Silvertip Mountain all that glitters is gold

@Queenie, set today late afternoon

the band of wolves living in ravensblood forest had not yet solidified their claim to those dark woods. their scent markers still remained: a claim nonetheless, but a weak one, and their numbers seemed quite low. alas, it was a claim that aditya chose to respect, and he skirted the edge of the territory, eyes set on the mountain ahead.

grayday had once called this peak home, but sunny and dawn had not: they were born, far to the east and over the mountains, after their father had left silvertip. adi wondered why the pack living there had disbanded, and ruminated on this thought until he arrived at this peak he intended to explore.

no goal, no mission. just to look around. they had not come here on the scouting mission for obvious reasons--the scent left behind by the old pack was nearly gone, and aditya didn't see a soul as he meandered up the peak. but it was terribly close to the plateau, and he was curious.

his brown-gray pelt blending into the cliffs, adi continued to climb until, after leaping a small distance from one overhang to the other, his jaw dropped. he had found a cave, nestled into the side of the mountain, indirectly facing the sea. aditya wouldn't have marveled at some cave save that this cave glittered brilliantly in the late afternoon sun, thousands of tiny crystals winking like golden stars.

blinking slowly, he padded into the cave in a daze, an incredulous grin stretching across his face without his willing it. he had heard tales of heaven many times before, and surely this must be something akin to that ethereal place of lore.

After leaving the coast, Queenie had made a point to explore the mountain range she had initially come through. The first time passing by, she'd been on the run and didn't pay attention to the details of the landscape. Now, on her second round, she could see just how much had been missed. The view from atop the mountain was like nothing she'd seen before; its beauty came second to only one thing, and that was the way the world looked when she sat upon her throne back at home. Then, Queenie had been seeing through the lens of power, and now she was watching powerlessly. 

Everything had been left behind, but the weight of what she had done didn't hit her until that moment, standing at the top of the world.

Queenie took a deep breath and turned back to start heading back down the mountain (she wasn't a fan of thinking, especially about topics like this) but her attention was stolen by the slight glint of light in the mouth of a cave. She cocked her head curiously and took a few slow steps forward. 

C'est pas correct, non. Queenie looked at her father with clear disappointment in her eyes. Pas correct pour vous, mais je l'aime papa. It was hard to get him to change his mind on matters like this, but Queenie knew she had to try. Bruce scoffed and turned his shoulder to her, his attention now back on the wolfess licking affectionately (and submissively, as if to cater to the pride of her owner) at his maw. Si je te revois avec elle, je tuerai la.

Oh, I didn't... Queenie took a step back, afraid that she was intruding on the stranger, and began to walk away.

the silence of the place was disturbed by pawsteps just outside the mouth of the cave, and aditya's head swung backwards, turning quickly enough to stay alert but not so fast as to alarm the wolf, should it be a friend. it was a young woman, around pema's age, with a mottled pelt and incredibly blue eyes.

"wait, no," he said as she began to walk away after offering a half-apology, his voice firm but kind. "you don't have to go." he remembered the red-black wolf in the sunspire mountains, his vitriol. aditya was not that wolf. "it's okay."

he took a step forward, smiling. "isn't this place magnificent?" he asked, noting internally that there was really only one answer to this question. what jaded man or woman would truly respond with 'no'? really, he just wanted to make this she-wolf feel comfortable, with no need to flee a stranger.

Her retreat halted once she realized that he was okay with, or rather preferred her company. Queenie turned back to look at him, saying nothing, but nodding her head in agreeance. She took a moment to look around and notice everything that she could from the quartz patches to the frosted waterway. The lights shimmered and bounced from surface to surface, always landing back where they'd begun. Syèl la, she whispered to herself, not knowing that this was the same thought the stranger had had only moments before.

What's your name? she asked, her voice naturally a bit demanding. Queenie took note of this male, comparing him to the ones she'd known before. He seemed like he was a nice fellow, but they could all do damage; she knew this a bit too well.

his eyebrows lifted slightly as the foreign words fell out of her mouth in a whisper, but said nothing in return to this sentiment of hers. syèl la. her voice was filled with wonder. then she spoke again, this time in the common tongue, her voice sharper than before.

"aditya," he offered willingly. "yours?"

he inhaled and held back a small sound; she smelled faintly of the plateau. when had she been there, and why? instinctively, he craned his head ever-so-slightly to peer at her, looking at her backside. though with no ill-intent whatsoever: he was making sure she had a tail.

she had a tail. letting out his breath in a small, faint sigh, he gave her a smile once more. "i've been on my guard lately," aditya explained, lest she find this long look of his strange. "a lone wolf attacked my family, and we've been on the lookout."

Queenie frowned slightly and wondered whether stepping into the cave with this Aditya had been the best decision. I've got a few, she said with a certain malaise behind her words, Queenie. Part of her wanted to tell him her name was Stephanie; to hear someone call her by her real name again would have been something uniquely comforting, even if it was a stranger, but it didn't quite feel right. Maybe she'd forgotten how her mother had said it. Any other way sounded too foreign. 

She moved slightly so that his focus could be given back to her face rather than her backside (there was a stiff lash of her tail to show that she was a bit uncomfortable with his glance), but figured that she had no real reason to be afraid. She could defend herself if Aditya tried anything, so the vague feeling of threat was momentarily put to the side. Is everyone okay? Queenie didn't really care much about his family in specific, but it had made her think of her own; they'd been known for terrorizing the locals, and even though the rest of the band seemed to enjoy themselves, she'd always been afraid of hurting someone in the process.

he nodded. "they're fine, now," aditya said shortly. "but she escaped. she had no tail," he added, as a way of explanation for his intrusive gaze. "i meant no discomfort toward you. i did not see the attack, so i don't know what exactly this woman looks like."

moving on, he repeated her name--"queenie." then, "are you alone, or with a pack?" she smelled as if she were alone, had been for a time. but to assume that was to stifle the conversation, and he wanted to keep it flowing.

her pelt reminded him of lavender's; short and merle, almost like down feathers. his stomach flipped as he began to think. . .could this be the mother of grayday's second litter? she might be a bit too young for that, as the pups were several moons old, now, but aditya had no idea of her exact age. perhaps. . . he thought grimly, wondering if that was why she had the plateau smell on her. had she gone to visit?

The only time Queenie had ever seen a wolf without a tail was when it'd fallen off from some sort of disease, like when one of the kids of the family lost his from hypothermia after a dip in the river during the wrong season. She frowned but accepted his apology silently. I'm alone. It felt strange for Queenie to acknowledge just how alone she was, but it was true; she hadn't been with her family in weeks. Months? She'd lost track of time it seemed. I'm fine on my own.

Queenie took a few steps around Aditya to continue examining the cave walls. What about you? she asked. She thought that she knew the answer already (he smelled just like the gray girl who had spoken to her at the borders a few days prior) but she wanted him to tell her for sure.

i'm fine on my own. something he had told himself, what, ten, twenty, a hundred times in his lifetime? wandering from place to place, up and down the coast, only joining bands of wolves when he was starving. he had survived, true, and had been fine, but he had never been finer than how he was now. . .with a set home, and a family. a duty. someone, something, to live for.

"i've spent a lot of my life alone," he answered, smiling at this blue spit of a she-wolf, so clearly and fiercely independent. "it has its merits.

"i have a family, a pack, down this mountain to the east. i joined them at the beginning of august. they. . .adopted me, in a way." he grinned at the memory of pema and dawn bringing him to grayday, like pups bringing a toy to their sitter.

that brought to mind the plateau-scent that clung to her pelt once more, and he added, "you smell of my home. have you been nearby, recently?"

Aditya spoke some truth, Queenie thought. Being alone did seem to have some benefits, like not having to listen to the constant bickering of the boys or the late night calls of Daddy Bruce. But she was, for the first time, lonely. The feeling wasn't a pleasant one, either. Yeah, I think so, Queenie told him, now sitting back on flexed legs, should she need to fight or bolt. Didn't stay around for very long, I didn't really like the girl I was talking to.

She didn't say much more after that for fear of possibly offending her new friend. She was more afraid of his reaction than actually hurting his feelings, but nonetheless, she stopped. Why are you all the way out here, then? If your home is down there. Queenie motioned with her head out the cave entrance, then looked back at Aditya with curious eyes.

he felt a surge of curiosity at her words--who had she been speaking to that had been unpleasant? likely aviana, he thought sardonically, though kicking himself a little for it. he ought not to feel so unkindly toward the woman. . .but she had been so elusive, aloof, an enigma!

choosing not to respond to that first bit, aditya answered, his tone mild, "i'm a scout. i like to visit the places surrounding my home. see what they are, who lives where." see whether the southern pack has moved northward, a small voice in his head rang out, but of course he did not mention it to this stranger.

"sorry you had a bad experience at our border," aditya added, finally touching on the subject. "you must have caught someone on a bad day." or, god, the ever-flirtatious engel. . .though she had said girl. . .

There had been one wolf like that back at home; the rest of the family was expected to move as a unit. Queenie had never thought of trying for the position before, and now that she'd gotten a taste of what it was like to travel on her own, she didn't think she ever would. I guess, she said with a noticeable flare of an attitude at the end. A lot of the time, it wasn't anything that anyone else did to set her off. It was more just a gut feeling — either she liked them, or she didn't.

Regardless, she wouldn't be going back. But when would Aditya be leaving? How long have you been away? It wasn't that she necessarily disliked his company, but she was getting a bit tired of the conversation and, being who she was, Queenie was ready to move on to something a bit less boresome.

he noticed the shred of--what was it, sourness?--something distasteful in her tone as she answered his question, and the fur at his nape prickled as if stung by a small bee. aditya did not take well to rudeness, and this girl certainly was abrupt.

"not long. i left this morning. i told my mate i'd be back by moonrise." he glanced outside; the sun was low over the horizon, the clear blue winter sky slowly getting darker. shrugging his shoulders, he turned back to queenie with a gracious, if a bit forced, smile.

"you've reminded me of the time," aditya said. "i'll have to leave you now, but it was nice to meet you, queenie."

taking one last look around him at this exquisite cave--he would have to come back, sometime--aditya gave a curt nod to his newfound acquaintance, waiting for her response, before he turned heel and began to pad out of the cavern and down the mountainside.

Well, Queenie started, her voice a bit remorseful, Alright. If he really had to go, well, she wouldn't stop him. Aditya mentioned having a mate back at home, and if that was the case then Queenie surely wouldn't protest; she remembered how Daddy Bruce acted when any of his pawns were out of place. She returned his nod with one of her own then stepped ahead of him to exit the cave, a soft See ya! ringing out behind her.