Phoenix Maplewood home is what you make of it

ooc; @Brisbane and one other Wayfarer potential!

the more she thought of it, the more it made sense. she would seek a new home for herself. by herself potentially. if she had to live alone, so be it. she could do such a thing. she had done so for a year. loneliness was never in question; if she was lonely she would seek others. Heloise walked along the worn down path of the woodland, noticing the berries that made a plentiful snack for prey. she would bend over to sniff at them; a few were chewed by small mammals so far. it meant the forest was ripe for hunting.

Broken Boulder seemed a decent place as well. the tunnels would be useful for shelter, though Heloise much preferred this location. the shade was lovely with the nice spring breeze. there would be cover from storms and snow. it was open enough to see around oneself too. she would sigh blissfully, sitting down at the edge of the worn path. if another came upon her, she was not directly on it. they could easily go around her. her eyes would close, enjoying the soft flickering of the leaves against the light. daylight would dance across her gaze from time to time, the afternoon a quiet hum.

well, so far that is.

brisbane's wandering takes him north of fox's glade though the coywolf has no actual destination. there was an undeniable freedom to being on his own and more personal and selfish yet was the fact that he wasn't forcing himself to subjugate himself to anyone else's rule; though the lawlessness comes at the price of constantly being on the search of what he's come to refer to as ❛the big three❜ as he reverts to a more primal side of survival: food, water, shelter. if a territory did not offer those three pivotal things — and suffice to say not every territory was cut out to sustain the life of even a wolf passing through — he does not linger long; though the blackshark's not been prone thus far to linger in one place for too long as it was.

there was a lot of the wilds to explore, a lot of flora to be cataloging and familiarizing himself with. to stave off the boredom that threatens to overtake him some days this is what he focuses on. wolves were social creatures by nature and beyond that he is, admittedly, used to being someone's center of gravity. whether that someone was warwick, karratha, and taleigha or just from being the beta of blackshark bay. brisbane was used to his attention being needed and there are days — not many but a few — in which the coywolf curses his own ceaseless ambition for causing him to give up what he had on impulse and the desire for more.

the woodlands he'd entered at some point draw him with their slightly sweet smell — of sap ( though it does not smell as sweet as maple ) and berries — and though the berries held no medicinal properties it was still fauna. a small patch of wild blackberries catches his attention and he cuts across a worn path to investigate, aware that he was not the only wolf in the general vicinity as a pale sylph catches his attention from the corner of his eye. brisbane lets out a low chuff to announce his presence out of decorum alone before he plucks a ripe blackberry from the bush and eats it.

head would raise, eyes opening, at the call of another. she was met with a darkly coated individual chuffing a greeting to her. Heloise's head would dip shortly to him, perhaps wondering if he called these woodlands home. she did not want others to think she trespassed, though there was no pack scent here. if there had been once upon a time, it was now faded. she was not at fault for that. "greetings, sir" she would reply formally.

she'd watch as he ate one of the berries without pause, a small smile upon her face. at least the man could appreciate the little snacks the forest bounty provided. it would only grow more when summer came about. ripe for the picking, if wolves had a mind to gather them. "is it good?" she hadn't tried them yet, lacking the ability to identify between poisonous ones and safe ones. if the man wasn't convulsing at this moment, she saw little reason to avoid the berries.

he gives her a quick glimpse of appraisal, having to avoid narrowly choking on the next blackberry he plucks from the bush when she calls him sir. sir? nah. he wasn't really feeling that despite that he knows well enough that she's only used it to be polite. truth be told the blackshark wasn't really 'sir' material. maybe the witchdoctor could be considered a sir — but even that was questionable. eh, call me brisbane. hell, hekate'd be better than 'sir' which said a lot given brisbane's general disdain held towards the witchdoctor approved name. the conversation steers towards the blackberries and he plucks another, letting it's tart juice rush in his mouth as he pierces the berry's flesh. they're a little bitter. not quite ripe yet but i like 'em, he indicates to the bush he'd been plucking them from with an gesture of his scarred muzzle. try one.

well good. she had been raised in proper mannerisms yet others seemed to be disgruntled or even awkward when she call them such. a name was given freely, and she'd breathe a sigh of relief. at least the man was straightforward, not dancing upon his words and his hidden agenda. "then call me Heloise" she'd rise from her spot to walk toward him. she had no hidden agenda in the way of harming others; if she kept things close it was to protect them from it. whether they wanted it or not.

Brisbane would remark upon the berries. pale eyes shifted to the brush. to be frank she had never eaten a berry before. hunting was always good in the warm seasons and when it was cold, she starved with all the rest. he'd offer her one even if it wasn't belonging to him. "the best things in life can be bitter" she'd remark before stretching her neck out to pluck one for herself. chewing thoughtfully, she supposed it wasn't that bad. she did a quick swallow. "do you live here, Brisbane?"

brisbane couldn't really explain why being called sir weeded it's way beneath his skin with obvious displeasure. manners were something that their mother'd imparted upon her children and for the most part it'd stuck. not perfectly, mind, but it stuck all the same. a velveteen, dark grey ear twitches as she gives him a name in exchange for his own. heloise, spoken upon her approach that brought her ever closer. heloise, the coywolf parrots her name back at her, testing out how it sounds coming from his mouth, committing how it feels as it rolls off of his tongue.

he ghosts back a step as she approaches the bush. it's small and not very high and though they know one another's names the fact is they're still strangers; and it's not that he's afraid of her doing something but there's a certain circumference of space he likes to maintain out of warrior's honed instinct. her remark that follows her plucking her own berry from the bush earns her a low snicker of amusement from the blackshark. are they? i always thought the saying went the best things in life are sweet. regardless, he knows that the blackberries will never be sweet — even when ripe they're a tart fruit.

at her inquiry, brisbane casts a look around them, a bit deeper than his normal sweep — those quick sweeps were done subconsciously, a routine check to asses his surroundings and recalibrate his posture if needed. nah. i don't really live anywhere. i'm more of a ...vagabond.

Heloise would chuckle as she swallowed yet another berry. "a sweet life is often uneventful" she'd reply "boring. if you fight for something, it becomes a bitter battle. but you earn a bigger reward at the end" she always thought so, that is. it could be applied to life. love. family. a home. so far nobody else seemed interested in the Taiga, so she was almost weary from the safety. she loved a good challenge. "but that's just my opinion."

her head turned back to him as he admitted his status. "I was too" her position in Stormrift was not one of importance, even if she considered herself a loner still. "I have decided to make myself a home, instead of pestering others for one" her voice was a bit strong now as if convictions had been made and people had been recruited. yet that was not the case. she had no one but Kory on board. even if the young man was indeed a good recruit, she required more people. but she would not pressure this man before her. "are you a newcomer to the Teekons, then?"

brisbane's words earn a chuckle from the pale slyph as she eats another berry. the blackshark offers a small quirk of his lips as he plucks a berry from the other side of the bush and eats it, swallowing thoughtfully as she explains. he agrees. can't argue with that, he replies; there'd been nothing sweet about his own life but the end result ...or rather, the result he finds himself in presently isn't much to complain about. he'd risen through the ranks of blackshark bay quickly, stood as their beta and left in search of new horizons that were better suited for his ambitions which had grown too big for their hardy band of coastal wolves.

she says that they are of the same 'lone wolf' cloth and explains that she'd rather build herself a home instead of 'pestering' another for space in theirs. part of brisbane wants to point out that taking newcomers what generally what packs were meant to do but doesn't. building a pack of her own was an ambitious undertaking ...but was it any more ambitious than usurping? probably not. it was, in a way, of the same vein of ambition. usurping proved to be hard without support and without support a fledgling pack couldn't form.

for some reason, building something of his own'd never occurred to him; but maybe there was a certain flavor of pride he craved by unseating the sovereignty. grog's hatred and forced submission was like a bitter, dark roast coffee that the blackshark enjoyed drinking with no milk or sugar. perfect the way it was. could always usurp too, skip the pestering all together. he suggests casually with an errant shrug of his shoulders; but usurping didn't usually garner the same level of distrust and dislike in the wolves of blackshark bay as it probably did others of these wilds.

yeah. he replies to her last inquiry, though he suspects that it's probably pretty obvious that he isn't from around here.

the thought of challenging for a pack did cross her mind, yet she was quick to put a stop to such thoughts. none of the packs here to her knowledge had something she wanted. she didn't want them, their customs, their laws. to enforce someone else's reign... she could always change it when she won, but she did not want others to see her leading in a tyrant's way. "I'd rather build from the ground up" came her simple reply. at least she would know if her ideas were more valid that way. 

"I welcome the challenge" Heloise would add in as if her words did not accomplish much with her short reply. it was not like she had anything better to do. boredom was a fleeting thing, yes, but she always found keeping her mind busy was easily better. "well then" she'd carry on "welcome to the Teekons, Brisbane." she chuckled. having been here for a few weeks now, the woman felt she could easily welcome others to it. she was interested to know what he'd do here but he seemed a man of few words.

"and do you have plans to usurp? I should like a front row seat" a joke, a rare one at that.

her reply echoes what brisbane's already assumed of her: that she had her head and heart set on building something of her own. there was a certain level of appeal to that, doing it right, exactly how you wanted right from the starting line; but then again brisbane didn't exactly mind the challenge that usurping presented either. he offers a small grunt of gratitude when she gives him an official welcoming into the teekon wilds despite that he'd been meandering about it for a short while now. a few weeks, perhaps? something like that; time was not something he was opt to keep judicious track of.

a low chuckle draws from betwixt the blackshark's lips as she inquires as to whether he plans to usurp and that if he did she wanted a front row seat. he recognizes that the last bit is said in jest but still, he's amused all the same. maybe, gaze of twin redsuns turns to the distanced horizon over his companions head as he contemplates for a few moments. it's a vague response but an honest one; though he is never certain where his life will lead him. not everything falls according to plan so he tries not to make too many 'solid' plans. depends, i guess. i'm not real keen on subjugating myself to leadership at the moment. and as far as brisbane is aware a newcomer coming to the borders and usurping ( or trying to ) before even being apart of the pack didn't happen very often. it seemed risky. it was always better to slyly garner support and let the sovereignty crack from the inside, as it had with blackshark bay when he'd challenged grog for beta. as it would have if he'd have stayed around and challenged for alpha.

she'd chuckle. "fair enough" Heloise had always been a follower. this pack formation was... difficult to achieve, yet she had done a good job thus far. she had no idea if anyone would follow her aside from one or two folks. was she even ready for this? was she... capable enough? only time would tell. "I have no doubt you would make a decent leader, Brisbane." though she hoped he'd let her know if he did challenge anyone. a good bout was always a fun thing to witness. especially ones for leadership.

she'd probably never see this man again but ah well. it was polite to point out the obvious.

Brisbane did not seem like a tyrant, so he could gain her support at least. he was quiet, which suited her just fine. loud, blatant wolves were irksome. "I wish your paws carry you far and safely" this location suited her fine for a pack's formation. if it had the support of a rogue like him, then she would go ahead with choosing it. "maybe next time you pass by, you will see me as a leader." she'd add with an amused brow raise.

he couldn't help but think it was interesting that a woman that just met and barely knew him thought he'd make a decent leader. he did, no one had risen to challenge him at all during the time he occupied the beta rank in blackshark bay, but still, he's almost tempted to ask what makes her say that. his ambition? the fact that he knew, unwaveringly, what he wanted? his candidness? he wasn't in the business of sugarcoating things, after all. in the end, brisbane doesn't ask. perhaps, he thinks, it's better if he doesn't know the qualities she sees that label him as a decent leader to her. maybe i will, he concurs cheekily with a slow curve of his lips into a grin. good luck. he adds before plucking one last blackberry from the bush and heading back the way he'd came.

Heloise's eyes lit up with amusement at his curt answer. a short laugh parted her lips as she watched him go off. some would think the man a bit of a cold shoulder, gruff even. she seemed to see past that to deeper potential. "good luck also" she would reply to his retreating form. she'd turn and walk back down the path, content she had found a suitable location for her dream.