2023.06.20 The Not-Wolf in the Woods
| 2023.06.20 The Not-Wolf in the Woods | |
|---|---|
| Xiu and Mary walk through the woods doing witchy things when they encounter a strange... and familiar for one... creature | |
| IC Date | 2023.06.20 |
| IC Time | Day |
| Players | Wulfra, Xiu, Mary |
| Location | Deep Woods - Southeast |
| Spheres | Mage, Bygone |
"It did help.." Xiu says - though her tone is a bit grim, as she begins to slowly walk again. "It was good. Was nice.." She softly inhales. "Still, the time was cut short after only two years." She closes her eyes a moment, a light smile returning. "In a way it was for the better, but..I just do not like to dwell on it too much." Deep in the woods, two rather...curious folks are walking. The most curious part being that they are quite naked - the both of them. Xiu is striding slowly, her skin painted, head to toe in various runes, symbols, tribal lines - all the markins in a deep green on her skin. Other than that? She has nothing on herself. No bag, no pouches. Just herself. Unlike Mary next to her - the girl being nowhere as predatory looking as the small asian amazon, but just as bare, if plain - and carrying a backpack, some clothes peeking out of them. They are talking, casually, as they wander.
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Mary rolls Perception + Alertness vs 7 for 3 successes. 4 6 6 +7 +8 +9 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Xiu rolls Perception + Alertness vs 7 for 3 successes. 3 4 5 +7 +9 +9 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->
As the two women walk through the deep woods, the chirp of the birdsong and rustling of the leaves from the many small critters scampering about come to a bit of a lull. It's nothing -too- unusual, but they eventually can spot something out of the corner of their eye. To Mary, it's a somewhat familiar sight, but to Xiu--it is new. Two bright orange, bestial eyes stare from a dark spot inbetween the bushes off to the side... about 10 meters away. They seem to be attached to a black-furred, quadrapedal body... a very large one... that anyone who knew anything about what lived out here could only call a wolf... or a black bear. It seems to be watching them.
The moment Xiu spots those eyes, she stops. Freezes..and slowly turns a bit towards those eyes. What's on her face is not fear...but her eyes narrow, and mary can hear a slow, long inhale coming from the witch. And depending on how good Wulfra is at reading body language? She can see that Xiu is definitely choosing fight over flight, in preparation. It is subtle. Just the way her body positions itself, and the way her eyes stay fixed on Wulfra. It's that expression. Silence falls, at least on Xiu's side. "Mary." the primal witch says, slowly. "Wait a moment." It seems the witch wants to quietly observe the lone wolf for a moment. Lone wolves are - normally - not a problem. But there are specia wolves in these woods. Xiu's eyes narrow further, the fingers of her right hand curling a bit into her palm.
Mary follows the gaze and she to startled. But she looks more flight than fight. At first. Then she puts a hand on Xiu's arm. "Oh. Wait. I ... think I know her," she says as she peers to try and p ick out more details.
The animal stares back, head low... but tilting a bit when its eyes meet Xiu's. They glance between her and Mary, body still mostly hidden... before stepping forwards a few steps, out into the light... revealing the extent of their large, spiky-furred, lupine form.
Xiu continues to watch - and she begins to slowly step sideways without taking her eyes off that wolf, as it moves out of the undergrowth. For a moment, Xiu does not react to Mary's words, as if she is not hearing them, those fingers curling just a bit more on that right palm, tensing - before she...blinks. "Her?" She still does not look away. "You know this wolf, Mary?"
Mary works her mouth a few times but there's no sound. "I mean ... we've met. I don't like... get invitations to her parties or anything."
The wolf, at first, walks sideways, circling Xiu the opposite direction Xiu circles it. Its eyes mostly stay on Xiu, but change once the question of knowing is asked. After a few seconds... the wolf nods its head, as if it were acknowledging the question.
That nod of the head? That seems to be the thing that changes Xiu's attitude just a bit. She moves slower. Not immediatly halting, but..slower..before she finally stops, and straightens, eyeing the wolf for a silent moment. "Not a normal wolf, are you?" she asks, gazing into the creature's eyes, her chin slightly lifting - before her head turns a bit sideways, eyeing Mary for just a moment, then Wulfra again.
Mary back peddles a little again. The tension eases but not to much. She grows quiet while the two of you ... get acquainted.
The wolf stops... then glances around a bit more... then looks back to Xiu. `Not a normal wolf, are you...` a voice sounding between a mixture of wolf growls and like a heavy smoking human sounds out from its mouth.
When the wolf echoes her words right back at her, in that strange voice..Xiu hrms. And gazes over her shoulder at Mary again for a moment. "...care to elaborate?" she says, before she lets out a soft snort and gazes at the wolf again. And then, Xiu crouches down, her arms resting on her raised thighs as she just stares at the wolf. At least she is not standing all ready for a fight anymore..but who knows how much that might mean with one like her. She cants her head. "Hey there."
Mary moves back towards Xiu. Maybe a little behind her. "Me? I ... don't know." She mimics the crouching posture. And waves to Wulfra. Sort of feels like the thing to do. "Or were you talking to her?"
The wolf steps a bit closer, now about 4 meters away from the crouching Xiu. `Mary... and who... patterrrned one... not coverred... also of the magics? Traces, yes... but never linger....` they say, eyes flitting over Xiu's form.
And Xiu's eyes wander right back over the wolf's. She then leans forward, slowly - and on all fours, crawls a bit closer to the wolf, eyeing her. Closing the distance, while her long braids slowly drag over the forest floor around her. Preadtory musculature moving. She most certainly is one hell of a human beast. She does not reply to Mary. Not yet. Instead she slowly draws closer to Wolfra. Not straight towards her, but..just aiming right past her, eyes wandering over that black pelt as the distance melts to less than a meter.
Mary gets quiet again as the two get closed. Hey Xiu has a nice rear. No! Focus! She slide a hand over to collect her bag and hold it in white knuckles. Sort of like she is preparing to move if those goes badly.
The wolf thing stands there, watching Xiu closely as she gets down on all fours and moves such way naturally... orange eyes shining with the scattered light. As Xiu begins her investigatibve circling, the wolf stays calm... starting to move towards her in the small circle as well, equally curious. `...not human, no... too much potential, too strong, too wild... yes....` the voice mutters as the wolf's nose flares a few times. `But why wearrr this flesh out here, then....`
Xiu is *probably* unaware of Mary taking that long look at her ass. Not that Xiu could fault her for it. That round ass is mostly trained muscle, after all. Such thoughts are not in Xiu's mind however - she is looking at furry ass. Not quite literally, though her eyes are still wandering along the wolf, close now. The first touch, in the form of Xiu's nose pressing against the wolf's neck and..sniffing. And she can't help but smirks there, for a moment, at the 'not human'. Somewhere inside, the primal witch wonders about the truth in that statement, by now. "Because it is my flesh, dear wolf." she says, before she moves forward - and brushes her side along Wulfra's, left against left, glancing sideways.
Mary tenses at that touch. She's even holding her breath. Holding. Nothing happens so she lets it out slooowly. Not making any loud noises right now. The comments about 'not human' clearly catch her attention but she is letting the greeting play out. Hopefully letting a little tension in the air ease.
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Xiu rolls Perception + Alertness vs 8 for 1 successes. 1 3 6 6 +10 10 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->
The wolf's body goes still as Xiu makes contact, head craned to the left to look down at her every movement as she does so. The firs tthing she can feel is that the fur is remarkably -warm-... as if the fibres had been laying out in the sun. It's thick, yet finer than normal fur... making it feel softer against her as she scent rubs. And, what's more, the scent she gets upon taking a breath full of it isn't predominantly -animal-... but rather like a campfire... smoky, with a hint of forest and something more... acrid. But, most curiously of all, being this close to the wolf, Xiu can tell... she doesn't seem to be -breathing- at all. Standing still like this, there is no movement... not even a heartbeat.
Xiu is, definitely, surprised - but not so much that she makes it very visible. Perhap s a sudden hesitation in her motion along the wolf - but just for a moment, as she feels that warmth and smells that rather peculiar smell. Very...interesting. Her eyes narrow a bit, but them she moves further forward. Hee own scent? Human, pretty much. Healthy. Very healthy. A certain degree of base aggression maybe, but moreso that of a preadtor than a really aggressive being. And, of course, the scent of the woods, all over her. Xiu bends a itte as she is next to the wolf, and actually sniffs at Wulfra's rear there for a moment. It's the little details.
Mary is watching. If only she had a camera. Of course they'd probably shred her if she did. This weird ... ritual is well outside her experience so she is just trying to take it all in. Maybe learn something. But at least not get in the way.
The wolf, indeed, is visibly female... that much is clear. But as she sniffs at where the identifying scent glands of a wolf would normally be, she just gets more of the same smell... not even any smell of excrement... the wolf's body is perfectly 'clean' save for the bits of plant matter stuck in their fur. The insects around don't seem to pay attention to her either. `Your flesh... of course it is yourr flesh... you wearr it. But it is not... congrruent... no...` she says, glancing over Xiu's body more... but not sniffing, just looking with that piercing gaze.
It's then that Xiu holds still for a moment. And then, she slowly leans back, pushing herself back into a crouch again, glancing along the 'wolf' there. "Not 'Congruent'?" she asks, slowly - and lifts her chin just a bit, gazing at the wolf over the bridge of her nose. "At least I am showing my flesh." A subtle smirk moves the corner of a lip. "You have yet to do so." she makes her verdict, that smirk just growing a little bit. "Although.." she says, lifting a hand, rubbing two fingers together as she eyes them. "Now I am curious what you think about mine." She then turns a bit, gazing over at Mary - for a moment considering wether to call her over just yet. Instead, she seeks eye contact with her, for a moment. It's not exactly a look that says 'Time to relax', but at least she seems not to tell her to keep more distance.
Mary shifts her gaze to meet Xius. She makes gets it, mimicing Xius motions and crawling a little bit closer. Not enough to touch the wolf. Her bag is left behind.
The wolf sits on her haunches, looking at Xiu, then at the approaching Mary for a bit. Her tail flicks back and forth idly. `My flesh is... incongrruent with this world. Would not be... wise. Wolf is betterr... but I like your flesh. It bulges with powerr... does it hurt? The patterrns are... pretty....`
Xiu's eyes narrow just a bit as Mary suddenly moves forward, but...then, her expression relaxes, slowly. And she nods, lightly, to the other, before her eye sfind the 'wolf' again. And she can't help but lightly grin. "Thank you." she says. That one was about the patterns. Or the power. Both? Probably both. Her whole posture is relaxing a bit more by the second. There is a bit of understanding in her eyes. "I see." she says, and then reaches out, brushing a hand over the wolf's back - hoping that at least the owner can feel it. "That is sad, but that is the world we live in, these days. It does not accept creatures such as you." She softly inhales. "..one day." A small promise that Xiu actually plans to keep. Even if it takes ages.
Mary stops when she gets that look from Xiu. Stops mid stride. She looks between the two of you for a bit but finally does speak. "What does that mean? Incongruent with the world?"
The not-wolf twitches a bit at the stroking at first, but then leans into it, head hanging lower. Their eyes look over to the questioning Mary from where they lie. `If people see... they will not take it well... though here... herre is deep... maybe....` she says, eyes locking back onto Xiu when she mutters the 'one day' line. There's silence for a moment... then more words. `The day... is coming... as surely as smoke heralds fire....`
"This.." Xiu says, glancing at Mary again. "Is not a wolf, Mary." The primal witch lightly smiles. "It is a beast of a bygone era. This is just her mimicry. A way for her to stay unseen in this world....and unharmed by it." She softly inhales, and then looks at the wolf again. "But that day is far away, still." Her free hand clenches a bit as she says that. There is anger, inside. "..what is your name?" The words though, are soft.
Mary laughs. She really, really didn't mean to. And she looks like she immediately regrets, but none the less she laughs. "Um. Yeah. I mean ... the talking part sort of gave that away."
`Bygone era...` the not-wolf repeats as she did the first words. `You may call me Wulfra.` But as she says that, she pulls away from Xiu, trotting off a few meters towarrds where she came from, before turning back to look at the two again. `You arre... right about some things... but not... otherrs. I am not... frrom a past era... not of myth... therre are none wrritten about me... at least... not yet.` Then, her head turns away, a slow walk carrying her off into the brush. But... there's one more line spoken before the wolf-thing completely disappears. `...this world is as alien to me... as I am to it.`
Xiu's eyes find Mary again, and they narrow. "Mary. I am saying this is not some mystical wolf. Or a bygone wolf spirit, or a wolf anything." she remarks, slowly. "This is not even their body." She smirks at Mary, before she glances at the 'wolf' again. And deeply inhales.
"'Wulfra'." she echoes the name, and raises her eyebrows. "...you must be kidding me." The last part is just a murmur there, before she clears her throat a bit, and she pushes herself onto her feet - watching the being leave an disappear. She stands there for a long moment, watching the spit, before she subtly cants her head. "....hmh."
Mary does very much regret that laugh. Her hand hangs. "Oh ... did I offend her?"
