{Event Location} Super Long Tangle-Weeds

Seeing as downstream was the closest, it seemed the most logical place to check. But as Marina ran along with her freckled nose to the ground, she began to wonder if the edge of the territory might be a better place to start (not that she knew where one territory ended and one began - she was completely naive to the concept of a set territory.) If Tristan really did cower out and leave, she might need to catch him before it was too late.

Eh, she'd catch up to him eventually, even if she did miss him. There was no way this young lover was going to escape Marina!

When the reeds began to loom over her shoulder and the mud began to try and suck in her paws, Marina knew she was approaching the right place. She slowed to a walk - more because she could not run through such muck than because she was concentrating - and sniffed around, her lips parted slightly and her nose twitching madly.

This was what she had been looking for! A job, an adventure! Danger, an elk hunt; drama, two young sweethearts separated; work, searching for Tristan... Marina had been craving excitement, and now she had loads of it.

She tried to keep her other reason for joining the guild out of her happiness. It was day, there were other wolves, and there was no reason to be concerned with the super natural. Still, when the long reeds turned to bank into a shadowy mire, Marina began to shiver despite the thickness of the air. What heartbroken youngster would hide out in here? It was spooky!

There was a sudden splash, and the lass whipped around, flattening her ears and flashing her teeth. It took her a moment to realize that it was her own muddy foot sliding into a puddle that had caused the noise. Giggling nervously, she continued, no longer sure why she was here in the first place. Ah, Tristan! She was looking for him!

The mud became unbearably thick; every paw step yielded a fearsome squelching noise. Her feet splashed green-brown much onto her stomach, and once or twice, onto her muzzle. Pacing around would get her nowhere. Tristan was obviously not within fifty feet of this mire; she must have gone too far.

She decided to call out to the lad. "Tristan? Tristan, where are you? We've got a very sad little lady on our paws, and she misses you dearly! If you're any sort of a man, you better come out and claim her!"

She waited a moment, then gave up. Like any wolf with an ounce of sense, he wouldn't be here. Grunting in disappointment at the wasted effort. she turned to head back. What she saw froze her blood. A dark-furred little wolf was lying there, its muzzle below the mud, its eyes peeking up at her morosely.

Marina screamed, for it was Seamus, and he was dead.

But how could it be? He had died quite awhile ago! He couldn't have ended up here - it was a different river he had drowned in. But it was him, it was surely him!

A wolf less hungry, less anxious, and less superstitious would have paused a minute and noted that it was only a misshapen rock covered in both moss and mud. Marina didn't take the time to examine the "body"; she turned tail and leaped blindly through the wall of reeds. There she paused to catch her breath and make a plan to get out. She couldn't walk past the carcass again, so she would just take the long way. Satisfied with her logic, the now very muddy and lady kept walking, taking a different route.

She hadn't taken three steps when she fell through the ground. The mud there was not mud at all but floating peat, which had collapsed under her weight. The water she had fallen into was very deep, and she felt the river close in over her head. Crying in terror, she fought her way up to the surface. Had the way been clear, she would have simply glided to shore. As it was, she clawed at the unwelcoming reeds, looking desperately for something to pull herself up. She could feel more peat at the bottom, brushing against her back toes, trying to drag her down like quicksand.

She didn't dare make a sound; she was too terrified. She fought her way through the reeds, her mouth shut tight against the bitter-tasting water, searching for the solid ground. The reeds around her panicked her, surrounding her until she was unable to think clearly, crowding her off land with their thick roots.

"Oh, thank you!" she gasped when her claws dug into dirt, real dirt! Heaving herself up with her exhausted muscles, Marina shouldered past the devil-plants and collapsed into the mud. She was filthy, unrecognizable, but she was alive. The ordeal felt like it had been hours, although in reality it was maybe ten seconds.

Now what could she do? She couldn't move, for to he left was a deadly bog and to her right was the carcass of her dead husband, or at least so she thought. Nobody would come this way looking for Tristan, because she had gone too far. She was stuck, probably until she sank into the mud and died. How ironic that she told Issy it would be impossible to get lost!

"Hello?" Marina sang a high-pitched, quavering howl in case anyone was nearby. Then she began to tremble and cry, thinking of Seamus lying ten feet away. She wanted to escape that carcass, that ghost who kept haunting her - now she was trapped by him.

(Wordcount: 964... Sorry guys )

Marina rested, the mud slopping around her already-soaked belly, resigned to her fate. She dried her tears, for it had been a good twenty minutes (although it felt ten times longer) and she was getting tired.

"Marina?" It was Chance's voice. Marina squeaked hopefully, sitting up and trying to shake some of the mud off her body. It was pointless; she looked like a walking mudlump. Chance appeared out of nowhere; the welcome sight sprang right past her and, before she could cry out a warning, into the mire. Marina stared dumbly at him while he dragged himself out, now nearly as muddy as she was.

"Are you ok?" he asked, for the only part of Marina that was actually visible were the two lines running down her cheeks; she had started to cry again.

"I'm alright," she sniffled. Now she began to feel a semblance of embarrassment as it suddenly occurred to her that perhaps her husband wasn't really lying in the mud. Hadn't she been haunted before? Hadn't she seen him everywhere? This time, he had looked so real - she could have touched him if she wished! But, most likely, it was just ghost-play.

Taking a deep breath to calm her shaking body, she nodded with more surety. "I am going to be okay now. Thank you for saving me. I thought I saw my - well, I saw a ghost, you see. It scared me right into the bog behind us and I almost drowned, so I was frightened even more." Relieved, she tilted her head back and laughed. "How silly of me! I saw a ghost, and I thought he was real. I should have learned to recognize them by now; this one haunts me often. But it doesn't matter now, I've gotten you all wet, and here I am going on about how I'm doing when you've come to help me! Thank you, Chance, for coming. I'm afraid I was panicking."

Her babbling faded off into a sigh, and she looked over her mud-slick shoulder at the bog. Ghosts, fictional creatures to most, were very real to Marina; she thought them as real as a bird or a fox. She didn't want to see the ghost again, but she would if Chance was there.

"I'm sure it's gone, anyway." she swallowed. "This is a terrible place for a Tristan to hide. Shall we search elsewhere?"

"Um, i-it's ok," Stuttered Chance, taking a few awkward steps back. "I'm just glad you're alright..."

Marina frowned. Had she weirded him out as well? That would make three wolves today. Ah well - if he didn't want to believe in ghosts, that was his mistake.

Chance moved back to let Marina pass, and she did with false bravado. The ghost will be gone, she assured herself. There's no reason for it to stay lying in the mud.

To take her thoughts off Seamus, she began to chatter idly as they trudged through the mud. "I'm so sorry to get myself lost and panicked - it's embarrassing, really. To think I feared I was going to be left there forever! I'm afraid that I can be a bit of an airhead sometimes, always flitting about in my own thoughts." She paused and smiled. "It was very chivalrous of you to get all muddy for me like you did. I always make sure to thank a gallant act; they're so rare these days! But now we're both filthy. Ah well, what's the difference between being covered in air and being covered in mud? Well, besides the sliminess, and the smell, and mud makes one feel so terribly - oh!"

She had trailed off after that small exclamation, and she stood frozen in terror. The large rock was still there, mostly concealed by dry mud and peat and looking quite possibly like a wolf. Marina paused a moment, her entire body stiff as a board and her mouth open in terror. Then she relaxed and giggled, tip-toeing forward to poke to rock with a dirty paw. "Look at that! It's a rock, Chance! A rock! I'm such an idiot, I thought it was a ghost. My goodness, how embarrassing. What's gotten into me today?"

It was a good thing that she was so covered in mud, for she was blushing fiercely. She had almost killed herself over a stupid rock.

The now dark brown lass was silent for a moment before asking, "Well, now where shall we look?"

- wherever Chance wants to look lol -
(WORDCOUNT: 364)

Trudging through the thick mud sucking at their legs he listened to her quietly as she talked. He did not mind that she did all the talking, not being much of a talking himself, only offering up, "I don't think you're an airhead..." Chance's voice was quiet, barely audible but it was there. He didn't like to think down of anywolf. All wolves were special in their own way and important.

Although he didn't say anything, he disagreed that his act had been chivalrous. He had done nothing special, just come to find her. The mud was just a minor discomfort, it would was off when the got back to the stream.

The male looked up as she exclaimed. Indeed before them lay a rock, partially covered in mud. He tilted his head to look at it, it did look a little like a wolf. "From a distance it could have been a wolf," he said trying to comfort her.

About to reply with a suggestion of which location to search next he was interrupted by his bother coming bounding in. He frowned, momentarily closing his eyes as Chase splashed mud in his face, about the only part of him that hadn't already been covered in mud. Giving his head a shake he dislodged the larger clumps of mud to look at his brother.

"Chase this is Marina. And we can't stay here. Marina and I are searching for a male named Tristan. We were going to go check out the edge of the territory to see if we could find him." His voice was calm, but did hold a slight undertone of annoyance. He didn't like the mud being flung about everywhere, he felt like he was already taking half of the swamp with him he didn't want to take the whole lot!

Chase panted the only part of his body that wasn't covered in mud was his tongue. and that was inside his mouth! He wanted to itch at his eyes because of the small bits of mud in them. Chase looked at the female. Marina. He grinned. His tail wagging through the mud still.

Chase tilted his head. This Marina he used words he didn't understand, he daftly tilted his head and whined. "Can i come? If we founds him can we play in the mud some more?" he asked with a whine and puppy like eyes. He hadn't picked up on the annoyance in his brothers voice instead he cocked his head dumbly sitting in the mud still, his tail wagging around flicking mud everywhere.