Moonsong Glacier Come sail away

*writes self into corner* for @Raptor

She had decided to climb.  It took more effort, but for once, she felt the payoff would be worth it.  At least from there she could look at the ocean and figure out what the fuck she wanted to do next.  Join a pack? Settle in somewhere and fall in line?  It still didn't seem her style, but it became more appealing by the day.

When she reached a vantage point, her eyes caught the glimmer on the horizon, and she paused, sitting to take a break and enjoy the view.  Before her was a vast sheet of ice, and beyond that, the shore stretched faintly into the meld of sea and sky.

I almost missed this oops lol.

Raptor belched. He had just consumed the ass end of a hare that he pilfered from a coyote. There had not been much left to it by the time he got there — it truly was mostly an ass — but it was a suitable snack and he had scoffed it fast enough to warrant the gaseous upbringing. He moved along, his long tongue swiping the last of the blood from his snout and eyes scanning for something of interest.

He spotted a lone figure staring at the ocean from her perch and with a roll of his shoulders turned toward her, making no effort to conceal his approach. He swaggered up beside her, sat down, hummed thoughtfully and then announced to her the answer she had been looking for (he assumed).

"That's the sea."

lol! No worries!

Immediate annoyance was her first instinct when the stranger not only invaded her peace, but also stated the absolute obvious in the process.  No shit, Sherlock.  But after a beat, it fled, leaving only the usual idea; have a little fun, eh?  There had to be some sort of silver lining to wandering alone, and the food wasn't it.

"Really?!" she asked, voice lifting with interest.  "It's massive! Have you ever seen it up close?"  Her expression feigned a keen sort of amazement that anyone would want to get so close to something so obviously terrifying and new.

Need an "add to threadlog" button lol.

"Oh yes," he confirmed, nodding slowly and deeply with his eyes closed — a scholarly way of nodding he believed. But Raptor was no sage and he dropped that facade in favor of one more applicable to him: the grinning rogue, the charming (if you ask him) scoundrel, the infamous hero of countless tales of swashbuckling adventure. "I was born on those rocks, lass!" He boasted. "The sea fears me! I am the reason the tides go out."

Oh shit, for real? Another one??  Feeling incredible deja vu, Rosalyn fought the urge to roll her eyes at his gregarious outburst.  Truthfully, she was amused, and somewhat comforted by this man, as she had been by the previous.  These were her people; rude, friendly, and completely upfront.

"Ida never known," she said, shaking her head, as if impressed.  Then she grinned.  "Sure it isnt just your face they're runnin from?  That I'd believe."  

A prod was really always the best way to start a conversation, in her opinion.

Raptor guffawed at her remark. "Aye, it could be! I mean just look at these teeth." The corsair lifted a paw and tapped a hard worn nail against one of his protruding fangs. "These teeth earned me a name ye know," he started to tell her. "I was just a pup when I bit the claw clean off of a monstrous hawk that tried to make off with me." The dark furred wolf paused and flicked his gaze from the ocean to the female at his side. "That's what a raptor is. Predator birds. The wolves of the sky!" He informed her. "Anyway," he said and cleared his throat. Far his stories went that was not the most finely crafted. But it got the point across.

He was awesome.

He guffawed, a most gratifying response, and she found herself reveling in the company of the day.  She liked to think that she was built to wander alone, but in truth, she could only pretend that when she didn't have others around.  It was why she'd stuck with the Saltwinter crew, despite her better judgement, and despite some of their less... tasteful qualities.

"So they named you after the thing that you bested as a pup.  Real impressive," she said, but she did so with a grin.  He hadn't disclosed his name yet, but she got the hint well enough.  "Though who am I to talk? They named me after a color.  Or a flower.  Or something equally ridiculous." She smiled, then gave him a small wink.  "Name's Roz, former terror of the southern shores.  I was pullin your tail earlier."  She turned fully now, appraising him.  "It cant be a coincidence; I'm guessing you know a fella.  Big guy, lookin for rough folks like yer self." shit.  What was his name?  Had he even given one? She trailed off, wondering if he would perhaps finish the thought.  It'd likely answer her question either way.

"Aye." He said. "That."

She had said it so much better than he had. In fact, he had butchered his introductory tall tale so badly that he had neglected to even properly tell her that his name was in fact Raptor. Fortunately, she was able to piece together his tongue flapping and figure it out for herself.

That she was from the southern shores intrigued him and Raptor quartered toward her, taking the chance to inspect her in the way that she did to him: one corsair sizing up another. Stuck up on some glacier was the last place he would expect to encounter one of his own ilk but then again he himself was up here for no reason in particular.

"I know a fella," he echoed with a nod. "Pale furred. Talks with an attractive sea drawl..."

It was only attractive because Raptor spoke like that too and Raptor was attractive (according to Raptor).

He didn't seem to get the comedy behind the concept, but she wasn't bothered.  If he liked his name, who was she to kill his high?

"Spose you could say that, though I've heard better."  She couldn't be seeming too friendly.  Wouldn't be proper.  She'd learned a long time ago the less nice you were, the longer you were interesting.  To a point, of course.  "So you do know him.  I'm guessing your one of those 'rough and tough cads' he was talking about."  It fit, and they were a match pair if she'd ever seen one.  "I told him good luck; they don't make many like that round here."  She finished dismissively.

Raptor twitched an ear. If she had met Smoke and knew that he was looking to drop anchor and gather a crew then what was she doing up the side of a mountain instead of readying her bunk back at the ship? By her own admission she was a wolf of the sea.

"I'm his right paw," Raptor informed her and even he did not know how much truth was in that statement. Smoke and him were comrades and they had each other's back but he had not been formally assigned a rank. "Is there a reason ye won't be joinin' us then?"

Her ear flicked at the question; was that an offer, or was he poking fun? Because she wasn't sure, and because thread timelines are fucked, she gave him a searching look and a noncommittal answer.  "Maybe I found your Captain lacking."

So he was to be second in their little shindig, and this confirmed it; they were founding a place on the coast.  Her heart did lift a bit at the thought, though she'd need to confirm a certain someone didn't have sights on the pack first.  "You got anything that might change my mind?"

Ohh pretty pretty Rozatar.

Raptor hummed and cocked his head, momentarily wondering what she was referring to, but soon enough he was grinning and shaking his head as he formulated an assumption. "Hah, is he? I never looked." Of course his mind went there to that dark and dirty ol' place in which he frequently frolicked. "I sure do," he followed up, boasting that his package was worth signing for. "But I don't share nothin' with folks outside the crew —" it was odd but true even for this topic "— and I ain't gonna sit here and lay out all the other benefits to ye. If ye were a terror of the seas then ye know, and ye either want that life or ye don't." Raptor looked at her pointedly with raised brows and a devilish smirk.

He finished with another boast — but it was a very important detail too.

"Also I'm one of the best rum makers around. I ain't got the Killdevil surname for nothin'.

ISNT IT THOUGH!?!?!?! IM NOT WORTHY ;.; it's so beautiful

She laughed at his response, good-naturedly.  "I like that you think it's the sea I'm questioning there," she responded, still slightly breathless.  "And not you yerself.  Maybe I'm the captain type myself, and out to rival ye instead?"  She winked, but knew it wasn't true.  Not right this moment st least.  Yes, it was a title she'd held and enjoyed immensely, but it wasn't something one just sought and landed.  You needed mates, followers, and a goal first.  She had none of these.

"Sounds like an offer then.  And one I'd be hard pressed to turn down."  Though her tone remained calm, her tail twitched somewhat agitatedly.  Yes, the captain had met her gracefully.  But if he and the first mate looked favorably on her joining, well, she could hardly refuse, could she?

"Arrr-har!" He exclaimed and laughed all at once. "Well alright then, matey..." Raptor had never been much of a recruiter. He still wasn't. There hung an awkward silence wherein he just grinned toothily before he surmised the next step. "I guess I can take ye back to the ship then..." The corsair got to his paws and started down the slope. "Come on, we'll see what we can tir up along the shores as we go." If going back to the ship was not the best next step, finding food sure as hell was. Finding food was never not the answer.

Oh shit.  That was right.  Joining meant she no longer had to struggle on her own to rustle up eats.  "Sounds like a winner," she responded, warming immediately even more to the idea.  It had been so long since she'd signed on she'd forgotten the damn perks.  Plus, she was curious to see what section of shore they'd roped off; and the types of creatures they'd already found.  Hmm....

"You don't happen to have any black-faced wolves in your crew, have you?  Somewhat unpleasant sort, no sense of humor?" She asked, offhandedly.  She hadn't asked Smokestep, having forgotten, but if she was going to be face to face with her old rival once more, she figured she should probably get the lowdown ahead of time.

"Nope." Raptor answered as he scuttled down the ice and rocks. Nothing about Raptor was graceful and supple, but there was an ease and proficiency with which he traversed the rugged landscape. "There's me. There's Smoke. There's Sandpiper — she's red." He had not seen anyone to fit such a specific description as black-faced. But he was not sure if Smoke had taken on board any other crew that he had not met. "Old friend 'o yers?" He teased, glancing over his shoulder.

The instant he said red, her mind flashed to her own Red; but surely they weren't the same?  Despite the unlikelihood, a small anticipation lit on meeting this wolf.  Roz wasn't aware of the impossibility, so had some hope it might be.

"Not exactly.  Bit complicated, us.  For the best, really.". Aware of how that sounded, she thought of correcting the connotation, but decided against it.  Hah! Let that rumor settle.  Dirty assumptions were the best assumptions.  "Small crew, then. How long you been scoutin these beaches?"

"Ye don't say..." Raptor arched his brows and bobbed his head. He was reminded of Sandpiper's quip about flying her flag for the other ship, and let his mind drift back to that with his new crewmate inserted into the fantasy. Roz was a fine looking lass after all; certainly better kept than most of the coastal canines he ran into or with.

"Not that long," He informed her. "I don't track time much, eh, a few weeks or more I figure. Smoke's been roamin', he's probably rustled up more crew that I don't know about. There's an alright bay further south that he's claimin' for his ship, used t' belong to his father."

fixes things!! Also fade perhaps?

Smoke.. Smokestep, or Kingfisher, she recalled.  That was right.  So he was to be captain of his old man's claim; it was a familial responsibility she couldn't relate to, but she could respect it.

"Well, maybe so, but you hit the jackpot today."  She quipped in return, as her thoughts began to churn and she thought of meeting those they may have found.  There was this Sandpiper he spoke of; that was apt to go well or horribly, depending on if she was as bitchy as Roz's last encounters.  Though perhaps the fact that she wouldn't be tempted to undermine her every order might help, she thought with some amusement, recalling her proclivity towards getting Caiaphas riled.

"But first, lets find some eats."  She subsided, letting her senses try to pick up something as they went.  Here or the coast, food was food, and it had been a while since her last square meal.

"But first, lets find some eats."

Raptor grinned and gave Roz a wink.

"You and me, we're gonna get along jus' fine."