It was the middle of the night. Hototo’s cream and earth toned fur was matted and very unkempt as he trudged forward in the snow. He had been running away from his “family” for the past couple of days, barely taking a couple of hours a night sleeping to make sure that no one was following him. Completely lost, the only guide that he had was the river. He had thought that where there was water, there would be wolves, but he hadn’t seen, smelled or heard anything during his travels in the wilderness.
Hototo’s stomach growled. He had been told by his mother and father before that this was one of the worst winters they had ever seen. They barely managed to find any prey, and they had a full pack with dedicated hunters with them. He found some grass along the bank of the river and decided to pluck it out of the ground and eat it to satiate his hunger.
“I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be able to survive on my own.” Hototo thought to himself.
A twig snapped. Hototo jumped, swiveling in the air and landed face forward toward the noise.
“Who’s out there?!” Hototo yelled out, baring his wickedly sharp teeth.
“I promise I will not harm you if you mean well!”
the night was when she felt most comfortable. there was the budding sensation of a stronger connection with dutch too, with how often the pair bundled together in the hollows of the glacier; but this was the time when sulukinak could move freely, to stalk, to hunt, to learn to be self-sufficient while the world slept.
she had found a foreign scent upon their soil and the xenophobia which her mother had forced in to her, a subtle corruption, manifested as she tracked them. it felt good to move without being seen. to test herself against the paths of moonsong in the dark.
the woman was so focused, and so accustomed to being silent as she lurked, the crack of a twig resounded in her ears and broke her concentration in such a volatile way that she puffed, cat-like and with tail up, before she realized she had done it herself.
the stranger called. sulukinak would take her time deciding her next move, but like most of her behaviors, this would be silent; only those bright eyes were visible against the haze of starlight, while the rest of her was void.
Turning to the direction that the sound came from, Hototo saw two copper colored eyes glittering like dark rubies in the darkness. The wolf stepped out from the shadows, their black fur turning silver when they went into the moonlight. He could smell that she was a female - about a year and a half old.
Noticing her body language, he could sense that she meant no harm, although it was a little odd that she didn’t say anything when he had first called out to her. In a southern accent that sounded almost like that of a cowboy, Hototo asked, “I’m sorry. Excuse my manners. The name’s Hototo. What’s your name?”.
this was a stranger, but it was a man, and so sulukinak was less bothered. many of the other strangers had been women - maybe they had heard dutch sing of the village, and were lured.
this one had a strong voice. it was somehow warm and inviting, and reminded sulukinak of her man. she appraised him, a hint of a smile twisting the corners of her mouth.
i am sulukinak.
her name would be hard for him, she thought. his own was amusing, like the call of a bird. ho-to-toh. maybe a laughing one.
this is village morningsong.
pride laced her voice as she motioned to the paths up and away, where behind her loomed the distant glacier.
Hototo tried his best to pronounce Sulukinak's name. "Well howdy Sul...Suluk...Mind if I just call you Sulu?" Hototo said, feeling embarrassed.
Hototo looked over to where Sulukinak had pointed, amazed at the beautiful glacier in the forest. The moonlight lit up the glacier like a behemoth sized dim lightbulb. The ice reflected the light in every direction. "Well I'll be...This place is prettier than a rose on a warm spring day!" He said, mouth agape from astonishment.
A large audible growl came from Hototo's stomach. He remembered why he was here in the first place and that he hadn't eaten anything for the past week. Trying to be as kind and considerate as he could, Hototo asked Sulukinak "Pardon me mam, but do you think that you could spare a light meal? I haven't eaten anything for quite a while and it would be very much appreciated. I promise that it'll be just a quick lil visit and I'll be on my way."
had he not seen ice like this before? sulukinak felt suddenly very proud of herself, having been raised in a place that was all ice for most of the year, or the very cold and the very dark water of the sea. the way he spoke was curious to her; her ears twisted with every syllable, and she wondered what a rose was.
then, his belly groaned. the man went on to ask about food and — sulukinak was immediately put-off by the request. she was reminded of the hungry men her mother had entertained; the memory of this served to prickle at the back of her neck, and she became stiff-legged as she pulled away from him.
a frown laced her features. she glared at the man for a moment, then turned her nose up at him and sang for
@Dutch — telling him,
come, a man is here. she was careful, though. she did not leave him alone.
the cooling of her attitude was one thing, but the ice in her voice that came next was altogether something else.
my man will decide. he is chief.
and maybe this stranger would stay, or maybe he would be chased off. sulukinak did not know which she would prefer, yet.
It had been strange, having Aditya around. Dutch's days still looked much the same, but now there was a good chance he'd see his father as he patrolled, or as he and Fallen Sun hunted the mountainside. He still bedded down with Sulukinak at night, and there was no special father-son bonding time, thus far — but he was there, and that meant much to the village chief.
While he waited for Tulugak to return, it gave him a much-needed sense of safety. He still felt the brunt of responsibility for these wolves on his own shoulders, but he was at least no longer the oldest and wisest wolf around.
So his steps were lighter as he came to Sulukinak's call. This was good, since the coolness of her voice had him hurrying along. He was not far, thankfully, and came upon them soon after the call. His eyes raked over the strange, softening slightly at the unkempt state of him. He waited for the other man to speak, but one ear remained cupped toward Sulukinak.
Surprised and nervous that Sulukinak didn’t answer Hototo but rather made a calling howl for the pack leader, he unconsciously stepped back, unsure if this meant that he was going to be killed for trespassing into their territory. If there was a moment to run away from this, now would be the time. “No,” He thought, “I won’t last another week if I keep going. Time to be brave now, Hototo!”.
He was sitting down on his haunches when the leader came over. Unlike Sulukinak who was poised and elegant, this wolf seemed dark and mysterious. Power and authority exhumed from his amber eyes, his tawny fur wisping in the wind. Making an introduction of himself, Hototo said “Hey there! Names Hototo. I mean no harm, I’ve been traveling for about a week and haven’t had a chance to eat or sleep. Is there any way that could be so kind and offer even a measly scrap of game?”. His thick southern accent radiated hospitality.
thankful to have dutch, sulukinak wanted to use him as a bulwark between herself and this stranger, but she caught the look that dutch passed around and figured he needed an explanation.
the stranger gave his name again. this time sulukinak did not find the melodic quality of that name appealing, as her opinion was now guarded.
she did reach for dutch and lowly say to him, he is hungry.
and with this new cold-shoulder treatment, she pulled away from both of them and settled at a distance to watch.
The longer he looked at the man, the more torn he felt. As Sulukinak had in her meeting with Nephele, Dutch found himself feeling prickly over competition arriving on his doorstep. Beneath the mess, Hototo was a good-looking man in his prime. But it was the mess that tugged at his heartstrings; he couldn't stand to send someone away looking so ragged and worn —
"We have all been hungry in our lives," he said, almost to himself. And then, to Hototo: "I am inclined to feed those that need feeding. Yet I must ask first — what is it you run from? That you could not stop to hunt?"
He took a step closer, his nose twitching in his investigation. There was kindness in his features, but his lanternlit gaze burned as he searched Hototo's eyes.
"Are you a danger to us, Hototo?"
Hototo let this new wolf smell and investigated him. Should he just lie to them and say that there was nothing to be worried about? No, he was in a dire situation, one where this pack could easily hurt him. If he wanted to live, he had to tell the truth.
Showing submission by not keeping eye contact with the leader, Hototo said, “No, you are not in danger. I was running away from my own pack. I disobeyed one of their orders, and cause of that, they were going to kill me. Before they did, I ran away. They are truly an awful and bloodthirsty group of people. I know this looks worse than one of my Aunt’s big ol’ warts on her muzzle, but I can promise you that no one is following me.”
Unwilling to say what order he was disobeying, Hototo stepped up closer to the leader, keeping his head low. “If you have any scouts, you could send them out, but I can assure you, they don’t care where I’m at and would have lost my scent a while ago in the storm.”
The panther had been raised mainly by a single mother, who he had defied time and again as a child and young adult. He supposed he'd defied her with every bounty he took — she'd never liked him putting himself at risk for such things. So he was not inclined to think much of a pack's decision to kill for insubordination. But he had to wonder just what sort of defiance had brought all this on.
"My mother taught me this;" he said to the man, his tone even:
"That we feed those that need feeding, save those that need saving, and kill those that need killing. I will find out what you need."
He lowered himself to Hototo's level, trying to force eye contact only so that he could see what flickers of emotion might show on the man's face.
"So if you think the answers to my questions will put you in danger, you should run — and I will let you go in peace. But if all you need is to be fed, or if you think you need to be saved, tell me this: what order did you defy? And tell the truth — I will know if you do not."
edit to say I am skipping Sulu with talamasca's permission
Hototo wasn’t scared of the leader. He had been in many situations where his life was on the line by other threatening wolves. Understanding the situation that he was now in, Hototo stared daggers into the eyes of the other wolf. “My mother taught me that we shouldn’t be afraid of anything, especially if it's something that you don’t understand or don’t know. But since it looks like I don’t have a choice, I’ll tell you.”
A look of apprehension flashed across Hototo’s face as he told what happened. “About a year ago, I was on a hunt. I happened to run into a female wolf from a different pack. Her name was Raika. I was struggling to get some game at the time, and she helped me get some meat for both of our packs. We met several times after that, and I grew to love her more and more. Both Raika and I were supposed to be mates with one of our own packmates, so we had to keep this a secret from everyone that we knew.”
Hototo slightly shifted, revealing his discomfort on this topic.“About two weeks ago, we had both pledged to become mates and decided that we were going to tell our families. I told my father, and he said that he wanted to meet the other pack. I agreed, and my pack went to see Raika and her pack. I thought that he wanted to see what the other pack was like and to see if Raika was a suitable mate. Instead, when we met her, my father told me and the rest of the pack to kill everyone there. It turned out that Raika’s father had killed one of my uncles and became rivals of our pack. I tried to stop them, but failed. My father looked at me with harsh eyes and said that I didn’t kill Raika, he would disown me and make sure that I would never love anyone again. I said no, and he killed Raika right then and there. I was scared and heartbroken so I made the cowardly decision to run away after that.” Pausing for a second to cool down his emotions, he continued. “Do what you want with me, I don’t care. But if you have any sort of decency, I would be eternally grateful for your help.”
Through it all, the chief reminded himself continually that it could all very well be a lie. If it was, it was an artless one. Pointless. And Dutch believed by the way he spoke Raika's name that he'd been in love — that he was in love with her.
He weighed this belief against the possible dangers posed to his pack — to the shadow girl stood not far behind him.
"I will not apologize for being harsh to protect my family," he said at last, "But I am sorry for your loss, and for the way that your father betrayed you."
He looked to Sulukinak, dipping his head to thank her for confronting the stranger.
"Come and eat," he said to Hototo. "I only ask that when you have rested, you begin helping us stock up on meat once more.
Hototo bowed his head in gratitude, relaxing a bit now that he knew that he wasn't going to get attacked here. "Thank you. I understand that family is valuable and important to most."
Even though it had been a couple of weeks since he was disowned, Hototo's heart was still saddened. He was truly alone, even when there were kind and decent wolves helping him. There was a hole in his soul where his old pack was. Would he ever truly find a home for himself?
Panting to de-stress the situation even more, Hototo turned to the rest of the group, a smile forming on his muzzle. "You want me to help you out with the hunt? That is the smartest decision that you could ever make!" He stood tall and proud, making known how good of a hunter he was. "Let's eat!"
"It is important even here," Dutch replied without reproof. A betrayal like the one that Hototo described was more than enough to break those ties, in the chief's opinion.
He lead Hototo to their common place, his gait just a little stiff-legged. He read overconfidence in the other man's posture, and something that bordered on disrespect. Another time, he might have showed his teeth about such a thing, but he thought Hototo had gone through quite enough for the time being.
"You will rest near our common place once you've filled your belly," he said while they walked. "You make take two more meals before I will expect you to contribute. Find me or our sunset man. He does not speak, but he will hunt with you. If you can save the pelt, you may bring it to Eira, who has taken charge of preserving them. You might also seek out our doctor, Leith — a fair hunter himself."
He chatted a little more, naming the "shadow girl" that had first met him Sulukinak, and a third woman — a newcomer — Nephele. "She seeks a man," he said of her, his tone and phrasing, perhaps, a little ambiguous. "There is also Aditya, my father. He is a kind man. And there is Simbelmyne, a great beauty from far-off lands. She is entertaining suitors. You may seek to win her love yourself, of course — but if you do not, please spread word of her if you meet any good men."
Finally, they were in the heart of the village, the "common place". There were bones from many kills, and a half-frozen section of a half-eaten deer.
"There will be fresh meat later on," he said to Hototo. "For now, you are welcome to eat your fill of this."
Listening to Dutch, Hototo felt astonished at the organization that he kept his pack and the way that he seemed to know everyone. Of course, Dutch was the pack leader, so it did make sense, but looking at previous pack he could obviously see the differences. Hototo's father could hardly keep track of his own children nonetheless the entire pack, and they barely had enough food for this season.
As Dutch was explaining to him about how Hototo would need to hunt to contribute to the pack, his tail started wagging, excited to be able to help out. "Once again, thank you. I was the best hunter in my old pack, so I will make sure that everyone here is well fed. I could sniff out a white vole blind and with my nose covered in a snowstorm!" He said.
He was listening to Dutch chatter about the other members of the pack, when he got distracted by the smell of the deer carcass. He looked over to dead animal hungrily, and subconsciously started to drool. He tried to keep up his manners as much as he could, only walking over and taking a sniff of the meat before he took a bite. As he went on though, he became more and more ravenous, to the point that you could hear him growl as he ripped and tore off a chunk of meat.
Now satisfied, he looked back over to Dutch. He showed his gratitude towards him by saying "You saved my life. Your kindness will not go unnoticed." Admiring the place he was in now he asked Dutch "I'm going to rest now. Is there a spot that you would like for me to make a den?"
Listening to Hototo, Dutch could not help but think of what Nephele had said about her homeland. After hearing what had chased the other man all this way, he had to wonder if this was what the son of a king looked like. Perhaps he would be what she was looking for.
"I'll believe it when I see it," he said wryly, but in a way that invited Hototo to prove him wrong, if he was up to the task. Dutch was no stranger to tall talk like this, and he didn't doubt the stranger had skill enough to back it up.
But in a snowstorm?
He hoped they would not have the opportunity to test that out, this year.
Hototo's appetite was befitting of a male his size. Dutch left him alone for the time being, lying to the side with a bone to chew on. He was content to linger in the area indefinitely, and when asked a question, he slanted a glance in Hototo's direction before dropping the bone and licking his chops to clean them of saliva.
"Within shouting distance," he said with a beat of his tail. "There are caves further up the hillside — but the forest floor might be warmer, until we can gather enough pelts to line the stone."