little doe

"Wake up."

Bran had come across the woman, snoozing or perhaps unconscious. His face cut a neutral look however deep inside he was concerned. No one in their right mind would... simply sleep in the middle of a well-trod path? This one had to have freshly slipped into the word. He hadn't found many of them, but they did exist. Upon a time, he had been in the same proverbial boat as her. Potentially, anyway. He didn't know if she just fell asleep. 

"You cannot sleep here."

He resisted pressing his cold nose against her cheek in order to wake her up. Instead, the man paced a bit on the spot. Hesitant. Uncertain. Wondering how to deal with this. There were too many packs in the area, and unknown to him if they could take advantage of sleeping women. They probably would if he didn't know them personally. He always assumed the worst. And though his voice was soft, the masculinity of it remained. She could flicker awake and start from him.

He tried to relax his shoulder fur and appear as non-threatening as possible.

Once the blues of her eyes opened, he stepped back immediately. Attempting to give the woman some much-needed room. "Are you okay?" he asked her calmly, tilting his head.

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The news had just been broken. It was happening, and there was nothing within her power to stop it.

Rihla's heart wrenched itself down the centre, a guttural sob clawing its way up her throat, begging for its release. Despite the betrayal of emotion in her eyes, the woman simply nodded, her legs trembling like toothpicks. 

Not a word surpassed the tight line drawn upon her lips, retreating to what would soon become her former nest. Her world was shattering, the splinters stabbing through her very being, destroying the life she'd made for herself. What was she to become? For once, what lie ahead remained uncertain. Rihla would be moving forwards blind.

Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, allowing the lids of her eyes to squeeze shut, welcoming sleep as it overtook her.

A voice broke through her dreamless rest, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. Perhaps if she pretended to be lost in a dream, they'd leave her alone, come back for her another day. It would give her time to leave.. To prepare for the hunt that would ensue.

Peeling a singular blue eye open, a set of unfamiliar paws stood before her. The lack of cave walls and bedding caused the woman to jolt upright, "Who are you? Where have you taken me?" She demanded, scrutinising gaze shooting an uncertain look at the man. 

Where she was... didn't concern her as much as it should have. 

Collecting her breath, Rihla examined the situation she'd somehow gotten herself into. The territory was unfamiliar, and the same could be said for the mysterious face speaking to her. "Am I okay?" Rihla was breathless as she parroted his question, blue eyes falling to her paws quizzically.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she forced a pitifully small, yet eager grin. 

"I suppose I'm fine." 
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As expected, she was alarmed and uneasy. Bran did not move or even flinch, a man made of stone and walls too difficult to break. If one made the effort, one could climb. Alas, no one seemed to really make that trek. He waited for the other to compose herself. She seemed to be one of the newly risen, the mindset of a child compared to the knowledge offered of this world. "I found you here," he replied patiently "you did not appear harmed to me." But he could not know what dangers lurked in the mind; Bran could only assume.

She went to proclaim she 'supposed' she was fine. He nods. "There are too many communities here to just pass out and sleep," The man informs her "I can only speak for the virtue of my own" His amber eyes glanced at her white points, realizing even an Elkshirian could take offense and perhaps attack her. Shameful, he saw no reason to shun the woman outright. Perhaps she would become annoying to him, but she was only lost right now "it is unwise to be in the open, alone." He bit a sigh back, relieved at least she did not appear harmed. He had got here in time.

"My name is Godbrand, of Elkshire" he adds "do you remember your name? Do... you recall anything?"

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"You found me here?" A singular brow rose with her question, uncertainty lacing her features. Rihla could hardly believe it. Though he was right, her body didn't ache with any physical wounds, perhaps a bit of stiffness in her joints caused by an uncomfortable sleep. "Well thank you... For not murdering me in my sleep." She offered a chuckle, shrugging her shoulders as she did so.

The name Elkshire was foreign and unfamiliar. She'd never heard of such a pack--how far had she gone? Rihla's ears twitched with little interest as he informed her of the possible casualties that might result if she were to ever nap on a path again.

"What a unique name you have, Godbrand of Elkshire." Rihla spoke honestly, blue eyes watching him curiously now. 

She blinked, twice, before recalling her name. "Oh! I'm Rihla." Her grin turned more sheepish, warmth spreading through her cheeks. "As for my home... I guess I don't really have one anymore." Wherever she was now would have to make due. Even if she desired to return home, Rihla's sense of direction was horrible, as were her homelands. 

"Now as for how I've gotten myself into this mess... I couldn't tell you a single clue."
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She had the right to be shocked. Before this world, in the High Elk's Light, he had slipped into many others. Always as a wolf, his original and true body, though he had been asked upon a time if he had been anything else. It was time to explain this world, he supposed, to this little doe. "Hmm" he grunted at her joke, deadpan. He did, however, lift a brow casually "there would be no joy in killing someone while they slept" That was the extent of his joking, but she could flinch away and perhaps run screaming at that "I don't kill people anyway." He never had killed another wolf.

But she didn't know that. She was probably taking all this with a grain of salt. "I — the first part was a joke" he added, not wishing her to run screaming. Not because of anything personal, but because if she did run off... There would be no telling if she found answers to arriving here with another. "I am terrible at jokes" Bran further admitted, his face returning its usual expression. Calm and stoic. This Rihla did not seem put off by napping in unfit areas though. "if my full title and name are too much, I have accepted 'Bran' in place of it." He adds to the woman, who stumbled over recalling much of anything.

Her name excluded, Rihla told him not much. It wasn't his place to prod anyway. "Rihla" he repeats, giving a nod "it is normal here to not remember how you came to this world. I arrived in September of this year, waking much the same way as you did" On Greenwood's border, of all things "this... is a separate world from the one you knew. A different realm. You are among many who have slipped into this world. It has its own deity, though others have taken on gods of other worlds to feel... I suspect, anyway, at home and in peace." Bran shrugs lightly. Clinging to what one knew was both acceptable and unhealthy. He had accepted The High Elk in favor of his own gods, who never spoke to him.

"Though, if you lost your home before arriving in this world... I am sorry."

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Her smile only spread, Rihla's expression turning to something more amused as the man stumbled to explain himself. Before he could excuse himself any further, Rihla waved a dismissive paw. "Don't tie your tongue in a knot!" She snickered, "I'm sure some of your jokes are wonderful, Bran." She added, her tone sincere and reassuring.

She was thankful that there was no need to address him by his full name. By no means was it intimidating--just a mouthful--and Rihla usually found herself tongue-tied. 

Rihla was thankful he didn't seem to pry or stare too much. He was rather casual, despite the extreme lack of emotion and near-constant dead-pan expression on his face. Perhaps it would become a future challenge to make the man smile. 

Forcing her jaw to remain shut, a ball of worry blossomed in her stomach. "A different realm?" 

Her former home was gone. That little ball of worry grew into a swarm of hopeful butterflies. There would be no hunt for her blood, no need to every worry about treading too close to her former borders, nor encountering one of their patrols. "Among many.. Huh.. How many have slipped into this supposed realm, do you think?" Her head tilted with her question.

This could mean a new beginning. The idea was exciting, although terrifying as well. Where would she go? Rihla hadn't the faintest clue of where borders sat--nonetheless who was and wasn't friendly.
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"I... somehow doubt that," He replied in a logical manner, lips turning into a frown "you are perhaps the first one to laugh so openly in my presence." At his expense, he could not say. Rihla seemed to be optimistic and kind, so he would doubt she was making fun of him. Still, the presence of laughter was confusing and new to him. He spoke so frankly unless hiding things — for, what he assumed to be, others' sakes. At least he attempted to be considerate.

But her joy turned to confusion, worry, and eventually wonder.

It was amusing to see someone go through 'stages'. Barring grief, that is. She switched between them so fast, too fast. He worried that she wasn't retaining the information in an acceptable way. "Many" he repeats her use of the word "enough to start new societies, enough to start coupling and making true natives of this realm." He thinks upon Queen Celnes, who had two litters this date. Edith, Calhoun, Warwick, Faust... Perhaps even more children in her future.

He looked to the right of them. "There is a pack called Nightwalkers over the mountain," Bran informed Rihla "below us is one I have not met, but am aware of. Their name escapes me" He eventually slipped to Elkshire, at the very bottom "my pack is called Elkshire. We worship the High Elk, as He is the deity of this realm. I do not know if other packs are being formed in this location though, but this is just one of many other regions."

He paused, allowing this to sink into her.

"Above us is the Mountains, and to the right of them are the Plains. Here is called Temperate. Above the Mountains is a Tundra, and there is a Desert past the Plains. I've never been. There are quite a few wolves and other creatures who have woken here. It is safe to assume most of them have unless born here."

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