Mount Apikuni Looking like you own it

@Embry :)

For a mountain it was alright, but Elixir still wondered where they were going to next. She never complained though and wouldn’t say a word about it to anyone. Loyalty was her specialty well, because she is part dog. The ebony female decided maybe she could roam around a bit outside of the group. Maybe even bring home a recruit or meet someone new. 

After a fight in her head she started down the mountain, back tracking where they had just came. She took a different turn and was scouting the area. It was so beautiful on the mountain that was the only positive thing she could say. A few yards and she found a couple of trees to lay under; a break for her legs. Her ears perked as she was vulnerable in this position.

thanks for getting the post up!

     Embry traipsed quietly down the mountainside; a luminous honey-golden bean plodding along in faultless pursuit of his destination. The 'bear cub', as he resembled upon the steep, olive and tawny slopes, progressed slowly and with particular care. He was an attentive youth and undeniably perceptive of both his terrain and his motive: to investigate the historical markings of a slain and long-departed pack.

     Immediately upon reaching his designated outpost, however, his descent was frozen mid-stride. For upon a gentle breeze, information of a fellow wolf had subtley issued across his aromatic receptors. Instinct bristled the fur at his neck; urged his muscles into a tensed and appropriately wary posture. The aureate male seemed to have doubled in size from his default, pacified, quotidian stature. His mind, although reeling from the shift of reverence for the fallen to the alertness of threat, advocated simple retreat... but he was intrigued. Young, curious, but brazen, as well. A potential new friend was, quite plainly, never an opportunity such a boy as Embry dare decline.

As the ebony wolfdog let her limbs take a rest her eyes caught glimpse of another nearby. Her heart started racing as instinct had it. Though she wasn’t sure if the other had seen her she gave a short bark in greeting. If she was going to be in danger today at least it would be her own fault. 

Elixir didnt move from her position just watching the stranger with her glass like red eyes. From her analyzation she could tell it was bigger than her but the coat on it was a bit lighter. She would wait for it to make the first move over to her or to leave her alone. Elixir wasn’t about to investigate it by herself especially being by herself on the side of this mountain that in itself was a disadvantage if the other knew this place well.

     Embry's heart settled at the sound of her short, pacific greeting. He adjusted his eyes to meet the source of the voice with a softening posture. Slowly, the effects of steep adrenaline-incline seemed to fade into a youthful curiosity upon his golden frame.

     "Hello, there." He returned with an equally placated bark. "My name's Embry." His oceanic orbs caught the female's glassy, sanguine specs with plebeian amiability. She wasn't far down the hillside - close enough, in fact, for him to notice the slight discomfort in her features. As soon as possible, he would like to dispell any hint of animosity between them. Perhaps she would have information as to the origins of the slope's morbid history.

She raised her head and then stood to be on her paws, just to feel a bit safer. It seemed he didn’t pose a threat so far so she let her muscles relax. Her hackles smoothed out to blend with the rest of her fur. A small smile appeared on her face. “Hello Sir.” She said and dipped her head, learning this from other wolves helped her with interactions. “Embry... I’m Elixir” she thought aloud and then offered the other sun-kissed wolf her name. 

He was a bit larger than her, but she didn’t seem too intimidated yet. Her ears flicked as she ran her eyes around him. The light of day helped his fur look immaculate. The wolfdog looked back at her own fur, it was plain and a sigh was let out. Knowing in her head she had got off topic she looked up at Embry and let her smile return. “What brings you here? I’m here with a band of wolves.” She explained with no real reason.

     Embry noticed the female's cordial dip of the head and offered a similarly courteous salutation. He bent his muzzle ceremoniously; oceanic orbs flecked with slight imbalance at this female's considerate posture and usage of the term 'sir' (indeed, he was only a boy himself). Her name trailed across his auditory receptors as both peculiar and mellifluous, lifting a casual grin upon his maw. He enjoyed names that prompted a speculative mind.

     She seemed to drift into space for a small moment, so Embry assumed a polite stance discreetly surveying her features. A sleek, ebony female, he could only postulate that she was of some domestic origin, similar to himself. No wolf had such immaculate pelage; soft and silken despite the thick density born of wild heritage. Being the offspring of goldenmute descent, Embry withheld many of these features in his own genetics. He would have to expound upon this later in their conversation. No doubt she had a story to tell; wolfdogs always did.

     "I don't completely know what led me here, if I'm being honest." He laughed gently; allowing, for the first time, his sea-green gaze to find her own. It was dangerous to assume eye-contact without at least some figment of trust for foundation. He was shocked by the ruby depths that met him: indeed, he had never seen such vermilion a color. He hoped the stupefaction was not overwhelmingly evident.

     "Sometimes, I just follow my own paws. It's amazing where you can lead yourself, eh?" There followed another pause in which he adjusted his position to a more comfortable stature. He did not like speaking more than a few lines at a time about himself. "What does this 'band of wolves' call itself...?" Although he refrained from voicing it aloud, his facial implications suggested the rest of the question. And what makes you wish to join them? 
     
     He was wary of packs. In the past, his experience with that sort of bondage was marred by deplorable encounters; one of which still haunted the environs of his thoughts and energy. This discomfort, however, was masked exceedingly well in his attentive and characteristically jolly posture, for he was a master of the stoic. 

Elixir’s muscles seemed to relax a bit more after seeing his posture become more relaxed too. He wasn’t here to hurt her what a relief! A wag of her tail signaled her happiness and as she looked at him he was speaking. A nod was all she mustered, she understood the paws part. Elixir’s paws always wanted to take her into any situation but ones she wanted to be in. An example would be the time she had met Liri and saw her but didn’t want to walk up to her yet her paws had their own brain it seemed and led her straight to the woman. It was strange.  

“It’s amazing yeah, but sometimes I think my paws have a mind of their own. I have the same problem.” Her voice had the slightest tingle of frustration, for her paws of course. After he asked what the band was called she was knocked from thinking about her pesky paws and then her eyes got a little bigger. Should she even tell him? Elixir had just met him and wasn’t even sure what his intentions were here anyway. 

With her brows furrowed looking like she might solve a crime in the next few minutes she took a minute to think if she wanted to even tell him. “Northstar Vale, we still have a bit to travel I guess. But we have stopped here to get some rest. The leaders are really nice and I just couldn’t ask for better companions to travel with.” With her face still looking the same it all spilled out. Her mind was thinking she shouldn’t have said it all but she did because who even thinks before they speak anyway?

     Embry had no idea why, but the female appeared evidently conflicted. So many thoughts seemed to populate that head - too many for him to even begin an attempt at following. Instead, he pressed his forepaws against the earth and reclined steadily on his haunches. He listened with a respectful ambience.

     "Northstar Vale..." He traced the words thoughtfully upon his tongue. The name was certainly derived from that of the very location itself, however it implied no more about the wolves soon to inhabit it. Peaceful, serene, and ample in resources for the survival of many a rich wolf. All he could deduce was that the wolves were certainly a bold sort for dawdling so close to Sunspire's territory. 

     "Well, I wish the best of luck to you all in your journey." He sensed her wariness and tried, once more, to pry at these dubious emotions. He certainly hoped that his intentions were well-recieved. Truly, his interest was piqued by the new and developing pack. Perhaps he knew a wolf or two...

     "And who do you call the leader of Northstar Vale?"

Elixir seemed to be less cautious after her words, if she was gonna be in deep shit it would be now and it would be her fault. Why not own it? If Liri and Kavik were to find out she told a stranger about their band, well it would just get the word out and they wouldn’t be mad... she hoped. Everyone seemed cautious about recruits after Thorleif and it didn’t seem too fair on the poor wolf.

”Liri and Kavik wish to settle down together, so they are starting their own pack. They are pretty nice, not like a lot of others would be.” She said thinking back to when her and Liri first met. The woman told her about what dangers might be lingering around and it could be in Elixirs best interest to join them. “It helped me, I’m still here. I haven’t encountered too many dangers around. I give thanks to them.” She commented, letting him know that they did her a service.

The ebony female raised her head and smelled, trying to get his scent to see what he smelled of. Something that could be a clue as to who he is. “Have you always been a loner? And do you have any thoughts on packs?” She asked almost like a police person investigating at a scene. Elixir shifted her weight uncomfortably as he sat back, she felt awkward for standing.

     Embry started at the notion of a familiar name: Liri. It caught him in a tangle of nostalgia that battered his eyes into widened cerulean saucers. He could hardly contain the stream of oppressing thoughts from spilling into his mind; muffling the present conversation to the point of no communication. He listened in acute silence amidst the turmoil; nodding as she spoke of how courteous Liri and this Kavik had been.

     When the barrage of questions latched upon Embry, he considered whether this was the appropriate wolf in which to address this portion of his past. He had been so young when he had first entered the Teekon Wilds - barely surpassing his twelfth month - and his ripe motives were not always well-devised. He'd even gone so far to have assumed fake lineage within the ranks of a pack out of the desperate need to join one. How was he to have known that the first stranger he'd engage with upon hostile terms would now face him once again, two years following?

     He sighed. Thoughts on packs? Where do I begin? 
     "My past, in regards to pack life, is trivial..." He coughed awkwardly, clearing his throat. "I actually can't say that I merited much luck, being the loner I was back then, but I don't believe that my view on that sort of bondage is in any way tarnished... It's simply not ethical to allow discrete experiences to absorb the entire function." He shrugged idly. Goodness, Em. Don't bore this Elixir to death.

     "Let's just say, to put it bluntly, that I was very daft. Consequently, my presence within packs have been shortlived..." He could still recall the false names he'd propogated: 'Sapphire Valentine', his poor and regretfully deceased mother, being the most prominent recollection. He smiled; amused at his own Machiavellian nerve. "It may come as a surprise, but I have actually encountered Liri before in my travels! In fact, I believe we may have engaged in combat... - cue the strained laugh - but don't worry, I have no lingering enmity. In fact, it would be rather like meeting an old friend to see her again... At least, on my part. I believe she was pregnant at the time...?" He gazed questioningly at Elixir, as if to inquire, how do they (the pups) fare?

Elixir took a few steps back at first when it seemed he had a lot on his mind, it was scary to see that maybe that was what she looked like when her thoughts all came at once. When the sand storm pelted Embry started to talk her face lightened a bit. 

After his first sentence she had very many more questions roll into her mind. It was hard to keep from interrupting him as she never thought before she spoke, but she kept it under control. Her sorry looking drooped ears perked as he mentioned that he had previously met Liri. Though she felt worried her face never changed the warm look she was giving him. The wolfdog continued to listen. He mentioned puppies and Elixir’s mouth dropped literally. This was some juicy stuff that she had no idea about given she didn’t know Liri all that well but if she had puppies... where are they?

There was nothing that she could say for minutes, it was dead silence between the two. Though her face was in shock her mind and heart were racing. “I....I understand that packs can be hard sometimes. I’ve never had one beyond this though, so it’ll be my first time...” Her voice was hollow as she picked up her chin to talk to Embry. “I don’t look at you any different. I know being a lone wolf you come in to different situations and have to fight. Liri though doesn’t have pups?” She wasn’t sure if she was questioning or yelling at this point. The shadowy female thought it would be best to clear it up, “if she does or did have pups they aren’t with us or her, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind seeing you again.” Her face softened. “We always love new recruits if you do figure out that you want to meet her and everything turns out okay. I mean I wouldn’t mind to have you around.” A weird feeling came to her cheeks, was she blushing? Slightly she shook her head back and forth. 

“It’s up to you though. If you want to ask me anything you can, I seem to have asked a question that brought out a lot more than I thought. “ she smiled as she suggested this. Elixir never wanted anyone to feel like they had to tell her anything but if they did it was good to give some back. Maybe in the future a friend could be a good thing.

Embry grinned at her expression; relishing the lightening mood and basking in the escalating tempo of the conversation. Elixir seemed to know nothing about the being of two Liri-produced pups, and something told Embry that this was not without intentional negligence. Nevertheless, his thoughts shifted at her slight blush.

    He couldn't help but allow his tail to wag as he sat there, the pacific spectator of his own younger self. In everything she did, he drew parrallels that twisted him deeper within his own self. This very emotion - the spitting image of the scene itself - felt like a sequel to an older story he remembered well. Feyre...

     As much as he would have liked to accept her invitation, he wasn't sure. Did he want to retrace these steps? Or was he just being hypocritical? It was tempting, after all, to follow her. Hoping to shift the conversation away from himself, he offered,

     "Alright let's hear about yourself. You said first pack... Where do you hail from?"

The wag of his tail was accepted with a shy smile. Elixir sat slowly on her rump and waited to hear what he might ask her. The sun was slowly taking a dive below the mountains, she looked up and smiled, soon it would be her favorite time of day. The attention of the wolfdog returned to the one who made her blush for the first time in her life.

He asked her about where she had come from her first pack, a different mood took over her then. It wasn’t a fiery mood but slightly sad as she had a flashback to her run in with Grezig. A small whimper came out unexpectedly. The look that she gave Embry was one full of regret and sorrow. 

”I come from a place that I’m not sure you’d know about, I’ll still tell you though. It’s called the Black Market, things get sold illegally by humans and without a care to the thing that’s being sold. I was ripped from my mother after I was able to eat solids, it was a blur so I’m not even sure how old I was.” Her eyes seemed to gloss over as she spoke. Thinking back to that horrible time was hard on her. Hopefully it wouldn’t scare him away, but she wanted to be honest with him since he had been with her.

     The Black Market. Ominous as it sounded, Embry was drawn more by its human derivation than by its generally dark aura. He had only heard of humans once before, and it had been in an old tale Virginia had told him as a pup. As far as he remembered, they were feared creatures that were best kept at their own devices.

     Excited at the potential inlet for further knowledge about the mysterious animals, Embry's features affected a preternatural absorption.  

     "That sounds horrifying." He murmured, half to himself in his dazed state. He shook his pelt as though it might clear the dark feeling that enveloped his chest. "I'm sure this isn't a memory you'd like to speak much of, but I'm very curious as to how you escaped this 'black market'?"

Elixir let her gaze fall and then took an unnoticeable breath of air as if she was drowning and just came back to the surface. Her smiled returned as he took up his half of the conversation. He was right, it isn’t a memory she would like to relive but if it was information he wanted she would give it. Elixir felt like she could trust him in the little time they had been talking. After all, he did tell her the truth.

”I was sold. As is everything that is born there or brought there. It was to an elderly man. He could still do for himself but you could tell he was aging, getting the grey stuff around his face and fur?” She said this time she refrained from going into a trance-like state. Counting in her mind kept her calm as she could be talking about it. “But after the day I was ripped from my mom or she was ripped from me more like, I never seen her again so I was scared ya know. Anyway... I was taken away from that place. “ she was feeling a bit trusting of him but not enough to tell him about the building or the rest of it. That might come later, more trust exercises. Elixir’s ears started to glue to her head just thinking about it. 


The wolfdog started counting again under her breath and then she relaxed once again. She didn’t want this interaction with Embry to turn out like it had when Grezig asked, though Embry had given her a story so it was the least she could do; Grezig had given her nothing.

     Embry felt compelled to alleviate the pain, but it eluded him as to how. He was still only a stranger to Elixir, and he felt that any gesture he attempted might be controversial. It was testament enough to her irreporachable personality that she divulge so much to him, and he was grateful for that despite the naivety it imparted.

     "What are you doing?" He couldn't help himself. In an amiable, ginger manner, he made light of her bizarre tendency to... was it count? It occured to him that she was using a manuever similar in function to that of his breathing exercises, which he employed exclusively during nerve-wracking and labor intensive situations.

     It made sense, of course, given her difficult origins, that she should develop brittle tendencies to combat resulting maladies. Himself, Embry found her behavior winsome and undeniably endearing; he made sure this was clear in his considerate, purely inquisitive approach. There was no judgement within his sea-green eyes: only admiration.

Elixir looked away from Embry as he asked her what she was doing. Usually it wasn’t so embarrassing but she felt a different feeling here. A moment passes before she can make herself look back up to answer him, “It’s a calming method I use when I get too angry about something I shouldn’t. Sometimes I use it when I talk about my past, like now. I developed it when I was young.” She said her gaze was shooting around looking everywhere but at Embry.

“It keeps me out of bad situations. I like to think that maybe anyway.” She stated as her tail flicked and she returned her weight back on her paws. The wolfdog felt better standing than sitting at this point. When her gaze finally did return to the sandy male she smiled a bit, his eyes weren’t harsh like she imagined them to be after asking that question. 

“Where are you from?” Voice soft her question was one that didn’t have to be answered if he felt it was too forward. She was grateful for everything Embry had already told her this far.

Embry nodded. A calming method - just as predicted. It made sense and, so far, it seemed to work well for her. When she questioned where he was from, Embry only shrugged dismissively.

     "Beyond the Teekon Wilds, if that's what you were wondering." He didn't venture far into the details of his tribal derivation, but he felt that he owed more to Elixir than a short reply, so he continued cautiously, "I was born in a place my mother called Boa-yi Bay. It means great, exalted... For many, it was a safe haven to foreigners. Myself, however, it was quite the opposite." He coughed; not knowing what more to say.

     "When I got stressed, I often went for long walks along the shoreline."

Elixir listened without judgement as he did her. The name was foreign to her, but most everything was. He seemed to be frustrated talking about it and she could sense that just from his short replies. She was fine with it of course she wasn’t going to pry at something he didn’t feel comfortable with. A smile appeared on her face as he was done talking. 

“The beach sounds nice, I’ve never been. Especially the long walks.” She commented on the beach part but nothing else. When she thought about it maybe it was a bit rude not to acknowledge his past. “I understand though, about it not being a safe haven for you but maybe for others” she nodded hoping he would understand. She did long to see the beach one day, maybe after the band settled and everything was fine. The trip would be long though and not one she could do herself.

"The beach is nice, if you're one for the sand." He smiled at the thought of rolling waves; the sound of the seashore as it defended the earth from the turmoil of the ocean. Had he not been so compelled to explore the Teekon Wild, he might have remained within the Cerulean Cape or Sealion Shores. 

     "I'm sure you would love it. Someday, maybe, I can take you there myself." He shrugged. Who knew the future when it was so clandestine? It was elusive and yet ubiquitous: both unknown and easy to predict. Following his descent Southward, perhaps he would retrace his steps and experience winter up near Northstar Vale?

     "Boa-yi is, as far as my knowledge goes, not as bad as the Black Market was, I'm sure..."

Elixir nodded, her image of the beach was sunset and everything nice. The sand was warm but not burning coals and the waves were wooshing slightly against the ground like patting it and telling it, ‘Good Boy’. The wolfdog had such a good image of the beach, not knowing that some beaches could be nothing but cliffs and bigger wooshing. 

After hearing his words about taking her to the beach one day she had to calm herself a bit before replying to the sandy man. “Well, I think that’d be mighty nice of you.” She replied with a shy sounding voice. It was almost a hushed voice. The wolfdog’s red eyes shined at the thought that he would come back to go with her to the beach. It seemed generous. 

“Are you headed somewhere specific after here?” She asked curious to know where he was actually going to, if he knew anyway.

     Embry smiled when he noticed Elixir's shift in features. It was small, but perceptible, and he hoped not incriminating to the young female. He had only been so gregarious in few situations before, and all of them led to an ultimate minus; prevalently in thanks to his politesse nature. Himself, the honey-golden stripling felt a peculiar warmth ebb gently across his chest at the thought of a return.

     "After this paradise?" He repeated the question more to himself than to his polite auditor. In truth, he wasn't sure of the exact intent of his journey southward. Perhaps he would stop by the Fen for old time's sake? 

     "That's a good question, actually." Embry pondered whether she would have a personal recommendation. "I've always been curious about the hot springs nearby. You happen to have any advice?"

Elixir waited patiently for his reply to her question. He genuinely didn’t know where he was going, she wondered where she would have went if she didn’t accept Liri’s invitation. Maybe if she didn’t accept it she would have went toward the flatlands, which always seemed nice, but doubtful. A slight shrug to herself brought her back to reality. 

“Hot springs?” She said, questioning what it even was. The season... was hot? She could only imagine rain and it being 80 and above in temperature. Her eyes rolled up to look at the sky as she thought about any suggestions. “Well, I wouldn’t go to hot springs if it’s anything like it sounds. Raining and it being hot doesn’t mix for me anyway. I came from the valley, it’s pretty and has plenty of food.” She described her thoughts about the hot springs so maybe he would consider it before he went. After all, he was nice to her and she could only return the favor by not letting him go somewhere that he wouldn’t enjoy. The valley was nice and all but she wasn’t exactly sure if that’s even what he was looking for. Elixir hoped that she didn’t just embarrass herself.

     Embry had not been aware of the climate surrounding the Hot Springs, so he was grateful for the female's advice. As for the valley, it seemed like a viable enough option. Perhaps he might wander around that area for a few days... 

     He didn't give himself much time to ponder on future travel arrangements. Elixir appeared discomfited and that was all the urgency needed to push such matters below the surface. In order to preserve the girl's former assurance, he was quick to respond, quite appreciatively, "Then it seems as though the valley is my destination."

     "Thanks for the input. I agree that the Hot Springs never sounded very appealing in retrospect."

Finish up? :) We can thread again sometime!

Elixir smiled at him and then nodded, if he was to visit the valley that would make her heart happy and if the latter she wouldn't feel different. Happiness was her mood almost always and barely anything ever changes that. Her gaze never left his as he spoke to her about thinking that the hot springs sounded like a bad idea anyway. She nodded in agreement with him. "I wouldn't go by me though because I've never been, but if you do go to the valley one day then tell me how you liked it when I see you again" she said and then batted her eyes, not consciously flirting with him.

When she finally realized what she had done then her auds got wide, "If I ever see you again." she coughed. What was even going on inside her head? It was unlike her to do this! Embarassed she looked up and then realized how long she had been gone, hoping the band hadn't noticed she had been away too long and wasn't worried. "I-I have to go, I hope your safe in your travels and get to see everything you want." she said turning to walk off but giving him one more look back.