The water that weaved between the trees, drifted over her toes, still held some of the warmth of the hot springs in it. Modesty strolled along, taking in the scenery. It was a nice part of the southern lands, she had to admit. The draping canopies of the willows danced in the autumn breeze, parting to reveal the secluded spaces underneath the trees. Even now, the grass remained lush and green underfoot, probably on account of the warm water nourishing the area, it also carried less of the sulfuric scent that the water held further to the north.

Modesty slipped behind one of the curtains of the willows, nose lowering to the ground to sniff at the moss that grew there, it didn't seem to have anything special about it, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

“Speech.”

m é l i s a n d e



alone and exploring, she was one who enjoyed new scenery. boreas was lovely.. and she shared a like for the wolves met so far. with not much of a pack scent lingering on her at all, her sweet cinnamon scent wafted in the gentle breezes. dancing in her red fur as she laid on her belly, behind a chandelier of willow tree branches. a sort of luxurious space held here; a private getaway. trickling water from the hot springs romanticizing the land evermore as she breathed it all in.
but what's that?- ebon nares twitching at the smell of her. lashed eyes blinking as if what she saw was unreal. focusing her garnet gaze ahead to see the enormous stranger join near but not too close. perhaps a yard and some before melisande; her red eyes captivating on the other's form with delicious advantage.
mel's face is relaxed but her jowls hang slightly open as if to taste the air. her gaze easy but focused. swallowing in the other's image quickly as she scans over the goliath. painted with what looked like a forbidden aurora; a horned goddess from above born of the stars. an ethereal beauty walking amongst them. she nearly gasped in genuine reaction, in awe. nearly whispering, she said aloud to the other breathlessly, "You are.. the most beautiful wolf I have ever seen."


"talk" "think"

table by scarlet/art by nelsa

The curtained canopies hadn't yet started to brown with the cooling of the weather, but Modesty knew with time, these private little glades would be but a memory surrounded by tendril like fingers of the parent plant. The wind had blown small piles of leaves from the nearby springs into this shaded oasis, and the humidity offered from the warmth of the water caused fungi to sprout between the roots where leaves gathered to decay.

Fungi was almost a specialty of Modesty's, and she was so focused on checking the underside of a mushroom cap to make sure she wasn't mistaking it for one of its more toxic counterparts that she almost missed the whispered words as another joined her between the trees. A caracal ear flicked atop her head and she turned her dual tone gaze on the tiny stranger, just a little taller than Jael. At her core she was a vain creature, but she certainly hadn't been feeling beautiful lately, so she turned to look over her shoulder, certain the other woman must be talking to someone else. When there was nobody else there, a brow arched over her left eye. “Surely you don't mean me?”

“Speech.”

m é l i s a n d e




"Absolutely." she answered quickly. her mind swirling with admiration. an innocent thing really, as she stared with red eyes to kiss the dual tone gaze of the other. "Oh.. your eyes are lovely!" she mused with obvious delight, her dimpled cheeks rising towards her eyes in a bright, toothy smile. melisande was one to speak her mind and wore her heart freely. a friendly thing with no enemies.. she didn't have a natural line of defense when it came strangers. "Won't you join me?" her head tilted to her right, pointing to the space next to her before garnet eyes scanned the area of which the stranger stood over. "Ah.. do you like fungi too?" curious, mel pondered if she was some form of a healer. maybe she could teach melisande something! her tail nub wagged slightly with hopeful eyes as she remained laid on her belly. socializing came easy to her; with a rosy outlook towards life, no one was an exception.


"talk" "think"

table by scarlet/art by nelsa

Modesty blinked when the woman confirmed that she had been speaking to her, and then went on to compliment her. The smaller wolf looked like someone had painted her upside down, her colour growing darker towards her underside where most wolves lightened. It was striking in and of itself. Her burning garnet gaze left Modesty's skin hot where it passed and she did her best to quell the uncomfortable queasiness in her stomach, masking it with a smile. “You are quite stunning yourself,” She conceded with a half-smile pulling the right corner of her mouth up into an uncharacteristically shy grin. She was clearly out of practice, both at receiving compliments and giving them.

When the discussion turned to the fungi she had been checking out, her tail twitched slightly, the barest hint of a wave. “Recreationally,” she admitted with a sly edge to her grin. “I mostly take them with tea, but my healer has other uses for the ones I don't.” She pawed at the leaf litter, gently clearing it to note the moss-covered soil underneath. While the Isles rarely got wet enough to form large areas of moss like this, perhaps it could be pried away to form a garden base if they chose to try and cultivate their own> The soil beneath was right but loose, full of leaves and twigs in various states of decomposition, and had she imagined a slight temperature change between the air outside this willow curtain and within it? Or had that been her imagination?

She moved to check, parting the branches and explaining to the other woman. “My pack live out on the islands, the soil isn't quite right for growing fungi most of the time, but perhaps if I can figure out what makes this place favourable, I can replicate it at home and spare us all the swim. How about you? What do you prefer to use fungi for?” After all, she had said too.

“Speech.”

m é l i s a n d e




an air of mismatched energy seemed to radiate off the ethereal wolf; had Melisande offended her?- her ears flatten with the presumed notion, concerned some when the stranger returned a compliment with a weary grin following. and melisande's request to join near her side fell on empty fulfillment. perhaps this wolf was overwhelmed. but no mind!- Melisande had to be someones cup of coffee eventually. her tribe yet to be found; luckily she was patient & hopeful lass.
her wag stilled when she peered down at the foliage near the other who spoke of their home & how they aimed to make sense of the fungi. a feeling of sentiment washing over her & how dearly Melisandre missed her own home; with still no pack to belong to while she remained in boreas. "What is your pack called if I may ask?" she inquired to understand other parts of this land. "Ah, I am a practicing healer," she then answered.


"talk" "think"

table by scarlet/art by nelsa

   

Modesty took the woman up on her prior offer, moving to her right side and tipping her head to indicate that perhaps they should stroll while they talked and walked, just in case there was anything else worth seeing. “Raider's Hollow,” she announced with a small grin, “as the name implies, we quite often find ourselves in conflict with other packs, but my... husband deals with that.” Calling him her husband was far easier than explaining the actual mess their relationship was internally. “We've also got very busy healers as a result. We're beginning to get some artisans, and we're expanding into livestock too.” Things were on the up and up for the once lay about trouble makers.

“I wouldn't say if you want to settle down to consider joining us, because most of our members come and go as they please, but if you're looking to use your talents, I know our healer might poison me if I didn't make the offer,” She grinned more broadly. Sakana had saved her life after all, the least she could do was put the word out about an opening if she happened to stumble across someone with an interest. “Modesty, by the way, Raid Queen.” She finally introduced herself, leaving the floor open should the other woman wish to introduce herself as well.

“Speech.”

m é l i s a n d e




'raiders hollow'. she heard of it once from morwenna but nothing more. and she mentioned they were a pleasant bunch. any friend of hers, was a friend to Melisande. unbeknownst to Melisande, she didn't perceive the bad standing that the pirates had with ethne. & she wore the pack barley; certainly not enough to call her a pack wolf yet by any means. she was still somewhat nomadic.. finding herself exploring the vast land of boreas still. it was clear Melisande was politically unaware as of now.
with modesty's impression, Melisande adored her. this would prove a liability for ethne later on, had Melisande continued to find herself fixated on the raid queen- favoring her over others. this was innocent, and unplanned. as everything that happened for Melisande was not in dark nature, nor tinted with bad intentions.
when modesty then came to sit near Mel, she hummed with delight. "artisans?" her ears perked with intrigue. raiders hollow seemed lovely to the naive rosy wolf. the woman's name was like royalty at that-, and she was a queen. "Oh dear.. It is an honor to meet the raid queen. pleasure to meet you Modesty. I am Melisande. Please, consider me a friend."


"talk" "think"

table by scarlet/art by nelsa

The offer to consider a stranger a friend, while an interesting proposal, was met with an arched brow and a rueful grin. Sadly, Modesty was not so trusting of others and so wouldn't be considering anyone a friend until they had provided her with a reason to consider them thus.  "While it has certainly been a pleasant interlude, unfortunately, time waits for none of us, and there are things I must attend to back at home. If you change your mind, you know where to find us, Mélisande." She smiled a little more warmly this time, committing the name to memory. She certainly wouldn't be forgetting it any time soon.

"speech"