As the snow fell, it seemed there was an increasingly busy sensation about the Spine. Mordecai took advantage of this with ease, tossing himself into the mix by keeping up in their usually quiet hold. On that particular day, he had been going over the caches as he came upon them, finding their numbers neat and tightly stowed away from other wandering predators. There were some out near the borders that had been ravaged, but he did not consider that a loss for them. Those were purposefully there for the sake of steering creatures clear of venturing deep into their home. But if they did, he had little concerns that the wolves of the Spine would dispatch and remove whatever instigator they found.
Moving along from another one, his attention on the caches lapsed as a solitary howl rose up from deeper in the territory. He caught the message loosely, recognizing Dijax's song, and then wondering what it was that they would converse about. He had not seen much of the Russian since his reluctance acceptance to stay with them, but he hoped for something good. Issuing a call of his own back through the wood, Mordecai set off in search of the other briskly.
The terrain spoke of history between them as he stumbled along the path beside the stream, weaving and bobbing through the dips and rises. Through the snow covered boughs, he slowly picked out the shape and structure of Dijax. His attention was only torn away once by something that smelled half-interesting, but Mordecai had to let go of the sight of the dead bird as he moved on. He would come back to it later, unless it ended up snatched up between now and then. A smile came easily to his face, just as the wave in his tail followed suit. He didn't query what it was that had summoned him, assuming that Dijax would be forthcoming past their initial greetings.
Nooo Dijax nooo. I likes him. :C
The foreign tongue rolled loose from Dijax, a language that intrigued Mordecai as much as the fellow himself did. But he knew that this was no ordinary social call. Calls from him often weren't, whether they came from the border or within the pack itself. Not to say that there hadn't been those times, but Mordecai would have admitted there was something in the air surrounding Dijax that spoke deep of changes to come.
The common tongue they all shared affirmed as much, shortly thereafter. Left with a sinking sensation within him that he could not have accurately put to words, Mordecai could only nod at first to the words that were offered to him. Was it really time for him to leave? Winter had only begun for them and though Dijax had certainly healed himself, it troubled Mordecai at the thought that they would lose someone from their ranks. Their numbers had held, thankfully, but he knew the coming days and weeks ahead would test all of their resolve, including and perhaps especially his own.
“So soon?” he prompted himself to speak, letting his features scrunch up concerned. But he was grateful that Dijax had at least called him, instead of flitting from the ranks like others tended to do.
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He'll be back![/size]
A look of concern crossed Mordecai's features. Winter had commenced, and it was the time he would need the arctic's help the most. Over the short period of time he had stayed in the Spine, however, Dijax observed their caches were almost full, and the pack was very well prepared for the three grim months of snow.
As Dijax stood there, his plans and ideas suddenly came flooding to him. Maybe he had prepared for this... subconsciously. In his dreams, in his nightmares, he had been planning.
He sighed sadly at Mordecai. He didn't want to leave the safety of the Wilds, either. Although Dijax did not feel guilty at the mere thought of leaving, he would if something happened to the pack during his absence. "I need to move South," he said. It was self-explanatory; he needed to find his pack mates. He needed to return where he had been running from.
In that case, I make happy sounds again! :D
Though he had known this day was coming, Mordecai had hoped it would have come at a later date. Of all things, the momentary pang of having to say goodbye to someone was not something he was unfamiliar with. He had been in Dijax's position before, though the circumstances and reasoning for moving on were far different. In that sense, he really could not have faulted the Russian for wanting to move on, and did not know him well enough to even attempt to persuade him otherwise. That opportunity, for whatever reason, felt squandered beneath all that had occurred since.
“I understand,” he said after a momentary pause.
“I can accompany you to the borders if you'd like.” It was a small gesture of goodwill in seeing him off, a last change opportunity to converse with someone he had not gotten to know as well as he felt he should have.
Joining Dijax as he made his way on, Mordecai inquired gently of where the fellow would go. He knew that the Russian was keen on returning to his home, which in a way may have been admirable. Mordecai had thought a time or two of trying to return to Sedona, curious of the changes that may have unfolded. Curious to find the answers to questions that from time to time burned at him from either end of a proverbial candle. But ultimately, they were answers to questions he did not want to ask, and finding his way back to his quaint startings was unlikely. It had been too long and time had begun to fade the better parts of the memories, parts of the paths he had taken to get to where he was now.
As they approached the borders of the Spine, the tawny alpha drew himself to a pause where they began to thin. It was there that he bade farewell to Dijax, offering him a bit of luck on the journey that lied ahead for him. Whether or not the fellow would find his way back home, Mordecai would never know. He watched the silvery form of the wolf disappear into the depths of the wilderness and lingered further, wondering what sensation followed him in his wake. It was a tempting fate, but one he was not ready to entertain on that particular day. Mordecai's time would come too. Turning back to the Spine, the Ostrega returned towards the heart of the territory, finding he wanted the time alone now and wishing to use it towards far more constructive things.