The young, golden woman made her way slowly across the open expanse of the Dancefloor. She knew that this territory should be familiar to her. She was told it was her home, but reaching for thoughts made her dizzy. She struggled to think, even now. There was a vague familiarity to it. Like she knew that if she made her way a little further South she would come across a stream. But, did she know that because she had walked this territory all her life, or because she could scent the water on the wind? Not knowing was difficult, and she found herself struggling with her mind. It left her exhausted, and weary. Her steps across the grass were sluggish, and slow. Worse yet was the ache in her throat. She longed for the tonics her captive had given her. The addiction ran through her still, and if she knew what it was made of she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t be sneaking sips of it. "Speech"

Things had been even quieter now that the wolves her mother had decided to keep in the Tar Pits were released. Those that remained were now part of Insomnia it seemed, at least to some degree, and they were given the chance to rise through the ranks. Morticia didn’t understand why the one boy had been so sad though. She had tried to sit with him at the meeting but he seemed to be off doing his own thing, or hiding. Was he hiding? Morticia wasn’t sure. She wasn’t one to dwell on such thoughts for long though. She had instead focused on hanging out with her mother when she could and collecting prizes from the critters that she hunted. Hides, claws, teeth, and bones had all been gathered. Morticia liked them a lot! Her favorite was the small of some sort of small-ish canine that had tried to take one of her kills. It had been a fun fight - it had been fast! But Morticia was faster, and she had waited for the body to decay before scraping the not so great smelling bits off the skull and had moved it to the den she’d been using as a sort of shrine to her achievements. It was… chaos. Things were just scattered about wherever she had found room. But that was a problem for later! Morticia had left her den after examining the problem that was approaching and left in search of something fun to do. As far as she knew her mother was doing important Wraith business… It sucked that it kept her busy sometimes… She considered seeking Rou or Tazzy but her sister could be hard to pin down and she wasn’t sure how to approach her brother with Cryptis missing. Of the three siblings he had hung out with Widow’s daughter the most. Her absence was felt by Morticia too… She had lots of fun playing with the other girl when they were smaller. Sometimes Cryptis couldn’t keep up and needed to rest but that was okay! They would just wait until she was feeling better. But until Widow found her and brought her home she had to keep busy without her friend, and that was just what she planned to do. She had been keeping an eye on the animals that had been passing through Insomnia’s lands and there had been some new contenders that had her curious about what they tasted like; big birds. Morticia had never seen any of the feathered beasts around here before… her mother had said it was because the birds, Turkeys, liked areas with more coverage than what the Dancefloor offered them. But that was good for Morticia - they wouldn’t be able to hide when she went after them. It was their mistake to come here when they were vulnerable, and the yearling was going to make a gift of the meat and add some of the feathers to her collection! Maybe the beak, too? It looked weird. Sadly she was sure the funny wrinkled bit of flesh wouldn’t be something she could keep forever. A shame, it was weird and she thought it was interesting but oh well! Lowering herself down, Morticia crept through the grasses with the skills of a somewhat experienced hunter. The Turkey she was focused on didn’t seem too bright, even when the wind changed it didn’t seem to notice her. Until the sound of another wolf approached the direction of the stream. The turkey seemed to jump to attention then, making noise as it held out its wings and started “screaming” at the intruder. What in the world? Were they supposed to be like this? Morticia frowned, arching a brow as she examined it for a couple seconds. She didn’t know who had made the bird so upset with their approach but it was now being annoying! Morticia would kick from the ground, springing into action as the bird remained distracted. Zeroing in on the prey would be easy enough, after all, it didn’t hear or acknowledge her approach in any way. A wild grin was on the rainbow-marked yearling’s face as she clamped down on the thing’s long, featherless neck. It would crunch in her maw and Morticia would shake it back and forth a couple times before looking up to see which of her packmates had got the bird so worked up. It was a face she wasn’t expecting to see, but pure delight lit up her face as she dropped turkey in a lump on the ground. A squeal of happiness left her lips and she moved forward, bouncing up and down before a wolf she hadn’t expected to see yet. "Cryptis is home, Cryptis is home!!” Excitement and joy danced in her voice and expression as she, for the moment, drew still… except for her tail that was wagging a mile a minute behind her. "Morticia missed Cryptis… Rou and Tazzy too. But Medusa said Widow would find Cryptis and bring Cryptis home! Now Cryptis is here and safe!” Recalling the bird Morticia gestured at it with a huge grin. "Turkey is for Cryptis! Present!” --- Word Count: 856 Words Solo Seasonal - Fall, Year 19 "Talk," 'Think.'

Tired, and struggling to gain any sort of familiarity around her, she was taken utterly by surprise when a colourful wolf appeared suddenly across the plain in front of her. They closed the distance with great speed, and called her name repeatedly. Clearly, this was someone that knew her. She found herself flinching without really meaning to. The colourful wolf gave her name, and it sounded sort of familiar. If only because Widow had listed a few names of wolves she was supposed to know.

Looking at this wolf, she didn’t feel any familiarity, and she knew that was wrong. She didn’t want to disappoint this friend/stranger, and it left her unsure on what to say. She hesitated and looked at the bird as Morticia dropped it. “Ohh… thank you” she said, rubbing her sore head, and glancing up at the other wolf through shy eyes. “I… I am home, I guess.” so why didn’t it feel like she was?


"Speech"

Now that Morticia had given Cryptis her gift she found her expression falling. Something wasn’t right. Her smile fell, noticing the lack of enthusiasm the other girl had. Not that Cryptis had ever been able to keep up with her energy, but her responses sounded so tired and off. Morticia’s ears fell and an expression of worry appeared. The realization that her friend hadn’t been in a good place, that she might have been hurt and tired. Morticia let out a whine, her body becoming still. “Cryptis forgot home…” She had been gone for a while. Could it be that she forgot about Insomnia? “Cryptis seems tired… Has been away for too long…” Morticia glanced down at the turkey, her brow furrowing. Then it hit her, and Morticia lit up again, a bright smile returning. “Morticia will help! Morticia will show Cryptis all the good things. New goods, old goods! Then Cryptis will feel at home!” She hadn’t realized that the reason her friend seemed off was because she literally didn’t remember anything. Her tail wagged back and forth once more and she tilted her head to the side. “Cryptis want Morticia to carry Turkey to resting spot?” She asked, offering to carry the gift to wherever her friend wanted to relax. Coming home had to be what made her tired because she had to travel. But that was okay. Morticia could wait until she had more energy to play. Until then, she would happily stick close by to make sure the other girl remained safe. "Speech" 'Thought.'