Wolf RPG

he ranged far this day, besot with a depression that was not easy to shake. he had come upon the mount before, but the pack had moved to the spine, and he had not returned. the rock here was spotted with the scent of a new grouping, and the mingled fragrances gave taltos pause. here he explored; he knew soon the strength of the pack, and its leaders.

stopping at the sloped, wooded borders, the ecru beta lifted his eyes to survey the horizon. his time with tartok had left him ever desirous of mountains, but the bittersweet memory of siku had ruined the experience for him.

he waited.

FitzDutiful was actually on his way out of the pack lands when a scent of the plateau rode on the wind. He headed towards it, curious as to which of the pack was near the outskirts of his pack. He didn't feel threatened by it, his talk with Chaska and Kero had cured him of his self doubt on that front. He had to believe in himself and he was beginning to. He didn't know for sure whether they would get any new recruits but they were doing well and would continue to do so.

"Hi there." he said, coming across a dark wolf with a few streaks of silver amongst the black, green eyes looking at the horizon. "Come to admire the mountain?" he asked with a smile. It was nice to get visitors. He had been meaning to visit them for too long now - maybe the outrider had passed on his message all those months ago.

thanks for joining!

"yes," taltos answered as he was joined by a fine specimen of a man. he allowed his stance to relax in an unassuming manner -- he meant no threat, and was warmed by the amiable greeting. "i am taltos, beta ruler of blacktail deer plateau. i knew this place when it was claimed by another."

the man fell silent then, watching his fellow with gentle gaze, his words open-ended so that the presumable leader of the mountain might speak if he so wished. 

A wolf of few words it appeared was at his border; or maybe it was more a wolf directly to the point. Either way it was welcome to just have a visitor at their borders for it had been a while. "Welcome Taltos," FitzDutiful responded before introducing himself and his rank as alpha of the Silvertip Mountain. He followed this by a question, "There were others here before us? I've been in the valley a while but I never knew a pack had previously lived on this mountain — do you know why they left?"

His mind was racing but his exterior was calm, was it possible that there was a danger on the mountain that he had failed to perceive? Would he have to move his pack in the forseeable future? He sincerely hoped not for his family had taken on the Silvertip name and he wished for them to pass that down the generations.

the man was measured, calm. "i do not know. i know only that they moved to become ouroboros spine. perhaps they grew to be too many in number for this mount," lasher surmised, his gaze flickering approvingly over the mountain. "it is a lovely place. i myself would have remained."

he did not know that spirits had a hand in the departure of the silvertip wolves, or else perhaps he would have warned the man standing before him. "fitzdutiful. it is an interesting name."

It appeared that although Taltos had known the previous occupants he had no idea why their leader had chosen to lead them away from the lands. He nodded in reply to sentiment that he male would have personally remained. "I fell in love with it when I was first here." It seemed so long ago that he had come here on a naturalist scouting mission and how he was here with is family.

"I could say the same about yours," FitzDutiful replied to Taltos, "Mine does lead to interesting nicknames, the most recently being FitzD" he said with a small laugh, remembering Kero and their meeting in the hot springs.

he chuckled. the man was amiable enough, but he had no doubt that fitzdutiful would turn savage in a heartbeat to defend that which was his. he did not smell cubs upon the borders, but with the love that the leader displayed toward his land, it was doubtful that another year would pass without the birth of a new generation. "my given name is lasher. taltos was an epithet aimed to harm, but i have adopted it as one of my titles." 

Taltos - or Lasher - was right in their internal thoughts. The cubs were in the land but safe within the hollow that protected all the dens of the mountain. Safe and secure, yet he knew full well that they would begin to venture out and the extent of his protection over his children was beginning to wane. There was only so much he could do.

"An epithet?" he queried, the word foreign to him. He wasn't above asking when he required more knowledge about a subject, he'd rather admit he didn't know everything than pretend and be found out. "And which do you prefer, Lasher or Taltos?

"a word meant to hurt," he explained gently. "that is why i took it and made it my own; it robs the title of its power." he smiled at fitzdutiful. "either shall do. many use them interchangeably." he glanced to the heavens and then back to the silvertip ruler. while he would not put words into dante's mouth, he knew his alpha was a kind and logical man. with their dwindling numbers, it would be wise to extend an olive branch to the packs roundabout.

"may i hear a little of your lore? how you came to settle, and if you relocated?" 

Lasher wasn't the first wolf to enquire about the pack's history and FitzDutiful wasn't aware that the Plateau had dwindling numbers just as they did. If he had known he would wonder about the packs surviving after the winter wolves had left.

"Of course." For some reason he didn't fear Lasher's questions the same way he had from Rain. Maybe it was because Lasher was an actual neighbour and one of high ranking too - or maybe it was because they hadn't met with a fight brewing on the horizon. Seating himself more comfortable, and getting rid of an itch on his right ear, he started his story.

"I was initially part of the plateau myself. Last august, I wasn't there long - no more than a few days really before Fox and Perry announced their departure. They were the only wolves I knew here so I left with them." He decided not to pause, he wasn't sure whether the fences had been mended between the Caldera and the Plateau, he didn't want to be brandished with a specific brush for having "deserted" wolves he barely knew. "I stayed with the Caldera until a few moons ago. My mate and I wanted children of our own so we left, on good terms thankfully, and came to the mountain with others that we picked up along the way. Now we make this our home and my mate and I took the Silvertip name for our children to carry."

It was a lot more detailed than he had given Rain. He supposed that it was just Lasher being easy to talk to, now the story was at an end FitzDutiful waited to see if there was any fall out for having been a Caldera wolf.

the man had been a part of the caldera -- lasher had not remembered him. in the commotion following peregrine's departure, the earthen servant had been beset with keeping together his pack. he gave fitzdutiful a gentle nod, silently insinuating to the pale wolf that he would not loathe him for departing the plateau. "peregrine is indeed charismatic. it is not surprising that you followed him."

it was telling that he and his mate had left for the sake of children. of course fox would never allow pups that were not her own to be reared alongside those of herself. again disgusted, taltos shook aside the thoughts. "i cannot presume to speak for my fellow leaders, but i myself shall put the past behind us, and begin anew, as friends, if you would like."

The wolf in front of him reminded FitzDutiful of himself a lot and the calm collectivity with which he tried to approach situations. It was nice, and rare, to see another of that calibre. Wolves were so often swayed by their emotions one way or another. "I wouldn't expect you to speak for others of your pack. Though I do not hide my past I do not hold any allegiance with them." He waited for a moment, pondering whether to say what he wanted to. In the end he figured it was worth it. "I would hope that my prior history would not stand me in bad stead with members of your pack. Are things with the Caldera still on knife's edge?"

He had only heard from Peregrine the downside of things between the two packs and that was back when he lived at the Redhawk Caldera. It was unlikely things were mended though Perry had certainly wanted to mend those bridges when FitzDutiful had last held the counsellor position.

before, i think, for timelines' sake!

"no. but we are not close," lasher divulged, easily granting fitzdutiful that bit of information. the silvertip man was welcome to do with it as he saw fit. peregrine was an arrogant sort and had chosen fox over those who loved him, who had served him faithfully, at the plateau. let him live with his choices. fox would come to alienate the plateau wolves in a very real way but taltos had no foresight of that.

"and you? is the caldera among your allies?"

FitzDutiful didn't have the foresight either to know how he would be repelled from the Caldera borders when he went to visit, but he knew enough now to know that the Plateau was more important to him.

"I'm unsure." he admitted in response to Taltos' question. "I've not seen or heard from any of them for some months. I want to think that they are but not if that would cause strife with the Plateau. Our homes are close, I am not foolish enough to think a pack miles away will be of any help to us should danger strike. A pack across the river is easier to help."

He waited, he wanted to formalise an agreement with the Plateau but he knew that Lasher may not have the authority to do so, and the plateau in general may not have the desire. Wolf territories were complicated matters but between the two ran a small pass that they would easily defend together. With the mountain being small FitzDutiful's priority was to ensure that the pack's closest to home weren't a danger.

taltos understood what it was that fitzdutiful wished, and he dipped his head in understanding. "i will speak with dante and blue willow." many wolf packs, priding themselves on their feral nature, spurned such alliances, but the bond of ferocity and affability would perhaps mean the difference between death by the iced claws of winter's hand, or starvation on the tines of pride.

"perhaps when the children of the plateau have come of age, and your own, we shall arrange a play-date for them," he suggested softly. such things were blue willow's milieu; the healer very much needed to escape the borders of their home for a respite.

Lasher was in tip top shape and FitzDutiful found himself smiling, he hadn't known this man very long but he was enjoying the hidden meaning between their words and the way they both seemed to understand. He wanted a close male friend, with the mountain not having many pack members - and not seemingly gaining any either - it was a hard burden. FitzDutiful had thought that winter would be the hardest time to find pack members, but maybe the opposite was true. Wolves wanted security through the winter and ran the summer when prey was more bountiful.

Taltos started mentioning pups, and that brought FitzDutiful back to earth with a bang. Interesting, the Plateau had young pups too. "Mason and June would like that." FitzDutiful replied, a sudden thought coming to him, "I once heard, of packs far away, that would send their children as wards with other packs. The pup would learn about the world from the point of another pack for a few moon cycles and then return home with their experiences heightened and their respect for the world enhanced." He left any more unspoken. He would be interested in offering this for June, and maybe Mason too, if the wolves of the plateau also fancied it but they may not like the idea and that was fine too. It was something he had never seen done first hand as intriguing as the prospect was - he would also have to run it by Raissa.

lasher smiled. fitzdutiful was not only kind, he displayed an insightful sort of quiet intelligence that intrigued the ecru beta's mind. "i have heard of such things as well. i think it is a wonderful way to expand the mind." of course, such things must be heavily regulated, and the conflict with the caldera resolved before he felt dante would entertain such notions.

"mason and june," lasher repeated gently, plume swaying at his hips. "a son and a daughter? blue willow, our beta female and healer, and myself have three; eilidh, our daughter, constantine, and casmir, our sons." so fast had they grown; their spry and maturing forms had the earthen servant contemplating the coming years.

Lasher queried the genders of his children and FitzDutiful nodded in reply. There wasn't really much more to say to that, their names did give away their genders. He took the time to explain that himself and the beta female of the Plateau had three children of their own. A smile graced the curves of his muzzle as he thought about little Mason and June.

At this moment he couldn't know of June's underdevelopment. Even Mason was slightly behind the times but he had no pups to compare it to. It would probably only be during a meeting of the Plateau's children that these differences came to light, or that moment when Mason outreached his sister and showed - more brightly - the differences between them.

"I'm hoping to come visit the plateau in a few weeks, do you think your alpha would be open to that?" He couldn't remember the name of the alpha in question, but if Taltos didn't provide it now he would be sure to do his homework before the visit occurred. It was high time he got to know those neighbours - over and over again he said so but eventually words had to become action before they fell silently away.

taltos nodded. "i believe dante would indeed be open to the idea of affable visitors," he rejoined. the gunmetal male had seen much destruction and sadness in these past weeks. fitzdutiful's amiable nature and good-tempered demeanour would make the two packs pleasant bedfellows indeed.

as the pale man had not invited him into his domain, the reasoning of which lasher understood wholly, the ecru beta lifted his chin. "i must beg my leave of you now, but i await your visit, fitzdutiful," he murmured, smiling wanly at the silvertip alpha.

"I will be there as soon as time allows for it." he said, allowing Lasher to take his leave. Once again, FitzDutiful waited until the beta was out of sight before turning to leave the borders. He wondered if he should have invited the male into the Silvertip Mountain lands but reasoned that it was for the best he hadn't. It was only his first meeting with the beta, even if it had felt like talking to a brother that he had never had.

Turning to go back home, he smiled, wondering what opportunities were around the corner for Mason and June if relations went well with the pack across the river.

with a nod to fitzdutiful, lasher turned and set a long loping step for himself, heading away from silvertip in the direction of home, quite pleased to have made a friend and a potential ally for the blacktail wolves.