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+--- Thread: Ouroboros Spine Fox-squirrels! (/showthread.php?tid=5377)
Fox-squirrels! - Rain - October 19, 2014
It would be great if a few people could join in! (Mara especially!)
Her failure with the fox still pricks at Rain as she sniffs along the boarders of Ouroboros Spine. Who would have thought a fox could be a squirrel?The silly creature was probably still sitting up in the tree waiting for her return or mocking her. Dang fox-squirrel thing. She flicks an ear out of irritation. By the time she was able to return to Silvertip Mountain the fox would either be killed by another wolf or moved on to a different area. Even if the fox did relocate she was confident in her tracking abilities to find it again. It was her lack of hunting skills that gave her doubt to catching it.
An autumn breeze tainted with the scent of squirrel rustles the leaves above her causing a few of the dead ones to shake loose their hold on the branches and drift to the ever growing pile of colorful crispy ones below. Great, now the wind is mocking my loss. Her paws crunch over the dried up leaves, steadily heading in the direction of her pack's territory. She had ventured out here to learn the area of the Tekkon Wilds, but felt that she has been gone too long. A week now it has been, a month it has felt.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Mordecai - October 24, 2014
Hope it's OK if I join it. I'll tag @Mara here too, so she sees it. :3
Another round at the borders had turned up much of nothing for Mordecai. But he wasn't disheartened by the lack of curious faces, either. They had been lucky to recruit what they had, and so far most of them had stayed. There would always be those exceptions to the rule though, even if he could not entirely fathom why some wolves would gamble with the oncoming winter. Maybe it wouldn't have been as bad as he thought it would be, and maybe it would be mild and tame, plentiful in all things that they needed. But he wouldn't hold his breath.
Crossing over a small hill through a thin patch of forest, he distinct caught wind of another wolf. If the crunch of the leaves beneath the rush of wind meant anything, he knew that they weren't too far off, and he set his attention on them. A bit more of a trek brought them into his sight, as the grey hairs stuck out against the depth and range of the autumn foliage. There was something familiar about the way they smelled, though he couldn't have placed way, and in turn Mordecai bristled uncomfortably. He barked at them, most of all to gain their attention, but also as a means of stopping them and hopefully finding out what they were doing at their proverbial front door.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Rain - October 25, 2014
Thanks for responding(and the tag). I was thinking I'd have to close this one
A bark, sharp in the quite of the day, catches Rain's attention. She glances back, spotting no sign of the wolf who's alert has interrupted her steady pace. Knowing that she is dancing on the boarders of a pack, it is most likely that one of them has spotted her. Not that she is trying to slip by without notice. "Who's there?" She calls out, flicking an ear.
This would be her chance to gather some information for her Alpha. Getting to know the Tekkon Wilds is not her only purpose for venturing so far from The Sunspire. Amekaze has asked her to see what was going on in the packs outside of their territory. She is quite enjoying this little assignment to say the least. It seems that traveling around the different areas suits her quite well. Though she would rather be defending the boarders of The Sunspire, this traveling calls out to her spirit and sends it dancing with happiness.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Mordecai - October 26, 2014
No problem, I like snagging open threads!
He had gained her attention, but not without obscuring his own location. Mordecai used to unknowingly to his advantage, drawing in closer to her. He came from her side, not entirely silent either; a note which enclosed distance would give away. Again, he slowed his pace as she peered about, once more curiously testing the air for anything out of place. Only then did it seem like the appropriate time to answer her question, though maybe it wasn't an answer in any conventional way.
“Just someone who wants to know what you're doing near our borders.” His tone was quiet, but he found it easy to be polite. Whether or not that lasted would depend on her actions, but he was optimistic all the same.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Rain - October 26, 2014
Her head snaps to the side as a voice questions her intentions. A reddish brown wolf with gold eyes peers at her. He is a handsome wolf, tall and muscular. She notes, flicking an ear with a look of 'I'm stupid' flashing across her face for a moment. "I'm heading back to The Sunspire after gathering information from different packs and learning the area. Which reminds me," she takes a seat on the crispy leaves. "Which pack do you belong to? And do you have any news to share with The Sunspire?" She stares intently at this wolf, just to the right of his warm golden eyes.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Mordecai - October 26, 2014
Having seemingly surprised her, Mordecai relaxed himself a little. It hadn't been his intention to catch her entirely off her guard, but then again she had every note and air of someone who was unfamiliar with the lay of the land. Time had been kind to him in that regard, and his days of outlying at their borders had paid off with knowledge of the surrounding terrain.
However, she was forthcoming in what she was doing near the Spine's borders, a point that Mordecai was always grateful for. In light of everything that had happened beneath and behind their broad borders, he could have still said the majority of the wolves in those parts were respectful and decent. “Your leader is quite curious,” he replied without thinking. “You're the second one from the Spire that has visited our pack in recent weeks. Is there something going on near you that we should be concerned about?” It was hard not to try and pry, because Cuan had blissfully pulled information from him. The appearance of a second scout intrigued him, but his lips were far from loose this time.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Rain - October 26, 2014
Rain tilts her head out of confusion at the mention of another scout before her. "The second one?" She questions. "I've no knowledge of the first." She wonders what Amekaze is really up to. Rain had personally asked to travel the Tekkon Wilds because she felt that she needs to know the area and thought that Amekaze had asked for news out of curiosity towards the going-on's of other packs. Was there some other intention behind the favor the alpha had asked? "As far as something to be concerned about, that is a curiosity we both share." There are whispers in the pack about a missing alpha, but it is nothing that involves her personally. That was before she had joined the Sunspire and something she felt was not her tale to tell. Perhaps Amekaze wants to know if the other packs have any information pertaining to the disappearance of the previous alpha, or if a pack is the cause of the alpha going missing. A lot of other possibilities pop into her mind, but none of them seem as likely.
She feels as if she has caught onto something."Who was the first? Did they ask anything specifically? Do you know if they also went to any other packs?" The questions jump out of her mouth one after another as if of their own will. She clamps her mouth shut, feeling as if she should grant this reddish gold male a chance to answer. It isn't like her to question so quickly or so much, it seems curiosity is getting the best of her at the moment.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Mordecai - October 26, 2014
Their conversation turned interesting, though Mordecai couldn't have said how he felt about it. His queries seemed to unearth several more from the Spire wolf, however, and he listened to her fire away as though they were insights to her thoughts. Which they may as well have been, though he didn't devote much effort to interpreting them. Perhaps her leader had sent scouts out, and they had all gone to the same places.
“I believe his name was Cuan. He seemed to just be exploring, honestly.” And his words were honest; Cuan had struck him as one to be out exploring more than gathering information. Perhaps that had been the intent of his exploring, but the meaning had likely been lost along the way. Where he had gone was unknown to Mordecai, though he had assumed in his meeting with him that he had been returning to the Spire. Whether or not he had… who knew.
“But these woods are quiet, so I'm afraid I have nothing that would interest your leader.” A certain terseness found its way into him though, and he struggled to keep it out of his tone. So if the Spire's alpha was looking to assess threats, Mordecai had no interest in having them. The Spine kept itself apart from the others for a reason, and that reason he hoped would keep them out of trouble.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Rain - October 27, 2014
"I honestly can't say that have met Cuan yet." She lowers her head feeling embarrased for not knowing a pack mate."I was with my pack for a couple of days before requesting leave to learn the territories of the Tekkon Wilds." Flicking her ear she says, "Talking with the packs was Amekazes request for my absence, so I may be in a similar position that Cuan was."
She gives the wolf another look over as he tells her that these woods are quiet. "It's all right if you have no news. Though, you never mentioned which pack this is, and your name if I may be so bold to ask." Feeling that giving her name first would be more courteous she tells him, "You can call me Rain."
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Mordecai - October 27, 2014
What he garnished from her words was that she was fairly new to her own pack. Perhaps it seemed fitting to send out the newer wolves to do the scouting, if only as a means to test whether or not they would come back. It was an idea that occurred to him, however distantly, but it was tucked away all the same. Wanderlust was a powerful thing to take hold of any of them, but the real test was whether or not they could perhaps part with it. Survival often became the severing blade, this he knew. Beyond that, he had a loose name for the region that had become his home for the past seasons. Teekon Wilds. Interesting.
“You never asked,” he said cheekily. “I'm Mordecai, and you're at the borders of Ouroboros Spine.” The name rolled freely off his tongue, though he couldn't have said when the last time was that he had named it in full. It had become easier to simply refer to it as the Spine; the name invoked the memory of the story behind ouroboros for him momentarily. But it came and went in a cyclical form, and his attention did not deviate noticeably from Rain. Instead he turned the tables a little bit, curious of her short-lived existence at the Spire.
“What brought you to the Spire?” From what he had heard, it was quite a towering mountain, though he couldn't have picked out where it was. Beyond the river, in lands he had scarcely traveled. A rival to Silvertip in their not-so-distant north.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Rain - October 28, 2014
"Ouroboros Spine," she breathes while tucking the information to the back of her mind. "And Mordecai, an interesting name." There were a lot of different names in the Wilds. She feels that perhaps it would have been more fitting to have taken a different name when she had talked to Amekaze. But she doesn't think she could have gotten used to it. And besides, Rain is a name of her past faith. Letting go of the name would be to lose herself, and her goal in joining a new pack was not to change herself or forget her past as much as she may want to, but to be a part of a family again and try to make up for a mistake she can't forgive herself for.
Shaking a rising feeling of despair and self loathing, she answers, "I was tired of traveling and The Sunspire is almost the same as my homeland, so i decided to try settling there." An image of the snow capped mountains from her homeland fills her minds eye. The winters there were fiercely cold, but beautiful. And the summers were blistering hot at times, but the mountains would remain topped with snow. She never realized how much those mountains represented her homeland and everything she had cherished. "I was lucky that Amekaze accepted me." A feeling of doubt troubles her for a moment. Maybe choosing a home so similar was a mistake. Lifting her lip in a silent snarl, she scolds herself.
Remembering that Mordecai is standing in front of her she looks away. "Sorry," she apologizes. "I was lost in thought."
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Mordecai - October 28, 2014
Her reasons were very valid for choosing her home, though it seemed there was nothing of massive interest for him to retain from that. Mordecai supposed many wolves chose homes like their own, and in a way he could have reasoned that Jinx had ran things similar to his father. Feverish in the way they had handled things, but reasonable, perhaps even kind in their rule, they had garnered loyalty and retained their followers. But those that strayed, even straight up abandoned them had their own consequences. Mordecai had seen Leviathan turn away those who had left them, even when their reasons had been valid. And sometimes, Mordecai had not agreed with those reasons.
But they were not tantamount to what had been his eventual departure from his home. There was no turmoil, no underlying discord that had forced him out. He had simply chosen to disperse, as in a way many males did from their birthplaces. But he had never sought out a claim of his own. Coming into control of the Spine had been as much out of necessity as it had some sort of inward pride he had not realized he harbored. Ptarmigan had brought that out in him, however brief and rough their meetings had been. Yet, for as much as he was lost in momentary thought, so was she.
“It's fine. It happens to us all,” he said, forging a genuine smile. “But you were lucky to happen upon someone who would take you in. With winter setting in, I'm sure there are packs who have turned away extra mouths to feed. I can't speak for the packs here, but I have had my experience in the past with those who care not for travellers.” Even he had been turned away, in the past. Perhaps there would even come a time when the Spine simply chose to cast him out, or maybe he would leave it in time too. He had not thought that far ahead, only to the winter that lied before them.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Rain - October 29, 2014
"I had not thought of that," She states, referring to 'extra mouths to feed'. If she had to hunt for herself due to lack of food she has enough confidence in her hunting ability to do so. "This is the first pack that I've tried settling with since I left my homeland a year ago." She is enjoying their small talk, hoping they can continue for a little while longer.
"Also, if you've had experience with other packs, does that mean you aren't from here?" She inquires with a smile and a slight wag of her bushy tail. Rain always enjoys listening to others stories and getting to know them a little more. Hopefully she isn't prying into something considered too personal to discuss. There are things that she would rather not divulge about her past and knows that he may feel similar.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Mordecai - October 29, 2014
Perhaps if they were all master hunters and prey was more than just bountiful, they would have never needed to worry about the amount of mouths to feed. Some places prospered better with a large pack settled within them. Other places faltered and crumbled at the first chance. Where exactly the Spine lied on that imaginary scale was something he needed to figure out. Though even as their numbers bolstered, he felt confident that they would achieve the balance that they needed. Even if it took a while.
“You'd be right. I'm not originally from here. Then again, neither are a lot of wolves,” Mordecai said, canting his head thoughtfully. He really didn't know who he could have called a native and who he could have said wasn't from there. To him, Jinx had been a native, if only for the fact that she had lived in the region longer. So in a way, calling someone a native was better left to the decision time and knowledge. Mordecai did not consider himself a native by that standard, nor did he delve into where he had come from to begin with.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Rain - October 31, 2014
Wanderers, that's what all wolves appear to be. She assumes that even if bound by a pack it is nearly impossible to stay within the territory for long. But how can so many wolves leave their packs? If her past Alpha had not abandoned them and the pack had stayed together, then Rain would have defended them till she had died. Were there a lot of packs having difficulties? If she were an Alpha, she would do everything to keep her pack together, so why did other leaders allow their wolves to leave or let their packs die? "This is a harsh world," She comments, ears back.
Looking towards the direction of the Sunspire, Rain thinks, How long will my new pack last before it is gone? Or any of them here.... "How long have you been here now, Mordecai?" She wonders aloud.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Mordecai - November 02, 2014
As her ears pressed back against the curve of her head, Mordecai looked on curiously as she made a statement of the world. “Is it?” he queried. He had never considered whether or not it was harsh, though perhaps it really was. It was life, raw and simple, and they were bound by the nature that instinctively rolled through them. Some may have thought it harsh, but Mordecai did not see it entirely that way. It was evolution to a degree, however obscure. Packs founded and dissolved. Some of them were simply more nomadic than others. Some wolves simply lacked the drive to actually coordinate and hold a pack together. But they learned through those experiences, and learned to hone their skills for the next event horizon just out of reach.
Her next question brought him loose of his considerations. “Since the summer,” he said, not having a rough grasp on time. The comment came absently, almost out of nowhere. At least he felt certain that it had been the summertime, or at least pretty close to it. “Maybe since the late spring,” he added on, shrugging. It was hard to gauge the seasons there, but it was only the first set of them too. Even now, he felt like it was almost say to start calling it winter out, but only because the bite in the air was stronger and stronger. But if he had, then what did they say about their autumn? Mordecai did not sense it was entirely over.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Rain - November 03, 2014
From Rain's standpoint, Mordecai questions her statement on life simply and seemingly without much consideration. Not wanting to rationalize her outlook on the matter, she doesn't expect him to understand where she is coming from. Nor is it important on whether or not he would percive her meaning. The comment arrived out of fear for becoming lost again and the out of place feelings with her new pack. Perhaps she was looking for a pack that was similar to her previous one and upon not discovering it within the Sunspire she is unintentionally pushing them away.
His uncertain reply towards her inquiry on how long he's lived in the Spine did not give her much of a grasp on how long the pack has lived here. Though, knowing that he was from some where else, she suspected as much. I guess I will have to do the best I can for however long the Sunspire continues. Preceding to do what she can for the pack is trully all that should matter for her now. "I guess I will be on my way if there is nothing else to discuss," she tells him, almost posing it as a question. Rain had truly enjoyed their conversation and was slightly reluctant to leave.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Mordecai - November 04, 2014
Fade out with your next post? I had fun! :3
Though he sensed her reluctance to a degree, Mordecai wasn't sure if that was fully the notion he should have taken from it. Though he had enjoyed their conversation as well, they both had their obligations to attend to. Beyond that, he wasn't sure what more they could have really discussed either, as he wasn't keen on sharing every ounce of information he had stumbled across.
“I should technically get back to my patrol anyway,” he said, looking past them to the broad swath of land he hoped to cover shortly. “Perhaps we'll meet again?” A smile accompanied his move towards the closure of their meeting. While he had no intentions of travelling out to the Spire any time soon, it didn't mean that they weren't likely to cross paths again. How soon or late that would be, he couldn't have taken a guess.
RE: Fox-squirrels! - Rain - November 06, 2014
Her tail and ears droop at their inevitable goodbye. She smiles slightly through her sadness saying, "And I guess I should get back home." She thinks of the small unimportant report that she will be giving Amekaze, wishing she had come across something more exciting, but at least she can say relations between packs are well.
"I do hope we meet again," she nods in farewell and turns to continue her trek home, wondering when they would see each other again. She feels that she has made several potential friends on this quest and looks forward to seeing all of them again. I believe I've earned myself a trade now too. She puffs her chest out at the thought, picking her pace up to a lope out of excitement.