Wolf RPG

The glacier was quiet. It came as a surprise to Capricorn, who had assumed from its majesty and the beauty at its helm that this pack would be full of talented individuals. Surprisingly, days passed where Capricorn patrolled the glacier's perimeter without encountering a soul, and on those days he retired to bed with a vague awareness of his lonesomeness. He had no doubt the splendid glacier would prove a worthy home to him, but Capricorn was a liar if ever he said he didn't wonder at their solitary collective nature.

He was padding around the lower edge of the glacier's western side. Even from this short height, the squat male could see the glint of cold, weak sunlight off the distant edge of the ocean. Somewhere down there was a collection of steep clifs, easily discernible as a sharp break in the landscape. He resolved to go there someday and check them out but presently resumed his patrol. He squatted to squirt urine at the base of a tree—he was not yet confident enough in his place in the pack to lift his legs and bait those who disagreed with the dominance it conveyed, although nobody was around to see if he did. Capricorn was all about proper behaviour, after all.

Malachi pulled his way through the forest on heavy paws. His body buzzed with exhaustion of another restless night. Though nearly half a moon had passed, the pack still functioned under the oppression wrought by the lynx attack, and Malachi was no exception. Larus and Njal remained on the forefront of his mind, and though he felt the stress to put more of his efforts toward winter preparation, he continued to make the search for their missing family his sole priority, as he knew many of his packmates were similarly doing.

So when the scent of another reached his nose, Malachi planned to turn the other way. Though he rarely shied from conversation, he found his current dishevelment put him in no mood to talk. But as he turned, he passed his gaze over the place from where the scent had come and found his eyes linger on a small shape squatting just beyond the trees. He blinked, a blank stare on his face, and forced his eyes to focus harder. But the tiny wolf remained tiny, and a small frown stole across his mouth. So he was hallucinating now. He really needed to catch up on that sleep.

His marking complete, Capricorn straightened and began to kick dirt over the damp spot left on the ground. His curled tail waved comfortably over his back as he turned, ready to continue his patrol... and stopped when he noticed someone watching him from afar.

Capricorn took a couple slow steps in Malachi's direction, then a few more when he caught sight of the male's fur. Malachi's coat was more like a patchwork quilt than a random pattern, smattered with shades of brown and white in a most unusual manner. Capricorn vaguely remembered a wolf on Montem Aquilonem with similar colours, but the pattern on that wolf's coat had been less predictable than Malachi's.

Capricorn could only guess at the origin of the male's pattern, but he didn't ask. "Good afternoon," said Capricorn respectfully as he closed the distance between himself and Malachi. His ears fell back immediately in accordance with his rank, which he automatically acknowledged was beneath Malachi. In time Capricorn was likely to prove a wolf who deserved to be in the upper echelon; that time was not now, though. He knew where he stood.

Malachi closed his eyes and breathed a drawling breath. Surely the vision would disappear once he opened them again - but when he lifted his lids the small wolf remained, and moving toward him now at an even gait. The man's form remained as foreign as before. The youth took a step back and felt a hot wave of embarrassment burn the skin beneath his fur. The man was no hallucination, and it took Malachi his all not to let his own ears slick back with the dawn of his foolish mistake.

Malachi found himself caught off guard, and it took him a moment to register Capricorn's greeting. "Ah - afternoon." The youth paused to gather himself. He felt a sudden awareness of his unkept fur, but let the discomfort burn only within. The newcomer carried himself with an air of confidence and respect, and Malachi was keen to meet him with the same. "I've not seen you around before - I'm Malachi, by the way." He tacked his name as an afterthought, remembering how he'd nearly forgotten to give it to Tyrr. He felt his head tilt to the side, but forced his gaze from studying the man beyond the perimeters of his face.

He smiled evenly, his expression never once faltering as Malachi seemed to collect his thoughts. He'd always presented this same smile to the world when not in grim situations. Capricorn had experienced but two: the passing of an elder member of Montem Aquilonem's pack, and the time his mother was injured by an unruly elk. Meeting a pack mate didn't strike him as a grim occasion; on the contrary, he was pleased to be standing here.

That wasn't to say he didn't cotton on to Malachi's unease. He was far from the most perceptive wolf in the world, but he'd gotten enough strange looks lately to know bemusement when he saw it. Malachi was determinedly looking at his face... which could only mean he was determinedly not looking anywhere else.

Capricorn was certain to lower his gaze, in case anything was misconstrued. "I'm new," he said with a grin. "This glacier—and its lovely ruler—captivated me with just one look." He chuffed as though it was amusing, then said, "My name is Capricorn. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Malachi returned Capricorn's smile with a small one of his own. In the weight of his stress, the calmness of the man felt strange, but Malachi welcomed it nonetheless. His packmate's pleasant friendliness was refreshing, even if the man's high spirits felt far from what the youth felt himself.

To hear that Tuwawi had captivated the man brought further ease to the patchwork youth. He'd admittedly not seen much of the fire-kissed mother in recent days, but to hear she made such an impression on a new recruit made Malachi hopeful she still fought a winning battle against her grief. When his brother had died, his own mother had not had strength to do the same. "Tuwawi is a strong leader." He agreed, but felt a piercing guilt with his words. He made no move to acknowledge the Glacier, for if he was honest with himself, the mountain held little of the magic he'd felt it hold the night of their arrival here.

He gave Capricorn a polite dip of his head, and fixed his eyes back on the sable man's face after he raised his gaze again. "The pleasure's mine." A slew of curiosities brewed in his mind, unsurprisingly more for this wolf than many he'd met before. Yet Malachi had long learned to reserve his words and ask only as much as he would willingly answer himself, and in such a manner he chose to conduct himself now. "So what is it about the land that you find so captivating?"

What indeed, thought Capricorn. The man didn't think he had words sufficient to describe what captivated him so. Perhaps it was the trim line of Tuwawi's waist in his mind that made the glacier seem more radiant, or maybe he had indeed seen fire at its core in the brilliant sunset the day before he'd joined their ranks. Maybe it was a notion deep inside him that drew him to this place, something far more ancient and inexplicable than mere emotions. Maybe it was a possessive allure of some sort; Capricorn wouldn't deny he sometimes coveted things, albeit he was honourable about it if he did say so himself...

"I suppose I find it breathtaking," he said, settling on the least controversial of reasons he might find Duskfire Glacier to his liking. "My family lives upon a mountain, but never have I seen a mountain that burns with the sun. This glacier appeared aflame when I first set eyes on it." A soft smile stretched across his lips as he thought of it, almost like it was seductive in a way. "How could one not find majesty in that?"

He could certainly agree with Capricorn's sentiments, at least the ones the mottled man spoke aloud. It was perhaps a good thing the youth remained ignorant to Capricorn's true captivation with Tuwawi: Malachi saw the fire-kissed woman as more motherly than anything, and would have fallen dumbfounded at the other's confession of a... different sort of attraction. But as it stood, Malachi knew only that which Capricorn revealed, and the youth gave a small smile in agreement. "I can't argue with that. I helped the Sveijarns settle here, and I remember on the first night, the Glacier burned for us, too." He puffed out a gentle sigh as the memory passed and stopped his brows from furrowing. Though he'd since fallen out of love with the land, he still held the night of their arrival close. Perhaps he wished the future they'd hoped for when they had raised their voices for the first time together could still come to pass. Maybe he hoped in vain, but he found the thought better than giving up. "Is your homeland much different than this, then?"