They parted ways at Deepwood Weald. Floki had stood at the edge of the treeline, watching until Aria's pale figure disappeared from sight. Only when he could no longer see her did he turn southward, loping towards Moonspear with his heart in his throat. He was left unable to fully process his emotions from the trip -- there had been highs and lows, but overall he was worried about Aria and about the state of the Teekon Wilds.
As soon as his paws hit the border, he lifted a leg to leave a marking. He had been gone so long he worried that his scent had faded; Lazarus' face flashed in his mind and he wrinkled his nose. The yearling began to scale the slope, moving deftly across the rocky terrain until he reached a broad, flat ledge near the mountain's base. There, he stepped to the edge, toes hooked over the dropoff.
He paused for only a moment to gather his breath, then sent out a call for the Alpha pair. He had news to report, and wanted to hear if anything had happened at home in his absence.
Flóki had been gone. Charon had missed him most notably throughout the ordeal where Ness had been eaten. Did Flóki even know she was dead? Yet he was an Outrider and in these trying times perhaps his task was one of the more important ones in the pack. Charon had noticed, though, that as he looked down from the reaches of Moonspear, the valleys all around had gone dry of their greenery. Such irony for this to happen in spring, and for this to happen in such a manner; Charon had never even considered that they, the wolves, needed grass to survive, because without it their prey died or moved on. Until now, anyway.
When Flóki's call sounded Charon was quick to make his way to his brother's side. It felt like forever since they'd last spoken face to face and Charon hoped for good news, though he feared for bad news considering what he'd seen from atop his throne. As he arrived, Charon moved to Flóki's side and nosed his brother's cheek before he settled beside Flóki, hanging his toes from the ledge in similar fashion while he overlooked Moonspear's lower slopes and awaited news. Yet he was quick to share his own - "Ness died." It sounded weird, it was abrupt, but he needed to have said it before Flóki shared his news, whatever it might be. Flóki knew Ness too, and he'd not expect her to die — so he needed to know before all else of the tragic loss of their pack mate. Then Charon looked inquisitively at Flóki, awaiting what news he bore while waiting for his mate.
Frustrated, she had abandoned one of the creeksides lowers in the foothills and headed back up the elevations, damp and with nothing in her belly to show for all of her work. So far, her efforts in fishing were hit and miss. Some days were better than others and sometimes, patience graced her more kindly. On most, she could usually wrangle up something, even if it was small, but it was unnerving to rely on this skill (one she'd honed as a scavenging traveler) almost exclusively so many moons later. Today just happened to be a day that bothered her more than others.
By the time she heard Floki's call, her coat was beginning to dry out and the initial burn of failed fishing was fading slowly. His voice served as a welcome piece of news, though, even if it was difficult to expect him to bring good news regarding the state of the Wilds -- at least he was back. She'd take the small victories and picked up her pace until she found him perched upon an edge, with Charon settling in beside him. After some nimble steps, she moved to join them and finished her arrival wordlessly, albeit with a welcome, relieved sway of her tail.
While she took a moment to get comfortable alongside Charon, she listened to find out where she had come in on this at, or if very much had been said already. Despite her relatively subdued greeting and presence, she was interested to hear what may be exchanged here. She was anticipating Floki's return greatly, after all.
Charon's expression was grim as he approached, which caused Floki's own brows to knit together. It wasn't necessarily a surprise -- after all, he could see with his own eyes that nothing had changed in his absence. Moonspear was still lacking plantlife and prey, just as it had been when he left.
But the two words that Charon uttered caused Floki's blood to run cold. "Ness died." Amekaze's appearance coincided with his brother's bleak news, but Floki hardly noticed the Alpha female. He stared at Charon for a long moment, mouth agape, then his ears fell back and he turned his gaze to look blankly out over the barren terrain.
"What -- how?" he finally asked, his voice small.
Amekaze approached, and Charon glanced backwards at her, over his shoulder, chuffing in welcome. Then he turned back to Flóki, who was flabbergasted by the news, unsurprisingly so. He asked what had happened and though Charon was not eager to explain, he knew he needed to.
"A beast got her. Something got her. Lazarus found her body when she must've been there a few days. Maybe the other bear..." He pursed his lips as he considered it might still be hungry, and felt worried, but didn't want to let it show. He decided to change the subject; "What've you found..?" Even though he already knew the answer wouldn't be much more cheerful.
Her ears tilted forward, discovering the subject was Ness' death and its details. She had very little to contribute to the matter. Her mate had already voice all things necessary -- down to the suspicion that it could have been the other bear, the one they had lost track of somewhere over the depths of winter. That possibility boiled her blood, shown subtly by the tightening of her jaw. But they couldn't afford the risks associated with a wild bear hunt right now, as much as she wanted to run recklessly towards the kill. Their focus needed to be elsewhere -- like hunting, and besides, should anyone injure themselves, their most experienced healer had faded to obscurity and most stockpiles were obliterated. Times were not good, in short.
Then, Charon went for the point and she nodded along. Floki's findings out abroad were what she was here for.
It was hard for Floki to breathe as Charon delivered the rest of the news, detailing what they knew about Ness' death. For a moment, he despaired, wondering dramatically if he was doomed to lose anyone and everyone he cared about -- not that he and Ness had had anything romantic, but he had considered her a good friend. He steadied himself, closing his eyes as he inhaled through his nose and composed himself.
"A bear," he repeated, feeling his spine tingle with fear. He was already terrified of the beasts for what they had done to Atreyu and Tevinter, and it only continued to get worse. Nishu had died as a belated result of a bear attack, and now Ness was gone. They needed to rid their mountain of the ursines, but his line of thought mirrored Amekaze's, though he didn't realize it. Now was not the time to wage war.
Forcing himself to focus on Charon's question, Floki shook his head gently. "There's not much out there. It all looks pretty much the same -- the locusts got all of the greenery," he said grimly. He thought briefly of Aria; how had she fared with Lasher? "But there is a lot of unclaimed land to the west. There's only one pack that has settled out there, in a place called Silver Creek. I don't know much else about them, but we met one of their wolves -- his name was Casmir." His lip twitched as he remembered the dark-pelted boy, Aria's former lover.
The subject of the bear that had murdered Ness was pushed aside for the moment; they had bigger worries right now. They needed food, or things would not end well for them. Charon looked at Flóki as he spoke, mentioning that the locusts had tore apart everything in their way here. Charon had suspected such from his vantage points upon Moonspear as he looked down at the barren wasteland from atop his throne.
Flóki mentioned the west, but the big question on Charon's mind remained unanswered. Yet he was distracted when Casmir was mentioned, a name that struck a chord. Charon needed to think for a little while, but then he remembered — "I met him once. I thought he was part of Dante's pack?" It made Charon wonder if the boy had left or if his parents had perhaps left Dante's pack. "Anyway, is there more food in the west?" He couldn't really imagine that beyond the mountain ridge there'd suddenly be a lush area — but if there were, then perhaps they could find a way down the mountain on the west side and hunt there instead. It might yet be their saviour.
He confirmed that the devastation spread out into the unknown, and while she had been expecting it, she still felt her nerves spike because of it. This confirmed it was as dire as she'd feared.
But, knowing the packs in the region were few was.. mildly good, by comparison to other topics. Fewer packs meant fewer wolves and thus, less competition for her and her wolves. Silver Creek would be something to remember, although honestly, she doubted it would come into contention often. Even with their nearby neighbors, things had remained tame as far as pack relations went -- although poor hunting may pressure them more, she knew. "How far out are they?" she asked regarding the Creek. She guessed relatively far away. The territory was wholly unheard of by her.
Charon's question was mirrored by her as well, but her expectations were not high. If the greenery had gone, the large prey would move on as well; it was only inevitable.
Both Alphas asked for more information, and Floki's gaze shifted between them as he answered. "Casmir was a part of Donnelaith, I guess, but he left for whatever reason and now he's with the Creek," he explained. The pieces fit together: the first time he met Aria, she had been looking for Casmir after he left Donnelaith without a word. Now, he had taken up with another pack altogether, although the "why" was still left unanswered.
"He didn't say where Silver Creek is, but I'm assuming it couldn't have been too far from where we were when we met him. Maybe southwest from here," he mused. He had a rough map of the hinterlands sketched out in his head from their travels, but there were still a lot of empty spaces and unaccounted for territories. It would take much more time to get a full understanding of the location.
Floki then shook his head slowly, feeling disappointed to have to let Charon down with his next response. Suddenly, he realized just how Aria had felt. "The only food we could get was fish. We didn't come across any herds the whole time we were there," he reported sullenly.
Though he had expected a negative answer, part of Charon still felt disappointed when Flóki shared the news that they hadn't been able to find any food out there. How much longer would this torment last? Hunger grumbled in Charon's stomach as he was forced to face the fact he'd have to be without food a bit longer. Maybe he would try to fish something later too; perhaps it'd prove more eventful than the hunting he had tried so far today. The only lucky thing for them was that they did not have pups to feed, but they might have soon.
"Well, I'm glad you're back," Charon concluded, deciding to focus on something positive rather than end on a sour note by bringing up their lack of sustenance again.
Casmir was not a name she knew, and even Donnelaith had come to stand on the edge of her periphery but she listened intently. She did briefly consider Lasher and Dante but it was short-lived. Here in the times of famine, she wouldn't be concerning herself with other packs unless they were competing directly with her wolves. So far, none of that had been necessary so she couldn't waste the energy contemplating it at any greater length than this.
"Me too," she chimed in with after Charon spoke, glad to mention the good of it now. She was relieved he was home safe, it was only too bad he could not come with better news. But, they would just need to steel their resolve and power through these difficult times. There would be no outrunning this one.
"Me three," Floki quipped with a wry half-grin. Although things looked bleak for the Moonspear wolves, he was infinitely glad that they had each other. His expression darkened slightly as his thoughts turned back to Ness, feeling regretful that he hadn't spent much time with her prior to her death. His gaze sought Charon's.
"Is there a place I can...pay my respects to Ness?" he asked quietly.
As Floki asked if there was a place to pay his respects to Ness, Charon thought back to how they had eaten her body. There was no burial site, for Ness was now everywhere on the mountain, scattered, some parts of her still cached, even.
"There is a place," Charon lied, making up a place on the spot. He gestured for Floki to follow him and started up a trail towards a ledge he had sat upon with Ness; this would be the place where they could remember her at; Ness' Point.
When the topic returned to Ness, she had nothing to add except more silence. Lightly, she leaned against Charon before he began to lead Floki elsewhere. Amekaze was interested in seeing where he would go, so she tagged along and watched her speckled mate chose the heading.
She didn't know of a spot herself but hadn't thought to ask, unlike the silver brother. Ness had.. become food for her, as much as she loathed it. Another reason Amekaze had to stay determined to see life rise anew on this mountainside. Hazily, and as she watched the back of Charon's ears, she had to wonder what would become of them all in the weeks and months to follow.
Floki felt relief when Charon obliged him. He bowed his head and fell into step behind his Alphas, oblivious to what had truly happened to Ness -- that she had become sustenance for the pack. He didn't ask any further questions about her burial -- for he assumed that was what had happened -- but simply trailed along in the wake of Amekaze and Charon as they scaled the mountain.
When they stopped, he looked up to find that Charon had led him to a ledge. It overlooked the wilds, and while there was no sign of a grave, Floki simply gave a grateful nod of his head and stepped to the edge of the cliff. He closed his eyes briefly, drawing in a deep breath as he thought of Ness. A warm breeze tousled his scruff and he smiled faintly; he was at peace.
The thing about cannibalism is that it wasn't pleasant to talk about. Charon didn't feel uncomfortable at the thought of eating her — he'd done what needed to be done, and she would've been no good to them underground — but he wasn't about to tell his younger brother that he had eaten one of their friends and valued pack mates because they needed the food. Part of this was pride, perhaps, for Charon liked to believe he was in control of the situation.
He looked at his brother, who looked peaceful, and smiled. Then he turned away from the cliff, nosing Amekaze as he went, inviting her along silently to wherever.
A destination rose before them and around spread serene mountainside. It was bittersweet, and she regarded it appropriately in the memory of Ness -- a wolf she only wished she'd had time to know better. But no matter how picturesque, she did not want to stay long. The location was noted, she'd remember it, and she was ready to be on her way. Charon's nose against her gave her the last motivation to linger no longer. She chuffed softly, and moved on alongside him.