Blacktail Deer Plateau up in arms

@Fox

The tension was rising at Swiftcurrent Creek – his duty was to remain in the pack and protect the borders, and yet the agouti male found himself straying. He did not consider where his paws had taken him, and when he did realize how far he had strayed, he did not bother to turn back. Neverwinter Forest was not too far off – he could have slid the drama from his shoulders with a simple shrug and lay claim upon the forest that would forever hold his heart.. except now, there was a certain white nymph that did so tenfold.

Blacktail Deer Plateau was here though – and with it, Fox. He lingered close to the borders now, careful to not step across them. She was here – and not only that, her scent was one of the most predominant ones on the lands. It looked like she wasted no time in moving on.

He did not call out to her—he wasn’t even sure he wanted to talk to her. His relationship with the fiery she-wolf had been confusing at best, but at one point he would have considered her a friend.

Now, he didn’t know what to think.

It was no uncommon sight to see Fox patrolling the borders and ensuring that her urine was thick there. She was a proud beast, that had not changed since she had left the creek. Or rather, since she had been all but chased out of it. Her place at the plateau had gone from a stranger to a leader in mere weeks, just as she had expected it to. As Scimitar mused the words about her wasting no time, Fox knew them to be true. She did not dilly-dally as some would have, or try to make friends with everybody who lived on the plateau. Fox took what she thought to be hers.

The sharp scent of Bazi tickled her nose, and Fox bristled. What was the bitch doing here? Was she here to come ask Fox to come back and help her? Had it been too much for her same-aged leader? A low growl festered in the fiery wolf's throat as she trotted swiftly to the smell. But it was not Bazi at all, as she had thought it was. Instead, Scimitar stood, looking almost wistfully at the plateau. Fox did not smooth her hackles. Bazi had sent her loverboy here instead of coming herself.

“Has Bazi sent for me already?” Fox sneered.

It did not take her long to find him -- she was spry as ever, her lithe form closing the distance between the two as she emerged from the shadows. Her hackles bristled dangerously, and the bitterness in her expression was not missed by the stoical male, his aqua eyes skimming over her before he blinked at her words. He held himself neutrally -- his large frame hunkering down slightly to abide by his own demands of common courtesy on another's borders. He had never been a fan of Blacktail Deer Plateau from the moment Hawkeye had stupidly stumbled across Neverwinter Forest and in to his and another pack mates jaws, but that did not mean he was going to lift a leg on their borders either.

"Aren't these grape sour," he mused sardonically in return to her comment, chuffing slightly as he allowed his ears to slide back to his crown. Bazi did not know he was here, but he wasn't about to let Fox know of that. "I actually came to see how you were doing." The sarcasm slipped away from his tone then -- vanishing as quickly as it had come, and instead, he looked at her somberly. Fox was many things -- childish, a pain in the ass, foolish.. but she had also been his friend.

Fox narrowed her eyes at him, ready to chase him out and be done with him after his remark about sour grapes. However, he opened his mouth to speak again, and his words were less accusatory and more gentle. She wondered what this facade was, and Fox narrowed her eyes accordingly. The newly-named Redleaf-DiSarinno was a suspicious creature, and she did not think that wolves from other packs cared about her in the least. Namely because she didn't care about them. At least not in the sense that she hoped for their well-being on a daily basis.

“Quite well,” she replied, her voice still unsure if he was toying with her. “but I’m sure you could have assumed as much by the way the land smells about you.” Her scent was thick along with Peregrine's to keep intruders away. She wondered if he had been surprised by that information. Fox was not one to wait around for things to go her way. She was quick to make them happen, even if there were costs involved.

She watched him with what seemed to be a burning contempt -- a new look he had received from the fiery she-wolf. Shifting his weight subconsciously, he withheld a soft sigh, already regretting his decision to come here. Whatever relationship the two had once before was very much destroyed -- he was surprised at how miffed he felt at that realization.

"If it is rank that makes you well, yes," he offered in turn, his eyes studying her through sparing glances. Her scent was thick upon the borders -- he did not realize she had taken to Alpha nor a mate, but it was clear she had risen within the ranks by scent alone. Not that he had doubted the little spitfire would have settled for anything else. "It's good to know you're happy," he spoke once more, his words careful in their selection. He wasn't here to start an argument.. simply to satisfy his curiosity, and give himself his own vacation from the hell that was currently breaking loose in his own home.

She was still unconvinced that he meant no harm. What other reason would he have for being here but to insult her or send some seething message from Bazi? She pursed her lips at him, not quite sure how to proceed. Her younger self would have just chased him off without a second thought, but for some reason, she stayed steady. Perhaps she was maturing in some ways, after all. Not only that, but Scimitar didn't insist on giving any long-winded speeches, something she was quite thankful for.

“I am,” she replied, a bit softer this time. “I heard that Njal and Tuwawi left the creek. Was it Bazi’s doing?” Or mine? she wondered silently. Fox wanted to shift the conversation away from her own life and onto somebody else. The last thing she wanted was for one of Bazi's cronies to bring back news of their former leader. Not that she was doing poorly, of course.

While he was curious to know of her, Fox wasted no time in seeking the dirt of the Creek, and while Scimitar withheld a frown, he managed to withhold this sour thought from showing upon his features. How very typical of the fiesty female.

"They wanted to move further from the Sunspire," he offered silently. He knew there was more to the story, but it was based on assumption alone -- this was the statement they had made at the pack meeting, and it was all he could give now. Anything else was his own simple musings. There was another pause as he shifted his weight, pointedly glancing at Fox now. "How did you hear of this?" In other words.. who was spilling the dirt of the Creek to its ex-leader?

“But if I told you, then I wouldn’t be able to squeeze anything else out of them,” she grinned, thinking she had found a knife to twist. Sveinn had told her little, but apparently it was enough to cause Scimitar to ask questions. She wondered what other secrets he had to hide from her. With the way he spoke, it sounded like there was plenty of juicy gossip to be had. Perhaps Fox could send the unassuming and spacey Tytonidae. Then again, she probably wouldn't get anything useful out of her.

Fox relaxed, now that she felt she had the upperhand. She was a competitive and ambitious wolf at heart, and everything was a competition to her. As long as she was winning, she was much friendlier. “What happened to the captives?” Fox asked, referring to Magpie and Leaf. Although their capture had been the reason for her departure (in one way or another), Fox still wondered if they had made it out of The Sunspire okay.

Fox was as pleased as ever to find out he did not know who the pack squealer was, and while this tidbit of her personality wasn't exactly a revelation, it did stir his wolfish brows to lift slightly, a small smirk toying at his lips which he quickly suppressed. Somehow, as much of a selfish brat as she was, she still managed to be adorable.

"They were released when the Sunspire realized Bazi was the new Alpha," he responded honestly. If she wanted to one up the girl, she couldn't in that aspect -- and whether it was blunt to remind her or not of what had transpired, in all fairness to the agouti male, she had asked. There was a small pause, his eyes regarding her quietly before his muzzle canted. Enough of her asking about the home that was no longer hers -- it was time for a new subject.

"Last I heard, Blacktail Deer Plateau was ruled by a black she-wolf by the name of Hawkeye." Another pause.. and then, because he also liked to ruffle the little spitfire before him, he tested to see just how much she knew of the woman, and how close they possibly were. "She was an obnoxious fuck."

Fox sighed when he told her that they were safe and sound. Ferdie and Jace were violent, unpredictable creatures, and Fox had feared the worst for their captives. Thankfully, it seemed her absence had soothed them for the time being. She wondered how long it would be before they trifled with the creek again, but she did not ask. Scimitar had moved onto even more interesting gossip. To hear her called an "obnoxious fuck," made Fox's lips curl into a devilish grin.

“That much hasn’t changed,” she replied. It was Hawkeye who had brought Ferdie to their border, practically inviting him in. “Though she’s since abandoned her children and gone to live at The Sunspire. Peregrine was wasted on her, so I made sure he did not go to waste longer.” Fox had not exactly stolen Peregrine away from Hawkeye. In fact, she had steered clear of him as soon as anything remotely like "feels" had come between them. He had been off-limits then, but just as quickly as he had broken things off, he had come to her aid when she had needed it most.

It was strange to him – the sigh she gave seemed to imply she was relieved at the news, and yet.. given the female before him and taken their smallest member and a pup to the mountain for a little mischief and then left them, he found as much hard to believe. Ingrained within the male was that Fox beat to the drum of her own tune, and damned to hell if anyone got in the way. Unfortunately, it was likely this impression would never change now, given they lived in separate packs, and now, separate lives.

But their chatter was easy, and Scimitar released a sardonic snort as Fox partook in his little game, his lips curling up in a faint smirk as his eyes regarded her carefully. He was unsure what Hawkeye had done – but given his previous impression of her, it seemed as if her pack realized what a tool had been in charge of them. She would fit perfectly with Ferdie and Jace upon their mountain.

But something else sparked curiosity in the beasts’ chest, and Scim gave a light tilt of his muzzle. “Moved on then, hm?” Perhaps at one point the agouti wolf would have been slightly flustered to hear such a thing – after all, she had asked him at one point of his interest in her. Even at that point, though, Bazi had already begun to haunt his thoughts, and that had not changed.

“He’d better treat you right.” It was a dark rumble, and his eyes looked to her sharply then.

“It was convenient,” she replied. Not a lie at all, but certainly not the full truth, either. Peregrine had helped her when she had been at her weakest, lowest point. She felt she owed him something for that, and so she had given herself to him. To stray from him afterward seemed impossible, for Fox had quickly grown attached to him. Even if she had taken the creek back, she realized now that she would not have stayed long. The pull to Peregrine was far too great. And although she was unlikely to admit it to anybody (least of all somebody from a rival pack), she did have feelings for the swarthy leader of the plateau.

“And you know very well that I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Fox knew that, if Peregrine were ever to cross her, she wouldn't think twice about ending his life. Granted, he would have to cross her in a way that warranted such an action (by her standards), but until then, they were bound by the laws of nature. Fox had toyed with the idea of taking another lover, but thus far, Peregrine was more than enough.

Left semi-open incase she stops him/says anything that would trigger him to not leave.. but otherwise, last post for me. :D Thanks for the thread!

It was a typical answer from the she-wolf, and Scimitar found his grin broadening for the briefest of moments before he sobered. For a split second, he almost felt bad for the man who had taken her on as a lover – did he know what he had gotten himself in to with such a little spitfire?

“I won’t take up your time, Fox,” he murmured then, drawing himself up straighter. Had it been different circumstances, he would have closed the distance between them and swept his muzzle alongside her face and nape in a true goodbye – never would he trust her again for the previous choices she had made, nor would he forgive her. But he had grown fond of the female during their comradery before, and he was content to know that she was fairing just fine. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He left it at that. With a dip of his creamy muzzle, the regal male flicked his tail, turning then. He gave a leisurely stretch as he moved, beginning to amble his way back to the Creek. It would be a longer journey, but it would give him time to settle his thoughts on the recent events of his life. Bazi had turned it upside down in more ways than one – now, he needed to upright it once more.

Fox nodded, noting the slight hesitation when he departed. She wondered why he had come to the plateau at all. Sure, he said it was because he wanted to make sure she was well, but he could have determined that as soon as he sniffed the air close to her new kingdom. Instead, he had chosen to linger. Scimitar had not sought her out, but he may as well have. He could have bolted at the first sight of her, but he chose instead to stick around and ask further questions about her new life. It puzzled her, but she didn't think too long on it.

Only when his figure had disappeared from her view did she turn herself around and return to the inner depths of Blacktail Deer Plateau. As soon as she was away from the border, she didn't even think of him any longer. He was a mere stranger to her now, even if they could have been something more if things had gone differently.