Since the cougar attack, and the fact they have so few other members, Ukko has upped his time on the borders. He slept in short increments—there isn’t one place in the pack that is easily and quickly accessible if something were to happen—but he tries to alternate between near the borders and further inside, keeping close to where the rest of them sleep. If he gets the chance, he tries to sleep near the Alpha’s den or with
@Tavi, making sure he at least knows where someone is at all times.
Ukko closes his eyes once he’s come to a stop, taking a break to easy his weary feet. His stomach grumbles but he doesn’t complain, doesn’t yet go in search of something to eat. It was only yesterday since he ate from one of his caches and he couldn’t waste another one—he hadn’t even been willing to share with Reek—but they weren’t struggling too much so he didn’t feel that guilty. Winter weighs heavily upon them; the worst is yet to come.
Something had died in the woods. It was probably pretty common in winter since everything was more difficult; it was some kind of deer - maybe a young elk - but Tavi had found its head far beyond the remains of its body, frozen and crusted with ice. She had thought of returning it to the heart of the territory, or at least to the spot that Ukko liked to sleep (for shits and giggles, to scare him maybe, or as a badass present), but it was frozen to the spot. Rooted almost. The spine carried off in to the permafrost, and Tavi wasn't strong enough to pull it free. Whatever. It wasn't edible, and if it melted in the spring or summer, it'd just smell like ass.
So, she abandoned it. During a foray through the trees in search of something fun to do (but keeping herself alert to cougars, just in case) Tavi discovered the pungent scent of her friend and sauntered after it - stopping briefly to look around, since all the trees looked the same by this point, and huffed when she finally spotted his dark figure. "Ukko!" She called out, carrying herself towards him with as much exuberance as a bored child.
Most of Ukko’s time is spent on the borders, keeping watch for intruders or wind of the cougar, and to avoid Reek. Mostly to avoid Reek, actually. It’s worked so far, anyway, but he knows he can’t go on like this. He can’t remain on the outskirts, waiting for a time to strike or a time to leave. There’s a balance Ukko doesn’t care to play and he knows he needs to figure it out, sooner rather than later. If he dedicates more of his life to the pack, he needs to commit and accept Reek as the leader—which leaves a sour taste in his mouth—or leave them behind—which also does the same. The tastes he can’t even decipher.
There’s a distraction quickly, turning to see the salt and pepper wolf bounding for him. He doesn’t begin to stand until she’s close, forcing himself to all four legs and shaking out his fur. The dark wolf reaches out and bumps her snout with a weak smile. His usual chipper self is gone and replaced by a wolf Tavi doesn’t know.
He rises on her approach, but says nothing. Maybe if Tavi was a more mindful creature she'd have noticed his lethargy - if that's what it even was - rather, Tavi focused on the small booping of his nose against her own. It left a senseless warmth upon her skin she didn't dare comment about. To ward off the strangeness of that imperceptibly brief moment, she just prattled on.
"I found something that smells like it crawled out of a deer's big old ass and died. Or maybe it was dead inside the deer too? I dunno - but it smells awful. You can probably smell it right now --" Tavi turned and sniffed the air, wondering if that was true about the frozen pieces of animal corpse, but she could only detect Ukko now; it was a comforting smell. "Oh, guess not. But I can show you if y'want, its really gnarly and old." Her tail wagged, and she turned to face him again, and noticed the continued glumness of him. "Whats up, Ukko?"
There’s only a short second before Tavi begins to speak but as she does, he watches the light return to her face, replacing the brief confusion he’d caused. A hint of a smile forms on his lips and his tail wags a little in response. She pauses to breathe the air and his muscles tug the smile bigger. A little positivity might make things a little better and he’s always up for something gross.
She hesitates once he’s invited, turning it toward him. Ukko shakes his head, warding off the conversation. “Show me,” he says instead.
When he accepts the offer to see her "found artwork", Tavi's tail bats at a faster pace. She stops worrying about the subtle shift in his behavior; everybody has their ups and downs, good days and bad. He'd probably bounce back from whatever it was that bothered him. "Okay! This way," Tavi ushered him to follow, and then with a slightly spastic toss of her body in the opposite direction, began to lead him through the trees. As she had just been investigating the corpse, it was easy for her to find again.
The head was quite far from the body, but this was what she stopped at first - vaulting over the half hidden rib cage - and when she reached it, she pirouetted and flashed a big grin to Ukko. "See? The head is so far away from the body! And I don't think it even has legs." But the legs were probably just stuck in the ground, or perhaps had been carried away by scavengers. There was some flesh remaining on the torso which had reached a level of frostbite, but the skull she hovered over had been picked clean. "I don't think its possible to uproot the skull yet, but maybe in the spring?" She really wanted to keep it. It was so cool!
Relief floods him when Tavi takes her attention off him, turning and bounding off the way she’d come from. He picks up his pace and follows behind the woman at a leisurely pace. When she comes up on it, Ukko makes a half circle to come up to the head. He lowers his nose, wrinkles it, then sniffs it again. A paw slaps around the snow, confirming it’s too embedded in the ground to move.
“Gross,” he says, trotting over to the rest of it. His nose flares, inhaling the gross smell again, and it takes every urge not to drop to the ground and roll in in.
Ukko digs at the snow, trying to uncover as much as he can to figure out what it is but he doesn’t get far when the frozen ground. Staring at it, closer to the corpse and it would be easy to just roll over and flail around. He groans, growling in frustration and bouncing back to step up to Tavi. “What’ll you do with it?”
"Pffft, I dunno." It was bigger than her own head, and probably super heavy (not to mention smelly). It was probably a vector for disease, but it was just too cool to leave in the ground. "Maybe clean it up and give it to Saena as a present. Except... Maybe she wouldn't like that." Her brow furrowed; she did not mention the turkey feathers which had been misplaced. Maybe a gift like this would be seen as an insult? That wasn't her intention at all. But again, Tavi didn't want to just abandon it to the elements. "Or add it to my collection! I guess I could keep it for a while. If I get enough skulls and bones together, we could decorate the borders with them, like real badasses. Nobody would want to mess with us then!" As she said this, Tavi bent down and chomped her jaws upon the exposed sternum, gnawing for a second, pulling for a few more, and then giving up with a flourish. "What do you think?" By this point, she'd forgotten all about Ukko's quiet moment from earlier.
He isn’t sure what Saena would like; he isn’t even sure if she is going to come back to the maplewood. Reek hadn’t been too keen on giving him anythinig in regards to his search and he hadn’t gone out of his way to do it himself. He pushes it to the side, for now, and listened as she goes on with her ideas. When she passes it on to him, he tilts his head, and hums quietly. “Maybe you can stick the feathers to it,” he begins with a swish of his tail. “Maybe some mud will hold them to it?”
Despite being in the pack for a few weeks now, Tavi hasn't met anyone besides Ukko and the lead female. This would be strange if it was anyone else, maybe. But the girl isn't keen on making strong ties. Being in the pack at all is an accident either way. So she is unaware of any issues between Saena and the group; she is oblivious to the leader's absence.
But Ukko's comment keeps her attention. She snorts softly and nods, perhaps too enthusiastically when she knows the truth about the feathers, and saunters around the carcass. "That'd look silly. But it could work." She licked her lips, pondering over things, and then shifted the conversation away from those dang feathers. "Can't do anything with it right now though." Tavi looked to Ukko now, expecting him to come up with an alternative use of their time.
He casts a sidelong glance at her, head tilting again at the suggestion that it would look silly. He doesn’t press on about it, letting the one with the interest in craft be the one to decide. It’s not something he’s ever put much thought into and so he leaves it alone. He’d help if she needs it but only with direction.
She stares at him then and Ukko takes a step back and puts some distance between them. “Do you like it here?” he throws to her, putting himself into motion and nudging her shoulder as he goes by, beckoning her to follow.
The conversation takes a turn she doesn't expect, but it isn't unwelcome.
"Sure." Tavi responds, sliding up alongside him when bid. Her voice isn't very convincing and she knows it. With a shrug, a half smile, she continues. "Its pretty here. There's food, and it's good enough for the winter months at the very least." With a small laugh - breathy, not altogether there - Tavi is curious and points the question back at him. "Do you?"
He wonders, for a moment, if she would follow him if he leaves. If she would knowing he would be following another woman, one that has captured his attention even after one meeting. Why he would follow her, he isn’t sure, but he knows he needs to consider his options. His affinity for the maplewood might not be enough to keep his feet on the ground in the forest but he doesn’t want to worry his friend in the meantime.
Ukko doesn’t have to take long to answer her question, his own half smile appearing on his features that, just the same, doesn’t seem as convincing: “I do.”
He knows he’s on the cusp of punishment. At worst, he’s run off. At best, demoted significantly and his chance at success diminishing. The smile fades and he flicks his tail, looking away as if he’s heard something off in the distance to hide his expression. “It’s home.” He sweeps his nose back and offers a real smile this time, bumping his shoulder against hers. “Do you wanna bunk together over winter? My fur’s pretty thick, it’ll do good to keep you warm,” he offers, a soft laughing bubbling under his tongue.
Uhhh this post is a mess.
He is evasive in his answer, but it is enough of a crumb for Tavi's pallet. She doesn't press the topic too much; hell, she had been accepted on a whim, completely by accident. It didn't feel entirely like home to her either. But when Ukko mentions that they could share a den - well, she'd have turned bright pink if at all possible. In lieu of that, Tavi's tail bat nervously against her hocks, and her tongue lolled out of her mouth. She had a wolfish grin on her face and tried to laugh off the idea.
"Yeah I bet that isn't the only thing that's th--" Oh, hold your tongue you silly girl! She caught herself before the thought could be completed, and slurped her tongue back in to her mouth. Hoping he didn't notice the tangent of her reply, Tavi's voice raised a bit and she covered as best she could:
"That would be wonderful Ukko, so very thoughtful of you! So great!" Cue a tiny wheezing laugh as she nearly chokes on her own tongue, and there you have it. End of conversation.
Or at least that angle of conversation. Cut short on purpose, albeit messily.
"Not that you sound so convincing. You planning on high-tailing it out of here, or something? Leaving me behind?" She scrunched her face, looking one part hurt and another part goofy - clearly feigning her way through a personal injustice.
"That'd be rude." Ahem.
Ukko raises his brow when she speaks but halts, tilting his head in sudden confusion. The thought doesn’t last long when Tavi bursts into the next bit and he isn’t sure if she’s sarcastic or not, having not quite seen the girl so overly joyous. He opens his jaws to question the sincerity of her words when she moves on, pushing him into a corner rather quickly.
“I’m not—” he breaks, though he’s uncertain of his words. He bites back his tongue and swishes his tail, offering her a smile to try and hide the frustration knit between his eyes. “I was just making sure you weren't regretting your decision,” he tells her, side stepping a little and nudging her along. Before he moves, however, he marks the spot near the deer for the time being. “I’ll help you unearth it later.”
Do you want to fade and have another? 8)
Fading! And yes, new thread asap. :D
"I mean, if you can put up with my snoring, I'm all for it." She was joking. Her snoring wasn't nearly as bad as her brother's; she probably didn't make a sound! But Tavi would never know, as she'd be asleep.
"And I get really gassy at night. Maybe its my diet? But anyway," she pranced beyond him, chattering on with silly comments until he mentioned the skull, and so she stopped. (Her gassy butt wasn't really a thing, she was kidding, again. Probably.)
"OK! Then I guess we just gotta find a place to uh... Den. Sleep. Dig? Dig." With a brisk nod of her head, she comes to this conclusion and begins to march once more - striding ahead of Ukko a few feet before dropping her snout, and investigating a nearby tree. This would continue for a few hours, or until one of them found a suitable spot; maybe Ukko already had a den and they could just make it bigger? Whatever.
FADE!