Shadow Mountain i was lucid and conscious
and soon the sea shall give up her dead
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Ooc — Jules
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#1
All Welcome 
For my bff Ku @Echelon first, and then whoever else would like to join! 

The spider was hard at work just outside the territory walls, jaws clamped tightly into the skull of a pig. The sow had crept too close to the Spire and her entire family had been slain. The meat had benefit the youth that were still growing in leaps and bounds. After the predators had eaten their fill, the spindly Eta had returned within the night to work. The innate desire to bury the dead was not something controlled. The prompt within heart ran as deep and poignant as blood within veins. The urge was not something that could be denied, nor could the Eta explain exactly what adhered to the old traditions of spirituality after so much time away from the Coho birthplace. 

Paws only ceased to move when far enough outside the Spire's twisted path, releasing quarry and beginning to dig. Shoulders heaved away earth and soil, cutting a wide swathe into the basin of one jagged peak in an effort to disguise the dig site. There was no telling when eerie traditions would be discovered or exactly how the unusual wolf would be taken upon discovery. 

Only when talons had cut an appropriately sized swathe of earth did the spider pause to push the gnawed-on skull within.
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#2
The smell of a fresh kill drew her in. Echelon was not what one would deem a worthy hunter. Instead she was more like the heritage she did not claim; she scavenged. In this case it had been that tantalizing scent of blood on the wind that had drew her in, and at first the large dark mass that she saw she was willing to mistake for Tonravik. Yet beneath that smell of torn earth and of raw game it was male, and Tonravik was definitely not male.

She watched him for no more than a few seconds, half a minute at most. His work was almost done and from her perch on the edge of that basin she thought it most opportune to investigate. She slinked down the rocky slope carefully, but not that quietly. Echelon did not want to sneak up on him, though with a curl of her lips and a shift of her posture she made no hesitation to declare her place on the chain. He was distinct unfamiliar but smelled of Nanuk. She could not place him.

HI FRAND IT'S BEEN AGES
and soon the sea shall give up her dead
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#3
Quite honestly, the spider was not expecting company, yet there was an ability to be prepared for it, coolly, regardless. The approach was met with a turn of inky ears first, features stiffening as the weight implied this creature was much more solid than a puppy. Slowly fiery eyeballs rolled within sharply-cut head to peer over one, tall shoulder. She was the color of night, a patch of very distinct white marring the flawless image. Had it not been for that feminine little bib the inky Eta would have figured her for the trespassing idiot. She was not the same in size for she carried a much more delicate stature. 

"Lost?" he wondered over that shoulder, wide paws turning in the soil to address her outright. Head was held even to shoulders, unable to scent the stranger due to the shift in wind direction. One appendage draped over the partially buried skull like it was a sacred prize, unwilling to part with it until the last bits of soil laid it to rest.
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He heard her and turned finally, regarding her perhaps as cooly as she did him. And as expected, he was keen on guarding his quarry, though by that point she knew it was buried well. But the smell still hung in the air between them, and a twitch of her nose could only betray what she was truly after.

His single query hung in the air as she left the incline of the basin for more even ground, daring to draw closer to him. He was thoroughly covered in pitch from head to toe; nothing at all differentiated him from others that had come and gone through their ranks. She did not answer his question as her feet came to a stop, but instead continued her investigation from afar. Partially because she did hold the intrigue about him and why he smelled so strongly of Nanuk, and partially because she wondered just how annoying her silent presence would be while he had control of his quarry.
and soon the sea shall give up her dead
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#5
The Spire wolf did not mind the silence. Perhaps this shadowy counterpart was mute. Not many felt the comfort in words or knew the precise manipulation of them and what it could bring. There were benefits of speech that, accompanied with body language, could be easily used against others to portray and convey meaning that were not actually present. This slim-set female was met in kind, a steady silence following her approach with little to no worry. Had she desired the skull it could have easily fallen into her grasp. 

More silence continued. The fire-eyed Eta simply stared, slowly tracing up the delicate path of white that curved in areas appropriate for a female figure. It held an allure. Perhaps too easily for a captive male audience. Without turning head or removing flippant interest, the Sawtooth coolly covered the last of the skull with a pull of paws against earth. Soil staunched out the remaining meaty morsels attached to the swine's head. Object was complete. The soul of quarry could be put to rest. 

More silence. Unperturbed, the patient Sawtooth simply waited.
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Her eyes flitted between the movements he made and the fact that his gaze did not waver either. Good, she decided. Tartok had no room for those unnerved so easily, though they did have those among them. Some wolves were suited for lesser and more safe positions to bicker over. But this one, this particular creature, she felt would be a direct person of interest for her to watch. As to whether or not he was a threat to her she did not fear — Echelon nearly disregarded rank in favor to harass them all. Not even Iqniq was saved from her physical or verbal swings. Tonravik was perhaps truly the only one she was willing to obey.

Lashing her tail with interest, she crept closer to him. It was a poor intimidation tactic but it gave her the opportunity to try and glean something more about him. She hunted through the possibilities with no desire just to settle for one, much in the way she wondered how close she could bring herself before he felt the unease rise up from having his own personal bubble invaded with time. Again, she faintly curled her lips back to reveal her teeth, though the twitch of almost healed flesh on her cheek tempted her to drop that ruse.
and soon the sea shall give up her dead
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HI POOPOOP. So I had this at SS bordery area because of the change, but then it changed again, so now I have it set to Shadow Mountain since it is right on the borders of SS and would be a good fit, given the changes. Just wanted to FYI you in case it changes things for EXP claims. ♥ ♥

Still unaware that this wolf was, indeed, a pack associate, the spider merely watched as the feminine shadow slipped ever closer. Her tail lashed like a cat, and the closer intrusion to the Eta caused posture to stiffen. It was not wholly intended as dominance, but as defensiveness. It simply spoke as, you aren't winning

Tail wagged slightly, lifting into a more assertive posture. Fiery stare held its ground while a playful pull of lips addressed the prickly features of the inky female. Shoulders thrust forward slowly, weight shifting towards toes and standing tall upon lanky appendages. Ears were upright, nearly touching, due to their close proximity on head, but also to display a flirtatious obscureness. Jawline dipped over throat, head held high and stiff on shoulders while tail gave a another faint wag. 

A curled lip only prompted more posturing from the spider, nasal passages slowly catching the familiar scent and familiarly of the Spire wolves. It did nothing to erase the bombardment of elusive assertiveness.
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#8
that's fine with me!

He postured himself more as she crept closer; the action prompted her to stop and consider the following options that came to mind.  She was pleased with his display, the interest duly noted in her features as her own curled expression shifted into a smirk.  He would not relent and the lashing of her tail stilled towards something more neutral.  She tried to match his pace, but inevitably the swing of that particular appendage went about its own rhythm and course.

"Nanuk chose well," she spoke, opting for the common tongue.  "Where did you find that?"  She gestured with her muzzle to where he had buried the pig skull.  If he would not share, then perhaps she would obtain her own.  Perhaps this too was a ruse, as she was not a creature beyond coming back for it later.
and soon the sea shall give up her dead
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#9
The statement of beta having diligent choosing only prompted a shift of jawline. Curiosity, though subtle. Perhaps there had been speak of the inky spider and the collection of a new body within the Sawtooth clan. Fiery eyes narrowed into a skeptical stare, posture relaxing if only to accommodate a fellow pack wolf (it seemed). Confirmation of this fact only subsided when the winds shifted to produce an idea of scent, relation, and location. 

The question of the skull was given a troublesome smirk. "A gathering of them dared to test the Sawtooth borders. You can't have this one," he murmured dangerously, tone decidedly final and resolute. "It's returned to the earth now, its soul has been lain to rest." Fiery eyes dared the slender female suddenly, an enigmatic step taken to keep the dark superior from trying the spider's claim.
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#10
A huff left her when he stated you can't have this one. There was something in her that would not bend to that will, unless of course he intended to sleep atop it like a dragon with a chest of gold all night. He would leave it eventually. So for now she simply resigned to his statement with a roll of her shoulders and feigned disinterest.

"I doubt you ate it all," were the words that she went with, then casting her gaze elsewhere. The rest of it couldn't have been too far off — she had a working nose, at least. "Hope you had the sense to destroy with what you did not finish. Birds do not stay here to pick things clean." The grizzly still stayed fresh with her, but perhaps not as a fresh as the coyotes. They had been brazen enough to scale the mountain and strike for blood. The former had simply been hungry.
and soon the sea shall give up her dead
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#11
A defiant huff whisked past her dark face. It was in, perhaps, the statement that the little wolf could not have what the spider possessed and this prompted a wild little smirk on inky features. There was some amusement in her offense though short lived and subtly expressed. It was matched in the female's roll of feminine shoulders, apparent disinterest causing her gaze to wander. The spider was not much convinced. The sinewy male would return again and again to insure the skull's safety and should it go missing... there would be fury.

Gaze narrowed in a hardness at the suggestion to bury kill. The Eta had abandoned the carcasses, once finished, with the fire-kissed alpha. There hadn't been much left of the remaining bones when the inky pack wolf had returned for a head. The smaller swine had been taken to the main densite area. There was little to attract intruders over. "Hmmm," he pondered with a throaty sound. 

"Too bad you missed it," he gloated silkily, eyes slitting as though the very thought prompted mouth to water. Was she hungry? Did that stimulate her ire?
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#12
His answer did not reveal to her one way or another if he had, though the gloating certainty made the decision for her.  She knew without consciously making that decision that she would go to seek out where the swine's blood had been shed, if only to make certain for herself that they would not attract the unsavory sort.

Perhaps with any luck, she would find a savory little morsel left over, though.

Yet defiant by nature, her first reaction to his lack of answer only let her spine prickle with the raise of her hackles.  Echelon forewent words at this point, her gaze keen to get her to message across.  Answer.

And when she felt she had that answer (or lack thereof), she disappeared into the brush to leave him behind.