Wolf RPG

Tonravik led them. With her came the chronicler and the Tartok man, as well as Echelon. They made it in good time to Moonspear, given they had left as soon as possible. Kapvik had left to find anyone else that had not been in their group to aid her mate and Nanuk. All that the alpha female was concerned about was that they make it from point A to B. Death was never out of the question... but as fortune would have it, they made it to Moonspear before the storm hit.

The trip was a stressful one. The wind buffeted their every move, hindering and aiding them both. As the mileage of it picked up, things were thrown in their path... but nothing was altered to the point of things becoming impossible for them. As it all came, the alpha female knew the worst was yet to come. Entering the depths of the mountain with the networking of caves, the leader was able to breathe easier. She was not so sure that this place would be kept safe and out of harms way... but it was better than the Spine, where the storms course looked to run. There were bats above her; the leader felt calmer for that.

Her eyes moved assessingly to the wolves that had come with her. They all seemed well. Her eyes held to Echelon, and then she looked out of the entrance. She waited for fire, ice, and earth to pour into this place. Home had become wolves more than it had a place, and the alpha female stared out of the door. She set herself up for the reality, and the terrible likelihood that they might not be revealed to her at all. But the alpha female refused to agonize, knowing she was the present foundation for the pack. If they did not make it, by storms end they would need to move on.

It had rained on them briefly, the wet droplets nothing short of piercing daggers. These were just little tastes of what was to come and as nightfall had descended upon them firmly and swallowed them whole, Echelon had kept a close pace with Tonravik. The others she presumed trailed behind them, at least those that had turned up and were safe. And at the their place of rally, this Moonspear, they were dry though the air around them crackled with electricity and hells untold.

She had paced ahead of the head of their band, testing the air curiously. She had never come to this place before, but it seemed as though it would do for the time being. Whether or not they would have to persist in moving on did not cross her mind, for where Tonravik went she would surely follow. They would not be separated by anything, be it the onslaught of weather or some other earthly bound. With some satisfaction to where they had come, the lithe female turned to survey the gathering pack crisply, tongue snaking out momentarily to lick away linger moisture from her muzzle.

He'd found Arverk. Together, they'd met up with Nanuk and Kapvik at the pond before descending back down their mountain towards the moonspear. He followed the trail his mate and her caravan left behind. From the looks of things, it appeared as though she'd escaped with a number of their wolves. Good. They'd made ever effort to gather up as many as possible and he'd cried their location for reconvening if any lingering souls so dared to find them. He could only hope they'd all made it out alive, but they'd have to reassemble to make a final head count.

Iqniq followed their trail towards the moonspear. With quickness in his pace, that gait only became more hurried as the quiet patter and promise of greater rain surrounded them. They would not loose their path because of these elements rather they'd reach shelter before it became too much of a burden. With a howl of encouragement to those with him, he pushed them all forward, driving his company closer to their rendezvous site.

There. He gave a signal to his troops before guiding them towards the tunnel entrance. Lingering by the threshold, he waited for each wolf to enter before bringing up the rear. He shook himself lightly as he plunged into the darkness and was greeted by the rest of the pack. They'd saved many. Not all, but many. He could only hope the others found their way out.

He moved through the shadows, seeking out his mate. He nudged Tonravik gently before lifting his nose to her ear in a whisper. "Lightning struck. The Spine is on fire." The rains might quiet the blaze, but they needed to be prepared for the worst. He did not wish to have to travel given how far along the her pregnancy was, but if they must, the were few options for them. The strong survived and they would be living proof of that.

Any hope of recovering the last of his hoard went up in flames. Literally. Damned lightning struck the Spine in it's sedgy fields, setting it ablaze. The stones would remain, but everything else would be razed. It would be home to ash and none other. Perhaps ghosts would take refuge there; as a testament to how easily they could be snuffed out. Like they were all tiny insects beneath the heel of some wrathful entity. Yeah well this “entity” can choke on it.

It was all...demoralizing. The damage that began taking place as soon as they left spurred him to run faster, to not look back. Tatsuya followed Iqniq's lead, entering the mountain's intersecting caves with a distant look and a tired posture. They had no home now. Their dwelling would no longer entice moose or bison to feast upon their grounds. Not for a long, long time.

Shaking out his coat – likely spraying any who loitered nearby – Tatsuya trailed after Nanuk until a grunt made him pause mid step. His once radiant eyes searched for the originator, finding Kingumut sitting against the distant wall off to his left. Even in the darkness he could pick apart the spectral wolf's pelt. Lazily sauntering over to the monolithic wolf, Tatsuya let out a rumbled greeting and an appreciative tail wag. The herbs the Epsilon had retrieved earlier was near his left paw, untidily heaped but no worse for wear. Thank you. Kissing the wolf's cheek, Tatsuya moved to retrieve his  possessions. There was some fumbling – an act Kingumut was uninterested in witnessing, taciturnly shambling away – but he eventually took all of them within his mouth.

Following Kingumut's steps, he went to Arverk's side. You're safe. You're here. There was a time where he thought the whale forever lost, never to be found. I'm glad you're here. Redirecting his path, he now approached Tonravik's inner circle. He addressed Echelon, Nanuk, and Tonravik with a dip of his crown and Iqniq with a meaningful stare. He looked confident that they would survive this...or he was confident about something else. Regardless of whether he viewed Iqniq's composure as confidence or anything else, he did not make a move to join in on those gathered around Tonravik. He would greet those who approached him personally but he did nothing else greet the rest gathered, too preoccupied.

Worry was burdensome. They would survive this. Tatsuya was certain. But Tonravik...The birth of her whelps drew near as each day passed. And now they had no den in which she could give birth safely. Frustrated, he swirled around to glare out into their disorderly environment. Damn you and damn your timing. Really, it was all too perfect, like the world did not want Tonravik's pups to see the light of day. The world does not care about us. It does not care who gets caught in the crossfire of its asinine tantrums. The world would see them wiped off the face of the earth, but the world can go suck a fat one.

Their home was gone but the pack, most of them at least, had gotten out safe. That was clear as they approached, the polar bear close behind Iqniq as they closed the distance between the two parties. He greeted Tonravik and she too, drew near. Jostling Iqniq and Echelon both in friendly companionship, her pale muzzle grazed underneath Tonravik's chin before she broke away to take a headcount. 

Most had made it, she was pleased to confirm, and she heckled none in this moment, content that the wolves of the Spine still thrived. "At the break of dawn, I will take two and go hunting. We will need sustenance for the times ahead." Whoever volunteered at this point was fine with her. She just wanted to make sure that they were ready for whatever trek lay before them.

Lightning struck the Spine and set the land he'd called his home on fire. The inferno blazed through Ouroboros, devouring the trees, the grass, practically everything, leaving the once plentiful and beautiful land; leaving the home of wolves and other animals alike to be nothing but ash and stone. It saddened the whale to see the Spine in this way, but he did not think that this was the end because his packmates were still mostly alive. They had survived by being a team, by working together, so they would survive this by being a pack and helping one another. He was sure of it.

Arverk was shook out of his thoughts when the wolverine appeared. A smile graced the usually stoic's Roman's feature as he made to poke his nose to his friend's cheek as if saying: Me too. I'm glad you're alive and with us. He watched as Kapvik turned to greet his superiors before his own eyes drifted to assess his companions. They were a bedraggled band of wolves now, no longer a pack. Because a pack could only be a back when there was a place to call home; now, they were simply a group of wolves, looking for the last thing they needed to become a pack once more: a home.

Kingumut and the chronicler were quiet, likely exhausted by their long sprint here. That was fine; she knew that it would take time to recuperate. The alpha female felt fortunate that they had all survived this, but still was on edge as she stood protectively before the threshold of the place they hunkered down in. The winds picked up, and she retreated backward some... but none blew into the mouth of their shelter. She would wait some short time before moving them all deeper into this place.

She was not disappointed to see those who entered the den. She knew each of their faces. Only one familiar face was not there... the red one. She let them move toward her, and greeted them fondly, proudly. Her eyes looked to them all, and she did not see what Arverk saw. She saw the opposite. Now more than ever, they were pack. Wherever they lay their claim to, it would be indisputably theirs. 

As her mate nudged into her, she nosed back, sniffing... no, no blood. Not on any of them. As he spoke, the alpha female nodded. To her, home was not a place. Home was this, before her.

She stepped into the group, to enter its very center, so that each of her wolves were around her.

"The Spine may not survive this storm," comes her strong voice, "But we will. We are. We will move on from here when the storm has gone," she paused, looking to each of their faces before continuing, "And we will lay claim to another place. Together. We can, we will." It was short and succinct, but for the alpha female, it was enough. They needed no land to survive. They needed prey, and each other to take that prey down.

The road might be long and hard, but it was one they would travel together. And they would be stronger for it.

A firm kick within her gave her all the cause in the world to say, "We are fighters, and we are survivors." Her head lifted, squared between her shoulderblades, and her plume rose proudly. They were surely worse for wear, but better off than they would have been should they have stayed upon the Spine.

His eyes passed over each and every wolf, nodding to each of them in turn. They'd all survived the worst of it and now, as the winds whipped across the entrance to their reprieve, they would survive the rest of this storm and all that was to come.

The meaning of his words were not lost to his mate. She spoke up, echoing his own thoughts as she addressed the rest of their group. They would get through this. He was certain of it. And when Tonravik was done speaking he lifted his voice to let them all know he too was unified in this. "We can. We will." A creed spoken. A creed lived. They would be evidence to the world of such things.

There was little else to add. Nanuk spoke up with an offer to hunt in the morning. Good. They would need it. No doubt they would get little sleep this evening and would need all the extra sustenance they could find. "Echelon and I will scout after the storm has passed." He trusted her to be fleet of foot, not to mention her tracking skills were excellent. The rains that followed might have doused the flames. Or they might have made things worse. They could not yet know, but they could later investigate and move forward from there.

Whatever was shared between Tonravik and her mate, Echelon did not catch. Whispered words, hush and strange, were almost foreign to her. She strained an ear for a moment, as though she would catch the one word that meant anything, but heard nothing. Just as well, as Tonravik seemingly elaborated on what had been said to her, the surprise of the Spine not surviving what was bring rendered to it little shock to Echelon. It could have been true, it could not have been true, it didn't matter. Her own thoughts echoed that of her aokkatti — family was here. Home, was here.

Lingering along the outskirts of the group, her attention turned to the cavernous locale they had sought shelter in. Perhaps just in time from the way the weather battered the opening, the flashes of light brought on by the hellacious storm casting poor illumination therein. The mention of her own name withdrew her attention of their surroundings, the decision coming forth raising no concerns. Scouting was fine with her, she could handle that. It would have been good to lay eyes on something once the weather had passed or cleared or whatever it was that it was supposed to do.

All were quiet, accepting of her words. She nodded to Iqniq and looked to Echelon. Any anxieties she felt on the subject—if any at all—were not visible. Whatever they had to do, they would do it without question. It was clear, that. They in the meantime would need to weather out the storm. Tonravik moved into the back of the den, away from the entrance where lightning consistently flashed. Now they all would need to rest before the storm cleared... her intuition told her they had a long road ahead of them.

Their silence was taken as a passive form of agreement. No doubt, all of them were rattled by this sudden onset of intense weather. A storm they'd handled. A heat wave, they could cope with. This... this was nature waging war upon its in habitants and when nature brought her fury, the only way to win was to survive. They'd done as much as they could. They'd collected all they could find before fleeing in the nick of time. As for the rest? He could only remain hopeful their natural instincts for survival saw them through the storm.

Tonravik retreated, moving to settle at the back of the den. He saw to her, contenting himself with with knowing she was settled and somewhat comfortably, before he checked in briefly with each of the other wolves in their group. No one seemed injured. No one seemed any more worse for wear physically. Tired, certainly, but it went without saying that this would be a sleepless night. Having checked on all of them he nuzzled his mate before he turned and intentionally placed himself nearest the entrance to their hide-y hole. He would be their first line of defense and keep watch so the rest could attempt at sleep.

Tonravik's speech was short-lived, which was fine. Now was not a time for words; it was a time for action, whether that would be banding together like the pack they were or some splitting off to provide for those around them. With the lack of objection to her plans of hunting, she figured Tonravik was okay with it. Echoing the Tartok motto, Nanuk fell silent once more, once more finding their group fortunate that most had made the trek with them. Who knew? Maybe it would be a good thing that the Spine had been hit. Instead of usurping a land (despite how easy that had been), they could start fresh elsewhere. Whatever was decided though would come in time and she rushed none of it.

The Epsilon favored balance in all things. Their very existence led to the upkeep of the intractable wilderness. They were natural cultivators of many ecosystems all across the world. Without them, herbivores would run rampant, eating much (if not all) of the forage. Wolves ate the old and the sick but they also changed the behavior of their prey, driving them away from lands barely dotted with vegetation. Then recuperation begins, various plants, sprouts, and trees flourishing where it was once barren. In turn, this brings flocks of birds, beavers, otters, muskrats, and a multitude of other critters back to recovering land. Wolves killed coyotes which in turn led to more mice and rabbits that fed hawks that sustained weasels that sustained foxes that sustained badgers and so on. In short, their very existence orchestrated the livelihood of everything around them.

But this...what does this accomplish? It tears trees from the ground, it starts fires, it floods gorges and valleys. It makes their home unlivable and disrupts all species' existence – no matter how large or how small. Tatsuya could not comprehend the grand scheme this pandemonium wrought, so he was left to glare bitingly out the yawning cave entrance. Ears flicked back to heed Tonravik's words, sunburst eyes never leaving the entrance until everyone went about doing their own thing. They were all on high alert, stressed by Mother Nature's conniption. The Epsilon felt very much the same. How...wearisome it made him feel. To be cooped up here with several other wolves...He would be glad once this was all over and done with.

Turning, the reverberating click, click, click of his claws on stone could be heard over the howling winds outside. He solicited Tonravik with a committed, but haggard noise before wandering over to an elevated stone of sorts. Level, ample, out of the way. Even the entrance was visible from here. A perfect place to roll up and get some shuteye. Tatsuya, however, chose to stare obtusely at his feet instead. Sleep was recommended, but how could anyone sleep at a time like this...?

And that was that.

At the conclusion of what their next plan of action would be, Echelon opted to yawn loudly. It wasn't so much an announcement that she was tired, but rather restless. Still, it did not stop her from being inclined to plod after Tonravik and join her in settling somewhere. They hardly had anything else they could do until the storm passed — she sure as hell wasn't going out there for anything.

Unless the cave collapsed. But let's not think about that.

Settling in somewhere near to her aokkatti, Echelon gently nosed Tonravik's paw before ultimately sprawling out to make herself comfortable. It would pay them all good to do the same, she suspected, and only continued to tentatively watch the rest of the pack until they made up their minds.

Echelon's infectious yawn reached him, opening his jaws to let out a similar sound. Looking around lazily to account for all those gathered, he shared a look with Arverk. Signs of worry peeped through his otherwise stoic mask. Woofing to get his attention, Tatsuya beckoned the whale to come closer. The lumbering beast did just that, tail slowly wagging. Licking the whale's chin as a sort of goodnight, the Epsilon curled up into a ball and tried to get some shuteye. Arverk lingered nearby, awake and still very much alert. Tatsuya closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to fitful sleep in Arverk's shadow.

The wolves now formerly of the Spine began to settle down. Nanuk did not, instead moving apart from the others to sit just inside the mouth of the cabern and act as sentry. Deep down, she was a protective creature, though she knew that there was nothing she could have done to protect their territory. It was gone and there was little sentiment behind that thought; they would live on together, as they had so far and as they always would. Vagabonds or not.

Thread fade.