just keeping swimming [please dont]

^^

It was disorientation that first hit her, when her eyes fluttered open. The world did not seem to sit correctly, angled and spinning as she felt a sickness to her stomach as she laid there, slender legs splayed out against the earth. Ruelle's ears flattened upon her head as she felt herself retch, a stream of water coming from her mouth as she tried to blink away the dizziness. Though her fur was not sodden with water, it was damp and slightly clumped together as it dried -- a ruffled look from her ordinarily well groomed appearance.

She shut her eyes as she lurched forward against the ground, memories of splashing water and waves swarming behind her eyelids. Confusion settled in amongst the disorientation and in her panic, Ruelle tried to scramble up from the ground with haste. Alarmingly, her legs had not yet regained their strength and they wobbled, one collapsing beneath her and sending her toppling over to one side with an un-lady like gurgle. What was happening?

Her body felt tired and heavy, her legs lacking their usual strength -- that even one so little could hold -- and her throat... it felt like all there was, was water clogging up and bubbling. She was panicking, this she knew yet she could do little to stop it as the sound of distant crashing waves repeated over and over in her ears.
^^

the staff team luvs u

With someone being in Vanderfell territory, without permission, she tending to be a rather heated guard. A hurricane descending from the mountain, fur bristled and a snarl forming.. Yet when she came to and discovered the intruder whose scent wandered about, it more looked like they were a lost doe. Dainty as they were, Orlaith could see them wobbling just to adjust upwards, someone who was clearly disoriented.

The guard settled upon seeing her legs fall before her - no threat to be deducted, "Hey! Are you lost? Or uhh, need help.. You're in vanderfell territory!" she was no longer bristled, but still remained rather guarded in a distance.

the staff team luvs u

^^

It wasn't hard for him to pick out the sign of a struggle as he wandered his usual path. Something was out of place and he spotted the frantic movement almost immediately as he came back to the summit with a couple of rabbits hanging from his lips. At first he was cautious, they didn't seem familiar and for anyone to be trespassing they would have to be dealt with swiftly, but he was at least not the most aggressive of the wolves here.

Cautiously he approached, setting down his captured prey quietly beneath a tree so he can pick it up later and slowly approach the woman who was trying with all her might to get up. Something was wrong, she was no spy or trespasser for if she was she would be trying to hide herself much better than this. That or was a very good actress who wanted potty of some sort, but why not give her too the benefit of the doubt as he did with all others? 

Unfortunately he wasn't the only one to approach the panicked woman. Orlaith was already guarded, yelling at an already panicked woman. Oh boy, this won't help at all. So he picked up his pace, coming in at a different angle as to not support neither woman and mostly focus himself on the stranger. “Hey —” he would come in calmer, cautious but concerned for her well being. “Where did you come from?”

^^
the staff team luvs u

^^

When she gasped for air, her throat burned like she was gulping down salt water. Ruelle wasn't, she was aware of that -- yet the panic had settled as she could not help but see the crashing waves behind her eyes. Why was she seeing it, like she was drowning? Yet around there, no water engulfed her. There was land, the very same land that she was struggling to stand on, but no water. When a voice, loud and abrasive sounded through the air, Ruelle's eyes snapped open, wide and worried as her shoulder connected back with the ground as she found herself unable to save her balance when her leg gave way.

Eyes wide like a doe, Ruelle cast her baby blue stare upon the woman, who seemed to go through wanting to help and then scolding her with a statement that she couldn't quite process. Words did not matter to her then as her own breathing seemed to grow louder in her ears, accompanied by the waves. "I --" she gasped and groaned, her forepaws scratching at the earth as she tried to stand yet her legs refused to obey her brain. Another bled from the trees and Ruelle's body turned quickly, panicked as their voice battled through the memorable waves. In her struggle, the battle of standing up right on shaking, numb legs and keeping them both in her eyes, Ruelle managed to see the differences.

This one was not as aggressive, more certain in his approach. She whimpered as she registered his question, possibly the words that either wolf had spoken that had really been understood by the panicked woman. "The -- th- water," she managed, throat tight as she screwed her eyes shut as she saw the watery image of Castor above her through the water. He hadn't -- was he the reason she had been in the water? Beneath her belly did her tail stick, tight and scared as she stumbled. "He -- the water, I was in the water --" she couldn't make sense of her own words or how her last memories seemed to be of a pair of paws pressing down on her, keeping her submerged as shadows of multiple bodies went through her mind yet it was the piercing green stare of Castor that resonated the most with the lady.

Ruelle stumbled forward as her chest rose and fell, the quickening of her breath scratching a fire in her throat.
^^

the staff team luvs u

Orlaith was kinda suspicious of this lady. While she seemed innocent, being small and white, like a little fawn - someone to be adored and cared for. Yet she seemed to clueless to what was happening, and within a distressed state she ended up within Vanderfell. The guard didn't know the concept of simply 'appearing,' as she didn't have that happen, rather 'walked' and somehow ended up in the new realm, but with memories becoming distant. She didn't think too much on it due to also forgetting that fun fact how her memories were displaced.

She raised a brow to Hiero, finding him a bit of a fool, moreso then usual, to simply get so close without a thought. Something just didn't feel right about it, as she kept going on about water and yet in a mountain, there was no large bodies to be seen. At some point did Orlaith calm down but once more her fur raised in a sort of suspicion, she put a paw forward and got closer with a sniffing of sorts, a curiosity, but also a prepareness, for the worse.

"You think she a loon, or a spy?" The large woman whispered to the spotty man.

the staff team luvs u

^^

The girl was panicked. Despite how relaxed he may seem, Hieronymous was just as alert to her insane babbling and frantic words, the way she stumbled around made his nerves shoot with electricity. Somehow it reminded him a little of a rabid dog in its early stages. Wobbly legs and a fear of water along with fragmented thoughts. So he would be cautious and observant, keep her teeth away from him for now and only speak without touching.
 
“I don't think either of those. At least not now.” Not without proof. Not without more of a suspicious act to her than the fear that radiated from her fragile body. In these new lands they found themselves in, it would be cruel to immediately see anyone as an enemy when they could have possibly just woken up like he and many others had upon their first day here. They would all simply tear each other apart if they kept pointing fingers.

She spoke of water - and he remembered the cold. The cold, as he woke up near the lake in the plains it was the only semblance of feeling anything at all like cold, and he had not felt it since. Like it came from another time, another life. “Theres no water here.” He would try to calm the woman down by keeping a steady head on himself. Rather than getting excited and overly joyed, he would remain grounded for this. Someone had to. “Take a deep breath and taste and mountain air.”

^^
the staff team luvs u

^^

Loon or spy.

That's what the woman said, Ruelle realised as she managed to catch the words through her own gasping breath. She was talking about her, the crazy, gasping lady who couldn't control her own breathing because memories bombarded her and confused her all at once. The man spoke of no water, they weren't in the water and to breathe -- mountain air? Ruelle blinked as she caught herself before she stumbled back down to the ground as her legs quaked, first the water and now the mountains? How was she in the mountains?

Why had Castor been the face she saw as she drowned, as she was murdered, as she was -- she didn't know what it was, only that it felt so terribly real, being beneath the water. She coughed again as her breath caught in her throat as she tried to do as the calming man said, to breathe and taste the apparent mountain air. Ruelle retched, from the water intake she had done and from the panicked breathing, another stream of water splashing to the ground at her paws as she jerked forward. Mountain air, she repeated. There was no water, not even the splashing of water that she felt at her paws -- it wasn't surrounding her body, it wasn't clogging up her throat, she wasn't...

she wasn't drowning.

Ruelle's blue eyes glistened with strain and tears as she looked up to the duo, heaving sobs racking her body as they overtook the sharp, gasping breath. She didn't know where she was, what was happening or who these two were and she felt... betrayed, somehow, like someone had plunged their paws into her chest and clawed at her beating heart, intent to rip it away from it's bone cage of protection. "No water," Ruelle mimicked, voice raw and rasping. She looked around like a deer trapped between a pack of wolves and swallowed, her throat dry and scratching as she felt her breathing become less and less, though heavy still. "No water," she repeated, telling herself what the man had pointed out.

She had been betrayed.

She had been killed.

She had been drowned.

Ruelle sniffled, her ears wilting as she screwed her eyes shut and managed out a weak, "I am sorry," to the duo.
^^

the staff team luvs u

"Does she need water..?" Though Hiero may say otherwise, Orlaith was skeptical of this woman she now claimed to be a loon. It was like she was choking on air itself, finding there was no body of water near them so, it wouldn't be simply a case of drowning. Otherwise who would've been the one to save the damsel in distress? She looked around but saw no one, nor' did she smell any signs of a trespasser besides the one before her. It was like she was abandoned, by the skies themselves.

"I don't like this." At the point the guard huffed in suspicions, finding all of this far too convenient, despite being the truth of it all. The factor was the wolf did appear from no where, but as someone who knew not of just 'appearing', she felt like it was some sort of ploy for a trap. A little bit smudged, Orlaith frowned while watching the two.

the staff team luvs u

^^

It felt like he was being torn in two different directions. Orlaith was the more ruthless, gungho and unforgiving for finding someone on their land - which he was certain Ira would have preferred. Then there was his route, to make sure this young woman was okay before asking if she needed helping finding her way out of the mountains or if she wanted a home for a while. Among the other two women, he certainly felt like he was the more forgiving type. The one who was more likely to talk his way out of things rather than using his teeth and verbal warnings.

No, that came later if necessary. 

Which didn't seem to be right now. 
 
“I think that is how she died.” He hushed almost dismissively pushing the idea away. It sounded absolutely ridiculous, and yet, it felt right. “In a life before this, before coming here.” It would explain her panic, the manic desire to find breath in her lungs - and he, the unforgiving cold he felt before waking up from what felt like a year of deep sleep. “You can sit there and keep watch for me if you want, I can deal with her.” If Orlaith didn't like this, she could help out still by watching his back while he did the questioning. It seemed like the right move right now. 

The girl began to quiet down. Began to realize where she found herself now and Hiero's attention turned back to her as she apologized to them. “Better?” Ever the shining smile plastered on his face, warm, welcoming. “This is Vanderfell's lands, quite the rude awakening you had here huh?”

^^
the staff team luvs u

^^

There was a lot of things that Ruelle had thought would happen in her life; she had a plan after all. Betrayel and murder? They hadn't been in her thoughts. How could they have been? Who would think that as a first thought? Her throat burned as if a fire blazed in its depth but she knew it had been the opposite. Water had been the weapon and her once trusted had been the wielder. Ru had not been present, mentally, to realise the two wolves had been talking about her. The other woman, full of distrust and the man full of chances. When her breathing began to settle, she had spoken her apology with a heavy heart. Still did her lungs feel watery but the panic had ebbed away with the calming words of the man.

She heaved a heavy breath as she felt her heart slow from it's panicked state, ears wiltiing as he spoke of the land -- it was claimed and she was in it. "Oh," Ru gasped, "I didn't..." she trailed off, she'd never have chosen to willingly trespass had she a choice yet she hadn't, one moment she had been drowning and the next... she was awake, here. She nodded slightly as she curled her tail beneath her belly, a frown etching upon her sodden, delicate features, "rather rude." Ru agreed quietly, voice scratchy from strain. She shut her eyes momentarily as she breathed in through her nose, relishing in the fresh air that graced her lungs instead of the clogging sensation of water.

Her shoulders drooped with the reality of it all, she had died and she had... woken? somewhere else. She was alone. If she couldn't trust the wolves she thought closest to her, then how could she trust anyone again? Her eyes opened slowly as she looked to the two, baby blues cold with sadness. "Forgive my intrusion," she croaked, stepping back as she took up a guarded, tired expression. "It was not my intention," she wanted, more than anything, to not feel as if they too would harm her given the fact that the man had been so calm and soothing, encouraging her to calm down yet... Castor's face above the water, looking down at her as she drowned made her shy away from her own nature.

Saddened, she sighed.
^^

the staff team luvs u

"What do you mean she died? What do you mean you died!?" Of course, firstly hearing it, Orlaith was rather confused and pulled a rather colorful face. She hadn't heard anyone simply dying and being revived. No discussion took place, not between Ira and her, or even Hiero and herself. She for one, did not exactly die, but rather continued to walk as memories seemed to fade - she only vaguely remembered a bear separating them all, before ending up with a fuzzy memory, and the slight reliance upon the High Queen. It was disturbing to think she was around those who believed they had been revived.

And yet, couldn't explain how a woman coughing water and the smell of a lake was in the area, when there was no source nearby.

"Did you die?" Flustered as now she was, Orlaith looked at the woman who sighed with large, confusion. Uncaring to the situation at hand, and rather ignoring everyone elses words. She wanted answers.

the staff team luvs u

^^

“I'll explain later, I'm not certain myself but it seems to be a running theme.” He hoped that was good enough to satiate the Orlaith before she bombarded the woman and frightened her too much. He would even give her a little nudge with his shoulder to stop her from asking anything further after questioning if the woman had died.
 
“It's okay, do you wanna be looked over by Quicksilver to make sure you are good to go?” Or stay, more members in Vanderfell was always good (but with Minxy already working on someone else joining it won't be happening with Nimueh LOL). They couldn't afford to feed the girl but at least a quick look over by their healer would do them good before sending her out on her way should she choose to find somewhere else to settle.

Of course finding out she was already on parklands, maybe that would push her away out of discomfort of the situation. Which was a shame.

^^

---

sorry its short!! D:

the staff team luvs u

^^

The outburst of the large woman had Ruelle stepping back, her eyes wide and her ears standing tall on alert. "I..." she swallowed thickly, as the memory of being under water continued to haunt her as she stood there. Thankfully, she need not answer as the man seemed to offer the woman with a solution, they would talk later -- somewhere Ruelle need not listen to the idea of her death. Because that's what it was, wasn't it? Death, murder, betrayal -- Gods, she wanted to cry and scream. Yet she did not, instead she stood there quietly and supplied the man with a smile. "That is quite alright," Ru replied softly, "I... I think I have overstayed my welcome enough," though welcoming it had not been by the tall lady, she could not blame her. Ruelle's entrance had been sudden and though not purposeful, it had been intrusive.

"Thank you for your kindness," Ruelle stated quietly as she gave them both a small smile, "I believe it is time for me to go. I do apologise, again." She needed to get away from the talk of death, not wanting to be the one to talk about it with the woman who seemed frothing at the mouth for answers. "I shall not forget your kindness. My name is Ruelle, as to not leave you even more confused," awkwardly she smiled, downcast and quiet as she stepped further away from the duo.^^

 

---

exit for ruelle <3 if allowed!

the staff team luvs u