Wolf RPG

The pale female rushed over the border after having spend another afternoon with Raziel. Her plan was to travel from her den in the Emberwood to the Glacier that housed her pack but while crossing the meadow her plans changed. The silver wolf, Raziel, had been in the meadow too. Scarlett couldn't help but to fancy him. His bigger posture, the way he carried himself, the way he spoke and his beautiful appearance was the cause of her crushing. She was afraid that after their first meeting the connection and the curiosity towards one another would be lost. It wasn't. The female had once again learned more about the big male and his past. A dreamy sigh tumbled of her lips.

Scarlett slowed down from a trot into a walk. A safe feeling settled over her as she went deeper onto the pack's grounds. A slight hunger had settled into her. She might catch something along the way if she was lucky enough to find a prey animal up here. At least her clean coat would help her vanish against the white background. Raziel had helped to make her coat pure white again. The female had a secret smile on her face when she thought about his tongue grooming her. The only downside was that she smelled more of the male than her actual pack... His strong scent had embedded into her drying fur. Super secretly she liked the scent better than the pack's scent. The thought was only there for one second before she pushed it far away. She wasn't allowed to think like that. Ever.

Malachi picked his way through the shadowed woods as evening took hold of the land. His afternoon hunt had brought him little success, a thin hare he had spent too long chasing for such little reward. But the run had settled his mind, and his worries were stilled by the steady buzz of adrenaline that lingered in his veins. With the hare buried in a safe place, Malachi made his way deeper into pack grounds toward the clearing they'd entered their first night in the Glacier land. The space held strong memories, and though being ones that pained him, Malachi had come to find strength in remembering the life they'd planned to make here. More and more he trained his mind on making sure that future still came to be, in some distorted way or another.

But a movement of white through the spindling trees caught the boy's eye and he paused in his thoughts. He had not seen Scarlett since the day he'd taken her into the pack, and then he had walked away with an unsettled mind. Though uncertain she desired his presence now, Malachi refused to let his hesitance affect him. Swallowing what doubts he felt, the boy turned his path toward her, approaching with a slow trot and a gentle beckon from a far. "Evening, Scarlett."

Scarlett was sunken into her thoughts while navigating to the terrain that she was getting familiar with. The female told herself that she was allowed to be absent physically in a safe area. It wasn't difficult to let her mind run free with everything she was thinking about. The albino wasn't necessarily startled when she heard her alpha's voice, she was mere taken from her thoughts. She stopped walking to process his presence, it was almost like she was waking up from a dream. Her red eyes blinked. "Malachi, Sir," she spoke officially. Even though their differences on the day they met Scarlett's tail let out a friendly wag. The female wasn't the one to stay bitter. She was taught to always stay polite.

The albino stepped forward to greet her alpha, forgetting about the fact that she wasn't smelling like herself or the way she should have smelled. "A very good evening, isn't it?," the female spoke dreamily. She was a bit of a dreamer, living in her own fairytale world at times. Meeting a handsome male for the second time was mainly one of those fairytales that she wanted to be in. She was already picturing the next time she would unite with Raziel. She had the perfect idea what they could so the next time they would get together. Would it be a date? All those licks and cuddles.. Was he courting her? Oh she hoped so. She blinked awake once more. "Oh apologies. My mind has its own life sometimes," she spoke in a warm tone and a quick chuckle.

From her stalled reply, Malachi assumed he had caught the woman off-guard. But before he could worry he had frightened her again, Scarlett regained herself and at the easy sway of her tail, the boy let a smile twitch at the corners of his mouth. He couldn't tell whether he liked the title she placed at the end of his name or not. It gave him a sense of distance, fitting for some but not for him. Still he gave no objection, eager to spare the woman from any discomfort that may come with his refute.

The boy slowed when Scarlett took a step toward him and he allowed her to come the rest of the way. He thought he heard a strange current in her words, a starry-eyed reflection that felled her to silence. They stood there for a moment, a prickling hush settling over him as he lost the white woman to her own world. A peculiar scent lifted from Scarlett's fur holding an undertone familiar to the youth, and bemusement flashed through his pale blue eyes when he placed it. Swiftcurrent? A hot flash prickled his spine. Their scent pervaded her, like she'd trespassed into Swiftcurrent itself and rubbed her fur on every marker.

Scarlett's apology woke him from his own wandering thoughts and he regained himself quickly, flashing her a goodnatured grin to hide the sudden surprise that had lighted his face. "Happens to the best of us," he said, suppressing the questions that rose in his mind - for now. He would hear her out before jumping to conclusions, and with hardly a second thought, the youth gave a casual nod toward the Glacier's heart. "Up for a wander through the woods?" He danced his gaze to Scarlett again, the warmth in his eyes failing to reflect the concerns that rubbed within.

You could say that Scarlett was completely oblivious to the alpha's worry to scare their new recruit once more. He did not know that Scarlett wasn't one to stay in the moment but she rather made new happy memories. In return Scarlett had no clue that her alpha disliked the formalness she used. Scarlett was used to calling her alpha 'Sir' and greet him or her with all the respect she had in her body. The albino had to do that especially, since she wasn't their favorite. One misstep and there could be serious consequences. Because the female was sunken in thought she had also missed the smile from Malachi.

Scarlet smiled warmly when she realized that her alpha might not be as different from her as she thought. "I think you are right," she agreed with an ever so soft chuckle. She shook out her fur causing it to fluff up more. She recently had a bath and with a thick Northern fur like she had, Scarlett needed to shake herself dry over the hours after a bath so she wouldn't get cold. This also caused the scent to flourish through the air. Scarlett caught it herself now and snapped her head up. For a moment she thought Raziel was here but he wasn't... It was.. her? Oh.

Malachi's question brought a good distraction. "Eh.. Yes!," she let out quickly without thinking. "Well, no," she corrected. "I was at my den in the Emberwood. I decided that I should come to the pack grounds and at least help out with some things you know? Oh! You are the perfect person to tell me!!," she quickly babbled further on. Scarlett left out conveniently that she had been held up by Raziel. "I already looked after Maera and chatted with Sen. I taught Maera how to dig a den!," she added proudly. If Scarlett was trying to hide something or was nervous about one thing she compensated that with lots of words. Lots. of. it. The female really had a talent because she could go on for hours chatting about nothingness really.

Malachi twitched at the sudden jerk of Scarlett's head and he shifted away. The scent of Swiftcurrent only grew stronger with the shake she gave of her fur, and his concern only thickened. But Malachi had little time to concentrate his efforts on weaselling her reason for the foreign scent: soon she was off again, only this time losing herself to a trail of words which related little to his casual proposal of a walk through the glacial woods.

The boy's face twitched into a strange look of perplexity, and an ungainly laugh escaped him in a short and single breath. "Uh... I'm glad you're settling in so well," he said and gave a flick of his ear in an impulsive reflection of discomfort. Though he didn't know what of his invitation provoked her to say the words she did, the youth took to heart what information she shared. He didn't know where the Emberwood was, but if it was close to Swiftcurrent he imagined Scarlett could have picked up the pack markers from there. The idea didn't settle well with the youth and his smile decayed into a faint frown. Duskfire stood on good terms with the river pack, and he didn't want to risk breaking whatever pact of good will they had. "It might be best, though, if you make yourself a permanent den here. This is your home, after all."

The young female noticed that her abrupt motions had caused the alpha to back off. "Oh sorry. I didn't mean to. I thought I smelled someone I know. Silly. I'm sorry," she admitted. Scarlett could slap herself for indirectly talking about Raziel. In a way she wanted to keep him for herself. Talking about the silver male would only make it so much more real. What if she read his signs all wrong? At least then no one knew she was rejected if that might happen. "I am settling in well, aren't I?," she chatted. "A good suggestion of you to have a stroll, I would dislike for my paws to freeze to the ground. What route would you suggest we take?," she wondered. Her tail letting out another friendly wag. The female thought about his words. "Oh... But I worked so hard on it," she let out with a light pout.

The small female did understand. If she made a den here Scarlett would have protection from the pack. Plus, it was closer to home. Scarlett wouldn't be distracted by Raziel anymore. She actually liked that he was usually around the meadow to be her distraction. She had also been late at the last pack hunt. Maybe Raziel was a bad influence on her and gave her only a bad name in her new family. That was something the female didn't want. She really wanted to try and do her best in her new pack. Scarlett walked with her alpha. "There must be something useful I could do? Are there any elderly I can look after? Where are Maera's siblings? Do they need to be looked after? You could assign tasks like that to me!," She offered. "I do suggest to not put any patrolling on my duty, though. I am not good with keeping wolves out like you are," she spoke with all her honesty.

Someone she knew? The words struck the boy with apt understanding. That would explain her differing scent. A knot untied within him, and his shoulders relaxed. So long as Scarlett respected Swiftcurrent's borders, Malachi had little qualms with her having friendships in other packs. He had been raised in a land where such was the norm, and though his father had been more restrictive than the other leaders, they had not been without the fellowship of those beyond their bounds.

So he let the issue roll from his shoulders, and Malachi prompted the woman to follow with a wave of his tail. The boy sensed some sorrow in response to his denning prompt, but he hoped she would put his suggestion to action. There was little reason, and little logic, in building a den beyond their territory, and Malachi couldn't see why she would have done so in the first place. If she called Duskfire home, it only made sense to the boy to spend most days and nights here.

Malachi did well to keep a steady pace, though his ears slicked back at the mention of Maera's siblings. Of course she wouldn't know, unless the fire-kissed girl had told Scarlett herself. He licked his lips with a nervous flash of his tongue and forced a feigned grin across his mouth to conceal his discomfort. The boy found none of her words worthy of a smile, but he found it easier to conceal the tragedy than divulge it, especially to one who seemed as sensitive as Scarlett. "No, no elderly. We're all around the same age here, except for Njal, and Maera." He paused, refusing to let indecision twitch upon his face. In his time with the pack he had not seen much of Maera, but he still felt an overshadowing concern for the girl, especially now with Danica and Arabella gone. "You could always teach her, you know. Healing, or hunting - anything, really." He cleared his throat from the tightness that had formed. "She needs a good teacher, or maybe a few."

Scarlett looked to the side with some curiosity. It seemed as the curious tension her alpha had was gone. Maybe it was like they said, walking would strengthen bonds. She was pleased that they were both in the same relaxed state. They would get there. Scarlett was convinced if he was her happy self she would be totally fine. Usually being nice worked out. Well not always but those types of animals were just beyond evil. Scarlett thought about big cats and bears. Definitely no fun. The female had been quickly distracted by her own thoughts. He would need to relocate her place to live sometime soon. Maybe after winter when the ground was more soft around the glacier.

The albino trotted along with Malachi. "Hmm. Would that mean this is one of the newer packs of this region?," she inquired. She never had heard the name Njal and tried to think if she ever came across from a scent that had been unknown. "I have not met this Njal." The female realized that the alpha hadn't answered her question about Mae and her siblings. She scolded herself for asking and decided to not ask any questions about it until Maera would tell it herself. But at least she was sure that it had been something ugly had happened.

"I have little knowledge about healing myself. I know a few common things but since, you know, at my old pack no one wanted me close to them I could do little healing," he spoke on an even tone. It almost sounded like she was used to talk about her misery and not feel anything from it. In fact she did not feel any miserable than before mentioning it. The albino was used to wolves avoiding her ever since her birth. It was probably why she could be so awkward in social aspects. "I could teach her hunting! Although it might be difficult now being winter. But I will try and do my best. Maera is a sweet girl," she agreed. "I'm curious. If I may ask? How did a young wolf like you gain its alpha status? A brief introduction to our pack's history perhaps?"

A strange nostalgia filled Malachi as they moved through the thinning trees. Though he'd walked this path a thousand times, it felt different moving along it now with one who likely found the unremarkable terrain simply another part of the territory. Though the leaf-bare trees held no indicator of past significance, to Malachi this part of the forest would always mean so much more.

"That's right," he said with a nod. Scarlett's confession to her ignorance of Njal troubled the boy, though nothing of her fault. The man had taken the past months hard, understandably so, but Malachi had hoped he would try to become a more active part of their pack as the weeks progressed. Yet with the stone man's resolution to leave come spring, was he really surprised Njal would not try to build any lasting bonds with the others who shared his home? "Njal is Maera's father," came his simple reply, and he left it at that.

Thankfully, Scarlett deflected the conversation to herself, though her words only troubled the boy in a different way. To shun a wolf was more than cruel, and an anger twitched within him at the revelation such had happened to her. He gave Scarlett a sidelong glance, but she gave no great display of emotion through her words or her visage. If the experience had scarred the girl, she did not show it, but if she was anything like him there remained the possibility she had merely suppressed the trauma she had endured. Though he knew little of such prejudice, he swore he would not let such behaviour pass as long as he remained leader here.

And she would not face such prejudice now. She seemed a gentle girl, undeserving of ill-treatment, and he let a warmth flood his face when he looked at her again. "That would be good for her," he replied with a faint grin. Though his siblings had been pups when he'd left the Vale, he found his skills with young ones lacking. Scarlett's eagerness would serve well to bring Maera fully into pack life, something he felt he was not capable of doing himself.

But his grin faltered at her final request, and Malachi responded with a short breath of silence. His eyes flicked across the ground, uncertain in their movements and searching for nothing but a way out. Yet the thought he wanted to escape from honouring the lives that had founded this place brought shame to his heart, and to lie or deflect would bring disgrace not only on him, but on all who had lived here, and on all who would live here for generations to come.

He flashed a brief glance her way before twitching his tail in a half-hearted beckon. "Come. I'll tell you," he said and pulled ahead to lead the way into the valley once dotted with violet lupines, now a barren waste stretching before the Glacier that had shone with such majesty their first night here.

The white female was pleased that she got confirmed she was right. Observing almost came natural to the female. She had been observing from a young age. It was often that she had to wait as a lower rank for her turn, or that she was excluded from activities, or even when she was left behind to babysit all the youngsters. All those times she had perfected the skill that would later on become so handy. It was interesting to see how two being interacted. How one act led to the other. It could create friction or a bonding moment in a relationship.

The albino blindly followed her leader. It was one of the perks of having more of a submissive mindset. She didn't even had to think about following the one who was leading. It gave Scarlett room to ponder on other things while she walked. It also showed her trust in her new alpha. Scarlett was sure that Malachi wouldn't walk her into a trap or treacherous path. Scarlett had not been surprised by her alpha's words. After she had met Maera she suspected that Njal could be her father. Scarlett couldn't admit that she disapproved. Although she would never ever say that out loud. Scarlett was not the one to talk bad about anyone. She kept that to herself at all times. There was already so much negativity in this world and she was not going to feed that. After the few week she had been here she had not seen the higher ranked wolf herself. She could not even imagine how often Maera had seen her father.

Scarlett grew sad as she thought about her own father, Dux. He had been the only one ever that would defend her. Oh she wished he would have been there more often but being the Outrider of a pack it meant that the black wolf often traveled. He left Scarlett to deal with her mother who, wasn't as nice. Scarlett regretted not saying goodbye to her father. Maybe on slower days she could ask permission from Malachi to visit him. She could tell him she was well.

"I will take full responsibility of her perfecting her hunting skills. In my old pack they said I was a worthless hunter but seeing that I managed to survive as a lone wolf proves otherwise. Maybe I can be useful after all!" The female almost sounded surprised as she said that. Scarlett was such a ball of sunshine even after being talked down so much. It almost seemed like there was no bitterness in the female. Nothing was less true. Every wolf had some side of themselves they didn't want to show. Little Scarlett did an excellent job at that.

The female seemed to have a knack for asking the troubling questions didn't she? She did not expect Malachi to agree in answering her. A sense of glee filled her body after feeling a little bit depressed with the thoughts of her father. She was important enough to be told. Malachi found her important enough to tell her! Her head raised a bit in healthy pride. She liked to listen to Malachi's calm voice. Him telling the history of this young pack made it even more intriguing. It seemed that a lot had happened with this young group. "Oh I'd like that. Thank you," she politely spoke.

Where Scarlett felt glee, Malachi felt resistance, and his heart willed him to turn now and leave. But when he looked at the ivory queen, with her head lifted in an honoured tilt and her voice concealing her eagerness to hear, his mouth ran dry. He couldn't turn back now.

Malachi eased onto the barren ground and cast a fleeting glance toward the sky. The cloudy cover hid most of the stars, and those that peeked through watched for but a moment before veiling their faces again. But before he could lose himself to the dark expanse, he pulled his eyes away and settled his gaze upon Scarlett while his thoughts compiled. He had always been one for stories, but the histories he had recited in the Vale had felt far removed from him. The one he would would share still struck him far too close.

Clearing his throat, he began as tradition held, his breath but a hush in the night and his words more a whisper to ease his own wary nerves. "Ears, come and listen; heart, be not cold; mind, be ever ready for the history you are told." He paused and drew a breath. Then, with eyes trained just beyond Scarlett's eager gaze, he spoke.

"Tuwawi and Njal Sveijarn founded the Glacier at the end of summer's waning rays. They forged a new fire here, a new life with the family they had formed with one another. I was an outsider welcomed in, but I came to call this family home. We shared this hope between us, whether kin or one brought in, building on the joy and expectation carried in the chorus of our claim.
"But as days passed along, a darkness arose and felled our small family to fear. The lynx made a claim to this land we call home, and held to the hills with paws made of stone. We worked side by side to force them away, but still they lingered near, until the day their threats became more than empty steps and hollow wails."

The night still came clear to his mind, and he drew in a ragged breath. Tuwawi's frantic cries, the musk of cat mingled with blood and wolf. Anger sparked in his heart again, grief and guilt, but this time not only against the lynx who had destroyed them. Shadowed fur danced around their tawny forms, ghastly yellow eyes laughing at him through a mocking stare.

He lost himself then, blinking shut his eyes while silence tightened his throat. The poetry that had flowed from his mouth vanished to the night, leaving them to the gentle whistle of winter wind through the boughs of skeletal trees.

Scarlett let all her excitement die out as she noticed how serious her alpha got. She reminded that this story isn't all butterflies and rainbows. Something that she knew very well that the world could be harsh and cruel. Her mother was. The female watched how Malachi seemed to have it quite difficult to get to his words. Her face only showed compassion in this one moment. Her ears tuned into his whispering. His words were beautifully spoken. The female was definitely going to remember those. "Beautiful," she whispered almost inaudible.

Her ears fell back when she listened to what sounded like a poem instead of a story. Maybe it was because of the way Malachi spoke. The words hit her hard. Especially since she was afraid of big cats herself. Her heart thrummed and could only imagine what Maera must have felt. She escaped it, the other did not. Oh how sad. How horrible. The sensitive female had grown really quiet. A fear welled up in the female. A fear that the cat was still around. But the logical part of herself told her that she had not smelled any cat scent while she was here. She had explored most of their territory and that confirmed more than enough. She swallowed thickly because that meant Meara's mother had died.

Malachi had grew silent next to her yet it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. The story felt really heavy, lots of loss had been there, the female could feel it. "Malachi," she spoke softly. "I'm so sorry that you have lots your family. I wouldn't have asked for the story if I knew." The female stepped closer to him and gave a soft lick over his cheek. It wasn't a romantic one. She couldn't explain it. "Thank you for telling me. You have no idea what this means for me. I will work hard to bring this pack even closer together."

He tried to continue, to carry on, to finish the story that he had begun. Scarlett deserved it, and so did the lives he spoke of. But what hope could he share? The light in those trying times had been snuffed out one by one. Njal was but a hollow shell, Tuwawi had disappeared again, Larus remained but an unattainable mist, and Jokull and Valtyr were still missing without a trace to follow or track. Danica was gone, and Arabella too, and Tyrr and Hatshepsut he had not seen for days. Everyone was missing, in one way or another, and if Njal carried through with his plans to leave come spring, he and Maera would be gone, too.

Scarlett's gentle voice invaded his thoughts, but he did not look to her. He knew the compassion that would be in her eyes, and though he wished to fall into her comfort, he let the wind that swept from the Glacier's peak embrace his heart in an icy clutch. Enough of him had escaped in the short moments that passed, and his only safety lay in the veil of darkness that draped shadows over the fine features of his face. The boy flinched at her touch and, though with a glimmer of regret, turned his face away. His cheek burned where she touched him, and for a heartbeat no words came to his lips.

"It's not your fault," he finally said, his voice composed next to the emotion that fluxed within. "History deserves to be told, and another day, I will finish the story." But tonight he could not. Her final words left him to ponder, and he hid her promise in his heart. When he finally turned to face her again, his face held steady in the night, stolen only by a glimmer in his eyes. If her loyalties ran as deep as her compassion, he would be honoured to call her family. "I have faith you will." He'd spent too long in the past already; though he would keep looking for the Sveijarns until his paws wore thin, they could only move forward now. Scarlett was part of a new fire here - her and Sen and Manauia, together with they who had pulled through the flames. Duskfire still stood, and would forever stand, just as he had sworn and sworn again.

Scarlett immediately stepped back after the lick, and quite some distance too. She might have gone one step too far with her compassion. She was so used with calming down the juveniles that she might have forgotten her place. It was so easy to lick a youngster and calm it down. You should not do that with your alpha, she scolded herself. Her ears had fallen back in shame and they stayed there even when Malachi spoke, finally. Her red eyes were back to look at the ground once more. "Tell me when you are ready," she spoke a bit hurriedly. Her tail was back to hanging lower than neutral.

A quick uncertain smile turned on her face at the compliment. "I really should get back," she excused herself. The alpha had made clear he didn't want to tell her much more and these was no reason for her to stick around. She turned to trot away, to then respectfully turn back. "Thank you, Malachi," she spoke, still not looking at him. The albino then practically fled away. She was doing so well! They were even talking about more serious things. He trusted her with that information and she had to go and lick him. Scarlett felt her face heat up in embarrassment. Every time she even thought of her action she could feel her stomach drop. Shit.