Adlartok stretched and shook out the small bit of frost in his already white and grey coat. He was almost like a set of snow himself, with the hues of gray and white that mixed and matched throughout his coat. Turning golden eyes he looked around, it was still early morning, but he was an early to bed early to rise sort of fellow.
He began at a slow trot, he would start hunting today. He had tried the other day, but had met the female Scarlett and had taken a tour. He hadn't wanted to refuse her, but today he would have to refuse company unless the other wolf wished to hunt as well.
So tilting gray face he lay his muzzle to the ground and went in search of the hare that it belonged too. Perhaps he could find a den with a whole family, that would feed at least one wolf, maybe two if the rabbits were plump and juicy. He would love to take bigger game down if there was another wolf to go with him.
After having agreed to stay within, or at least close to, Duskfire territory to act as a Warden of sorts, Sen quickly found she had no idea what to do, or how to spend her time. She was usually off and exploring new places, meeting wolves from all over and memorizing different parts of the land. It felt odd going close to the territory, and then not leaving it, but it was what she had agreed to do. Believe it or not, her word was not something the obsidian woman would go back on. Letting loose a sigh to show her boredom, as well as her eagerness to find and do something at least a little entertaining, she trotted through the area with her head down. She hadn't been looking for anyone in particular, or anyone at all really, but after awhile the scent of another hit her nose. It was an unfamiliar one to her, but the scents that lingered with it informed her that the wolf was not an outsider.
With her interested somewhat peaked, the dark lupine found her long legs carrying her in the direction from which the scent had come, steps as light as they usually were. It didn't take long to spot the smaller wolf, though his grey and white pelt tried blending with the snow slightly. He seemed to have his snout to the ground, probably tracking something too, but that didn't stop her. Sen strolled right up to the younger wolf, not making a sound to warn him of her presence before speaking. "Don't tell me, Scarlett has lost one of the pups in her little hoard?" Amusement was clear in her voice as she let the words go, a small smile growing on her face as she neared the end of her sentence. "Or did you manage to keep her from carrying you off?"
Artok was momentarly annoyed at the other wolf that came up behind him. She had caused him to pause in his sniffing and he lost the trail as he lifted his head. She was a darker wolf, and he studied her. She was built obviously as a runner, long and lithe. She had a strange white patch of fur there in her chest and he looked at it for a moment. He kept his eyes mostly averted only lifting them to her on occasion to look her over, just in curiosity.
Adlartok snorted at her words. I belong to no one. That was all he said, he wasn't being mean or cruel, he was just honest. She is nice and I like her, but I have been on my own. I can take care of myself mostly. If I need it I'll seek her counsel. Ma'm. He grew quiet and shifted so he was looking at her then instead of peering at her sideways. He dipped his muzzle to her. Forgive me. I'm Adlartok Arrluk miss.
Sen was shocked to hear that Scarlett had snagged the younger wolf away, but didn't allow it the opportunity to show on her features. She was glad to hear that the boy was able to care for himself, more or less, for it meant she would not have to treat him as a child. “It is good you are capable of caring for yourself,” she told him. The darker being had never been around anyone who was below a single year of life, and due to such, she was not too knowledgeable as to how she was suppose to act around them. This one saved her from acting differently, however, since he seemed to not act as she imagined the young would.
Something got to Sen, believe it or not, and that was the use of words such as 'ma'am' and 'miss'. She'd never heard such words spoken whilst being directed towards her before, and found she didn't care too much for it. Such words made her feel as if she was aged more so than she truly was, and that, in turn, made her feel rather guilty for commenting on her mother's age back when she still lived and they were together. Those thoughts made her glad when the other spoke his own name, the action having offered up the chance for her to give her own as well. “Adlartok.” The eldest of the two tried out his name, finding it to bean interesting one, but far too long. “Anything shorter you go by?”
Had he been any other wolf, one that was older perhaps, she would have joked about and come up with nicknames of her own, ones that the other party would not enjoy. Something stopped her from doing that to Adlartok, though, but it wouldn't last. She would end up working to bring the younger wolf to the 'dark side' of the world, or the 'fun side', as Sen referred to it as. “I'm Sen Kapok,” she told him after a few seconds had passed. “But you have my permission to call me 'Soot' if that's easy to remember, just as long as you promise to never refer to me as 'ma'am' or 'miss' ever again.” The nickname 'Soot' had been given to her by her brother and sister to compliment her dark coat, but she never used it often anymore. After she'd parted ways with her siblings, the name had been left known to all the woman met in her travels, making it a rather honorable thing for her to present it to the boy. What her intentions for doing so would be revealed sooner, rather than later, for she was determined to take the young member under her wing. She wanted to have a sarcastic buddy to speak with whenever, even if said 'buddy' would have to be someone much younger than herself.
Adlartok listened ot her and he dipped his muzzle. He wasn't sure how the others his age acted, having not been around many himself. Other than his uncle, and him. ANd they were both far younger than they acted. Perhaps it was a flaw in his design, but it was the way of things. It was how he was. Thank you.
Arlartok looked at her as she asked him about a nickname. His uncle called him Artok, and he tried to answer her he did. But the words got stuck in his throat and he couldn't so he just said the first thing that came to his mind. Not really, but if you really want just call me Tok or Ad. he grew quiet then and simply waited.
Adlartok gave her an ornery grin and nodded Okay Soot I promise ma'm. he said the last part with a teasing glint in his eyes and a shit eating grin on his face. He shook his head swiftly though, But really I promise not to call you ma'm or miss again.
She gave a simple nod in response to his 'thank you', still finding the whole process of thanking someone to be awkward, as well as responding to a thanks. The manners she'd been raised with had been pushed to the depths of her mind the second she left her family, and the last time she'd used them was when she'd been complimented by Scarlett; or at least it was a compliment in her eyes.
Sen was glad that the younger wolf possessed a nickname of sorts, for she wasn't so sure she'd be able to get through saying his name at all. It was a surprise she hadn't made a joke about his name, but the day was still very young, leaving her with plenty of time to get any jokes in if she wanted to. “Nice name, Tok,” she commented, more or less in order to try out the sound of the nickname. She liked how it sounded, which lowered the chances of her poking fun at his full name by a small fraction.
When he went on to jokingly refer to her as 'ma'am', she pulled a fake scowl onto her face. It didn't stick around for long, though, and was quickly replaced by a small smile. Not a grin nor a smirk, but an actual smile that held no ill intentions. “That is good,” she told him, then decided to bring forth a change to the subject at hand. “Were you hunting before I arrived?” The woman inquired, though she already knew the answer.
If there was one thing that Adlartok prided himself on it was his impeccable manners. Manners and genteel nature, got you almost anywhere. If he had been a darker soul, perhaps if he had stayed with his uncle longer, he would have used those things to his advantage.
He chuckled and dipped his muzzle, mumbling a quiet Thanks. he liked his name, and having chosen the nicknames on the fly. He was actually quite pleased with how it sounded. He would always be Artok deep inside, but that was a privileged name that belonged to his uncle and his uncle alone at least for now.
He nodded I was trying too. I want to give back for allowing me entry. Nothing is for free. he believed that too. You always had to pay someone back in some way. For instance his mother had given his life for him to be alive. And he had been paying for that since.
“Nothing's for free?” Sen snorted a bit, finding the words to be slightly ridiculous. Plenty of things could be free if you tried hard enough, which was what she'd often done during her time as a loner. Everything was free, the world itself was free. She return favors for no one, and only ever catered to her own whims and desires. It had been a rare thing for her to actually do something that wasn't looked down upon, but that was in the past. Well, that was what she would say, anyways. In truth, Sen would always act the same no matter what happened to her in the process of life.
Deciding not to share her own thoughts with the boy, she attempted to cover the smirk that had appeared in response to his words, and instead nodded her head. “That's right,” she lied. “Nothing is truly for free, is it?” The woman's own outlook on life often got others worked up to the point where they were ready to leave at any given moment, so she chose to take a different road. It wasn't like her, lying to agree with another, and she would make it up to herself somehow later on. “Perhaps I can assist you in this act of giving back,” the raven coated wolf offered. “Two wolves are better than one when it comes to the task of hunting.”
Artok knew that some things were free, food sometimes and other things. But you always had to pay for that. When you chased food you got tired. Artok was a different wolf, he returned his favors because there were so few in life. You had to really, because how else would you make lasting relationships.
Artok had caught the tail end of her smirk and studied her. You don't really believe that do you? To each his own. He wasn't looking for an answer to his question, he was merely just trying to do his best by those who had given him a home.
Artok nodded I would like that and besides you would get a free meal out of it now? he gave her a small smirk of his own. His eyes danced with mirth, the saw edge of his humor, dark and a little strange. But it was funny to him, so that was all that mattered.
The female grinned at his words, and gave a shrug of her shoulders. “You caught me, I don't believe in that,” she told him. “I traveled alone for quite sometime before coming here, and let me tell you, I found a way to make plenty of things free, and amusing.” Her methods had involved thievery, using her sarcasm as a weapon, and annoying others to the point where they just hadn't wanted to bother with her any longer. It'd gotten her a few free meals during her time as a yearling, and she'd enjoyed every last second of it. No one ever told her what she did or how she acted was wrong, because no one ever stuck around long enough to chastise her for her behavior. It had been highly amusing to Sen.
She quirked an invisible eyebrow at the younger lupine when he smirked, finding it to be an oddly adorable sight. Mentally, she shook the thought away, then opened her maw to respond to what he'd said. “Tell you what, for this one time only, I'll hunt with you without asking for anything in return. Give you a small taste of what something being free is like.” Trotting a few paces away from him, she did nothing to hide the hint of enjoyment that danced behind the glow of her eyes. “Everyone needs something for free now and again, so I'll help you give back to the pack without asking for anything in return. I won't even munch on whatever we catch later, I'll just hunt down something for myself when I need to. Sound good?”
Artok chuckled, he found this she wolf oddly enjoyable. She reminded him a little bit of his uncle. She held the same sarcastic sense of self, that he had. He laughed at her admission of making many things free. You'll have to tell me about them sometime.
Artok studied her to see if he should have reason to mistrust her. It didn't seem like he should. So he nodded okay I'm game. He studied her and shot her another smirk. As if to say this seems like a challenge, so bring it. He leaned down and sniffed at the ground. Then looking up at her, Where do you want to start?
Sen was almost thrilled to hear that the boy was interested in hearing about how she made things free, even if the emotion didn't make it through onto her face. “I'll be sure to do that,” she told him. At a later time, of course, but she made a mental note to tell him all she could remember someday. It would be fun for her to relive her experiences through telling another about them.
The dark woman grinned at his question, considering it. “We can start here,” the girl said. “You seemed to have been tracking something before I arrived, so we can try and find that scent again.” Pausing for a second to glance around at their surroundings, a thought started to form in her mind. “We could try to find a mountain goat, or maybe some pika if you aren't up for some mountain—well, glacier—climbing.” Now it was a direct challenge, from the obsidian wolf to the silver one, and she waited to see if he would play along.
Artok nodded his head and placed his muzzle towards the ground again. He sniffed around, trying in vain to find the trail he lost. He found it, but it was stale by this point, it had already been almost done, when he found it. He snorted softly in disgust with himself.
Artok being the wolf he was, was always looking for a reason to prove himself. So he nodded his head and gave her a small smirk. As if to say bring it. He stuck his nose to the ground and slid further toward the glacier. He'd have to get closer to a spot to climb to find some goat. Alright we'll have to back track a little bit, so we can get closer to a spot to climb. Unless you know a place to climb? I haven't explored the actual glacier yet.
Sen was really starting to like this new wolf she'd found. He accepted her small challenge, and there seemed to be something about him that especially caught hold of her interest. She couldn't quite place a finger paw on what it was, but after mentally shrugging it away the whole idea became nothing to her. The darker colored wolf watched that male sniff at the ground—probably searching for whatever scent he'd been following earlier—but the snort that left him afterwords told her it wasn't worth even attempting to follow after. She was a bit glad that the scent had gone stale, as she was more interested in hunting goats than some smaller creatures.
As the grey boy moved in the direction of the glacier, Sen followed suit, steps fairly relaxed for the time being. “Looks like we both have an opportunity to learn something, then, since I haven't exactly climbed the glacier yet either,” Sen said, falling into step beside the younger wolf. “Should be more or less like a slippery version of a mountain, though, huh?” Having grown up on a mountain, she was no stranger to the dangers one possessed, but those dangers were different when on a glacier. Instead of rock slides, there could be falling hunks of ice, or maybe even an avalanche of sorts depending on the amount of snow. It would also be easier to slip and fall down if you didn't place yourself in a spot correctly. Those dangers did little to make her cautious, however, as she was the over-confident sort. “We'll have to find a decent spot to start off at, and then hope we don't run into too many rough patches during our hunt.”
I'm so sorry my kids have been sick for like 2 weeks first it was the tummy bug and then it was croup....
Artok didn't mind having others like him. He was a little bit stunted emotionally and he wasn't always sure how to handle others. But he wasn't a bad wolf, just a strange one. The new wolf in his presence she seemed pretty cool, this would be a interesting hunt.
He looked at her you never climbed it either. He grinned, betcha I can make it to the glacier before you.With that he shot her an ornery grin and ran towards the glacier. He would find the perfect place to climb it, he hoped anyway. He was now super hungry for goat.
It's fine, no need to apologize! c: Family life comes before anything else. Hope they're feeling better now.
If you wanted Adlartok to win, let me know and I'll edit it. :3
“Haven't climbed a glacier, but I'm sure having been born on a mountain gave be plenty of experience,” she said, eager to start the climb and the hunt. It'd felt like ages since she'd even looked at a mountain of any sort, but such a skill could not be so easily lost. Winter on the mountain could have made it somewhat similar to a glacier, right? Either way, Sen was confident the two things were close enough to being the same for her to navigate it with ease. Instead of loose rocks, she'd look for especially slick patches of ice, and instead of watching moose and deer, her eyes would be open and searching for some goats.
At the proposal of a challenge—and a race, none the less—Sen's entire essence noticeably perked up. With long legs and a lithe form, she had practically been born for the sole purpose of running and chasing after things. “You're on, Pygmy Pup,” she voiced, grinning at her own name for the younger wolf. The second the other took off, so did the darker figure. Holding back or throwing a competition of any kind wasn't something she was physically capable of doing, so she didn't. Sen ran relatively fast, though he steps were somewhat slowed so as not to risk slipping on anything the ground could throw at her. When she reached the base of the glacier, she slowed and glanced back at the grey boy for a second, before starting with her search to find a good place to begin climbing. It didn't take as long as she was suspecting it would to, but once she did find a place with enough of traction to start climbing at, she barked to alert her companion to it.
Artok smiled, he couldn't really remember where he had been born. And he had stayed so many places as he had grown, that he wasn't sure about that either. He had traveled across mountain ranges, he could do so again. He was younger too than she, so a bit smaller. It would serve him well.
Artok let out a whoop as she passed him, his tongue lolling out beneath his chin. This was fun, he reached her form a few minutes after she. It had been fun, Well done Sen! He joined her in the search for a place to climb. He sniffed about, finding a place that looked more like powder than ice, he gave a gentle wuff to have her come near.
“Same to you,” she said before she'd gone off to find a place to begin the climb up. It hadn't taken long after that for a sound to come from the younger wolf, and had Sen trotting over to see what he'd found. She nosed at it a bit, before standing up straight and offering her companion a smile. “Looks like this will work,” she said, eyes leaving his form to trail up the side of the Glacier. It was going to be quite the climb, but there was no doubt they had a great chance of having fun during it. Hunting on a glacier would have seemed like an odd thing a few months back, but now it seemed like the most normal thing in the world.
With her head, Sen motioned for him to start heading up first. “You go first, I'll follow after behind you,” she suggested. If they were to come across a rough patch of ice at any point, she figured she would have a better chance at keep him from sliding all the way down rather than the other way around. Besides, she was kind of interested to see how the boy worked during a hunt, and if he could be relied on in the future. She doubted that she wouldn't be able to, but still wanted to watch him go about his business.
He gave her a cheeky grin, and then stuck his nose back to the ground. He let his ears fall back to listen to her as he looked up. He had to crane his neck to see the top. It was a climb and it was steep, but it would be fun. He looked around and then with one last small breath, he pushed himself forward, with a little more confidence than he really had.
He used mincing steps at first, just to get a feel for the ice. Then with a gentle wuff, he continued on up. Do you think if we are too loud we could cause an avalanche? Like on mountains? He wasn't sure exactly what an avalanche was, but he had heard of them in some conversations. it seemed like a good thing to say at the moment. He just hoped it wasn't wrong and he was mistaken that it had to do with snow. That would be embarrassing.
The woman followed after him, her own paws testing each place she stepped before putting any weight down for the first few steps. It was different than what she'd expected, but close enough for her to get more and more comfortable with it for each step she took. It was like the mountains during Winter, but with a lot more ice and snow. Okay, maybe it wasn't too much like it, but the bit of similarities the two places did share was enough for her. Besides, Sen was naturally cocky, so she was bond to be overconfident when climbing up the glacier, even if it was, more or less, and unknown terrain.
Sen's ears perked up and she thought about his question for a minute or two. “Possibly,” she finally answered, having turned her head around in all the directions she could to assess the area. “It doesn't seem like there's too much snow down here, but we're still close to the bottom. There's bound to be more at the top, so the higher we go, the quieter we'll have to be.” While it wasn't necessary, her voice had already lowered a bit, only staying loud enough for the other to hear her. She witnessed rock slides before, but never an avalanche. They were only ever things that happened in stories to her, and while she always knew they were real, she would have never guessed that she'd ever enter an area that had the potential to cause one.