Uprooted

Her new body came with a feature that was both useful and highly unpleasant: the ability to smell rot from much too far away.

Eventually, she’d given into her curiosity. She had to know what was stinking up the woods in every direction. And dispose of whatever it had been before it drove her mad.

If she wasn’t already mad. Velyre laughed bitterly to herself.

Here, the ghost-town melded with the forest. A grand gnarled tree spread among dilapidated brick and stone. Where the roots had yet to take hold, ivy and moss covered the structures like strange green feathers. She wondered why the vegetation had not reclaimed the town’s heart yet; perhaps it had not been abandoned as long ago as it seemed. These buildings certainly looked…different. As if they had once belonged somewhere else, and been placed here later.

Velyre’s stomach churned uneasily.

As much as she wanted to poke her nose into the dark, gaping doorways, something held her back. Her hackles stood on end. Under the pungent odour of death, a subtler scent made itself known.

“Who’s there?” Velyre said, teeth bared with suspicion. She didn’t quite growl, but she stood tall and alert. She was really starting to hate being snuck up on. How did they all know where to find her, anyway?

for Sonder! @haru

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After his initial meeting with the Velarion lord, Faust, Sonder knew it was time for him to find his way out of his lands. He wasn't one of those snakes that would remain where they were not wanted. He'd rather die than be like them. Honor meant everything to him, and he would do his damn best to be as honorable as possible.

Finding this place seemed like a joke. Even in a new land, it seemed humans had tried to take over but lost to nature. Sonder could only snicker as he made his way through the dank buildings. A familiar stench permeated the air and almost made him gag. He recognized it from his time with Pa. Something died here and was rotting somewhere in those dark tunnels. Just the thought made him sick. But also made him realize something had to have killed it. A soft scoff left him as he continued walking. “Ain't nothing gonna touch me in here.” Sonder hadn't smelled another creature in here nor heard anything, so he had to be alone.

That is, until a growl sounded from the entrance of the buildings. Son paused to glance over his shoulder. Might as well show myself. He thought as he turned around and padded over to the source of the sound. God, he hated having company. He just wanted to explore the area, and maybe find himself an interesting keepsake or something.

As he came closer to the entrance, Sonder could make out the shape of another. “I'm sorry, Miss! Didn't mean to scare ya.” He drawled as he stepped out into the sunlight. He kept a loose smile on his face, hoping his friendly demeanor kept her from launching herself at him. He didn't like hurting ladies, but would if this one decided to fight him.

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@Velyre <3
so sorry for the wait !! school's dominating my time right now, but will try to reply sooner!

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@Sonder no worries at all!!

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Somehow, she had never expected that accent to come out of a wolf’s mouth. It was a vaguely familiar one, though she had only heard it once or twice in her old life. She was so surprised that for a moment, she nearly forgot about why she’d come here to begin with. Velyre stared.

Then she blinked, some of the tension slipping from her stance. To his apology, Vel said nothing. Her ears stayed flat with annoyance. There was a smell of wolves about him, and not of those she had come to recognize; yet she did not know enough to pin him as one of her…neighbours. She stepped back, wary yet thoughtful.

“You probably shouldn’t be here,” Vel noted with narrowed eyes. In direct opposition to her words, however, she tilted her head with curiosity. Other wolves weren’t supposed to trespass on the Saltwoods’ boundaries…but she had more pressing worries.

And the stranger was, well, strange. Velyre was drawn to strange.

”Did you come here because of…that, too?”

She inclined her head towards the stench of rot emanating from one of the ruined doorways.

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@Velyre <3

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An easy grin appeared as Sonder took a few steps out of the shadows. Though he would never admit it, he did like the fact she was staring. It would be strange if he didn't appreciate a woman's attention. But upon noticing the annoyance she still showed, his grin faltered. “Don't worry, I'm not here to cause problems for ya.” Son offered her a dip of his head, trying his best to mimic Faust's polite behavior. Maybe this woman was like him and also recognized the act. He was trying his best to be polite, and respectful.

A pang of dismay hit the silver man when the woman took a step back. Did she, not like him? He was trying his best! “I'm just passin' through. I'll be gone before you know it.” Sonder hummed, friendly expression dropping to one of cool indifference. If the woman was going to play this game, he would as well.

But at her question, his eyes brightened. “You smelled that too?” He asked, his gaze following hers to the shadows. Then that grin reappeared. “You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?” Sonder almost bolted into the shadows at the idea. Sonder knew something was dead in those shadowy halls, but he didn't know what was dead. And just thinking of discovering it got him excited.

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@Sonder misc skill: gravedigger

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Velyre may have asked the question, yet she was very surprised by his reaction. Pleasantly so, in fact. She continued to stare at Sonder, now with a look of deep fascination—ears forward with interest. (Although the reason for that interest was probably not what he imagined. Or wanted.)

Here she’d been, bored and bothered by the stench, and now she’d found someone who not only was unusual—but who also shared some of her specific brand of unusualness.

“Yes,” Velyre answered. She stepped towards the dark archway the smell was coming from. Her tail swished in spite of herself.

“And you can’t leave yet,” she practically commanded him. “You have to help me with this.” Whatever was in there had to be sizeable—and as determined as she was, her dainty figure was not an asset when it came to dragging bodies.

She walked into the ruined building first. Her pale form looked ghostly in the half-light, her narrow limbs stepping carefully and slowly along the cracked stone.

She spotted it: a reeking shape crumpled in the corner. Vel tried to grab it in her jaws, resisting the urge to gag. No matter how she pulled, however, she couldn’t seem to get it to budge.

“I think it’s stuck,” she said in a muffled voice.

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@Velyre <3 misc skill: gravedigger

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Sonder's signature grin remained painted upon his lips as he noticed the interest in her gaze. The cowboy always did enjoy the attention of a pretty lady. And this was one pretty lady. At the sound of her reply, he bobbed his head. “No one can resist that smell, can they?” He hummed as he turned his head to watch her walk past the archway. “I never planned on leaving, Miss.” He muttered, eyes darting to her fading form. Did she think him some uncivilized man? Some degenerate who would leave her here alone? God, how she wounded him.

With a huff, Sonder padded after her, muttering under his breath about how much he wished he had left. His tail lashing slowed once he saw the woman struggling with a dark shape in the corner of what he assumed was a room. He smirked as he watched her struggle to pull it, knowing she would need his help to get it out of there. And that thought alone cheered him right up.

“Allow me to get that for you, Miss.” Son grinned as he came to her side, though it fell the moment he came close to the corpse. The rancid aroma forced its way into his nose, shoving itself into his throat. God, he almost gagged. He could taste how much it had decomposed in this dark corner, feel it in how soft the flesh had become. Whatever it was, it had come here to die. With a deep breath, the man began to tug at the stuck corpse, hoping to dislodge it from its resting place. Uncle would be ashamed of him, disturbing the dead like this. But how could he leave the lady to do the dirty work?

Sonder finally dislodged the decaying corpse from whatever kept it in this dark corner but immediately released it. “What in the hell!” He barked, sputtering and gagging at the sour taste in his mouth. God, he had dealt with the dead before but it never tasted like this. His eyes peered down at the crumpled shape at his paws then looked at the woman. “Let's get this the hell out of here.” He grumbled, trying to stop gagging at the taste that just wouldn't leave his mouth. Oh, how he regretted following her now.

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No one can resist that smell, can they? It occurred to Velyre, then, that maybe what had been considered strange for a human was more normal for a wolf. Hm. Well, she’d always been of the opinion that dogs were better than people. The average wolf had a much higher baseline. And a truly average wolf, she imagined, would not crawl into a dark, suspicious cavern merely in search of dead things.

Fortunately for him, she missed his subsequent comment. As he approached, she let go of the corpse and stepped out of the way. She watched, amused, as he recoiled in disgust. It hardly showed on her face, but it really was quite entertaining. Men could be so squeamish.

“Bring it into the light,” Vel said. There wasn’t much room for her to help him, though she did give it a try, circling around to the other side to try and nudge the rotting thing along. Whatever had died here had been no herbivore, that much she could guess; even she curled her lips in distaste.

She shouldn’t have been as surprised as she was when the rotting thing was at last dragged into the open.

“Oh,” Vel noted.

Out here, the smell was far worse than it had ever been. The corpse was so decayed that it was difficult to tell exactly what species the individual had been, but there was little doubt that they had once been canine. A large one, too; if not a wolf, then perhaps a dog or wolf-dog. They did not smell like any of her crew mates, thankfully. She should probably report this to Wake and Esmerelda later, but for now…

Velyre surveyed the corpse in silence for a moment.

“…Should we…bury them?”

Did wolves even bury their dead? She looked up to meet the stranger’s green eyes, as if searching his face for answers. The thought of just…leaving the body here felt wrong. Velyre might be a bit creepy and overfond of gore, but she wasn’t completely heartless.

She didn’t want her new acquaintance to skitter off too soon, anyway. The alive one, that was.

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@Sonder !!! Misc skill: gravedigger

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@Velyre <3 misc skill: gravedigger

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Sonder could sense the woman's "pleasure" at seeing him gag. Sure, it was amusing for her, given that she wasn't the one who had to have the rotten juice in her mouth. Son had handled the dead quite often with Pa whenever they had to be the executioners, though it was not always something he wanted to do. But hell, who was he to tell his father no?

“Yes, ma’am.” He grumbled, eyes flicking from the woman to the carcass. Tightening his grip on the deceased, Sonder finally dragged it onto the weathered stone walkway. Sonder stood up from the corpse and moved to stand beside the woman. Poor creature. The body was unrecognizable, past an identifiable stage.

At the woman’s words, Sonder lifted his gaze from the deceased to look at her. “It's the right thing to do.” He murmured in reply to her question. Sonder knew burying the deceased was required; it was returning them to the earth. Letting their soul rest and move on. Whoever this poor canine was, they deserved a proper burial.

Sonder knew this was something he couldn’t keep from anyone he encountered. What if this carcass was a beloved pack member? Someone’s son, husband, father.

Sonder brushed past the woman to a recessed area between the gnarling roots of a large tree. With a firm nod of his head, Sonder turned to look at the woman, whose name he realized he didn't know. “Here?” He asked, voice a low hum. While he asked to be polite, Sonder knew it was where the deceased deserved to be buried. They deserved a peaceful resting place that could quiet their loved ones' fears. The alcove would be their new home, but Sonder wanted the woman to have a say. It was only proper.

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Velyre was quiet as she looked the tree up and down. She studied its gnarled, twisting roots, the way some of them arched off the ground. She noticed the soft, dappled light that filtered through its verdant leafy branches, and listened to the rustling of the leaves. Yes, she could see why he suggested this spot.

She turned to him and nodded. Then she set to work digging. Her paws were small and dainty compared to the male’s, but this time, she did her best to help as much as she could. She said nothing as she worked.

By the time they’d deepened the depression enough to fit the wolf’s body, Velyre was panting hard. She couldn’t rest, though: now they had to fill the hole, which somehow wasn’t much easier than digging it.

When she was done, she lifted a paw to wipe some grime off her normally pristine pale fur. She was definitely going to need a bath after this. Several baths.

But first, there were rites to complete. Vel sat down a little ways away, gesturing to the other wolf to join her. She couldn’t remember the exact wording of the prayer spoken at her father’s funeral, but she did her best to come up with something that approximated it. She was a wolf with a soul, and she was sure that her companion was as well; she supposed that there was no reason to believe this beast had not had a soul, either.

When she finished, she sat there in silence for a time.

“I’m Velyre,” she blurted randomly. “Saltwoods.”

Well, they’d buried a body together. There was a certain kinship in…that. He deserved to know her name, at the very least.

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misc skill: gravedigger & stylist

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While the ghostly woman dug the deceased's grave, Sonder busied himself preparing them for burial. He first rubbed some herbs and flowers on the body to mask the scent of death. Once content with the deceased's aroma, he carefully placed flowers and leaves in their fur, hoping to give them a peaceful sendoff. Uncle had always said that sending off the dead with a clean appearance pleased their souls and allowed them to enjoy their rest. Judging from the state of decay, Sonder could infer that the poor canid did not have a swift death. And as a final gift, the man wanted to give them a well-deserved funeral.

Noticing the woman had finished, Sonder obeyed her gesture and seated himself beside her. Bowing his head, he murmured the prayer she spoke, then quietly whispered the words he said at his mother's funeral. The poor wolf deserved this much after such a death. Once the woman fell silent, he rose and padded towards the covered body. Son lowered his head, leaving a single daisy atop the mound. “May you have an eternal rest.” He whispered and returned to her side.

Her sudden words made him jerk his head up. A smile quirked his lips as he met her gaze. “Sonder. Velaris. It's a pleasure to meet you.” He replied, dipping his head in greeting, glad Faust had taught him this new way to greet others. Sonder did not expect the woman to introduce herself after their makeshift funeral, but he was pleased she did. They had a connection now, though it was formed in the oddest of situations.

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Sonder. She’d remember his name, at least. Velyre struggled with them at times, but this wolf would stick in her memory. The circumstances made sure of that. And he was kind and handsome, and maybe a little bit like her too.

Suddenly embarrassed, Velyre looked away, eyes darting over the mound of dirt to the trees around them.

“…I need to take a bath,” Velyre grumbled, turning away from the other. As she took a few steps, however, she paused and looked over her shoulder.

“I’ll…see you around?” She tried not to sound too hopeful. Or too awkward.

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