Shoulda started running

All welcome for pack mates or loners!

A hot sun bore down on Redtail Rise, making the bare peak of the ridge almost unbearable. Even the hawks were taking refuge in the trees today as the warmest day of the summer preyed on all of them. Saena chose today, at this time, to walk the borders of the pack because it would allow her to remain mostly in the shade while still taking care of her duty as warden and alpha of the pack.

As was typical lately, her mind was wandering as she walked. She wasn't paying as much attention to the borders as she should have, though she did remember to squat and remark every now and again. Her beta kept entering her thoughts and she kept pushing him away with the reminder that she wasn't supposed to be acting like a smitten little girl, but she couldn't help herself. A lazy grin was drawn almost permanently on her lips as she patrolled the borders.

A hawk screeched overhead, but when Saena looked up, the bird was hiding. Through the leaves, the sky was blue and utterly cloudless. Not a hint of precipitation to cool the baking earth. So she slowed her walk, intending to draw out her patrol as long as possible in order to stay in the shade of the forest.

-slinks in here- :D

Her ears twitched, bright eyes casting upwards to view a bird in the distance. She had seen birds before, of course, but these particular ones seemed drawn to this place. It was a curious thing, one that would have developed into a whole investigation had she let it, for the dark Amazon always enjoyed a good learning experience, and at that, a good mystery. But she was not so enthralled that she didn't scent the pack nearby, a familiar tingling tickling at the back of her mind.

The familiarity made sense when she spotted another wolf, a cream colored creature with stark accents. It was the wolf from two prior incidents, the Alpha female of this location. So this was where her pack was located. Her tail dropped in a sin of deference, a friendly chuff calling out to her, though if she was heard remained to be seen.

Saena's leisurely steps brought her to the lowest point of the borders, where the trees began to thin out into the flatlands beyond. Ordinarily nothing but prey moved out there. Wolves came and went from the plains, but they seldom lingered. There was nothing for them here. Today, however, there was someone lingering, and for the briefest of instants, Saena readied herself to make like a warden and charge.

But before she could even spike out her hackles, the approaching wolf's voice found her. Saena's ears pricked upright at once and her posture changed from one pending aggression to curiosity. She took a few steps forward, squinting. It didn't take long for recognition to kick in.

"Oh, hi," Saena called across the distance. She padded out to meet Nochtli, simultaneously bringing them to a more appropriate speaking distance and ensuring the other female didn't wander past the borders. Saena had her territorial moments, and though this was not one of them, she didn't take chances. She didn't think Nochtli would do anything anyway, so it was mostly habit rather than any real perception of threat. Nochtli was a northern wolf too, and was therefore respected as an unspoken ally, even if she was not necessarily trusted.

"Reek said your name was Noch," she said idly. "I wanted to thank you for your levelheadedness the other day. I don't like being like that, but... once bitten and all. I'm Saena. I can't remember if I ever said." She hoped Nochtli understood and that this visit wasn't one born of disappointment or malice for the Rise wolves' behaviour toward Sebastian that day. She was sure it didn't have anything to do with Meldresi, who had equally witnessed the ire of the taiga wolves. "What brings you here?" she wondered, hoping to put those concerns to rest.

She watched, patiently, ears switching back against her head as Saena's posture flowed from one thing to the next. Nochtli was highly aware that she might not have been welcomed here due to the last encounter she'd had with the female (and the rest of her pack (and Sebastian)) but as she was greeted amicably, she relaxed. Visibly, at least. Having stopped, the dark girl waited for the other to close the distance, figuring it was respectful; Coatl's Rise would have wanted none so close and she would show such respect to other packs as well.

Again, her ears moved, now to catch her words. There was a brief wave of her tail at Reek's mention. "Noch works," She agreed at the shortening of her name. While the syllables were easy for her, they might not have been for others. "No worries. I'd be a shit counselor if I didn't have some measure of prudence. Thanks for not getting fed up with Cita and ripping of her ear or something." Her socially-challenged companion was definitely an acquired taste but after traveling so long with her, Nochtli barely batted an eye at any of it. 

"Nice to meet you though. Formally, of course." As for what brought her here? Her feet and her sense of wanderlust. The fact that she was officially a loner again was probably easy to scent so she didn't bring that up. "Nothing really. Just travelled up this way. Figured I'd head towards the coast and discover what's over there." Her pack had simply been on the way and somewhere, her path had adjusted course to bring her here. "Have things settled down?" She was curious, yes, and couldn't help but ask. Since that day, she'd not seen Sebastian and so had no idea what had happened after they'd left.

Noch works. Great. With that out of the way, they could converse easily. After all, Noch showed no signs of suddenly trying to enter the Rise's borders, and Saena had no reason to be mistrustful toward a fellow wolf of the north. As far as she knew, Nochtli was still a member of a pack in this area... and even if she wasn't, so long as she wasn't a member of Redhawk Caldera, she was safe enough here.

"You too. And no problem about that," Saena said, "but I'm not really one to hit first anyway, we wouldn't harm you unless you'd harmed us. What you saw with that guy, that was a long time coming." For various reasons, but the alpha chose not to bore Noch with those details. "Your friend was convincing. If not for the death of my sister, I might've let her have him. But, well..." Here she closed her eyes against a brief welling of grief. "We needed something."

Closure wasn't really the right word, but she wasn't able to think of it before Nochtli explained her presence, so she didn't bother clarifying.

"A pack used to live on the coast somewhere around there," Saena informed her. "They called themselves sirens. I didn't know much about them but there was a war and I guess their alpha decided to run off after it or something, or so Reek told me." She shrugged. "Maybe you'll find something cool that they left behind," was all she could offer in terms of incentive to go there. Saena herself meant to visit the abandoned Ankyra Sound one of these days, though she didn't know its exact location to go there. Maybe one day she would find it.

So sorry about the wait!!

A smile was hinted at, the corners of her mouth curling just slightly as Saena explained her actions. "Something to fill the void?" She offered, putting words to that somehing. A shrug was given as she faded off with the fact that they'd needed something. "No need to explain. Truth be told, I'm actually surprised you didn't end up with his head on a pike at your borders." No doubt that some of them would have tried. Saena did certainly have a feisty group on her paws.

The information about the coast was absorbed, as if she were a sea sponge. Sirens... Curious. Not a term she'd heard before but then again, she was only three or so. "Know if they have any relations to the Vikings?" for the Nordic creatures were also a sea-faring bunch and perhaps these Sorens had split off from them. Then again, perhaps not. "And are wars a frequent thing in these parts?" Tyrr had been in at least two since his adandonig of his Guard, and it seemed that were another few brewing.

Nochtli hit the nail right on the head. It was a void that she and her pack mates were dealing with. With Junior gone at the fangs of the Redhawk wolves, it was no wonder they sought vengeance. They hadn't got to say goodbye, and with the amount of pain that pack had caused her already, Saena wasn't inclined to forgive them their trespass. She wasn't about to forgive any of them, even the innocent, save for the one Reek was affiliated with, though she'd met Pantaleimon and thought him to be an inept fool of a wolf who couldn't even work his own tongue.

"That was the plan," Saena admitted, though now that she thought of it, mounting anyone's head on a pike seemed sort of barbaric. How would she even do it? "We're not sure how he got away. It was almost like magic. Where he ran, that was a dead end when I was down there." Sebastian was a lucky son-of-a-bitch, that was for sure.

Nochtli had questions now, and Saena listened to them, but didn't know the answers. "I think they're different," she said about the sirens, "man-haters or something. My sister tried living with them for a while, said they were cuckoo. And wars, well, I've never seen one and I was born not far from here, in the mountains." She gestured to the Sunspire range. "Maybe here in the north they are, I'm not sure."

She nodded, listening intently. In truth, she was glad that Saena came away without blood on her paws. Acting in the moment could lead to unwanted thoughts and regrets and she wouldn't want the seemingly nice girl to have to go through that kind of inner turmoil. Nochtli said nothing on the matter, however, as it wasn't her place, or her business. That Sebastian had called for her and Cita... well... She still wasn't sure why he'd thought they'd stick their neck out for him when they barely knew each other.

Her nose wrinkled. Man-haters. Good riddance then, because Nochtli wanted no more of that. Citali's quips about the subject were about all she could handle; the dark girl had no intentions of returning to that way of life and made a mental note to steer clear of any who said they were a part of these Sirens. "Sounds like they are probably a little more than cuckoo. Thanks for the heads up about that.

I asked about the wars because the... My former alpha talked like he was in not one but two here. Wars aren't my thing, so I try and stay away from them." Sure, she could fight but that didn't mean she enjoyed it. But Saena had lived here all her life and hadn't seen one so she would take that as a good sign. "Any other crazy packs I should stay away from?" She asked, a slight smile pulling at her mouth. Surely, there couldn't be that many around here.

Saena's own nose wrinkled when Nochtli's did and she nodded in agreement. When she was younger, she'd almost been pulled into that society. A thin thread kept her tethered to the plateau, but if she'd been more flighty, there was no doubt she would've followed her sister to the coast. Whether she would've left again with Junior or not was something she would never know. Now that she was older and more experienced, she could feel only disdain for those who claimed themselves superior to the other sex. She could thank Koda for that.

"Former?" she wondered aloud, having thought Nochtli was part of a pack presently. Maybe it was a different former alpha. In any case, "I'm surprised to hear it, information of them never made its way to the plateau. Maybe he's just good at pissing others off." Maybe they weren't real wars was what she wanted to suggest but she didn't know the first thing about war. Who was she to judge or discredit what a wolf claimed they'd seen just because she hadn't heard of it herself? The wilds were huge. It was possible a war went unnoticed by anyone but the participants.

When asked about other crazy packs, Saena shrugged. "I'd call Redhawk Caldera crazy, but only 'cause they change their tune every other day, it seems. Invite you to visit one day, try to kill you the next. Otherwise I don't know much about the other packs around here, except Stavanger Bay. They're not really crazy, but they're vikings." Wait. Hadn't Nochtli said something about vikings? Realizing that she had, Saena leaned forward and asked, "does that mean they are crazy?"

[ooc]I hope you don't mind but I pushed this towards a conclusion! It's a bit old, after all. New one soon, please? :) "Former," She confirmed. "He was not the sharpest tooth in the mouth." She didn't elaborate for as much as she had enjoyed her freedom, she wasn't one to slander the reputation of another. She knew that the "Amazon Prince" had been unfit for his rule and that was all that mattered to her. If others were not of like mind, so be it. She would not try and sway their decision. She laughed though, tail waving behind her as she thought about that. "I think you might be on to something." Certainly, if he'd grated on her own nerves that badly, and she had the patience of one hundred Citalis.

Listening, Nochtli took in the information about the Cabrera and nodded, connecting the dots. They were bipolar, killed Saena's sister, etc. Nope, she wasn't going near them any time soon. "Not crazy but they think a little differently than most wolves, I believe." They believed in gods of battle and war and all of the things that made Nochtli's brain go "HELL NO."

"Well, I think it's time I head off and scout that area out." She was interested to see if there were any remnants of that pack lingering around, though she made a mental note to avoid the Bay, for surely it couldn't have been far from where she was headed. "Thanks for the info, Saena. It was nice seeing you again."

Not the sharpest tooth. Saena had some experience with the type. Her brother, Pura, was probably the dullest tooth of them all. She had never known him to respond aggressively, but she supposed the potential was there if something set him off. Maybe Nochtli's former alpha was in the same boat as Pura. Little did she know her brother was actually a cannibal with a sexual fetish for murder, very unlike any other wolf in the wilds and very much a monster. Knowing that would change things quite drastically if ever she learned of it.

"Yeah, I've met one or two," she said, thinking back to Gunnar and Mercury when he briefly ran with the Rise, "but they've never really said anything too different." Their gods, they kept to themselves. Saena didn't even really know they followed deities. With Nochtli's information, she would probably keep a closer eye on Gunnar to try to pick up on anything different about her friend.

"You as well. Have fun," she said with a grin when Nochtli indicated a desire to seek out the sirens' former stomping grounds. She herself had never gone to Ankyra Sound, but she wasn't one for the coast either. "Reek who lives here knows a lot about them, if you wanted to know more on the way back." She would stand there a moment longer to watch the Amazon depart, then might go to take a bath.

She took the information offered with a smile and a slight wag of her tail, pleased that she'd found someone pleasant to talk to. Perhaps she would tell Cita about the young Alpha, since they were looking for a pack led by a female and all that. "I'll see about stopping by when I come back this way then. Thanks again!" With that, she departed, heading toward the shore to investigate the very location she'd been told about.

Exit Nochtli!