[ P ] • black wolf, I think

Kazgut

I will come to be — I will submerge myself in the body of the earth, sink my teeth into its flesh; and rise in my own skin.

Tales had been heard of the region almost as soon as they had settled in Perth. The lowlands were said to be a fertile, verdant place. (When the Highlanders spoke to Vyette of the lowlands, this is what they had to say.) Perhaps it was just idle chat to the new apothecary, but Kazgut did not think so. They did not seem a folk prone to that sort of embellishment (although they more than made up for it with their other tales). Regardless, the black shuck had travelled to Maiden's Braid to fulfil specific purpose - alchemical ingredients for his love.

The journey had been short. Even so, Kazgut felt the familiar stirrings of homesickness. He did not take joy in being away. This serves purpose, he thought to himself bluntly, attempting to realign mind to body. The wraith had to remain at the cottage, to attend to the folk that came with their ailments. Summer had brought new sickness - and new cure. She had kissed him goodbye in the garden and he had disappeared into the wood.

It was not the first time he had been away, but he always hoped it was the last.

Now, with basket held simply between jaws, he navigated the wetlands. From this vantage, he had already beheld the waterfall. Now he had taken to crossing and recrossing the creeks, foraging for mushrooms and mosses. Anything that the grim did not recognize was taken. He was careful in this task, taking no more than needed - severing plant cleanly should Vyette which to try to propagate anything in a more northern climate.

---

@Alexei

Notes: Kazgut is wandering about with a basket picking up random plants.

Emphasis.
Thinking.
"Talking."

i can see your halo fall.

Alexei's journey through the Lowlands had been eventful. He took it step by step, returning home if he needed. Trips started and paused so he could take care of himself. Which in the past, he'd never considered. But he was trying harder this time around. This adventure would be different. He wanted to be a different man than he was before. Even if it wasn't in his nature to be traversing land by himself; he'd shocked himself a lot this past year. Changing in ways he never thought he could. Being alone. That was the hardest part of it all. But he had conquered it, multiple hours of the day. Mirror Lake descended into branches of rivers and falling waters. The reddened man stood out; even in the spring, when various bright blooms of flowers were sprouting for the first time in months.

The loud rush of water was very much apparent here. It made Alexei freeze up from time to time, and stray from the massive falls. Nerves inside him feel ice cold; parts of him frigid as the others stayed an impossible heat. Anxiety manifesting in his ears burning and eyes swiveling to make sure that he does not get caught in the stream's pull. It's beautiful and wild. It reminds him of another version of what he could have been. If he had stayed within the realms of his own homeland. He takes a deep breath and feels his heart calm up in his chest; seizing softly at the thought of his family's fading faces in his mind. He changes direction of his vision so he does not have to find his reflection to sigh at. Off, towards the mountains that border a lake hidden within their grasp.

From up on a higher slope of the land; Alexei's amethyst gaze fell over what was laid out in front of him. Near to him; a shadow moves across the mossy terrain with purpose. Heavy steps dressed in midnight's coat. Alexei's heart and gasp are snatched. His heart clutched in between his ribs and his breath caught in the middle of his throat. He feels a tug at his neck; from where he'd broken these chains before. Can it be? It can't. Surely... But the colossal beast stands as black as the hellion. He's frozen in time; a lock of old memories. Ice entangles each and every bone in him. The heat that had taken place was now washed in a frozen chill. "Hound?" He quivers; eyes rushed with a familiar feeling. Wet and weary; dark circles prominent as he remembers washed out, wintry nights with nothing by his side. And all at once, there is a fire that flickers in his heart and behind widened, star-struck eyes. He looks as if he's about to crumble. Shatter into a million once again. His chin trembles, never closing after he spoke. 'Where have you been?'' His voice almost echoes out against the empty space. Little natural sounds in the background besides the rushing water. It seems as if they are the only two within miles.

"Speak and be heard."

code by claerie

Kazgut

I will come to be — I will submerge myself in the body of the earth, sink my teeth into its flesh; and rise in my own skin.

Voice. Caught off guard, Kazgut's head snapped up. Pale eyes focused intently, narrowing onto the source of the voice. Finding ... a stranger. The unfamiliar wolf had the higher ground. Muscles rippled beneath coat, tensing in preparation of an attack but ... nothing. It was as though the other was frozen in place. A word had been spoken, but already he could not recall it. Looking up at the red wolf upon the rocks - haloed gloriously by the sun - the black shuck felt tension leave him. Even at a distance he could see a tremor of some sort of emotion go through the stranger.

Deliberately, eyes of moonstone never leaving the red one, Kazgut sat down the foraging basket. Shifting stance, he positioned himself so that the sun would no longer obscure the other wolf. Amethyst eyes, wide, beheld him in return. Widened with surprise (swimming with emotion)! The last of the adrenaline faded. Kazgut was no empath - but the air smelled of a miasma of confliction; undertones of the sea (bite of salt) and others fighting for dominance. Many places, many things.

Kazgut found no words. Instead, he took a step forward; closer toward the stranger. Whether in hoping to give the red wolf a better look or to determine for himself the nature of the encounter, he did not know. The backdrop was one of sublime exaltation. The water flowed fast and clear - the birds chattering peacefully away. And they; locked.

Own initial surprise faded into concern. The stranger looked as though he had seen a ghost.

---

@Alexei

i can see your halo fall.

Ice forms throughout the red man. With a coat as blazing as his, it is hard to imagine that he might be taken over by shards of frozen rain. If anything, fire; a burning endless heat, should be coming from him. Anger should take place of the shock that prevails him.

'Why?'

That is the question that encompassed his mind. He internally asks himself, as his brain is overcome with the feeling of despair, wanting to fall down and sob. For there has been heartache, anger, and loss. How to react in the presence of found... The emotion escapes him. The reaction that might have been accompanied by the feeling is nowhere to be found. So instead, he just stood. Frozen atop the higher ground.

Life writhes around him, nonetheless. Whether he acknowledged it within his frigid state or not. The supposed hound even moves. The basket within his mouth set the ground, cast astray for the time being. Steadily, the vision of Alexei's past started closer, a step. The frozen man still does nothing, caught with the same expression on his face. Mixed emotions, it's hard to tell what is wrong with him. His lips straightened, twitching slightly from up and down, as if he cannot process what was happening. Finally, the man comes within range and they are locked within a stare.

As soon as gray stone eyes meet gems of purple; heartache refills the heart of Alexei. And now he wanted to be mad. But he cannot be. For it is not him, and the anger would be misplaced. He is not one who is too familiar with that emotion as well. "I... I..." He tries, fumbling for words that are unknown to even him. He just wanted something to fill the silence, the whirl of feelings inside.

"I am... sorry... you..." He's never been this at a loss for anything. Lightning strikes through his heart. The ache would never fade. No matter how time passed, it would be there, even without a collar to match. Water touches at his ankles, a part of the stream picking up down the mountain. It's enough to shock the man awake from whatever stupor of words that would not come. A sharp breath is taken as the familiar sting of his eyes returns. "I'm sorry for staring.. You just... You look like someone... from my past." He admits, with a broken voice and tears that prickle in the corners of his eyes. His head turns, he does not care if the stranger attacks him or continues to stare. Right now, he doesn't care if the world fell in on him. The weight already set upon his shoulders.

"Speak and be heard."

code by claerie

@Kazgut

Kazgut

I will come to be — I will submerge myself in the body of the earth, sink my teeth into its flesh; and rise in my own skin.

Time did a slow dance about the strangers. To the black shuck what had started as a charged crescendo (toward action!) had abruptly paused. The feeling left him without breath in his lungs, without wind in his sails, and without direction. Kazgut had never been particularly gifted in the art of meeting, in knowing others, and in being in their company - especially without knowing them at length (and great distance) first. He could not make sense of this exchange; the frozen expressions upon the red stranger’s face, nor the emotions - unknowable - that rolled off of him.

Head raised slightly as the red one started, tried, stuttered into speech.And then, finally … apology? I am … sorry … you … A pause followed that had the grim straining just a touch closer. Needing, perhaps, to understand better this odd exchange. I'm sorry for staring.. You just... You look like someone... from my past. Explanation given - but Kazugt felt no relief from it. For the red one looked away as the words themselves serrated the air like broken pieces thrown to the ground. Deeper emotions set within them but the black shuck found himself at a loss yet again.

Kazgut knew that he was unremarkably in appearance; plain black without a marking of identification edgewise. Wolves often look alike. But it was not the case of mistaken identify that he found himself bothered by. It was the emotion. The mixing of feelings that shuddered in the space but were nameless. From the past, yes; but what sort of past? And so, he latched upon only the most recognizable; sadness. If only the healer was with him. (Although he did not know if this malady could be cured by his witch.)

Turning away only briefly, Kazgut retrieved the basket. Clenched between teeth, he returned about-face to the stranger. Then, he took several steps closer, orienting himself carefully as to not catch the other off guard. The shuck moved carefully, with great deliberance. About three steps away, he stopped and (once again) sat the basket down.

”Flower?” The gravedigger asked the red man, hoping to brighten his mood. (The word itself a murmur beneath breath; low, rumbling, distant.)

---

@Alexei

i can see your halo fall.

Emotions flow through him like a river after a storm, rapid and raging. Half of them are unlike anything he's ever felt - he's known loss, but how could it hurt so badly still when it was so long ago? Alexei wanted to be alone. He wanted to curl in a hole, similar to his first den alone - along with the water and poppies, but there is nothing here like it. He wants to simmer in the thoughts he knows, the love he once felt. Maybe he can feel that again - but oh, the heartache. He does not want that. Amid his emotions swirling, Kazgut moves. Alexei's eyes vaguely follow, as he is disinterested in almost everything except for the pang he feels heavily against his chest. It's as if the world has body slammed him into the past, forcing him to look at how long it truly had been, and make him feel guilty for still harboring all these untamed feelings. They should be controlled by now. He should be able to keep himself calm in moments like these. But some things never change.

The charcoal stranger moves against the land like a spider, cautious and quick, scrambling almost in a delicate way. It doesn't take him long to collect his basket and be back on his way towards Alexei. He comes closer than he had before and slowly, Alexei can notice each of the differences. In how he is a little more muscular than his hound could have ever been. Larger, it makes Alexei feel smaller and more frail to the world with the feminine body he inhabits. They are close enough to hear each other's breaths - Alexei's still somewhat heavy as he tries to calm himself. He doesn't even know his paws are shuffling, an anxious tick he'd gained. And that when he lifts his paws, they tremble gently. 'Flower?' A husky voice asked, distant. Almost as if it came from behind Lex. He would have checked too, if he hadn't seen the black beast's mouth move. Alexei takes a second to register what the man was offering. Tears slipped down from his eyes without realizing. His lips tremble, quirking upwards quickly and then falling back, twitching for a second as if he cannot find an emotion to land on.

He takes more than a moment before he settles on a weak smile and croaks out, "...Thank you." It's silent until Lex moves through the wet grass to look down into the basket of flowers. He wondered what this man was doing out here - trying to focus on something else, and trying not to be overwhelmed by the great kindness of this stranger. Offering a flower when he so desperately needed a hug. It was one. In a way. Someone was here, and there had been something like empathy, and he took it in. Alexei nosed at a red one, what seemed to remind him of a poppy. He took it and looked back up to the man through watery eyes. "You are kind..." He doesn't know what else to say through his intense emotions. "I'm sorry again..."" He doesn't know how to stop apologizing. It only feels natural and the more he looks over the man, he can see the differences everywhere. "Uhm.. I'm Alexei... Do I owe you anything for the flower?" He softly chuckles, sniffing through the tears. A paw reached up to wipe them away, glancing away, unable to look at the other, otherwise he would feel eveb more embarrased - if that was even possible.

"Speak and be heard."

code by claerie

@Kazgut