The stillness that seemed to fall after the raid, when Ethne realised all hopes of getting their chickens back was lost and the outcome of their giving it their all was settled, was refreshing. The chill of the Autumn air was a pleasant change from the beating heat of winter and a familiar urge came over Modesty that she wasn't quite sure she wanted to indulge. So she busied herself instead. She wasn't unfamilar with the beaches of the island, but the center of it? Well she hadn't really given it much thought. The thick stand of trees away from the resort was clearly snake and big cat infested and she didn't feel like there was much for her within its depths. Now that they had goats, walking tracks were beginning to emerge, winding their way through the bending palm and swaying coconut trees. Perhaps they could put this area to some use too?

“Speech.”

Morwenna

The waves licked the sandy beach and shifted the smooth fragments of glass and stone as Morwenna explored the two-leg ruins. Anything to do with two-legs usually held rare and extremely hard to find herbs growing in their old forgotten gardens. Solomons seal, trillium, and particularly strong bitter basil were herbs she had come across before in two-leg gardens where she was from.
She looked up along the rigid side of an old building, her gentle purple gaze smoothly following the vine that climbed up to the roof. She wouldn't find a way inside here.
She recognized the scent of goats, snakes, and large cats drifting on the gentle autumn breeze. Another distinctly wolfish scent was also around, but she hoped to avoid both wolf and cat on this island and quietly crept around the side of the building dripping with ivy.

Ah, she found an old window already knocked in, shards of glass were scattered on both sides, but the shards outside were sparse and smooth, taken by storms or smoothed by the waves. With a graceful 'hup! she leaped through the window and landed on the other side of the old broken glass. Her claws clicked and echoed through the dimly lit shadowy building. Anywhere there was a roof would be nothing but dead plants, but sometimes these larger places had inner sanctuaries open to the sky. That was what she was trying to find.

-exploring 2/3-

The familiar chatter of tropical birds put the leader at ease as she continued to meander along the long-forgotten path, the distant calls of her fluffy horned cows and the bleating of goats a new addition, but not an unwelcome one. The earth here felt firmer beneath her paws, the soil darker, and while the water still rushed away too readily to support plants that needed wetter roots, there was still an abundance of bromeliads, vibrant and thorny purple bougainvillea, creeping across the jungle floor and clawing its way up the trunks of trees to form and almost impenetrable wall of foliage. A distant stand of banana trees, clearly left unchecked for generations, clumped closely together, fruit in various stages of development. She made note of the location to check in with Jael and Kenway to see if they had any use for the plants, or if there might be a market for them.

Rounding a bend in the track, her gaze fell upon and outbuilding she hadn't seen before. White bougainvillea crept up the face of the building and bird of paradise crowded unmaintained garden beds. The doors at the front of the building seemed to be sealed shut so she turned to circle the building, looking for a way in. The wind was working against her for now, blowing the scent of the stranger out to sea.

“Speech.”

Morwenna

The rooms were coated in a thick layer of dust and grime, dirt and debris were in every corner, and soiled and moldy linens lay where many years of storms had thrashed them long ago, they stuck like barnacles now to the floor.

Morwenna delicately sniffed a dead potted plant close to another window, a new plant used its soil to grow its vines up and out through an opening high up on this window. It must be funneling its water supply from its vines when it rains.

She continued to explore the rooms, her nails tik tik ... ... tik tik tik tiking along the floors echoing whenever she walked on the ancient hardwood and stone floors going silent as she walked briefly over moldy and discarded rugs. It was hard to see in the dimness, it was like a cave in some spots and was grateful to see the light filtering through the windows to light up the rooms with natural light. Barely anything grew in here. Only fungus, bits of grass, spiders, and bugs that typically made their homes in caves were finding their homes in the strange square corners of the otherwise empty rooms.

Exploring 2/3

-exploring 3/3-

Boarded up windows, or those with glass panes still intact thwarted her attempts at entry. The overgrown gardens that crowded the front of the building were being choked out with overcrowding or smothered by the thorn laden creepers, varying in shades of white, pink, red and purple. It would be quite whimsical with a bit of work and she was sure someone could find a use for the building once it was pointed out. The roof seemed reasonably sound, they just needed to find a way in.

As she rounded the back of the building, pawprints leading up from the beach came to her attention and the wind whipped a foreign scent in her direction. Hackles and quills came to rise over her shoulders as she dropped her nose to the sandy ground. Fresh. The scent led her to a broken window and she leapt through, landing across the only exit on the lower level. Now did she poke around and risk the intruder slipping past her, or did she stand her ground and risk them slipping out an exit she had missed?

“Speech.”

Morwenna

Tiktik tiktik tiktik went her claws across a wide room, the hackles on her shoulders raised as this place was really starting to give her the creeps.

Morwenna rounded a corner and daylight streamed in a brilliant green as she found exactly what she was looking for. A small room, open to the sky in the middle of the building. It was by some stairs leading to the second floor, where daylight was also streaming from. Perhaps the roof had collapsed some up there?  Not important at the moment she crossed the room quicker now, her toes announcing her presence down a hall.

Carefully examining the plants climbing their way up the building out the opening in the sky, she found a few passionfruit flowers and fruits! A clove tree! A cinnamon tree? Fascinating! She gathered a couple of the seeds, leaves, and flowers and placed them in a leather pouch she had been carefully carrying in her mouth. She hummed quietly to herself as she did so, hopefully, to chase any ghosts away. A big philodendron was climbing up the wall on one side and a huge Swiss cheese plant had at one point fallen over and broken its pot on the other.

She scrabbled at the cinnamon bark, knowing full well not to grab it by her teeth. She might have to use the leather bag to protect her tongue from the spice as she tugged. A nice sheath of bark came loose though to her surprise. The tree wasn't doing very well here.

With a loud huff, she tied off her bag and picked it up. Now to find a way out. She began to head up the stairs, maybe she could climb out that way? Or should she head back the way she came?

Explore 3/3

Caracal ears flicked atop the leaders head, the scramble of toes across stone and hardwood deeper in the building at least giving her a direction to go on. It seemed her kite had eyes on the upper levels of the building and he let loose a hunting call somewhere over head. It would seem he had spotted some movement through one of the windows. Modesty made up her mind then to move deeper into the building, not bothering to be quiet as she quickly moved from one room to another. Gods above it was musty in here, and the smell interfered with her ability to track but there were only so many rooms on the lower floor.

Finally she reached the staircase and made her way upstairs, skipping steps on the way. She hoped to catch the intruder off guard, to tackle and pin them beneath her and figure out just what they were skulking around her island for... if she managed to catch up to them.

“Speech.”

Morwenna

As she climbed the stairs she heard the call of a great sea eagle alerting above her, the ceiling of the building had collapsed long ago and a tumble of debris lay against a wall, providing a sloped but precarious hill to the roof. The question then would be if she could get down from the roof once she was up there. Hmmm... Honestly, her best bet would be to go back and slip out the way she had come.

Just as she turned to go back down the stairs a strong and fresh scent of pack-wolf hit her like a wall and she froze, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Since the little slip of a girl had spent some time in the musty building her nose had grown accustomed to the scents. Her heart beating in her chest like a drum, was this packland?

She took a few steps around the stairs to peer her way down and saw a massive shadowy wolf climbing them three steps at a time. They were tracking her for sure.

SHIT, Mowenna was sure she was seen and she darted back to the landing and scrambled up the fallen ruins, her tiny half-dog paws and light frame making quick work of the precarious rubble and she reached the roof. Without looking back she skittered across the roofline to a flat patio. Looking over the balcony she saw a pane of unbroken glass slanted away from the roof to the ground. She climbed up onto the concrete balcony railing and balanced there delicately in case she needed that quick escape.

"Who are you? Why are you chasing me?" She asked them loudly after she placed her leather bag down at her toes. She was bracing to bolt and hopefully not break her spindly toothpick legs on the fall.  

   

Modesty didn't halt in her pursuit until they were standing face to face on the rooftop terrace, the slide down to the ground hardly enough to save the girl if she tried to flee. If Modesty called, others would come, best to keep this just the two of them for her own sake, no? Her head lowered to rest level with her spine and caracal ears pinned back against her skull, lips peeling back to reveal teeth, only parting to scoff when the intruder asked who she was. “I'm the leader here, and you're trespassing in the one place we don't allow guests, so who are you spying for?”

She didn't wait for an answer before she lunged, teeth aimed at the back of the smaller woman's neck, no intent to rip or tear, just hold as her kite swooped with talons extended to block the slide to the ground. If she was right about the pouch, perhaps this girl was a healer, and they could always use another one of those.

“Speech.”

Modesty vs Morwenna for force claim
Round 1/?
Age: over 1 year
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Balanced
Offensive Battle Accessory: Spiked rings
Defensive Battle Accessory: Saddlebags
Companion 1: Brahminy Kite, Male - Flying
Companion 2: Jackalope, male - Battle
Mutation 1: Quills - Defensive
Mutation 2: Muntjac antlers - Offensive
Skills: Master Navigator & Master Intellectual
Specialty: Fleet-footed

Morwenna's flee attempt has...

Failed

Morwenna's flee attempt has failed! She has 3 days to respond or defaults the fight.

Morwenna

The woman was massive, beautiful in coloring, intimidating as fuck. Before Morwenna could even comprehend her mistake the kite she heard before swooped down to block her escape down the glass windows and the leader rushed at the girl faster than she had estimated the larger woman could move.

She went to duck down just in time for the other to reach for her neck. Oh, she was fucked halfway to hell, already she knew it. Morwenna dove under the dark wolf and kicked, aiming for her jaw, and scrambled to slip out from under her on the left. The healer went to bite the left hind ankle to help her perhaps lame the woman and let her free.

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

And the winner is...

Morwenna

Modesty's force claim was unsuccessful. Totals: Modesty: Attack Roll: 82 Defense Roll: 2 Agility Roll: 42 Perception Roll: 53 Total: 179 Attack[82] + 45% Bonus[36.90]: 118.90 Defense[2] + 20% Bonus[0.40]: 2.40 Agility[42] + 55% Bonus[23.10]: 65.10 Perception[53] + 35% Bonus[18.55]: 71.55 Total[257.95] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 257.95 Morwenna: Attack Roll: 43 Defense Roll: 81 Agility Roll: 87 Perception Roll: 86 Total: 297 Attack[43] + 5% Bonus[2.15]: 45.15 Defense[81] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 81.00 Agility[87] + 15% Bonus[13.05]: 100.05 Perception[86] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 86.00 Total[312.20] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 312.20

Turn allowed through DM

Morwenna

She was free. Quickly, Morwenna slipped from under the Leader and doubled back to her initial escape route, the kite no longer blocking the glass. Grabbing her bag of herbs, she elegantly dove over the banister and hit the sloping glass windows, she gritted her teeth as she heard the creaking and cracking behind her from the ancient windows as she slid down.

One last leap to the ground and behind her the glass shattered but remained in place in the building. This time she didn't hesitate, she didn't glance back, the wolfdog flew like the wind and hit the water, swimming as fast as she could until she got to the other shore, disappearing into the woods.  

The smaller wolf was quick and in the confined space of the rooftop, Modesty tripped over her own overly long fur. Curse the long night and having it all fall out in the first place! Her teeth snapped on air and the woman sprung away, making her escape down the pane of glass, the telltale cracking sound as Modesty rested a paw on it to follow all the warning she needed as she spun to make her way back down and through the building.

She cleared the broken window and charged towards the shore but the trespasser was already on her way back to the mainland. She tipped her head back to call and rally the wolves of the Raider's to hunt her down. She still hadn't disclosed who had sent her in the first place, and Modesty wanted to know.

“Speech.”

-end-