10-13-2012, 01:30 AM
OOC: Sorry for the wait, this was supposed to be up waaay earlier today. x__x Thread is dated a little in the future, October 16th.
IC: As Kenna grew more comfortable within the pack lands of Cercatori d'Arte, the more she felt she could go out and explore other territories a little farther from home. She was finally playing an active role in the pack and was becoming more and more social with her fellow d'Artisans. Her presence was now deeply entwined with her pack mates and as a whole, the scent of the pack itself she now carried with her wherever she went. She was a part of something, she was accepted and belonged and that made the collie woman feel secure and happy. With that knowledge, it was alright to come and go from the borders from time to time. Some day soon Kenna would have to start up some trade with other packs or loners. As the colder months were settling in, her lack of supplies was becoming rather obvious. But today was not a day of trade.
Today, stallion and rider found themselves out wandering through the territory called the Dampwoods. The forest was a lot like Ethereal Eclipse, only not as overgrown. It was always nice to go out on an adventure in a new place where the only thing that could be expected, was the unexpected. As Kenna maneuvered Dust along a cresting ridge through the trees, she had taken to traveling on foot. She had ridden the buckskin the entire way to Dampwoods and decided he could use a bit of a break from her weight upon his back. Dust seemed to appreciate the consideration and kept gently nudging at his companion's shoulder as they went along, showing his affection. With a soft smile upon her maw, Kenna casually lead the stallion by the reins along through the forest. All around there was the echoes of birdsong and a cool, lazy breeze occasionally made itself known by whispering through the canopy. Blue eyes took in the beauty of the land all around her and she sighed contently, lightly tugging her fur cloak tighter around her bare shoulders. Ever since meeting Adrian, despite the cold, the collie-wolf hybrid had taken to going around unclad more often. She'd come to realize there was no reason to feel embarrassed when in the presence of others. Besides, clothes were cumbersome anyways.
After wandering along, stopping here and there to investigate a rock or plant or anything that really caught her attention, Kenna decided to let Dust do his own exploration alone. Carefully tucking the reins into the saddle, she gave the stallion a gentle pat on the shoulder before turning him loose. "Just don't go too far ya hear?" She spoke gently to her mount and the watched as he swished his tail in acknowledgement and turned to walk deeper into the trees. They'd meet up again in a while. Now on her own, Kenna was able to move about quicker and in near silence. She continued along the edge of the sloping ridge, her gaze focused on the path ahead of her. It was quite a beautiful stretch of nature and Kenna found herself feeling at ease within the shade of the towering pines. The woman listened to the sounds around her, ears swiveling to and fro. She identified the songs of many different birds and stopped once to quietly admire a bull elk strutting his way through the underbrush from a distance.
Having watched the wapiti pass out of sight, she started to walk along a crumbly patch along the ridge while keeping her eyes set on a rocky outcropping in a break in the trees ahead. Her steps were awfully precarious over the crumbling stones leading up to the larger leaning boulders, but she managed to keep upright. ...That was until, nearly to her destination, a loose rock slipped out from under her and she found herself quite suddenly falling. "Shit!" With a gasp of fright, she slipped sideways, losing her balance and skidded off the edge of the leaf covered, rocky, sloping ridge line. She tried to grasp for anything to stop herself, but it was too late. Gravity had taken her in its clutches and was not about to let her go. Unable to stop her descent down the slope, Kenna just concentrated on trying to protect her more vital areas from injury as she went tumbling and rolling almost violently downwards, involuntarily grunting with each motion her body made against the earth. A shower of small stones followed behind her, bouncing like small projectiles as she managed to twist and stop her body from being thrown about like a rag doll. As she neared the bottom of the slope Kenna gained a little more control and skidded along on her rear, digging her fingers and claws into the dirt and trying to slow herself with her feet enough to stand before slamming into the ground that was at a near right angle to the ridge. She only managed to get half way upright before stumbling and being pitched forward as her paws hit the ground. She let out a startled cry as the forward momentum propelled her unceremoniously through some bushes and smack into something that gave upon impact.
As quickly as it had begun, the fall was over and she was quite a ways below her original location. Landing as a half crumpled mess, her palms stinging from grazing along the dirt, stones still cascading down from above and rolling passed her paws, Kenna groaned softly and panted, trying to regain her senses, slightly disoriented. Already her body ached from being battered about by gravity, but at least nothing was broken. Blinking, the woman slowly started to rise to her paws again and figure out what she'd hit that had broken her fall. What came into her sight though was the figure of not something but rather someone...
IC: As Kenna grew more comfortable within the pack lands of Cercatori d'Arte, the more she felt she could go out and explore other territories a little farther from home. She was finally playing an active role in the pack and was becoming more and more social with her fellow d'Artisans. Her presence was now deeply entwined with her pack mates and as a whole, the scent of the pack itself she now carried with her wherever she went. She was a part of something, she was accepted and belonged and that made the collie woman feel secure and happy. With that knowledge, it was alright to come and go from the borders from time to time. Some day soon Kenna would have to start up some trade with other packs or loners. As the colder months were settling in, her lack of supplies was becoming rather obvious. But today was not a day of trade.
Today, stallion and rider found themselves out wandering through the territory called the Dampwoods. The forest was a lot like Ethereal Eclipse, only not as overgrown. It was always nice to go out on an adventure in a new place where the only thing that could be expected, was the unexpected. As Kenna maneuvered Dust along a cresting ridge through the trees, she had taken to traveling on foot. She had ridden the buckskin the entire way to Dampwoods and decided he could use a bit of a break from her weight upon his back. Dust seemed to appreciate the consideration and kept gently nudging at his companion's shoulder as they went along, showing his affection. With a soft smile upon her maw, Kenna casually lead the stallion by the reins along through the forest. All around there was the echoes of birdsong and a cool, lazy breeze occasionally made itself known by whispering through the canopy. Blue eyes took in the beauty of the land all around her and she sighed contently, lightly tugging her fur cloak tighter around her bare shoulders. Ever since meeting Adrian, despite the cold, the collie-wolf hybrid had taken to going around unclad more often. She'd come to realize there was no reason to feel embarrassed when in the presence of others. Besides, clothes were cumbersome anyways.
After wandering along, stopping here and there to investigate a rock or plant or anything that really caught her attention, Kenna decided to let Dust do his own exploration alone. Carefully tucking the reins into the saddle, she gave the stallion a gentle pat on the shoulder before turning him loose. "Just don't go too far ya hear?" She spoke gently to her mount and the watched as he swished his tail in acknowledgement and turned to walk deeper into the trees. They'd meet up again in a while. Now on her own, Kenna was able to move about quicker and in near silence. She continued along the edge of the sloping ridge, her gaze focused on the path ahead of her. It was quite a beautiful stretch of nature and Kenna found herself feeling at ease within the shade of the towering pines. The woman listened to the sounds around her, ears swiveling to and fro. She identified the songs of many different birds and stopped once to quietly admire a bull elk strutting his way through the underbrush from a distance.
Having watched the wapiti pass out of sight, she started to walk along a crumbly patch along the ridge while keeping her eyes set on a rocky outcropping in a break in the trees ahead. Her steps were awfully precarious over the crumbling stones leading up to the larger leaning boulders, but she managed to keep upright. ...That was until, nearly to her destination, a loose rock slipped out from under her and she found herself quite suddenly falling. "Shit!" With a gasp of fright, she slipped sideways, losing her balance and skidded off the edge of the leaf covered, rocky, sloping ridge line. She tried to grasp for anything to stop herself, but it was too late. Gravity had taken her in its clutches and was not about to let her go. Unable to stop her descent down the slope, Kenna just concentrated on trying to protect her more vital areas from injury as she went tumbling and rolling almost violently downwards, involuntarily grunting with each motion her body made against the earth. A shower of small stones followed behind her, bouncing like small projectiles as she managed to twist and stop her body from being thrown about like a rag doll. As she neared the bottom of the slope Kenna gained a little more control and skidded along on her rear, digging her fingers and claws into the dirt and trying to slow herself with her feet enough to stand before slamming into the ground that was at a near right angle to the ridge. She only managed to get half way upright before stumbling and being pitched forward as her paws hit the ground. She let out a startled cry as the forward momentum propelled her unceremoniously through some bushes and smack into something that gave upon impact.
As quickly as it had begun, the fall was over and she was quite a ways below her original location. Landing as a half crumpled mess, her palms stinging from grazing along the dirt, stones still cascading down from above and rolling passed her paws, Kenna groaned softly and panted, trying to regain her senses, slightly disoriented. Already her body ached from being battered about by gravity, but at least nothing was broken. Blinking, the woman slowly started to rise to her paws again and figure out what she'd hit that had broken her fall. What came into her sight though was the figure of not something but rather someone...