there's something fiction 'bout the way that reality's going

Now, wasn't that a strange dream.

A gentle breeze ruffles over the grasses and in turn her fur, teasing it up along her neck and the side of her body that wasn't crushing the foliage underneath her. She lays in the middle of an open expanse, fetal position, eyes parting into groggy yellow slivers as they roll to look up at the clouds. How long has she been sleeping?

... Where was she, anyway?

Her muzzle wrinkles into a grimace as she unfurls her limbs, stretching them out as far as they'll go until the muscles quiver under the strain. She sits up then, propped up on an elbow as she tests the movement of her jaws and face. Her mouth feels dry, the saliva thick and sticky on her tongue, and it's once again the desire for water that heaves her to her feet. Deja vu.

But now that she's up it's clear she's never been to these plains before, and yet - she's certainly just now woken up in the center as if she'd taken a nap during her travels. "Did I sleepwalk or somethin'? What in the..." Her brows furrow in mild bemusement as she looks first over one shoulder and then the other, standing there all disheveled with bits of dried grass sticking out of her pelt.

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[narrow width=700]The wind snarled and lashed at Valeska's fur, slapping it across her eyes and temporarily obscuring her vision. She grunted and flipped it back out, but another howling gust whipped it right back over them, and she gave up. From the great, cold mountains she hailed from, this was commonplace; raging winter storms were regarded with as much concern as gentle rainfall in a forest, but in this instant, she was quite agitated and just wished she had her comfortable stone ruin to rest in once more.

They were more than a little tired of the Plains by now, but until she and Amaranth could truly get their bearings, the two lost wolves traveling together had decided to camp out for a few days and fill their aching stomachs before setting off elsewhere. Valeska was trying to find something bigger to eat than the field mice peppering the flat, dull landscape, but because it was just so damned flat, she could see out for miles and tell there was little hope beyond those crunchy morsels.

Just as she turned to go back, something moved out of the corner of her eye. Something brown, medium-sized - it stood slowly, groggily; either it had just woken up or it was injured, and the little wolf crouched reflexively into a hunter's stance and began creeping up on the target. She hoped for a small deer, separated from its family, but whatever it was, she didn't care. Her mouth watered at the thought of what glorious dinner lay ahead of her; Amaranth would be thrilled as well, in her dreary sort of way.

As she closed the distance between them her pace quickened, breath coming out in small, rhythmic huffs. She was so close she could almost taste it, almost smell it, the smell of juicy, tender...

She smelled it.

Hickory and moss.

Her pupils contracted into itty bitty little black dots, like small portals to Hell, and her quick trot transformed into great, antelope-like bounds across the grass, and before the brown wolf could so much as utter a sound, Valeska made a final leap and launched herself into Buckeye, tears flying out behind her in a sparkling arc through the air.

"KYE!" she screamed in near-hysteria.[/narrow]
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[narrow width=700]The wind seems more and more unruly the longer she hesitates, as if urging her to go somewhere - anywhere but here all exposed. Truly, Kye can say this land is a far cry from the ruins, and the home she (no, they ) had carved out of it. 

But that's gone now, isn't it? The earthquake wasn't a dream.

Her ears tilt back towards her skull, the teeth behind her lips pressing together with the threat of frustration. She can't dwell, not right now. Ever the explorer, the woman knows she simply must get her bearings and move onward, figure out where in the hell she's been deposited and what to make of this new environment. It'll be fun. It's also the only option.

At least, she thinks so - until a familiar voice splits the silence in a frenzied screech.

Kye barely turns to face the source before a silver blur careens into her, knocking the much larger wolf right off her paws. She hits the dirt with an oof  of breath forced from her lungs, and somewhere in there a wheezy "Valeska!?" As she twists her neck to see over her own shoulder to get a good look at what could well have been a figment of her imagination if she hadn't felt so solid on impact. Forelimbs flail to reach for the woman, attempting to wrap them around Valeska's upper body and pull her into her grasp, yellow eyes as round as the moon in bewilderment and joy. 

"VALESKA! IT'S YOU! You're here?? Where are we? Where's everyone!?" 

Because if their leader is here, then surely the rest of the pack had followed... right? She's not alone after all![/narrow]
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[narrow width=700]As the pair tumbled across the plains, a flurry of white and brown hair tufts flying into the air, all Valeska could think in that moment was how much like home it felt. The earthy smell of hickory mingled with residual lavender on her pelt from Amaranth swirled together in a way that, if she closed her eyes, made her feel like perhaps things might be alright after all. It didn't matter where they were - as long as they were all together. If she could find Amara and Kye, then surely Harper and Gwyn must be somewhere, too.

Coming to a stop, the grasses flattened out in a line behind them, the paler wolf happily allowed the long, dark legs of her friend swing around and grapple her in an embrace, and for a few moments laid there in a tangle of limbs and heaving sides as they basked in the glow of familiarity.
Craning her head back at the barrage of questions, she paused. "Well," she began slowly, swiping her tongue across her lips in pensive thought. "At first thought fell in portal when earth opened. Then thought maybe dead, but thinking more, afterlife supposed to be much more... more." Gently rolling to her side - or at least trying to, depending on whether or not Kye would budge - she flopped into the grass and continued her train of thought. "Am thinking Purgatory? Waiting room for judgment, maybe. Do not know what else could be, unless am asleep after having Very Bad Herbs again."

Two sets of golden eyes met each other, Valeska staring at her wild child of a friend from upside-down and looking not so much like a great leader as she did a pup in play. Truth be told, she was just about the smallest of their pack (rivaling only Gwyn), and from the outside looking in, it was very peculiar seeing such a short wolf in a position of authority over so many taller, leggier members.
Somehow, it had worked. In the same way Amaranth was a collector of oddities, Valeska was a collector of friends and acquaintances, and she took great pride in her ragtag group of acolytes.

"Have not yet found Gwyn or... Harper," she said, choosing her words carefully to avoid more tears. Finding Buckeye was evidence enough that perhaps they might be found in this vast landscape as well, and she couldn't yet give in to despair. "Amara here, though. Were trying to find food so we could search for others; at least find place to stay not as awful and flat, also. It is the suck. Sucks."
[/narrow]
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[narrow width=700]It's dizzying, but they do stop short after a couple of rotations, and Kye doesn't consider that she might flatten her much smaller leader in the process. It's fine though, Valeska is sturdy. She picks up the lavender undertones in the woman's chilly pine-scented fur, which serves to add another layer of certainty to the situation. Yes, Valeska was here real and she really was with Amara, who is also real.

Kye has never experienced this sort of relief before. She finds it quite overwhelming, especially for someone so proud of her own personal survival to this point - but they are pack animals, and she's just as much a wolf as anyone else, with or without the invincibility complex of her youth.

The woman's limbs relax around Valeska, allowing her to roll from her grasp without fuss so she too could shift to her belly and be parallel with her. "... You mean this is Purgatory?" While Kye might not concern herself with Valeska's elaborate belief system as much as the priestess herself, she's been exposed to enough of it to understand the gist of things, and, well... "I dunno, this seems too nice to be Purgatory. I'd expect less uh..." She dampens her nose with the tip of her tongue thoughtfully, her eyes flickering across their immediate vicinity. "Grass."

Or could be Very Bad Herbs. Always a possibility.

When she looks back at Valeska, she's looking at her upside-down, causing Kye to cant her head instinctively as if she will hear her better if they're oriented in similar directions. "They've gotta be around here somewhere," She doesn't know why or how that could be, but sounds confident nonetheless. Maybe because three of them were already accounted for; really, what were the odds of that? If that was possible, then finding two more was child's play.

"So Amara's not far? I'm hungry too, and now that I'm here I can help get something to eat and we can get outta this," She's never been all that fond of the openness of plains, and this just further proves they're all much more suited for a life in a higher elevation.[/narrow]
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[narrow width=700]Valeska knew that most - well, pretty much everyone - in their group didn't seem to believe much in the gods or the afterlife in general, barring herself and, of course, Amaranth; she who was closest to the deities and remained privy to their coveted whispers. Whatever great deed she had performed in her life to warrant the privilege of being bestowed such a gift was the envy of her silver friend, but she recognized that it was also a privilege to be allowed Amara's presence through them.
She had hoped to teach them all about the great lords that ruled from on high, but Sunday School proved tricky with Kye and Gwyn playing hooky and Harper continually nodding off in a bored stupor. She remained undeterred, however. If the gods had seen fit to draw these wayward sheep into her flock, then it was preordained that she would be the one to lead them to the light.

'You mean this is Purgatory?'

Kye would prove the most difficult of her subjects, being young and impetuous and more materially inclined. For her, seeing was believing. For Valeska, it was... she looked around, pursing her lips. The young woman may have a point in this instance, but only as far as envisioning the waiting room between eternal torment and perpetual bliss having, well, a slightly less manicured lawn, and a lot more scowling eyes lining the clouds.

"Probably Bad Herbs. Never discount possible Hellfire, though. It always wait, wait for you to sin," she said with emphasis, suspecting deep within her heart that Kye had been the real culprit in defacing their temple with all those crude mud drawings. Valeska narrowed her eyes, but let it pass for now.

"Well, come. Best show Amara that you will also join us in eternal damnation, or Bad Herb Trip. Whichever we are on, she would like to see Kye!" Swinging up to her paws with a surprising lightness given her sturdy build, she gave the brown wolf a playful shove with her shoulder and set off toward the scent of lavender, thinking to herself how very pleased she will be to see more of their lost little family again.[/narrow]

[Exit Valeska]
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[narrow width=700]Now, Kye would have you know she didn't play hooky all the time — Valeska's passion for the gods and their power drew the younger wolf to the priestess like a moth to a flame, absent as such teaching was where she was born save for the basics of awareness. She found it fascinating, despite her need for physicality.

Avalanches and earthquakes were good candidates for that, though.
  As was getting dropped off in would-be Purgatory.

The silver woman seems just as perplexed by... whatever this land was lacking that would discount it as judgement's waiting room. She casts Valeska a sidelong glance, meeting thinly veiled accusations with a breezy "I'd never" as she gets to her feet with a small step forward. That was art, first of all. The temple needed some sprucing up!

What did Amara think about all this, anyway? She was excited to see the golden woman again, and see how she's made sense of their newest predicament.

"I just hope eternal damnation isn't as boring as the rest of this flatland. Lead the way!"

[Exit Buckeye][/narrow]
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