warsbane does not stay in one place for long.
when the golden fields had grown monotonous, he headed on. his path was unclear, his destination unknown but that was, perhaps, what he likes best about it.
the uncertainty. the thrill of the adventure; that of which he hungrily sought.
when he reached the cradle of sawtooth spire, he explored the hidden jewel it coveted, the dewy grasses and towering trees nestled betwixt the spires. an oasis among the clouds. the stream of meltwater was fresh, chilled as he sates his thirst; salmon pink tongue running across his jowls, against his liver colored nose to collect stray droplets from his drink.
it is here, near the stream that warsbane chooses to rest; travel weary and blanketed in a false sense of security offered by the guarding spires.
Saturnine came to the basin with sore paws and a parched throat, black fur awry. She was skinnier than she'd ever been, having lost all the adult weight that'd just begun to fill out her lanky, yearling body. Gone was that budding solidity to her frame; when the wind battered her, she felt as if it might sweep her right off the mountainside.
It had been four months since she'd left home.
And yet...
And yet, there was something about the climb. Something invigorating. Something very like fear, if Saturnine were ever the type to admit she was afraid. Even to herself, however, she would lie about her state of mind. She was not afraid. She was excited.
And she was very excited when her eyes fell on the moving shape of another wolf. For a moment she tucked herself down deeper into the brush, instinctively shying from the much larger creature. Why, he could simply pick her up and toss her off the mountain, the way the wind had failed to these many months! But in the next moment she knew that he'd probably already seen her.
"I thought I'd finally be alone once I got to the top," she said, her voice scathing but her heart racing, jumping, and taking flight. Adrenaline surged through her, but she clung to her act of nonchalance and artful distaste.
eyes had just closed, chin resting against his paws as relaxation began to sink, into the muscles of his shoulders first and then gradually the rest of him would follow. the sound of footfalls! an eye peeks open, followed by the second, the rise of his head and then the push to his paws as her scathing retort bites across the air betwixt them.
an amused snort; that temptation to play with fire guiding him.
too bad,
he drawls; thinking that the territory was large enough she could easily go on her way and avoid him entirely. i'm sure your climb back down will be plenty isolating for you.
an invitation offered: to stay and suffer his companionship or leave.
though, in truth, warsbane held no desire to be territorial over a place he would leave in a few days or so. he was an explorer. seeker of adventure and hunter of lost secrets. at the moment, he had no desire to place roots in any one place in particular: claimed or not.
He was even larger when he stood, and another urgent rush flowed through her. She stiffened almost imperceptibly when her instincts urged her to bolt — but iron will and crippling pride held her in place. Saturnine maintained an air of cool indifference, her chin lifting as if she'd like to look down her nose at the man — but of course, now that he stood, she would have to look up. At least at this distance, he was not yet towering over her.
A tiny chill raced down her spine.
"Oh, please," she replied. "I suppose one cannot have everything she wants all the time." Wrong, she thought, I can. "And I'm mature enough to handle a little disappointment." Wrong again, but any disappointment she exuded — and it was a poor showing; almost none at all — was entirely manufactured. She was relieved beyond all reason to find herself in this stranger's company, and suddenly, painfully, desperately afraid that he would soon depart.
Green eyes were pulled away from the stranger by the same potent combination of will and pride that'd stayed her anxious paws before. Now she used it to puppet her adrenaline-filled body into a leisurely stroll.
"What is this place, anyway?" she asked as she looked around, unseeing; her attention was trained on the stranger in her periphery. "Do you live here?"
the stranger lets it be known she can handle disappointment and warsbane simply shrugs; not terribly influenced to feel one way or another by her accepting of his subtle invitation. for they were strangers, after all. his glacial gaze does not leave her, though he is tempted to peek around him at the spires rising towards the heavens once more.
he does not.
i dunno,
sighs warsbane. haven't been here long enough to know, and no. i hold no claim over this place.
Her confidence and frustration grew in equal measure as the conversation stagnated. The man pretended not to care whether or not she stayed — a clear slight against her! In his failure to kowtow, she read pointed slights against her appearance, comportment, and personality. And honestly, how dare?
Saturnine decided to give him another chance. One that surely had nothing to do with any desperation or desire on her part.
"Did you climb all this way just to look?" she asked, and she did not have to feign the curiosity in her voice.
She had decided he was not interested in hurting her. The way his eyes tracked her movements was something she was accustomed to, and so she felt free enough to turn her back and look around in earnest. It was a pretty place. Well-protected from both other wolves and the weather, she thought, and it appealed to something in her lizard brain. It was not, however, what she had come all this way to find.
not to look, per se,
warsbane corrects with a soft shake of his head. well, sort of, i guess. i came to explore.
he makes a grand gesture with his left paw; lowering it, perhaps a bit subconsciously, when the sunlight catches one of the numerous scars that notably littered his body. it's the allure of discovering. of learning secrets of the land.
he does not expect anyone to relate to or understand his desire to explore, to seek adventure when there probably wasn't any to be found.
very different than looking.
he adds, softly, perhaps in his own defense; despite that it is his own thoughts that are making him defensive.
what about you?
warsbane turns the question back to her quickly. why'd you come up here? just to be alone? it's a long way to travel for isolation.
The priestess had expected coaser language from the brute, and perhaps a rougher voice as well. Instead he spoke quietly, and in a way that she struggled to label as either gentle or subdued. It was some kind of tactic, obviously, and Saturnine was frustrated by her inability to determine just what emotions he wanted to manipulate out of her. It made it impossible to feel and act the opposite of how he wanted.
He was tricky, this man.
"A noble enough cause," she said with a little sniff that served to undermine the slight complimentary undertone of her words. It wouldn't do to approve too much, although her pace quickened at the ideals he described.
She was exploring, too. In a way. But really —
"I'm looking for something," she said loftily, casting a secretive smirk over her shoulder. This pose had been used to great effect in the past. She hoped he appreciated that she would use such a thing on him. "Something important. But, now that I see this place — I don't think it's here. Pretty as it may be."
she calls it noble, and he considers her for another moment, turning that word over his head. was it? noble? he isn't so sure that it was, especially as, for in this time and space, it was purely selfish. especially given his belief that he would not settle down enough to share this gathered knowledge with anyone: be it partner, traveling companion or leaders.
so, warsbane does not respond.
at least, not in regards to that.
despite himself, her secretive smile and words held much to be desired and piques the adventurer's attention. because of course it would! a curious tilt of his head is given, lips parting to speak only to catch them in the last seconds before he could let them spill out. at least, so freely!
damn it all!
what is it you search for?
he asks, the words tearing themselves from his throat; a ghosting step toward her taken. this ... important thing?
he make a mental note that she said 'thing' not 'someone', which seemed like an interesting word choice, in his opinion.
Another surge of relief made her feel temporarily boneless. Saturnine reapplied herself to exploration of her immediate surroundings, taking her time to answer now that she felt she had the attention from him that she was so obviously due.
She wasn't sure how much she wanted to reveal about her quest. All of it seemed like the most immediately gratifying option, but then there was always the chance that he might begin to search for it, too. Another fear was that he might find it terribly boring somehow, and he would cease this conversation at once, and she would be forced to find another way to keep his attention. She was too tired for this shit.
"An artifact," she said at last. "My mother hid it in the mountains. These ones, maybe. Maybe not. If I bring it to her, I will be rewarded."
She turned back toward the young man, eyeing him with renewed and unfeigned interest.
"It's in a hidden cave, on an altar," she told him. "You wouldn't happen to have explored any places like that, have you?"
an artifact, she tells him.
an artifact, he ponders. of what nature, his mind cannot help but wonder to next. he's intrigued. so very, very intrigued; her enigma and purpose beckoning him nearer.
and then there was her telling that her mother hid it, which lets warsbane know that he wasn't the only one with ancestral ties to these wilds. he knew so very little of his own father, wintersbane — but he holds no illusions that he knew what his own mother knew ( precious little ).
i see,
the adventurer drawls; feigning a lack of interest so she might not see just how interested he truly was. i have not,
he admits. i have not fully explored this spire yet. ...and there are so many places this cave of yours could be.
The two feigned lack of interest so hard that one might wonder why they were even conversing. Saturnine grasped desperately for ways to keep his attention and determined that discussing her quest was the only option available aside from throwing herself at him — and that would sort of ruin the image she was trying to create.
"I am told the cave sees the morning sun," she told him, gesturing toward the taiga. "And that you can stand at its mouth and look across at another great spire."
At this point, she wasn't expecting the scarred explorer to be of any use to her quest — but for Saturnine, personally, he just might be.
"I have further instruction — but you'll understand if I keep the specifics to myself," she told him, her tone still nonchalant. "I will set off again once I've had something to eat."
Could she somehow manipulate him into bringing her food? She hadn't the energy to hunt something down herself, right then.
alas, warsbane is no real use to her, even as she offers more details to the enigmatic quest her mother has sent her on. or perhaps, warsbane amends to himself, she chose to go on for her mother. that could be any spire in these wilds,
warsbane offers, rather unhelpfully. but i believe you to be right: it is not this one.
specifically. but it might still be the mountain range that it inhabited.
the quest is yours, of course. so, too should be the reward.
a wry shrug is given. though i find it terribly fascinating, i have no interest in stealing your fortune and glory, i assure you.
and that wasn't even to mention that he had his own mission. of sorts. blissfully unaware that the man he sought still remained but in a state that was little more than a grave.
as wit is something that warsbane does not lack, he offers, there are plenty of small game here.
as far as he's seen. rabbits, squirrels a plenty! birds, even. he harbors the suspicion that her speaking this out loud was full of intention; he rather enjoys the edging game of cat and mouse.
The imperious girl stared a moment longer, weighing his words with care. It did not seem like an offer to go and hunt for her — and, indeed, he did not scurry off to do her bidding, even given ample pause.
"Then I shall go and hunt them," she said with a little toss of her head, turning on her heel and stalking away. She would not be returning to the man — and she would realize only later on, far from his presence, that she'd never gotten his name.