Endless

It seemed not long that the landscape beneath her feet shifted from a great expanse of rolling hills to something far more mild. Hills and trees smoothed out into plains. The mountain they'd been moving towards only seemed to tower higher and higher above them, cast into shadows by the still sinking sun. It would have been a little intimidating, if not for the painted sky splashed with pinks and purples and oranges. 

The ache in her head had all but faded, only reminding her it was there at all if she moved her head too quickly. Memories of before still had yet to resurface - though expectation for that was little to none. Still, in the lulls of conversation, she found herself poking at her own mind - fruitlessly. 

The words Everbane had said about how he'd woken up here hadn't left her mind, either. It wasn't a thought she found comforting at all - that this had happened to him before, and that for it to have happened, he'd died. It was all so strange. She recalled no pain from before she woke - only the pounding in her head. So how had she gotten here? Was the result of her arrival the same as her new companions? 

She wasn't sure, now, if she wanted to remember the how.

A shift in the breeze brought her from her thoughts, new scents drifting right to her. Footsteps slowed as the smell of others grew stronger and Bambi shifted eyes towards her companion. "We must be close."

@Everbane
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Everbane was only just behind her, letting the yearling take the lead and set the pace. As they ventured, drawn the clustering scent of wolves, the slope began to teeter. Cloud-piercing spires towered over them, though the brute was undaunted. He could only imagine the view one would find at their summits. High above on a clear day, the sprawled out around him with landmarks for him to spy and wander to.

But he was also quite tired.

The thought of falling asleep to the white noise of waterfalls was much more appealing. Or to the song of twittering birds from the blanketing shade of a tree.

Nonetheless, Bambi being seen to had become something of a priority. She was young, she would recover, whether it be from a flesh wound or something a bit more serious. But inside the pale wolf burned a sense of duty.

His warm gaze settled upon the girl when she spoke.

“Mhm,” he hummed with a nod.

Before drawing any closer to the border's scent markers, Everbane paused and tilted his head back to release a brief but deep and reverberating howl to announce their presence. He let the wind snaking between the mountains carry the howl where it needed to go. For the time being, all there was left to do was hope they had managed to come across a hospitable pack. He opted against bringing up the concern of less favorable scenarios.

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A summoning song danced upon the winds unto his ears as the mountain king soared a glance over his shoulder. The cache at his feet would have to wait, hopefully safe in all its meals should another come to feed before he could return.

Runar made his way to the call, the source a short trip from the foothills as two came into view. One, a girl, much younger than he, and the other a man. They did not look related between the forest cloak and pale icing between them, but he supposed it did not cross off the possibility that the man was her father.

“Greetings travelers. You reach Vanderfell Woods, what be your purpose?” They hardly seemed a threat, not when a child was present and they had called. Another settlement perhaps, come to greet them, or those lost in search of somewhere.
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Easy enough it was to let her thoughts slide wholly back to the present, Bambi's attention shifted from her companion to the mountains reaching for the skies above them while Everbane sang out for any ears close enough to hear him.  

If not for her attention glued to the mountains, the skies, she might have joined in. Instead, she simply waited - listening for a return, eyes absentmindedly trailing across the trees that might have been obscuring an approaching figure. 

Fortunately for them, the wait was a small one, and not long after Everbane's call, a figure made its way into view. 

Bambi's eyes settled on the wolf; a man cloaked in the colors of the night sky itself. The stars in his eyes only cemented the image. If not for the impossibility of the notion, Bambi would say he'd been carved from the heavens; molded into the shape that stood before her now. 

He spoke, then, and she blinked away her musings, offering up a little smile. 

"My companion and I are in need of a little help," Bambi replied, easy. "Neither of us have knowledge of herbs." The wound upon her own temple had stopped bleeding on the venture over, she thought, but it still felt quite uncomfortable - if only for the pull of dried blood in her fur. 

Infection would do neither of them any good. If they were to be turned away, better they knew sooner. 

"I'm Bambi," she tacked on. "and this is Everbane."

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Everbane heard him before he saw him: soft paw-steps across the earth. An inhale brought the stranger's scent to him, laden with the smell of the pack.

The young man greeted them. "Vanderfell Woods" was naturally noted in the brute's mind. While Bambi spoke, he regarded the area around them again: the mountains and their rocky terrain. He wondered if there may be a forest nestled on the other side of the rise.

At his introduction, the man's gaze returned to the pack wolf. He made his soft smile and dipped his head.

“We would be willing to repay the assistance,” he added, “whether it be pointing us the direction of a healer or if there is one amongst your ranks.”

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The mountain king hummed, the sound buried deep in his throat as he eyed the girl's split brow. It had stopped bleeding, but that did not mean it was safe. Father's passing was proof enough of the dangers of an unchecked wound. Even if you try to mend it, there is only slow death when found too late. Unfortunately, Runar was no healer, and his mother's expertise specialized in keeping you alive long enough to see a proper one. “What caused injury?” The words were careful as his eyes flicked from Bambi to Everbane. He doubted the girl was drawing ivories, but one could never be too safe.

He wished to help, truly, but there were more lives to think of than just those before him. If they brought danger, if they were danger, then it would be Vanderfell, not him, who suffers. “Come closer, let Runar see damage.” At a minimum, he would be able to tell if it was fresh or pick up the scent on their pelts should they have been attacked. Plus, if they were decievers, then they would likely take the time now to strike.

Renn had always been the one with his nose stuck in the ground...his father and grandfather dabbling with plants and herbs, seemingly more as a hobby. Other faces flashed through his mind: Emperor and Empress Quicksilver and Reiko had aided Vanderfell with injury before, but the mountain was days away. Did Vanderfell have a healer? Tove had been pulling at the flowers in the gulch to the east...perhaps she knew enough to aid their visitors.
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Beside her, Everbane spoke. An ear shifted towards him, listening, and Bambi's chin dipped in easy agreement. She hardly expected to drain resources with no repayment, but she hadn't thought to assure the pack wolf of that. 

The dark wolf posed a question, and Bambi hummed a sound of her own, the smallest of frowns tugging at the corners of her lips. "I don't remember," Bambi answered, quieter when she spoke this time. It was all still so confusing - so unsettling to not recall anything. Never mind the circumstances of how she might have come to be here - if Everbane's words held any clue to how she'd woken, sprawled in unfamiliar grass. 

When he spoke again, ushering her over, Bambi's head dipped before she moved to clear the distance between them. When she came close enough that she thought he might be able to inspect it sufficiently, she halted, head turning to both better reveal the wound and shift a look towards her companion.

"Him, too," Bambi stated. She assumed the dark wolf might have already noted the similar wound Everbane wore, but she wanted to be certain. She wasn't the only one that needed looking after. 

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