Moonspear and i know

there was an influx of wolves in the territory that terance had yet to meet. it was his own stubborn fault, feeling that they had come in to take away his friends and earned respect. his rank was a fleeting concern. while it seemed so important to him mere days ago, it was suddenly less important. maybe it was because of all these new wolves, and his being content with just being happy-- just having friends (as well as wraen) within the pack made him far happier than any sort of shown respect could, and he was starting to realize that. 

maybe that bear attack was finally getting to him... took long enough.

but, he saw rannoch more than the rest of the newbies. and the handsome male always smelled like one of the newbies. @Liffey, was her name, and terance was always secretly jealous. this budding friendship could not, he decided, be tainted by some lady-wolf with pretty eyes and soft fur. he and ran were going to be the best of buds-- two peas in a pod-- he refused to have a third wheel.

however, if anything, this did mean that rannoch couldn't take away any of his own broads. while it seemed alya was suddenly uninterested in him, terance still thought he had a fighting chance with lyra... if he could just... get there. this liffey character meant he was indefinitely off the market. 

these thoughts ran through the yearlings mind as he made his way to a nearby cache. he'd been patrolling all morning and was ready for a quick siesta. yeah, he deserved it.

Integration with her packmates had always been a bit of a struggle for Liffey. As a child, she'd been painfully shy and thus had found social situations quite difficult at the Caldera. In the Vale, she'd been too preoccupied with her budding relationship with Rannoch to pay the other wolves much mind. She had joined the ranks of Moonspear with a promise to Charon to pull her weight though, and she had known that this meant letting old habits die.

Little as she liked leaving Rannoch's side while he continued to heal, she did so regularly in pursuit of making herself useful. She'd spent that day wandering along the mountainside, mapping the trails and features that made up the land. Each cache location and concentrated scent of prey animals was marked upon her mental map for safekeeping, every body or stretch of water woven alongside of it all.

The Blackthorn hadn't been searching for any packmates on this trip, but had known it was likely to happen eventually. Her heart thudded with a quick note of anxiety as she saw the black shape ahead and her mind went straight to the three dark sisters. The wolf moved though, and she eased as she saw the features that differentiated him from the girls. Namely the whole him thing.

Fixing a smile upon her muzzle and a respectfully friendly posture upon her lithe frame, Liffey chuffed lightly to garner his attention. She approached him, feeling at ease, ignorant to the fact that he considered her presence here just as unwelcome as any of the triplets she'd at first mistake him for.

just as terance began thinking about sinking his teeth into a big ol' rabbit, a soft chuff pulled him from his thoughts. damn, that was a good imaginary rabbit too-- he hoped a real one would be just as tasty. his head turned, green gaze resting on the lithe and ashy frame of who he could only assume was liffey herself. what luck, he thought rather saltily-- that he'd run into the one wolf he didn't care to see. 

but that was sort of terance's thing, the whole 'ya i hate you but you'd never know' thing. to be fair, it wasn't her fault that his first impression of her was based off of something someone else said-- maybe this would go better. his stare was emotionless for a blink or two as he sorted through who this was and how to react, but slowly his tail began to wave and he sent a toothy smile her way. "liffey, right?" he offered her smoothly, head tilting gently to one side.

The male seemed pleasant enough as he turned to greet her. His recognition made her smile with embarassment, but she nodded gracefully. "Yes, that's right," she answered, "Seems that you have me at a disadvantage...?" Her head fell to the side as she gave him an imploring look, hoping he would fill his own name into the blank she had left for him. There was some familiarity in his scent, she realized. This one had been around Rannoch often, though their paths had yet to cross. The fact that he was a friend to her former alpha put her even more at ease.

Sweet naivety was really making a fool of her lately.

terance let a small smile crack through at her comment, and he bowed his head. "terance," he replied with a gentle wave of his tail, "redleaf-disarrino." that bit seemed to only resinate with the older crowd... but he figured he'd spout out his surname regardless. 

holding that same smile, the yearling slowed the wag of his tail, giving her a quick look down. "you're ran's friend, right?" he asked, though he knew the answer very well. if her scent hadn't been all over him to begin with, the cerberus made plenty of comments about her. he couldn't say he disagreed-- though they always came off a little harsh to him.

There was something familiar about his name, though Liffey was hard-pressed to place it. It was a faint touch upon something in her memory - something once said in passing perhaps, but not in any consequential statement. Like a brief line in a story with too many other, far more interesting plot twists for her to pay attention to it. She considered it as he spoke, but let it slip away as his words turned into a question that she was happy to answer affirmatively.

"Yes," she answered with a demure smile and slight dip of her muzzle, "I was a member of his former pack. What you all did for him was wonderful. I'm so grateful." Liffey took in a breath, not wanting to get too swept away in her gratitude as to make Terance uncomfortable. With a playful cant of her head, she added, "I know from experience that taking care of him can be no easy feat."

well of course you're thankful, since you're bangin' the guy.

terance offered nothing more than a quick dip of his nose. he hadn't done anything, really, except offer his company-- and that wasn't hard, since rannoch had turned out to be a real likable dude. though, despite his lack of emotion, liffey's next comment earned a genuine smirk/snort combo from the kappa(whatever rank he was at the start of this thread). "lyra's had her paws full for sure," he replied, tail waving slowly at the mention of the medic. as of late, he seemed to possess a childlike desire to always share his own downfall(because a bear attack was honestly really cool), so terance tacked on, "i've only just been cleared to return to my own duties." 

Liffey got a smile out of the male, which strengthened her own. She still wasn't entirely sure which of the dark sisters Lyra had been that day she'd been brought to Rannoch. She never actually knew which one was which, but they had all seemed equally displeased with her so she supposed it didn't really matter all that much. She rarely thought of them as individuals anyway, which they would likely have been pleased to know. Or they'd be offended. Something told Liffey she wasn't likely to win with them, either way.

Terance's comment caused her head to tilt from curiosity. She frowned softly as she asked, "Did something happen to you?" She looked him over subtly, only now noticing the mark upon his chin. He was standing at an angle that hid the rest of his scars, so she remained oblivious to the signs that otherwise would have alluded to the tale that was likely to follow.

terance nodded at her question. as she peered down his muzzle and chin he gave a slight turn to properly show off his shoulder and side, which had taken most of the blow. "a bear stole uh-- galaxy? one of the alpha's kids-- we went to fight it and i got pretty injured in the midst of it," he shared, turning back to face her properly. his tail waved a few times as he thought about anything he could've added to make the story cooler, but the story itself was kind of pitiful-- he'd been distracted by a girl.

"i probably would've died if it wasn't for lyra," he said, deciding that might've been a good thing to share... for some reason.

Liffey's eyes widened visibly when Terance turned to give her a better look at his scars. He went on to explain what had happened, mentioning a daughter of Charon's that she only knew vaguely by name at this point. The concept of a child being stolen by a bear was an unusual one that intrigued her imagination, but she was mostly just impressed with the young man before her that had risked his life to save his packmate.

"That's incredible," Liffey responded with a light shake of her head, "I'm glad that you were able to save her, and that Lyra was able to save you. I have to say, Moonspear has a very talented bunch of wolves in its ranks."

It was true - all of her new packmates seemed to have specialized skills and trades to their names. As much as she mistrusted the cerberus, there was no denying that they were incredibly talented individuals. She was certainly skilled in her chosen areas, but she knew she had a long way to go before she was as good as the dark sisters. In an alternate reality, she would have been eager to ask them to train her as she knew she had much to improve upon when it came to fighting and hunting. She was highly doubtful that would ever happen now, though.

terance nodded, a soft smile on his face. it was true, moonspear had some wildly talented wolves-- and at many different things. they had scouts and hunters and healers and naturalists... the whole nine yards-- but that's not what he said. instead terance gave a slight turn of his head to look past liffey, ears pricking and nose twitching, before turning back to say, "yeah, lyra's self-taught too." 

moving the conversation along, for once in his life, the yearling decided to fall into his mothers more sympathetic shoes. "how are you settling into moonspear?" he asked her, ears cupping forward.

Terance further explained about Lyra's talents, impressing Liffey even more in spite of her discontent with the cerberus. She couldn't imagine teaching herself how to be a healer. Teaching herself astronomy had been difficult enough, and she couldn't say really that her knowledge was truly all that helpful. It definitely wasn't here at Moonspear with so many other astronomers and naturalists about. But that was alright - it was at least something that she had in common with a few of her new packmates.

"Well enough," Liffey answered, smiling, "I've been letting Rannoch take up too much of my time, though. I haven't really met too many of my new packmates yet, but it's definitely a priority. That and getting to know the territory better. Do you have any pro-tips for a Moonspear newbie like myself?"

yikes, terance's only real advice was to stay on good terms with the cerberus-- and she'd entered on bad terms with them. so, there was really not point in offering up that piece of information. his tail waved thoughtfully, and eventually he shrugged. "just do your part. ya' know, keep up with the borders and your packmates and whatever trades you're pursuing," he told her-- honestly. hydra's biggest complaint was always about wolves not pulling their weight. and though he disliked liffey taking up all of rannoch's time, she didn't seem that bad of a wolf-- truthfully, terance would be disappointed to see her kicked out of the pack.

Last post for me! <3<3

Liffey listened intently as Terance answered. His shrug suggested that his advice was inconsequential, but the Blackthorn internalized it nonetheless. She had learned quickly since leaving the place of her birth that all packs were different. They all valued different attributes in their members and so it was important to be able to adapt to the expectations of each if she ever hoped to make a home. The Caldera valued loyalty above all else - even above personal skill and the ability to contribute and pull your own weight. The Vale had valued a shared dream - one of freedom and belonging where everyone could pursue whatever made them happiest. Moonspear apparently valued hard work and talent. If she was to earn her keep, she would have to work hard and hone her talents.

"I can do that," Liffey answered, smiling gently, "Thank you for the advice, and for the talk. I really appreciate it." It was hugely comforting for her to feel as though she'd made a friend. It especially helped that she was blissfully unaware of any resentment the boy felt towards her. Hopefully it would stay that way until there was none. Or, it would just stay that way.

"Well, I've taken up a lot of your time. I'll let you get back to it," the Blackthorn said, standing to excuse herself, "I've apparently got work to do myself. It was nice meeting you, Terance. I'll see you around." She gave him another smile before dipping her muzzle in farewell and setting off through the trees.

his tail waved, even though his advice was less than useful liffey still seemed to appreciate it... and he appreciated that. he was having a harder time disliking liffey than he thought he would-- damn. regardless, liffey claimed she needed to go and thanked him for his time-- though it wasn't very valuable-- and off she went. terance gave a polite smile and a chirpy, "you too," before she turned to go. well, that had gone about as well as he thought it would. he still disliked her for taking rannoch away from him but... well she wasn't that bad after all.