Wolf RPG

Night was falling in the cusp of dusk as the descending sun painted the sky in crimsons, pinks, oranges, golds, and purples, each color gradually being swallowed by the velveteen darkness. It had been evening when he had stumbled upon this pack of wolves that called themselves, in almost an ironically grim manner, Ouroboros Spine. Stranger still, Ignatius had been accepted into their fold. The conifer forest, likely as ancient as it looked, stretched out before him, and further still the rise of the circular mountains that likely gave them it's name spine. Ignatius didn't know for sure, and supposed it was a question for another time. Ignatius enjoyed the night time, not strickly nocturnal though it was his favorite time if because his swarthy black coat aided in camouflage that he wasn't able to pull off during the daylight hours. Though the ache of missing was present, especially so with the knowledge that he was now apart of these Spine wolves, that he had sworn an oath that cut his loyalties from Riverbend Forest for likely good, Ignatius couldn't help but feeling relieved that he was free from his siblings. The twins' near constant presence was gone, cut like a rope no longer needing to be tethered. Banshee and Ripper were now left to Calamity, Savage, and Rebel to care and take responsibility for. The relief within him was evident, the certain freedoms of having to care for only himself was an subtle addiction yet, the silence in the chaos that was Nevermore DeMonte's spawns was deafening to Ignatius whom had been putting up with the Chaos for quite some time.

A deep breath was taken, drawing in the crisp, cool autumn air as he glimpsed skyward knowing that his siblings would be okay without him. Savage and even Nevermore himself had spent time here in these Teekon Wilds, briefly, but neither had been able to stay. Ignatius was determined to be the first. Whether he was the last was up to his remaining siblings. Only time would tell if the eldest DeMonte spawn had what his own father and littermate did not.

As the days turned shorter and shorter, Mordecai felt the urgency to push himself more. The Spine had continued to hang on if only by a thread, and he made it a sharp point to try and retain all that they were gathering. If he had to guess, he believed winter was only a few weeks away, lingering to the north of them like a sinister predator waiting for the right moment to strike. Whether or not it would tear them all asunder and plunge them below to dire depths he did not want to explore was beyond him. It was likely, and it had always been likely.

Making his rounds through the territory, he had picked up on the scent of one of their newer recruits. One that he hoped would last. The sun was setting, leaving the basin-like terrain of the Spine plunged into early darkness; the sky above retained an almost eerie, lengthy twilight in turn. It was that twilight that aided Mordecai in finding Ignatius, though the taller canine stood out against the darkening surroundings well. The tawny Ostrega chuffed at him lightly, closing in the distance between them from behind at an increasingly leisure pace.

“How are you settling?” Mordecai found the words were quiet and soft, a turn from how he had felt in days past. It cost far too much energy to be upset and angry with things, and he was discovering this the hard way. The upheavals in their past were things that he wanted to keep directly in the past, and that meant clutching a much different view than the pessimism that had blanketed him for weeks upon weeks.

Ignatius had not been sure how long he'd been standing there, staring at the stars, likely giving the impression that he was stargazing though he had no knowledge of how one “read” the stars. Instead, he was lost in his thoughts about his siblings and the reluctantly untempered concern for them. Their ideals of family love likely didn't fall along the lines of what normal wolves were accustomed too given Nevermore's general dislike of children if his horrendous naming skills was of any indication of how he had no idea how to treat them. Fallout was his own given name though Adyssa had affectionately called him Ignatius to balance out her mate's obsession with horror, monsters and carnage. At the decree of their mother they all bore less macabre names though some went by the ones bestowed to them by Nevermore. Ignatius with his own striking resemblance to Nevermore and thus, half of the DeMontes out in the world it wasn't hard for Ignatius to imagine that he was born out of some Grimm brother's fairy-tale. Perhaps it would have been much more interesting than the dullness that was his actual life.

It was only when a soft chuff broke through the stillness of the invading night, accompanied by the sound of heavy footfalls against the freezing earth, strewn with the litter of dead leaves did Ignatius pull himself from his wandering thoughts and turned his body to face the pack mate that was drawing closer. Mahogany red eyes fell upon the silhouette first of the tawny male, recognizing him as one of his Alphas. Ignatius lowered himself into submission before he rose back up out of it with a slight stretch. “Well enough,” He was still extremely knew and so everything about the Spine was foreign to him. Likely, it would take a couple of days, maybe a week to fully integrate himself into their workings.

The deference he received appeased him, but not in the sense of a power hungry creature. He found it humbling, as though there were really something about him that exuded that response. But when it really boiled down to it, he did not expect any of their newer recruiters to challenge his authority. If anything, he expected it from Kaname and Cara, perhaps even Sitri in time. Whether or not they did it openly in front of their small clutch of subordinates was yet to be told, but he hoped not. While there was some tension left to linger in the ever-chilling Spine, it was not something that Mordecai wanted to place over any of those who had joined their ranks. If anything, he sought to put it behind him in the way someone swept something underneath a rug — out of sight, out of mind.

But it was never really out of mind, not truly.

“I'm glad to hear that, though I suppose you haven't really had much time to decide fully.” An amused huff left him and in its place came a slow smile. “It's getting pretty chilly out tonight, though. I hope I didn't interrupt your thoughts.” As if to punctuate his feelings about how cold the night was turning, Mordecai felt the prickle of wind at his haunches. Winter was not far off now, though he wondered when they were really see the first batch of snow to hit the ground. The leaves came off from the branches much more easily than they had and in a way, he found he disliked that their autumn felt so short. And then he reasoned it was because he hadn't had the time to properly survey it as he would have another time; the marred history of the last few weeks lingered deeply in the wood.

The two chatted for a time before Mordecai bade Ignatius farewell.