King Elk Forest winding way - Printable Version

It was a dreary, cold day that found her horizon dotting with what she guessed may be the forest of the King Elk. Into the hinterlands, the going had been slow since leaving the mountain range, but her path was direct as she had hoped to make it. Still, the deepening cold, occasional sleet and rain, on top of the need to scrape up meal and an alright rest for herself on a halfway regular basis (she wasn't trying to show up looking like total garbage) was making it take just too damn long.

Still, the agouti scout pressed forward day after day until the faintest whiffs of packscent began to creep on her. Again, she hoped this was the place.. and that some of these boundaries she was starting to come upon belonged to @Mato. Her sense of direction was pretty good after all, @Delight had pointed her about this way from the Sweep, and now here she was coming upon pack; it boded well. So before she could start to loiter any closer to arose their suspicions unwanted, she came to a pause a good distance away and tipped back her slender nose and howled out to the one here she knew about. It wasn't necessarily her style of approach to come calling like this, though, even if she had told the chocolate-coated wolf that she might.

*waves*!! <3

his conversation with mato has been weighing somewhat heavily on him. for all the turbulence in his young life, delight doesn't like change - but hopefully winter's approach will buy them some time to think things through, and perhaps the snow will drive more toward their borders and they won't need to think at all. at least all this heavy thinking has given the vailë something else to dwell on besides his unrequited love crush.

he is not near the borders when he hears the howl, but surprised and pleased he makes his way quickly, feeling as always the slightly twinge of longing at the soldier's absence (his scents linger faintly, reminders for the still-fresh pack of their lost numbers). the agouti girl is easy enough to find and he offers an awkward half-smile with his approach. "jomyo, hey."

She stayed painfully patient (and hyper-vigilant in case this did turn out to be the wrong place) to let the note of her call fade away on the winds, then give them some time to process that--if they felt like humoring her without a real purpose, of course. She didn't know how deep these woods were or how vast their claim, or what else they really did here besides that it was trades based in some regard with an impressive elk wandering around somewhere. At least their outskirts did not speak of too many wolves.. but she wasn't about to take any chances in case she misread, and she willed it to be the one she had in mind to materialize from the depths of the woodlot.

When it is him, she let go the breath she'd been holding in a long sigh, and let this weight lifting splay out her ears mindfully enough. She was thankful for any piece of familiarity she could get these days. At least one past meeting was better than none. Now: "Hi," she tipped her muzzle first at him then past him to the trees with bright, curious eyes tracing an obvious path. "So it is the place," she smirked knowingly as she gleaned her satisfaction for successful route to uphold her word.. even if it had always just been a maybe. "How are things here..? With your elk and all," her tail switched.

it is not that he is able to put aside his worries - but his expression is so prone to the saturnine that any additional anxiety he's experiencing is hard to miss. the androgyne's half smile falls away, though his expression remains warm enough (by his standards), making a small amused sound at her words. "it is," he agrees, and bites back a frown. "it's going okay, y'know." part of him is still hopeful she'll decide to stick around - they need a scout, they need numbers, delight needs someone around who isn't a constant reminder of mato (of course he'll deny that bit flatly).

but he wouldn't hold it against her either way. everyone's got their own journey and all of that. at least she actually showed up. "actually, the king elk has a cow - we think," he says, with all the seriousness of delivering a bit of particularly juicy gossip. "he chased off the rest of the herd so there's a bunch to hunt, i have no idea if the cow's going to give birth to his children though. child? whatever."

the dusk-tinted vailë takes a step back into the forest, tilting his head slightly as he waits for jomyo to follow - if she wants to see everything for herself - and asks, "how's things not-here?"

As for not here, she frowned, displeased; "Uneventful. Getting cold." she clicked her teeth, feeling frustration threaten to edge in on her at the thought of winter--a horrible time for scouting about freely, wandering to wherever she pleased. It was a lot like last year (almost down to the day even), only even less defined this time around without a single word to go on. She felt completely on her own this time, and peered at him like she couldn't decide what else to say.. which wasn't wrong. Jomyo's ears angled back anew. "I still haven't heard any word from my siblings--they're scouts too, we used to touch base sometimes--and winter's soon." There hung a lick of bitterness on her tongue. She was sour she was sad about them, and maybe a small bit worried.

Since she hadn't brought up that matter in their last encounter, she knew she had to tie it in for relevance. Delight wouldn't know how long she'd wandered without due cause, at least not one that was too far away to truly matter. He couldn't quite know how it was she did this, and she sighed, deciding to dive-bomb for her next point before it could weigh her down more. "I may need a spot for the winter," somehow, she eyed him even more carefully to watch how he'd take that. He wasn't the Morwinyon, she knew, but he had to have some good sense of this place and his leader. Jomyo lent him her trust that he'd let her know if this was going to crash and burn before she pressed it any further than this. "There are not many packs near here, and even outside that, few that are worth a second glance sometimes." The mountain's wolves was her only other reoccurring theme besides this elk forest, but she wasn't that ready for heights yet. "You said this was trades emphasizing here. I was literally raised to do what I do, so.." Her interest was now out there, down to her reasons why. She wanted a comfortable base, some sliver of camaraderie to enjoy when she wanted it, and above all, to make use of what she knew she could do when uninhibited. Being frank, she went on: "I can't guarantee anything absolutely permanent, but for me, it's the best lead I've seen in moons."

sympathetically he nods - it has been getting colder, though the forest has not been too bad - and she goes on to talk about her siblings. with a pang delight thinks about his family, lost forever in the storm-hewn stone and snow. as quickly as the thought comes he pushes it back and away - the vailë is an excellenct comparmentalizer. he's had to be.

"that sucks," delight says, though he does not have much else to offer. thankfully she does not seem to be in want of reassurance, changing tracks to - oh. oh. "that so?" the androgyne asks with the utmost casual-ness, just, totally cool. just completely cool (he can't help but smile, just a little).

jomyo is a definite boon: besides the fact that they need numbers, she's a scout, which they lack at the moment and could desperately use especially if mato is still hell-bent on potentially moving. plus he likes her. he already knows mato will be happy to have her join - the temporary thing is a bit of a downer as the wisp likes, generally, his people to stay, but at least she's up front about that. and if they can get through winter, hopefully spring will prove more fruitful. "yeah," he says, "that's - i get you, it sounds good to me. i'm sure morwinyon will approve, but i'll call for him." and with that, the singing-sunlight tips back his head and quickly calls to summon @Mato.

The empyrean hears Delight’s call rise through the crisp and chilly air that bespoke the early vestiges of winter and shifts his course to make his way towards the borders where the other male’s summons had risen from. His ears twitch as he closes the distance, not forgetting the conversation that he last held with Delight: of the potentially interested woman he’d spoken of and Mato’s confession of his feelings regarding their location. It had felt good to get it off his chest in any capacity but it still haunts Mato: the weight of the pros and cons and the worry if Burke could handle a move like that. Of course he still needed to make that trip to Northstar Vale and he acknowledges that if he’s going to pay a visit now is the time: when their borders are not frequented by anyone other than those of Tindómë. He knows he needs not to worry about anything: he trusted his wolves impeccably and the Hinterlands were secluded ( for better or for worse he is still debating ). The Morwinyon’s steps slow as he nears the pair, letting out a low chuff of greeting and inquiry as his tail wags over his back: affirming that he is the starlit king here and that this is his domain. Appearances are everything to the vain druid after all.

She knew how it could be, what the expectations were.. all the like, thus her mild disclaimer that seemed to go over as alright as it could. It wasn't meant to say outright that her loyalty was questionable, but.. well, sometimes it just was that way. None of that was helped by the fact that she still felt the tie back to her family pack. If her brothers summoned, or somehow back home came calling for her, she knew she'd answer.. no offense to whoever it was she was running with at present. But none of that had ever happened before.

Anyway. It was good enough, it seemed. Just like that so soon, the call rose up for the Morwinyon himself and Jomyo kept a straight face. With a small sigh, she went on to justify herself before he could arrive, and the real scrutiny could begin. "Yeah, I don't know. I'm not saying I'm planning on ditching as soon as spring thaws or anything, but I do like to move, and always have before," she licked at her lips, and decided to leave it at that.

They weren't alone for very much longer. The scout squared her paws and tipped her muzzle downward, in towards her chest, although she was still certain to keep an eye upon the new wolf's approach just to make sure this was the leader of these woods. Sight of him, silvered, ethereal, and proud made her glad she'd taken the time to groom up a bit and not show up looking like a total junkpile--but that aside, she tucked her tail slightly and minded herself neatly to defer to him. "Hi. I'm Jomyo," she said. It didn't really occur to her that he'd been prefaced on her, so she went for the point. "I'd like to join."

jomyo qualifies herself a little and delight shrugs at her, nodding. we'll take what we can get, he thinks but absolutely doesn't say, instead offering, "that's fine - i mean, if you wanna be a scout anyway, we can probably work something out too." he'd offered to follow mato to the vale but obviously it wouldn't be a good idea to leave their numbers so sparse here, even if the forest is so secluded. if jomyo's up for it though.. he mulls it over quietly.

mato's quick to arrive and delight ignores the way his heart flutters, glancing instead at jomyo to watch her reaction. he's pleased when she lowers herself appropriately, though he'd never thought she wouldn't or he wouldn't have invited her to come along in the first place. "jomyo who i mentioned before," he says, assuming morwinyon could puzzle that out for himself but wanting to keep this smooth and simple. "she's a scout," the androgyne adds with a faintly conspiratorial air. one, so mato knows she's already skilled - what they desire - but also - if mato still wants to scope out the vale... having a scout around is handy. in delight's opinion at least. (but what does he know?)

Mato’s gaze rests upon the woman as she introduces herself as Jomyo and states that she’d like to join. The empyrean studies her as she defers to him. She appears healthy and strong — he is comforted that he does not scent any sort of illness upon her. Apple green gaze of the empyrean flickers to Delight briefly as he mentions that Jomyo is a scout. They haven’t had a scout since Uka and Mato knows that it would be beneficial to Tindómë — though he still sticks to the fact that he would not turn a wolf just because they share similar trade interests with another; diversity is great but he would never presume to tell anyone what trades they should take especially when Tindómë’s entire rank system is contingent upon it. “It’s been some time we had a scout,” Mato muses, breaking his silence. He still had yet to go venture out to see if the Strath pack remained or not and though The Hinterlands was not a heavily traveled region and he could have went himself other things have taken the idea away from him. “We could use one.” He affirms with a nod of approval. “I am Mato, the Morwinyon. Welcome to Tindómë Jomyo,” Delight has done most of the work with her and the druid is proud of the wisp, tucking away the work that the male’s been putting in the back of his mind under commendation.

“I have a scouting task for you if you’re interested, once you’re all settled, of course. We can discuss it later, if you'd like. Delight, would you like to give her the tour?” Mato inquires; which subtly reminded him of the King Elk ( sacrilege that he’d even forget ). “Ah, one last thing. I’m not sure if Delight mentioned it at all or not but we share this forest with a elk …well and his cow now. Neither are to be hunted. It was his forest before it was ours. He’s got a bit of a reputation of being a wolf killer but so far we’ve lived in harmony. He doesn’t bother us as long as we do not bother him.” The King Elk has become the sacred mascot of Tindómë ( and for a moment Mato feels bad that he’s considered uprooting it and stealing the wolves away from the King Elk ).

She still found herself interested, and they both seemed willing to understand just how it was, and how it would always foreseeable be for her itchy feet. It is her worth as a scout that she believed helped keep this meeting concise and to the point. A piece of her is undoubtedly thankful, although the long wandering months of doing nothing that mattered still stung just a bit. She'd have to get over it soon. Soon enough, she's welcomed. "Ah, thanks," she dipped her muzzle in the Morwinyon's direction, and glanced speedily at Delight in the second after. It's official. Just like that.

Then her ears perk, and there's already something he has in mind? She eyed the new silvery alpha. "Alright, yeah. I'm definitely interested. Let me know soon enough," she promises beneath a set of splayed ears, all the while wishing she was in pristine shape to head off sooner rather than later, before winter could get too nasty out here. She'd.. need a moment first. It was half the point in all this. But it was a relief to know her newest lead already had something for her to do and a use to make of her. That could make this easy, so she'd get to work in rebuilding some lost reserves before she sped off to anywhere. Plus now she had this forest to get to know more intimately. "He did tell me a bit about him, but sounds fair enough." she bobbed her head in a nod since someone like her had no business hunting an elk anyway. She wasn't keen on being killed by any highly revered elk, so she'd let him (and his cow now too evidently) pass. If anything, she did want to see him at least once.

wrap here?

delight tunes out slightly until mato addresses him; he jumps, a touch guility, and nods. "sure," the androgyne says, turning towards jomyo with a slightly more normal looking smile. he's glad mato seems to have picked up what he was putting down - though there's still plenty of time as far as he's concerned, and anyway, he's feeling ready to wrap this up and get back to giving jomyo an introduction to the forest. "c'mon," he says, his tail swishing behind him as he steps forward, ready to lead the new núro into their home.