Sunbeam Lair this party is pretty boring, i don't think it's for me
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honey whiskey - nothing but thieves

As the sun bid its goodbye and began to sink behind the mountains, Remi too began to search for a place to spend the night. The few days since he had arrived at the Wilds had been a blur. Berries, ducks, there had been a little of everything. And boy what was yet to come..

As usual Remi moved silently, his paws falling lightly yet quickly onto the floor as he scurried by.
Soon the Ostrega found himself in a place unlike any he had ever seen - which to be honest wasn't such a hard feat considering he hadn't really left his home in Havana Pier.
Until now. 

But next to this place, the Pier seemed to pale in comparison - but maybe that was because after being the only thing he had known its beauty became normal. Anyways, forgetting the Pier, his siblings, parents, and everything else, Remi entered the cavern. Though it was already dark outside, he was still able to kinda see inside, and Remi really wasn't one to fear the dark.
Rilke hadn't either.
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Tags for reference!

Rannoch had set off from the Vale early in the morning with the intentions of scouting out the territories that surrounded his. After leaving @Rian and @Cypress in charge and let @Liffey know where he was going, the plush-pelted male had slipped away from his packmates to satisfy the curiosity that had captured his attention for quite some time. It wasn't until today that Rannoch felt confident in going too far from his claim and seizing the comfort, Rannoch set off with no particular destination in mind. 

It was around mid-day in which Rannoch came across an unusual sight: a large sunlit cavern with vegetation. Though the scent of some wolves was marinated in the walls of the oasis, from what Rannoch could tell there were no wolves currently living here. The borders were long faded, and as he ventured further into the realm, Rannoch found no signs of others. Once he was confident that he was alone, the Alpha pressed forward and investigated the terrain that smelled so eerily similar of Kaori and Airi. 

It was nearly sundown when Rannoch realized that it was getting too late and that he needed to start back towards the Vale. The cavern had grown dark quickly, sunlight slipping as Rannoch pulled himself from the depths of the abandoned territory. He finally found the entrance once the darkness had consumed the cave, the outline of the front opening illuminated by the gentle moonlight that drenched the region's rocky doorstep. But even with the relief of his finding the entrance, there was something concerning: the silhouette of another wolf. He froze at this sight, his body growing rigid as instinct kicked in. Though he had no reason to fear the other's presence, Rannoch knew not to let his guard down. After all, he did not have the support of his wolves. He was alone, stuck in a cave with some stranger. 

"Hello?" He called out in a deep baritone, his characteristic friendliness shining through despite the edge that he felt.
a crime so old as the sky and bone
he came untied, solid as a stone
all is almost lost and it starts to show
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#3
Before he could avoid it, the thought of his baby sister took ahold of his mind as the darkness had too settled inside the cavern. Suddenly, he felt like he had been here before. But it wasn't this cave he was remembering, it was a cove within Havana Pier's borders. It had been a scavenging trip, he was looking for seashells, and like always, Rilke had tagged along. Tango's voice, a hushed warning about the possible creatures that made the cove their home had been promptly ignored. Karma and Dharma had also followed, but unlike the smaller, younger Rilke, they had refused to follow Remi where their eyes could no longer see. 

With slow, measured steps, Remi continued to make his way into the depths of the cave. For all he knew he could be walking into his own grave as this cave could easily be the home of a bear or some other, larger, predator. But with his mind echoing,  'if you dont go you'll never know' like some sort of mantra, he kept going. That until it seemed that his thoughts became, without his knowledge, spoken words and came back to him in the form of an echo.

Remi too froze, his tail rising stiffly in alarm as he narrowed his eyes in a feeble attempt to identify the source of this voice. "Hello" he barked then, his tone affirmative rather than questioning. There was obviously someone else there, and though he had no way of knowing of this other's intentions, he knew his own.
He came in peace. 
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Rannoch's question was promptly returned with a reply from another. Though there was nothing particularly off-putting about this voice, as it had merely answered his call, Rannoch was still left with the uncertainties he felt towards his company. Quickly, as he wished to expel such feelings, the Alpha of the Vale spoke again, his voice stronger despite the weariness he felt in his heart. 

"Am I trespassing in your home?" Not one to beat around the bush, the burly male had to know whether or not he had gone too far. "Before entering, I made sure that this place wasn't occupied, but you can never be too certain, even without the scent of the pack, if somebody is using it for a temporary settlement." After all, he and his wolves had found the company of many prying visitors even after they had established their borders. Even in him taking care in examining the scents of the lair before his arrival, there was still room for error on his part. He waited then, standing rigid, as his eyes fell to the foyer of the abandoned territory and the wolf who had replied to him.
a crime so old as the sky and bone
he came untied, solid as a stone
all is almost lost and it starts to show
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#5
Soon, the stranger's voice bounced again against the walls of the cavern. Remi blinked in the dark, and then suddenly deciding he did not want to converse with a ghost, he called out before answering the voice's concern. "lets get out" he barked as he began walking slowly towards the gaping entrance/exit of the cavern. Then, realizing he had unintencionally dismissed the other's question he answered over his shoulder, "this isn't my home", truth be told he didn't know where home was now. The Pier wasn't it - he doubted he'd ever be welcome as long as his father still lived and ruled.
And Ciervo Ostrega was a man that rarely fell ill and never let go of a grudge.

Finally, Remi reached the outside.
Like a snail that comes out of its shell after a storm, Remi had to stay still for a second while his eyes adjusted again to the light. He blinked a couple of times and then, turning to face the cavern's mouth again he waited to see if the stranger would follow. 
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Mouse's suggestion was well received by the Alpha of the Vale. Agreeing quickly, as being alone with a strange in a dark cave was unnerving, Rannoch strode after the older male without a word. In the time that he strode from the shadows, Rannoch took the time to sample the air in an attempt to gauge and see if this wolf was from around the spire. A few inhales failed to alert Rannoch of any of the pack scents, and he deducted from what he sampled that this wolf was alone. The smell he carried lacked the company of others the most pack-bound wolves held. 

Slipping from the darkness and into the silver-washed territory, Rannoch paused as Mouse did and attempted to acclimate himself to the harsh light that trickled from the night sky. "Are you from around here?" asked Rannoch once his sight adjusted, his eyes finding the other male with a look of curiosity.
a crime so old as the sky and bone
he came untied, solid as a stone
all is almost lost and it starts to show
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#7
He did not have to wait very long.
Quickly, the strange voice became a strange face instead, and Remi, settling all of his attention on the youngster let his ears swivel to face him. Like him, he too tried to make out if the other was alone, and it was almost inmediately that he found his answer in the scent of others entwined in the male's own.  He hummed and wondered if some of these others he smelled like would soon show.

"No, i was born far from here actually" he barked with a shake of his head, his crystalline eyes settling once more on the male's face who he then suspected was a local. "a place by the coast called Islamorada" he added, he did not expect him to know what he was talking about, yet for some reason, he felt chatty. "a true paradisiac inferno" he mused, now feeling that words were slipping from his mouth far too easily and quickly.
He bit his tongue and cleared his throat with a chuckle.

"what about you?" he asked then, his head cocking slightly to the side as he waited for the stranger to become a little less of that. 
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Rannoch was not surprised to hear that the crystal-eyed male reigned from a land far beyond the Teekons and in reaction to this information, the Alpha nodded in recognition of this new information.  Islamorada sounded like a place that came straight from the stories that he came from, promising a new adventure with each day. Rannoch wasn't sure why he was so intrigued by this place, but he wanted to know more. "What was it like living in paradise?" the Alpha asked with hunger in his eyes, longing to know what utopia was like. 

When Rannoch was asked of his origins, and passion that had once lit his face faded. Though he was proud of where he came from, it was a touchy subject that he didn't often dwell upon. "Originally, I come from a forest not too far from this range," replied Rannoch, his broad muzzle sweeping in the direction of his beloved evergreens to indicate just where he was talking about. Thankfully, Neverwinter was the past, and the Vale was his present; the shining gem that he would focus on going forward. "Now, I lead a pack not too far from where we stand. We are called Northstar Vale." by this time in the conversation, Rannoch's attention had shifted back to the stranger with a smile upon his lips.
a crime so old as the sky and bone
he came untied, solid as a stone
all is almost lost and it starts to show
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#9
Oh, but once you got Remi going, it was truly hard for him to stop.
Biting his tongue would prove to be an useless attempt to try to shut himself up, specially when the stranger kept ading fuel to the fire by asking questions and looking all intrigued. If there was something Remi couldn't say no to (well there were plenty of things really but whatever) was a chance to boast and adorn his adventure stories.
The stranger didn't know a thing about Islamorada, so really Remi could've said pretty much anything - paint it as the paradise it had been or the hell it had become. 

For some reason however, it was the truth that began to slip from his mouth. "Oh, it was definitely like livin' inside a dream ya know?" he began, "Like you would wake up, see the palm trees rocking with the wind, hear the ocean in the background, and you'd wonder if you were really awake" Then, deciding that in order to continue his story he had to get comfortable, Remi let himself fall onto his haunches. "I liked it, not gonna lie" he went on, his toungue itching to continue as he sought some more encouragement to go on on the male's eyes.  

Then, as the male shared his story too Remi bit his tongue once more. He hummed as he confirmed his suspicion about being local, and then with his eyes broadening and the level of interest he had piquing brusquely at the mention of a pack, Remi could not hold back this newfound interest from showing in almost every pore of his body. With pricked ears and the tip of his tail wriggling he barked, "huh, nice! what's it like being boss?" .

His smile was now broader than before, his tail now wagging with full force as to convey the question was a good natured one. He was genuinely curious about what that was like - he had never gotten a taste of power and had never truly craved it, but he knew for a fact, from his own father, that it could be as much of a curse as it was a blessing.
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There had been many times in which Rannoch's life had felt like a dream. Though these events were a mixed bag of good and bad, a majority of them falling into the latter category, Rannoch felt as though he could relate to Mouse's statement. To the Alpha, the Vale was very much a dream to him. Even in his most mundane moments, the wide-set Alpha felt as though he was within the realm of reality, especially with all the hardships that had come with the upbringing of his ranks. "I know that feeling," he replied, his voice almost whimsical as he envisioned such a place. His hunger was satisfied for now, but, despite this, a question lingered in the forefront of his mind: why did he leave such a wondrous place? Given their lack of familiarity with one another, Rannoch would find this inquiry unanswered for quite some time. 

Arriving just in time to preoccupy his curious mind, Rannoch was faced with a question that took some consideration on his part. "It's rewarding," he finally decided on, his tail mimicking the rapt movements of the stranger's appendage. "Like a dream come true. My father was Alpha of his birth pack, and I always aspired to be like him." Rannoch could only hope that he had grown into both a man and leader that Scimitar would have been proud of.
a crime so old as the sky and bone
he came untied, solid as a stone
all is almost lost and it starts to show
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#11
Not really being asked anything else after his last comment, Remi decided on not to say anything else. Even if he somehow felt that he'd only managed to tel half the story. He had described very well the paradise side of Havana Pier, but there was still plenty to say about the inferno.
But not now.

Especially not when the male's answer steered the conversation to a touchy subject for Remi.
Parental figures and the unspoken expectations that each other built for the other to live up to.
Remi knew for a fact that he had not turned out to be the young wolf his father would have wanted. And he also knew his father was not the man Remi thought he was as a child.
Nothing had been as Remi had thought it'd be.
Never had he thought it take no longer than five minutes and a pale pink conch to destroy an entire family - and his whole life.

"probably a dream come true for your father as well to see that you've taken after him" Remi mused, his crystalline eyes clouding a little with sorrow. There had been a time he'd had the same aspirations as Rannoch, to grow up to be a leader - even better if it was of the Havana. And that perhaps Ciervo had hoped he had too. But even setting foot back into the Pier seemed wrong and stupid now. Remi was a risk taker but he knew better than to attempt an appereance back at the Pier. He had not been technically and physically driven out but he knew damn well his father was not above making a scene to prove a point.
The point being: im done with you.
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Rannoch was not blind to the sadness that tainted the other's crystal-clear sight, and he wondered what could have driven such an expression to emerge. Had this stranger lost his father, too? He wondered briefly before the thought was distracted by what had been said. "Yeah, I'd like to think he would be," he replied softly. 

Rannoch sat then, feeling the weight of his words as he settled on the floor.  For the sake of their conversation, he knew that they would be better off changing subject matter, as the Alpha was not willing to elaborate on the current one. With this motivation, Rannoch changed the topic as he attempted to rid himself of his inner pining by inquiring: "So what brings you to these parts?" Rannoch would not mourn before a wolf he barely knew and instead would distract himself by forcing himself to think of other things.
a crime so old as the sky and bone
he came untied, solid as a stone
all is almost lost and it starts to show
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#13
Luckily for Remi and the sake of the conversation, the male in front of him was more perceptive than he would have thought and with ease managed to steer the subject towards something less cringy. With a renewed smile taking ahold of his face the Ostrega sought the male's eyes. Until this moment he had not realized that despite the fluency of their conversation they had failed to make a proper introduction.

"guess i'm looking for adventure" he woofed as again his tail began to move more energetically. "and a home" he added with a shrug. Though he had not yet crossed paths with any other packs in the area, and he hadn't been doing a real effort to seek them out, he knew he could not stay a loner forever. 
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There was something about Remi that eluded trustworthiness to the Alpha. Though he couldn't necessarily pinpoint just what made the other appear so earnest, Rannoch felt himself growing all the more comfortable with the gray-saddled stranger. When mention came of his interest in finding a home, Rannoch felt a spark of excitement flare within his wide-set breast, and despite these inner-most feelings, he remained calm outwardly. 

"The Vale always has room for those who are loyal and devoted," he offered softly. Not wanting to appear overly eager, Rannoch decided that he needed to tone his approach and as such, added: "That is if you ever wanted to come and check us out." He smiled as he lifted his eyes to meet the crystalline of the other's eyes.
a crime so old as the sky and bone
he came untied, solid as a stone
all is almost lost and it starts to show
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#15
screams in excitement

Remi, despite being older than the Alpha, couldn't in this occasion keep his excitement from showing on the way his eyes (and smile!) suddenly widened. Though he was usually a collected young man, that kept his emotions under lock and key, for some reason Rannoch's not-so-subtle yet not-so-direct confirmation of 'space available in the Vale' made Remi's primal shyness turn into pure, raw, enthusiasm. Though he knew that there were probably other packs out there, and that a rushed decision was rarely a good one, he had a feeling that he could get to love the mountains if he let himself.

"oh, really?" he barked, trying to play cool, though his body language made it rather obvious he had both gotten and liked what was being implied (or at least what he thought was being implied!) "i'd actually love that...yeah, i wanna check it out" he barked with an enthusiastic wag. Though he wasn't sure yet that this was an actual offer, Remi figured that he too had to sell himself as Rannoch was trying to sell the name of his pack. "is there a test? interview?" he barked jokingly. Speaking of names... they hadn't even made any introductions!

"Im Mouse Ostrega, aspiring guardian, ranger and full time stuntman" he barked, deciding to use the alias given by his sister rather than the name his parents had given him upon birth with a prideful puff of his chest.
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*ALSO SCRAMS* !!!!!!!!!!!

Remi's sudden excitement was contagious. Following suit, Rannoch felt a jolt of energy strike and course through his being and soon brought a large smile to his dark lips. "I'm glad to hear that," Rannoch replied, his words sincere. He was eager to get going, despite his lingering fatigue, but Rannoch figured that they could get to the Vale by morning if they set off now. 

In the whirlwind of his excitement, the other wolf was quick to make a realization that Rannoch had skirted over. Feeling somewhat embarrassed by this misstep, he rebounded in his reply to his new acquaintance. "It's great to meet you, Mouse Ostrega," he rumbled fondly as he committed the name to memory. "That's quite a title you carry," he mused. In addition to the appealing fact that Mouse was interested in gaining the Guardian and Ranger trades, Rannoch was curious about the second part of his title: full-time stuntman. "What do you do as a stuntman?" 

Before he found their conversation drifting too far, he also added: "I'm Rannoch Frostfur, Alpha, Guardian, and aspiring Sitter of Northstar Vale." Boy, was that a mouth-full. 

Rannoch and Mouse RN:
[Image: Step-Brothers-Did-we-just-become-best-friends.gif]
a crime so old as the sky and bone
he came untied, solid as a stone
all is almost lost and it starts to show
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YES THAT'S THEM 

With a beaming smile, Remi hummed and gave a small nod of approval as Rannoch repeated his name back to him and played along on the joke. Aside from Saor, the girl that had rescued him from getting poisoned (or at least very constipated lol) no other wolf that he'd encountered had commented or questioned his name, and he was glad really. Explaining it would require mentioning Rilke obviously, and that was something that despite did not bother Remi, it did still pain him from time to time.

"oh, lots of things, ya' know, getting in huge ass caves like this one where you can't even see, for example" he barked with a huge ass grin taking over his face, "im pretty much into anything that involves getting in places others would generally avoid" he added with a slight shrug. 
It was true, he was always getting right into what his mother told him not to.
And despite ..the incident, it seemed his liking for risk and adrenaline was intact.

 "Rannoch Frostfur" he echoed, with another round of enthusiastic wags of his darker furred tail. The fact that he was a guardian only made Remi's tail move faster. "glad it was you in that cave and not a huge ass bear" .
that would've just been disastrous.
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Mouse's behavior could have been considered reckless, Rannoch did not see it as such. Even though Rannoch tended to gravitate towards more careful tendencies, he respected those who traveled the path less trodden. "I admire that. We have plenty of places in the Vale worth exploring and would love to have somebody to help me with the more difficult areas," to Rannoch, it seemed like a perfect fit. 

Though the mention of bears was often a trigger for the heavy-set male, he remained calm despite the subject matter. Their conversation had been light-hearted, and presently the Alpha's was mentality was strong. "That would have been awful," he agreed. "And it could have been the same for me, you know! You could have easily been a bear returning home for the night!" 
a crime so old as the sky and bone
he came untied, solid as a stone
all is almost lost and it starts to show
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omg didnt know bears were a trigger ;___;

Had Remi known the young Alpha's sensitivity towards the large predators he would've saved his last comment for himself, but as he didn't know he failed to censor himself entirely. This was a recurrent situation Remi found himself stuck in, unknowingly touching delicate matters. And there were times he found himself at the other side of it, having to clench his teeth and give a brusque response to change the subject when anything that reminded him too much of Rilke was brought up.  

"i've never thought i'd end up on the mountains" he commented, his crystalline eyes darting from the Alpha to the surrounding mountain range, he had been born and raised a coastal wolf, it had been only after leaving the Pier behind that Remi had begun to discover the world around what had been his world: Islamorada.
To be honest he hadn't even thought were he'd end up, but he figured that in the worst case scenario it would be some simple, plain forest or something boring. His luck seemed to be turning around.

"what made you settle there?" he asked, his eyes seeking once more the Frostfur's own.
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His parents were killed by one and then his pack got chased by another one. ;______;

"You know, I don't think I would either," he admitted as his eyes strayed to the rocky backdrop. In his youth, Rannoch was convinced that he would forever live among the evergreens in Neverwinter. Unfortunately for Rannoch, life had happened and drove those aspirations to become unattainable fantasies. "It's strange, isn't it?" he said after a pause, grinning as he reflected on the road that had brought him to the Vale. Though hardships had paved the winding road, the Alpha couldn't help but feel at peace with the life that he had created for himself and for the wolves that followed him. 

"A bear drove us to the Vale," he divulged, finding the irony in his answer. "We had been scouting for a territory to settle in for quite some time, and at that point, we were stationed in a field next to the mountain range." Though he had been fond of that territory, Rannoch had known from the get-go that it was not the place they'd call home. "One of our pups went wandering too far and pissed off the grizzly. Thankfully, we were able to save him, and we got away with little injury." The Alpha was aware of how lucky they had been in that incident.
a crime so old as the sky and bone
he came untied, solid as a stone
all is almost lost and it starts to show
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#21
*cries and hugs rannoch* 
lets have a new thread in the vale yeah?

Remi's eyes darted to the young Alpha's as he voiced too that he hadn't pictured himself on the mountains either. Just another proof of how things rarely end as expected. With his ears pricked and a sudden silence resting upon him, the creamy Ostrega simply listened to what Rannoch had to say. However, when the reason behind their choice for the mountains was revealed and the mention of a bear was mentioned Remi's eyes innevitably widened and though he (for some reason) had enough sense to keep his comments to himself, his face did portrey a certain alarm that only grew when Rannoch mentioned one of theirs having been attacked.

"that's awful...glad he's ok though" he decided to say before falling silent once more. 
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Yeah!!!!
 

Rannoch nodded to Mouse's words, agreeing with them wholeheartedly. "It could have been a lot worse," he concurred . With how scary the incident had been, Rannoch was aware of the lesson that it provided for the wolves of the Vale, and in that regard, he was thankful that they had been able to pull together and get out alive. "We'll be more prepared if it ever happens again, too." As far as the Alpha was concerned, he hoped that they would never have to, but it never hurt to be ready in case life threw a curveball their way. 

"Now, come on, let's get going," the night was growing older by the moment, and Rannoch wanted to make sure that they made it back by morning. When Mouse obliged, the two started off towards their home, sharing stories to keep them awake as the traveled through the night.
a crime so old as the sky and bone
he came untied, solid as a stone
all is almost lost and it starts to show