There was so much to share with the young hybrid following after her. Terra had stopped by a cave system earlier, leading them through waterfalls. She had laughed at the look on his face when they emerged, soaked in the cool water. The stay there had been brief before moving on, traveling to the places Terra was going to make sure to drum into his head as dangerous, and only to be approached when properly trained, such as she was.
Well, that had been the plan. Finding the peculiar Salsola scent trail had made all that vanish. She had recognized it from the distinct herbal smell coming from the wolf's trail, lacking the mixed scents a loner would carry. Tail swishing she had promptly forgotten that anyone was with her and set off after the trail. It was hard to follow, the scent completely disappearing occasionally to be mixed in with other plants, but she wasn't going to give up, following through eagerly.
Whipping his curled tail behind him as if it was still drenched with water, the golden wolfdog trotted merrily after his more experienced companion. The journey was turning out to be everything he imagined and more. He’d felt like a true explorer in the caves, finding a secret hollow behind a sheet of falling water. He felt like a hero in one of the stories, a blessed prince who could see things others never would, like Mowgli exploring the jungle and Bree galloping across the desert and everything he could ever have dreamed of.
He spared a passing thought for his family as the coywolf stepped into a more wooded area. He knew his parents would be worried about him, and his siblings might be jealous. He hoped that his stories would make them feel better, and he knew he’d want to take Hati and Lottie across the land when they were all old enough to make the journey by themselves.
He sighed, and then his dark nose twitched as he caught an intriguing scent. One look told him that Terra had noticed it before him, and he held his muzzle low to the ground as he padded dutifully after her. He kind of recognized some of the smells from the stores in Cour des Miracles, some of them perhaps for healing like Liam used them, but he couldn’t name any of the herbal scents. Nor could he name the smell of pack that clung to the trail.
“What do you think it is, exactly?” Skoll asked cautiously.
ooc; just to be clear guys, you can't smell ' pack ' smell. she's taken an ocean bath and bathed in various plants and whatnot, there is no other canine scent attached to her. please keep this in mind that as far as they /should/ know she is simply someone who likes having perfume baths lol.
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less is by nat.
The female was aware her scent trail had been followed, and she had climbed up into a nearby tree for refuge. It was interesting, watching the coyote and her following track her scent. It was annoying to do, but the scent of Salsola had to be covered so they could keep their secrecy, otherwise they would surely be compromised. The female usually took a long ocean bath if she was planning to leave, following with rubbing honeysuckle and other fragrant scented plants all over her body and storing it in the various pockets of her utility belt that she freqeuently wore. It usually worked, Alessandra never had to worry about the wrong kind of people following her and even if they did, well, Less was the wrong kind of person to follow in most cases.
Idly she watched the two from the tree branches, hidden and shielded from sight by the thick canopy that spring provided. Smirking, her ears flicked forward as she heard the younger of the two, a dog hybrid, question the scent. Wouldn't they like to know. Well, she was in a playful mood today, maybe she would share her secret with these two travellers. Unlike her, their pack scent hung in the air heavily around them, though she wasn't familiar with what pack it was from. Sighing, the ebony dame shifted her position and dropped to a lower branch, the thick appendages extending from the large trunk creaking from the sudden shift in weight. Stepping through the branches, she made her way down from where she had been and let herself come into sight of the other two.
Her wolf skull hung at her utility belt, somewhat hidden in the waves of her cloak. The silky stark white waves of her hair hung to her waist, clean and in perfect order. The woman had chalked her face especially well this day, hoping to give whomever ran into her on this day a glimpse of mortality. A crooked smile hung itself on her features, her icy blue eyes glittered in the morning light. " You guys like the way I smell? " She purred, one slender hand on the thick tree trunk with the other on her hip.
OOC didn't smell pack. smelled a scent she's only ever found with Salsola and the lack of the scent of a loner
Terra followed the trail along eagerly, wondering who it was. Terra couldn't exactly identify the canine with the other scents mingled in, disguising it. For all she knew Terra was heading straight for one of the canines that she'd ended up getting into a fight with. Skoll's question caught her attention, remembering that he was traveling with her. A member of a very secretive pack. They know how to hide their scents completely. Something she really, really wanted to learn how to do.
Her head whipped up to the trees, hearing a loud noise. Her hackles stood, expecting a threat. Luckily it was only the one they'd been trailing after, coming out from a tree. Nothing too dangerous. Unless one counted the fact that she was traveling around with a skull on her hip. Not exactly the most welcoming sight by any means. Terra was fair confident she could get them both out of there if things turned sour at least. Dipping her head Terra sniffed at the trail again, shaking her head. I like how you're hidden, but the smell's kinda gross. She didn't like the strong scent of the plants that were mixed in at all.
Word Count → 310 :: Meerp, I'm really stupid; I knew it but forgot! xD Ignore the wording on that, Skoll's just confuzzled at the perfumey smell.
Skoll sneezed once as they walked along the trail. Even though he could smell the animal underneath the stench of herbs, the perfume was almost unnatural. He was all for hygiene, but a dog’s nose was as sensitive to good smells as bad, and the cloying reek of the trail could have given him a headache. It was too intense and muddled together for him to figure out anything but that this as a canine they were tracking, and not just some walking tree.
He sneezed again when Terra answered his question, mentioning that members of this pack cloaked their scents. “Why?” he asked, wondering what the point of secrets was. The Kingdom didn’t need to disguise themselves; they were all good wolves with no enemies that he could think of. “Why don’t they just roll in dung? That’d be better than this frou-frou stuff.” It was completely distracting, so much so that the naïve squire didn’t notice the dark figure come from the vegetation until a skeleton was staring at him.
The golden teen yelped and jumped backwards, his ears flattening and his lips wrinkling back to show white teeth. He stared at the blue-eyed skeleton for a moment before realizing that it was somehow painted on a living canvas—but he caught a glimpse of what might have been real bone underneath the folds of her cloak. Surely he was just seeing things, though.
Once again, the first thought that came to mind was “Why?” He looked warily at the female, who asked them if they liked her smell. Green eyes flicked to Terra, who answered bluntly, and he nodded lightly.
“Why do you—why do you want to look like that?” the prince asked, trying to be just as brazen. It was clear that he was referring to her chalk markings. “It’s cool, but—well—it’s weird.”
The ebony woman simply shrugged at the coyotes words, that was the point wasn't it? " This is the point of mixing such smells. Why would you want to follow a scent you didn't like? " She asked, raising a canine eyebrow to both of them. Alessandra crossed her arms and leaned against the tree, shaking white hair out of her eyes. The reaction the boy gave her upon sight brought a chuckle from her chest, how cute. He was still young and her appearance seemed to have surprised him. His attitude earned a withering look as she appraised him, he might be trying to show off for the female next to him but outside packlands that would earn him nothing but trouble. " Firstly, how is it any of your business? There are a great many canines that are stranger then me, and for good reason. Maybe I choose to look this way so I don't have to deal with nosy strangers. " Came her voice, blue eyes throwing a pointed look at the younger of the two.
Her tail flicked out behind her in an annoyed fashion. " However, this is not the case. I will tell you why I choose to bleach and chalk my face. " The woman moved away from the tree, uncrossed her arms and stalked closer to the two. " Have you ever thought about what is under your fur? Your skin? The muscle that moves you through the daily motions? It is your bones that support you, they give you the ability to move around. Without bones we would be piles skinbags. This, is to give others a glimpse of mortality. Too often we think we are immortal, better then fate and more clever then destiny. This is not the case. " She paused, eyes moving between both faces gauging their reaction.
" If they choose to disbelieve it and think themselves a higher power, well.. I like to give others a glimpse of mortality. If they can't choose to recognize the time we have been given on this earth in a positive way.. I take it away from them. " Following her dark words the woman shot each of them a sickeningly sweet smile. She wouldn't divulge any further, but that in a nutshell was why she bleached bones onto her face and hands... What she meant by the words, well... She would let them figure that out.
Terra chuckled at the answer. It wasn't a deterrent for her. In fact, it made her more curious about following who was creating such a scent. She wanted to figure out the source, puzzle it out. Her mind sent her question after why they would do such a thing. Terra had to wonder why they wouldn't want their scent followed, why they would want to keep others off. Most of the time it was for a boring reason, but it did mean that the canine at the end of the trail was going to be someone rather charming for Terra to play with.
Fangs flashed at the hybrid as she dared to challenge Skoll. Terra might be smaller than the youth, but she was fully capable of protecting him and putting the female in her place at the same time. The coyote wasn't frightened off by her appearance or manners, prepared to defeat her. A low growl began to reverberate from her as the wolf spoke, working on breaking Skoll's spirits down. As she moved closer Terra stepped forward, placing herself between them. The words were confusing, complex and poetic, different from how Terra thought. What did it matter how she moved and lived? The point was she did.
A smile tugged at her lips as she continued speaking. A foolish wolf, with foolish ideas. Terra couldn't imagine ever needing a reminder that she was mortal. She felt that in every breath, lived it in every moment. The idea of being so detached from that cycle, where one had to kill to keep living, was such a strange thought. Surely there weren't actual canines out there so stupid as to think of themselves that way. At the end Terra actually burst into laughter, outright mocking the wolf's ideals. You really think you're so above it? Above the grind and battle of life to judge others, and take their lives? You really are a fool!
Skoll took a seat and let his fluffy tail rest at his paws, listening to the females talk back and forth. His ears lowered a notch when the skull-faced wolf shot him an icy look, the blue chips hard and bright in their shadowy sockets. “It was just a question,” he replied testily, although he made no more move to speak or back up his frustrated statement with posturing. It wasn’t often that he met rude canines, but he really didn’t appreciate it.
Despite her harsh look, she went on to explain the point behind the skull anyway. His green eyes grew round with curiosity despite himself, but the words didn’t make much sense to his young mind. Why did he have to remember that he had bones under his fur? Everyone knew that; that was why they weren’t piles of jelly like the things that sometimes swept up on the beach.
The smile and mention of taking away time on earth made him flinch, his lips wrinkling back slightly to show teeth not yet yellowed by age and use. It sounded like a threat, and a prince would not stand for such things. His father was the king, and she was only a smelly bonehead!
Yet Terra, who’d drifted between him and the chalked stranger, laughed at her words and talked back. Normally, the boy would be quick to stop her, like when they tried their luck with the bear, but he agreed. Judging others didn’t sound right to him, and killing was definitely bad unless it was for food or protecting your family or something like that.
“Let’s go, Terra,” the wolfdog offered after a moment. He rose and shuffled backward, ready to turn to leave. He dropped his muzzle and mumbled, “She just smells bad and she’s not interesting and she freaks me out.”
