Wolf RPG

for all his business in the deep wood of tall red boles and still-emerald boles, with his huntings and visitation of the stubborn one, the druid still found strength and desire within himself to meander down the vast expanse of shore upon the thin whim of her scent, until the fragrance of the thin witch grew stronger and he arrived upon her borders.

she was alone -- that he could infer from the distinct lack of lasting scents, aside from her own, at the border. the glen-man shifted his weight and deposited his small rabbit at his paws. lasher thought that perhaps the priestess who worshipped at the empty altar would tire of her daily sea-flesh, and at last he tipped back his crown and called for her, his voice swelling with hope against the lash of the waves.

she crested the apex of her lands, and he rejoiced within himself to spot her, though she slowed carefully some paces from him. he dipped his muzzle in affectionate obeisance, nudging the rabbit to indicate it was to fill the sparseness of her frame, and at last allowed his eyes to rest upon her, drinking in the lovely angularity of her visage, the bright hawk's-eyes that scrutinized him so keenly, though he sensed a softening in the priestess toward his presence.

the druid said naught, nor did he move -- he stood quietly, content to slake his thirst upon the fulfilling aesthetic of her very existence.

the burn of her tongue against his cheek caused a flush to rise unbidden beneath the ecru hairs of his pelt -- he watched as she fell to devouring the meat he had brought, somehow inflamed by the gratuitous display of savage hunger. when she glanced to him, blood rimed her lips -- taltos wished to step forward, to taste the cooling crimson -- but he did no such thing. "my pack is relocating to the coast some several miles south of here, in the forest of great trees. there shall not be any encroachment," he added. "i felt it nevertheless necessary to inform you of our encampment, and wished to know the pleasure of your company again."

lasher did not settle to his haunches, not when he was unsure of how the news would be taken. the sound belonged to the sinewy witch, but perhaps she had claimed all manner of this beach prior to the impending arrival of the blacktail wolves, and would not appreciate their claim.

caiaphas did not notice the flush to lasher's dark countenance, nor the longing that stirred in his frame -- she was far too intoward and fixated on devouring the rabbit and an ungodly pace. it had been some time since she sampled the flesh of an inlander --her diet now was largely carrion thrown from the sea.

the news lasher bore was digested in a slower manner than the rabbit. she paused a moment, wondering of where exactly "a few miles south" was. but nonetheless she smiled wrly, an impish expression stealing across her dark muzzle. "and here i thought last we spoke you would remain firmly tethered to the call of the terrane." an ear flicked back as she licked her bloodied gums. she wished to tease him further, but knew should he enact upon her coyness she would be well out of her element.

"your pack would likely not encroach upon myself -- it is just me on this stretch of the shore.. but what about stavanger? there is no other coastal pack i know of besides them, though i recall their range was quite large. what urged you to move?" she paused for breath as she was somewhat taken aback by the hoarseness of her voice. solidarity did a great many evils to those that endured it, and among its disadvantages was a loss in one's fluency in conversation.

"i suppose the sea spoke to me, once i lay my eyes upon it," he rejoined with a faux dryness. to him, the new gravel in her tones only served to endear the woman more strongly to him. she spoke of a pack he had not recognized -- stavanger -- and shook his muzzle slowly.

"there is no one there. not now." she had confirmed she was alone here, but the druid would not ask her again to leave the lash of the cold waves. it was quite transparent that here the witch would remain until death's touch or the doom of another settling pack drove her from the waters.

the touch of her tongue to the blood upon her jaw was altogether too moving -- lasher tore his eyes from contemplation of her sly profile and rested them with mild interest upon the constant roil of the sea, lapping at the wet sands with foaming tendrils.

her brow furrowed as lasher revealed what she did not know. stavanger, no longer? how the tides shifted -- often not in favor of the onlookers that witnessed them. stavanger had been the only real threat when it came to competition within the sound, and even then the distance that scattered between the bay and the sound was so great resources were scarcely contested. she offered only an equal dry smile in rejoinder, having no substantial quip to combat his witticism.

"there used to be." she intoned, wondering what force drove the thriving pack away. "perhaps they left when the tornado hit." it was only a speculation, a musing aloud -- caiaphas had no real reason for her interest besides a common nosiness that often got her in trouble. "so, what drives this move? an enemy i should know of?" distantly caiaphas longed for some sort of excitement in her life -- and lasher seemed the perfect provider for it.

her speculation went unanswered -- lasher felt that she pondered such things to herself, and so held his tongue until the witch addressed him straightaway once more. "we flee memories and seek a fresh start here in the north. one of ours was murdered by her father, but i will not subject my wolves to a war. it is my own task to avenge her." unless the priestess pressed for more detail, he saw no need to provide such things.

"you are alone here," he murmured, returning their intercourse to a former point. "what will you do when the snows scour your beach?" taltos inquired softly, murkwater find the hot yellow of her own gaze.

as he had told himself, he would make no bid for her joining, but when winter settled upon them, his ability to trek into the sound would become quite limited. she would fester here alone, or perhaps thrive -- the druid would worry all the same. such was his nature.

lasher spoke, though caiaphas felt no more in the loop than she had before. a murder was a most egregious crime -- even she knew that -- but to relocate the lives of an entire pack to avoid the affronter? her brow furrowed. she would have had him killed on the shore, his blood to soak the sand and go from vivid red to a dull and besmirched brown.

but she was not lasher, and he was not her -- the imaginary slaying of this unknown enemy remained unspoken.

in either event, south of stavanger was a long way from here -- and in the winter, doubly so. caiaphas had not forgotten about winter. it hounded her the saem way kevlyn's death did -- a constant and worrisome deluge of grim promise. "die, probably." the she-wolf replied sourly, a faint tinge of realism in her voice. "the grotto is relatively sheltered. enough that the elements would not kill me. but the state of my cache.. that leaves a little to be wanted." she sniggered at her poorly placed joke. "but what of you? your pack should comb the beach, the most food is there. the move will shake your ranks, surely."

perhaps she entertained more violent thoughts than he, but lasher would not force his wolves into a skirmish that did hindrance to their goals rather than buoy their intentions. and so he said not a word more upon the subject of osprey junior and her murderers. the slow roil of anger against the caldera still writhed like a worm within his brain, but it was his parasite to bear.

his brow knotted -- he did not think that she would give up her life so easily, but the winter lashings had a way of stealing breath from those despite their stubbornness. his eyes found her own for a long moment -- his offer still remained extended, though the amazon had declined it before -- but he doubted she would take it. this feral stretch of beach was her lot, and taltos wondered if she would find some stark joy in martyring herself upon the stake of ice that was to come.

"they will grow accustomed. we have not begun our full trek yet -- i myself move to and fro between the lands, making ready our rough densites for the first arrival."

her expression grew somewhat sour as lasher divined they had not started their trek yet. she did not know where exactly lasher's current pack resided, but she knew the sea and its tempest well. "you best make haste before snowfall." her brow furrowed as she recalled their first winter on the whipping shore. "when the snow comes, the embankments are flooded with snowdrifts. there was a time a winter ago where we could not escape the sound." she gestured to the distant cliffs - they afforded both protection and imprisonment in the winter. "the cliffs make travel challenging."

she considered the idea of extending her scant resources to the pack -- or, more specifically lasher -- and impulsively, acted on it. "i am not sure if you will be passing through ankyra sound.. but if you are, your kind are welcome to stay until their strength returns."

lips curved into a bow as she extended her measure of peace to his wolves, to him, and lasher met her bright stare with a dip of his muzzle. "i appreciate the offer, and will avail myself of it if we are in need of such." the sound was a long pacing from where he intended to settle, but not too lengthy to disallow visits. yet he took to heart the priestess' revelation about the cliffs.

"i proffer the same to you," the druid murmured, for a moment letting his eyes rest on the isolated little grotto and she here alone, with the possibility of entrapment when the pale flakes began to gather in impassable mounds. the peaks may be unassailed, but the woman need only travel down the coast unto the borders of the great forest and speak his name for admittance.

a sigh swelled his sides; he looked fondly upon the sea-wraith. "i must depart you now," lasher breathed, his tone rueful and wanting, "but if it pleases you, i shall come again to the sound." his insinuation hung between them comfortably; if the ocean-witch would have it, taltos would seek to press very briefly his muzzle to her cheek before turning and setting a quick pace for his return to the plateau beneath the salt-grimed sunlight.

caiaphas was surprised to feel a faint forlorn feeling overtake her as lasher made his move to depart. in her prone position she was not capable of defending herself from his parting gesture -- but this time, no hackles or teeth flew in his direction as recourse. the surface he had pressed against her cheek felt enlivened, warm -- yet with cold eyes she watched him go.

"it pleases me." she called at length, though she imagined the silence would have made him tentative, and this pleased her as well. the strand was a desolate and lonely place these days, and lasher's brief visits brightened it even well after he was gone.