Wolf RPG

The old wood was dense and provided perfect cover for her dark body to slip away into the shadows. It was nearing dusk for the Spine, the sun nearly dipped beneath the highest rims to the west. It was by no means dark for them yet, but the heat and humidity continued to hang on. As night drew nearer, that humidity only seemed to grow thicker; it was palpable to her as she moved effortlessly along the terrain.

At least in the shade along that slope she could detect just the hint of a breeze. It filtered itself down from the higher climes and swooped in, lending to the Spine a thankfully cooler patch to rest in. She was a true creature of the north, still not entirely accustomed to the warmth that came with such places. And to a degree, she hated it. But Echelon was loathe to seek out a cavern or empty den to cool herself in. Instead she kept herself hydrated and kept busy, forcing that acclimation as best as she could. Their enemies may not have been troubled by it, so why should she? She did not doubt that Tonravik would be doing the same, or even had been.

All that came to her mind was the preparations that lied ahead for them all.

A familiar scent drifted through the air, one that Kroc had not scented in a while now. She had her own missions and said directives had taken her elsewhere at Tonravik's behest. This, the pale wolf knew and so had no intentions of chasing out the coywolf that had come back to them. No, in actuality, she was glad to scent the smaller female again and sought her out now to officially welcome her back. There had been too few whose skill she was absolutely sure of, especially after Kodiak had left and no hide or hair of Ivitaruk.

Spotting the other, Kroc barked, a low and rare sound as she trotted closer. Her gait was heavy but she moved with no problem, her weight an asset rather than a hindrance. Her tail brushed the air a bit, displaying her amicable attitude towards the other, but she came off no more relaxed than she normally did. (What even was relaxing? Kroc may never know.) "Hot damn, look who's back." She grinned slightly, a quick expression that faded away as she slowed in her approach.

So tightly wound into her thoughts, she missed the coming approach of Kroc. And when the pale-haired bear of a she-wolf called out, those thoughts unraveled in steep descent. Echelon did not startle at the accompaniment that came, instead halting in her own travel to be joined by the much larger female. Her head raised curiously at the words that came forth and lowered with a nod; yes, yes, she had come back and so on and so forth. She had gone where Tonravik could not and in turn, had come back.

And like her reunion with their issumatar, she did not receive any ill tidings thus far. Which was good, not so much in her way of saving face but that those who welcomed her back understood her departure. Understood the necessity that the only aid they came to was that of Tartok alone. She hummed indifferently, her way of inquiring of how Kroc had fared. Well, by the looks of it. The summer heat had not slowed her, or like Echelon she persisted in their proverbial oven.

Echelon's response was wrapped in silence but such a thing, the pallid creature did not mind. While Kroc was not nearly as quiet as their leader, she was also not inherently talkative. The absence of verbal conversation was implied in the body language, Kroc just as easily implying that there was nothing of note, since there was probably little that Echelon didn't already know. She tended to stay well informed.

Kroc did not launch the question back at her, for obviously the dark female had survived her trek and was no worse for wear. None of this stopped her from making a remark about all the bullshit that had gone down. "You missed all the fun." Kroc longed to tear the intrusive wretch from the Plains apart but knew that they had an advantage by letting their opponents come to them instead of the opposite. One day, she would sever that fool's head from her body and string her intestines along the border as a warning to any other idiot that came along.

At the mention of fun, she could not help but perk up a little bit. This fun that Nanuq spoke of was most certainly the same shared sort of fun they had between them. And though Tonravik had divulged a few things to her, it was hardly the bigger picture at hand. For as much as she desired as well to give those intruders a firm lashing at the receiving end of her teeth, she knew that they could not go brazenly to their home to carry it out. That much had been made clear to her.

Still, she wanted to be told from the eyes of someone who saw things similar to her — she snapped her teeth decisively, reaching out towards the empty air between them impatiently. Tell, tell!

Her grin stretched and widened as Echelon reacted, obviously wanting more than just a vague statement. Kroc would certainly oblige her these things, anger still sizzling under the surface of her psyche at the incredible stupidity that others had shown so far. She launched into a easy explanation, certainly not leaving out any amount of 'retards' and 'fucking idiots'. Tonravik would have been short and sweet about things, as she was a creature of few words anyway.

"We'll get our revenge on the stupid fuckers soon enough." Of this, she was absolutely sure. The wolves of the flatlands were stupid enough to try their fate against the Spine, against Tartok, where they would doubtlessly fall in a mire of their own foolishness.

What Kroc told her filled in some of the gaps that Tonravik had left. The fact that their borders had been ignored time and time again came as little surprise to Echelon, who had scented the misadventures in vague conclusion. It was also in their history thus far, all those little incidents that piled up.

Still, she thirsted at the thought of revenge. But she also recalled what Tonravik had said, in more or less words. While revenge was certainly on the table, it was not exactly an option that they would be taking. Unless it happened again, she supposed, because then the shit would have really hit the fan and been flung in all sorts of directions.

But her eyes reflected the same response, soon.

The fact that Echelon and Kroc were of like mind in this was obvious. The Plains wolves would pay for their foolishness and even now, there was the Beta's slight disappointment that they could not go terrorize them now. But with the Alpha's brood on the way, such a move was not smart; this, she knew and obeyed. War was not an option when one of their Alphas was slowed by her bloated belly. However, if the idiots pulled the same stunt yet another time, they would find that their comrades insides decorating their borders. 

"Borders?" She invited, her train of thought leading to the idea that another patrol was due now. If they were to keep the assholes off their lands, the only way to do that was to remain constantly vigilant. Besides, woe be to the trespasser that came across both Echelon and Kroc. Especially after all of this bullshit.

In her mind, they did not need a stalwart leader at the helm to go riding off into some sort of battle. Echelon was just as keen to rally with a few like-minded individuals and go fuck up some shit. She also felt that Nanuq was very much of the same mindset — yet both of them knew better. And ultimately it would not have mattered what they did or didn't do, as the wolves of the plains would eventually dissolve when time and change of season had its way with them.

With a nod to Nanuq's offer, Echelon pushed off from where she was, almost bounding ahead with some sort of muted glee arcing through her body. It probably seemed very silly, but she was prone to these things. Her comfort and trust with these wolves that stood with them turned up more and more, though she was wont to realize it until it was too late.

But anyway, hopefully they'd find some poor soul nosing around their borders wanting a facelift.

With Echelon bounding ahead, Nanuk picked up the pace a slight bit, nipping at her companion's haunch in a friendly gesture. It was good to have her back within the pack's borders as the polar bear trusted her a fair amount more than others. Should the Plains wolves come to terrorize them again, she looked forward to watching the coywolf torment them in her own special way. 

Thread end.