Nova Peak different drum

She wasn't sure what she had expected to find at the cliffs, but Drageda was gone from there. She shouldn't have been surprised, but she did feel sadness in her heart. It was nothing compared to the hole that Crow had left there, cruel as he had been, but it piled on more. In her first year, and even in the happy times spent with Crow, Sequoia had always been the optimist. Now, she grew more despondent, more bitter toward him. And she couldn't even think of Kiwi. Whenever she did, there came the sadness. Her best friend, her supposed sister, had murdered one of the Firebirds.

Sequoia had left the cliffs upon finding scents she did not know, not wishing to know them. Instead, she found herself at the foot of a peak. If she had been here before, she did not remember it. No longer was she a young girl, but a woman who would be ripe for children in the coming spring. She had hoped to have a family with Crow, but those dreams had ended with a shouting match and him departing the Frosthawks after another one of their arguments.

She might have been able to stay there, were it not for every corner she turned showing her the life that could have been with him. Out here, at least, there were much older ghosts to haunt her.

Sequoia stopped at the foot of a mountain, the scent of a pack stopping her in her tracks.

wylla was gone, and had been for the better portion of the day.
for a few sparse moments here and there, mahler forgot that she had gone. he had hunted, and saved a curved bone to lie among her gifts.
wait
now it bit the inside of his jaw, and he spat it aside. something new upon the air. he did not want to go, for it was not the wind bringing to him wylla. another woman. mahler felt they must too know that she had dissipated into the air.
he approached all the same, stopping before the woman in the pale coat and the cape of bronze. did she too seek a home? another wolf come to pledge loyalty without knowing the word's meaning? and so inwardly he judged the stranger, while upon his face there remained an impassive expression.

Sequoia realized that she had never actually done this part. She had always been on the other side, judging others that came to the borders of her family. Nevertheless, she knew the drill, and the girl lowered her eyes, ears, and tail. She slunk further toward the ground, her belly scraping the cold earth. Her eyes remained downcast throughout, and she licked her lips in deference. If she was to seek a place here, first and foremost she needed to show that she could (and would) respect those that ruled here. The Firebirds and Redhawks, she knew, were much more forgiving, but her time as a scout had taught her to err on the side of caution.

Gently, she rolled onto her back, her tail tucked between her legs and her paws drawn in close. It was the ultimate display of "I mean you no harm," and it would hopefully be enough to placate him so that he might give her an audience. And if not, she would scamper away and seek refuge somewhere else.

he was unused to this, but stepped back with a reassuring grunt deep in his throat. she had done well; rise and earn no teeth from him. "this is sagtannet."
falling to a thousand pieces, and wylla was gone she had left at first light and
— "i am mahler." — introductions like ritual dust in the curve of his tongue.
"vhat brings you?" finished now with the monotone introduction. no color in mahler. wylla had leached it all out of his bones when she had gone. he felt ghostly, barren.

He spoke, and Sequioa knew that she was in the clear—at least for now. He introduced the name of his pack first, then his own name, and a question for her. She rolled to her feet, though her stance remained suitably respectful.

Sequoia, she said, giving her own name in return. Her voice was more hollow than she recalled.

What had actually brought her here was complicated, but she imagined he did not wish to hear that. She was the one who was supposed to be the shoulder to cry on, and when she had needed one, nobody fit the role. Was that what brought her?

Winter is here, and spring comes after, she said. I seek to make a family when that time comes. Perhaps children would bring her the joy that Crow had stolen from her heart. It was a long shot, but maybe it would work. If she had been giving advice to herself, she would have told herself that this was the most ludicrous idea she had ever heard. Practicing what she preached, however, was hard to swallow when all she wanted to do was curl up next to the very wolf who had caused her so much pain.

Forget him.

sequoia, the name for the redwoods bordering the disputed sea-cliffs. mahler watched her a moment. she wished a family. "i cannot promise that. but if you find yourself a man to be your husband and bring him here, and both of you serve this pack vith your all, it becomes more attainable." 
he did not offer himself; his body had remained unresponsive since wylla had uttered i'm leaving and then had turned to do exactly so.
and there was nothing he could offer the young woman. she was not a girl, but to him their years felt and seemed so very long, the expanse. "vhat do you say to it?" he would not let sequoia toil here upon a lie; her dream would require her own work.

In his words, she felt the rejection. He spoke, but she heard Crow's voice. She felt her emotions festering, boiling, rising within her. It felt like sickness, even though Raven had assured her there was nothing wrong with her physically. Was nothing she did good enough for him?

Her jaw set, and she shook her head. Perhaps she should avoid men all together. Use them only when the time was right. Maybe she was better off on her own, without their help. Wherever she went, they told her things she did not want to hear.

A part of her knew she was being selfish, being foolish and headstrong, but at the same time, it was what she needed. She hardened her heart. Maybe children were not the way to fix the sadness in her heart. Maybe it was something else entirely, but she doubled down, trying to get what she wanted.

If I find a man who is worthy of me, I will return. But I will not work for you without a solid promise. Have you no able-bodied men in your ranks? Perhaps Mahler was already taken, but surely he was not the only man among them.

"return?" his granite ears cupped forward. "i vill give you a place here now. find a husband later." to her question, he gave a brief, humorless smile. he wished to tell sequoia that not a day hence both of their eligible young men had gone; he did not and instead lifted his chin, fixing her with an odd look.
"at present, i am the only man." and while to her that might have been an affront, a reason for her to skip over sagtannet, to him it felt rather reassuring to say aloud.
king in a crumbling city.
"we move across the land, that vay," he told the woman, gesturing in the direction of the cracked boulder he had found. "come vith me. find a new future vhere i do."

She considered his offer. Perhaps she could stay here, even if it was just for a time. And who said she actually had to work for him? It was disappointing that there were none in his ranks that would do, and that likely meant there was plenty of female competition to worry about. Still, if she was free to roam and find her own man, maybe maybe this arrangement could work. She was not thrilled about the idea, but perhaps there could be some mutual benefit to be had here.

A new future was what she had sought by leaving the Frosthawks, so perhaps this was some sort of sign. Sequoia glanced to where he had pointed.

Fine, she said. At this point, she was willing to try just about anything. And maybe she could go find somebody to get over Crow with in the meantime. That was her main motivation. Get him out of her mind and out of her heart, because he had removed himself from her life.

If she did not find what she wanted within a reasonable timeframe, she could always move on.

welcome ABOARD u can post again or archive <3

fine. it was noncommital, but mahler would not busy himself by trying to extract a promise from a stone. she wanted children in the springtime. there were scant months between now and the time for such. many things could change.
in the interim, he would set his prospects toward the recruiting of men.
turning on his heel, the gargoyle sought to lead sequoia upwards, a winding path that flattened into the rich loam and yellow spruce of sagtannet, a beautiful place even if his heart was not in it.

Thanks friend!

He said no more, and Sequoia knew that, for now, this would be enough. She could always depart if she did not find what she desired. The girl followed after, already feeling a teensy tiny bit lighter than she had when she had first arrived. The weight of all that had happened to her still sank her heart, but there was a pinprick light of hope in the midst of all the darkness there.

It would be difficult for Mahler—and anybody, really—to earn her trust after what had happened in the past with Kiwi and Crow. But maybe, maybe there was some room for healing away from all that she knew.