Wolf RPG - she's got something in her throat

@jinx:

whenever you have a chance, m'dear!

He had finished setting up his den, and marvelled that he had long since lost count of the times he had moved his herbal baggage and bones. But now he paced in a semicircle upon the path before the cave-mouth; a rabbit hung limply from his jaws, its throat gashed raggedly, and blood sprayed and dripped in great crimson gouts upon the ground. His beloved skulls decorated each visible point around the entrance to the den, and the musty smell of dried plants filled the air.

He had not yet told Jinx of his time among the Vale wolves, but beside his paws, as he dropped the hare to the loam, there nestled a tiny crushed bundle of leaves and two bones, with wolfish teethmarks clearly visible. Tipping back his crown, Lecter called affectionately for his lover; he bore gifts for her, and new knowledge.

Marriage, it turned out, was more of an adjustment than Jinx had initially thought. Between being commanded to quit the Creek, tending her fledgling borders on the mountain, finding and collecting her scattered followers whose fates had mirrored her own, and settling comfortably into life on slopes, she found very little time for her ~~old geezer~~ husband. At first, the thought hadn't crossed her mind that they had spent little time together, and so she hadn't sought him out and hadn't noticed the shaman's lengthy departures from his hut, nor suspected the reason. Today marked a difference in Jinx, for with no immediate tasks to fulfil, she found herself craving his company.

Jinx was in luck that Lecter was on the mountain and not in the vale today, not that she would have known where he went anyway. She prowled along the alp's ample footpaths with her nose planted to the ground, seeking the old blood reek that clung even to the pads of his paws. His trails were fresh, yet frustration marred the Kesuk's brow as she alternately found and lost track of them. Living on a mountain was more of an adjustment than she thought, too.

By coincidence, his howl broke out over the peak of the mountain and summoned her attention. Swinging her ears about and pausing halfway through a hop to a lower path, she localized him to somewhere a little higher up and changed her course, and at long last found him. His dwelling was as macabre and horrific as ever, with a healthy boundary of blood and skulls arranged around it, but it reminded her so much of the sea witch's former hut in the Timber that she smiled when she saw it and let out some of her recent tension with a familiar sigh.

"It looks like home," she pointed out, swaying her tail as she stepped up near him and unabashedly set to nibbling the stiff fur on the side of his neck, totally oblivious to the gifts at his feet. "Just needs the seaweed," she added in a quiet croon.

With a low whine, Lecter pushed his nose against the hollow of her throat; he had missed her dearly, but understood the tasks a leader would need to fulfill. He himself had aided in marking the borders, though he would have enjoyed having more wolf-skulls to throw about the perimetre of the Mountain, to terrify those of lesser constitution. A glance into his lover's eyes and Lecter stepped back, clearing his throat. I have been at the Vale since before we left Fox's lands. I visit often, to heal those among them who are hurt. Not long ago, a rockslide devastated their lands and many of them, including their healer.

Lecter did not know how the fierce slyph would receive this knowledge, that her mate had undone much of the damage wrought upon her enemies; he had foiled even Sos' attempts to kill. But he pressed on nevertheless. It may please you to know that I now have permanent access to their herbs. Even the black dog cannot stop me, for Xi'nuata somehow trusts me enough to walk unharmed through their lands, Sos be blessed.

Lowering his muzzle, the madman indicated the bone and the wrapped leaves. The former he pushed first toward Jinx. The woman herself ate from this kill; the marks are those of her own teeth. It holds her strength, this bone; it can also be used to leach it away. Now the packet, which was revealed to hold pungent earth. And this, Lecter hissed with pleasure. Raheerah's own water, plucked from the borders.

Lecter sought Jinx's eyes now. I give these to you in hopes you will fashion powerful fetishes from them. However, a curse now would hurt each wolf of the Vale, and there is one who I would like to bring out from among them, should you intend to rain teeth and fire down upon them. He referred of course to the monk, Tenzin; the snowy beast would be miserable upon the Mount, but Lecter could not see him escaping, not back to Raheerah and his ilk.

Xi'nuata is with child, he added as an afterthought, wondering if this would anger or interest the Kesuk.

What he had to say would shock Jinx so completely that for much of it, she was silent and brooding. She would believe that many wolves would lend aid to their own enemies, in a futile attempt to put aside their animosity, but never would she have thought Lecter would do it himself. The shaman had always been a more brutal sort, who relished the suffering of others. Though he was her husband and she thought she knew him, the eyes she regarded him with now seemed to fall upon a complete stranger.

She was about to point out that his actions were treasonous and would need to stop when he indicated his gifts, as well as the advantage of his aid. Jinx remained silent, intrigued by these. Perhaps the shaman had a point after all. With access to the Vale's lands, he could take from their natural stores without resistance. The plan was not without merits.

Much of the other stuff he said, she didn't care too much about. He mentioned a specific Vale wolf of interest, but Jinx didn't care about that. A Vale wolf was a Vale wolf who answered to Xi'nuata and her black cur. For the vengeful and irrational Kesuk, that was enough reason to strike him down with the rest of them. Silently, she weighed her options, but her silence broke when Lecter mentioned that Xi'nuata was with child, and hot jealousy and hatred flashed through her.

Why should such an insolent creature with her pathetic need for friendship and her petty threats be granted life, when Jinx's had been so easily dashed by nothing more than devotion to her Alpha?

"If I see her anywhere near here, her children die with her. I will rip them out first, and she can watch them suffocate as the light fades from her eyes." There was no lack of hatred in Jinx's tone. No doubt the shaman would think less of her for this, but she had her mother's hot blood. A single transgression was enough to earn Nanuq's permanent distaste, and it was no different for Jinx. Those "idle" threats on the Keep's side were enough to kill any chance of Xi'nuata earning favour in her eyes. "But what you have done is wise. I will hold onto these until the time is right." She made no move yet to gather the bones or the soil to her.

Instead, she sought the eyes of her lover and wondered aloud, "what makes you want to bring out one of theirs?"

He did not think less of his lover — he nodded at her words, understanding from where they came. Xi'nuata was no friend to Jinx, and though he and the golden woman had cultivated a mutual respect, there was no question that he too would turn his teeth to her if it came to the defense of Silvertip. Lecter had cause to wonder if Jinx would think less of him, for what he had done in abetting the enemy, and reached out to lash her chin with a slow, placating movement of his tongue. But he would not make excuses for himself — what he had done was done.

He is a wise man and lies abused and injured by the black cur's own teeth. I do not believe Raheerah will allow him to leave, not without a show of force, which Tenzin — that is his name — does not condone. He is aged, as am I, but his wisdom and calm would be invaluable. A Keeper of Lore, I believe, but even the softest snow can house sharp ice, Lecter finished with a harsh laugh, glancing off in the direction of the Vale.

If you do not wish for me to walk among them again, tell me now, Jinx; I shall heed you. The shaman looked to her for guidance now, a word of command, which the sylph had never before given him, but perhaps the circumstances had changed the sense of power she felt she had overtop him.

He was silent then, lowering his muzzle to nudge the rabbit toward Jinx also, the third of her gifts. The anger of the Kesuk was not once he wished to inspire, but nor could he ignore the calling of his skill toward those in need of it. He had become soft in his old age, the shaman determined quietly.

Despite her blatant hatred for the Vale's inhabitants, the bitch could find value in what Lecter had done. There was a latent fear deep inside her that his loyalties would change and that Xi'nuata would poison his mind against her, but she had to have faith that he knew better than to trust her. Their agreement beyond the healing of Northstar Vale's wounded was singularly beneficial to the mountain pack, assuming that Lecter did not tend to any wolves harmed by Silvertip's teeth but their own. The dogs of the vale were welcome to test the patience of Jinx's pack, but as she had told Xi'nuata, it was their funeral.

Lecter's interest in Tenzin was no clearer from his explanation, but she understood that the creature of whom he spoke would be immeasurably valuable. Not only would he be a calming influence on the mountain, but he would be a reliable source of information for the intolerant Alpha female. "You are welcome to try," she offered warmly to signal her approval, "but if he comes here and sells us out, I will be forced to send his head down the mountain in pursuit of his ass."

That said, she addressed her husband's concern by slipping her snout beneath his chin, into the cloying curtain of his scent, which only she seemed capable of enjoying. "You may continue, my love, so long as you always remember what threats they issued us in the creek." She paused, then added, "I do not wish to hear of how I am wrong to distrust them." It was a relationship budding with a pack she did not want, but her mate's access to their herbs was much more important.

Lashing his tongue between her ears, Lecter rejoined, words a low rumble in his throat. I would expect nothing less. In truth, he did not suspect Tenzin of such things, but there was little place for Dawa upon Silvertip. The snowy monk could contribute, but Jinx would not allow fraternization between the Mount and the Vale. He would perhaps need to closet the idea for now. Having been granted the permission he would need in order to continue his own healing liasions to Xi'nuata's wolves — he refused to accept that Raheerah truly ruled — Lecter could turn his mind to other things.

You are not wrong to distrust them, he said, playfully preening upon her good humour. Perhaps we need only to separate them from one another, and impress upon them the true ways. He was reminded of Sos' words, and his odd meeting with the Warden of Swiftcurrent, weeks past. Sos came to me in a vision. He demands blood sacrifice. Icewater eyes grew distant. One of our kind, though I am not sure from which pack we should draw.

Sos' words must become an inevitability, at least to the shaman, though he knew Jinx's own beliefs in the Dark One ran deeply. A wolf must be found who pleased the God; young, sound of heart and foot and loin; blood must be shed in the saltwater beneath the glare of a full moon.

For if it was not done, then Lecter did not know if the Great Bear would show His face favourably upon Silvertip. If this was to be his last sacrifice, then the pale shaman would do well in the sight of his Lord.

“Good,” she crooned quietly, relishing the comfort of his grooming. She sought his cheek with her teeth, nibbling gently through the thin hairs there to softly rake the flesh beneath. She cared not for talk of the vale wolves or Lecter's association with them, if only on the basis of jealousy. That they could earn the regard of the shaman by one disaster only confirmed the changing of his spirit, and though she would never admit it, Jinx was made uneasy by the thought of her beloved witch changing.

He brought her out of her silence with an announcement that made Jinx's heart pound harder with glee. “Then we must please him well,” she breathed, unconsciously including herself in the affair even though it was Lecter who must do the honours. In matters of sacrifice, Jinx rarely cared who dealt the killing blow and who did the rites. She cared only to be present, to witness the great work of her God. But nothing could commence until Lecter decided what pack to take the sacrifice from, which she supposed she could help with.

“Perhaps the creek,” she suggested with a wicked little grin, only half joking. Though she respected Fox, she had lost any respect she had for Njal. As of yet, she did not dislike Bones or Bazi. She held no ill will toward Tuwawi, but perhaps they could take Ferdie. The man was strangely juvenile for his age, and she thought he could easily be convinced to partake in their “celebration”. She mistook him for someone who was easily persuaded. A mistake, but she had only met him once, after all, and witnessed him only twice. “There is that one guy, the weird one who acts like a child. The creek would think twice about us if we targeted them.” Then she sighed softly and added, “but Horizon Ridge might be easier to persuade someone away from. They are less of a pack and more a collection of strangers sharing a land.”

More than anything, she wanted to suggest Northstar Vale (specifically Xi'nuata), but she held her tongue. Jinx knew better than to jeopardize the shaman's relationship with them, for it benefited more than just himself.

so i suck a lot and we need a very new thread. wanna wrap up soon?

It was a testament to Jinx's will, and the level of respect between them, that she did not immediately suggest Xi'nuata. The Creek instead received her murderous regard, and Lecter made a noncommittal sound deep in his throat. Fox had earned his vague affection, and he could think of no one among her ranks whom he would single out, save for the male who Jinx then mentioned. Yet there had seemed a level of paranoia in the odd creature that would not lure him far from the borders.

Bazi entered his mind next, for the curses she had heaped upon him; sacrificing her to Sos would end any doubt in her mind, the shaman though darkly. But she was swift of paw and dear to Fox. Her absence would be investigated, and quickly, and though he believed fervently in Jinx's ferocity, surely the Creek, even now, outnumbered them.

Sos will provide, the madman muttered at last, body relaxing from a tension he had not felt before. In her presence was he made whole again, and he felt the closeness of her youth revitalize him. Tongue lolling, Lecter made as if to nip her shoulder and danced away.

Eyes shone as he invited her to hunt with him; for once, he hungered for larger prey, and with Jinx at his side, surely they could accomplish this thing.

The shaman was right. Sos would decree the target of His sacrifice, and no other would do. The Alpha had forgotten herself. She was but a wolf who followed Him, but often forgot that her place was beneath Him. He was God and she was a mere follower. A desirous word could not make a target of any wolf she chose, for it was entirely His decision.

Forcing herself to abandon the pursuit of a worthy sacrifice, and admitting to herself that she was being exceptionally selfish, the female engaged Lecter in his sudden playfulness. He darted away from her, and she followed closely as though an invisible wire tethered them together. Her tongue lolled as she broke into a sprint, following closely after him, completely immodest in her pursuit. They could worry about the sacrifice later, or specifically Lecter could.

This day, she would enjoy the presence and closeness of her mate and forget all other concerns.

<3

He led her away in pursuit of prey, but turned to romp with her, to greet her smile with his own and bask in the light of their shared adoration. He treasured such moments, as his body and his mind aged. Perhaps he would never grant her children, but he would grant her a legacy of remembrances, and the memory of her eyes alight with love for him would be that which he brought with him to the end.