she's creeping up on the side of the lake closest to blackfeather
Much of her knowledge over the winter was secondhand through others. From bits about pack statuses to the curious presence of the strange canines.. and this was not even complete. Of the war between groups in the north to some freshly formed packs, she had no idea. The Spire had been her main concern all winter
Now, with spring prevalent in the Wilds, she had trekked down the slopes and beyond. A while ago she had expressed to Jace a want to travel a bit.. but this was not that trip. Not yet. She would know when the time was right for that. Until then, shorter investigations of the immediate vicinity would busy her time.. when she wasn't devoting it all to the mountain, but it was difficult to deny her interests in seeing other sights. Today she headed into the flatlands, then south, along the curvature of the river with a hint of a thought in mind.
As disconnected from the flatlands as the Spire seemed to be, it was noteworthy when they came sniffing up onto her turf. She had smelled them first -- a pair. They had crossed the borderline, then left. This was interesting.. but she did not immediately track them down, despite the warm trail at her paws.
Both had a somewhat familiar odor about them. Although it was faint. They weren't intending to make a statement with that alone). It had taken her a second to place it precisely, but she soon remembered Meldresi. Once, their paths had crossed and Ame was aware of the presence in Blackfeather with her at the stead. Somehow, it had always seemed to suit her, and the dark mountain alpha rarely heard from them beyond that. So, it only seemed reasonable to be curious when they came lurking up onto her doorstep.. and presumably with a whelp in tow, no less.
She headed their way under a waning afternoon, with notably increasing cloudiness as her company. There was no precise mission in her path, but instead, she'd see what she may find -- be it of the Blackfeather sort or otherwise. She traveled the lake's edge without taking any particular efforts to conceal her presence for she knew that the setting and the time of day did not provide good cover, not that she had anything to hide anyway..
Ryker padded through the flatlands. He hoped he wouldn't run into any more wolves. At the same time he did though. He loved company but not the wrong kind. He wasn't sure all the wolves around here would be as friendly as those he had met.
He padded close to a small stream and paused for a moment to take a drink. He picked up the scent of a wolf and heard the pawsteps. he immediately peered up to see a wolf walking straight towards him. The wolf however seemed to be distracted. May not even know he was there. Might be a good thing if this wolf just kept walking. He went back to drinking the water hoping the wolf would not suddenly realize he was there.
He lay ears twitching half expecting the wolf to snap out if it and get really mad because of his presence or something.
Indeed, her focus was spread thin. She was carefully taking in the scenery as she was often prone to do -- down to its innermost details, and always hungry to learn more. The subtle thrum of the springtime in the landscape did interest her most of all, and she admittedly let herself be distracted by the smell of new plant growth and the warm sight of greenery.. after a long season of cold and dreariness.
Only when the winds whispered of a nearby wolf scent did she begin to pull her attention from the inanimate towards the wolf just in her path. While she had not anticipated seeing him there, so nearby, too, her expression was masked carefully. Her ears swung forward curiously and she lifted up her muzzle to take in a good, long look at him as she slowed to a loose walk. He continued drinking, so, she offered a soft chuff.
She paused a few paces away from him, and held herself calmly confident despite having possibly intruded onto his space. Since he did not smell of a pack she knew, or even any other wolf groups in particular, she was interesting in playing out an encounter -- for better or for worse. Amekaze watched him keenly.
He winced internally as the wolf behind him did indeed appear to notice him and had let out a small chuff. He turned around and faced the wolf. He took a moment to take in the scent. Pack wolf. Shoot He hoped he wasnt intruding on the territory. That would not be good. He watched the wolf for a moment.
"Erm, Hello," he said with an awkward look to him. Not the greatest of ways to start conversations. This showed him as perhaps weak. An easy target. That he probably was. Although most of what he knew was self taught that wasn't always a good thing. His fighting was not very good. He couldn't fight well or for long. He prayed that was not what this wolf wanted. "Am I intruding, if i am. I'm very sorry and ill make my way out immediately," he ducked his head but tried not to look to weak.
He stood and waited to see what this wolf would do next, his tail twitching nervously.
Amekaze was well-aware that a scrutinizing eye paired with an otherwise confident expression could prove to be unnerving to some. He did seem somewhat nervous already, but her intentions were not to be aggressive here.. unless otherwise provoke. If anything, loners (when away from her mountain) were the wolves she preferred to meet since rarely they were the source of trouble. Pack wolves with their relations and implications were sometimes more trouble than they were worth.
"No, you are not.." she replied, standing relaxed then with her keen eyes still trained onto him. She withheld a growing smirk, as was only natural for her. Since there was only so much she could tell from looking at him, there was still plenty to find out. "The better question seems to be if I am intruding on you. You do look rather.. anxious," her tail swayed a slow rhythm and she sought to meet his amber eyes readily. Not much flustered her these days, but she was looking to keep her interests occupied for a while, not feel overly perturbed. She tilted her head at him. "So am I interrupting something?" she smirked. He did look like he had just been walked in on, standing there with his head ducked.
Ryker was somewhat relieved to find out that he was in fact not intruding on any packs. When the wolf mentioned he looked anxious he knew she could tell a lot more than he wanted her too. He straightened up and tried to loosen up a little.
"Me nah your not interrupting anything. I'm just nervous around new wolves. I am worried im intruding on something and that i would be put into a situation I couldn't handle," he stated. He decided to leave out the part about him not being able to fight because he figured that would not help his case.
"Your a pack wolf so if I'm not intruding how come your out here and not with your pack?" he asked with a curious tilt to his head. That was Ryker for you. Always asking questions.
He wasn't wrong to be anxious, sure. Lone wolves could be on the receiving end of all sorts of violence. But, as far as she knew, most packs were not aggressive enough to attack someone out here. The nearest borders were hers -- definitely not wolves she inspired to be warmongering past their mountain, and then Blackfeather. Which, to her knowledge, mainly kept to their shadowed forest.
She listened, a little surprised by his openness once he got started. "I see," she breathed, deeming it a good enough answer and deciding not to question it for further details. "My pack is not too far from here.. and, they do not need me with them at all times," she answered truthfully. Besides, if they did need her, she was still only a good howl away. But she trusted that her wolves were an independent enough lot to let her be off the slopes for a few hours. "I usually come here to hunt. Now that it is spring, I want to see more.." the dark alpha added.
"Have you wandered near here for long?" she asked. Loners often trickled through. Some stayed longer than others, some were here for only a blink.. it was hard to say. Since the scents on him were so nondescript, she couldn't make a guess.
"That makes sense," he replied to the answer she gave to his previous question about why she was outside her pack territory. He was thankful that he hadnt intruded because apparently he wasnt far from their borders.
"I haven't been in the wilds long. Maybe a few weeks. or so," he thought for a moment. To be quite honest he wasn't completely sure when he got into the wilds because he hadn't known this was the wilds until he met Keil.
"Have you lived here long?" he asked hoping that wasn't too personal of a question to ask. To be honest he wasn't very good at keeping up conversations. Something he probably should work on.
She looked him over as she listened, nodding slowly and subtly. Knowing he was not a long-time loner made a lot of sense; she'd never smelled him around, and nor did he look to be in rough condition. Then again, some wolves in this area could prosper surprisingly well for a solo wolf since the lands were fruitful many months out of the year. But even with that, not all could.
"I have, both as a loner and pack wolf." Amekaze answered with a nod. For the greater part of a year's time as a loner and then for almost a full year with some type of pack, she felt she was more than settled into the Teekon. "Are you passing through or seeking a pack, or anything else, really? I know the life as a nomad has its benefits," she asked outright with a small smirk, since she knew it could be any number of things; he was a young, lively-looking male out with all of spring and summer ahead of him, so his possibilities were plenty numerous. She was just curious, and if he'd humor her with an answer, then all the better.
Ryker gave an amused glance to the black wolf who was standing in front of him. "I don't really know what I'm doing here to be quite honest," he stated. He hadn't really figured out what he was doing here. Whether he would join a pack or remain a lone. Perhaps he would find refuge at some point in his life. Right now though he was enjoying his freedom and figured he was best a lone until he had matured and learned a little more respect for leadership.
He didn't feel like moving into a pack only to be kicked out for being a complete ass or for messing up something. "I think I'm better off as a lone wolf for a while," he said brushing his paw on the ground. It was a nervous twitch of his. Whenever her wasn't sure of something or wasn't comfortable in a situation in this case the former, he found himself pawing or digging at the ground with one of his paws. "I will just wander for a while maybe socialize with wolves i run into along the way, make some friends," he shrugged. Friends wouldn't be a bad thing. At least he wouldn't be completely alone.
He was open in his admissions, and Amekaze nodded in understanding. She had seen the appeal of being a loner as well, and certainly would not fault him for a thinking such as that one. Being in a pack was not easy. It had its benefits, but there was much to uphold as one too, and if he didn't feel suited to it at this time, it was just best off for him this way.
"I see, I did feel the same once.. because no packs seemed to interest me that much at the time," she added. A few had come close, but it had always managed to fall through before she could be entirely won over into joining. Not until she had established a friendship with Ferdie and a winter alone had worn her out did she finally cave and join the Creek. "This is a good place to do that, though. While there are plenty of packs to be mindful of, the resources have been plentiful as long as I have lived around here.." Of course, winters did get lean yet they were not impossibly so. Last winter had been downright mild. "Have you been a loner for long?" she asked.
"Yea ive been a loner for a while, most of my life actually," he said staring at his paws for a moment. He had travelled far in the short time he had been on this planet. Lived through alot, his mothers death, learning how to hunt, a fight he had about a month ago with another wolf.
He was beginning to come to the realization that perhaps there were benefits even for him to joining a pack. He needed to learn how to fight properly and how to hunt larger prey. He wasn't willing to try hunting larger game on his own because he wasn't that much of a daredevil. "You have a pack now though, do you like it there?" he asked curiously. There he was again asking questions.
She tilted her head in a clear indication of her curiosity -- to live as a loner for most of one's life was not overly common, to her experience, and it only served to further her thinking that it seemed to suit him well. "Ah, interesting. I do not meet many who stay unaffiliated for so long," she said. Certainly, Amekaze could see the appeal in it sometimes, but in the long run, it was not a lifestyle for her. She preferred a small, tightly-knit pack that was there for her without her feeling weighed down by commitments and otherwise.
"I do. My pack is one that.. allows me camaraderie and a share of freedom, so I do not feel stifled.." she explained. It struck a balance that fit her. "Before this, I did stay a loner for a long time because I would not settle for just any place," she went on to mention with a rolling of her shoulders. It had taken the pull of a friendship at a bad time for scavenging to get her into a pack in the first place, and even that one had not lasted long at the start. She was glad for it, though, because it had led her to the Sunspire.
From there, the conversation eventually tapered and she felt the itch to rove onward. Not wanting to linger any longer, she departed and took off at a slow trot towards the west.