bury me low
Messenger

Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
PERCY - Mythical - Unicorn (Superspeed) SOOT - Regular - Wine Spider
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#1
ASHE
does the wolf apologize when it stands on top? should the lion say grace when it takes its mark?
   The thrum of paws over the earth filled the early morning air, and a solitary figure bounded through the underbrush with ease. The black wolf was intimately familiar with the woods she had lived in for so long, and still she felt eerily out of place. She weaved around every rock, root, and rabbit hole like they were memorized, and she pushed the feeling back and away.

   Percy? She cast out her thoughts, seeking for that bond she hadn't felt in so long. No one had seen the ram-horned stallion, not since she had disappeared, and her gut was twisted with worry. Had he tried to go into the storms after her? Had he been hurt, and she hadn't been here to protect him?

   Did he think she abandoned him?

   Ashe slowed to a stop, her nose lifting to the air. This was near where she had first met the coal-and-snow speckled stallion. Her ear flicked, and as she lowered her head, a very large and fuzzy black spider rose up from where it had been nestled into her fur.

   Soot inched up the back of her neck until he peeked between her ears, letting out a soft chitter. Ashe snuffed, looking upwards. I don't suppose Percy told you where he went?

   A hiccup was his reply, and he swayed back, one of his spindly legs flailing out to hold onto her ear. Ashe rolled her eyes and huffed, her breath clouding in the golden morning light. Percy was alright. He had to be. She lifted her nose to the air once again, her eyes shutting...

   She snapped her eyes to the trees, and she bit down on the growl in her throat at the unfamiliar scent she found. Her ears still pinned forward as her head dropped down, wary gaze burning. Soot gave a little squeak, burrowing back into her bristled hackles.
I do what I need to, what I have to, to survive. Closer than your friend, I can be your enemy.
Cera Novik
Metalsmith / Medic

Age: 29 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 1 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
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#2
As a desert child, Cera was used to early mornings. When the sun awoke, so did its disciple. So as the golden light crested over the horizon, Cera shook his fur out and faced the dawn with a yawn of blackened lips and flashing teeth. He strikes out quickly, a lighthearted jog of long, stiltlike limbs warming muscles from their slumber. He doesn't have a home to call his own, though many abandoned ones are available and many others had built their own. Until the time comes that he has the resources to do so himself, he calls these woods his temporary home - sleeping in his canine form to preserve heat, burrowing beneath exposed roots to create a rotating series of dens. It's more familiar to him than modern domiciles, but he knows someday soon he will have to relinquish this kind of existence, if only because winter bears down with a looming promise of harsh nights.

Hunting is similarly easy in his coat of furs, and with his...peculiar past lives, he has a very easygoing palette. Though his more carnivorous nature has been difficult to adjust to, taking life never something he has preferred, the bartering he has been able to strike up with the delivery of fresh meats has awarded him the coin, food, and items that he would not have otherwise. If he is reluctant to join civilization until he gains his full bearings, well...that is for him to know and others to ponder.

Another day of aimlessness awaits him, and Cera greets it with a growing sense of boredom. Perhaps his days of nomad life are numbered if he is already this lonely and directionless.

With a deep inhale, Cera's treading paws falter as new scent filters through his sensitive nose. Large ears swivel uncertainly upon his cranium, trademark green eyes flickering across the bramble before him. It is not the scent of prey he has become accustomed to, and he certainly doesn't want to pick a fight with another predator in a body he is not entirely familiar with yet.

Still...Smith had informed him of the magic of the land and the shapeshifters that also inhabited it. He could not merely assume anymore that every creature he crossed paths with was feral. A soft whine slips from blackened lips, lilting high at the end in an inquisitive sort of noise far too human for his vessel. He shoulders past the dew-damp brush, eyes alighting upon another similarly shaped figure.

Hello? he calls tentatively with his mind, as Smith had taught him. Whether or not it works is up to the fates to decide. His tail is lowered and ears perked, trying to exude a friendly and curious air instead of a threatening one. Still so unfamiliar with his canine self, Cera merely tries to relax and do what feels instinctual, natural. Hopefully, the other wolf will see it for what it is - an olive branch.
If you want to shine like a sun, first you must burn

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Messenger

Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
PERCY - Mythical - Unicorn (Superspeed) SOOT - Regular - Wine Spider
Played by: Jaecarys Offline
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Posts: 1,248 | Total: 1,553
MP: 150
#3
ASHE
does the wolf apologize when it stands on top? should the lion say grace when it takes its mark?
   A sleek, long-legged figure stepped through the underbrush. She made a rapid assessment - lean with large ears and narrow snout, and a ruddy red coat that was lit on fire by the rising run. A.. wolf? Another one? But he smelled different - he held a different kind of sharpness in his scent that she and the other wolf lacked.

   ’Hello?’ His voice brushed timidly into her mind, and Ashe slowly picked up her head. He wasn’t outwardly hostile with his tail low, his ears forward. Was it a ploy? Or had she just simply interrupted an Attuned minding their own business? Her hackles relaxed, and she stretched her nose with a sniff.

   You’re a wolf? she finally said by way of greeting. Curiosity nagged with sharp tugs, and she stepped toward him. He seemed easy enough for her to handle should the need arise, but she sure as fuck knew better than anyone how easy it could be to appear harmless. And gods, he was tall. Taller than her, and it became increasingly apparent as she moved closer still, padding in a slow arc around him.

   Her tail swayed behind her, her golden eyes bright and sharp on the ruddy canine as she stopped before him again. Who are y--- A spider leg came into her line of vision. Ashe looked upwards just in time to see Soot tangle his own legs together. With a squeak that morphed into a hiccup, the wine spider tumbled down to the forest floor.

   Soot--! A warning growl slipped between her teeth, but the intoxicated spider had no mind to listen. He scuttled towards the male, until he had to stop and lean back to look up at him with a short chitter. Ashe sighed and dropped her rolled her eyes with a very human shake of her head. Don’t mind the drunk.
I do what I need to, what I have to, to survive. Closer than your friend, I can be your enemy.
Cera Novik
Metalsmith / Medic

Age: 29 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 1 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
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#4
The tension at the edges of the stranger's spiked fur relaxes, her dark leathery nose reaching forth to scent the air between them. Cera experiences a brief moment of anxiety - does he smell bad?! - but a meaningful inhale brings only the scent of fur and woodlands in return.

Her words hum in the quiet of their link, and Cera's long auburn tail wags without his permission as she strides forward. It is an excitement he has yet to overcome, the newness of such connection to other Attuned souls. Of sorts, I think, he projects shyly back. Holding still as she edges closer and begins to circle him, Cera places his trust in her temporarily, hoping to be rewarded with her own in return. After all, he knows he's a peculiar sort - certainly no wolf he'd ever seen in his homeland, with skybound limbs and a coat like a wild vixen.

I only arrived here recently, so your guess is as good as mine. It feels...right, though. This is said softer, if volume is at all controllable between their minds. Tinged with embarrassment at the slip of the tongue, revealing an awed side to this shapeshifting he hopes does not make him seem childish.

Her words - questioning who he is, Cera assumes - are interrupted by the appearance of a leggy little creature crawling from the depths of her fur. It toppled from her fur and Cera jerked, instinctively fearing for what was clearly a companion if the other wolf's reproachful call of its name was any indication. He holds carefully still as it approaches, stumbling over itself, and lowers his muzzle slowly to breathe a playful puff of air through his nose at the little creature.

I don't mind, he laughs fondly, tail swaying comfortably behind him. Emerald eyes flick up to other wolf, though he waits for a reaction from Soot before he moves. Soot is so small, and Cera fears hurting him. My name is Cera, he offers kindly, hoping for her own name in return but aware she had no reason to trust him just yet.

If you want to shine like a sun, first you must burn

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Messenger

Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
PERCY - Mythical - Unicorn (Superspeed) SOOT - Regular - Wine Spider
Played by: Jaecarys Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,248 | Total: 1,553
MP: 150
#5
ASHE
does the wolf apologize when it stands on top? should the lion say grace when it takes its mark?
   Ashe observed as Soot reached a spindly leg out to try and touch the other Attuned's dark paw, but her eyes flicked up to his face at his quiet words. It feels...right, though. Her tail swayed gently behind her, a ripple of understanding passing through their link. I fought very hard to earn my furs, she said with equal softness. It is right.

   The red canine huffed toward Soot, and the spider's legs went up in surprise - so much so that he rocked onto his back, clumsily flailing to right himself once more. Ashe let out a snuff through her nose that sounded suspiciously like a scoff, but her golden eyes gleamed with amusement. Soot was soon on all eight feet, scuttling back toward the Attuned like it was a game.

   'My name is Cera.' Ashe looked up at him again, and her tail wagged behind her. She wanted to trust her instinct telling her that he was good. Soot was comfortable approaching him, and he seemed so genuine and open. But you know better, idiot girl, something dark hissed in her mind. Anyone can betray you.

   It was with her chosen, patchwork family that she had been right about in mind that she sat back on her haunches, tail thumping gently on the forest floor. 'Ashe.' She tilted her head to him. You landed here too then, like so many of the rest of us. Have you been staying out here?
I do what I need to, what I have to, to survive. Closer than your friend, I can be your enemy.
Cera Novik
Metalsmith / Medic

Age: 29 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 1 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
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#6
Relief flows through Cera like a river at the softly spoken understanding that passes between their mental bond. There is no real way to smile in this form without looking threatening, but his large ears swivel and his tail wags softly at the comforting words. In my homeland, wolves were regarded as noble and powerful. Your soul-shape is something to be proud to have earned, he projects simply, as always unbothered by his own embarrassingly forthright nature. A tiny half-bark escapes his maw. Unlike me, who fell into my furs like a blind baby deer. Cera hopes she doesn't take offense at his attempt to lighten the mood, but he focuses on little Soot - the spider careening around like the world is spinning much faster than it is for them.

He holds still to allow one spindly leg to alight upon his paw, only for Soot to bowl over at his breath. For a moment Cera fears he's overdone it, but a chortle of amusement gurgles in his throat when the spider immediately rushes back for more. Obligingly he huffed upon the spider again, tail wagging faster at this adorable little game they were playing.

The relaxation in Ashe - as he is introduced to her - as she settles on her hind legs melts something nervous and desperate for companionship in Cera's breast. He is reluctant to end the entertainment with Soot, so he awkwardly shuffles his butt backwards until his belly touches the earth and he rests his head between his paws to stare cross-eyed at the drunken arachnid. His tail thumps behind him in betrayal of his emotions, still too new to this form to hide them. Not that Cera was the type, he often wore his heart on his sleeve regardless of the consequences.

Taking a moment away from Ashe's adorable companion, he turns green eyes to her. Yes, not long ago. I'm...not used to living where I can't see the sky, he confesses softly, perhaps a little mournfully. I try to move between dens, but this has been as close to home as any. Do you live here as well? Or are you just passing through? Part of him hopes she does live in the wild woods, craving companionship and the similarity of their bodies. Even if he towered over her like he was wearing stilettos, it was nice to have a familiar...'face'.

If you want to shine like a sun, first you must burn

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Messenger

Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
PERCY - Mythical - Unicorn (Superspeed) SOOT - Regular - Wine Spider
Played by: Jaecarys Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,248 | Total: 1,553
MP: 150
#7
ASHE
does the wolf apologize when it stands on top? should the lion say grace when it takes its mark?
   Noble and powerful. Her head tilted, tail wagging of it's own accord. Cera seemed almost reverent in the way he spoke of it, but the term soul-shape resonated somewhere within her. While she could take the form of a hummingbird if she willed it, a wolf is what she was. I don't know about noble, she replied honestly. But it feels right.

   Her ears perked forward, eyes gleaming with amusement as Soot made a game with his new friend. Cera seemed to enjoy it, stretching out on his belly as the wine spider worked to right himself from the last huff of air. She was beginning to enjoy the tall canine's company, and it was good to see Soot so entertained as he scuttled toward the Attuned. His two front legs lifted, reaching out to brush against Cera's nose -- something that always tickled hers.

   Her eyes met his, and her head gave a brief tilt at him. He wasn't used to the open sky? She gave a visible shudder and shook out her pelt, glancing upwards as if to make sure the sky was still there. She looked back down in time to see Soot testing his limits, a few legs crawling over a one of Cera's own dark legs. I lived out for a while when we first arrived, after… She paused, one ear folding back. Some things happened with my family, so I made myself scarce for a while, stayed out here. I live in town now. Gods above, it would take so long to explain all the in-between. Had it really been a year since they had all left Northaven forever?

   I'm out here a lot still. Hunting, or just… being. I've just been away for a while. She stood on all fours again, looking out into the trees. Today I'm out looking for someone. He's run off somewhere out here, and he's probably pissed at me for being away. She looked back down to Cera, and her tail swayed gently behind her. Another set of wolfish senses would be a big help.
I do what I need to, what I have to, to survive. Closer than your friend, I can be your enemy.
Cera Novik
Metalsmith / Medic

Age: 29 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 1 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
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Posts: 79 | Total: 6,168
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#8
A soft chortle of a noise escapes his canine mouth, satellite ears flickering to the sway of his tail. It is good to be humble, but I will reserve my own opinion, he assures, amusement and respect in equal measure flowing across the bond. Though it has sometimes landed him in hot water, Cera was usually a good judge of character, and was perhaps too trusting of everyone he met. Still, he has a good feeling about Ashe. An even better one about Soot, who tickled his nose with long, spindly legs. Cera goes cross-eyed trying not to sneeze, ending up with a gurgling choked noise in his throat. He doesn't want to send Soot flying, so he carefully and awkwardly lifts his head to sneeze before returning to huff air at the little drunk spider.

He certainly had no dignity left to protect in front of the other wolf, clearly.

As Ashe speaks, Cera keeps his attention respectfully upon her, though his sage eyes flicker down to watch Soot's grand journey across his legs. There's an entire world of stories behind the tension in her voice, the stiff set of her face, but Cera knows when to push and when to comfort. He'd been a father once, after all. So he asks the only question that, to him, matters: It sounds like a difficult journey. Are you happier, where you are? Hopefully she will excuse his boldness, but he finds it's a question that has become important to him. She is as kindly as Smith had been, and he cannot fathom a life where he doesn't instinctively care about people.

At the prospect of helping her, his tail wags vigorously in the dried leaves and dirt behind him. I would be happy to help you find them, he assures, contentment clouding out every other emotion she may be able to sense from him. A quick glance down at Soot and he carefully stands, not wanting to disturb the little spider or knock him off. Only then does he look back to Ashe for instructions, prepared to follow wherever she leads. What is there to know about them?

If you want to shine like a sun, first you must burn

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Messenger

Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
PERCY - Mythical - Unicorn (Superspeed) SOOT - Regular - Wine Spider
Played by: Jaecarys Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,248 | Total: 1,553
MP: 150
#9
ASHE
does the wolf apologize when it stands on top? should the lion say grace when it takes its mark?
   A difficult journey. Something about the way he said it had her chest tightening, and she was glad for the wolf then, glad for the way her face couldn't break and show the unexpected pain that came with it. She had never thought of any of it as a journey. That implied there was purpose to the horrors, that there was a destination. Happier? she repeated, even her mental voice soft and unsure. Her tail drooped a moment, and she swore she could smell her mate, that she could see the gleam of blue eyes, that she could turn around and return home and find a bright little girl running toward her.

   Ashe dropped her eyes to Soot as he let out a high squeak, her ear flicking as he half turned back to look at her. She sensed the worry in him, so she forced a small wag to her tail. I was happier, she finally said, looking back up at Cera. I'm working on it.

   The stilted canine stood, and Soot moved back to Ashe. She bent down enough for him to clamber back into her fur, nestling into the thick pelt upon her shoulders as she stood and looked gratefully to her new companion. So willing to help. Not just willing, but happy to. She set off into the trees again, glancing back to be sure the other canine followed. Well... he's on four legs too, and taller than you, she said, all too eager to leave the topic of her happiness behind. All smudged with black and white. Golden horns curl from his head.

   She cast a wry look to Cera, tilting her head. He's a unicorn, of a sort, and faster than you could imagine. She turned to look ahead into the trees again, her mind already calling for him, willing herself not to worry, not to be afraid. He wasn't lost like Kalt and Theea were, he couldn't be. She would find him where she had failed to find them. He's a dear friend, and I'm afraid he thinks I abandoned him.
I do what I need to, what I have to, to survive. Closer than your friend, I can be your enemy.
Cera Novik
Metalsmith / Medic

Age: 29 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 1 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
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Posts: 79 | Total: 6,168
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#10
Cera patiently awaited Ashe's response, feeling a modicum of regret for posing the question with how her voice softened and grew more hesitant in the wake of it. Though he'd just met her, he could not help but feel his habitual concern for her welfare rise up within him. He had counseled so many lost and broken spirits, it was part of his nature now to try and gently guide people along their paths to a happier horizon. A soft whine of understanding scarcely reverberates in his jaws, but he knows she can hear it with her similarly inclined hearing.

Working towards it is already a sign of better things ahead, to want to reclaim that happiness instead of giving up. His tail wags slowly, brushing against his legs. Cera is loathe to intrude upon her memories, to drudge up bad ones, but she seems amicable enough. Long snout dips in deference, though his verdant eyes remain on her face. He is used to the emotionless state of inhuman faces, reads more from her body and her companion, her eyes and her motions.

Seeing her struggle, her evasion of the topic, he grunts a soft apologetic sound. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up difficult memories. But I hope you find that happiness, he projects across their link, eyes still crinkling in a human fashion as if he was attempting a smile, tail wagging with ease.

She moves forward and Cera dances after her on his long, ambling legs without a second thought. Does he know you in this form well enough not to run? He inquires, locking away the information she has given him about the appearance of the creature and taking a deep inhale, tracing the scents around them. If he's fast, I can try to race him down since I'm quite a bit taller, but I'd rather not startle him, amusement trickles in alongside these words, knowing how devastating a hoof to any part of his body could be. He'd been on both ends, after all.
If you want to shine like a sun, first you must burn

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