what do you mean

All welcome, but tagging @Capriccio. Excuse this post. I'm still getting into his character! 

This place was weird. Mountains bordered the northern ridge (or at least what he'd seen so far), the sight of which made him shudder and skitter away. Since the plague that struck his family's pack on Mount Noshaq in his childhood, Terich-mir had avoided mountains and really anything larger than a hill. It was the principle of the thing. Capri knew this, and yet she had brought him into the heart of mountain country, it seemed. Whatever. He could avoid them well enough now that he was within their borders.

The greyscale wolf moved nimbly through the wild grasses of the plains, using his nose to find any source of water. Ahead he saw flocks of birds and gathering animals, and of course his lupine presence scared them away upon his arrival. It was a pond, nothing much bigger than what he'd seen before. He crouched at the water's edge and drank deeply, keeping all senses on alert as he did so. He wouldn't want to be caught unawares in a strange place.

Me too. :o

Capri’s paws had led her here with no true destination in mind. The moment she and Terich-mir had left Argent Creek in search of something ‘more,’ they had let their nimble paws carry them wherever they chose to go. Capri’s had led her astray from her silver companion for only a bit, but the moment the wind whispered his scent to her, the girl’s steps became lighter.
 
The Taiga had kept her rooted for the moment, and her friend had found her far quicker than she had anticipated. It had not been long, but when her frosted eyes fell upon him, a soft grin smoothed it’s way to her slender muzzle, and ushered a bark of welcome, Capri practically danced up to his side, a crooning growl escaping her as her body weaved against his in a way she had never with another man – but also once she considered her only best friend. “You found me,” she murmured, pulling away as she tiptoed past him, her eyes gently scanning over him.

Sesi had the great misfortune of being in the vicinity when the two friends converged on Feller's Pond. She had - rather unusually - strayed beyond the Maplewood claim, and was forced to take shelter behind a lonely cluster of reeds when Capriccio's voice rose up and broke the silence. The tornado had churned the area into a flat, brown sludge; there was nowhere to escape to, and the wind was not blowing in Sesi's favour. These were not Maplewood wolves - that much she knew.

The youngster hunkered down and held her breath, praying that the two strangers would take their conversation elsewhere.

I miss you guys. >_>

My two loves! <3

Capri emerged a few moments later, calling to him through the pleasant wintry air. The winters here were milder than at Argent Creek. No snow littered the ground at the moment and he was sure it had something to do with the salty quality of the land around them. Was the sea that nearby? He hadn't seen it yet, but that didn't mean it wasn't there. Terich turned at his friend's bark and smiled, his whole body alight with her presence. If an outsider didn't know better, these two had the look of those in love. But for Terich and Capri, their love was mutual and platonic, the great love of best friends whose lives and experiences have mingled for many months.

He returned her comforting embrace with a nip of her ear and grinned. "Of course I found you." The slim wolf stepped back from the pond to give them more space. "Did you find anything interesting without me?" Terich knew that there was bound to be something of interest in these lands, but so far he hadn't seen it. So far, however, he'd only been here for a day. Nothing of interest seemed to happen in less than that.

His casual nip to her ear spurned a small smile to her features – her eyes riveted upon him, she remained oblivious to the presence of the youth that carefully watched them from the security of reeds. Her shoulders lifted in a shrug to his question – indicating that she hadn’t been up to too much. “Met a few faces here and there,” she offered, a small smile gracing her muzzle.
 
About to ask him how his own trip was, a gentle breeze tickled at her nose – the scent of dampness and water intermingled thickly.. but also the hint of something else. Something that reminded her very much of a certain dark wolf who had invited her to his pack. Her eyes drifted back to Terich-mir, her wolfish brows arching to indicate something was off – but she spoke nothing of it.

I guess I'll skip @Sesi.

"Any faces I should know about?" he asked teasingly, though in reality if there was something or someone Capri wanted to investigate, Terich would only be too happy to oblige her. Whether it was a potential pack to join, or another wolf she wanted to get to know, Terich was always there to help her in her goals, just as she was there to help him achieve his. For now, their goals were the same: join or begin a pack and continue both of their family legacies. 

Something tickled his nose then, but when he turned to investigate the source, the wind changed and brought with it the scent of rain. He frowned softly, wondering where they were going to rest their heads tonight, and turned to see Capri's brows arching, indicating something was wrong. He sighed softly and moved to find out what was happening, but the only thing he found was the trail of another wolf, once there but now gone. Terich left the bushes and returned to Capri's side, shaking his head to indicate nothing was amiss. Just another wanderer on their way home.

His light teasing was only lost upon her for the moment as her concerned and suspicious gaze lingered upon the direction of the scent. Yet Terich--mir, ever one to get to the root of the potential issue, strode over, investigating the area and leaving behind a bemused Capri.
 
Padding after him, despite the short distance, her tail waved gently in the air as she gave a nod to his confirmation. Someone had been there, but nothing she recognized -- though the traces of familiarity would nestle upon her senses as she thought of Ukko, and Phoenix Maplewood.
 
"A wolf invited us to his pack," she noted, casting her slender shoulders in a shrug. Or, she would have corrected to say herself, but she was still unsure about the area. "But I'm not sure." She paused, her gaze directing itself to study her companions' features. "What about you?"

Terich was a little surprised that a wolf had already invited them - sight unseen in his case - to join them. He immediately thought of the dark wolf Taggarik, but surely that was not who Capri was talking about. "What did you tell him?" he asked softly, seating himself beside her, pulling her close, and using his teeth to groom the fur behind her ears. No wolf could reach that on their own, and their friendship was much the same as any sibling's, grooming included. He cleaned the dirt from her fur thens at back, content for the moment. 

"I hunted with two wolves recently, a loner named Taggarik and a pack wolf named Krypton. We killed a deer. I buried a leg for you, if you're hungry." He smiled softly, his lapis-blue eyes sparkling in the daylight. Terich had enjoyed the hunt with Taggarik and was curious about the wolf's intentions, since he was also a lone wolf, but left that for another moment. For now, he was focused on Capri, and the tales she would tell of her adventures here so far.

"I told him I couldn't make that decision without you," she responded, tilting her muzzle up to study him. "His name is Ukko -- he lives with a pack called Phoenix Maplewood." She paused then, allowing that part of the conversation to drift to the wayside as he spoke of his own encounters. As much as Capri had enjoyed Ukko's company, she could not base such a decision on that stolen moment.
 
Terich began to groom her, and she stilled, reveling in his quiet kindness. She was content to be at his side once more -- they had been apart for too long this time, and she was not willing to travel so far ahead or behind him again. Not for such a lengthy time. A small smile played upon her lips at the mention of a leg waiting for her. "You always look after me," she crooned softly, her own muzzle pulling away now to tip a kiss upon his cheek.

"What do you know of this Ukko and his pack?" Terich wasn't overly fond of joining just anybody here in these wilds, but he would follow Capri anywhere she desired, though that didn't mean he would just go without questions. Their relationship relied on questions, answers, and discussion, more than blind faith. Their love was resolute and unshakeable, but it was also built on trust and mutual respect. That was something he loved about their relationship more than he cared to admit.

She crooned softly and nipped at his cheek, causing him to laugh softly. He returned the gentle nip with one of his own before he stood again, shook out his coat, and dipped his muzzle. "Of course I take care of you, Capri. Who else would?" He chuckled and bumped his nose against her cheek before stepping away quickly, both in play and in a move to get her nearer the food he spoke of earlier. "Hungry?" he asked softly, leveling his bright blue eyes on hers, waiting.

He questioned what she knew about Ukko and the pack he had told her of, and she gave a small shake of her muzzle. “Not much,” she determined quietly, as if reiterating that she truly did know nothing of the man that had indeed intrigued her so much. “He seemed kind,” she then spoke, ignoring the small voice in her head that debated whether he was only kind because he felt she had a pretty face.

But Siren had been the beauty of her family – and Capri had not been used to receiving many glances.

She snorted at his next words, though her muzzle gave a nod of agreement – no one else certainly did look after her quite the way Terich did. Lifitng herself up, she gave another nod to his question, and nudging him gently on the shoulder, the slender she-wolf danced away from him a pace or two, her frosted eyes leveling back at him as she awaited him to take the lead to her juicy deer leg.

"Perhaps we shall visit him soon, hm?" He licked her cheek just before she danced away from him, a wry spirit in her glance. Terich laughed and followed, happy to be playful with her in their time of rest, and happy that she was happy being here. It had been her decision to leave Argent Creek in the first place, and although he did have his own wanderlust to scratch, Capri's was significantly stronger. So he had left to go with her, and didn't mind it one bit.

Terich led the way to the deer's leg. He had buried it not far from the kill, though far enough to deter any unwanted guests. As they walked, he thought about the wolf he'd met. "You may like Taggarik. He's strong and quite handsome." Terich turned his head to wink at her, a smile on his lips. "But he's more than that, too. I felt a powerful pull toward him. He's a born leader." Perhaps they would join him, if Taggarik was looking to make a pack. Whatever they decided, it would be done together. They arrived at the cache beneath a fallen tree, and as Terich dug up the leg, he thought about the world around him. "Here, my love." He dragged the leg out from the hole and brushed away the dirt before offering it to her.

"Yes," she returned --they could visit Ukko together, and she would see what happened between the two males. None were more important to her than Terich-mir, and her best friend's impression of the dark male would weigh heavily upon her if the time ever came. But as fate would have it, the two would migrate toward the mountain in the end with Taggarik -- the dark and handsome male her silver companion teased her about, which stirred a sardonic snort from her nostrils.
 
Al discussion of where they would go and what they would do fled from the silver-tipped she-wolf as her friend offered her a rather beautiful piece of meat. Her eyes gleamed with gratitude as she slipped forward, her nose brushing his cheek before she gingerly took it. "Eat with me," she offered, her tail sweeping gently behind her as she stretched languidly upon the ground, one paw holding the piece of meat in place as she awaited him to join her.

Archive & have a new one? :)

Whatever happened in the future, Terich knew that he and Capri would handle it together. Whether it was going with Ukko or Taggarik, or finding someplace else, the decision, as with all others, would be made together. Capri settled in to eat, kissing his cheek as she passed him, and offered him a place at her proverbial table. With a smile, he swept her a playful bow and nodded, speaking softly, "Of course." Then he settled down next to her, allowed her to eat first, and ate whatever was left, since he wasn't very hungry to begin with.

After their small meal, Terich curled next to her and began grooming, and once their bellies realized they were full once more, Terich's eyes began to droop and his body to drowse. He relaxed against his friend, his constant companion, and settled in for a nap.