Wolf RPG

Itsuki had travelled a long time, and never thought that he would soon settle in another pack.

Granted, Itsuki never thought much about the future. It was too gossamer to glimpse, and speculation would get him nowhere. Itsuki thought little about the future because the future was, in a word, nonexistent. It hadn't happened, and therefore, could not knowingly be influenced despite the belief that it could be. His actions had consequences, naturally, but Itsuki's future was never certain, and so he had never expected.

Yet here he stood on the precipice of a mountain pack that vaguely reminded him of his homeland, and something else. The pale beast that had invited him had, after a long moment of scrutiny, left him there to make his way. The shuffling of leaves in the wind when she had arrived told Itsuki that the kami were interested in her. Her loa told her that she should be interested in him, and so the two had met, briefly conversed, deemed one another worthy, and that was that.

His first steps on the mountain were tentative and done in silent worship, as all his steps on new land were. Every landscape on this mountain had an associated kami, with the mountain kami presiding over the river kami and those of every rock and tree and living beast. Itsuki could not hope to understand them all at a glance. He wouldn't get the chance, he knew—she had told him they were leaving soon and he had accepted this without complaint, as he accepted all things in life but those tied to his wolfish instincts—but, nevertheless, his first steps were slow, timid, and full of respect for the local kami.

Perhaps for one of the last times (though he had been telling himself that for days now), Mordecai had come back to the mountain. It had been tiresome here and there, travelling between the mountain and what would be their claim of the Spine, but he had grown accustom to it quickly. Time had not eroded his sense of travel or his stamina, and fatigue was only a bothersome effect cured by rest. Their collective time as a pack on and beneath the reach of the mountain was dwindling quickly he thought, having rummaged through a cache or two that had turned to rot and bones. He covered them, making and keeping good on the notion that they would put a pretentious front to their comings and goings.

A sigh hefted itself from his lungs as he covered the last of a shallow hole that had gone to waste. It had been emptied long ago, but he still felt the necessity to do so. He had little attachment to the mountain itself, though it had been interesting to live on one, so to speak. The only disappointment he really had was having not scaled its higher ranges, but even that seemed more impossible to him than it had when he had first laid eyes on it. Mordecai shook out his coat before pressing on, this time turning towards the forests that engulfed him and made his way through them easily.

Somewhere in his venture the wind brought him an unfamiliar scent. Fresh and close, he turned toward it without a second thought curiously, but also on guard. It wasn't until he had fully closed the distance between himself and the unfamiliar canine that he found the traces of Jinx lingering. His coloration was dull against the sharp green foliage and turned away from Mordecai, but the Ostrega woofed softly to rectify that. Stopping short of invading a personal bubble or two, he offered up a friendly but strong wave of his tail.

All around him, the wind whispered mysterious secrets that even the most alert of wolf ears could not capture. He gazed up in wonder at the mountain's peak, pausing with one paw daintily suspended and silently pondering whether he would ever reach that high. It had never been an aspiration of his to reach for great heights, but perhaps he would surprise himself by conquering the mountain tip at some point... Or perhaps he would simply leave it and pursue less lofty dreams.

Itsuki was in the midst of finishing up the thought and preparing to move on when a sound beckoned from behind. His head swivelled until Mordecai appeared in his line of sight, and only then did the newcomer twist back his sharp ears and turn the whole of his body to face the superior wolf. The other's tail and the way it was held was a tell-tale sign of superiority that Itsuki responded to swiftly by crouching into the form of a submissive, subservient wolf.

Even if he had been more highly ranked, he would have thought twice about tussling with this creature for reputation. Mordecai was not only taller, but also more thickly muscled than Itsuki could ever hope to be with his lanky, spidery build. The rich, royal gold and red overlays of the man's coat drew the eye, but the Keizo was quick in his observation. He didn't want to impose by staring. “Your home is magnificent,” Itsuki observed, choosing to comment on the location rather than the wolf himself in order to better understand his companion through his response.

As he had hoped, there was no discontent in his approach. The newly ranked canine deferred without push, and Mordecai let his guard down somewhat. He couldn't help but be leery, given all that had accumulated in his stay with the pack. But it was minor in comparison to everything else; he was still happy to see new faces in their ranks. The wave in his tail remained as he closed their remaining distance, smiling at the words offered up to him. With a bump to the shoulder from his nose, Mordecai gestured towards the glittering peak through the canopy.

“It really is. This is the best time of day to see how tall the mountain really is. See how the sun catches the tip?” His eyes turned swiftly from the younger canine to the peak then, admiring the view. He would miss that, he decided. He would miss a lot of things about their little stretch of ground, but was just as eager to find new digs and places to explore in the coming days. “It's a shame we'll be leaving it behind soon, but it's for the best, or so I'd like to think. I'm Mordecai, by the way.” He had the feeling that Jinx had spared no details with Itsuki, knowing now that she took direct interest in who stayed with them. Getting acquainted now would be better for later, anyway.

His greeter was clearly an affable sort, what with his forward approach just to place a welcoming nudge against his shoulder. The Keizo unwittingly flinched from the contact, though it was made despite this—it was a quirk from his childhood, that aversion to touch. Touch was unavoidable, yet the man he had become still shied away from the brush of another's nose or shoulder, often without conscious thought and without regard for the offence it could cause.

Mordecai seemed to hold the same reverent regard for the mountain that Itsuki had, although he reckoned it was for different reasons. Being a new immigrant to the pack meant that the Keizo male had thus far put little of his sweat or blood into the claiming and maintenance of the territory, whereas he was willing to bet that Mordecai held a much firmer love for the mountain. Yet soon they would leave it, if Jinx and now the well-built Ostrega were to be believed. It seemed they would leave with some regrets, though they were outweighed by the pros.

Hungry for information, yet patient in his search for it, Itsuki chose to quietly prompt the other to “spill the beans” by pointing out that, “there must be something very compelling where we're going.” He hadn't seen it yet, though when he did, he would share Mordecai's sentiment completely.

Mordecai, unknowing that Itsuki didn't care for being handled merely took the flinch to be more of a shock. It wasn't like he had always come up to others and gave them a welcoming bump a lot either; the action had felt natural to do. He hadn't quite realized it yet, but Mordecai was beginning to feel increasingly comfortable with his fellow pack mates. While he didn't get a return introduction from the fellow, he didn't push for it either. Instead there was the compelling reasons as to why they were vacating their mountainside home at hand.

“Not having to bicker with the neighbors over the food is compelling enough,” he said, smiling faintly. While he hadn't quite experienced the feeling of pressure from the neighboring packs just yet, Mordecai had been in a spat over who got to track what herd. He only imagined it getting worse as said herds and game migrated elsewhere, or holed up for the winter. “We keep to ourselves here, and take care of our own. The others are none too different in that regard as well, and the lands to the north and east of here are teeming with other packs. Things get thorny.” He rolled his furry shoulders in a shrug, as though to suggest there was little else they could do. It wasn't worth the expenditure in his eyes just yet to fight with them. Putting space between all of them, well, that had its potential to work out just fine. Even more so if they thrived more in Ouroboros.

As it turned out, there wasn't anything more compelling about the Spine than the mountain. Rather, it was a matter of neighbours. Itsuki could respect the thinking that the Silvertip wolves had, for although they seemed to him to be a fierce bunch of wolves, nobody wanted to fight for everything. Even the most renowned warriors in the land, he reckoned, were likely to choose the easier route, and fighting others was never it.

“I see,” mused the Keizo gently, looking out over the flatlands below as though seeing them for the first time. He had thought of the land as untouched and untamed, but knowing there was a plethora of packs out there made it seem much more claustrophobic, even though he didn't know where those packs were. Already, he agreed that a move was in order.

“It will be good for me, too,” he revealed, “for it is easier to lorekeep when a pack is beginning than when it is established.” Silvertip Mountain wasn't going to be a new pack when it left the mountain, of course... But nevertheless it was a new beginning that Itsuki could document.

If nothing else, Mordecai would be glad that they were moving simply for the ability to explore a territory thoroughly. There were many ups and downs to the area of ground they had been claiming, and he itched for the chance to roam around in it fully. While they had seen parts of the territory extensively (or so he felt), there were always those few places that had yet to be rummaged through. And not having to worry about any potential fools dropping in because they didn't know where they were going had its perks as well.

Those thoughts were pushed to the side though when he heard the pale-toned wolf mention lorekeeping. The word itself hadn't been used around Mordecai for quite some time, well before his introduction to the Wilds. “So you're a lorekeeper then. It's been a long time since I've heard anyone call themselves that.” And at least he planned on staying, which made him all the more likeable to Mordecai. “Perhaps when we settle down, you should talk to some of the others about the history of Silvertip. I don't know how many are around from when it founded, but there's a few others who have been here longer than I have.” Every story needed a prologue, right?

The two talked for a bit longer, before Mordecai bade Itsuki a fond farewell.