She had been putting it off for long enough, she knew it and she knew that if she kept procrastinating that she would only make things worse. And so she went out, looking for the Heralds that she had been told to seek out. Her shoulder had finally begun to scab over and while it itched intensely she knew better than to scratch at it and risk getting an infection. So instead she stopped and shook herself vigorously, hoping the violent motion would stop the itching. 

It didn't. 

Cursing herself and her luck Caesar kept going through the fog, silver eyes dull and uncaring. She didn't know what to expect from her meeting with the Herald but she knew better than to expect anything good to come out of it. Better to not get your hopes up. Set your expectations low and you will not be disappointed. The sight of a blue figure up ahead caught her attention and she perked up a bit. Perhaps she was luckier than she gave herself credit for. Trotting to catch up she called out softly, "Hey! Do you know where I can find a Herald around here."

She really made a mess of things this time. 

Perhaps she was too cocky. Perhaps it was the sin of pride beating through her veins her mother had so graciously given her by way of DNA. 

Whatever it was, the puncture holes in her right hind muscle would make sure that whatever foolery she was doing would be the last thing she would do … well … anything. 

She never saw the sandy-furred beast come barreling towards her on silent paws, inches-long fangs protruding from black lips as they popped right into her haunch, shaking her back and forth. It was only luck that the cat was more interested in the hog Rook had dragged down moments ago, rumbling at the wolf she had used as a ragged doll seconds prior to leave or else.

Rook limped through the yellow brush of the lowlands, a trail of scarlet drops left behind in her wake. Collapsing at the gnarled roots of a tree etched with carvings and antlers, she had no time to administer any aid to herself before static punctured through her skull and all she could see was the world around her shrinking. 

Her head resting on one of the ancient roots, the endless golden weeds of the plains laying before her, she languidly thought, not a bad view to die to. 

ooc - I haven’t written anything in decades please be gentle with me trying to reacquaint myself with the English language

Also because I don’t trust myself with how I worded things, here’s the gist of what happened: 

- Rook got attacked by a saber
- There’s two puncture holes in her hind leg
- Bleeding out, she drags herself over to the tree known as the Hellion’s Library (this all happens in the Lowlands, including hunting the boar and getting attacked)

If I need to edit anything please let me know!

Following the directions she'd received from the Nardirans from when they had stopped by Tortuga searching for a missing comrade was easy enough. The hard part was actually scaling the cliffs and picking their way carefully through the snowy mountains that surrounded Nardir. If it hadn't been for Kaikona's calming, comforting presence and unwavering support she would have struggled. But as it was, Kalypso was happy even though she was a little winded from the exercise.

She had to admit that she was impressed with the defenses of Nardir, the mountains surrounding the valley would make it difficult for an assault and make it dangerous for their enemies. Curiosity made her wonder how many enemies the soft spoken wolves of Nardir had. None, surely? Stars, Kally had so many questions for them and so much that she wanted to know about their culture. Richeter, Tai and Scylla were lucky that they could stay here and learn from them. She couldn't wait to come back and see what they'd found out about the place!

Kalypso beamed a smile at Kaikona, short tail waving slowly as she watched him carefully descending the rocky terrain. He was so strong and fierce, burning like a raging inferno but he never let a flame touch her. Kai was so violent and passionate but he had a soft side, a sweet center that she had been privileged enough to witness. He was her best friend and she thanked every star in the night sky that he'd returned safely from the war. And at least she wouldn't be alone on the way home! She would have the best company.

Finally they came to a halt on the tilted, uneven ground of the foothills at the base of the mountains. She looked around at the strange forest and tilted her head. The light that filtered through the branches almost reminded her of dusk. Kally glanced behind her to make sure that everyone had made it safely down the mountain side before lifting her head and announcing their arrival with a howl. She gave the trio a wink before she took a seat beside Kaikona, pressing her shoulder into his. "We're here guys! This is it." This is where I leave you.

There were so many new places to explore. It almost made him feel like a cub again. Almost. The wildcat knew that the main reason he was exploring was now this was technically his territory, albeit he was sharing it with a couple canines here and there. He didn't like the thought of being buddy buddy with canines here and there, but if he wanted to no longer be lonely and establish more into his life this would probably have to be his best bet. The young male had wanted to make sure that he would be able to survive in a place like this. He had no idea how packs like this even worked, so he was going to have to hunt for himself instead of having the others hunt for him. Even at his young age, he was independent enough to know what he was going to need and where to search for it. Having already found his way toward a source of water, he knew where that was and also where the wall sprouted from the ground as well. He had a territory of his own once, but compared to the size of this territory that this pack had underneath their noses, it didn't even remotely compare to it when it came in regard to size. He wondered how many members this place even had in need for such a large place to live. Because if there weren't enough members, it would be extremely hard to keep enemies outside of their borders if they couldn't patrol the area quick enough. Erebus had no idea about the size of this pack since once he was accepted, he made it so that he avoided practically all contact as much as possible. Even just interacting with a couple wolves here and there made him feel uneasy, even if he did practically tower over all of them. The wildcat just wanted to know what it felt like when it came to having others around instead of being alone since he was practically a cub. If his mother saw him now, he would have no doubt in his mind that she would be slightly disappointed in him. Whether it was because he didn't know how to deal with other creatures in a non-feral manner, or if he wasn't able to make any connections with other creatures. When he had to deal with wolves, the wildcat usually had to chase them off the kills that he made. He didn't have any meaning conversations with them, he roared at them because they would have been trespassing on his territory and he was going to have none of that when his life was on the line as anything could happen to him at any moment. He needed to be careful around these creatures and be slightly independent to make sure that they weren't going to plan anything against him. Maybe if there was another sabre that he could come across he would feel a little bit more at ease, but until that happened, he would remain on alert at all times while he lived here. He didn't even know how long he was going to stay here, as he felt like staying for a long period of time was a bad idea. He wasn't sure if he wanted to get into the pack politics with these creatures.

Erebus had already explored one place, and that was the Faerie pools. Of course he had no idea what the name was, so he was just going to call it the spring. The young male wasn't about to start asking around for places that he was exploring, as he knew that if he was going to ask around, it was going to require interaction with another creature that he would much rather not have to deal with right now. His head was just starting to get cleared of his anxiety, and that's all he could ask for right now. When he had first entered through the wall of the territory, he had noticed something towering over the trees. In fear that was the place where everyone congregated, Erebus had avoided it entirely, sticking to the thickest parts of the forest, making it easier for his dark hued pelt to blend into the shadows as such. The sabre soon came across a strange area of the forest that seemed to be incredibly old from the rest of the trees that he had seen before. The wildcat didn't know about it, but he had stumbled into the the Gasping Woods. Growing up in a forested area meant that he didn't feel strange among trees, and would prefer it rather being in the plains such as the Lowlands. His pelt was made to practically hide in the shadows, and even then his size prevented him from chasing down prey for long distances, so he had no choice but to ambush his prey, or hope that it eventually trips. As he walks through the forest though, Erebus can hear the wind picking up through the canopies. And while he is walking, he suddenly feels the ground underneath his large paws suddenly begin to move. The beast sucks in a breath as he leaps away from the spot that he had been standing in a panic. The hell was that? His red-orange eyes began to scan around, and look at the ground for any evidence. Soon he started to notice that the ground itself, seemed to be moving as if it was breathing. He could feel his breath catch in his throat, and his body now tense he turned himself around and immediately began to trot away from this place, already feeling uneasy about this place. His ears were pinned against his head, until he reached the base of the dilapidated castle, where he immediately leaped up onto one of the stones to avoid standing on the ground where the ground seemed to be breathing. Now, he sat himself down and caught his breath, his claws scraping the stone that he was sitting on. Where the hell was he now? 

ooc

It probably wasn't his best game plan, but he had no idea what to do himself for the time being. Since he had just joined this place, he had made it his best effort to avoid as many faces as much as possible. He was quick to learn and quick to realize that he was practically the only sabre in the entire time. This made him debate whether or not he had made the right choice in moving here instead of living on his own. Sure, there was some curiosity he had on how they worked here and everything, but was it really worth the cost. The creature that he had met first had been fairely kind, and it was obvious that a lot of creatures didn't exactly know sabres all that well. It was fine with him at the same time because it meant that if there were no sabres in this place, it just meant that they would have a little bit of a hard time fighting against someone like him. He was already bigger than most wolves in the place, which wasn't saying much since he had only met around three wolves that lived in this place. Which usually ended up with trying to end the conversation that they had with him. There was too much social interaction so far and his brain was having a hard time trying to keep up. The large wildcat didn't grow up with any siblings, meaning that his social interactions were usually considered awkward to that regard. He didn't even which creatures even ran this place, as he didn't stick around to get the introduction. He just wanted to be alone right now, and one thing was positive, he enjoyed the Highlands compared to the Lowlands. He couldn't blend in a place that was nothing but tall grass thanks to the way that his pelt was covered by default. However, when it came to the Highlands there was lush vegetation everywhere, which is exactly what he needed in order to blend into the shadows that the trees and plants produced. His dark fur gave him good cover, but in open areas it was far too easy to see the likes of him. Right now he was following a river upstream, getting a grasp on how big the territory was compared to the one that he had not too long ago. It was much larger than his territory, and seemed far more interesting in that regard. 

The landmark that he came to first happened to be the Faerie pools. If he didn't know better, Erebus would have though that he was in a rain forest with the way that everything looked all of a sudden. He could hear the ocean not too far away from here, and his red-orange eyes looked down toward the water that was bubbling out of the ground. The short tailed sabre had never seen anything like that before, and he wondered how that could even work. Was it safe to drink? Since the youngster wasn't about to ask anyone for advice when it came to exploring, he lowered himself down onto his stomach and gave the spring a quick sniff. He didn't smell anything wrong with the water and thought that it was safe to drink. His salmon hued tongue slithered out from his large maw as the muscle drew the cool liquid into his mouth. It certain tasted fresh, but it still just tasted like water to him and nothing else. The sabre lifted himself back up once he had his fill and began to look around. Now that he thought about it, he was actually quite tired from walking around too much to get this place. He let a low huff escape his jaws as he had a frown spread across his facial features. Erebus almost never looked like someone that was happy, and it was for good reasons. He didn't know what it was like to play games, having a childhood that was severely deprived of anything to promote creativity. He was only concerned on survival and nothing left. The sabre moved himself a little bit away from the pools of water before stopping underneath a tree where he would sit himself down, and raise his head to look through the canopies of the trees. He would give himself a couple moments to relax before figure out the other arrangements he would have to acquire in a place like this. Such as food and living space. What prey animals even existed in a lush place like this? He could only imagine, and he continued to look up into the sky as he was lost in his thoughts. 

ooc

She came in with the tide, riding the wave to the shore so that her legs didn't have to work so hard. Kalypso finally made it to shore and shook the salt water from her pelt, breathing a sigh of satisfaction. She didn't feel right unless she smell like the ocean. It was part of her leaving ritual. She prayed to the stars, bathed in the ocean and kissed her tattoo for safe passage. Sure it was silly but it made her feel safe, gave her a small measure of comfort. It was finally time to leave Tortuga again to build up the empire's alliances and make friends new friends.

Kally freaking loved her job. She got to explore new places, make friends out of strangers, learn about different culture and all while calling Tortuga home. The Wayfinder headed for the Watchmans point with her head held high and her eyes shining bright with wanderlust. It was time for another trip! This time would be sort of like the last trip, the one to Borogrove where Daniel ended up staying. But this time Tai, Scylla and Richter would be the ones staying with their ally. She hoped they all did well over there and that they were happy and knew she missed each of the them. 

They would always be Tortugans.

To her, at least. And so she threw back her head and sent out the call to gather her small troop together for departure as she headed for the borders. They'd meet her there and she'd smile at each of them in turn though her usual cheerful grin was tinged with a bit of sadness today. Kally knew she would be the only one returning to Tortuga after this trip and it was a sobering thought. When the trio had finally gathered she stretched and heaved a mighty yawn, "You guys ready to leave?"