Wolf RPG

@Alya fairly immediately started catching up with her twin sisters, which made sense considering the circumstances. @Hydra had introduced him to her mate @Dirge and then they took off to discuss things, which left Nikai and Dirge awkwardly smushed together near the Spear's lower slopes.

Uh.. Hi, I'm Nikai, he introduced to the other. Despite the hasty introductions given by their mates, Nikai figured he'd take the time for a proper introduction.

Awkward was certainly the way to put it. Given everything that had just happened, the last thing he had really wanted to do was pair off with some stranger. But what he would inevitably discuss with Hydra would come at a later date, he supposed, and that left him with the present... and Nikai.

"I'm Dirge," came his answer, distracted ever so slightly by the departure of Hydra and her mirror images. "It would seem that you and Alya came here at an... interesting time." Interesting didn't seem like the right word, but then again it wasn't like they had come at either the right or the wrong time. "An unfortunate time, to say the least." That was better, he thought.

Nikai grimaced as Dirge said that he and Alya had come at an interesting time. He didn't know the details of any of it yet, and maybe that was for the best. Still, Nikai was pretty curious about it all. But how did one ask about these kind of matters? That's one way to put it, Nikai said with an awkward chuckle that didn't really break the ice as much as he'd hoped.

So you're, uh, Hydra's mate, right? Nikai hoped he'd got that right from the briefest of explanations Alya had given him before just taking off. Congratulations on the upcoming litter. Nikai really missed his baby siblings, but it would be nice having little ones around the mountain. He hoped their plans for returning home after summer still stood; Nikai hated disappointing his family, and though he'd decided when he first took off into the wilds with Alya that he would never let that stop him, he still felt the tug of home.

If there was at least one thing Dirge thought might alleviate some of the discomfort occurring, it was that Hydra would eventually be showing off her children. Their children. It was easy for him to gloss over it, sometimes too easily done. Unlike him, a weak smile crossed his features briefly. This must have been what drowning felt like, he thought, this uncomfortable sensation akin to sinking in the vastness of all and nothing. To be under and overwhelmed suddenly, never quite striking a balance between the two like waves on the open sea. But the moment would pass, as it always did, and in due time he would get to set his head straight.

"Thank you," he said softly. "I admit I was surprised that Alya settled, especially away from the pack. But I know you both being here will be a comfort to Hydra. We had talked about going east to see you when we were able." Hydra had missed her sister, so it was easy for him to focus on that rather than the strewn bouts of organized chaos going on in his thoughts.

The ice seemed to be broken somewhat by the breaching of the puppy subject, and Nikai smiled at Dirge as he said that he was surprised to see Alya settled. Nikai honestly was rather surprised by this, too - he hadn't expected that she would fall into his arms when he returned to Moonspear. He had expected even less for her to agree to come to Easthollow with him. You and me both, Nikai said with a light grin. He might've normally chuckled, but the recent affairs had put a blanket of sorts over them all where there was no room for such joviality, Nikai included.

Nikai nodded when Dirge said they'd thought of going east to see them. Yeah, their bond seems to be really strong. When I first met Alya, they were with the three of them. I could barely believe my eyes. Admittedly, it was a little odd thinking about how Dirge was with Hydra and Nikai with Alya. Did that mean they were similar in some way too..? Or did the girls differ enough? Nikai didn't know Hydra and Lyra well enough to say. We were intending to stay only over the summer. But I guess we'll see how it goes now, with these new developments. Nikai nervously thought of his missing leg, but then again, he had practised to make the rest of his body stronger in the meantime.

"Siblings always seem to have the strongest bond," he mentioned, thinking lightly of his own sisters. He didn't know where the road had taken Saor or Nyx, or whether or not the two sisters that had stayed behind remained after they had set out. It was a fleeting thought as he changed gears, wondering if his own children would have that sort of bond. He hoped they would, but preferably not because they endured the same hardship together.

He hoped by the time they arrived, all of this would be beginning to be a memory left in some unpleasant hollow. Whether or not it would be, he was certain that it would just be an uncomfortable, unfortunate story told as reminder of the perils of the cliff edges and of dishonesty. However they decided to spin it; he doubted that it would be a topic off the table for long.

"But hopefully this will be the last of the calamity here," he went on to say, gesturing for Nikai to follow him. He had idled long enough; the further away grisly matters they could go, the better. He wouldn't encourage them to go or to stay, at least not yet. "How were things were you were from? I've only been out that way a couple of times in the time that I've been here. The area doesn't seem too different than what's found here."

I suppose so, Nikai said, thinking of his own sister. How he missed her; it should've been he and Keoni, together, travelling and exploring the wilds. But it hadn't been allowed to be so. It made leaving home in Easthollow both easier and harder.

Nikai followed at Dirge's gesture and nodded at that sentiment. Hopefully. Dirge then went on to ask how things were back at Easthollow. It isn't. It's mostly just Easthollow that's so different from Moonspear in every way, but the lands that surround this mountain are similar to Easthollow in many ways. He looked around at the majestic mountain and said with a small, nostalgic and homesick smile; And the wolves are different, of course.

"The wolves are different everywhere," he picked back up as they made their way. "That too I wouldn't want any other way, though. Variety is the spice of life, they say." And lately, the variety he had gotten was not entirely the kind of spice he wanted. There wasn't much that could have been done about it now, even less with the standards he had come to hold himself to. The end would be worth it, he thought, and hoped.

They passed a narrow ridge and sank beneath it, letting the stony outcropping overhang them as they moved on to nowhere in particular. His steps betrayed the notion, but Dirge had no idea where to go, or what to do entirely with the company that had been handed over to him. The small talk drum was coming up short; he found himself focusing on Nikai once again.

"So what did you do in Easthollow?"

That's true, Nikai agreed with a nod. He liked exploration for that reason; staying in one place just wasn't his thing because everything and everyone remained the same. Exploring meant seeing different places and different wolves.

As for Dirge's next question, Nikai admitted: I used to be a scout, but I've decided to pursue storytelling instead ever since I lost my leg. In the wake of all the death that plagued Moonspear none here had mentioned his missing leg, which honestly was a bit of a breath of fresh air. And I'm also a counselor. I'm working towards becoming a coach and mediator. I've always loved being the one to make others in the pack feel cheerful in whatever way. He wondered aloud: What about you?

Though curious about the circumstances that had caused Nikai to lose that leg, Dirge at least had enough sense not to ask outright. It would have been in poor taste given the present... and equally poor in taste in general. Yet it was the reasoning that Nikai used to explain that he had given up on one skill to better others, skills that perhaps Moonspear would need in the days to come.

He decided he liked him then, appreciating the honesty and the notion that Nikai simply wanted everyone to be happy. Of all the things Dirge had noted Moonspear, happiness seemed to always be the most challenged emotion of them all. But the scope of their conversation was pointed back to him and at least this time, he was prepared enough to answer that question as he had many times before.

"I'm a hunter by trade, though I fancy a wander once in a while too. I usually work with Hydra and Lyra in keeping track of the herds that pass through. Their younger brother, Jarilo, he joins us sometimes as well." Though to the latter, Dirge realized he hadn't been in his company quite as often as he had before, and the mental note was made to check up on him. Though tragic as things were, the knave sensed turmoil yet and not entirely certain from where.

Nikai nodded when Dirge said that he was a hunter by trade. A valuable skill to have, and a skill that, so it seemed, Hydra and Lyra shared as well. It was good to hear they had so many capable hunters here. Not only did it mean that it mattered a little less that he was not as capable as the others, missing a leg and all, but it also meant that it seemed they had a vacancy for a storyteller. Seemed good to have someone to tell Moonspear's stories.

Good to hear the pack's got so many capable hunters, Nikai said. After a short pause he asked: So since I'm working on becoming a storyteller... Could you share a story about Moonspear, perhaps? I'd love to get a grasp on the mountain's stories so I can tell them to others, and to the children when the time comes.

There was a dismaying sensation that crossed him when Nikai broached the subject of stories. Neither storyteller nor historian, Dirge had nothing to offer him, and instead felt a defensiveness creep behind in the wake of his dismay. It was disarming to say the least, the thought that crossed him next, that family should have been the one to tell those stories. Not some stranger unproven and looking to line his trade with tales stolen.

Though the resolute irony was lost on him—they were both family, in the blood sense.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you any," he deflected smoothly, "I don't really know any, at least not the kind to tell children. Perhaps once things have quieted, you could consider asking Alya or her sisters, or the younger ones." His knowledge of the tales Moonspear told were grim and by now, historical. He drew in a breath, wondering: "Unless of course you were looking to tell tales of errant children meeting grisly ends and being lost to the wilds. Those are the stories I know." And at least partially, he had been there for them.

If there was any animosity coming from his question, Nikai didn't feel any of it. He just nodded, understanding that Dirge might not be much of a storyteller himself. Though any story would have been welcome, not just stories for the children, Nikai nodded quietly at Dirge. It was perhaps a sensitive subject, in the wake of one such giant story happening right under their noses, so he decided to leave it for now.

I'll ask them, he said. Meanwhile, I'd love a different story that isn't specifically Moonspear themed from you, if you don't mind sharing. Nikai smiled a friendly smile at Dirge and waited. Being new to the trade, it was good to get any story practise in either way.

It seemed he wasn't going to get out of this one unscathed. He was far from a storyteller, unable to recall if he had ever truly been told a story. If he had, then it was possible that he was so young that now it was trivial to try and remember the details. Funny how the repression of the past went, how any morsel of good was buried beneath the hefty sum of trial and tribulation. The only thing he could think to make a story out of were his own experiences, and suddenly found himself hesitant to share them.

"So you do have a taste for the grim tales," he surmised instead, stalling.

How could he tell such a tale? A thoughtful sound lodged itself in his throat then.

"It's a shame I'm not a storyteller. I'm not sure I'd know where to begin. What would you prefer to hear about it?" It seemed easiest to simply let questions come to him, to weave a tale in a way that he knew how, a way that he preferred. But that was only presuming that his lightly speckled company would even take the bait, and that he could not even begin to predict.

It soon grew clearto Nikai that Dirge didn't actually feel all too comfortable telling the stories he had offered. He seemed too proud to backpedal though, or at least too something to do so, sticking to the subject. Nikai looked thoughtful for a moment at Dirge's question, then offered: How about I tell you a story instead? If you want to, that is. Seemed like the best solution to fix this now; All Nikai hoped now was that Dirge didn't take insult in his steering the conversation a different way.

Maybe he wasn't so keen on finding the answers to his questions, or perhaps he was more perceptive than Dirge had thought. The solution, or perhaps evasion, only teased the slight quirk in his expression, but he didn't take offence to it. Whether or not it was better was beyond his thoughts; he rolled his shoulders in that of a shrug.

"Why not?" Perhaps a story would be just the thing to take their minds off the tragedy and what would come to follow. Distractions were often needed and what seemed a better time than now? It wasn't quite like he could spirit himself away to the wilderness, and the idle time needed to pass for things to come together.

"What sort of a tale did you have in mind?"

Dirge agreed with the request, though Nikai found it difficult to see what was going on in the man's mind. Dirge asked what sort of story Nikai had in mind, and since he had nothing really fancy in mind, Nikai hoped that it wouldn't be too disappointing. It wasn't an exciting story; just a bit of history from his old home. I could tell you about Easthollow's stone circle. It's a place where wolves are buried by stones, and each stone stands for something. It helps the wolves of the pack to get by. Nikai thought of Keoni, his sister, as he spoke of the stones. He was sad to be away from her, as he used to love spending time there, just sitting by her grave and chatting.

There's a mother stone, which brings comfort to all. He smiled thinking of Valette. The father stone, a protector. My adopted father's buried there. Steady, died too soon. And my sister is buried there, too, by a stone that watches over the young ones in the pack. Honestly, Nikai still felt she should have had the traveller stone, but he didn't argue with Valette's choices for the stones. He supposed she had known Keoni in a much different way than he had.

The story itself was a sad one, but crucial to the history of a pack he knew little of. What he knew of Easthollow was nothing special. Hydra had told him of it and he was certain somewhere in his travels he had seen its rough location from a distance. It was best known to him as the place where Alya had gone, and returned from him. A snippet of information and nothing more, though Nikai's story was soon to fill in some details of the place and of those within.

And the stones? Dirge likened them to a set of shrines rather than a graveyard.

"Are there just the two stones?" His head canted gently to the side, wondering.

Nikai was glad that Dirge was interested in his story about Easthollow. Seemed like the kind of story that could go either way -- good or bad -- really, so he was just happy that it went the good way. Dirge seemed interested since he asked another question, wondering if it was just the two stones. Nikai shook his head. Oh, no - my sister Keoni's is a different stone than the father and mother stones. Hers is the stone that watches over the young ones of the pack. Because she had never had a long future herself. And there's one that looks after the travellers, too. Supposed that was him, or used to be, anyway. Valette had described the stone a little differently -- a stone of lost souls, to pray those who had left would find their way home -- but he supposed she had always had a different mindset, one that wasn't riddled with wanderlust like his own.

There's a warrior stone, too. One of the pack's deceased warriors lays buried there. Illecebra. Though Nikai had never known them. The stones are set up in a circle. It was always like that, from when we found them. It always gives a sort of magical feeling to the place, somehow.

A magical feeling, but was it truly magic or something akin to it? He could wonder all he wanted on it when the heart of the matter was simple—Dirge didn't believe in the otherworldly with a depth held by others. He supposed belief or faith, whichever, was comforting in some sense, but he could neither confirm or deny a thing. But he wasn't the sort to wrench the ideal from another; what he found comforting was entirely different from another's, after all.

Still, a stone that watched over those who traveled, surely that brought peace of mind to those who wandered when the majority stayed. He couldn't help but spare a passing thought of his mother and then of Nyx, and Saor too.

"Sounds pleasant," he joined back in when his turn came, though the words were hushed. It was too difficult to mask that his thoughts had wandered slightly, though not to detract from their topic. "Your pack is fairly peaceful, then?" Perhaps a bastion in a world that was very decidedly chaotic as of late, however microscopic the view he had gradually adopted. For all Moonspear was and had been through, they certainly knew how to channel that energy into something eventful.

Nikai supposed that Easthollow was a pretty peaceful pack, when he thought about it. He hadn't ever considered that it might be wildly different in other places, even though he had run into less peaceful wolves in other places before. Nikai nodded at Dirge's question. Yes, we are. We take care of our family. The only times we'll be growling is when someone is threatening our peace. When possible they would always resolve things peacefully, but unfortunately it wasn't always possible.

What about Moonspear? he asked. The atmosphere was currently grim, but that was logical in the wake of the death of the mountain's Alphas. Nikai suddenly found himself wondering what it was normally like.

"We are more or less the same, barring the obvious tragedy," he started out, thinking on the matter. Though perhaps leading up to that tragic point, peaceful was not the word that he would have quite used. His recollection of all that had gone on from his first encounter with Moonspear was everything but peaceful—there had always been some sort of tragedy, some sort of sordid tale that roped all of them into the flashing of teeth. As a relative outsider, he had watched on with remote curiosity, but now? He supposed he would have a very different reaction altogether.

"Moonspear is largely a familial pack, though I suppose that extends to you and I now as well," and in more ways than either of them would reveal or know otherwise, "and it's been in my experience only a threat draws out our teeth. We've never had to go looking for trouble." It found them, endlessly, like some bizarre family trait he hadn't even begun to try and comprehend let alone unpack for investigation.

"But it is normally quiet, I'd like to think, being remote and all."

Nikai was interested to hear about Moonspear. It was interesting that Dirge should think the two packs mostly the same -- to Nikai, they felt nothing the same. Easthollow was home, and a lot more peaceful, he felt. But this was Alya's home, and so it would be his, too.

When Dirge mentioned that it extended to the pair of them now, too, beside the obviousness of the Ostrega family, Nikai grinned, clearly surprised and taken aback a little. Then he said, explaining his expression: We're part of the family, though, right? In Nikai's mind, his mateship to Alya bound him to this mountain as much as any of them -- and the same went for Dirge.

Dirge then mentioned it was quiet normally, and Nikai nodded at that. Quiet was usually good. I like quiet, he admitted with a smile. Hopefully it wouldn't be too soon before another tragedy happened.

He nodded to the inquiry—yes, that included them too.

"A stretch of quiet would be good for us now," he said, "though truth be told it does get boring after a while." And it was in those boring, burn out idyllic moments that he felt the urge to wander and be wild. Hydra could rein him in naturally, but only so far and the same was true of him with her. He could be content with his ascension and what would come to be, but even Dirge knew there would be a time when he was no longer content with staying within the confines of Moonspear's claim.

Even now, a part of him wished to retire and venture forth, but there was much to be done, much in the way of saving face and comforting the grieving. But he had pulled at the loose thread of their ornate tapestry and in a sense, he was now seeing what lied bare beneath, and what hands would sew it together again. Hydra would be instrumental in what would happen next, though he wondered how easily she would depart the company of her sisters.

Which left Nikai, who was useful enough in that regard.

"I suppose I should let you tend to Alya," he decided then, "though I do thank you for the story. Perhaps someday I'll tag along to see this stone circle of yours... provided your kin and kith would allow it." A gentle smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and for all the knavish things he could employ, it was genuine... and an excuse to venture out in the future, perhaps.

It was always tricky to walk the tightrope between too boring and too much. Nikai liked a spot of quiet himself; he preferred the peace. It was easy enough to find adventure yourself, a lot harder to fix things when you were over your head.

Nikai smiled as Dirge mentioned Easthollow once more. That would be nice, Nikai answered, glad that he was getting along well enough with this guy who was 'the other outsider' in the familial pack -- it wasn't the best of start he and Alya got here, returning at such an unfortunate time, but he felt that could turn it into something good, nonetheless.