Trying to find ~the perfect home~ was pretty great at first, but it'd been a year since Ditty'd been on and off again homeless. Maybe he was just too picky. He'd settled with a pack for winter, but they weren't really his cup o' tea either, and so the cheerful coywolf had set off once more to find greener fields in the dawn of spring. And he found greener fields already; the field with its rolling hills was pleasing to dash through. If only his sibs could've seen this place — they would've loved it. But Ditty had been determined to set off on his own, 'cause he needed his own life. And though it was often harsh and even less forgiving than life back at the ole' homestead, Ditty loved every bit of his freedom.
Yes, it seemed nothing could break the coywolf's spirits as he set his first steps into this new place. So far he hadn't smelled any packs around, but then again, he'd just arrived out here. Ditty couldn't wait to see what the world had to offer here and so he cheerily made his way through the fields around noon, awaiting what adventure lay beyond.
Reek kept to the west, patiently awaiting Tavi's return from her fool's errand in the Maplewood. He could not stop her from trying to mend the broken pieces of his family, but he knew there was nothing that could be said to fix his mistakes. Saena would turn her away just as she had done to him; her decision would remain standing. All Reek could do was move forward with what he had left: partial visitation and a single friend— Tavi.
At this point, Reek was left at a crossroads on how to proceed. His first idea had been to continue west toward the coast; to give up the burden of leadership and follow his old alpha— his old Queen, Caiaphas. It didn't seem a bad fate, but with the possibility of Tavi falling pregnant, he couldn't afford the risk of her being turned away because of the pups brewing in her belly. Reek was left with one other option... Start over.
It was certainly the more appealing option. Like the titular bird of the forest he had been cast away from, Reek would rise from the ashes of his failures. A new pack, just within howling range of his old claim, became Reek's goal. He shoved his heartbreak and sadness under the rug, where it would ultimately fester, but for now it went ignored. There was work to do.
He pressed northward from the Dawnlark Plains, where he had dug his temporary shelter, in the hopes of scouting out a territory worthy of his claim. He had lived in the area before; his first idea being the grotto that the wolves of Redtail Rise had cornered Sebastian in a fruitless attempt to kill the wandering Redhawk. Reek spent his entire morning there, assessing its potential to harbor a pack. With Spring in full effect in the taiga, the Larksong Grotto was full of life— Reek was ultimately sold. His spirits began to lift.
As the morning began to shift into midday, Reek continued into the plain that lay situated north of the grotto in order to check out the prime hunting ground it offered. As he pressed forward, Reek noticed several burrows and warrens ripe for the taking. Sporting a thin and somewhat victorious smile, Reek knew his wolves would be well fed. After dipping low to examine a burrow, Reek pulled his head away and noticed another wolf in the distance. With territory in check, now he needed followers.
Reek chuffed and allowed his tail to wag behind him, hoping he'd grab the strangers attention.
When another wolf approached him with friendly demeanour, Ditty's tail waved back and forth in a friendly manner, mirroring the greying wolf's attitude. Not only was Ditty glad to see another sign of wolf life in the area for socialisation and the promise of packs (maybe one of them was where he belonged?) but this guy was actually being friendly to him. Maybe it was 'cause he hadn't seen Ditty's ugly coyote mug yet, but Ditty wasn't planning on wasting this chance at some positive socialisation. Even in the packs he'd stayed in temporary in his travels 'til he'd gotten here he'd noticed most wolves didn't like him. Those that did generally just did 'cause they found something crazy seductive about coyotes or something, and that was weird in its own ways.
Ditty cleared his throat and called out, "Hey-lo!" Was that even a word? Maybe he'd gotten stuck between saying two words. Anyway — after another throat-clearing Ditty said, while he closed the distance between himself and the greying wolf, "Hi! I'm Ditty Roux-Abhren, new 'round here." Ditty shot the wolf a charismatic smile, 'cause maybe his features betrayed his heritage, he'd gotten pretty good all 'round to making friends where he could and proving he wasn't some mangy scavenger like his dad'd been.
Somehow, Reek found it easy to hide his inner turmoil. Typically, he wore his emotions for all to see, but losing his family made Reek numb and mostly empty feeling. The lack of feeling was far easier to ignore than outright pain. He could shove it away and carry on. Perhaps Reek could wear a mask: his smile sufficed. The other wolf's attention was successfully garnered, Reek could tell by his expression— the sharp, coyote-like features that stared back at him.
The stranger's response was friendly and Reek couldn't help but feel a bit of relief. Accepting members into the Maplewood when it was already established was an easy thin, but drawing wolves in to start something new— that was another beast entirely. He couldn't be snippy or selective... Reek would have to sell himself, but with receptive company it couldn't be too bad. The lingering tension in Reek's limber muscles finally relaxed. "Well hello there!" Reek shouted back to the newly introduced wolf.
Reek bounded toward the coywolf in a friendly manner, closing the gap between them. "Whatcha doing so far north? We don't get many wanderers up her." Of course, there was no we anymore. Reek had simply grown accustomed to referring to himself as a part of the Maplewood. "I'm Reek— Reek Redtail," he added, formally introducing himself.
Ditty's tail waved in a friendly manner, unaware that the greying wolf was feeling exactly the same way as he did. They wandered towards each other until the gap was closed, and Ditty felt at ease with this dude, who so far didn't seem to care at all that he had the features of a pesky scavenger and a whore's son (though mama'd make him wash his mouth for ever saying or even thinking such a thing, of course!). Reek was an easy enough name to remember, luckily. "Oh, y'know, I just followed this here trail," Ditty said as he looked over his shoulder, then back with a friendly grin, "And then I got here! I haven't seen many packs in the area. Seeing another wolf's sure a sight for sore eyes, Reek." Hopefully this Reek fellow didn't mind that he was instantly referring to him by his first name. Eh well, thought Ditty, if this guy was friendly, then surely there was a whole another valley out there with wolves who'd accept him just the way he was. Right?
Ever the optimistic ray of sunshine, Ditty asked, "Do you have a pack? Can you tell me 'bout some of the packs in the area?" Large ears flopped forward enthusiastically as he awaited an answer, hoping it to be positive.
Ah, mystery solved! Reek accepted Ditty's explanation with what appeared to be a happy grin, accompanied by a friendly nod. Having been a chipper man in the past, Reek found these emotions surprisingly easy to fake. Perhaps he wouldn't need to pretend in time, but for now, Reek felt he had to. He had a show to put on— a pack to sell.
If the coywolf was looking for a pack, Reek had just the offer for him. "Of course, I can help!" he said, cheerily. "There's Sleepign Dragon, east of here. They're a little on the aggressive side though. I dunno if you'd be in to that sort of thing." From what Reek had gathered from Thuringwethil, he figured the volcano pack was one that had a brutal culture. Reek made no meantion of the Maplewood however... If he could not lead there, he would send them no new recruits. "—Buuuuuuuuuuut, if you wanna stick around, I'm starting a pack just south of here." Reek sucked his teeth and breathed in. His shoulders settled into a shrug. "It'll be a little more lively. I could use a few able bodies to get things moving." With offer extended, Reek hoped the coywolf would take his bait.
Ditty was very muchly not into the aggressive sort of pack. Sleeping Dragon sounded pretty neat as a name for a pack, but their description was far from neat. Ditty was a particularly vain creature and he liked his fur the way it was — well-kempt and groomed perfectly. When younger he had at times played into the mud, much to his mama's distaste, but later, when that phase of his life had passed, she'd admitted to her son that even she herself liked to play the 'mud princess' game (well, in Ditty's case, he was a prince, of course). Now, though, he disliked playing in the dirt as much as his mama did. "Oh, no, I'm not really the rough 'n tough guy, as you can tell by my perfect looks!" Ditty spoke with a charming grin on his face, though there was no joking tone to his voice — he meant every word of it. Perhaps his features were a little pointed and his ears a little big, but Ditty was proud of the softness of his fur and how he didn't have a single visible scar marring his body. He knew when to back out of a fight when he had to.
Anyhoo, another opportunity came about, as it sounded like this dude was soon going to be Alpha of a pack. "Wow, sounds like it's my lucky day!" Ditty said cheerily. "How many you've got so far? This seems like a nice place to start a pack." Ditty misinterpreted 'just south of here' as 'pretty much here except a lil' tiny bit more to the south'. He didn't realise that it wasn't in a field similar to this, but more towards the glacier and mountainside that Reek was considering settling.
The coywolf was certainly prideful. His appearance - meticulously maintained - had been Reek's initial sign. Ditty's comment however, laced with no joking novelty, cemented this realization in Reek's mind. The raggedy man did not share in Ditty's vanity. In fact, Reek fell to the opposite end of the spectrum. He cared little about his appearance. Having been beaten by the ugly stick (hard, mind you), Reek knew there was little he could change, nor would he try.
Reek simply shrugged off the coywolf's comment, treating it like the joke he perceived it to be. A slight chuckle passed Reek's lips.
Of course, any qualms Reek may have had with Ditty's prideful nature were swept away after seeing how receptive he was about the idea of helping him form a pack. "That it is!" Reek replied, his friendly mask of exuberance still holding strong. "It's just me and one other right now," he assumed Tavi would tag along as his alpha female once she returned from the Maplewood. "—And you, if you're up for it."
The man's enthusiasm was infectuous, though Ditty had to admit he felt a little suspicious when Reek confirmed that it was only he and one other so far. It'd sounded like he had pretty much a whole pack all ready to go, but it wasn't really a whole pack just yet. Ditty squinted his eyes in thought, clearly having his enthusiasm doused a little, but on the other hand, Reek was being rather friendly to him so far. "Maybe!" said Ditty as a smile appeared back on his face. "I mean, I'd like to check out some other places, but it sounds pretty good! Heck, maybe I could even find some other followers for the pack when I go exploring!" Ditty just hoped that the other wolves that would be part of this pack would be as accepting as this dude was, 'cause so far he was pretty great. But being part of the recruitment train might give him more influence on that. "Would that earn me any special bonus cookie points?" Ditty grinned jokingly, though he was wondering about it; he'd inherited his mother's ambition, and especially because he had never flourished in the past because of his heritage, this seemed like a super good opportunity!
"Anyway, are all wolves 'round here so nice to the coyote-alikes? Not that I'm complaining, but y'know, but I'm going to explore more it would be good to know how welcome I'll be!" And if he needed to be on guard for anyone. Luckily Ditty had inherited his mother's coat so that he at least didn't look much like a coyote in colouration.
Perhaps if Reek was in a better emotional state, he would have found his own enthusiasm a little more genuine. The mask, however, was fine for the moment and Reek returned Ditty's smile with one of his own. "Oh, that's fine!" He exclaimed. "Go out and explore! See what there is to see! I'll be around— if you need me just howl." It was a good thing, really, to have Ditty travel. The more word the spread about the formation of Larksong Grotto the better. With Ditty receptive to doing some recruiting himself, Reek felt he struck gold.
"Of course—" he continued, "if you bring be back a bunch of followers, you might find yourself my right hand man. So yeah, cookie points indeed." Reek's track record with selecting betas may have been a bit bad, but who knows? If Ditty were to prove himself by showing that sort of drive here and now, Reek would have no qualms with giving him a high position.
Having been a part of a pack led by a coywolf in the beginning of his stint in the Wilds, Reek saw no issue with Ditty's hybrid status, nor did he believe many other wolves would. "You should be fine... There are some crazies out there, but they're few and far between." Perhaps if the coywolf felt more comfortable, he'd be more suited to stick around.
Ditty was sure excited that he finally would have a shot at a high position in a pack. Oh boy! He nodded lots and lots of times while Reek agreed that it might get him a good position, finding it hard to contain his enthusiasm.
Totally forgetting that he had only said'maybe', Ditty excitedly said, "Great! I'll go right away to find us more followers, Reek!" And Ditty started to bound off into the rest of the Teekon, unless Reek would say more.
"I'll see you 'round Ditty," replied Reek. With nothing more to say, Reek let his newest recruit take his leave to go out into the world to spread the word. Soon, his ranks would be filled; Reek was sure. However, despite this internal reassurance, Reek's smile faded away as he watched his recruit fade away. With no one around, Reek's mask slipped and his sullen demeanor returned.
With Ditty gone, Reek turned southward in the hopes of finding more prospective members.