Porcupine Ridge axehead

@Yonder! <3

the streams here as clear as fjord water. the forests are wild and green. it is a place for sagas.

eivor camped upon the ridge and made a meal of boar. it had been a good fight, her shoulders crisscrossed with bleeding cuts. but not even the tusked one could survive a fall in the mountains.

he'd been forced to keep his flights shorter and shorter, healing from a strain in his core brought about by another altercation with another unkindness. 

now, honest truth, they had the right to chase him out. after all, they'd claimed the carcass. but - was it his fault he'd been running out of options? a small, weak raven with a misaligned soul was already destined for social ostracization, but the months of piled up rumors, of confirmed misbehaviors, of every woman he'd ever as much as looked at working with tirelessness of a stormwind to ruin his reputation -- yes, he might've been a teensy tiny bit forced to turn to theft.

he'd ask who could blame him, but, evidently, many did.

dour, yonder landed on the jutting rock with the avian equivalence of slumping down in a chair. maybe there'd be a window of time where he could peck something off the boar without the -- what was this one again? wolf? -- biting his head off, or the ravens sure to come after beating him unconscious, but at this point, he could barely muster to care.

fylgir Óðinn mér á ferðum mínum? Alföðr, hvert skref er fyrir þig.

it pleased eivor to think that the black bird nearby was a messenger. a watcher. carnassials sheared a generous portion of fatty boar and she tossed it with gentle respect to the watcher before returning to her feast.

at first the throw barely registered, yonder thinking the ground-hunter a messy eater. still, realization dawned that this was given to him, for... reasons?

with uncertainty, the raven dropped down to the hunk of meat. after a couple careful pecks assured him this wasn't a trap, he cleared his throat with a croak, then spoke in the shared language;

thanks.

eivor ensured the fullness of her belly before answering. "i want you to carry a good message to Odin," she grinned at the raven with bloody teeth. "eat with me."

the drengr dabbed idly at her mouth, taking a moment's time for a closer observation over his plumage, his small stature. he seemed rather forlorn, with none of the glossy arrogance to which he was entitled by the Allfather.

stretching out with a grunt of satisfaction, eivor stared up at the gathering stars. "has life not been easy for you, watcher?"

he ate, yes, and after every peck he lifted and angled his head to keep one eye on the beast.

wolves were... intriguing, he'd say, but that'd be a word for his sibling to use. those strange, dirt-based politics were never an interest of his. still, he mustered the will to remain attentive. the eggshell of an idea had begun to crack.

... not the best. yonder added a bit of pomp to his voice, just enough to sound less pathetic. life is... it's difficult for, for my kind.

a lilting croak. he couldn't know if the wolf would hear it as a laugh.

but i'm... i am not really, welcome among them, these days. guess i'm a bit of a lone wolf.

he shut his beak, momentarily unsure whether that was the right idiom to use.

There was mumbling nearby, garbled words, and Hex, with furrowed brow, trotted down the slope to meet them. Only to find a pale wolf and a raven in apparent conversation above a—

Carcass.

The young man picked up his pace and came upon the pair with a growl and snarl, eyes flashing toward the kill, then back toward the woman.

You have not been welcomed, Hex spat, tail lashing. Who are you, and what is your purpose here?

eivor laughed at that, though her heart went out to the raven. "your kind is sacred to the Allfather Odin. did you know that? maybe to know it is to be set apart."

the hard approach of another brought eivor to her belly. the stranger's confrontation had the level of her grey eyes on him. "i need no invitation to feast. who is asking?" the drengr inquired as she slowly stood.

he began to ease in this, unnatural company. not that it were unusual for wolves and ravens to coexist as hunters and scavengers, but to chat with one so casually? it raked at yonder's small and shriveled sense of normalcy.

his chest feathers puffed out, when the wolf called him sacred. now, being seen as symbols and omens was another, more natural dynamic between the species. it was always a good card to play when in need of a meal.

well, i--

but growled words quieted him.

yonder stilled, feathers ruffled, watching intently the newcomer wolf. at least he'd be able to tell these two apart - one bright, other dark.

he made a single croak, like he'd forgotten every shared word.

He straightened his shoulders and raised his head higher than his claim indicated. Fake it until you make it. 

Hex, ruler of this ridge, he intoned seriously, staring her down. He didn't even bother with the bird. Why are you here?

Hex gave a brief glance to the raven, eyes perplexed, before returning it to the woman.

"i am here for the good hunting and the hallowed company, jarl hex," eivor answered, indicating the raven with a roll of her shoulder.

she saw nothing to indicate the young wolf in front of her had any claim or any fighters at his disposal, but chose to humour him all the same. 

jerking her head toward the boar, eivor offered, "join us."

it didn't at all put him at ease how calm the bright wolf was about the whole ordeal. majorly, because yonder had no field knowledge to judge whether the dark one was a loner, or soon to be backed up by twenty snarling jaws.

he gave an expression likely lost on canines, an awkward smile, wing slightly unfurling to likewise gesture at the carcass. ideally, the bright one wouldn't be killed before his eyes.

... although, it had been a while since he's had wolf.

Jarl was not a word he knew; he wasn't sure whether she was making fun of him or honoring him. Thinking the truth lie somewhere closer to the former, he gave her a jaundiced eye, sniffed briefly at the carcass, then shook his head.

I'll pass, he said shortly.

Magnanimity would have been the perfect reason for shying away from meat. Truthfully, he feared sickness, and thought that perhaps this mismatched pair brought pestilence to his doorstep. He would not eat.

He nodded toward the raven. Why the bird? he asked the wolf. You seem to be familiar.

he did not move to roust her from his land. eivor settled on her haunches and tore more fat for the raven.

"they are sacred to my gods. we were speaking just now."

but her eyes were still on the younger who had made this claim. "what do you call your home?"

yonder assumed a stance of poofed feathers and straightened posture, as befit a sacred creature.

internally, his nerves tugged him toward fearful flight. wolves remained unpredictable to him.

Hex gave her a bland stare at the reply. She had been. . .talking to the bird? He had seen some weird shit in his still-short life, but he'd never seen that. 

So, she was either some kind of witch, or crazy. In fact, perhaps both.

He shrugged that off, plus the next question. The Mountain, Hex replied, matter-of-fact. He hadn't thought to call it anything else. Although. . . I guess it is lower than the mountains around, though. Maybe I will think of something different.

He eyed the bird, wondering if it had any sort of wisdom to offer him, or if it spoke to this woman alone.

the sound of her contented eating sounded first. 

the mountain. he needs an achievement to make it his.

eivor wiped the grease of boarfat from her mouth, piercing grey eyes watching hex. "what sort of place do you want your mountain to be?"

ah, forgiveness!

it has a name, y'know.

words flew out of him before reason could clip the thought's wings, and yonder shut his eyes in deep disappointment in himself.

but then again, the grounded were so fucking uneducated.

the bird acted like he hadn't said a word.

Safe place, he replied quickly, golden gaze boring into her own. He inhaled slow, then nodded, looking around him. Somewhere to feel safe.

The crow let out a raucous cry, and he started at the noise, glancing sidelong at the bird.

Your bird speaks, Hex said tersely, abruptly leaving the scene of the kill. Follow if you want, he added over his shoulder.

He knew they would not. Rogues, the wolf and the corvid.

she did not follow, but the scarred mouth tipped in a grin. "he says he has a name. and your mountain needs one. call it trygghet. safe silence." her grey eyes sought his back. "or call it what you will, but bind it beneath the name of the norse and i will help you build it."

her voice was a call. eivor did not expect a reply. standing, she tore a long strip from the carcass and set off in the opposite direction, tail flashing once to invite the bird along.

yonder exhaled. a "breath he didn't know he was holding" situation. he watched the dark one leave, then went after the pale wolf.

other birds were coming to the kill scene, and yonder thought his feeding chances better as partner to a hunter.

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