[fletcher]

It'd been a long time for the girl. She was decently aged now, probably around the same age as her mother when she had gone missing. Fletcher however, hadn't really settled anywhere specifically. She'd been wandering, unsure of if she trusted herself enough to really stay anywhere. She could be reclusive, but her urges to have something to protect, and just a goal in general, keep nagging at her. Louder, Louder, LOUDER. She'd gotten in her fair share of fights while alone, gained scars, her lids had began to droop and sag. She looked tired, but if anything, she mostly just looked lost. Her tongue flicked from her maw, licking over the healed up scars on her muzzle and nose. Wolves, she'd remembered, of course it was. She still hated them, and most of them still hated her. That was one problem with her quest for peace, was that there was so damn many wolves. They were everywhere, riddling the lands like fleas on her pelt. There were so many of them you couldn't avoid them.

Maybe that was why her mind subconsciously had her following the scent of her own kind. It was a heavy smell, not one tainted with the foul odor of wolves like they had been recently. Young, tired paws drug her past old familiarities, and into new territory. She didn't often go near the sea. It was cold, and something about how deep it goes shook her in the core of her being. Memories of chasms and a lost sister, an endless pit that leads to nothing but broken memories and hearts. The knight's sword sheathed deep in her own heart, only pulled in a moment's notice when she realized something was off. A thick scent stopped her in her tracks, some sort of territory marker that caused her to pull out of her own mind and back into the real world. Stop thinking, her own mind chided her, You know where it's gotten you before. Yeah, that's right, nowhere good, huh? She hesitated, looking around cautiously. All she smelled were cats. Maybe they would grant her refuge, at least for a little while? Green eyes shifted back and forth, scanning the horizon. "Hello?" she asked to nobody, "I'm Fletcher, a nomad. Where am I?" Maybe nobody would hear her. She didn't feel like roaring, but if it truly was a border to something, then she assumed someone would stumble upon her eventually. If not, then, well, it was time to move on once again wasn't it?

---

OOC; sorry in advance for a kind of jumbled post. i haven't rped in a long time. just as a note i'm kind of a slow-goer rper so it might take me a bit to reply. hope thats ok @ _ @

#D6590B

[Roderik]

Humble beginnings meant everyone had to pitch in to get the tasks done. There were too few members for each to be assigned a single duty. And so it was how the king ended up patrolling the borders as often as any other who was fit to accomplish a patrol. In truth, it suited him. Roderik felt a change of pace was good once in a while. This probably was the case for everyone. Surely a healer might get bored if all he or she ever did was poultices and bandages all day... the same might go for a guard who might tire of the same routine day after day. He would encourage diversity and growth. His guards would be guards still, but he was sure they would feel some satisfaction or pride for learning how to carve driftwood like the artisans did for example.

The wind on the prairie was surprisingly calm today. The herds of yak he could spot from the edge of the forest were calm, and the gophers were out nibbling on the many flowers that covered the land. Funny little creatures they were, gophers... Roderik didn't remember ever seeing one in the old lands, but there must have been some, if not then similar creatures surely. One of the gophers he spotted, had not yet heard or seen him coming. A quick glance around the surrounding area confirmed that there was only one hole in the ground nearby the creature. A new burrow perhaps? There was usually more than one escape route for the little buggers (that's what made them so tricky to catch). With an amused grin, Roderik crawled over to the top of the burrow while making sure the gopher hadn't seen him. Slowly and quietly picking up a small rock, he tossed it next to the creature to startle it. It nearly jumped in the air twice it's own height and proceeded to run for the cover of it's hole, running straight into Roderik's waiting paws. There was a scream of surprise and terror from the gopher as his paw trapped him down against the ground, but the mistake had been made and he was done for.

At least, he would have been if Roderik had been hungry at all. But he wasn't. The king gave an amused huff and gave his would be prey a piece of advice before letting it go: "Dig moar tunnels". There was a stunned moment in which the freed gopher was paralyzed on the spot, but when he realized he'd been set free, he scurried for the safety of it's burrow as fast as it possibly could. Roderik continued on his patrol, turning his head after a distance to see that the creature had its head stuck out of it's hole staring at him. It vanished in an instant when it realized it was being looked at. Probably disappearing for fear the sabre had changed his mind about wanting a snack. The young leader would shake his head and smile while continuing on his way. It was quiet so far... nothing much to do but survey the area. Maybe sharpen his claws on a tree or two... and rub his back on the bark of a few more to leave bits of his fur and scent, and totally not to get at that itchy spot right under his shoulder blade, right there, Oh that's the spot, yes! Aaahhhhh that was nice.

"Hello?"

Hmm? Ears turned to the direction of the call. It was a bit of a ways away, and Roderik thought that if he would have been sharpening his claws on the bark of a tree then, the sound of it might have covered the stranger's voice so distant it was.

"I'm Fletcher, a nomad. Where am I?"

Lost? Maybe... maybe not. Making his way towards the voice, the young ruler eventually caught the scent of them on the air. Another sabre? Looking for Stoneclaw maybe? If she was lost then she was definitely lucky... for a sabre to stumble onto Stoneclaw without looking for it seemed like the equivalent of winning the lottery. Specially considering how many wolf packs were actually out there. The odds were a tiny bit off indeed.

"Stoneclaw. Well a bit of a ways past the border of Stoneclaw actually." he spoke as he got nearer the nomad. The female was a bit older than he was... perhaps around Mayan's age? And very pretty, though different from any girl he'd ever found pretty before. She was her own definition of beautiful. The colored splashes on her coat reminded him of the prairie flower's petals in the late summer before they turned completely red. She seemed, tired though... or maybe annoyed. Roderik somehow wanted to help make her day a little better.

"Welcome to the only territory this side of the fringe that isn't left to it's own devices or doesn't belong to the wolves."

He knew it was the only such territory, because he'd spent long enough of a time traveling it to try and find one. In the end, he'd made one. It was still small, but it was growing day by day and he was proud of it all the same. If this nomad had done even half as much traveling as he had (she looked like she'd done at least twice as much), then she would know he was speaking the truth.

"The name's Roderik."

[Dogma]

ooc: dogma is just popping in and then running right back out

#ff8742

She would forgo the tide pools today, opting for exploring the rest of the ocean rather than the lower beach and salt soaked cliffs. The problem with the main prairie was that the only thing that managed to stick up higher than the grass was her ears, and they just simply looked like two brow antennae moving through a bright sea of gold. She'd hop up every few seconds to get a better view, but that too was becoming exhausting.

That was, until she heard something!! Well, someone! Eyes light up with mischievous wonder, and a grin slowly spread up her maw. Oh boy, oh boy! This was a prank that she had just been waiting to dish out. Stoneclaw was no doubt going to get tired of her antics very, very quickly. Ah, well!

She crouched down, following the scent and sound of a stranger on the winds, not bothering to jump because this was all about the element of surprise after all! Lynxes were pretty much known to be masters of stealth, Dogma was just a credit to her breed.

It wasn't long before she found who and what she was exactly looking for, hearing another voice, but she was too deep in her plan to really try and pin it to a face. 1...2...3... NOW! She sprang up from her crouched position, coming to land on a rock that rested above the grass. Her eyes immediately flew to the saber female. "DO NOT FEAR YOUNG PILGRIM!! FOR IT IS I!!! THE LEADER OF STONECLAW!!! I AM HERE TO-" She cried loudly, eyes flashing open as she struct a noble pose, it wasn't until a moment that she realized that 'oh yeah there's another person here!'.

The small lynx turned then grin shift into a thin line of 'oh neat'. She stood frozen, looking directly at KING Roderik, eyes squinting as she blinked at him. She turn stiffly back to the other saber. The look Dogma gave her was 'hello, I am actually a fool'. "I..You see.. Well, it was really... ya know cool and stuff... but I gotta.. Oh do you hear that..." She ambled on. "Someone's calling me, I gotta go, really nice meeting you.. BYE!" She leapt from her rock then and ran back toward the inner territory.

[fletcher]

It surprisingly wasn't too long before someone wandered into her sight, another big cat like her but one unfamiliar. The browns and oranges reminded her of her old home, though, and Kobolt and his family. Those were colors that were very familiar to her and she almost wondered if they happened to share blood. That'd be funny, wouldn't it?

"Stoneclaw. Well a bit of a ways past the border of Stoneclaw actually. Welcome to the only territory this side of the fringe that isn't left to it's own devices or doesn't belong to the wolves. The name's Roderik."

Her alert face suddenly jerked into a look of lost confusion. You could almost hear the "...hwuh?" going through her mind at the speed of light. Stoneclaw? She blinked slowly, and looked side to side to let her eyes gaze the horizon. This didn't look like Stoneclaw. She'd been raised there, but here it was much... colder. Closer to the ocean? Had they migrated? "Stoneclaw?" she finally asked, "What happened to the old lands?" Was everyone okay? Had there been a famine, or some sort of disaster? Had a wolf pack of great numbers ran through and drove them out, or had there been.... an earthquake? Visions of her sister falling through a crevice flashed through her mind for a moment and she could feel her heart quickening. Her breathing became rapid, why did she care so much? Did anyone she know get hurt? "Is- is everyone okay? I was born in Stoneclaw, I--"

"DO NOT FEAR YOUNG PILGRIM!! FOR IT IS I!!! THE LEADER OF STONECLAW!!! I AM HERE TO-"

It was just like that, Fletcher's panic attack caused her to stand on edge and all fur to raise, her body stiffened and she immediately became defensive, her head swinging to assess the screaming threat---
Oh. It was just... a small cat.
It only took a moment for the other to look at Roderik, and then to her, with a look of utter embarrassment. Fletcher just stared her in the face with her own look of a deer caught in the headlights, while her entire body said 'cat thats ready to fight'.

"I..You see.. Well, it was really... ya know cool and stuff... but I gotta.. Oh do you hear that... Someone's calling me, I gotta go, really nice meeting you.. BYE!"

...And just like that, it was gone. Fletcher stood on edge for a moment more, before she looked towards Roderik. "...What... in the hell, was that?" She didn't know how to feel now. Her emotions were on five-hundred and she just kept ending up confused.

#D6590B

[Roderik]

"Stoneclaw? What happened to the old lands?"

There was a mixture of worry and confusion on her face and Roderik immediately felt a fool for his lack of foresight. Of course he would eventually stumble on someone who knew Stoneclaw from before... And possibly didn't know about recent events. He didn't want to worry her more than she already was... But the truth of the matter was that things really were worrisome.

The old pride had nearly vanished overnight due to the fires and the humans taking over the forest, and its members had scattered. Many of them were still missing, including several members of his family.

"You've been to the old lands before?"

"Is- is everyone okay? I was born in Stoneclaw, I--"

He could see her starting to panic. Her breathing quickened and the questions began to pour from her mouth faster than he could even think about trying to answer them. He had a mind to help ease her mind as much as he could without outright lying to her and say everything was alright, but he didn't have time to before someone interrupted them with a great kingly introduction that wouldnt have managed to fool a lame seagull.

"DO NOT FEAR YOUNG PILGRIM!! FOR IT IS I!!! THE LEADER OF STONECLAW!!! I AM HERE TO-"

Roderik recognized Dogma's voice right away, though looking up at her perched on the rocks would have been enough to identify her. Even the height of the rocks wasn't enough to disguise how small she really was compared to the two sabres. He stared at her with a look that said it all: #Not Amused.

"Dogmaaaa..."

"I..You see.. Well, it was really... ya know cool and stuff... but I gotta.. Oh do you hear that.."

"Doooogma!"

"Someone's calling me, I gotta go, really nice meeting you.. BYE!"

"YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE."

He didn't mean it. Not really. It had been really funny! Or actually it would have been, if it hadn't nearly given Fletcher a heart attack right on the spot.

 "...What... in the hell, was that?"

He would sigh and glance up at the sky in a "lord help me" kind of way, before simply muttering: "That was Dogma... I'm sure she'll find other ways to prank and/or traumatize you if you stick around... Which why would you at this point, right? Thanks Dogma. Also I'd like to specify in case it wasn't obvious, she's not the leader of Stoneclaw thank god I am."

He would look at her with a pained expression then, because he knew there was no easy way to say what he would tell her next.

"I can't tell you that everyone is okay... Because I don't know. I was born there too, and then I left... And when I came back? The Stoneclaw I knew was gone. The savannah had been reduced to ashes from what seemed to be a really big fire... And there were humans living in the forest."

He always felt a weigh in his chest as he thought of Taverin.

"I couldn't find anyone, and I couldn't find any prides to join either? So I decided to make Stoneclaw again somewhere else, and told as many as I could so the others from the old land can find us... Like you."