Blacktail Deer Plateau Business Dog

Maybe @saena ? :D

Dawn was still an hour away but Valtýr restlessly meandered through his usual patch. Lasher and Blue Willow's children had recently been born and while a sense of happiness tickled his spirit, an overpowering emptiness loomed. They had what he was missing — family. An unbreakable bond. He wanted what they could not give him; and so the teen searched for it himself. He remembered the camaraderie between Pura, Saena, and Junior... onlooking enviously while sat in the lowest tier of the pack. Perhaps he needed company, or a friend, or a goal, or a skill to fill his empty canvas... Valtýr remained unsure. All he knew was sharp poignancy and desolate apathy; both equally bitter on his palate.


He sought the siblings out, unsure if they would reveal themselves at this early hour.

Of them, only two remained. Saena had successfully removed the last remnants of her family, aside from her brother and Junior, from her heart when she'd steeled herself against Osprey, and now felt a lightness in her breast that hadn't been there for many months. She'd decided on a whim that those who left would simply not matter to her. She'd been told to grow up, and she had; there would be no more anger, only disregard.

Her step was lofty as she wound through the trees like a cat, akin to a prance. It was the happiest she had been in a while, and it deserved some merriment in her motions. That is, until she spotted the younger of the adolescents up ahead. She slowed her step then and sobered back to a semblance of normalcy. There was a brief moment where her ambition flared and youthful fire rose in her breast, but Valtyr was no threat to her high goals, she thought. He was yet too young, though she only knew that because he'd been smaller when he arrived. No doubt he stood higher than her now.

So she caught up with him with a waving tail and an inviting smile, something she now reserved for only the highest ranked adults as she battled for her place among them. "How are you?" she asked gently, unwilling to scare him off with a louder tone.

Where Saena was ambitious, Valtýr was vacant. At just six months old the boy lead a life of vagrancy, even within the Plateau. Yes, he had seldom shadowed hunts and trailed behind the titan, Pura, but he was hardly a contributing member of their society. Like a sponge Val practiced absorbing the relationships surrounding him and learning the ways of the Blacktail community - but who knew when we would start applying this knowledge. Truly, the orphan was a late bloomer.

He was just about to give up and return to the root burrow when Saena's pallid figure emerged from between the bare aspens. Her stance was proud, figure well presented, and she approached with a lofty gait. The difference between them was clear and even though Valtýr's height surpassed her own, his deferential and sunken posture made him small.

"Hi!" he blurted amiably, feeling lucky that he had managed to stumble into Saena at all. His maw twisted into an awkward and goofy smile, burnt ears at half mast. Bronze eyes skipped about her curiously before cautiously drifting to the sidelines. She appeared a kind wolf, and her gentle tone helped draw him in. "I'm... I'm good," Valtýr responded sheepishly as he took a few small steps towards the uniquely pattered Saena, "are you on patrol? It's so early." He was quick to inquire, less she discover that Valtýr was purposely trying to stalk find her.

Maybe, if her life had been more normal, Saena would have turned out to be the sort of wolf that Valtyr currently resembled: a natural Omega. If her parents hadn't divorced, and her father remarried just as quickly, she wouldn't develop a callousness for the concept of love, and might've found forgiving her family easier. If her aunt, uncle, mother, both fathers, and sister hadn't left without a word, and hadn't bothered to apologize for it, maybe she would've been less driven to be as unlike them as possible... in doing so, becoming more like them every day. Maybe if Junior hadn't been dealt such (overexaggerated) injustice, maybe Saena would've stayed at the bottom of the juvenile totem pole, happy to play a supporting role.

And maybe Valtyr's life had led him to be this submissive boy with his skittish ways, but there was no way to know.

"You don't have to submit to me," she said, and mentally added, I know you aren't a threat. But he was asking a question and she pitched her ears forward from their previous relaxed hang, and then tilted them back as her eyes went to the sky. She hadn't even realized it was as early as it was. She'd gone to bed the night before quite early, so maybe that accounted for her being awake at this time.

"No. I didn't notice, actually," she giggled sheepishly. "I'm not a very scary bouncer anyway, I leave the heavy patrolling to bigger wolves like you. Is that what you're doing? Patrolling?"

Valtýr's life could have been paved with gold; his parents were well respected at Swiftcurrent and alphas upon their own purchase. How quickly things turned to shambles — Larus' abduction acted as the tipping point of tragedy in his young life. Little did he know almost the entire Sveijarn family had become estranged. Only his mother and sister remained by the glacier to face adversity. Valtýr honestly thought them lost forever. He had little scope of Teekon and only remembered the infinite time it took to reach Blacktail Deep Plateau. Perhaps someday he would find the will to seek out his homeland... but he was too young to even consider thriving outside of Dante's rule. For now, the teen was pacified by distractions... such as following Saena or Pura's paw steps in the fresh snow.

Pacifistic by nature, Valtýr's meek adolescence lent itself well to easily accept whatever authority his superiors saw fit. Even if Saena was only two months his elder, it made all the difference. Perhaps he just wanted her to like him... because he certainly wasn't as comfortable around others, such as Osprey. "O-Oh. Okay," he said when Saena pointed out his unnecessary deference. Valtýr stood a bit taller, but it was only a small improvement. He followed her gaze to the hazy dawn and grinned when she laughed, smitten by her lighthearted temperament.

"Me? Patrol?" he queried when the pale girl suggested he was talented enough for such a task. After all, she did call him a bigger wolf, which he hadn't considered. Val's tawny eyes looked down to his large, sooty paws and thin, rangy legs. Would he ever be suited for anything like that? Dante had suggested it too... but the thought planted a seed of anxiety in the pit of his stomach. "N-No, I wasn't," he admitted, hoping she wouldn't be disappointed. "I was uhm—," his voice trailed. Okay Valtýr, time to get creative, "—looking for you." Inwardly, the youth facepalmed, realizing he was not adept at the art of lying, whatsoever. "Pura's to be my mentor and I just thought it would be better to know more about the pack," he said, words running together in an embarrassed way.

His bumbling manner endeared Valtyr to Saena instantly. Although never faced with a younger wolf before, she could already tell that few were this adorable by his age. Maybe it was just that he gave her what she wanted, which was respect. She was a pretty simple woman, it turned out, in spite of all her previous dramatic flare. Though flowers and chocolates would woo her, it was respect she really desired.

Of course, Valtyr wasn't really courting her and the thought of it didn't even cross her mind.

"For me?" she mused, wondering what she might know that Pura didn't. They'd been around just as long, after all, though her brother was rather detached from pack life, whereas she fervently immersed herself in it. Saena was flattered Valtyr came to find her specifically, of course, even if she didn't know why. "What did you want to know? I know a lot about the pack's history."

Valtýr's skin felt hot, abashed by his lack of eloquence, as his sandy fur prickled with embarrassment. Thankfully, Saena was kind and humored his questions with more than just a little interest. The boy offered a crooked smile and shuffled closer to her like a kid at story-time, but rolled his shoulders when asked where exactly his knowledge ended and her's began.

"I dunno," he thought aloud and paused to reflect on his time at the Plateau, "Everything? Start at the beginning." Maybe he was overeager, unaware that the Plateau had the greatest longevity of all packs in Teekon. "I mean... Blue found me with Junior on the shore. What happened before I came? Has Dante always been the leader here? Were you born here? Where are your—" parents Valtýr wanted to say but stopped himself, realizing he naively teetered on a subject that might be too bold. "I mean — where else have you lived?" he corrected himself.

So many questions came tumbling from Valtyr's lips. Thankfully, Saena could answer the majority of them and was happy to take them one at a time. She thought nothing of his blunder, assuming it was just a slip of the tongue. Besides, no one wanted to hear about Saena's real parents. Both of them had been nobodies in a way, although with Pied it was the result of a very premature death, and she aspired to be much greater.

"This pack has been here for a really long time," Saena began. She almost said "forever" but realized that, even though she couldn't fathom its true longevity, it can't have been quite that long. "It was founded by my mom, Hawkeye. My dad wasn't a founder but he was an Alpha for a long time." Her tone was harder when she spoke of them. "So no, Dante wasn't always a leader. And yes, Pura and I were both born here and grew up here.

I left for a little while to deal with some stuff, so I'm not sure what all happened. From what I understand, Hawkeye left shortly before I did. At that time, Blue Willow was an Alpha, until my dad's new mate showed up," and here she paused, both for breath and to keep her acidic hatred of Fox from her tongue. "Aunt Willow let his mate become the Alpha, but that wasn't good enough for her... so she convinced my dad and a few others to leave. That's why Dante is the Alpha now."

As for where she'd gone, "I stayed in a canyon when I was away. It was beautiful, but this is my real home."

Valtýr effortlessly bombarded Saena as he had Blue Willow, but it was good fortune that both women had penchant for sharing knowledge. Like a sponge, the boy soaked up information voraciously, wide eyed. Every now and then he gave a nod - to show he was following ardently - and ruminated in silence over the tales Saena offered.

The youth couldn't know that his past had been tied to so many wolves. Once an infant of Swiftcurrent, the Sveijarn child was under the service of Fox, who had come between Peregrine and his beloved plateau. This rift was what set in motion the founding of Duskfire Glacier and Bazi's new rule at the creek. How ironic that he had ended up here: the pack who's existence was so secretly laced in his book.

The steeled tone within Seana's voice regarding her father did not escape Valtýr's attention - especially when she needed to take a moment before speaking of his new mate and the way the pack had splintered. Adept bronze eyes darted over her pale face as he read her, but Val did not interrupt. "Oh, wow," he whispered, admiring Saena for the fact she managed to come back to her birth pack... would he ever be able to do the same? "So the Plateau has been through a lot," he frowned, "I can't believe your dad left you." Valtýr's parents had been so devoted to their children. He loved them, even though they were not with him now. "Is that where Junior went? With your dad?"

"Yeah, well, he's sort of a piece of crap," quipped Saena, though she didn't think it was that humorous. Peregrine's leaving set into motion a cascading breakdown of relationships that left Saena (and Osprey and Pura) to uphold the family's tie to the plateau. It was both good and bad in hindsight; if Peregrine never left, maybe things would be better, but maybe she would still be of little consequence to everyone.

"Junior?" she queried, unaware that it was her sister who sort of brought Valtyr to the plateau. "No, she hates him. Don't tell anyone this, but she's living with some pack called Thief River Falls a little ways from here." Although spring would soon come and herald Junior's presumptive return to the pack, Saena still didn't want the adults knowing where she was. It was part greed and part concern, a mixed feeling she simply couldn't explain to an older wolf.

fade soon? ^__^

Saena's family sounded like it was all out of sorts. Perhaps his own situation wasn't so unique -- but he admired the Blacktail for her independence. She had made the best out of a bad situation while Valtýr, on the other hand, barely got by. Her jeering opinion of their estranged father was critical. Even Junior, as she explained, did not uphold good relations. "Oh," he breathed, captivated by her tales, and pressed forward to hear more.

It seemed Saena trusted him enough to share some secrets about where her sister had gone. He tittered an excited "I won't!" -- solemnly swearing to keep Junior's location under wraps. He fidgeted merrily, noting the sky becoming brighter. "Dooooo you... want to look for toys with me? For Blue Willow's babies," he asked her, hoping to perhaps hear some more back story along the way.

You can fade with your next post with Valtyr talking about his siblings (or not, if it's too touchy), if you like! Editing a conclusion because this hasn't been replied to in a month.

Soon the dawn would burn away into day. For Saena, that meant getting to work and doing something useful for the pack. For Valtyr, who still had the advantage of youth, it may mean something different, though she detected a willingness in him that she found hard to come by in many of the older wolves. Blacktail Deer Plateau was full of wolves with routines. It was dreadfully boring at times, so she enjoyed the company of the stringy youth, if only because he was impossible to figure out.

"Sure!" Saena chirped, letting her tail wave cheerfully as they set off to find something suitable for the pups. The forest offered only so much, but there were many things the cubs hadn't been able to experience. She reckoned finding something wouldn't be hard.

"Did I ever tell you she used to bully the crap out of me?" she asked conversationally as they walked. "Junior, I mean. I don't think anyone ever expected us to be close." If he'd listen, Saena would tell him about the time Junior blamed her for Pura's bold transgressions, or how Junior had bullied her into doing things for her amusement, and then would finish with, "did you have any siblings?"


Valtyr mumbled that he did, but didn't seem to want to talk about them, so Saena asked him about his time in the plateau, and they walked and talked until the sun had fully risen.