Taking time to get dressed means Thomas has a huge head-start on her. This basically means he is nowhere in sight when she finally exits the spring-baths! It also strikes her how odd it is that a wolf can be standing in the middle of a city and none of the townsfolk seem surprised by this at all. Of course since they're all werewolves it wouldn't be ... but it still feels odd.
In any event, people are milling about. If they saw which way Thomas went they're making no indication of it. So ... Redmane has a bit of a problem on her paws, where does she start?
The woman starts.. by sniffing the air and trying to pick up Thomas' scent, while also thinking of where he'd go.
Redmane's nose is assaulted with hundreds of scents all at once! It seems practically impossible to pick out Thomas' in the mix, especially since he recently bathed.
"Gotta rely on behavior then," Redmane grumbles, and heads for the nearest edge of the town, figuring Thomas would run to the woods. "And why did he run anyway?"
The nearest edge is still a fair jog through the city. Thankfully no-one accosts her along the way, not even for a chat about her adventurous life. It may be that she looks moderately annoyed, frankly. Bothering an annoyed werewolf is never good for one's health. As for why he ran, well, who knows? Since when does Thomas do sane things?
So now Redmane finds herself standing at the edge of town and looking into a dimly lit forest. The wind is light and the branches rustle.
"Thomas, if you can hear me, howl!" Redmane calls into the woods.
Since when does Thomas ever do anything he's asked to do? The woods are silent!
The werewolf stalks into the trees, and looks for tracks. Would Thomas have actually covered his tracks? Tracking was never one of her better skills.
The problem with a forest is ... there is a lot of debris and ground covering. It's hard to follow tracks in the woods unless you know exactly what to look for. Hmm ... there may be some disturbance in the fallen leaves and debris heading northwest into the woods. It may be Thomas, it may not.
If nothing else, it could be a wolf who would be able to help her track down Thomas, Redmane figures, and follows the trail.
Minutes pass and the wolven city disappears behind Redmane. Birds chirp up in the canopy and various unseen rodents scurry about in the underbrush, making it rustle. Further in, the trail seems a bit more apparent, or maybe Redmane is getting the hang of it.
She starts moving faster, figuring a more apparent trail is somehow fresher (or at least, easy to follow). She tries not to growl in frustration, and wonders just what Thomas is up to. Could he be setting a trap for her?
Up ahead Redmane seems some movement. The forest is full of shadows, so she couldn't see exactly what it was ... but something definitely moved!
Crouching down, Redmane moves behind a tree and then peeks out to see if she can spot movement again.
Redmane just barely catches the moment. A bushy wolf-tail disappears into the forest ahead!
A-ha! The werewolf stalks after that tail!
Boy does that tail move fast! Redmane finds herself quite challenged to keep up with it, much less close any distance. Just ahead there appears to be a break in the trees, too. It may be a chance to catch up ... or it may be a chance for her prey to run.
Changing to all fours now would let her run better, but Redmane knows it would leave in a somewhat compromised condition as well, so she just runs as best she can on two legs.
And so the tail is outrunning her. It darts into the clearing ahead! Soon Redmane can see what is in the clearing, a timeworn circle of stones. Standing in its center is a white wolf. Light radiates from her ... and she seems translucent. Stalking towards her is a black-furred wolf.
"Oh no!" Redmane gasps. "Thomas, stop RIGHT THERE!" she yells and hurries on.
The black wolf pauses and looks over his shoulder. The white one's head tilts slightly to the side as she eyes Redmane. "Is there something wrong, child?" a soft voice radiates in her mind.
Growling, Redmane says, "He's not for you! Let him go."
"He isn't? Why do you say that? He is a spirit of the wild, he should be with me," the voice says. The white wolf rises to her feet and walks towards the confused-looking Thomas-Wolf.
"But... He's not in his right mind now!" Redmane claims, and calls to Thomas, "Come to me, Thomas."
The white wolf continues on until she's right next to Thomas-Wolf. Her head dips and she rolls her muzzle under his, lifting his nose slightly. "He seems in the proper mind of a wolf to me," the voice claims. As if on cue, Thomas-Wolf makes an odd whimpering sound.
Redmane can't hold back now, and pushes for full wolf form so she can compete!
Oh wow does the change feel good! Redmane can feel her bones squirm within her, some lengthen, some shorten. Her fingers curl and squirm, becoming large canid paws that she soon falls onto because she cannot maintain an upright stance. She feels her fance lengthen and her ears shift about. The world around her seems to explode in new sounds and scents as her senses become even more acute. It's almost intoxicating in its overwhelming embrace. For a minute she finds it hard to even think straight. When she does manage to get a grip on her senses, she finds herself watching the white wolf circling Thomas-Wolf and rubbing against him. Her tail just passed under his chin, teasing it. And naturally ... he play-nips at it!
Growling again, Redmane goes up and doesn't bother with being coy - she brushes her tail right across Thomas's nose.
"Burwurf?" goes Thomas-Wolf and he looks even more confused. "If you wished it, you could become the beta-female of the pack," the voice in her head says right before she finds herself nose to nose with the white forest-spirit. It's then that Redmane feels how powerful the presence of the spirit actually is. She actually has the urge to submit to her; curl her tail down and expose her neck...
Gritting her teeth, Redmane closes her eyes and tries to resist. "I'm a Countess, a Knight.. I've faced bigger challenges than this!" she tells herself.
Redmane feels the warmth of a muzzle brushing against hers. "There now. Calm down. Do you not feel better? Join us. all you have to do is submit to me and I will welcome you into the pack," the voice tells her.
"No!" Redmane barks. "Never by submission!" She hunkers down and spreads her forelegs while her hackles raise up.
"Do you really think you can best me? the voice, Asling, asks calmly. "I am the forest ... you are just an intruding monster, no matter what form you choose to wear. Your old blood is still within you."
"I don't need to best you," Redmane growls. "I just need for Thomas to choose me over you."
"I am beauty and the wild. I can show him passions fey have yet to dream of. What can you offer?" Asling asks.
"Loyalty, love.. adventure!" Redmane claims. "What do you offer to challenge him with? Outsmarting rabbits?"
That question actually seems to give Asling pause. "Do you claim the simple pleasures in life are less than what can be found beyond the forest?" she asks. Poor confused Thomas-Wolf seems to be walking back and forth in a daze behind the white wolf.
"Yes," Redmane claims. "You say he belongs here, but if he stays, then he won't be out there protecting the forest! He is wasted here."
"What is worth protecting if I am alone?" Asling asks next. "You know how it feels to be utterly alone. To wake each morning without someone to share life with, do you not?"
"Yes, but I bore it for the good of others," Redmane claims. "As did Thomas. I sympathize, but you can't just take someone from others." She watches the dazed Thomas-Wolf, and then asks, "Why isn't he talking? What did you do to him?"
"I didn't do anything to him," Asling claims, "He is a part of the wild." A moment later Thomas blinks, his eyes narrow in a rather impish way, then leaps upward and pounces down on Asling! The spirit lets out a very undignified squeak.
"Thomas!" Redmane barks. "Behave yourself!"
"I am," Thomas claims as his muzzle lolls into a grin. "I found the odd spirit I was scenting since the baths. And now I know exactly what she wanted, me. I am amazing and all that ... but really. She could have brought flowers. Or maybe a deer carcass. Does no one know proper courtship these days?"
It's hard, but Redmane manages to get a paw over her face as she ducks her head. "You. Are. Impossible," she mutters.
"You were not drawn to my beauty and the power of the wilds? Asling asks. She almost sounds ... hurt? "I am not enough?"
"What? How am I impossible?" Thomas asks as he climbs off Asling and sits down on his haunches beside her. "Weren't you the one giving off all the scents of season, only to throw me into the water when my body ah, acted on them?"
"How is that my fault?" Redmane asks. "I didn't think you'd react so strongly. Unless it's because you really wanted to react like that to me?" she asks, head tilted.
"Well ... it might have been interesting being a wolf and all," Thomas remarks, jaws parted in a lolling grin.
"Are you claiming it'd be dull otherwise?" Redmane asks, her hackles raising again. "All those times in the past.. were you just faking it?"
"And as for you ... I've known many spirits. You are all very interesting ... but your world is much smaller than mine is. I am honored you would want me to share it with you, but as my friend said ... I have a greater duty to protect your home and the homes of others," Thomas tells Asling. "But ... I may have a solution for you being alone."
"I didn't say dull, I said interesting," Thomas points out. "Really, Muir, you don't need to be so ... insecure. You should also thank me for not biting your tail when you practically stuck it up my nose!"
"Hey, I'm.. I'm.. dealing with weird stuff now," Redmane claims, sitting back on her haunches. "So give me a break!"
"Now, back to my solution for Asling. Do you think Bravil would be willing to become a spirit protector? I know we came to allow him to rest in historie ... but perhaps he would also find peace in guarding the forest around the home he came to love," Thomas suggests.
"Well.. we can do that?" Redmane asks. "But.. what about being with his mate? I guess we can ask him."
"Well, she wants a pack," Thomas points out and noses towards a rather dejected-looking wolf-spirit. "She would just have to be the beta and let Bravil and his mate be the alphas."
"Oh.." Redmane says, eyeing Asling. Then she turns to Thomas and asks, "When did you become a matchmaker?"
"Always have been," Thomas claims, "And can you actually change back ... or are you now stuck. And, ah, now what? Head back to town and ready for dealing with the more difficult matters surrounding his hostory?"
"Change.. back?" Redmane asks. She closes her eyes, and focuses on.. being a werewolf again.
Redmane is not so far along in 'season' that she can't change back. Like before, the shift is very enjoyable ... but soon she's back to being part-wolf. Hurray for hands!
"I forgot to bring a leash for you," Redmane notes once she's back on her feet.
"Like I need one," Thomas remarks. Apparently he intends to remain a wolf. Aisling is now sitting up and shakes herself out. "If you can find me companionship I would be ... grateful. Just howl and I will come," she says just before fading away into the wind.
"You're used to this, aren't you?" Redmane says, waving to where the spirit just stood.
Thomas noses Redmane in a sensitive area. He has a cold nose. "Dealing with crazy women? Yes, I'm very used to it," he claims.
Wolfmane jumps and then tail-swats at Thomas. "I meant spirits," she says. "Not normal things, like pixies and gnomes and bane-sidhe.."
Thomas play-nips Redmane's tail. "Oh. I consider those normal. They've always been in my life," he says as he finally shifts back to the halfway-form.
"I also forgot to bring your clothes," Redmane points out with a lupine grin.
"I'm used to that, too. I have no problems walking through town naked. Well, sort of naked in this form," Thomas counters, grins, then shrugs. "And you didn't have to follow me, you know. I had everything under control."
"You ran out on me!" Redmane says, wagging a finger. "If I let you get away with that, you'll just make it a bad habit."
"I did that to protect you from ... indecent happenings!" Thomas claims. "You were all ... hormonal."
"So you were doing it to keep me from losing control?" Redmane asks, suspiciously.
"Of course I was! I have perfect control of myself," Thomas claims.
"So you won't mind finishing the bath then?" Redmane says teasingly. "You can get all my hard-to-reach places.."
"See, this is what I mean about being hormonal," Thomas says, grins and starts walking back in the direction of town. "Now come on, there is lots to do, bathing included. We haven't even had the official ceremony yet thanking us for our past deeds, as trivial as they were."
"Oh right.. I have to have speech don't I," Redmane says, losing some of her playfulness.
"Or you could just seduce the entire town and they might forget about a speech," Thomas quips. He pauses there and walks a few steps in silence. "Thank you for standing up for me back there with the spirit, by the way. You fought for my freedom, not necessarily because, well ... "
"And you were laughing the whole time, right?" Redmane asks. "Since you had it all under control?"
"No, it just reminded me why you were one of the few people I ever trusted completely," Thomas says, "You worried more about the other person than what you wanted."
"Well, it was a lesson I eventually took to heart," Redmane admits. "In the beginning, it was more of a chore. Penance."
"You're welcome," Thomas says.
Redmane smirks.. sort of.. well, at least she doesn't hurt her face. "You'll help me with the speech, right? I mean, you couldn't have just snuck away from every public speaking engagement."
"No, some I had to run from when they wanted to lynch me. If you want that kind of help ... sure, I'll help!" Thomas remarks, tail wagging all the while. He really doesn't seem to care he has no clothing. But then, he is thick furred.
"Okay, I'll use you as a distraction then," Redmane says. "And use lots of extra soap."