyes, she kept her characteristic grimace on display and tensed her aching muscles. A stubborn, childish part of her wanted to snap at the interruption of her catharsis, but she shoved it aside. It had been a week since she'd spoken to another wolf. An entire week of bumbling alone through this unfamiliar hellscape.
"Had tuh get it all out," she finally grunted out, "been uh bad week."
Ida's eyes flicked across the form of the smaller dame, flaring her nostrils to catch her scent and eyeing the strange path of azure scales trailing from her neck down her belly. She'd never seen a feature like that on a wolf before, but the great dog couldn't deny that she found it intriguing. It reminded her of a lizard--or a snake, now that she saw the other wolf's forked tongue flick out to taste the cold air. She found her interest for the stranger growing, she at least seemed self-assured and comfortable in this strange land. Words came easier as she snorted in response to her next line of questioning, though she kept her guard raised.
"Yuh'd know if it was mine. Ain't fer me though," Ida curled her lip again, though not at the stranger. Her beady eyes flicked down to the fallen pine at her claws, lifting a paw to press into the moist bark until a satisfying creak was felt beneath her bulk. "Hate these things," Slowly, she eased pressure on the tree and raised her heavy paw again, struggling to ignore the sensation of sap sticking to her pelt.
Ida looked back and cautiously eyed the scaled wolf again, quirking her brow as she raised a question of her own.
"What're you doing up here? Yuh know where'n the hell this is?"
Quick reflexes had the other wolf staring at her in an instant. Enya's muscles tensed as a reaction, and yet she stayed and remained. A silence stretched between them and Enya began to wonder if the other was deciding how to handle the cards it had been dealt. There were many things to consider, after all. Whatever the other decided, it was not decided with the intention of aggression as the driving factor. She noticed the lips fall (how could she miss it, when she'd been staring at the mandibles that protruded from her face?) and the fire in her eyes dull. Dull, but not extinguish.
The silent was broken by words accompanied by a thick accent. Enya snorted at them in amusement. A bad week? Boy, could she understand. The stranger further humored her by answering her questions. She had began to wonder if she might not. She owed Enya nothing after all. When the stranger claimed that Enya would know if these lands belonged to her, she snorted with amusement again. She had zero doubt that the statement was true. With ease, the beast of a wolf lifted its bulk and pressed down on the fallen tree until it sounded a crack under her weight. A display of strength. It wasn't hard to imagine her squishing Enya as easily as she squished the log.
"Me?" she responded, buying time as she debated on giving the stranger the truth of her situation. "I'm taking some 'personal time' for myself" she answered, deciding that there was little harm in telling this stranger the truth. "Kingdom's orders" She curled her lips as she muttered the two words, showing her own distaste for her sentence, even if it was a self-induced one. "I'm from the east and figured I'd explore unknown lands if I can't make myself useful back at home." She cautiously stepped closer to the stranger, closing the gap so they wouldn't have to raise their voice to converse. She made a point, however, to remain a comfortable distance away - at least out of leaping range. "So, no, ain't got a clue what this area is called. I'd just call it the bluffs, though. If you aren't from around here, then where are you from?"
The other wolf snorted at her admission, but it didn't seem as if she were mocking her. It almost felt like an agreement, like she too understood or partook in the nightmare that had been her past several days. It almost put the great dog at ease, but she kept her muscles tensed and beady eyes firmly affixed to the stranger. She knew the dangers of letting down her guard, and the sharp cliffsides before them did little to assuage that worry. It didn't stop her from smirking through at the other female's second snort; masking the tiny amount of pride she gleaned from making the pretty dame laugh.
Her joviality didn't last long as the conversation pivoted, and Ida's interest only peaked further as her blocky ears pricked at the mention of a kingdom. She raised a clublike paw and gnawed at her cracked pads, picking out bits of pungent sap to smother any questions she may have blurted out instinctively. It tasted terrible, but better that than revealing both her curiosity and the relief at knowing that there truly were other wolves besides just the two of them. And Maureen, wherever she was now. She pulled out a particularly thick clump and turned her head to spit it into the grass, mulling over the sudden onslaught of questions she had for the strange wolf as she drew closer.
"Kingdom's orders," Ida finally rumbled back, setting her paw back down and licking tree sap off her blunted fangs. "Guessin' y'don't agree?" Her gaze wandered over the scaled wolf's shoulder, trailing down the bluffs and mountainsides east and wondering just where such a kingdom would be. She certainly didn't see any castles, but hell, she'd missed bigger. She abandoned the prospect and rolled her shoulders, lips parting slightly into a rueful smile as she chuckled. "Personal time ain't th' worst, at least. Long ah's it's not inna cell."
Or exiled, but she decided against saying that. Now that she was closer, Ida picked up the faint traces of other wolf-scents wafting from her ruddy pelt. She probably wasn't booted, she assumed. She wasn't going to ask. The conversation shifted however, and Ida hummed lowly. She resisted the urge to pat the back of her head again and make sure her skull was still intact, but she'd done that enough over the past several days as she pondered the circumstances of her arrival. Some stubborn part of her almost didn't want to tell, but the stranger had been honest enough with her already--what was the point of hiding it?
"Prairies--couple uh woods. Had some quarries around 'tuh chew, but nothin' like this," Ida looked back down across the bluffs, a bitter longing struggling to rise in her chest. She squashed it down as she always did, feeling it instead heat to a dull rage which throbbed within her aching paws. "Met uh whelp further north who talked uh cities; woke up n' the snow n' woke me up too. Thought she was ina different world."Ida looked back towards the stranger, brows furrowed as a disbelieving, almost amused huff left her chest. "Feels weird--ah'm thinkin' she was right."
"Not anymore" Enya blurted out at the other's inquiry of whether she agreed with the orders she was given or not. Though, Enya did have to agree that being out here was far better than being in a cell. Between the other wolf's accent as she spoke, and the direct mention of a 'cell' and not a 'den', Enya started to wonder if she was speaking to a wolf from the lands of her old. From his lands. If this wolf was after her, she hadn't made any indication that she recognized her. She absolutely fit the role of a bounty hunter, but she didn't act like the saber that had gone after her. No. There was no doubt in Enya's mind that this was simply another stranger with a similar dialect that potentially hailed from a place where wolves built great structures, just like in His world.
When it was the other wolf's turn to tell her tale, Enya remained standing, patiently listening as she further studied the creature. She'd seen many sorts of creatures during her time alive. Many of them were strange creatures with too many legs, or ears, or eyes, or too many wings, or tails. She couldn't recall, however, ever coming across a wolf quite like this one. She wondered if the creature had wings hidden behind it's green shell? that covered it's back. She imagined it, then, this stranger suddenly lifting into the sky and flying at her with brute strength and mandibles ready to crush. It would be a fun fight.
Unfortunately for Enya, when the other explained her home from before, there was little detail provided about what this wolf's home was like civilization wise. Perhaps she could prod on the subject later - if there was a later. A foreign word was thrown at her, suddenly, and Enya tried to decipher what a 'cities' could be. She didn't linger on the thought long when the other mentioned the youth had proclaimed that they believed to be in a different world. "Smart pup." Odd that this one hadn't kept the pup with them to keep them safe. Maybe her definition of whelp was different, too. She would need to investigate.
"Because she's probably right. There's strange magic in life powered by our Wills." She paused for a moment to watch the other wolf's expression, to see if it would change from the disbelief that she showed before. "I've seen a world where only wolves hold a higher intelligence, and I've seen a world where everything could talk back to you. I've followed a portal to a realm with grand castles built, castles I was told were made thousands of years ago, and I've suddenly woken up before, much like the whelp, and realized that the world I knew was no longer the world I was in." A grand life for a wolf of her age, too grand of a life to be possible for one who looked to be in their prime. Yet Enya meant every word as she said them, speaking the truth of her experiences. "The worst part is I can never figure out a way back. Every time reality changes, it's always new." Time travel, realm hopping, all things Enya had sought to learn more about, only to learn that neither were possible to do in the way that she desired.
"So, stranger, what will you do now, in this new world? Will you go back, or will you step forward?"
Ida had barely finished the question when the stranger blurted out her answer; it took a second for the great dame to register the other had even spoken, but once it had, her jaws split with a burst of rough, loud laughter. She decided then that she liked that answer, and similarly so, she liked the wolf that gave it.
"That's th' problem with packs," she huffed, though it took several seconds for her laughter to subside. "Always great. n' suddenly it ain't! n' yuh can't do a damn thing about it," besides leave voluntarily or get kicked to the curb, but Ida was far too distracted with other pressing matters to rant about her problems with authority.
Her ears pricked as their conversation turned towards Maureen's theory, and a conflicting mixture of surprise and suspicion flashed across her beady gaze. The stubborn part of her brain didn't want to believe that this really was an entirely different land, for how could such a thing be possible? Yet Ida was not blind nor stupid, and she'd seen things here she could have never imagined existing in her old home. The stranger told her of many worlds, each of which she'd apparently fallen through and each of which different and strange in their own distinct ways. It made Ida's head spin just imagining the whiplash of living so many lifetimes, only to be ripped away and have to start all over somewhere new whenever fate demanded it.
"Just how old are yuh?" she blurted out, still too preoccupied wrapping her brain around all this new information to think of anything cleverer to ask. According to her, yes, this was a completely new world, and no, Ida could never go home again. Everything would be different now, and it all traced back to wills. Somehow, that word rang familiar.
"Wills, wills," Ida muttered, "like uh soul?" Absentmindedly then, she raised her paw and felt the back of her skull, the memory of it crunching against the stone still uncomfortably fresh in her mind as she furrowed her brow in thought. Maybe she hadn't been too far off the mark when she'd first assumed this place was an afterlife. Maybe not hell, though. She took a deep breath, expression still thoughtful as the next question was posed to her.
Knowing there was no way back, what to do?
Another rumbling laugh passed through her chest, and the great dame knew then that nothing could be done. She was here now, after all--it was only forwards now. "I ain't one fer turnin' tail. Guess that just applies tuh lifetimes too, huh?" Ida rose to her paws, bracing her fur and flesh against the autumn wind as she rolled her heavy shoulders and popped her stiff neck. She turned back towards the smaller wolf, jowls splitting to show a strange grin of blunted, crushing fangs. "Name's Ida. You?"
Enya laughed along with the stranger, though hers was smoother than the other's. It amused her greatly that this other seemed to have no idea exactly who she was talking to. It amused her even more that she was right. Kingdoms were great, then suddenly they weren't. Wasn't that the god damn truth of her history! The laughter between the two of them faded as the conversation shifted. Enya picked up on the suspicion in the other's eyes as Enya told her tale. She understood. The first time that she'd woken up in a new world had been utterly and truly terrifying.
The stranger asked her a question, then, and it made Enya realize that she didn't know her answer. She chuckled before she responded, "I'm not sure. Do you mean before I died, or including the time I've lived after?" She smiled, amused that this stranger was able to coax so much information out of her so easily. Typically she was guarded with her past events. Maybe it was because she felt a kinship with this stranger, if this really was her first time ending up in a new world. Maybe it was because she wanted her to know that she wasn't alone.
"Something like that. I'm not sure if a Will and a Soul are the same thing, but they could be. It's our life essence, what gives us the ability to exist, what empowers our magic within, what we must drive ourselves to strengthen so Tsillah does not consume it upon death." She watched as the other raised her paw to her head, like she was expecting to find something there. When Enya proposed her question to the stranger, she half-expected the other to tell her that it was none of her business. Instead, she fed Enya an answer that satisfied her, causing a pleased smile to form.
The other rose, stretched, and turned to grin at her as she introduced herself. Enya lifted her head and tail, offering the other lass a toothy grin as she returned the introduction. "The name's Enya, Monarch, or leader if you will, of the Kingdom of Duskorna. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ida." The winds blew their cold breaths upon the pair of wolves, but Enya was unbothered by its chill. The cold was her element. "If you decide that you're tired of fellin' logs up here in the bitter winds and sheer cliffs, travel east across the valley until you come to a dense forest with mountains rising high above. Duskorna would be happy to welcome a strong Will into it's ranks." Her tail flicked behind her, and she lowered her posture to a more relaxed one. This was not her subject to expect submission from. Out here in the wilds, they were equals. "No pressure, of course. I'd never want someone to join our ranks if they would be displeased with it. I'm sure you can take care of yourself well enough. Speaking of which, I'm on the hunt for a beast to fell. Care to join me on the hunt? Whatever hide or rations come out of it can be yours. I'm simply after it's bones."
The stranger's answer to the question of her age made Ida pause, and a strange, thoughtful expression flitted across her features then. All this talk of different worlds and hopping realities had made her head spin, but she had evaded death as well? She almost wanted to refute the claim outright--call bullshit as she saw it just as she always had, but she thought again then of the echoing crack her skull had made when it collided with the stone. She thought of the pain so sharp and so blinding it had sent her weightless, and a phantom pain twinged at the back of her head as she imagined what the inside of it must have looked like as it split across the earth.
"Huh," Ida muttered, realization dawning upon her then. Another chuckle escaped her, and she shook her head with giddy disbelief. "After yuh did, ah guess. Didn't think it possible, but," a grin split her blocky muzzle, "'ere we both are, huh."
It was almost hard to parse what the other dame was speaking of now that she'd come to such a revelation. She had been dead, hadn't she? And yet here she stood now, paws firm against the crumbling soil and the wind cold and sharp in her lungs. If she were any younger, hell, maybe she would have started to frolic then and there. She managed to contain herself however, and pushed the excited buzzing in the back of her throat down until it tickled at her claws. She listened to the stranger's explanation on the matter of souls and wills, and let out a low, thoughtful rumble in response.
"Sounds how uh soul was 'xplained to me as uh whelp. 'n if it got impure yuh'd be sucked down tuh th' fiery pits," truthfully, that had been Ida's first reason into convincing herself this wasn't the afterlife; she thought for a damn fact it wouldn't be nowhere near snowy and cold where she'd end up. Take that, God, she thought with a pang of satisfaction. Still though, there was a name the other wolf had mentioned that Ida did not recognize.
"Is Tsillah th' name for God 'ere? Or'sit one of yer beasts?" Ida thought again of the moose and decided then that yes, she could totally believe such a creature could eat someone's soul. She lost her hold on that thought as the other dame spoke again, and a second startling realization was slammed into her.
Leader of Dusknora. Huh.
"Damn, n' even you get orders?" Ida blurted, amusement mingling with the surprise which had flashed across her gaze. She paused for a moment, almost unsure of what to say next before another chuckle escaped her lungs, shaking her head again in amused disbelief. "'n yuh were just holdin' that in. Yer somethin' else, Enya."
Ida had never met a pack leader that hadn't started off the conversation with a proclamation of their power, something that never sat well with the great dog and her many issues with authority. This felt different--she really, really was in another world now, wasn't she? She flicked a tattered ear at the monarch's offer, and surprised herself with the temptation she felt. She'd certainly had her fair share of pack living (and her share of exiles), but she supposed she'd never started one or met a leader quite like this. She couldn't settle, not yet, but let out another low hum as she looked east and listened to the monarch speak of beasts and bones.
"Ah'll consider it," she finally decided, but her thoughts were pivoting back further north. She curled her dull claws into the soil and felt the sting of raw flesh where pine wood had scraped along her paws, and decided that yes, she much rather preferred taking her frustrations out in a proper battle, especially with some supposed beast. What else could be out there besides what she'd seen already? Besides, maybe she wanted to see this leader of Dusknora in action--so far, she was impressed. "Hell yeah," she answered, and arched her humped back in a deep stretch to soothe her exerted muscles. "Yuh ever been tuh th' geysers up north? Found somethin' real nasty there n' buried it further n' the woods there. Some sort'uh shapeshifter."
