Wolf RPG

His venture to Silvertip Mountain and back had taken its time. It should have taken a toll on him as well, but Mordecai was hardly a greenhorn traveler. Though apart of the plateau, he had acted accordingly to how he usually had. Some exploration was to be needed, and he had come bearing information. But there was not a pressing need for him to track down whoever would listen and simply spill the beans — in fact, Mordecai had gotten distracted on that particular day.

A brief shower had crossed over from the coast and in its approach to the raised climes of the mountains and their plateaus and ridges, had tried to snow. It was a failing attempt, only dampening an already damp ground with a mixture of rain and sleet. This did not bother the Ostrega, who had been through worse. And it came just as quickly as it went, leaving the overcast skies of winter to blanket the afternoon.

What held his particular interest on this day was a lingering scent of a coyote, one that he had found dispatched and destroyed by others. Who the wolves had been, he couldn't readily ascertain, but they were distinctly of the Plateau. He hovered over the gnarled corpse, pawing at it to try and cover it more with the slick, wet leaves and other assorted ground cover. He covered it not out of respect or to make a poorly formed cache, but rather to keep the carrion from converging on their territory. He covered it, unknowing that it had been left as an effigy to any other small time predator that they would not take to them kindly.

Wandering, as he was apt to do, Dante slowly but surely meandered by the borders, the habit strong in guiding his way. He was a Warden through now, and especially with the recent intruder he had pushed back, he felt the need to keep close watch.

He did tend to run into packmates and today was no exception. Mordecai seemed to be burying something, which turned out on closer inspection to be a coyote. "Your handiwork?" He asked, forgoing the normal greetings. He figured the other wouldn't mind.

"I'm betting that was one of the buggers raiding our stores," he added, staring at the sad creature thoughtfully. A scavenger that they would no longer have to deal with, it would seem. "We had a problem with that not too long ago."

Mordecai's investigation — rather, mock burial — did not stop even in light of approaching footsteps. He had little interest in finding out who was coming up behind him, only because he felt the other would join in on the investigation as well. And unsurprisingly, they did; the fact that it was Dante made the moment better. He pulled his interest and his gaze away to meet that of his friend, however briefly. There was deference there, but it may as well have been for show, as it almost went without saying that Mordecai had a deep respect for his friend.

"I wish I could take the credit, but, I found it," he answered, sniffing audibly to clear out the lingering smell. "Someone else had a field day with it. I figured I'd try and cover it a bit to keep the carrion away. Don't need those birds getting any ideas about a cache or two either." He said nothing of the raids to the caches, though he had made the mental note to begin to learn where they were. Couldn't have hurt to be pro-active, anyway.

"Before that, I was actually about to track you down again. Were you in the middle of anything?" He figured if Dante was heading towards the borders, he'd make the attempt to accompany him. More bodies, more eyes, safer front door, right?

Well, whoever it was, they had done them a service if the scavenger was indeed the one that had been robbing them. Winter was releasing its hold but there was still some cold left. At least the snows and wind had been kind this year.

He would have offered to lend a paw with the covering, but Mordecai appeared to have finished the task. "Nothing at the moment. Is something wrong?" From the wording, Mordecai's desire to track him down sounded more than just a desire to see a friend, though he could be mistaken. He hoped that he was not having issues with any of the others in the pack as sometimes happened with new joiners. He couldn't imagine it, though... Mordecai was an agreeable fellow and their entire pack was fairly low-key nowadays (minus some minor spats, most involving Saena).

For a moment, he almost felt bad for perhaps jostling the calm air of their meeting. But it was a passing puff in comparison, as the news he had to offer wasn't necessarily negative. That had been truly the purpose of wanting to track him down, though Mordecai hadn't felt a pressing need to do so. News found its way back and forth through various bodies.

"No, nothing's wrong," he said, shuffling the dirt once more before finally putting the task to an end. "Just thought I'd share some information that I came across. I did a little bit of scouting out the other day. A pack has taken claim of Silvertip Mountain, across the plains from us." And truthfully, it almost felt a little awkward talking business with his friend. He couldn't recall the last time, if ever, that they had discussed information like this. Still, he allowed for a pause so that information would settle.

"They're an interesting sort, over there. My greeters were a pair of yearlings," he went on to mention with a chuckle. Whether or not the mere title of calling them yearlings would illustrate a picture well enough, he couldn't have guessed. But then again, he expected Dante to wonder how an unexpected visitor was received.

Mordecai brought interesting information to him, news of a new pack it would seem, and Dante immediately assumed him to hold the title of outrider. He doubted he would have recieved report otherwise and those who did not hold the station did not often wander, let alone bring back information to share.

"I appreciate it," he replied thoughtfully. So they were to have a few new neighbors then, thinking back to when Kesuk had brought a similar tale of a new pack looking to found. "I may need to go check some of these out myself, someday soon. Ensure the sort of neighbors we will have. Did they speak at all of their leader?" He assumed they were not too unfriendly towards him, for he appeared uninjured. Dante hoped that was the case at least. He had given an amicable enough laugh when talking about the 'yearlings', after all.

He nodded agreeably; Dante would most certainly have to see for himself what kind of neighbors they had. At best, Mordecai could only speak of a few of them, as in that present moment he had not ventured far enough to speak of them all. Figuring out who were their neighbors versus who were less likely to be considered neighbors was well, always a stunt. Even there, he would have thought the Spine somewhat in their pool of neighbors, but they were at least a good day's venture away. Far enough away that their lives were mild in comparison to the ones that had taken up residence across a shared plain.

"I didn't really get a chance to ask many questions," he admitted once prompted. "The pair seemed more interested in bickering with each other. When they weren't, they were guarded at best." As to why, he couldn't have said; he hadn't gained the opportunity to find out, let alone stay long enough to discover anything more about them. A shrug followed what he offered, a mere conveyance that he did not know what to make of them just yet. And as it were, Mordecai wasn't quite the one to push when it was clear pushing would do no good.

"What other neighbors do we have around here? I can't say I'm terribly familiar with the areas to our east and south, but I believe there's a pack somewhere there." He knew he had met scouts from somewhere thereabout, but the name of the territory escaped him. The Spine had always been so isolated and for the most part, he had lacked the opportunities to venture out too far for too long. Here, he did not feel those limitations.

For strangers to be guarded with another on their borders was not uncommon, and at least guarded was preferable to hostile. He wondered if such behavior spoke of strong or weak leadership... It could be the alpha had such control of the pack, his or her wolves were made to keep civil, or it could be that they were lax in defense. It was interesting that they would bicker before a stranger though.

"I am not the best to ask, but I know some." He didnt leave often, nor had he explored this area extensively. "There is the sunspire mountain pack, to the east. They are a decent bunch. There is apparently another pack founding to the south as well, though I do not know what their status is. Kesuk brought word of that. Stavanger bay does not really border us, but they are near enough and somewhat of allies. We are on good terms, for they have harbored some of our number at times." He had to think after that, for he could not remember if any others lay in the area. "I believe that is the extent of my knowledge." He had met the spire leader, but never had he met Ragnar. Perhaps he should remedy that. His wife, Thistle, had been lovely once she realized he wasn't a threat.

Mordecai found that Dante knew not much more than he did. It were as though it was a tribute to how limited they had to be in their positions of leadership; a notion that he found that he disliked. It didn't seem right that they couldn't have ventured out themselves, at least with some distance to avoid their ranks being pulled loose from beneath them. Though that didn't seem to be the case with the Plateau; Mordecai had a sense that things were far more stable there than they had been during his time with the Spine.

Still, there was that note of interest of a pack forming to their south. "A pack forming along the river or...?" he pressed, unable to fathom who could or would have done that. He also didn't know just how far down river from the Plateau they were, but the feeling he found budding in its place left him feeling pressured; claustrophobic, even. Still, the notice of such a pack had slipped in underneath his radar, as he had spent more than half of his time outside of the claim the Plateau held.

He too knew that his view was limited, but he wasn't fond of straying far.  He felt his duty was in defending here, especially now with his Betas a bit tied up.  Besides, he barely felt he spent enough time paying attention to his packmates nowadays.  He couldn't imagine if he tried to get aquainted with strangers as well, and did not think sharing the time fair.

"Along the river, yes. Apparently Kesuk met one of their members, though not the Alpha."  He wasn't terribly worried about the prospect, but neither was he exactly enthused.  It was another rather close neighbor to potentially cause issues, though hopefully they had good sense.  Dante was again glad that the Plateau was so easily defended.  With three sheer sides, it was hardly an easy place to sneak into.

The name Kesuk stuck in his head for a moment, though the Ostrega couldn't have fathomed why. It was strange to him, foreign, yet oddly familiar in a sort of way. It was someone that he hadn't met in the plateau's confines just yet, though he had also learned that some of the wolves there preferred to keep to themselves. Or so he wanted to believe. Maybe it was him that they were leery of, a proverbial outsider that Dante seemingly knew.

He made a noise along the lines of a hmm and let it trail into silence. He considered going to investigate the place himself, but wondered if it were wise to do so. One scout dispatched from the plateau stumbling across them was one thing, but someone going there directly? He could not fathom was the thought process would have been. Nor did he know that for him, it would have been walking into a bear's trap hiding in the dark.

"It seems there's a lot of dispersals already, and winter's not even quite done yet." He sumrised it cleanly, offering his grey-haired counterpart a shrug. "Must be a lot of eager wolves this year, or at least around these parts." And in a way, it must have been nice to set out with that goal in mind in that sort of no-holds barred way.

Dante agreed with Mordecai's observation, though he couldn't attest to know exactly why either.  "Perhaps winter makes them restless, for many don't travel as often in the cold.  It wouldn't be hard for arguments to escalate."  Thankfully no such thing has happened in the plateau, though they had gained and lost as the season progressed also.

"There's always spring, too."  He said with a smile, knowing that it wasn't always trouble that drove packs to split.  Sometimes it was breeding rights. "Some might be looking to start families.  While others might not know what they are looking for, only that they haven't found it yet."  He had been in the third camp.

His talk of winter earned an agreeable nod from Mordecai, who knew all too well what sort of things were stirred up in the midst of winter. He had seen packs crumble beneath the strain of much worse winters and was thankful that none of that had happened here. Or so it would have seemed. The Plateau stood strong, just as the Spine had, the latter he momentarily thought had been because of his own work towards keeping it that way. Cara had kept it up, for the most part, from what he could gather and in turn the ill will she had towards him had waned, perhaps.

But the talk of spring brought him to what he had said originally to Dante — that he was looking for a home only through until the spring. It was safe to say that it was approach now and steadily, though Mordecai found himself relenting on what he had said. He felt as though he hadn't done enough to repay Dante's kindness. "Spring also means that the herds will have young around before too long. There's a few decently sized ones out on the flatlands we could give chase." While he was an explorer at heart, Mordecai was also a decent hunter; he licked his chops at the prospect of them hunting eventually. Though they had been in pursuit of game from week to week, he longed for the even keel of the fields to run through.

"When's the last time we all had a proper feast here?" he asked, a humored grin splitting his face.

The idea was definitely a brightening one, and Dante nodded with emphasis.  "That we can.  It has been far too long.  I have been a bit remiss in that."  Gamekeeper had been his afterthought duty, more gained by necessity than passion for the hunt, though he did enjoy it.  Further even than that, though, it was his job to organize group hunts as alpha. Perhaps he could delegate here.

"If you are looking to have a hunt, I'm in. I'd like to see how you take the lead on one. It's not something I have a lot of experience with, truthfully." He'd taken the reigns on one or two, but was still most comfortable with small group hunts or solo chases.

For whatever reason, it did not surprise Mordecai that the Plateau had been quiet in their gatherings.  For as robust as they were, they had faired well through the winter.  It had perhaps not been that large of a necessity for them to hunt constantly as it had been in the Spine.  That fact and the very notion that they were so idyllic appeased Mordecai, as did the thought that Dante was interested in such a hunt.  He hardly minded the delegation — instead, he preferred it.

"I'd be honored, and it's the least I could do," he said, feeling that pressing concern that he owed his friend a debt for taking him in.  Though spring was upon them swiftly, Mordecai had yet to make good on his intentions of leaving them.  "I've got a knack for hunting, so when the herd draws closer to the plateau we'll have to rally the others."  He knew better than to draw the majority of the pack out from their borders and felt confident given time, the herds would come across the river for the prime grazing grounds that lied near the base of their home.

"Indeed.  When the time comes, let me know, and we can gather them." He was sure the others would appreciate the hunt as much as he, and that Mordecai would lead them aptly. The man spoke as one with much experience, more than Dante himself at least. The fact that it was stated without a trace of boasting made Dante inclined to believe it.

"Hopefully we will have some luck.". It was true, much relied on the skill of the hunters, but every hunt was a bit of luck too. Would the herds come close enough, would there be a suitable member of the herd to pick off, would the weather hold... These were outside their control.

He nodded, ensuring that he would rise the alarm when the time came. But when it would come was another matter altogether, though Mordecai was confident it would not be a lengthy wait. He only hoped that the turn out would be decent but that too would take time to tell. There was much to do in the downtime between now and then. The things that Dante considered and pondered over, Mordecai did not however.

"So how's the winter been here? It looks like you've all done well for yourselves, and from what I can tell things here have been fairly mild." Though the pair had caught up a bit from their original encounter, Mordecai still found himself curious of how the pack had faired. Even the Spine had pulled through the winter that he thought mild. But in a way, it was a fair ploy to figure out where he could have aided the plateau just a bit more.

He nodded.  "It's been rather mild, though I'm not sure if that's the norm.  This was my first winter in these parts."  Which he might remember.  Mordecai had been one of the first he'd met. His previous winter had been much harder, but luckily he and his sister had joined a pack previous to it. Just previous. He couldn't imagine what might have befallen them if they had tried to make it alone.

"Where did you winter?" he was curious, but if Mordecai chose not to speak of it he wouldn't be offended. He didn't recall having spoken with him about where he'd been in any sort of detail.

He did remember that Dante had not spent much more time than himself in those parts. They had encountered one another just days into their exploration of the wilderness and had thankfully forged a friendship from it. But Mordecai had his doubts on the mildness of winter, and was willing to say so.

"I've found that the further north I've gone the worse the winter. This year seems to have been an exception," and hopefully it would continue to be. "I weathered out the first half of the season at the Spine, and when I left even the trails well to our north were easily traveled. Neither I nor my companion had much trouble." Even game had been somewhat easy to come across, he thought in hindsight.

"Makes sense."  He knew that the further north, the colder it got, though he had never gone so far as to know just how cold one could get.  Mostly he had stuck to the same range, though he'd heard stories of the north from those who had once lived there. It seemed a beautiful but awfully uncomfortable place to make a home.

"That is good. I too am rather glad we were blessed with such a mild winter. Though a bit more snow may have been fun," he added, smiling. He enjoyed a good romp or two in the snow so long as the stuff didn't overstay its welcome.

"Well, if it's more snow that you're after, you could always climb up the mountains a bit. There's usually some snow left up there." A chuckle escaped him at the thought of Dante doing such a thing — the plateau certainly wasn't that far off from the mountains at all. In fact, it butted right up against them properly, though he couldn't figure out a way to go about scaling such a height. Truth be told, Mordecai hadn't a lot of interest to do so just yet, either. Not while the season was still in its change; he didn't trust some of the snow at certain elevations to hold him, let alone permit him to pass across its speckled landscape.

"And who knows, maybe we'll see one more snowfall before spring comes all the way. Wouldn't be the first time I've seen it happen." Granted, he couldn't have said where he had been when such a thing had happened. Unlike his friend, Mordecai had been through an assortment of ranges and their respective biomes. It may have been somewhere along the Rockies that he had seen such an event. But what spring would bring for the wilderness here, he could only wait and see.

Dante too laughed at the thought, though the mountains were of interest to him. He'd always appreciated the rugged majesty of them, and perhaps one day he would attempt to scale their reaches. For now he was content with all four paws grounded, though, and would leave their reaches to the birds.

"That is true." Having lived through only two winters, he could not say he had seen such himself, but the weather was such a fickle thing sometimes, why would it not? "I'll have to hope for that then." He finished with a grin, knowing that he truly would wish for no such thing. Snow was pretty to be sure, but he hardly thought such a late snow would bode well. Spring and summer were much preferred in his mind, and he had awaited them so eagerly he couldn't bring himself to wish backwards.

"Speaking of mountains, care for a walk along ours?" He didn't want to cut them short, but he did wish to keep up his course.

Likewise, he didn't believe that Dante would go wishing for another snowfall. They had all had their fill of winter as far as Mordecai could tell and even he wished for the warmth that spring would bring back to them. "Why not," he said, motioning for his greyscaled friend to take the lead. A walk along the mountains that ringed the plateau seemed like a fair use of their time, and would better acquaint Mordecai with parts of the territory that he wasn't so certain with. He knew that if he wanted to be some sort of an asset here, it would serve him well to learn what he could about the terrain that they had missed out on in their initial meeting. So they set off, travelling lightly but swift towards the mountains that towered over the forestry of their varied terrain.