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Werewolves (RP20) When the Mountain Replied

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Logan's ears twitched towards the cabins. Inside, Toby and Theo shuffled around in the kitchen. Her ears then went out to the forest, swiveling...

***

Liam approached the place with careful curiosity. Not too far from the dens was there an upturned plot of land that had been cleared, surrounded by pine logs that had been stripped of their branches. There was a small ditch around the perimeter of the plot, filled in with stones large and small, and various tools in a neatly stacked pile under a shoddy, makeshift structure.

He lingered here only a moment, A little ways from this place, and nestled in a smaller outcropping of trees, was a second structure, in far better shape. It was a little hut that looked like a roof placed on the ground. The structure was made up of planks and logs in varying quality from various native trees, and thicknesses suggesting they had been cut by hand, as they were not quite uniform, but altogether the work appeared clean.

Draped over top of the outer planks were animal hides, primarily from elk, stretched tight over dried grass to keep the elements from penetrating the wood. The doorway would require a man standing to duck, but upon peering inside, Liam found the one room space to be comfortable enough for one or two people. The ground was laid with grass, animal hides and a blanket, and in the center of the space was a hearth made up of large stones. There were pelts, carved bones, and feathers hung up or neatly arranged, among various natural oddities, as well as carved branches and figures, with knives arranged along one wall. Although logs were piled inside and out, there was no evidence that the hearth had yet been used.

Outside and inside, it smelled of Logan; her own smell, isolated from other pack members (although this was not due to the lack of their scent, but Liam's ability to isolate it) was distinct. He could not define it, but to his senses it was sweet and salty, mingled with earth, pine and the faintest lingering of ash (despite the lack of).

He retreated from the little hut...

Toby followed Theo inside, admiring the care his comrade took not to make any noise. When asked to go for the cups, Toby turned promptly with intent to follow through, but suddenly hesitated and turned back.

"...Uh.. Where are they?" He asked sheepishly.

It was embarrassing, but Toby didn't know much about the kitchen's organization. Though he had been in the cabin for several months, it was mostly spent in his room, lamed by some injury.

*****

The tracks led deep into the forest, or rather, away from it: For their coming was from higher up the mountain, whilst their going was toward the cabins.

Logan turned her gaze back to the cabins. All day they had been a source of anxiety in one way or another. Earlier that morning, she had felt inclined to investigate it, although there was no cause for concern then… and yet was quick to attribute the sensation to Liam’s arrival on the mountain.

How many times had they gone and come to the dens in various numbers?

Now she went forward into the cabin the young men had, feeling the same sensation as before.

It was perhaps paranoia- after all, only a few short months ago, they had overlooked their Svalnaglas visitors under their very noses, to her detriment and Ulric’s.

As she opened the door, she cast a glance into the kitchen. Then began to search not for a scent or a track, but the absence of either. She began up the stairs, and stood at the top of them, staring down the hall.

Hours ago, she guarded the younger members bedroom… and although she desired to keep everyone close, there was a polarizing sensation that seemed to drive the others and herself off at every turn.

As silently as she could manage, she began down the hall; not opening each door presently, but investigating under them with her black nose; stopping to inhale at the outside floor of each room.

"Duch je ochotný, ale telo je slabé," Sabrina said.

The white wolf was in the hall, a short distance behind Logan, and she kept her voice to a soft whisper, quiet and gentle as a springtime breeze. She took a few steps forward, and the pads of her paws were light and soft upon the wood. Her claws did not touch, and made no sound.

"Poďme si zahrať túto hru na mačku a myš," she continued, proceeding to Logan's flank. "Povedzme, že ste našli nášho nepozvaného hosťa. Musia byť šikovní, že sa dostali tak ďaleko a tak hlboko, do našej krajiny, do nášho domova, do našich kajút, do jednej z týchto miestností. Myslíte si, že keď ich vyženiete z úkrytu, nebudú dosť bystrí na to, aby videli, že vaša ľavá noha nesie bremeno pravej a stuhnutie vášho ramena? Mohol by som vás znova pokarhať za absurdnosť presvedčenia, že rozhodnutie zostať zmrzačený je formou sily, ale čas na to už uplynul. Namiesto toho budem strážiť vašu stranu a nebudem vás žiadať o dovolenie."

Sabrina appeared as Logan was lifting her head from underneath Bianca's door. If there was an intruder already masked by the herb, Bianca's room was sure to provide adequate cover.

The defender's ears went back, and her muzzle twisted up; whether it was from the assault of perfumes behind the door, or Sabrina's speech, was indiscernible... at least, until it became evident that the more Sabrina spoke, the further up her mouth did Logan's gums creep. She did not growl, but there was a glance in Sabrina's direction that was a warning.

With her ears back and white teeth all exposed, she continued to walk, though the fur on her back bristled. As she approached the final door, which was to Toby's room, she sneezed three times in succession to rid herself of the acrid scents from the previous door, and lowered her nose to the threshold of the omega's quarters..

The room smelled like Toby: Soap, lavender, moth balls. Even though the hygienic neat freak made sure to clean both his room and himself on a more-than-regular basis, he had been forced to spend the majority of his time confined to this section of the cabin due to one injury or another over the past few months; and so the room was very much covered in his scent. Yet, it was not without discernable accompanying smells: New plastic, metal, pine, the earthy scent of dirt, and musk of old books.

Logan exhaled. Everything smelled as it was earlier, and yet that neither proved nor disproved anything. She shook her coat out and stood on two legs, frustrated.

Agch… why this mountain? It is of no use if our enemies know how to use of this plant, eh, this fantom grass, more than us. We have no benefit to stay here, always we will be checking for duchovia in the shadows. But you think it is my leg? Haha!” she laughed mirthlessly, then went to move down the stairs, muttering as if to herself,

“That is a good joke, but you are more pretty than you are funny, do not waste your time.”

Kratos followed the path in the opposite direction, toward the cabins. If this intruder had come from the mountains, and walked in his own footprints backwards, he would still show where he went... What interest has this intruder in me and mine? 

There was no real question as to what the intruder was, he was a werewolf, and one familiar with this territory. What ghost or phantom wandered these hills? Could it be the blind stray back again?

Kratos surveyed the ground in every step; any detail that would betray the stranger - weight, size, gait, - would all be noted. The soil on the mountain was wet from previous rains. Hastily, it would make all known if the stranger was not careful.

*****

Ulric looked long at the edge of the pit. No Wolfson came up to his ears. Was the Svalnalgas still there? The question kept into his mind with sudden and forbidden dread. Logically, he reasoned it was impossible to escape the pit. Kratos had designed to be impossible even for him. Yet, without a sound to say otherwise, Ulric felt strange anxiety hasten up from somewhere inside him. He had to go look. He afraid to look.... Why was he afraid?

Indecision rooted Ulric for a moment, then, he began a cautious approach.

Bianca found what was to her senses, the most interesting object of all.

Rolled up in the contents of the sled, most carefully protected within layers of garments and leathers, was a furry white... coat? Skirt? To her, it looked like the carcass of an animal, but did not possess the odor of any dead thing.

She pulled it free of it's imprisonment and sniffed it all over. Having been well protected, it had a deep history of odors that were enticing.

It smelled like wet stone, and coal, and... Logan? Her ears perked up and she continued to inhale, some breaths deep and long, others short huffs, as the folds of her reddish nose flared and constricted. With each breath, the thick white fur separated and then filled in again.

There was a strangers scent, but he was not a werewolf.

More deeply embedded in the garment, in the meticulously threaded woven fabric that made up the opposite side of the piece, she could detect the hands of those who had worked on it, ever so faintly-like an echo from another world.

She mouthed it and then picked it up in her teeth, the once well protected white fur of the shawl now muddied. Her ears went to Ulric, who was wandering away; then swiveled back to her treasures... finally, she left the pieces scattered on the earth, save her most favorite one, and followed Ulric in careful step to see what he caused the change in his demeanor.

****

"I wasn't joking, Logan," Sabrina said seriously, turning to follow her. "Why does the herb bother you so? Surely we were innocent in assuming that our enemies would find it as novel as we did when first we claimed this territory. But we have learned, have we not? You must know that tracking someone under cover of the herb is simply a matter of tracking no scent at all. When you cannot smell and your mind is disturbed just ever so slightly, that is when you know you have discovered the trail to follow. The Phantom Herb is not without its own scent, it simply blinds our minds to it. Here, in the cabins, such an absence will stand out. Look for the thin line of erased color upon the painted canvas. It stands out like a sore thumb when you're looking for it in a place such as this. It is really of only use to our enemies if we are not looking for them. That is how we have been surprised in the past. We weren't seeking them out. Tonight, we are the hunters, not the hunted."

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