Smoking Skulls

[Aveilthé]

It was wintertime, and though the air was quite still, it was as cold as a witch's toe. It was snowing hard, but it barely reached the ground because of the overgrown and wild canopies. The sun was bright, but barely lit the forest floor. Large wolf tracks covered parts of the ground, bigger than an average wolf's. It led through a narrow, barely manageable pathway toward a large stone den.

Smoke wafted from the opening of the hallowed-out stone, making an absurd mockery of a household chimney. It stood erect on top of more smooth grayish stone, sloping downward, complete with an elongated entryway large enough for a family of wolves to walk in. Towering over the stone den was a weeping willow tree, currently asleep in the dead of winter.

Something smelled positively intoxicating from the undulating fumes. It was hard to discern the scents what with all the insane mixtures. Meat was a definite guess, along with herbs and spices and other varieties of fabulous fauna and flora stashed in the confines of the cave. This could mean only one thing: someone had something up her sleeve.

The innermost den was bustling with activity. Warm light shone from the entrance, beckoning in traveling wolves. Many knew about the inhabitant of the eerie Vale of Wraiths--the kind, loving, and batcrap insane Kalpana, always ready to heal broken bodies or soothe weary souls. She was also known for her fortune-telling, but most never wasted their time with that since it was perceived as a children's game with a bunch of goofy guesswork, and nothing more. Little did they know was that Kalpana was psychic... it was something she never bragged about. Nobody needed to know her precious secrets.

It was nearing the evening, and the glow in the den grew brighter and warmer as the day grew darker and eerier. A distinct humming voice of an elderly she-wolf was an obvious indication of being busy, but it was also a welcoming gesture.

[danarisky]

Tenshi was lost deep in the Shinkou pack-lands. She had found a small fire and was using most of her energy to wrap it around herself to keep warm. It made her look surprisingly eerie, the red glow reflecting off her dark gray charcoal coat. Her four tails wrapped close to her body as she squinted through the snow.

She could just make out a narrow pathway through the forest. It looked clear of snow despite the heavy snowfall. She ran over, making the flames smaller and safer to protect the forest from burning. Tenshi became curious as to where the track may lead.

She walked slowly and carefully, checking every shadow. She knew she would probably be attacked if not careful. Tenshi tried to decide whether to howl to let the pack know she was here or not. Fear seemed to radiate off her.

"I should not be here," she whispered, "I should not be here at all."

The pathway eventually lead to a stone den, with smoke coming out of a chimney. There was a wonderful smell coming out of the den, and Tenshi knew then that despite her fear, she had to find the smell. It drew her closer to the entrance. She walked in, looked around and suddenly panicked. There were wolves in here.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, please forgive me." She kept on repeating, going into a submissive position.
She realized she still had the flames around her and turned them off. Tenshi knew she was in trouble now.

[Aveilthé]

Within the confines of stone and willow, Kalpana was shuffling around, maintaining a bunch of things at once. There was a warm batch of various native animal skin on the stone floor, possibly skinned by a humans. The warmth of the fire within an enclosed area kept it safe and restrained, but spread it's heat all throughout the cavern. A crudely hallowed-out hole was above it, perhaps that same chimney seen outside.

Other interesting items were splayed about on naturally-made shelves inside the cavern. Roots, fauna, and flora donned every corner inside man-made clay jars. A few leaves were lit on fire, the aroma swarming the vicinity. It smelled of sweet spice.

Kalpana was an intriguing old thing. Definitely had Ohm blood in her. A long mane of hair sprouted from her head, but they were all tied back by beads and leather bands. Even more curious about her appearance was the fact that she had old animal bones protruding from her hair, acting as ornaments. Tied to these bones were various feathers from birds, some of them exotic and colorful. She was fairly small as Ohms go, perhaps about five feet tall from paw to shoulder. A pair of wings were wrapped tightly at her sides, age obvious in the way some feathers were bent. As she was very close to earth, her fur was a murky brownish hue while parts of her face, neck, belly, and tail were a light cream.

All the ornaments made her look oddly intimidating, enhancing many wolves' beliefs that she was an old witch helping the death god Manu to do his awful bidding.

A voice sounded beyond the cavern's entrance, and Kalpana had to strain her ears as she took a couple of hares out of the fireplace with her teeth. "What, dear?" she spoke, an elderly woman's voice slightly muffled through the meat of the hares. I cannot hear you! Please, come in. Forgive an old wolf's hearing; it's not quite what it used to be."

And when she did, a broad smile couldn't help itself as it spread across the old wolf's face.

"So glad to have you here, dear! Make yourself comfortable. Are you hungry?"

She had an instant grandmother-like aura about her. Perhaps she treated everyone like this.

[darvon]

Character name contains description

There in the trees, a looming shadow lay, almost entirely invisible to any of the wanders who partook in their journeys down under. It presence portrayed it as being neatly splayed over a long and stiffly birthed branch. Soundly asleep was the creature whom appeared more harmful than it initially intended to make itself out to be. Paw unconsciously pushed forward, scraping and grinding at the trunk as if unintentionally enacting a scene of sharpening its claw while it dreamed ever so deeply. Any unsuspecting creatures below were likely to have their fur stuck on end if they managed to make out the eerie sounds coming from this dozing beast.

A long unexpected howl caused the limber like shape to rustle awake, almost losing its balance as it clung to the tree. Small bits of snow tumbled to the floor as a multitude of branches were grazed in the deemed event. Shaking the gruff textures of his fur, he alleviated himself from a slight coat of snow. His bright gleaming yellow optics squinted at the bright sun, a lowly hung frown obviously intent on displaying displeasure at some unexpected results that were incurred upon him. He sighed deeply, it was official, he overslept again.

Peering down the branch, he pondered at the thought of yesterday’s quarrel, better yet, the last few days for that matter. There was something out there, something rather dangerous that had been constantly stalking his tracks ever since he entered this cursed forest. His only safe haven was up where he hoped he could not be reached. The males tipped mountain peaks twitched; still attempting to discern what it was that awoke him earlier. A short scan of the horizons suddenly had him briefly puzzled.

A plume of black smoke he thought? How odd it was that it didn’t appear more widespread. Due to his nature and the act of having been an accidental hazard of multiple fires, the male knew right off the bat that someone had obviously crafted a well maintained blaze. A strong feeling suddenly compelled him to spy on the incident. So began his act of tree transferring towards the source, trudging over each supportive branch while a snake like spiked tail acted as his extendable arm. Thinking to himself, he noted the possibility that this devilish wolf would finally be able to find some food he had been dying for over awhile now.

[danarisky]

Tenshi nervously looked up into the strange wolf's face. The wolf spoke, but not in the harsh, unfriendly tones Tenshi had expected. She slowly got up and looked around the room. There were all sorts of herbs, fauna and flora around the room and animal skins on the floor.

The wolf then asked if she was hungry. Tenshi was exceedingly so and drooled but she knew she was lucky enough to not be attacked and didn't want to push her luck too far.

"nnoo, i'm fine," she stuttered, "I'm sorry."
then Tenshi realized she had to ask about the strange surroundings. She decided, despite her curiosity that this was probably not a good idea.

Tenshi sat down on the skins.
"I realize I might have appeared frightening in the doorway. Please forgive me, I was just using the fire to keep warm. I was wondering which way to go to get out of these lands as I am not of the Shinkou pack. I am sorry for coming onto your lands but I got lost in the snow."
she paused briefly, her ears were pricking up.
"I think there is someone quite close. Traveling through the trees I think." she whispered, "do you want me to see who it is?" she asked.

[Aveilthé]

Giving an even broader smile, the old wolf pushed a hare with her nose at the young she-wolf. "Oh, don't be that way. I can see right through to you, dear! I'm no fool. When a wolf is hungry, they should not reject a morsel when it is offered to them!" She waddled over to the stone shelves to do something else. My, she sure kept herself busy!

The young she-wolf started speaking again, and though Kalpana appeared not to have listened, she was. Giving a brief moment of silence, she turned back to her visitor, that smile ever vigilant.

"There's nothing to forgive. My cave welcomes all visitors, whether they be the lowly ant or the temperamental dragon." She issued a giggle, those brown eyes of her smiling too. "When you're as old as I am, nothing frightens you any more." She nodded, musing the past for a moment. "You see so much, that nothing surprises you. Ahh, to be young and fearful again... those days were far more exciting." She proceeded to scratch her ear with her hind leg.

"Ohh... my joints... dear, can you come over and scratch my head for me? I cannot reach up there with this broken down leg." She seemed not have heard the she-wolf's bit about the wolf sneaking around outside.

[darvon]

Character name contains description

Tolen anguishly squinted at the small clearing ahead where his intended target remained dormant. His pace ceased momentarily, balancing back on his haunches as he speculated what his senses relayed back to him. A blemish of uncertainty wrenching at his mind as in and out came the flash of a returned weak signal. It was faint from this range, but he was almost certain there was undoubtedly life somewhere below him. The question that remained unknown though was why he happened to be having such difficulty distinguishing or making out how many were present. The immense mind bobbling got him curious as he progressed towards the final tree before the outcropping came into view. Shortly, he blinked in disbelief. A cave with smoke coming out of it..? How peculiar.

The wolf gave a sudden slight shiver as his stomach growled with discontent. There was an obnoxious aroma of food he could distinguish from the scene, and it tugged dearly at his insides. Normally the hybrid wouldn’t be opposed to searching out some vegetation; however, his desire for flesh was entirely outweighing his need for the more trivial things at the given moment. “Risks… risks... risks...” he murmured to himself, obviously almost contemplating past scenarios and the worth of this general one unlike others. He reasoned with himself and finally reached a compromise.

Deeply he huffed, having known what he was going to have to do. Profusely serrated claws latched onto the woodworks he currently occupied. Through a portion of his journey, the Noga had certainly grown, maturing and gaining more muscle mass along with better equipped “tools” to handle particular situations such as this one. It immediately kicked into his head that force was likely to become a primary concern, something the canid was well ready for. In diagonally descending leaps against each adjacent trunk, he made his way down towards the ground where the entrance of the cave lay in wait. At the last given jump, he landed right before the entrance, bracing for any savage reprieval while he barred his fangs.

[danarisky]

The elderly wolf continued as if she wasn't listening to Tenshi. Tenshi considered repeating herself, but then heard the wolf reply. Tenshi thanked the wolf and sat down. After being asked to scratch the wolf's head she walked over and did as asked. At that moment, the wolf burst into the doorway, fangs bared.

Tenshi spun around quickly in a way that she could have clawed the elderly wolf accidentally. "Sorry" she said, facing the newcomer. She tensed ready to spring, waiting to see what the elderly wolf said. However she noticed the wolf's spiked tail and used the fire in the fireplace to wrap around her fur again,meaning that an attack by the newcomer could result in burns.

"Who are you?" she asked.

[Aveilthé]

Kalpana started leaning sideways. "Ahh, that's that spot!" she encouraged, feeling the itch die away. "Probably from those nasty little buggers... every mammal's enemy, the flea... alas... thank you, dear... I need to find a potent herb to get rid of them, but I haven't been successful in finding the perfect one yet, hee hee..."

Suddenly, the next visitor leaped inside in the most unorthodox fashion, making Tenshi freak out, knocking into Kalpana. The result ached her spine and joints something fierce, making her lash out in admonishment. Hairs from her mane flew around her as a kind of aura enveloped her being, foretelling some great power. The stone cave groaned in protest, as if Kalpana's energy were pushing against them. Even the jars were rattling. Then came her voice, surprisingly loud but still had the potential to be understood, and filled with great vigor.

"THERE WILL BE NO FIGHTING IN MY HOME!" she cried, sparks dancing around her fur, emanating what looked like electrical power. "NOW, YOUNG MALE, IF YOU WILL BE SO KIND AS TO COME IN AND SIT DOWN, MAYBE WE CAN ALL HAVE A CIVILIZED CONVERSATION LIKE NORMAL WOLVES."

She finished, her voice echoing through the cave, mingled with her hard breathing, orbs bulging out of her eyesockets. The bones in her hair creaked and clacked together ominously... undoubtedly this old creature was not one to cross. She may be old, but her secret was threatening to show itself. Frankly, wolves who were not intimidated by that were outright fools.

When she regained composure, the cave went back to it's quiet state. The energy dissipated. "How about some nice meat? Freshly caught by a nice wolf who came in earlier today!" She smiled broadly as if nothing had happened, and pushed a hare towards the new stranger. "And go warm yourself by that fire. Or this young girl's, she seems... hee hee... pretty hot for you!" She stifled a little giggle as she waddled off to do something. Then she added scathingly, "just don't burn my home."

[darvon]

Character name contains description

Tolen seemed almost poised for action, optics shifting from one edge of the glowering cave to the next. His unfortold foes making their appearances known in a matter of seconds. A sudden nagging conception spindled into his mind and it soon hit him clean across the brain like a baseball bat. Wait a moment he thought, there’s only two of them, none of which were even male.

He certainly hadn’t expected this little tid bit, nor was he expecting the baffling aura of what could have easily been portrayed as a heinous older staged devil. Its bold tact appeared almost as beautiful as it was deadly. He spotted the electrical impulses wagering about her and had to question to himself, is that what could have been part of the reason he had been unable to discern whom had been lying in wait in here? His indecisiveness still remained in check.

Before he could finally hear of her response to his intended assault, an abrupt convulsion caused the wolf to wince. He bit down hard and groaned while his legs almost appeared to buckle. What was happening to him? Why did his body suddenly hurt soo much? The female appeared to be speaking out to him, her maw circulating the words as his yellow optics tried desperately to contain his vision. The wretched throbbing pain he was suddenly getting, mixed with the odd alternating level of sound had him technically incapable of deciphering much of her given speech, and yet he tried.

Apparently whatever it was had appeared to stop almost as quickly as it had started. The beast felt a rush of lightheadedness, his frame stumbling into the side of the wall with a slight thud as equilibrium lost its tact with his footing. The beating of his chest, along with the rising and falling of his stomach containing its fast rhythm may have suggested a lack of oxygen had been present. A few beads of sweat perpetrated into view, emphasizing that the horned creature could have almost been passed along as a sickened individual with a high fever.

He was finally able to stare once more at the pair without hindrance, all the while wondering what he had just missed during this unusual episode which also still plagued his mind. Despite the odd ailment, he appeared to undoubtedly recall at least one of the words he was familiar with within her previously unclear statements. “Errmm.. Did you say you had food..?” Now that response he admitted felt kind of awkward.

[danarisky]

Tenshi whimpered as she relaxed and turned off the flames.
"I am sorry" she said, laying near the fire, turning to the newcomer. "Hello, I am Tenshi" she said in a forced smile trying to forget the previous occurrence.
"What is your name?" she asked, again trying not to be impolite. This time she also turned to the elderly wolf. "And yours, generous host?"

[Aveilthé]

"Oh, sorry dears!" The old wolf lifted a paw and scratched at her nose sheepishly. She did not want to be the source of discomfort for either of her guests. Then she observed the proceedings, smiling still, those old brown eyes sparkling. She did tilt her head sideways out of concern for the male, but he didn't look in immediate danger. Stifling a giggle, Kalpana turned to Tenshi and spoke in a loud whisper.

"Apparently he doesn't have eyes. He rushes into things like a brash young pup would, and doesn't see the offer of meat right at his paws." It was obvious that she was being playful, and didn't mean a word of it. Well, maybe just a little, but it was not meant to be chastising in any way. She turned to the male.

"What were you expecting, dear?" sighed Kalpana with a smile as she gestured to the hare in case he didn't quite see it when she pushed it to him before. "Were you expecting a bunch of dragons to live in here, and hoping to slay one to impress your sweetheart back home? Well I'm afraid you'll only disappoint her, because if you cannot tell, we're not large and scaly with giant bat wings."

At Tenshi's introduction, the old wolf smiled and shook out her mane as she said proudly, "My name is Kalpana. It is good to finally put a name to a face, Tenshi. Now eat up, and I think it's story-time. Lets start with the young man since he is quite an eager thing. Any stories you wish to tell us?"

Laying up next to Tenshi, she closed her eyes contentedly, looking like a happy feline basking in the sun.

[darvon]

Character name contains description

Up righting himself, the now savvy creature lightly chewed at his lower lip in an array of provoked thought. His cat like orbs surmounted the cave, recognizing every given detail he could admonish in his mind. The essence of its effects certainly made it feel a bit homier than he had originally allowed himself to portray it as. With a stern motion of his paws, he lingered closer to the others, idly parking his frame while siphoning in the warmth from the nearby glowing embers through the mysteriously speckled and wavy coat he wore.

His tail beguiled with a slight roll as a partially daunting gaze became transfixed upon the older female, feeling brazen with holding a special intent on understanding the odd nature she imposed. He really couldn’t seem to recall the last time he had ever been able to sit with a more peaceful demeanor in the air, while being with others. This fellow woman had been an especially odd one, not to mention he was a bit confused as to what sort of strange objects she had protruding from her head as there appeared to be no exact confined structure to the mix. Those first words she uttered to Tenshi seemed to brush off of him as being misunderstood, yet despite what appeared as almost partially arrogant, he decided to just ignore entirely.

The concentration he had revolved in his silence broke up suddenly as they both seemed to be introducing themselves to him. In their kind regards to opening up to him, he had to break that undying strain of silence with eyes that stiffly wandered in the course of attempting to reply with parsing lips, “Umm.. The name is Tolen. It is nice to meet you both.” He paused for a moment given he wondered if there was something else he should say. However, at the given moment, he felt at a loss, and somehow was compelled to arch his head in order to peer back outside the cave for whatever reason might have been considered.

He still felt rather uncomfortable about the previous undermined event and wasn’t so sure he would indulge in sticking around here for too long if he could help it. There was no telling if that “thing” would be able to follow him despite his best efforts to elude it. An almost perplexed expression returned to the attention of the company he shared as Kalpana apparently had emphasized something about him being the one to tell some sort of story. He blinked in disbelief, emphasizing as if he had been caught off guard. “Wait, you want me to tell you all a story?” He profusely eyed the food she had been catering. “Could I at least have some of that meat first? I don’t think my sanity could hold me over for too much longer without it.” He still felt undeserving enough to act on his own after having subjected himself to almost intending harm on two females alone.