Living On The Wind

*Thistle* · (This post was last modified: 01-27-2020, 06:29 PM by Thistle.)

If Thistle was being honest, did she want to leave her comfortable sun-bathed perch to show these total strangers how to stack up a bunch fo rocks? No, not really. But when the male started talking about food her mood changed drastically. Talk and these wolves for a while and get fed? That was an arrangement she could work with. Her ears perked, and she was certain they conveyed her interest. "I certainly could but, well, it works better when the wolves in your area are familiar with the signs. I'd be happy to show you a few in return for a meal." Thistle stood, shook out her coat, and bounded down the low rise so she was standing on level with the others.

The female, Aerndis, was the largest of the two but both stood about a head over Thistle herself. "You can leave the markings for yourself, sure, but it helps if others keep them up and add new ones." Thistle shrugged. "I'll show you some of the ones I've been building at least." Her plumed tail swished behind her as she turned and walked further down towards the bog a ways below the esker, away from the tumbled stones that marked the entrance to the cave. An old cedar, long since toppled and reduced to a withered gray trunk, waited for them and Thistle pulled up beside it. "In my home land we'd mark migration routes by gouging into trees. It takes a while to get good marks, so finding trees with softer bark helps. When the practice is common in the area you start to know where to look to find signs. Each time we found herds moving through we'd find the marker and renew it. Over time you can see which spots see the most travel, as the marks build up."

Thistle turned back to the trunk and carefully ran her claws across the surface. The first swipe didn't leave much of a mark, but after three or four the soft, stringy bark began to give way. She was careful to drag her paw along it in the same place so as not to muddle her work. When she was satisfied she turned back to the larger wolves. "If there were other dangers in the area, we'd crisscross the marks. So a bears den maybe, we'd do them up and down, and then the same from left to right overtop. If there was something else, like... Oh I don't know, sinkholes in the permafrost, landslides, hornet nests or," She shrugged. "You know, that kind of stuff, we'd cross the markings but also pile stones at the tree's base. It may not convey exactly what to look for, but it pays to know when you need to be vigilant."

Thistle flitted her gaze between the two others, trying to discern if they understood. She had explained it as best she knew how, but being what she grew up with Thistle found it strange that other wolves didn't do the same. The same way she'd learned how to talk or read the clouds, she had learned these marks. There were dozens more but she didn't want to overwhelm them.
"Speech"

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