silent whispers silent tears

Walk | Talk | Think

She paused within the entryway of the den, peering inside at the large space that was all her own. It had long since stopped feeling strange to stay here, but still thoughts of its previous owner would sometimes coast through her mind, bringing forth memories of the time the den had once been shared for a short stay. Even then the den had been large, allowing for both she and Leon to sprawl comfortably close to each other with room to spare. At times like this it felt rather excessive. But it was home, more so than her own den had been to her of late, and she had no intention of wandering off to see if those old sleeping quarters of hers were still free. This one was open. It only made sense to stay.

Ashtoreth drew in a breath, leading into a sigh, when the call rang across the territory and then drifted into the den to echo there, rounding back and hitting her ears a second time. Even then it was hard for her to acknowledge who it was that called, the voice familiar but so long gone that she had never truly expected to hear it again. It was as if the wolf's ghost still haunted the lands and called for her - only her - and perhaps it was only she who could hear it. It couldn't really... The lean, grey wolf stood stock still, gold and purple eyes staring rather widely into the den as the surprise of the call caught her off guard, causing her heart to race and her mind to struggle to function. Leon?

Quite suddenly it felt as if there was only one option available to her. The wolf, alive or otherwise, had called her - only her. She needed to answer.

Forgetting to be grateful that her leg was so newly healed, the petite grey she-wolf turned on her heel there at the den's entrance and raced off away from it, tearing across the territory toward the border that she was sure the call had been made near. There was almost no telling where the wolf could have been now if he still retained free access to the pack lands, but it was her best shot at finding him. And surely if she reached a place he had once been she could locate his scent - could she still remember it? - to follow his trail and track him down. But he called for me. If he was going to seek her out, she doubted he would make it difficult to find him.

And it wasn't. By the time she spotted him, he was halfway across the field that sat beside their borders, traipsing about in the open. A part of her shied from him, at first keeping her well within the shadows and using her hunting skills to meld into the surroundings so that she could see him without being seen. He looked the same as ever, his tawny coat a mix of pale and dark shades of brown. Even from a distance she could see the mesmerizing blue of his eyes. It would have been easy to disappear back within the woods, to wander and stay well out of his way so that she didn't have to face him even though she had no reason to feel embarrassed or ashamed or worried about standing before him, face to face. If anything, she thought he was the one who should have been worried. Disappearing without a word, to anyone let alone her, and all while she had been under the impression they were really good friends. She had thought herself more important than that, to have been forgotten just as easily as everyone else.

Indignant thoughts offered support that she had been lacking, emboldening her to ditch the cover she had been using to wander out into the open, her expression straight and unsmiling, her gait relaxed but her posture wary. She moved to cut him off, to intercede his travels and make him stop, and when she thought she had, she stopped as well. The resolve that had been building from her earlier thoughts faltered slightly now that she was here before him, her two-toned eyes seeking his. She swallowed before attempting to speak, praying her voice wouldn't betray her. "Long time, no see," Ashtoreth stated by way of greeting, much of her good humor lacking from it. It was all she could get out for a moment, her tongue seeming to swell inside of her mouth and prevent her from speech until she parted her jaws and asked of him, irritated to hear her voice drop in both defensiveness and volume, "Where have you been?"