[Vida] Trespassing

Accompaniment: The Hoosiers - Who Said Anything

I'm coming to terms: I know it didn't mean a thing to you, didn't mean a thing.

She'd been left alone again; there was no telling where her only traveling companion had gone by then. She'd been in the Umbra too long, trying to keep up, and it felt as though his being had just... vanished, blurred amongst the wandering beings who had found their way into the spirit world. The rest of the trip following another clanmate's path was apparently one she needed to take alone. As she slipped back out of the Umbra, her emotions thankfully didn't halt her in her footsteps.

... But for a brief time, she considered going elsewhere.

Maybe if she found someplace new to live, nothing would control the spirits of the dead like they'd been controlled there, and south in Skarvald. Maybe if she found someplace new to live, she could find further answers to what she truly was - things the dire bear Thies couldn't tell her. Maybe if she found someplace new to live... she could leave the regular feeling of abandonment behind.

"You are not among friends," she had been told. Was the spirit right? It was just one of the many things she contemplated as doubt had somehow been woven into her mind. Why was she remembering these words now?

She wasn't an expert tracker; not in the snow. That seemed to have been the skills of others - but she excelled only when the ground hadn't been coated in a white blanket. So as she tried to find her footing, she stumbled and looked around in distress. The world looked different to her: brighter, less ethereal, and confusing.

"Never should've followed..." she spat out bitterly, kicking up a mound of snow with a frustrated growl. "And after I insisted..." They still became separated. Maybe it was a sign. Her stomach turned.

A cold gust of wind blew her hair back from her shoulders. Some tufts flitted against her face. After she sighed and pulled her clothing tighter around herself, the change began.

Her legs began to bend and distort, paws growing as she fought to pull off her boots and strap them to a belt loop. Claws formed on her hands, though her gloves continued to be bearable enough to wear. Her eyes grew rounder and more wolfish, the whites darkening to nothingness, the green in her stare brightening. Her ears elongated and poked out from her hair. And finally, her tail found its way out as she let out a heavy sigh. The raised body temperature and layer of fur helped to keep more of the cold at bay, at least.

Red hair and black clothing on a white landscape proved to be poor camouflage; there wasn't much she could do by way of stealth in such cases. So, it was no surprise that she'd caught something's attention.

As the snow continued to fall, she became more disoriented and frustrated. A few unfamiliar scents reached her nose, emanating from what few bare trees there were. One unsettling thought didn't cross her mind until a low growl sounded from mere paces away: she was in someone else's territory.

One growl grew to two, then four. They'd been following her shortly after she'd left the Umbra - and there was nowhere she could go.

Evidence of the dire bear's trek was inconsistent at best, as if she lingered on the outskirts of his path when he'd been controlled. A few downed limbs caught her attention; one was thick and long enough to use as a makeshift quarterstaff. It seemed she would need it.

Her ears flattened back against her head. Her posture tensed, and she began to backpedal and sidestep. There was one problem: she was having trouble determining where the borders of their territory lie. Besides... they seemed to be more interested in punishing the trespasser.

One of the wolves lunged and snapped at her right leg; she barely skirted away from its teeth. Her heart had already begun to pound. Bracing her stance in the snow, she grasped at the limb in her hands and took a swing at another who lunged. The staff only barely clipped its head, and she growled with frustration. Stopping to shift would have left her vulnerable through the process; she had no time.

"So this is it..." The fur along her body bristled defensively. She wasn't just frightened; she was outright enraged. Why did she think she even had a chance of surviving a trek into the mountains?

It was clear she lacked the strength to handle multiple wolves, but something else came to mind: her spectral wolves. They'd lured others off before. Would it work again? She frantically raced her mind through the process - three emerged from the snow around them, snapping and lunging themselves.

Maybe it was bewilderment at the sight of such lively-looking spirits, or perhaps they'd fallen for it. Regardless, the packmates' attention were drawn to the spirit wolves, who'd begun to taunt and lead them deeper into the mountains.

As they did, Vida slowly began to backpedal once again. Once she felt she was far enough away, she sprinted, her pulse and breathing frantic. As she ran, she fought to think of someplace to hide until she felt it was safe. Only one solution came to mind: an odd, wolfish woman had made mention of a cave in the mountains, one of her little 'secrets.' Though Vida had given off the impression she would leave it as something the odd female could keep to herself, desperation drove her wild searching for the cave in question.

The pads of her paws skidded along the ground as she scrambled into the cave once she finally found it. Snow sprayed up into the air and she frantically dove as far into the small cave as she could. Her eyes wide, she went almost statue still and merely stared out the mouth of the cave, fearing she would be found and cornered.

Time was taken to focus and calm. As soon as she could manage to do so with a clear mind, her vision and hearing were sacrificed; she was attuning to one of the spirit wolves.

Her chest heaved with a sigh of relief. The wolves were continuing to keep them distracted, cleverly mixing up Vida's tracks in the process as best as they could. They couldn't cover it all, but their odd scuffle was proving to keep the wolves busy. Without warning, her spectral creatures bounded in the opposite direction to lead them farther away.

She released her attunement and hunched over in the cave, her head in her hands. And as she tried to collect her thoughts and her nerve, those words came to mind once more...

"You are not among friends."