finding him.

She had an odd knack to finding bones. They were all kinds of different ones, old birds that fell from the nest, abandon bunnies from their eaten parents, foxes whose dens had collapsed, and remained trapped. Though what she disliked the most, was finding wolf bones. Especially, one's who were not originally there.

Desdemona knew that tree was hollow inside, and she looked in once, it was empty. She thought perhaps some sort of animal was hiding within, and nosed her way through. Yet, there was nothing below its roots, just an empty room, where a child could hide in. Curiously enough though, her jades caught sight of something white inside, and for a second, thought it was child.. But when she nosed her way in, it was a wolf skull.

Her paw dragged it out, and vaguely remembered the white woman of the mountain who forced a ritual upon it, saying it was bad luck. She couldn't remember what the words were said, but only the burying.

However it left the guard unsettled - she knew it wasn't there the day before. Almost like, it wisped in the land just as she had been.

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For being a part of a pack, it certainly did not feel as if he was. Admittedly though, West knew it was his own fault for that. Compared to his home there was barely a day now where he did not spend his time past the borders. The freedom was nice, but the longing never left. Whatever he had been looking for was always just out of reach and sitting still just felt painful, but eventually, even he would have to come to terms with his situation.

There wasn't much to remember. Not about what he wanted at least...and he was just wasting his time and his loyalty running around like a chicken. West had returned recently to the nameless mountain, his news shared with hydra before he even reached the territory. In the end, he had little to offer for his time away and it only felt right to do what he could now to make up for it. Most of the faces within the pack blurred by while he clipped the heavily marked borders. 

He would regain the pack's scent, patrol, hunt, repeat. Today was different though. Another crossed his paths, one he hadn't properly met before. The woman seemed to have shoved herself into a hollowed log, for what reason he could only guess, so the woodland man simply...took a seat to watch. “You alright in there?”

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When she heard a voice it momentarily startled it - she was too lost in thought to even think about someone approaching. Bumping her head, Desdemona managed to crawl out and face the man. She ignored hitting her head.. "I have found a wolf skull," her gaze momentarily glanced back at the tree before him.

She vaguely remembers West - but since memories were so faded, she couldn't pinpoint when exactly that was. Though he was the same as she once saw him, large and tall, a strong man. Carried in browns and so, she couldn't deny he was a handsome wolf, though just as Leta was pretty, the guard assumed their genes ran in the family. Where they siblings? The knowledge vaguely came to her head, but she couldn't remember to the exact.

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The woodland man winced at the thunk of the hollow tree as Desdemona hit her head, though as she pulled out she seemed well enough to…ignore. His jaw hung limp with absent words, his voice caught as he realized just what she had said.

A wolf skull???

“A— uh…what?” What would a wolf’s sku…how long….why just the skull??? “Just…a skull? Where’s the rest?” He almost felt silly asking, but part of him was still shocked to hear it was just laying around. Weren’t all wolves buried? Unless they had died alone but… that still raised the question of where the rest of it had gone.

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"Not here, perhaps buried further in the dirt." She did not seen an indication of anymore being around, neither the upper or lower part of the body; soley the skull. Her jade eyes slowly grazed to the surrounding area, but she could not see any indication of another bone coming through the ground. Her assumption continued that it had been 'wisped' into the land, not entirely been buried here. She wondered how the family would feel if their ancestors were no longer in the homeland ground..

Desdemona refrained from mentioning that though.

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The rest buried....but the skull had been found in a fallen tree? Wouldn't that mean the bones had been disturbed. West's eyes fell to the log as he hummed under his breath, “Any scents? Maybe we can find the rest to be reburied.” Or at the very least they should take the skull and bury it somewhere else. Family and friends deserved a proper burial. His mother had taught him that much. He didn't know who this wolf once was, but he saw more of the light in the world than the shadows.

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The spidery woman shook her head, as she reached downwards once more and peered into the trunk. Her paw stretched forward, and awkward grab attempt to take it out as she stumbled her through to try and hook a clay onto the eye socket. Though hard as she pulled out, it was an odd push of her leaning closely to the trunk. Perhaps it was better to bend her head into to grab, but at this point she was too far in, and slowly pulled it out..

White and beautiful, though moss gently touched it as if it had been there for a while. Yet inside held no such flora, only dirt and bark was inside. A clear indication it did not belong, "There is none. We can bury it around here."

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At first she would not answer, instead only giving a simple stare before turning to stick a leg in the trunk and paw into the depths. There was some scrabbling at her attempts, but eventually, she would come with a reward. Just as she said, at her paws was a skull, paled despite the age and retouched by nature. Whoever it had been and whoever moved it were long since gone. “Man, it's been so long...” His lips tugged into a lopsided frown as he leaned in to sniff for a scent himself.

There was nothing, not that he expected to find something. For a moment, West couldn't help but wonder if their spirit had found unrest with the disturbance, but at least now maybe there would be some closure. “Anywhere specific? Maybe we should just bury it here though...” Not like they knew where the body was and it had been here for some time. Seem fitting to just leave it but give it a proper burial.

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Desdemona didn't believe in the afterlife, nor 'spirits,' or even Gods at that matter. She felt if they did, long ago had they abandoned her, and everyday during her youth, she questioned why did they give her such a life. The acceptance that surely they were not around if they would give such hardships to other - thus, the thought of 'disturbing' their spirit, seemed simply questionable. Of course now that she met many who did believe in so, the woman never really said her opinion, and nodded along. Especially as one nearly cursed her for disturbing a previous grave.

She held an odd knack to finding wolf bones.

"Dig by tree," a simple solution to be, but already Desdemona started to do so. Paws already being coated in the mountain dirt.

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Without missing a beat she gave her suggestion, not even waiting to see what he might say before turning to the nearest tree to begin digging. It was starting to become increasingly clear that this woman was a wolf of few words. There was nothing wrong with that of course, but for someone so chatty it always felt as if the air grew still when he encountered someone not.

Glancing once more to the mossy skull, West would follow to offer his larger paws beside hers. Digging a hole wouldn't take long, they only needed to cover a skull after all not a body, so after navigating some of the thicker roots of the tree they would have a suitable nest that would hopefully be the final resting place. “Do you want to have the honors or should I?”

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"I will." As she had found them, and personally dragged out the deceased head from the stump, she felt it was appropriate to place the individual within the grave. Though with so, she looked at West and nodded slightly, before looking down and subtly closing her eyes. A small respect toward them, while no prayers were to be involved, she would hope the afterlife is not darkness.

Then did Desdemona use her paws and shuffled the skull within the hole.

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He had no qualms with her wanting to move the skull. She had found it after all, maybe she felt like it was something she needed to do. Sitting, he would watch as she retrieved and placed the bones into the shallow grave, and only after she gave a nod to him would he follow in her place, closing his own eyes with a bow of his head. He didn't know this wolf, or where they came from, or what they believed in, but he hoped that they were now close to their loved ones just as his family had been back at the stones.

For a moment, he wondered what now of his ancestors who had been buried. Could they still see him even out here or was he no longer under their guiding presence? It felt troubling to be so far, like an invisible tether pulled at his chest to bring him home, but the drag led him everywhere but the stones. This was his home now. A reminder he would push onto himself until he no longer needed reminding. One their moment was up he'd use one of his large paws to start scooping dirt back into place over the old bones.

---

can prob start wrapping up if u want

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Retrieved and buried, with a moment of solemn silence. She too wondered, about her own ancestors. Though she knew her father and his own would curse her so, wishing death upon her fate ; couldn't help but wonder if her mother, was watching, and if she too, would show up in this odd fate of the world. Desdemona knew she was buried within that forest, away from the rest for she was but a sinful woman, who loved the wrong man.

Was her brother, watching her as she did this?

Silence drifted.. A burial of silent between the two, before departing from the area.

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