Presently, she trod upon the same paths she had followed as she fled Tonravik's ire, but it was with haughty triumph that she stalked along them now. Tonravik had been a fool to think herself and one other female (perhaps others had come later, she couldn't say) could alone claim the mountain, especially when it was literally Neverwinter's backyard. Nobody existed who could tell her what had really happened, so Jinx contented herself with believing that the Feralheart who led Neverwinter now had chased them out. Serves the fools right, she thought as she climbed with breath slightly laboured.
At a stunning height of some 9000 feet, Jinx paused in her climb, glancing out over the vast Teekon Wilds that spread uninterrupted before her, from the shining sea and plateau in the distant northwest out to the forest she had called home in the other corner. There was the stale smell of wolves long departed upon a nearby boulder, and Jinx squatted to urinate over it, smirking as she thought of the wolf that had utterly failed to conquer Silvertip Mountain.
The shoreline may have captivated her, but little compared to the feeling of mountainside underfoot.
This was usually as far inland as she came in recent weeks, and she had begun to pick up a routine of visiting every few days -- when she did finally get tired of the river and beach. Once she found out that Tartok was good and gone, she had explored the mountain in more detail and, although it was no Rikudou, she came to recognize its charm. The feel here suited her, although it may have had a somber savagery about it, the loner could still resonate.
Amekaze had stayed here curled in an old mountainside burrow until the afternoon finally lured her out into the day to rove. Once awake, she was quick to business and continued a path upward, beyond the places she had seen before and up, up towards the towering spiral of stone and earth that reached higher than any other towards the clouds.
And it was there, high above the valleys below, that her path intercepted with another. First it was by scent alone -- but still she concluded it was a female, and in good health. Also, smelling like Akhlut's pack, which stoked her curiosity. Amekaze doubted she was here stealthily, so it was easy enough to pinpoint her location; a few adjustments to Ame's path soon brought them together.
Standing with her back against the wind, she paused with distance between them, watchful and appearing as a neutral enough presence to be regarded as seen fit. As a loner, she could not afford to encounter unnecessary violence, so exercised her caution in encounters like these; this was not a wolf she was familiar with.
![[Image: 5ifpFkc.png?1]](http://i.imgur.com/5ifpFkc.png?1)
i want to bleed in the 「r a i n」
Thoughts drifted away as instinct took over, for coming up the mountainside was another wolf. Jinx turned stiffly perpendicular, eyeing her from her peripherals with only one liquid gold eye, in the event Amekaze approached in an unfriendly manner. But the female, who had the look and leanness of a ranger taken to wild pursuits (perhaps Jinx assumed it from the way her fur seemed to tangle in long, untamed strands about her nape, or how her flesh peeled away from a scar at the point where chest met armpit) paused with an air of neutrality, and Jinx's tension was let go.
She remained on guard, but the stiffness melted from her so that she stood neutral as well, with ears alertly pushed forward but tail drooped comfortable. Her expression was stony, as always, but not uninviting. Rather, she turned to face her new companion head-on, finding that the wind did not favour her for picking up the other's scent and so affiliation could not be determined, and said,
once, a wolf who claimed herself mighty stood on this mountain, and behaved like it was hers.A smirk.
I would not call her mighty any longer.Or ever, she quietly thought, but kept it to herself.
Once, she had expected to come here and learn more of Tartok and then perhaps steal a further glimpse into their lives. As mountainside wolves, Amekaze had harbored her expectations of them -- especially after they had always spoken to her of their strength, as vague as it was, not that she had ever seen it in action, however. Now she was left to wonder for good but in time, she trusted they may fade further and further from relevance just as their scent did now here upon the mountainside.
Nevertheless, her focus settled readily as a reaction mirrored her own in several ways. Guarded, but neutral enough for her, Amekaze stayed as she and lent the pale female her ears. The smirk that curved its way across her lips was not unnoticed, for it paired well with the words at hand despite the unexpected nature of them. Ame chuffed.
Not all so long ago she and her fellows spoke highly of their strength to me, but I see nothing to show for it now,
she replied with relative indifference. True, in these lands, the turnover of packs seemed to happen faster than any other that she had known before yet Amekaze was finding it difficult to fathom how a pack so strong would just dissolve into nothing. From what she knew, they left no lasting mark on the histories here... or if they had, no one had spoken of it around her.
Perhaps this place had only been her's because she had declared it to be so, as if her word trumped all, nature's resonance included. Maybe they were unfit for a place such as this..
But now it did not matter any. Either way, they are gone. You knew them well enough, then?
i want to bleed in the 「r a i n」
I cannot claim to know any of them,she responded, finding herself in agreement with all that Amekaze suggested. It was especially delicious for the Mambo to consider that Tonraviq had failed to secure the mountain because it could not be tamed by the paws of wolves. Her sights would better have been placed on another mountain... The one across the valley, perhaps, where the slopes were kinder, at least until the knife of its peak sharply thrust into the sky's underbelly. Had she settled elsewhere, then Jinx would not have encountered her at all, and even that marginal exposure to Tartok would have faded without any mention.
History's breath had wavered here for a moment, but passed on, taking nothing with it. No songs would be sung of the reverent strength of Tartok. No warriors would turn fond gazes upon these slopes and remember when blood had christened their slopes. None of that would happen... And the Kesuk loved it.
They settled much too close to my home,she mentioned before she could stop the words from pouring,
and I came to... Mm, investigate.Murder might have been a more apt word, but at the time, murder had not entered her mind. Had that encounter occurred now, she would sooner have wrung the other female's neck for her proximity than merely toyed with her.
She came after me as though I had intruded, forgetting that she was plotting and scheming in my Alpha's backyard.Not that Styx had shown any ounce of concern.
But then, perhaps Styx had jumped ship by then. It wasn't as though Jinx had seen much of him. Surveying Amekaze with a critical eye, the Kesuk added her own question:
did you believe the claim at the time? That wolf has the arrogance of all the world, and her ilk think the name Tartok alone will secure their claim... but they are foolsss.
Amekaze's expression furrowed briefly. This was a different perspective on Tartok, one she had not exactly been privy to before that seemed to paint them in a less than favorable light -- much unlike the Tartok wolves themselves, unsurprisingly.
It warranted the slightest tilt of her head. She had never known the details of where they had settled, what others they had settled near, who had been there first and so forth. It was never relevant to the ranging Ame and even less so that she had never interacted with packs that claimed Neverwinter. She had managed to exist without tangling herself into pack matters, which was great. All she had known was that Tartok lived on a mountain. So they said.
Their words were only enough to make me curious. Never more,
she shook her head in a small gesture. She couldn't trust the boasts of strangers. Not until she smelled their prevalence could she know with certainty. I could see she had something forged, some sort of gathering of wolves just about as prideful of their supposed strength as she was.. but never necessarily more than that.
Ame shifted her posture subtly, turning her shoulders towards the chilled wind as it gusted with a bit more force then. By the time I got around here to investigate their borders myself, they had already withered,
she murmured. Ame believed that their claim may not have been as complete as they thought it was. As the white-furred stranger said, words alone did not make it absolutely so. Had they been able to meet the standards set by their words alone, she might have shown true interest in them. She was drawn to strength but needed to see it for herself.
Since I had never heard of any Tartok before here, I assumed their relevance to the grand scheme of things to be less than they might have realized
she said with a small huff. In fact, there were few she could say such of, especially as she had traveled. But I cannot say many other packs here have done well to impress me either.
Only one had truly been worth a second look.
i want to bleed in the 「r a i n」
"Chakra in Neverwinter Forest boasts the air of a well-born Alpha," Jinx said, squinting against a sudden onslaught of wind as she picked out the tops of the evergreens from their place on the mountainside. "I have met her. She comes from a strong family, she says. Feralheart, she is called." But then, Tonravik had also said a lot of things, if what Amekaze said was to be believed. "She may be worth getting to know. Mine own Alpha, Akhlut, also seems a worthy beast on the coast." Else she wouldn't follow him, she added privately.
Whether or not she intended for Amekaze to seek out either of these wolves was left unclear. She would promote Chakra's strength, as she had agreed to do, and Akhlut's own... She said nothing of Hawkeye, of course, influenced by her own bias. Perhaps Amekaze would find the strength in numbers she sought with one of them, but Jinx would be damned before she handed over any wolf to her enemies.
Her ears twisted in thought. Neverwinter were the wolves of the pine forest not all so far from here. Amekaze had only smelled their borderlands and realized their boundaries appeared well-tended to. Her knowledge of them extended no further so she took note, chuffing softly while considering the name.
Feralheart. Not one she knew of, unsurprisingly, but she was rarely one to place too much stock in name alone... even if her blood was supposedly ripe with the best wolves of their time. Amekaze's expression furrowed. It is not a name I know of myself. I have not encountered her yet,
she replied, only vaguely curious at this point but silently thankful for the pale wolf's insights. She fought the urge to look that general way and to see their treetops below then before considering Akhlut. But I have met him. He reminds me of something I cannot place yet,
she mentioned, unsure of why she added this annotation once it was said. It had been spoken before she could catch it. So these are not the first words of his worth I have heard. He seems.. plenty self-assured but his inexperience makes me leery. Time will tell, though.
i want to bleed in the 「r a i n」
Ironically, she herself had been inexperienced and had failed her own pack, Shearwater Bay... But it was a natural mistake, easily backed up by any wolf who believed in Sight. She had looked into her mind and into the scrying pools and Seen nothing but flames... Flames, strife, and Kaskae looming over her, with teeth in her throat, punishing her for following Sos instead of Atka. It never occurred to Jinx that it was all folly; it was real, to her, and therefore a good excuse for her to leave her pack behind.
"Sometimes it is the inexperienced wolves who surprise the most," she quietly pointed out, referring to herself and Kaskae, of whom Amekaze had absolutely no knowledge. "But your concern is fair. I do not doubt Akhlut will prove himself to you." This, of course, was long before Jinx began to wonder about him herself, so it was said with utmost sincerity and confidence.
Truly, she had few reasons not to believe that Akhlut was a competent leader, and having only met him once, it was certainly not grounds to disregard him. He may have done the most at present to gain her favor but still, Amekaze would be learning more about other packs as well as encountering him again before she made up her mind.
True,
she chuffed. Even the most highly regarded alphas had to begin from nothing, although as she said, time would tell if Akhlut truly ascended to greatness. I would like to see someone prove themselves, if anything,
she added at length. Amekaze would give them a chance if they could only make her feel they were worth her time. But I will not keep you any longer, and I have more ground to cover.
She dipped her muzzle and began to take her leave. If the pale wolf had nothing further for her, she would be gone.
i want to bleed in the 「r a i n」