Wolf RPG

Crystalline shapes drift across the lake, collecting at the edges. A blustering wind pulled clouds closer overhead, while ruffling the surface of the water. The bits of ice, caught by the momentum, clattered together like teeth. At times the larger pieces would collide and the crack would echo, mirrored by the surface of the water. The wolf was drawn from the south by these sounds; around the glen, towards the irregular topography of the caldera, only to be stopped short by this lake. It was as good a place as any to lay low for a while - to rest, to eat. To the northwest he could spy the all too familiar shape of his father's mountain (and still, it took effort to mentally correct that; his sister's mountain. Charon was long dead by now-) but rather than plunge through the blackness of a cloudy evening, Revui chose to scour the twisting paths alongside the lake. In the morning he would hunt, and be on his way again.

Daylight was waning. The Wilds were blanketed in an eery evening darkness, broken only by the distant twinkling of stars. Earlier in the day, Ying said goodbye to Moonspear and decided to continue heading south. She offered @Riluo the option of returning home alone, assuring the girl that if she tagged along, it would not be for only a short journey.

There was a large lake which broke the huntress's path. She settled into a divot beside it's edge and stepped onto the thick layer of ice, careful to remain on only the opaque border. Any company had gone unnoticed.

The lake's edge was swampy in places; an abundance of now-melting snow fed back in to it, turning the clay bank in to a small mire. It didn't bother him at all as he tread through it. The feeling of cold mud between his toes wasn't the best thing ever, but it didn't hurt him at all. The grizzled white-grey of his limbs turned a cold brown as a result. Nothing here though but algae and ice; a pity, he would have liked to find something terrestrial to eat.

Revui chuffs softly to himself, snorting air out of his nose to clear his sinuses and all the scents he had been trailing after. He took a fresh breath and detected something vaguely familiar - perhaps a fox, or some foreign wolf - and with his interest piqued he began to scour the shore for more proof of life. Had the woman been any other shade beyond snow white he would have noticed her sooner.

It was the scent of Moonspear that stopped him in his tracks, and as Revui wasn't sure how his re-appearance would be taken by his family, he was more than a little hesitant. He swung his head around as he peered through the boggy trees, the serration of his fur evidence enough that he was not one to be trifled with.

Her own hackles tipped in response, though she maintained her neutral posture. It had been his soft chuff which had caught her attention, a barely audible sound in the relative quiet of winter. Ying took another few steps along the trail of thick ice and watched him, wondering what he might do next. She barked to get his attention, as though she hadn't already caught it, and awaited his reply.

A bark scythed through the dark, earning a wide-eyed stare from Revui. He stalked closer to where it originated and as he passed between the trees, he saw the pale woman; her dark-tipped shoulders spiked in the same agitated manner of his own coat. As he drifted closer he grew stiffer in his movements, stopping when there was an appropriate distance between them.

In that time he sized her up: healthy enough from what he could tell, pale, rugged and a touch on the masculine side. He was reminded of his dark sisters - and adding to that the aroma of Moonspear that lightly draped the woman like a feather boa, his immediate thought was of the failed and excommunicated sibling, Korei Julia. Except this woman looked to be a tad more physically fit.

He did not attack, but he did not remove himself from her presence either. Curiosity held Revui firmly in place. Eventually he did clear the air with a rumbling in his throat (preparing to speak) and said, Moonspear? As if the questioning intonation of his brooding voice was enough of a conversation starter.

No. The answer was plain and straight-forward. Hydra had mentioned to be wary of stranger, so she didn't want to give too much information. I am a friend, Ying called. She didn't smell Moonspear on his pelt, but he obviously knew of their existence. Taking a step closer, she asked, Moonspear? repeating his own one-worded interrogation. Her tail began a friendly sway behind her, albeit slow and somewhat timid. She was growing confident that he wasn't an enemy (he would have already attacked, right?) but didn't want to relax until being sure.

No— So not Korei Julia. That was good. He would not have been able to help himself had this been his intrepid sibling; surely Hydra, as his idol, would be impressed if Revui had dispatched her and returned to the mountain carrying her head. That thought entered and exited his mind in a flash once the woman was speaking. Just a stranger — a friend of the mountain. Those were rare, but if the claim was true then that meant this woman knew Hydra.

Home, once. He answers obliquely. Conversation is not one of his strong points. While Revui is naturally reticent when communing with others, he chooses to elucidate this time. Hydra is my sister. I am Revui. His posture remains solid, but the agitation ebbs from him. He is confident enough in himself not to be afraid of a lone woman in the dark.

Oh, Hydra's sibling? Her posture softened visibly and a smirk teased at the corner of her mouth. Revui, she repeated, I am Ying. Their most recent conversation hadn't touched on the specifics of either wolf's family. She couldn't know for sure if Rev was telling the truth, but decided that lying wouldn't have made any sense. 

The ice was beginning to give. A distant snap reminded her of where she stood, so Ying quickly stepped back up onto land. Here, she properly appraised the brute, appreciating the signs of wear on his coat. Hydra is my friend. I am leaving Moonspear from a visit. She would stop there once more before turning to head back toward the coast.

He listened, but was more interested in the way she moved as she evaded the snapping ice. She came up the bank to stride in front of him, cutting across his path; he held himself back for a moment in appraisal of her, and then drew up alongside her. Being a friend of Hydra made her all the more appealing to him - if his sister deigned her worthy to associate with, Revui trusted that. As he walked beside the woman he noted how fluidly she moved, and collected breaths of her scent, studying every bit of her that he could.

Not knowing how to continue the conversation, it stalled. The silence was comfortable for Revui but maybe not for Ying. The boy failed to notice the accent she carried, or the stilted manner of her speech - he was hardly observant of these kinds of details, especially since words were fallible things he often chose not to employ.

Eventually he did speak again, though. As they moved together around the lakefront, he murmurs: She is well? My sister. He had not been home in a very long time, and in fact... Believed he was not welcome, to a degree.

Revui's voice was uncomfortably low and overwhelming. His presence was overbearing, similar to his sister's. Ying silently wondered if this was a common trait among family members. Her gaze wandered aimlessly over the lake while she listened to him speak. Hydra is good, she replied. Ying was somewhat afraid to offer him too much, but simultaneously wished to give him answers. Assuming that Revui was being honest about their relation, she thought that it was best to remain on his good side.

Her answer was quick and to-the-point, which he appreciated. He did not need much.

Good. He parrots back, pleased enough. He thinks about asking about Arcturus too, of course - they were brothers, and they had always shared a deep bond, although the foundations of that bond had been shaken since the death of their parents. He chose to fall back in to comfortable silence as he marched alongside Ying. Maybe if he made it back to the mountain he could confront his brother himself.

They roamed together for a bit longer; Revui turning towards the north, and whether Ying followed him or not, he had the inclination to leave the lake behind and try for a better view of the mountain. Although he needed sleep (and the night was thick with darkness, clouded over stars holding back their light) the thought of seeing his family had sparked something in him.

It was almost like he forgot that Ying was there. But then he looked around, spotted the ghostly woman again, and realized how odd he must seem to her. She was probably like all the other creatures of the valley: interested in stories, in talking, in all the aspects of conversation he was so maladjusted to. He offered (a potentially unnecessary) olive branch by saying: Where are you from?

He even sounded like he cared a little.

She followed dutifully after Revui and hummed a quiet hymn. It was just loud enough to break the silence, though Ying tried to keep her voice low enough to go unheard. Huh? she asked, hearing him speak again, Oh, I am from the coast. Their little island didn't feel like home, despite her efforts to make it more comfortable. She remained hopeful that this would change with time.

The snow chilled her bony hindlegs as she settled onto her hindquarters. Ying lounged on her side, using her elbow and shoulder as a rock to lean against. Her tail beat lazily against the blanket as she searched her mind for something to say. Do you know it? The coast?

Her answer was intriguing. He had not seen the coast of this place, but he had seen the ocean - a glimpse of it through impassible mountains, and from a great distance. It had appeared like a great mirage of blue bleeding in to the sky, holding little interest at the time. Curious that someone would choose a place like that as home; had he known what was going through Ying's mind, he might have changed his opinion.

The sea, he confirms with a little dip of his chin. Big, blue, cold. It did not appeal to him in the slightest, but he had no such relationship with the sea - unlike Ying and her sisters - and he was more in favor of the mountains, as that was all he knew. How limited Revui must sound to her! How slow, and dull! He usually did not care how others saw him, but strangely - perhaps because they were alone together and he had not been around other wolves for a few days now - he wanted this encounter to be different.

But you came inland to visit Hydra. He reiterated, rhetorically. I assume... To appease her. She is Queen of the Wilds. It was here that he noticed Ying had stopped, propped herself against the earth. Revui had continued to stride along until then, and doubled back when he realized he was talking to air.

Unlike her sisters, Ying didn't think that there was anything special about the ocean. It was as Revui had said — big, blue, cold — and moreover, fatally unforgiving. She was thick with muscle, much too large to enjoy most of the leisure activities it offered. Even fishing was difficult! The water would always hold a special place in her heart, but Ying preferred the inland bodies. 

Visiting Hydra had been her purpose, yes, but not for the reason Revui assumed. She shook her head and laughed as he turned back. We talk about offers. Bus-i-ness. Two women with a common purpose, peers to some extent; she had not come to submit as a subordinate, so long as things remained as they were. I am making a force of fighters. That's what it'd been called, right?

Her laughter boomed forth, filling the nightscape. Yet another surprise from the woman. He had deemed her as worthy because of her interactions with his sister, and she was clearly fit, being larger than the average and well conformed; most likely a warrior like himself. But to hear her laughter, which itself was alien to Revui (had he ever, in his life, let himself laugh?) he wasn't sure how to take the reaction. He liked the sound but could not fathom the purpose for such a thing. The boy, in short, was a dumbass.

And when Ying mentioned that she wished to build a fighting force, that really caught Revui's attention. His ears pivoted, and he looked intently upon her smiling face as he came to halt near where she had sunken herself against the dirt. Hydra must have been quite impressed with this woman if they were discussing such a thing. I am a fighter, he mentions. A warrior.

Would that appeal to her? More importantly - did he want it to?

Revui's admission came as no surprise. He had the clear physique of a warrior, and the scars to prove his experience. She tilted her head and did a quick once-over, examining the parts of him which she could see. You want to help us? Ying asked. Why else would he have mentioned it? 

She waited patiently for his response. Having their first soldier would at weight to Hydra's proposition, especially if he planned to rejoin his siblings at Moonspear. Setting a territory intermediate to their two homes would be more logical...but that hinged on his level of interest.

Something weighs on his mind. He is quiet, apparently distracted by something - and looks away from her, to the trees around them. Perhaps he heard something or smelled something of note? But he does not explain himself. He appears to be deep in thought and that doesn't suit him at all.

He could help her. If this force were to benefit Moonspear, he could win the favor of his family back. Yes, he drawls.

Almost as an afterthought - If Hydra approves.

Hydra's approval depended on Ying's consent and after compiling these conversations, it seemed likely to be given. She wanted to talk to the twins, but thought that she did not need their permission. This was something that she was planning for the entire family's benefit. 

Ying offered an understanding nod. Okay. She stood and prepared to turn, having assumed that there was nothing more to be discussed. I come to Moonspear again soon. Maybe I will see you there. Rather than waiting for a response, the guardian turned and began to make her way back to the lake.

They had a tentative agreement; she got up and began to mosey back towards the lake, and he stood motionless, a bit stunned by the exchange - though he should not be. She would come back to Moonspear eventually and by then, maybe Revui would have built up the courage to face Hydra properly. Time would tell.

Revui watched her go. When she had faded in to the night, he turned and began to prowl among the trees again.