Wolf RPG - hollow stone

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By the time midday had rolled around, the scenery hadn't changed much from the morning. The frost turned fog along the thinning edges of the Hollow, and the icy tendrils belong to none other than the hand of winter still raked their way through the winding and varied wood. Mordecai had kept an even pace along the ruddy border, ever aware of the sound of water that babbled on his blind side. It was somewhere off in the distance at that point, almost behind him as their border curved lazily back toward itself.

And for the most part, it had been an uneventful patrol. He deemed it better that way, not entirely willing to deal with the wolves that were bound to come calling at their proverbial doorstep as the cold air turned colder. Even with Luke returned to their fold, he knew their numbers had taken a hit. Whether or not it was associated with the fact that two of them had been attacked by a rouge feline was anyone's guess, and Mordecai felt it was most likely the culprit to their diminished count.

As he rounded past a thick tree, he paused to hike his leg and briefly mark it. Others had been through to maintain it, but he made it a point to assert himself as apart of their efforts where he could. No doubt @Ancalagon had come by; he could smell where he had been, where the earth had been raked not too far beyond that. There were others, but he could not distinguish whether or not they belonged entirely to @Ilya or @Root. They were simply female and of course beneath that, he knew Harlyn had been through some time ago.

Not now, he hoped. She had done her wandering but he felt they were becoming less and less frequent. Her own restlessness had its limits and if it meant anything to him, he was becoming increasingly certain that her time was near. It mattered not to him whether or not they discovered hopeful dispersers along those borders because their numbers would grow soon; the only thing that mattered to him was that the weather would be willing to warm before that event came. He pressed on silently, breathing out a strong plume that could have only been a suggestion to the heavy thoughts that weighed in.

agalloch — hollow stone

Lagon's own first round of patrol had been smooth sailing. The borders were deserted from loners seeking sanctuary within their ranks. This was particularly consoling to the dragon whom felt like he had failed with the last potential joiner despite that, in the end, her dismissal had been her own doing. Looking in an alpha's eyes was not anything Lagon had ever heard of anyone doing unless they were challenging their authority or for their rank. Perhaps she had meant it to show her sincerity, as Lagon found that eyes were quite expressive yet at the same time it wasn't something that they had a species did to mean anything other than a challenge when it came to higher ranked wolves in their hierarchy. It was simply how packs and the ranks worked. Perhaps, though, she had learned from her lesson and perhaps she had found a home somewhere else. It wasn't much of a concern to Lagon other than he kept going back to it if only because Mordecai hadn't seemed all that impressed with what Lagon had offered him as information. Perhaps Lagon had simply misinterpreted it the wrong way but it'd filled him with a creeping sort of doubt that he couldn't quite manage to shake.

Maybe he was better suited for something else. Given his conversation with Ilya would it be such a far stretch to become an adviser of some sort? A peacekeeper? Or maybe a counselor. The idea seemed a bit ridiculous to Lagon if only because he was so young. In Naga Veil Forest only the older wolves ...like Sveinx had the experience for those sort of trades and counselor was a trade that the dragon's aging father had excelled at. And...so maybe he'd made a mistake. Was he a quitter? No. He was bound to slip up — it had happened all the time in his natal pack. He was young and still learning in a lot of ways. Sheepishly, the dragon realized that he needed to take a piece of his own advice and learn from his mistakes and work to make his skills better. He'd put a lot of work into trying to earn the mercenary trade and to give up now would only, surely, make him look flighty.

He'd taken a pause from his patrol to leave a scraggly rabbit he'd found and managed to take down for Root at the mouth of the den they shared. He felt a little silly for it because surely she was capable of hunting for herself and it was kind of something that a mate did (or at least Ronin and Sveinx both had left food for Seoul). The truth was he liked Root and he wanted to be a good den-mate and sharing a den with her brought to life the nurturer within him. He habitually wanted to take care of her even though she was plenty capable on her own and they were nothing but more than den-mates. He'd returned to his patrol shortly after that though, catching the scent trail of Mordecai and subconsciously found himself following it until the alpha male's form came into view ahead of him. Lagon let out a low chuff of greeting to Mordecai as he drew nearer, adjusting his posture so that it was submissive.

Ultimately, he remained alone for scarcely more than a few minutes longer; Ancalagon's heeding call gathered him and moved him swiftly away from his thoughts. Mordecai came to a pause along the snowy trail, casting a look back to gaze upon his dark-haired subordinate as he made his approach; his acceptance of the yearling's company was met with a light wave of his tail. Though he had often prowled their borders solo, Mordecai was hardly one to not accept company. Perhaps if he had been fortunate some odd few weeks ago, he may have found himself with just a torn shoulder and two eyes. But this thought did not occur to him as he picked up his pace once again, presumably with Ancalagon.

"You've been busy, I see," he murmured thoughtfully, much lighter than he may have had been with the ambitious wolf. "Any problems today?" Of course, he also assumed that Ancalagon had been following in his wake along the borders — maybe he had, and maybe he hadn't, and either way the inquiry was a mere pull at what his companion had been up to. It was high time that he found himself integrating again with the wolves that made up their pack, and especially with the ones that Harlyn had taken in.

Lagon noted that his presence was accepted by Mordecai and the dragon rose from his submissive pose and made to join Mordecai, though he kept his pace slower so that he trailed behind the alpha male a bit. “Yes sir,” Lagon responded. He liked to keep himself busy, but he'd also promised Mordecai and Harlyn that he would pull his weight in the pack and he had every intention of sticking by his promises. “I picked up an extra patrol since it looks like Harlyn is going to give birth at any second,” While Lagon was extremely excited about their soon-to-be existence into the world he also knew that it would mean more work for the pack. More vigilant patrols ...because they would be helpless and needed the extra protection. This also meant that Lagon would be looking forward to working towards his caregiver co-rank on top of his mercenary co-rank. He welcomed the extra work. Better to pile on the work while he was young ...at least that was Sveinx had always prattled on about.

“No sir,” Lagon responded and offered in a thoughtful muse, “they've been quiet today. I don't trust it,” He spoke with a soft laugh, “but it's kind of nice.” He was silent for a while before his ears slicked back to rest at half mast atop his skull. “Not that I mind active borders. I mean it's all apart of the job.” Because he didn't want Mordecai to think he wasn't up for the task of guardian.

A smile graced his face briefly as Ancalagon mentioned Harlyn. At that point, it would have been hard for any of them not to notice that she was expecting. Of course, he doubted that she took to wandering as far as she used to, and that was something he took keen interest in. Her wavering restlessness came and went, a suggestion to him that her time was in fact near. But his silence on the matter held as the ever respectful Ancalagon continued speaking, and Mordecai did not raise any points until certainty set that the yearling had finished.

"We could do with a little silence along them," he admitted, but only given the recent turn of events. Between his own injures that were healed and the ones that Luke still recovered from, he would have preferred their borders lapsed into silence. "But I appreciate what you have done for us so far, Lagon. With pups coming, we'll have to tighten our claim. Better safe than sorry, anyway." The last thing he wanted was the cougar coming back around, or any other predator thirsty for blood.

Lagon was never once to boast, never the arrogant of his siblings — though this was not to be confused with being spoiled because he was plenty spoiled. He appreciated that his efforts were noticed and equally as appreciated but he gave a modest rise and fall of his shoulders in a soft shrug, eyes lowering for a moment when Mordecai spoke. “I'm just doing my job, sir,” And it was the truth: he'd promised Harlyn (and Mordecai) that he would patrol and be a contributing member of their pack and Lagon had no initial plans of being anything but that. Patrols and filling the caches and all that was what Lagon thought everyone should contribute to the pack on a basic level; as well as offering their own special skills.

“I hope it's not weird for me to say that I'm excited for your little ones to come into the world.” He couldn't claim that he knew Mordecai or Harlyn super well, so he hoped that statement and his excitement wasn't super weird; that'd be awkward. Yet, Lagon loved pups (probably because he was still kind of one himself) and he saw no shame in admitting that. “I left before my mom could give birth to her next litter so I think it's going to be cool to be around little ones.”

As Ancalagon spoke, Mordecai could not help but capture some of the excitement that lingered beneath the tones of his voice. He did not think it was strange at all for him to feel the way that he did; even Mordecai found it difficult not to have excitement wrapped up in his heart. He had his reservations of course, but there was no turning back and the best thing he could think to do was to meet it head on. A smile came to him easily as the yearling's voice tapered off, leaving him to wonder what else would come to light in the days to come.

"It certainly is a momentous thing for our pack, I suppose," he said. Truthfully he had never entirely considered the implications it would have for their pack, at least beyond the strain of their resources and duties. "But we could use the good kind of excitement too. So it isn't weird that you're excited at all." It would only be a matter of time now before they were there and already, Mordecai could not help but wonder how many there would be, or what they would be like.