Just couldn't silence my mind.

@Palace

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 Sunlight filtered through thick red leaves as the thick-coated male shifted through the forest. He brushed up against the side of a tree, rubbing his head against it and marking it afterwards, as he walked on. He had begun trying to leave his mark on this land in earnest recently, after having decided that a pack was his goal.  He paused to lap at water rolling through a stream, washing over tiny gray stones.

 He moved on from the stream, brushing aside some bushes as he moved through them, a tiny clump of fur getting caught on a stick and snagging away. He glanced back at it absentmindedly, then turned away from it and moved on, towards the borders. Their claim was not official yet, not by any means, but it didn't mean he couldn't begin to secure the land and potentially bring in new friends to their growing camp. This time, with the premise of staying, not just temporary safety in numbers.

 He moved on from the stream, brushing aside some bushes as he moved through them, a tiny clump of fur getting caught on a stick and snagging away. He glanced back at it absentmindedly, then turned away from it and moved on, towards the borders. Their claim was not official yet, not by any means, but it didn't mean he couldn't begin to secure the land and potentially bring in new friends to their growing camp. This time, with the premise of staying, not just temporary safety in numbers.

 He wanted wolves who would stay and become a part of the family.

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+2

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A red forest did not feel like the weirdest thing in the world to Palace. He felt like at some point he had heard of some weirdly colored forest, but everything was escaping his mind. Two nights ago he had awoken, deep inside a cave. He had to dig his way out. It was an event that could be nightmare-inducing. Once out, he had realized his memories were gone. All he knew is what he felt, and he felt utterly alone.

     As he had traveled in a random direction, the trees had started to change. It was like they had sucked up blood and showed it through their leaves. At first, Palace had felt frightened, as if a spirit were to start haunting him, but he had pressed forward. The dirt was dark against his paws, and the light seemed to filter through the leaves to give life a red tint.

     “Ah!” He breathed aloud, his golden eyes catching onto a figure. The slope of their shoulders, the ridge of their nose - it was all something familiar. Well, it was like himself. The feeling of them somehow being unique came over him, and he felt there was some kind of blood trust between the oddly appearing wolves. “You’re like me, yes?” Palace asked, his fur being snagged on the bush to mix with the stranger’s.

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+1

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I'mma make a new thread for Tiras/Crux so we can just keep going in this one @Palace !

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 Oh! Crux looked over at the stranger and instantly recognized himself in him. The same sloped face, the same five toes on each foot. It was as if this stranger was himself from another world, framed by the red leaves of the forest and the bushes wherewithin.

 “That we are!” He stepped towards the stranger, sniffing intensely to try to pick up some familiar scent. There it was - vague, but reminiscent of his father, whose face failed him but whose form mirrored this wolf almost exactly. “Have you woken here also, unaware of your surroundings?” Ah, he forgot himself. He gave himself a shake, then indicated to the surrounding forest. “This is Bleakwood,” a forced chuckled, “Not so bleak in the sun, but it gets spooky sometimes.” He was feeling more and more self conscious about the name of the forest.

 Should they rename it? He considered taking the idea to the others at the camp. Surely it wasn't too late to rename the land, right? So far it felt like every stranger he'd told the name to had squinted at it in disbelief. As silly as it sounded, perhaps Bleedwood would have been a better name for it. He was sure they would have some ideas for something that fit the woods better.

 Damn, was he bad at names or what.

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As Crux came closer to Palace, the other did the same. While Crux seemed to recognize some scent within Palace’s fur, Palace found nothing. But they both appeared too alike to deny that they must be alike in some way that went further than appearance. A slow wag started, and despite losing what seemed to be all his memories, he felt like he had at least found someone he could possibly call friend, maybe even family.

“Yes. I don’t know how, but I woke up in a cave. No idea how I got there, or really well, anything.” All he had was his name and his feelings. But this land, this Bleakwood, he found it interesting. It didn’t cross his mind that Crux had come up with the name - he assumed that all these places were already named, already discovered. Instead, he just nodded, looking around at the red trees.

“Do you remember anything, by chance?” He scuffed his paws in the dark dirt. While he had found someone like him, he knew there was more than he couldn’t remember. He had a whole life, and he knew it in his marrow. There was a fire, somewhere, and he could still smell it. He missed the fire. Crux seemed to be more at ease with everything, maybe he was already settled with whatever had happened.

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 It was just as he had expected - this stranger so like himself was also lost. Unaware of his surroundings, new to the forest around them and in fact the world around them. “Bits and pieces. I woke in this forest,” he indicated lamely towards the vague direction of Wake Point, the spot he'd decided to name, where he and Mordecai had awoken not too far apart. Within snoring distance, in fact. “But it's as if my memories from before are underwater. I can see their shape, but I can't grasp them. They're just too far in to reach.”

 As if he tried to swim in after them, he'd drown.

 He gave a sharp shake of his form, though. The red trees here were home and he would make them hospitable for his own kind: those that wished to join him and become family. “If you've just woken, I don't suppose you have a place to stay?” He tilted his head. “I'm forming a pack, right here in Bleakwood. It's... Okay, so. It's a group of loners so far but we're going to make it into a pack.” He laughed and shrugged. “Event Horizon, I've decided to call us.” The rest of the group except for maybe Mordecai hadn't heard the name yet, but he'd already started using it in his head.

 He just hoped the rest would agree.

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+1

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     Palace figured it was probably a lot nicer to wake up under these red trees than under the heavy dark of a cave, forced to dig himself out. He was sure that he’d be having nightmares about it all in the coming nights. Sleeping under the stars would have to settle his mind. The white and starry wolf had vague memories, and Palace wondered if they could somehow match up to his feeling - a stupid idea,  but one he thought of anyways. 

    “Event Horizon sounds nice.” Even if they were just a ragtag bunch of loners, Palace didn’t mind the idea. He knew that Before he had been a part of a pack, a family. It felt right to go with Crux. “Yeah, I’d like to be with you guys. I can probably do...something.” He was trying to remember his job, and the smell of fire filled his mind, but it didn’t connect anything to him. 

    “Oh, uh. By the way, name’s Palace.” He realized they hadn’t exchanged names, and if they were to be packmates it seemed right to know his new leader’s name. Maybe as time passed, he would remember more of his home, but for now, he felt content with following this stranger like him. Besides, it didn’t seem like he was going back home anytime soon.

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 Crux's tail wagged at the name being approved. Excellent, that was another face for the pack - one somehow familiar even if not directly from his own memories. He was pleased and he was unable to hold back a smile. It was exciting, was all! He was excited to finally have a place to call home that wasn't full of murderous monsters who wanted to rip him limb from limb if he or his mothers happened to hurt their poor feelings.

 The newcomer didn't know what he could do so Crux shrugged. “We can figure it out after you've settled in a bit. We're still trying to mark out the forest as ours, so ranks won't be super important quite yet.” Right now, it was an everybody-do-what-you-can thing. Watch the kids, hunt. Try to mark the borders of the forest. Greet newcomers. So far it'd mostly been Crux taking on the outside-camp tasks, but he felt like this wolf would be good for it.

 Oh, right. Names. Those were... important, weren't they. “Ah. Yes, I'm Crux. Prince Crux to some, so you can call me that if you want, but if not then that's alright.” Mordecai called him Prince Crux, which would have pleased his mother. Kore called him Big Moon which was honestly adorable. The rest just called him his name so far, but that was alright. He didn't mind it, truly.

 He turned. “Come on, I'll show you the way in.” If Palace was agreeable, he'd lead the way towards the island camp, where he'd show Palace to a place where he could make into his den.

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I'm good to go, lmk if you want to go another round in this thread or we can finish with your post!

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Palace knew he could fight and hunt, but he knew there was something else he could do. He hoped that eventually some kind of muscle memory would kick in and show it to him. For now, though, he would settle with just helping the pack build - something clicked, but he wasn’t sure. A mental note was put down, something about building.

Apparently he was in the presence of a prince, and Palace gave a sort of small playful bow. “Prince Crux.” Most likely he would be informal with Crux most of the time, but he was smart enough when to slip into being formal with his new leader. With Crux leading the way, Palace happily followed behind him.

we can call it done with this~

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