Ouroboros Spine Opportunity is the Tip of the Spear

This territory was vast. He didn't need to climb a mountain to know that, but a higher vantage point certainly helped. He'd spent some time in the valley, circling the lake. He knew how wide it was. He knew how long it took to walk its length, how long it took to run a lap around it. Swimming it? He was still working on that piece of the puzzle. Swimming certainly wasn't the easiest way to handle that thing. But it was stealthy. It was an option.

He left the lake behind. He knew enough about it to feel content. All that was left, was the question of what next. Where to?

Kero climbed. One paw over the other, he scaled the rocky cliffs and guided himself through the ridges towards the spine's summit. The eyes knew nothing of scents and bounds, but he wanted a better look at this place than he'd gotten from the outside; from the nearby moonspear. So he traveled. He climbed. He explored. 

I WAS AS PATIENT AS I COULD BE *invades*

Tonravik had finished marking this side of the territory. At the present time, the sun was at its highest and, to the leader, its hottest. The leader was active primarily at night during the Summer, her fur lending her no favors on the days where the heat was unbearable. It would only get hotter. Her thick furs could in these times be a nuisance.

The alpha lay at a higher point of her mountain, where a cool stream cut through and the trees were plentiful. In the cover of the shade, all was well. Her sides rose and fell rapidly as she panted, taking a deserved rest. The scent of Iqniq drifted her way. She lay on her side, one ear pressed against the earth, but lifted her head and leaned the weight of her body upward to end up laying on her belly. She alertly perused her surroundings, laying in a sphinx-like position, wondering if he headed her way; grass and dirt alike clung to the side of her body she had been laying on, but she payed that no mind.

Haha! <3 Thanks for joining!

His paws guided him without purpose. Well, true purpose. So long as he was heading up, he didn't much mind which path he chose to take. It was the way of a loner. Pick a direction and head towards it. Those habits, where hard to break. Even harder, was teaching his feet to still. He'd roamed for too long. They did not understand what it was like not to feel the ache of travel or the sting of rugged terrain. He was not so eager to spoil them now either. Moving it was. 

The wind shifted. His path crossed with that of the rugged alphena. He had half a mind to leave her be. With that bear of a wolf wandering around, he doubted she had much time away from the boy determined to prove to her he was a man. Solitude, he knew, was a beautiful, wonderful thing. Alas, there was some part of him that knew he had to try. He'd been here a few days and had made minimal efforts to meet his packmates. He sighed. Try and try again. 

Kero turned, altering his course so that he crossed paths with Tonravik. He found her, sitting upwards and covered in terrain. For a wolf with an already grizzled appearance, she certainly knew how to go about hagging that up. A number of sarcastic comments floated through his head, but he held his tongue and said none of them. Instead, he simply sat where he stood and turned his gaze out over the horizon. The landscape was a far better view.

LMFAO. His description of her is great and REALLY TRUE

By ways of appearance, the leader truly had little going for her. There was nothing to endear her to others. She was simple looking, with no standout features aside from her muscle mass and her bearish stature. Tonravik was not pretty, but very plain and common; murky, dark brown eyes that offered no contrast against her jet black furs. Soulless succubus walking.

That the brown bear had been following her had truly not bothered Tonravik, because she had not truly noticed. That he had intentions went over her head; she went about her duties and he went about his, but often partnered with her. Now the fiery male broke through the clearing, and the leader hoisted herself up to a stand, tongue still lolling from her mouth. While they hadn't been apart for too long, her nose enabled her to check up on his status. Her tail waved amicably as she moved in his direction, her intent to sniff him out relatively clear, ears fanning out atop her head before becoming erect again.

Lolz. I love that you describe her as ugly. Kudos. So nice not to run into gloriously attractive wolves all the time.

She moved, rising to her feet. Her presence loomed like a shadow. His golden gaze turned to face her, lifting one brow in question as she soon made her intentions clear. She wished to sniff and moved to do so. Kero wasn't really sure what she would find. He was covered in an assortment of smells and musks. He was fairly well traveled. He'd roamed a good many of the nearby lands and was cloaked in the sweat and dust of his roaming. Somewhere underneath all of that was his own scent, buried beneath the flavors of the land. He probably stunk and no one had had the boldness to tell him that. 

Might have been why he'd been having trouble getting laid... 

Nah.

Kero tipped his head aside, allowing her a better angle from which to gather her sensual information. It was awkward. All of this. He was not a truly submissive wolf and this passiveness came with much patience and unnaturalness. His ears flattened, his tail flicking with the discomfort as he allowed her to approach him and have her way with it. He kept his gaze diverted, his teeth clenched as he silently prayed she get on with it.

I can't even put a person to her. ton irl prolly

The leader investigated, nosing her way through his furs. There she smelt mainly the brown bear, and also the Spine itself. She made short work of this investigation, not thinking his odor foul but rather wild. That, to Tonravik, was suitable; in time, he would smell of this place... wholly. Tonravik looked to Iqniq, pleased with his silence. She had plenty more to learn of the man, but it seemed he had learned plenty about her. She was easy to please: do your duty, be present... both of which Iqniq had been fulfilling. Of course, the leader was easy to aggravate, as well; but more often than not it was nothing a scuffle couldn't resolve.

She removed herself from his side, and moved back toward the patch of shade she had been laying in. Iqniq himself had plenty of fur, as the rest of them did, but perhaps the sun was not as taken with his colors as it was her own. She would not know. Tonravik circled the patch of land, pawed at it, and fell into an ungraceful seated position, before sliding lazily onto her stomach again. It was difficult to be productive when the sun gave off such heat. That he was a well-traveled wolf struck something in her, and after loosing a wide yawn (effectively cooling down her brain), she looked to the other again. "What do you know of outside packs?" Her head tilted, and one ear flicked absently. 

Bwahahaha! That's awesome.

Her nose ruffled through his fur. He froze, his body tensing as she lingered so near and learned the unsung secrets that clung to him. His latest scuffle with Kodiak. His drifting through the waters. His circling and stalking of lands near and far. He wasn't sure what he continued to wear upon his hide. Blood from a rabbit. A wisp of the ocean. The pines of the mountains. The sweet scent of meadows. A myriad of adventures, but no true scent with which to associate. In time, perhaps, but for now? For now the wilds clung to him and he to them.

She moved away. Instantly he felt his body relax and shift into something far more comfortable. She seated herself in the shade and Kero gazed outward, not yet allowing himself to move from the spot. The sun was not altogether uncomfortable. He'd suffered worse. 

"Some," he admitted. To respond to her more completely. He'd require a dialogue. Sucking in a breath, he proceeded to speak on his discoveries. "Silvertip Mountain lies to the north. They're recruiting. Another pack in the east recently disbanded due to a lack of numbers. Closer to here lies Blackfeather. Rumor has it they're a nasty bunch, but the wolf I ran into seemed... a little more crazy than dark as the rumors suggest..." He let his voice drift as he pondered further. 

"To the far north is Nova Peak. Family oriented and proud. There's a caravan looking to settle, but I can't say whether or not they've found a home." He went on. "Towards the north sea, another pack disbanded. On my way back, another had formed. There are also strong scents in the area to suggest a third be on the way." He mused for a while longer, wondering what else he knew, but settled on leaving it at that. "Aside from this pack, I know of five in total with three on their way. My guess is that there are more, but I've not encountered them as of yet."

His time as a loner had, in this moment, done Tonravik plenty good. She listened, wondering if she would hear of Njal, or his glacier... but no such name was mentioned, and she was not so curious as to ask for specifics. Five in total, three on their way. He mentioned none nearby aside from Blackfeather, but so long as they kept their distance she had no qualms with them. The leader nodded. "Anything you learn of others in passing, report to me. They need know nothing of us." The other packs were competitors, after all. Tonravik knew Iqniq was well-spoken, and had come to learn he was less of an idiot than she had thought. That, or he was a quick study. So she had no doubt in his ability to glean information from others with giving nothing of use in return. Tonravik did not wish for him to go to other pack lands; but encountering pack wolves on neutral lands nearby happened all the time.

Iqniq had plenty of room to grow, here. In him again, the dirtied Tonravik saw his potential. The flame did not seem as bothered by her as the heat, and she envied him for that. Tonravik was made for Winter, and missed the bitter cold of the last one. She crawled lazily toward the water, going to lap at the cool stream.

He nodded. He could share. Better yet, he'd simultaneously been given permission to leave and to roam so long as he collected information along the way. Easy enough. His wandering heart could live by such bounds. It was what he'd been doing anyway. Seeking. Exploring. Learning. Watching. There was really no way of knowing exactly how much he knew. Sharing wasn't his forte.

Speaking of which... "How much do you know of me?" he asked, watching as Tonravik rose to quench her thirst within the water. Hell, he'd not done so much as to share his name with her. She'd nicknamed him almost immediately and he'd run with it. He'd shared nothing of his interests, his skills, his history and only demonstrated a meager few of the components which composed his nature. He had no plans on unloading any of those things on anyone, nor did his question require an answer. "They'll learn nothing of us."

In that, he was confident. Most wolves enjoyed nothing more than to talk about themselves. Tipping the conversation in such a direction was easy. And then they rambled. When he babbled? It was often about nonsense. Enough to make the other feel as though the conversation were balanced. 

Glancing towards her, Kero moved, joining her at the water's edge. He stepped so subtly within it, dampening his front paws in a form of release from the high heat. "I'll erase this scent when I go."

Tonravik blinked at his question. She was inclined to stay in her silence, feeling that he had to understand that her not knowing much of him was truly irrelevant. It was not who he was before this place, or who he had been, or what he had done. What she knew of him was what he could do. He could hunt, as displayed during their pack hunt, and he could follow orders. He could dispatch of prey, and he had a good memory. His person, she gleaned in her own silence, was loyal; and she also believed that he enjoyed to speak because it was apparent that most wolves loved the sound of their own voices. If there was more, she would learn it. Words were hardly required for her interrogations. She was not all-knowing, but observant enough. She listened, in her silence. The silence now was all the answer she needed, in fact. Enough.

His confirmation that he understood her, they'll learn nothing of us, appeased her. No wolf out there was a friend of theirs; he was a part of this unit, and a part of their beginning. As he dipped his paws in the water, he spoke again. Tonravik nodded. The leader also knew Iqniq was smart, when he wanted to be. His mouthy side he had not displayed to her again. Very smart.

She said nothing. He didn't know why there was a small part of him that still wished for her to speak. Her silence was very much her own. Her calling card. Her trait which spread to those around her. Even as they adopted it, that silence was still a sliver of her own. He was starting to recognize it. Starting to read it. Starting to find a small comfort in it. Starting.

And another, smaller part of him, still wished to ruin it and run back to the wilds. Lone wolves had no more responsibility than survival.

"What is it that you want?" he asked. It was the same question he'd asked her when he'd first joined her ranks. Back then, she'd told him what she needed. She still hadn't given him an answer.

His question was one that surprised her. Tonravik imagined he had learned by now what it was she was creating, here, what she wanted. "Family," she responds, looking to him. "A strong one. You are a part of it, now," and perhaps in time, in full. A time where his devotion was indisputable. He was worthy of the Spine; but could he be Tartok? She was near-certain he could, but it was wholly up to him.

For the while, there was that choice.

She wanted other things, too. Survival, the most basic. To thrive. To succeed and conquer. Cubs that would survive her, and continue the legacy, the great task of expansion. She was sure he could figure out what she wanted, the rest of it, anyway, on his own; she was not so difficult a creature to understand, nor to please.

His ears flicked towards her as she spoke. He wasn't expecting an answer. Most of which she shared, he learned by happening upon it. These wolves had a language of their own. A culture born of things he did not understand. In time, perhaps, but for he still felt a stranger in these lands. There was much to learn and plenty more opportunity to grow.

"Family." The word felt heavy. Like a cloak of lead. He did not know why those syllables carried so much weight to them, but it was uncomfortable all the same. Kero shifted on his paws, turning his gaze towards the horizon as the water curled around his ankles.

He grinned. She'd answered him. He wouldn't be able to use that question anymore. "What does Inquip mean?" he asked instead. She'd given it to him that name for some reason, but her language was lost upon his ears. He knew nothing of it. 

"Iqniq," she corrects, not knowing his intent was to have her speak. He asked for its translation, and a frustrated look crossed her features. Not toward him, but toward her situation. She knew what it meant, fiery bright meteor, but not how to say it so eloquently to him. For some, it was as simple as saying "fiery bright meteor". For Tonravik, the words were an image. "Iqniq sometimes comes from the sky." she informed. Day, or night, she had seen plenty in their descent. "Iqniq ikkiyok," she explains, but realizes he would not understand her. "It is on fire." How he had earned his name; he looked ablaze.

Tonravik placed her proud head upon her forelegs, peering up at Iqniq as he looked into the horizon. She then turned her snout to look beyond him, ear twitching at the sound of foliage shifting, but whatever it was Tonravik did not desire to investigate. Two sniffs informed her it was no predator, so whatever it was could continue its day without her interruption.

See? She said it better. Nevertheless, he caught the pronunciation on his ears and tried memorize the inflections within the word. Inquip. Ickwhip. Icknip? No. Iqniq. Ugh. Maybe he needed to hear it a gazillion more times. Languages were clearly not his forte. Hell, he had trouble with his mother tongue enough as was. Words were hard. 

Meanings, however, when translated, he could understand. Except for when Toni gave them. Sometimes from the sky? A wolven brow lifted upon his head as he tried to figure out where that might have come from. Then she elaborated with a longer word he didn't understand before connecting a few of the missing dots. Ahh. Something from the sky that was on fire. He smirked. He'd kind of come on hard and fast now, hadn't he?

She settled upon the ground, twitching her ears towards a sound and thinking nothing of it. Kero lingered in a puddle. His ears flattened upon his crown as he stepped out of it and trod in a quick circle to rid the lingering wetness from his steps. All dry now, he realized he had nothing more to say. Oh. One last thing. "Thank you," he murmured, glancing towards her before he turned and slipped away, leaving his alphena to her lazy afternoon.

-Kero exits-

Tonravik closed her eyes, but listened for Iqniq who was still near. It was high time for a nap. As he trod in a circle, she did not open her eyes... but when he thanked her, her eyes opened once more. While she was confused as to what he thanked her for, she did not ask. Too hot. So she lets out a grunt, as though to say, "sure". He goes to depart, and she does not watch; the leader closes her eyes again, inclined to take a snooze until the heat of the day departed them.