Ethereal Eclipse. Rambly post~ :x wc:516

Making a quick trip out of the Dreamer’s territory for some of his supplies had seemed like a good idea at first, mainly because that’s what he thought it would be—just a quick trip. It seemed that the Marino had forgotten just how far out into the forest the run down old cabin had been. He was beginning to think that this had been a completely foolish idea. His wounds hadn’t been all that kind to him lately, and it was for that reason that the Italian man stuck close to home of late. He would venture out to the borders at times and get in some weary and exhausted patrols, because he just wouldn’t let himself stay still despite his wounded state. His upper right arm was bandaged tightly where the psychotic warrior’s blade had done its damage, but it was healing without much trouble. His chest, on the other hand, was proving to be quite bothersome. The constant pain in his ribs was doing its best to make moving about, and at times even breathing, difficult for him. He still had the large cloth bandage wrapped around his chest, for what little good it did him.

But because he knew that he needed to take it easy for the time being, he needed to find something to occupy his downtime. He wanted to begin working on small woodcarving projects again, but he realized that he’d left some of his good, intricate tools behind at the old cabin in the woods like an idiot. So the impatient Dreamer pushed further past their territory than he had in days after lingering at the northern edge of their border during a patrol. Ehno had thought that it would be a quick trip and back from the cabin, but his wounds forced him to take a leisurely pace. He carried his spear with him as he traveled, both for support and for use in case any of Maska’s lingering forces may have been nearby. As each day passed, the Dreamer felt more secure in the safety that the end of the war had afforded them, but he was still on edge. He may not have been proficient with the weapon, but it would give him reach, which was an advantage he desperately needed in his wounded state.

Luckily for the Marino, he managed to arrive at the old cabin with little incidence. He sighed in relief as the broken structure came into view. It was an old log cabin with a small, attached stable nestled in a quiet clearing in the forest. Half of the cabin’s roof had collapsed inward, a result of the terrible snowstorms they had endured the previous winter. The carpenter liked to come there for inspiration for his projects and, at times, to scavenge some of the useful wood. The last time he was here, he’d accidently forgotten the bag containing his carving tools on a shelf in one of the rooms that had survived the blizzard. He approached the old building, hoping nobody had made away with his tools in the meantime.

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As he approached the familiar old cabin, he realized that he was not alone. There was a scent lingering around the building, and it was still fresh. The Marino came to a sudden halt, amber eyes scanning the area for any signs of life but finding none. No, whoever was here was inside the cabin. The Marino remained where he stood for a few moments, trying to consider what he should do. Weeks of paranoia brought on by the war still lingered with him. Whoever was in that cabin might not have been friendly, and he certainly wasn’t in any shape for a confrontation. He needed to think this through. What was the likelihood of that happening? The war was over. Over. The remainder of the tyrant’s forces had either turned on him or scattered to the winds. There should be nothing for him to fear.

He needed to remind himself to stop being paranoid. At the very least he could scope out the situation. And he couldn’t just let this trip go to waste; if his tools were still in there, he was going to be going home with them. He didn’t know how long it would be until he could come back here again, and he wouldn’t forgive himself if he just turned tail and ran right now. The Marino shook his head, as if to shake off his worries, and continued to the old wooden building. His hand tightened on the wooden spear as he slipped through the doorway. “Hello?” he called, accented word echoing slightly in the space of the cabin. Amber eyes spotted a figure curled up on the other side of the room, appearing to be sleeping. The Dreamer grimaced slightly as he stepped into the run-down cabin. Way to go disturbing a sleeping stranger, Ehno.

Ohh, no worries, mate. You're good. :]

As he’d expected, his sudden shout had certainly startled the sleeping wolf. The newly awakened wolf leapt up in surprise, baring teeth and slipping into an offensive stance. The sudden movement surprised the weary Marino, who couldn’t help but automatically move into his own defensive stance. He took a step back, spear held out in front of him and his own glistening ivories bared in response. But the standoff did not last long, and for that the wounded Dreamer was incredibly thankful. The surprise of the situation had set them both on edge, and after assessing what was going on, both males seemed to relax. Ehno breathed a sigh of relief when the stranger sat back, shuffling about in an almost embarrassed manner. “Oh, no, I am the one who’s sorry. I should not have surprised you like that,” came the Italian wolf’s own accented apology.

The other stood, apologizing once more, this time for intruding. The Marino’s eyes widened slightly at his words, realizing the impression he must have made barging in like that. It could have been mistaken as territorial by the previously slumbering wolf. When he offered to leave, the Marino shook his head emphatically. “No, no, no, you’re not intruding at all. The cabin here is not mine. I live in a pack just south of here,” he explained, motioning back the way he came with his free hand. “I left some of my things here, and wanted to get them… I hadn’t expected anyone to be here.” He shook his head again, a slight smile working its way to his lips. “Please, stay if you wish. The cabin’s probably of more use to you than it is me.” Yes, if someone wanted to claim it as their shelter, the Dreamer had no issue with that.

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It was an incredible relief to the Marino when the initially tense situation eased into something more relax. The conflict with AniWaya had left the Dreamer very high strung. Usually Ehno would not be so quick to fly to the defensive, but he had trained himself to see threats in every shadow for a number of weeks now, and it was turning out to be a hard habit to shake off. But now that he and the stranger had begun to relax, he was beginning to drift back to more of his usually friendly demeanor. The other introduced himself as Kostya, and Ehno returned the nod of greeting. “I’m Ehno,” he said in turn. “It is good to meet you also.”

Kostya didn’t seem to know anything about Ehno’s missing tools, claiming that he’d simply come in here and settled right down to sleep. It was understandable; Ehno would likely have done much the same had he been traveling around this area alone. And it seemed as if this male was indeed a loner. The Dreamer couldn’t detect any familiar pack scents mingling with his own. The dark wolf offered to lend a hand in Ehno’s search of the cabin. “If it is not too much trouble, that would be great. I’m looking for some of my woodcarving tools. They should be in a small bag somewhere around here… I’m not all that sure exactly where I left them last time.”

The other wolf took the time then to shift from his four-legged form, likely to better aid in the search. Ehno stepped in past the doorway. Amber eyes studied the spear in his hands for a moment, considering. It didn’t seem like he would need it now that the situation seemed rather relaxed, but he still wasn’t eager to part with it. Yet even if things did turn violent, the weapon wouldn’t have been very much use to the inexperienced fighter in such a closed in space. With that in mind he made his decision, setting the spear to lean against the wall.

No worries. Mine's kinda short too...

The other wolf seemed receptive to Ehno’s defensiveness, for which he was thankful. As the other set his own things in the corner and moved about carefully, the Italian felt himself beginning to relax more and more. He nodded as the stranger spoke. “Si, it shouldn’t be too difficult a search,” he agreed. The Dreamer moved to one part of the room where some of the old furniture had been stacked and kept out of the way. He peered around a sturdy wooden table, but found no sign of the bag.

His attention was brought back to the dark-furred wolf a few moments later as he spoke up again. Amber eyes turned to the other for a moment before focusing on the bandages wrapped about himself. He certainly made quite a sight, didn’t he? A bit of an embarrassed smile crept to his lips as he looked back up at the blue-eyed wolf. “Mmm… we’ve had ourselves a bit of trouble with one of the neighboring packs.” An understatement if there ever was one. “Well… a war, really. We went in to put an end to it recently. To take back family members they’d held hostage.” He sighed lightly. “It’s left me a bit on edge, as you can guess.”

The stranger was sympathetic to what the Marino had faced, sharing that’ he’d had his own experience with his own family dealing with strife from another pack. It was disheartening to hear that—Ehno would not have wished that upon anyone. As the stranger said, it certainly wasn’t a nice experience. One interesting fact stood out to him from his words; the fact that the stranger hailed from Russia. The revelation clarified the accent for the Marino. He’d recognized it, having met a few canines from that land before, but it was not so common an experience that he had picked up on it outright. Ehno had half a mind to ask him a bit about Russia, ever curious as he was, but the dark-furred wolf beat him to the punch with a question of his own.

“No fighting,” he confirmed with a nod. He turned away from furniture-clustered corner and set his sights on part of the room near where the roof had begun to collapse in last year’s snowstorm. “It was mainly due to the actions of the other pack’s leader, and we’ve removed him from power. We should finally be seeing some peace again.” That much Ehno was thankful for. He didn’t know how much longer he could have handled fearing another attack or anticipating grave news of those who had been captured. He caught sight of his spear leaning against the wall, and realized his behavior probably didn’t seem like someone who saw peace on the horizon. “I suppose it’s just been difficult for me to really let my guard down after all this time,” he admitted a moment later.

Hope you're feeling better! o:

The dark-furred wolf seemed visibly relieved to hear that the fighting was essentially over. Ehno could hardly blame him. If he had ventured into an unfamiliar region only to learn that there was war being waged between the packs, he knew he would be hightailing it out of there at the first opportunity. Kostya offered him another question, one thankfully unrelated to the war.

“It’s called Crimson Dreams, just to the south of here. We’re a peaceful bunch—well, before the fighting began. We’re like… a big family, really.” That was the best way Ehno could describe them. True, a good portion of the Dreamers actually were his family, but anyone who joined them was welcomed with open arms. A social wolf like Ehno was right at home in such a close-knit community that made up the membership of Crimson Dreams. Kostya didn’t seem to belong to any pack, if his words and his scent were anything to go by. He had mentioned coming from Russia. The Marino wondered when he had arrived, and if he’d come alone.

“Have you been around these parts long?” he asked as he began to move some of the broken pieces of lumber, carefully, so as not to agitate his fresh wounds. There was a small room just past this bit of rubble that he remembered going into before. The building must have been subjected to more decay since the last time he’d been here.