Her mother's angry howl calling for the capture of the intruder, and the description from her seagull had Deluge smirking as she crossed the bridge to the mainland, certainly sounded familiar enough, and her curiosity had to be sated. She thought she could make out a familiar brown shape bobbing towards the shore and she strode with purpose to approximately where she expected the woman to wash up, using her cat like claws to get her out of the mud and up into the tangle of mangrove branches overhead. She reclined, her antlered head hanging between a supporting fork in the boughs. She wasn't making any attempt to be sneaky or subtle.

When Morwenna finally made it to the shore, Deluge offered her a smirk from her upside-down position in the tree. "Honey if yer missed me tha' badly yer shoulda jus' called..."

"speech"

Morwenna

Paddling with all her might, the tired wolfdog approached the mangrove forest. The twisted and twined roots sat coiled under the surface of the water. She clasped her little leather satchel, filled with herbs from Daager Isle, in her maw, it made it difficult to breathe easily around it while she trod the water.

Finally, Morwenna's dainty paw took a firm hold on a slimy root. She tried to pull herself up gasping for relief only to slip back into the water. She had only just escaped a midnight pelted leader of the local pack, probably the Raiders... It would be just her luck to drown here after such a harrowing escape.

Morwenna grasped another root, she wanted to just wait a moment to catch her breath, but she knew that if she relaxed now her limbs would be lead. Suddenly her heart sank to her toes as she heard the call enter the sky... They were going to hunt her... She dove back into the water.

She clambered beneath the murky waters, feeling for the roots until she got close to proper land. She was built for speed, not endurance. Her ancestors hunted and chased mighty wolves, strong enough to pin them down, nimble enough to escape them easily. She was grateful for her canine ancestors now. But their curse was still her curse, they wore themselves out easily.

Her purple eyes of wisteria were bleary from the exertion, she was fatigued as she found another grasp of land and didn't realize that someone was already there waiting for her.

She was hoisted up with sharp prickling claws from the water, her long and silky fur draping in soggy walls around her delicate frame.

Morwenna could barely see as she gasped her breath, placing the leather satchel beside her while she regulated.
Bone-weary, she looked up and saw the familiar form of Deluge!

"Oh Deluge!" She sighed and flopped into the earth. Too worn out to shake the streams of water from her long silky strands of fur. The corners of her mouth twitched to smile at the funny joke she made.

The wolfdog took in a long slow breath and sighed it out, finally her heart and lungs were recovering, but her legs weren't.

She lifted her head to look at the tall dire wolf woman and tucked her chin in coyly, "How was I to know this was your area? You didn't tell me."

She took another sigh, "You'll never believe this, I was exploring that island over there, and I found these excellent herbs. But then some lady chased me and asked me who I was spying for! She attacked me before I could even answer!" She tried to share an incredulous look with Deluge.

Deluge snickered and rolled off her perch, landing heavily in the mud alongside Morwenna. "Tha's mum alright, always overreactin..." She admitted with a rueful shake of her head as she bowed down to stretch her spine, limbering up her limbs as she lazily yawned. "I'm workin' on knockin' 'er off 'er perch but it'll be a while yet, gotta get th' rest o' 'em on side." She admitted rather casually considering she'd only met the woman once before. What could she say? She was a sucker for a pretty face.

A brow quirked at the little leather bag. "So yer a healer then?" She should have assumed as much when she ran into her on Emerald Island. She was obviously keeping half an eye in the direction of the beach, but also wanted to give the other woman a chance to at least catch her breath before she broke the bad news. Movement in the distance forced her hand though. "I hate ter be th' bearer o' bad news, but ma's put th' call out an' it won't be long before others show up 'ere too. Th' way I see it, if yer get away, yer get away, but how long do yer want ter be runnin' for?" She rolled her shoulders, "I'll protect yer from 'er if yer come with me, I get in enough scrapes that yer won't be useless an' me n Dread live in a treehouse out on Dove Island, s'not like yer take up much space..." It would be away from the rest of the pack, most importantly away from her mother. "We can even make it a bit o' sport if yer want, spar or a race?" She gave her most winning grin, cocking her head to the side. "S'not like yer'd be a prisoner, yer'd jus' have someone bigger 'n scarier ter back yer up if yer got in trouble, right?" Never mind that the real trouble was probably currently looking her right in the eye.

"speech"

Morwenna

The healer watched as the dire wolf came down from her perch, she moved with such ease! The trees coiled into the sky above them. She noticed an interesting feature of the bark on the tree, little parts strangely seemed to have a speckle of sunlight in the deep shadows...

Suddenly the relief fell from Morwenna's long face.
"Your... mother???"
She never would have guessed... well actually if she thought about it... no, she had been too frightened to get a good look at Deluge's mother she couldn't compare if they looked at all similar.

Her ears perked back up when Deluge revealed that she'd be taking over soon in her delightful way of speaking.
"Oh, interesting! I hope it's not too difficult for you... Yes! I am a healer! I was trained from very young. My whole band was healers." She sighed, feeling her energy recover some, and the muddy grass beneath her. She noticed quite a bit of clover, moss, and dangling lichen from the trees. She could smell vanilla and honeysuckle on the wind.

When the merle woman broke the bad news to her, concern, confusion, and distrust crossed her violet eyes. She flicked her gaze between both of those golden orbs trying to discern what was going on.
"Get away?..." Oh... Others show up here... Her trip to the island and subsequent escape landed her on the mother's hit list. Morwenna looked down trying to comprehend as quickly as she could and weigh the options. Run: There were only so many times she could slip away, Fight: She was lucky that first time, and when she first laid eyes on Deluge she knew she and Dread were powerful forces by themselves...

She huffed with some resolve and gathered her faltering strength to stand. At this point, the race would just be for fun, she would be taken anyway with no energy left to fight or escape. Even if she ran the race and won by luck she would go with Deluge anyway.

"I'm not a fan of being trapped," She said cooly, "Unless it's fun." She smirked coyly and nodded to a large tree with a tall root doorway they could race around the doorpost and back. The grass poked out of the water showing the way was soggy but stable.

"I'll go with you no matter the outcome. Just for fun though, around that root pillar and back. Ready Set Go!" She pronounced and enticingly nipped the other woman's shoulder as she bolted.

Morwenna vs (Deluge) for Race
Round 1/1
Age: over 1 year
Size: Medium
Build: Light
Skills: Intermediate Navigator & Beginner Healer
Specialty:

A pink spotted brow rose when she said she would come with her regardless, her shortened tail giving a pleased little wiggle. That had been a lot easier than she had anticipated. Her grin grew when the smaller woman took her up on her invitation to a race, bending her limbs and dropping her head and shoulders in anticipation of the go. The nip to her shoulder was met with a shove and a swipe of her giant feline paw. She never promised that she wouldn't race dirty as she tried to use her long legs to her advantage. Slipping on the turn around, her hip hit the arch but she managed to get her limbs back beneath her, ears pinned back and tongue flying free as she stretched out in a wild gallop to the finish line.

"speech"

Deluge vs Morwenna for Race
Round 1/1
Age: over 1 year
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Light
Racing Accessory: Racing Shoes
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Navigator
Specialty: Saboteur & Fleet-footed

And the winner is...

MORWENNA

DELUGE has lost the race. Totals: MORWENNA: Speed Roll: 37 Stamina Roll: 56 Balance Roll: 29 Total: 122 Speed[37] + 5% Bonus[1.85]: 38.85 Stamina[56] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 56.00 Balance[29] + 5% Bonus[1.45]: 30.45 Total[125.30] + 10% Bonus[12.53]: 137.83 DELUGE: Speed Roll: 8 Stamina Roll: 21 Balance Roll: 5 Total: 34 Speed[8] + 15% Bonus[1.20]: 9.20 Stamina[21] + 10% Bonus[2.10]: 23.10 Balance[5] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 5.00 Total[37.30] + 25% Bonus[9.32]: 46.62

Morwenna

The little slender woman was built for speed. She easily dodged the heavy swipe and braced into the shoulder check, even using Deluge's momentum into the shoulder to boost her forward!

Swift matchstick thin legs drove Morwenna over the wet ground toward the root, She rounded the arch with a planted three-paw drift through it and over the slick surface then dashed onward turning on a dime.

She bent low to the ground on the straightaway and she drifted to a stop at the finish with a flourish. Panting hard she beamed as she won the race against Deluge despite her mild fatigue.

"You foxy rascal!" She exclaimed coyly, wagging her damp tail, the fur falling in long strands, "I wonder what we'll tell your mother." She gave Deluge an alluring wink and picked up her herbal satchel, ready for Deluge to take the lead. One day she'd like to get a proper satchel she wouldn't have to carry in her mouth.