Wolf RPG

He'd heard the news of Hoshor Plain's disbandment first from Savik. Now, with the arrival of Kivi on their doorstep, he was curious to see for himself the current state of the pack that had given them a reason for rivalry. After a quick discussion about his desire to scope out the area for himself with @Tonravik, he'd left the kids in the hands of @Aariak and his mate so that he could lay his own eyes on the once claimed territory.

This outriding mission served two purposes. First, he needed to know what happened to this pack. If the lands were ruined and they'd been run out by the storm, there was the possibility they'd relocated just like his pack had. If that was the case, Iqniq wanted to find their new home and fast so the Spire could keep an eye out on them. If the lands were still mostly in tact, the chances and claims of their disbandment would make sense. He'd have seen it with his own eyes and that alone would help him sleep better at night.

The second reason tied back in with the first. He was concerned for his pack. He was concerned for his kids. What he discovered would lend itself to future choices. Did they need to double or triple up their defenses? The Spire had had its fair stroke of bad luck when it came to natural predation lately. Coyotes. Mountain lions. Bears. The last thing they needed was the additional threat of their own species and he hoped to put those fears to rest.

He traveled with a bit of haste as he crossed the lands only to slow as he approached the eastern edge of the plains. His pace slowed as he scented the ground an air for any tell tale signs the pack remained. Scents were stale. Perhaps the rumors were true. Perhaps not. Either way, his face was known by the wolves here and he had no intention to be caught in an altercation should he be caught. He kept a wide girth around the once borders as he scouted and searched for any sign of lingering pack life.

Zaria often visited the Hoshor grounds not because she was sentimental but she was still looking for her poison stash. Her mind in the meanwhile also liked to search for clues. She hadn't found the blood of her father to prove that her theory about him was correct. She believed he was overthrown possibly killed. She would actually be happy if she found any proof of that. If she didn't than it meant that he father could come back to haunt her. Would he truly? Possibly. One day his worry would snap and he would want to check on her. She was certain, unless of course, if he was dead. A smirk came on her lips, it was soon dropped. Focus. That was all she needed.

Her brown coloring matched with the golden grass of the plains. The herd of Bison had scattered without the pack keeping them together and herding them. She actually liked this life better, an actual ground to protect instead of a herd. Her tail was up and her nose low to the ground. Last time she ran into Tomahawk's cubs. So curious. Alas, not her worry. She had other things to focus on. She was somewhat together with Fitz now, not official yet, but she had the feeling it would be in the end. Her green eyes scanned before her, suddenly seeing the familiar reddish fur. Kerosene? Wow. That had been a long time ago. He learned her her first words. She sneaked forward though the grass, slowly approaching him.

She moved around so she would appear before him. Her slender body easily navigating through the high grass. She spotted him once more and then smirked as she approached him. "Hello Kerosene," she greeted. Her first foreign friend, one she got along with. She stood there with a bit attitude, because without it she wouldn't be Zaria. Then she remembered... He still knew her as Zhavvi.

He wasn't sure what he would find here. Traces of a pack maybe? Remnants of the herd these wolves had seemed determined to protect. Nose to the ground, he realized that all the scents were stale and fading. Nothing was as strong as it had been that time when he and Tonravik had delivered Kivi back to these borders. Perhaps the rumors were true after all.

Feeling bolder, he crossed what were once the territory boundaries to do a little exploring of his own. The tall grasses swayed in the wind. The golden sea and swells of hills were barren and free of life save from those buffalo who still roamed and grazed even as these cooler seasons set in. He was watching the heard from a distance when the sounds of grass underfoot crunched nearby. Turning his nose into the wind, he caught a scent of a shadow from his past.

"Zhavvi," he greeted, his expression somewhat neutral. They'd had good meetings in the wilds and a bad encounter when she'd crossed onto his lands without permission. He wasn't sure where they stood currently, so he remained somewhat guarded until he could better assess the situation. Technically, if she was still a part of the pack who lived here, now he was trespassing. Curious how their positions had switched. "I didn't realize the Plains Wolves still lived here."

Zaria raised her chin a bit, her tail was still up in the air. She was a beta now after all. "It is Zaria," she returned, he would probably be surprised how well she spoke english now. It made the vain female even more proud of herself. She could prove herself and if there was one thing she really liked then it was proving herself. The brown female grinned a bit and then shook her head. "I not with the Dorthran wolves. They gone," she returned to him. Wasn't it clear in her fur that she didn't smell of the area? She could smell hints of Fitzdutiful in her fur since she spend every night with him. She smelled a lot of scents on Kero's fur.

She remembered him being in that one pack. She crossed that border. Zaria would never admit that she was wrong, but now she realized that she had in fact been wrong. She didn't know about the marked borders at the time. "I learn the ways of the local wolves and learn about scented borders too," she informed him, that was as close as an apology the male would get from her. Zaria didn't see it as an apology really. Her green eyes on him, she noticed that he was slightly more tense than she could remember him. Was that because she trespassed? Or was it because he was thinking he was trespassing in the Dorthran territory. Well, the Dorthrans didn't have a territory, just the herd they protected, and the pack was gone.

Her posturing spoke of dominance as she was quick to correct him. Did she still live here? But she was going by a different name now... He made a mental note as to the name change and listened as she further explained that she was no longer with the Dothraki. They were now gone. If any wolf would know, it was her. He didn't how she'd related to those wolves within their ranks, but he knew she was once one of them. Not anymore.

The wind shifted. He scented it, noticing the perfumes she now wore upon her skin. FitzDutiful. A good friend of his and one Kero had warned in the past about the wolves of these plains. Kero's paws shifted. He wasn't so sure whether or not it was a good thing she'd found that pack. FitzDutiful was ever a trusting wolf, perhaps too much so. Hopefully he was being careful with this one.

Or maybe he was just teaching her the common tongue. Her dialect was better. It seemed as though now they could have something of a conversation as opposed to their pantomime of before. Kerosene visibly relaxed. He noted her continued dominance, but did not go out of his way to express that worthy of his own rank. He never did. Not outside of pack lands. Out here he was just another face in the vast number of lone wolves who'd do best to find a pack before the winter set in.

She spoke again, this time on her continued education. Iqniq nodded as he wasn't quite sure what to say. Silence had served them well in the past. It might serve them well now too. He didn't know. He'd wanted answers about this place and he had them. The rest? Zhavvi, no, Zaria's presence was something of a surprise. He had no idea why, but there was something about her being here that rattled him.

"You found Silvertip," he spoke eventually. "How are you liking your mountain home?"

Zaria realized that the male didn't have much to say to her. She was clueless about the fact because it was linked to her origin and how her pack bothered Kerosene's pack. Zaria knew she trespassed on but that was only because she didn't know. Zaria could be rather deceitful but not to Fitz. Fitz was nice to her and let her do the things she liked. She wasn't locked up, only recently she got more duties in becoming a Beta of STM. Her green eyes looked at the male. "First I did not want to stay but then I did because I like," she spoke to him. "I like Fitz the only thing I do not likes is rain." With the mountain being so high sometimes clouds would release their downpour when coming close to the mountains.

Zaria was used to heat so her coat was really trying to adjust to the new weather. They traveled all the way here but that also meant that not only their minds but also their body had to adjust. Zaria wasn't sure if Winter was going to be fun with her slender frame and currently thin coat. Her green eyes looked up at the other male. "What about your pack? Still the name?," she asked curious know. She wasn't going to trespass but it was good to know.

Her common tongue was better, but Kero could not help but wonder if more detail was lost if only because she didn't have all the words to accurately portray her thoughts. She liked the mountain? Or she liked FitzD? Maybe both? He wasn't sure. He did know she did not like rain. Was she talking about rain from the sky or Rain who might have been another member of her pack? He didn't know. Maybe he was making things too complicated.

"He's a good wolf," He said finally. "Very easy to like." Kero liked to think he was still good friends with the alpha of Silvertip. When he'd been a lone wolf, Silvertip had been one of the top contenders for a home, but Ouroboros Spine had eventually won out. Silvertip still had a nice appeal to it, but it seemed to him to be more of a relaxing place where a wolf might retire in peace. He found it strange that a wolf with as fiery a spirit as Zaria would seem so happy there. Then again, perhaps a new name for her had come with a change in personality too. He couldn't say. Just by looking at her, she was still as proud as ever.

The comment about his own pack caused a light shrug to lift upon his shoulders. There wasn't much he could say about it. His family had a new location, but they were still as secretive as ever. Perhaps more-so now that they had puppies in their midst. "The storm hit us hard, but we've relocated and survived. It was something of a blessing in disguise." Kero turned his gaze towards the crispy fields. He was silly to have thought she might still live here. This placed held nothing of its former glory.

"What happened here?" he asked, looking back to her. He'd touched on it briefly, but he was still curious. If she knew more, he wanted to know what she knew. If she knew nothing more, he'd wasn't completely satisfied and would need to find more clues. "What do you remember of the plain's female with half a tail?" He realized now he didn't know Kivi's name even after they'd met each other multiple times in these wilds and even after she'd tempted their front door too many times. Strange. He hadn't through to ask it.

Zaria wasn't sure what to think of Kero, she could remember him as fun and outgoing, not really caring about anything. Now he seemed reserved and selective. Zaria was not sure if it had something to do with her or if the male changed. It seemed the latter, because she couldn't have done anything wrong. Zaria was perfect.

She nodded slowly, of course she knew now that Fitz also had a bit of a bad side. She liked that about him. "Yes. Zaria very happy with Fitz," she spoke in return, because she was. Not only as an alpha but also as her somewhat boyfriend. It was so weird to think. Since in Dorthran Culture she would never be able to 'test' a relationship. She was to mate who her father wanted to .

The storm. She remembered that. She just joined Silvertip and was cold and all alone. It was the worst night ever since she didn't have much shelter at all. Her fur had been soaked. Luckily when Fitz called she was warmed up by him and Mason. That was the first time she somewhat started to trust Fitz. "Relocated?," she repeated in question. "Is... move?," she wasn't sure, because location sounded familiar.

Zaria looked around. "Not know. Father left or died. The Khalas followed," she stated. Her green eyes looked at Kero. "Zhavvi gone by the time they gone. I was at mountain," she pointed out. She had joined Silvertip to recover from her wound, not because she liked the pack. In the end, she had grown to love them.

He still wasn't sure what to think about FitzDutiful and Zaria. They seemed like two completely different wolves so the fact that they had ended up sharing the same mountain baffled him. Kero was used to scenarios making sense. This one simply did not compute for him, but if Zaria was happy, good for her. Perhaps Kero would need to make some time to chat with his friend over a nice soak in the hot springs. They could share a few yarns and Kero could hear the other side of the story. See for himself if FitzD was happy. All that jazz.

Her question on his choice of words made him remember she was still new to the common tongue. "Uh, yes," he replied, having been caught a little bit off guard. "Re like again. Locate again." There were things he took for granted that he should have known were not so obvious. "Yes. We moved." His ears sank. He felt somewhat sheepish for having such scattered thoughts at the moment. This wasn't like him. Then again, this whole situation wasn't like anything he had expected in coming here. He was off guard and definitely off his game.

She could supply him with little more information on this place. At least he knew now the storm had driven them out. He should have known by the way the earth bore no resemblance to what he'd been able to spy from a distance some months before. Zhavvi had not been with them. Wait. Didn't she want to go by Zaria now? What game was she playing?

A wolven brow lifted upon his forehead. He'd caught the slip, but said nothing of it. Instead he asked her another question. He'd fumbled his way through this conversation for too long. Now he intended to make up for it. "Does Zhavvi still know how to run?"

Zaria nodded when he spoke about the pack having to move. The girl wasn't so interested in the fact that they moved somewhere else, it was probably still her inexperience as a leader and her youth in general. The female frowned when he frowned. Because Zaria had not made a mistake and when he called her Zhavvi that was not something she wanted to be called anymore. It was probably some confusion on his side, and Zaria was vain enough to want to explain it to him again.

"I am not Zhavvi. I am Zaria. I was Zhavvi. Zhavvi mean and bad and horribelll," she spoke heavily accented. "Zaria like flower now. Zaria nice. Fitz learn me," she spoke her big green eyes. Of course there was not that much truth in it, but there was some. Zaria was considerably nicer than Zhavvi. Zaria did mean flower, cherry blossom. That kind of flower was very poisonous to wolves. Oh if she could have smirked she would. But the girl didn't, she wanted Kero to believe her.

She would keep her dark side only for Fitz to know. "I still like running. You think you faster now? Kero wrong," she pointed out.

She was insistent in her new name. Forget the learning curve where he'd only learned of it five minutes ago. It appeared that even with a new name, she was still very much the same wolf. He lived by the idea that leopards didn't change their spots. She confirmed as much. She might be growing within the slopes of that mountain, but he was still leery of her. He doubted very much she was as sweet as the flowery name she now wore. "Zaria. I'll try to remember next time."

He shifted on his paws as they spoke of an activity they'd shared in the past. Running. Easy to speak of. Easy to do. One hell of a strain on the lungs. When she challenged him, his muzzle slipped into something of a smirk. She was likely right. Her nimble and quick form would allow her to out race him any day. At the same time, he was strong. Climbing up and down his difficult to navigate slopes had put more lean muscle onto his frame. He had the strength. He had the endurance. It gave him a different kind of edge.

"We'll see," he said, making something of a promise of it before loosened up his limbs a bit and took off running.

Zaria looked at the male and then nodded. For her her name was very important and she liked to have people use the correct one. The light female hummed and then nodded again, ready to go running. She knew this hills, sure she didn't live too long on these plains but she knew them well. She tried looking for escapes after all and that caused her to explore these plains in every detail.

The slender female instantly followed after Kero. Her stamina had gotten way better since she lived on the mountain. Everything was on a slope or angle. If she thought she was quick on her feet before then she was quicker now. Still. Kero had clearly more strength than she will ever have. It would be quite a race then. A soft grunt came from her as she instantly needed to speed up. But once she was close she started to slow down. The high grass becoming one golden blur.

Her paws moved faster. She wanted to win again. It would the be only thing that would soothe her vain nature. She after all was amazing. Her tail moved slightly and then she ran further. She used a bit more of her engr. than she liked but it seemed that she was still ahead. Her steps were way smaller than his so she needed to move her legs faster.

The mostly flat, yet subtle slopes of these plains were significantly more easy to navigate than Sawtooth Spire. The rugged, I-want-to-eat-you rocks were something of a pain truthfully, but a welcome thing when it came to the added security of protecting their mountain home. It was a love-hate relationship. A necessary evil. This land was rolling and so easy to cross. Running through these plains was something akin to floating on air in comparison to his home.

Zhavvi, no, Zaria pulled ahead. The same had happened between the two of them last time. He might have been stronger now, but she was still svelte and had the added conditioning of her new mountain home too. It seemed they were much on the same level now as they had been before. He pressed harder, letting the burn in his lungs fill with labored air of his gaping mouth as she pressed forward with long, powerful strides. He closed the distance, enough so to nip at the edges of her tail

Zaria didn't look over her shoulder, that was the death trap while racing. Never look back. She could almost feel him getting closer. Her ears turning back to listen to his footsteps. He was close but she wasn't going any faster. She wanted to see him in the corner of her eyes and then speed away. That was fun. No she had to preserve her energy for a moment so she could still bolt away. Though her energy was running out so she might not be able to bolt away as she wanted.

The girl tried to go quicker, her slender legs moved quicker. By now the girl was visibly panting. She liked that she could burn all her energy. She didn't have many wolves that she could race with. The girl then focussed on the hill before them and gave her all. "To the top!," she called and tried to burst away, yet she didn't have the burst effect she wanted. Still she wanted to reach the top first!

Her pace leveled out a bit. This gave him the opportunity to press a little harder and lengthen his strides so he might close a bit more distance between them. His tongue rolled, panting away the efforts of his physical strain as he became one with the wind and raced across these golden plains. In this, he could see the value of such terrain. As an escape. As a place to corral and gather the herds. He still did not understand how a pack could live in these parts. Then again... they hadn't lived here for very long now had they?

His lungs heaved. He wasn't sure how she found the breath to make a suggestion, but her words turned his eyes to the rise of the hill. Damn it. An incline. The rise slowed him as he loped forward, near leaping up the hill. She was still ahead of him however, and when they were nearly at the top his competitive nature got the best of him. A touch of speed and he lunged for her almost playfully as he tried to wrestle her down so he might slow her progress and reach the top before she did.

Zaria was running fast, too fast since she realized that she was being a bit lightheaded. She was so into her running that she missed Kerosene playfully jumping towards her. She was startled and instantly unbalanced her. The female was only a second later face planted in the inclined slope. A yelp escaped her because a jolt of pain rushed through her body. She lifted her head and shook off the dirt, instantly baring her teeth at him because she didn't saw his actions as playful. She found him a cheater.

She wanted to lunge at him but the moment she put some pressure on one of her front paws it gave out. Zaria licked over it with a soft whine. This was all Kero's fault. She would have never tripped like this. She pushed herself up to standing since she didn't want to look weak. Carefully she placed her hurting left front paw on the ground. It was just lightly sprained, she would be okay. But she disliked that Kerosene had to lower himself to this level. She growled at him, clearly pissed at the male.

Well that didn't go quite as planned. His playful antics were not as well received as he had hoped. She stumbled, snarling at him as he lifted off of her and continued bounding towards the top. Once there, he turned to face her with a playful wag in his tail that slowly faded as soon as he realized that not only was she pissed, but she was also injured. He hadn't thought his actions had been rough enough to cause any such thing, but it had happened and she was mad at him. Great.

His ears lowered as he looked to her with a bit of concern, but she set her paw down and acted as though it didn't bother her. Okay then. He wasn't sure if it was an act or in truth anymore. Since she was growling at him, it didn't matter. He was instantly reminded that she was a bit of a moody creature and didn't have an understanding of fun or friendly competition. He sighed, looking back at her as she snarled. "What?" It was perhaps a dull male response, but he'd won, she was fine, and nothing was wrong here.

Zaria was not pleased and flattened her ears. She would have won if the male didn't tackle her like that. Her paw felt slightly better already, just a light sprain it probably was. The slender female huffed when he dared to question what was wrong. She looked lethal for a moment. The vain girl liked to win. Her ego was bruised and that was something she disliked. Kero was not a friend of her anymore. She was already doubting if there friendship was still standing but now Zaria disliked the male.

She would find another way to make him pay. He was going to make her trip to win? Well then she would have a greater come back. She wouldn't attack now, not of use. This would take another type of plan. She raised her nose in the air and without so much as saying goodbye she left. The male wasn't worthy of her attention. She was better than him, and she would need to start brewing a master plan to give the other some pay back.

- Zaria out -

He lifted a brow in her direction. It was probably the most unwelcomed expression he could have offered her at the moment because she only became more pissed. Okay then... He knew females were moody. He knew she was moody. He did not know she was a particular breed of moody that did not know how to have fun. Actually, now that he thought about it, he was also mated to a wolf that didn't understand the meaning of that word? How did he keep running into females that were so... complicated?

Before either of them could say anything else, she huffed and turned away. He stared back at her blankly, watching her walk away. As far as he saw it, she was definitely overreacting, but it also didn't help soothe his fears about her temperament. She was a fickle thing. A wolf that seemed to be apt at holding grudges. It did nothing to soothe his fears of her, nor did it reassure him that the mountain air had changed her.

He lingered for a moment, gathering his thoughts before he turned to head home.

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