Totoka River she's dancing with strangers

@Pump Posting from my phone, sorry for typos or issues.

The mambo had roused herself and deparated Swiftcurrent Creek with the intention of bringing news of Fox's leadership to Horizon Ridge. Though she had a deep lack of respect and faith in Akhlut, her former pack's Alpha, she continued to care for the other members. It was enough that she would keep them updated, despite Akhlut himself. Should the swarthy Alpha be the one to address her, however, then she would feign her purpose; she would not benefit him directly with knowledge from outside his pack. She deemed it useful for Pied or Kisu or Dublin or Pump to know, but if Akhlut wanted to be the wonderful Alpha he thought he was, Jinx would expect him to find things out for himself.

She never made it to the pack, however. She remembered too well the fury in the Alpha's eyes, and despite his parting remarks, she didn't trust his benevolence. She was unwilling to put herself in a position where she could be caught and taken prisoner. Instead, the Kesuk loitered around the river that bordered her old pack territory, well clear of the pack's perimeter. From here, she could watch and potentially flag down anyone on the beach that wasn't Akhlut himself.

It was a day or two, since Pump had left the borders of Horizon ridge behind her and begun to roam around the Squoia coast. She scavenged for most part of her time, hunted, when there was a good opprotunity and chance to be successful. More and more it became clear that she craved neither the company of other wolves, nor she missed any of the pack members. As much as the leaders wanted to believe that they were a tight knit family, in reality they were a group of total members, who had nothing in common. There was no difference then, if Pump lived in a den under a tree in the territories or chose a place somewhere in the wilds.

She was busy burrying down remains of her last meal (a hare), when she caught scent of someone familiar to her and foreign at the same time. The wolf-dog lifted her head and cast a suspicious glance around. She had no desire to meet anyone of her pack, let alone share her meal. Therefore she put her precious treasure in the shallow hole and pushed earth and snow on it. Then she shook her coat and looked for the person. It didn't take long to spot the white wolf standing by the river. Jinx.

For unfathomable reason she was a little glad to see this wolf, even though it had left the pack weeks ago and was no friend. "Hey," she barked, while closing the distance between them, "a little too far away from home, aren't you, Jinx Kesuk?"

As she stood there on the river's edge, she physically and mentally wavered on her next course of action. The headhunter in her longed to break into the pack's territory and wreak havoc, and perhaps if she wasn't so well known, she would have done it. The loyalist in her, small as that part was, loathed the idea of inciting the wrath of Pied and Kisu and any of the other worthwhile pack wolves. A third part of her, the part that cared for the well-being of her former pack mates as well as her current pack mates, won out in the end and held her back.

She was still wavering when Pump appeared. Jinx remembered the wolf well from their first meeting and, being unaware that Pump had treated Ira somewhat poorly, remembered she had liked her. The black female had a strange look about her that still set Jinx's suspicions on edge, but she had come to accept it as something that couldn't be changed. Pump addressed her with a comment that might have seemed sardonic, but Jinx appreciated this sort of humour. A wry smile was her response.

"I bear news," she explained, glad that it was someone other than Akhlut. "I am also here to check in. I did not forget my friends when I left." There was heavy emphasis on friends, for even though Jinx and Pump had only formally met on one occasion, the Kesuk had deemed her hybrid pack mate an asset at some point. "Tell me, how fares the Ridge?"

Pump was very simple in her perception of people. She did not generalize and did not pretend to like someone, if she didn't. Jinx had been one of the few members of the pack she had respected - she had an air of power and ambition, someone willing to act, rather than sitting around and doing nothing. If this white wolf were to lead the Ridge, Pump would be more inclined to stay there and try to fit in than now. Regarding Ira - she disliked children in general and this one with his attitude and arrogance had simply got on her nerves. Nothing personal.

She furrowed her brow, when Jinx mentioned friends. They were no such thing and, since no one missed or mourned this lass in the pack, she doubted that there were any left there. Therefore the choice of words was a little odd in her opinion. "Same as ever - a group of wolves with nothing in common, an alpha that is hard to find and meet. One big, happy family," there was an edge of bitterness in her tone, when she said this. "Pied got severely injured, but is hobbling happily around now," she had caught the distinct scent of the delta wolf around the woods recently.

"You look fine yourself. Where do you live now?"

Though it was unfortunate, the news was nothing Jinx hadn't expected. She came pre-packaged with the belief that nobody could change their stripes. Regarding Akhlut, this was doubly important, for the Alpha had claimed he would learn and improve, but if Pump's account was correct, it seemed he hadn't. A pity he hadn't stepped aside to allow her to lead. Pump also addressed the concern of Pied, which settled a strange relief into Jinx's breast. She had long put aside her hatchet when it came to the dappled female, but had never expected to feel relieved that she was alive and well.

"I can't say I'm surprised," she muttered, still cautious that Akhlut would suddenly appear like Thor from the sky and smite her with his Light and his Sun. "Why do you remain here, then? I don't imagine it's comfortable." Jinx had been comfortable at Horizon Ridge, but the longer she was away, the more she saw all of its flaws. She had put them aside for the ocean, she concluded... But perhaps it was something else she wasn't aware of.

"Past the mountains, there is a creek whose depth and speed are hidden by its tranquil appearance. The pack calls itself Swiftcurrent and lives along its banks. That's where I've settled myself." There was something of a subtle invitation in the words, as well as something resembling a sales pitch, but Jinx didn't outright ask Pump if she would rather try to settle there than here. Instead, she said, "I actually came bearing news of my pack. Leadership has changed. The old Alpha is dead, and the new Alpha is named Fox."

"I trust you," Pump replied to Jinx's remark about the pack and probably their leader. "You had been there longer than me, before you left. You must have seen the flaws there," she went on, deciding against mentioning particular names or people. It was an obvious pack. Too bad the other wolves that joined were blinded by hope that the life would be better with others, when in reality it was far from truth.

The immediate answer to the question "Why was she still there?" would have been that "she had nowhere to go". When you thought more about it, this wasn't true. Horizon ridge was made up of individuals, who shared little to nothing in common. They weren't related by blood, therefore Pump felt no need to be loyal to them, because all in all they were strangers to her. Just as in the wild you wouldn't go forth to help a stranger, she wouldn't do the same in the pack, when she couldn't expect the same favor from them.

Pump was not generous - she did not like to give, if she knew that she
wouldn't receive anything in return. "Should I bring back these news to Akhlut?" Pump asked, even though she didn't think that the change of the leadership in a pack that was far away would be of any matter to the Horizon ridge. "It's good to know that you have found your place," she concluded. I hope that I will find my own one day. She didn't say this aloud.

"Akhlut leads from afar. He knows nothing of his followers except that they are alive." She shrugged, as if this was a boring discovery. She had told him that herself, and he had admitted to it himself. "My Alpha sat us all down and could look at each of us and tell us what we should be doing for the pack because she knows us. It is a drastic difference." Though she was loathe to admit it, there would come a time when Jinx would lead again, come hell or high water, and she would take what Fox had shown her to heart.

Whether Pump chose to perhaps pursue life elsewhere or not, Jinx could only hope she would find something more worth her time than Horizon Ridge. Or, more specifically, that she would find a leader more worth her time. She had to remind herself that the rest of the pack was not as poor as their leader. "It's up to you. I didn't intend to tell him myself. When I left he told me he planned to improve himself and his awareness as a leader, perhaps he could start by figuring stuff out by himself." If any Akhlut loyalists had heard her saying that, no doubt she would be run off immediately, but the two Kesuk wolves had no respect for one another. It was no secret she would see him fall and laugh about it.

Even though Pump was not satisfied with the way Akhlut was leading the pack, she did not feel entirely comfortable, when Jinx began the comparing game. He was still her alpha, there was some deference from her. Therefore she swallowed the bitter fact that the other alpha did sound a bit better, but decided not to push the subject further. Her intention was not to speak ugly things about the young leader behind his back.

"Then I will," Pump shrugged. Being a bit of a messenger couldn't hurt. "You sound like you know him personally - that is - better than the rest of us," she remarked, knowing for sure that he would have not told anything of the kind to any of the other members of the pack. "Do you have a history?" she asked curiously, referring more to the possible fact that these two had known each other before or were related.

Pump displayed a moment of near-genius perception, which earned from Jinx something of a knowing smile, but it was brief. It was rare to find a wolf who could guess a relation between two wolves who couldn't have been more different. If one looked closely, they might see the resemblance, the subtle hints of Nanuq's build that both of them carried... But it was well hidden. Pump made her assumption based on Jinx's projected knowledge of Akhlut. Rather than writing it off as luck, as she was wont to do, she took a moment to appreciate that quality. Pump could make a wonderful addition to a pack, if only the pack could find a way to suit her.

"He is my half-brother," she revealed, though there was no affection in her voice. "Through my mother. I didn't know him before I came here, but he is... Very much like her. She was a lot meaner, but she also followed Atka, as he does, and believed in the light and in justice. She was also a distant leader, and then one day she walked away and left me and my siblings behind and never returned. She went and had other kids elsewhere. I suppose we didn't satisfy her enough." There was no end to the animosity toward Nanuq that Jinx harboured, but for once her tone wasn't biting when she said it. Nanuq being Akhlut's mother didn't mean that he was bound to be like her, but of course, Jinx had written him off long ago, so even though he was surely a better leader than she herself had claimed, she still was harsh and compared him to their mother.

Pump hadn't imagined that the two wolves could be related somehow. From what she had seen - they were very different from each other. Both in looks and personality, although she could be mistaken, because she had never been the one to be good at observing people. Jinx went on, telling the short story of her family history. What is Atka? Wolf-dog's brow furrowed at the mention of the word she had never heard before. She wasn't in the religious stuff, therefore it made no sense to her that alpha would be following anyone but himself. But they all had their quirks.

There was also a great deal of bitterness, when Jinx spoke about her mother, and Pump felt a bit of sympathy for her. Even though her relationship with her mom and other relatives had been more businesslike, not much emotional attachments (such as love or affection) were involved. "Don't feel offended, but what is it with you and Akhlut and the beliefs? I mean - what purpose do they serve to you?" she was curious, because for the most part she was an atheist.

It was an unusual question, if only because Jinx had never thought of it before. To Pump, Jinx and Akhlut were wolves following silly false beliefs with no proof of existence, solely because they had been told to do so. To Jinx, Pump was a heathen who had parted from the old ways of the wolf, Atka and Sos were the supreme creators, and Shearwater Bay was a pack steeped in the ancient old beliefs. The perspective changed everything; Shearwater Bay had not adopted the Bear Gods. Rather, everyone else had abandoned them.

"They are the ultimate truth," she responded after a very long pause. "Atka and Sos are the Creator and the Destroyer, the Mother and the Lord. Atka brought forth all life, from the sharks in the sea to the elk on the land and us wolves, too. Sos gave their spirits a place to rest, and brought nightfall and terror, that we may appreciate the light. They are all things, Rulers of life and death, Creators of all that we see. They chose wolves as the supreme beasts, and gave us Their favour." She took a moment to regard Pump quizzically before concluding with, "My family has not abandoned the old ways where others have forgotten the Gods. We pay tribute to those who Made us, as all wolves should."

Somewhere in there, the Nereides had diverged to view the Sea as their mistress. Nanuq and Aktaie had bastardized the faiths by comparing Atka to the Sea, and from there, Akhlut's beliefs had been born. Jinx didn't subscribe to this. She believed Atka had a fondness for the sea, as Sos had a fondness for mountains (in her belief), but they weren't the same. She didn't comment on Akhlut's faith, though, not knowing enough about it to say.

Perspective mattered - that was true. Pump had grown up with people, whose main purpose in life was survival at all costs. Whether you did or not, depended on you and how hard you fought. No force from outside (divine or from hell itself) could aid you. When you entered the ranks of Bilberry Hills - you left all hope and all beliefs outside. Because the tough life gave you no time to contemplate about philosophy, religion, moral, ethics and what not. If you wanted to stay alive, you focused on that one thing. So Jinx, probably, was right in her assumption of Pump as a heathen. Except according to her point of view - these wolves, who worshiped gods or forces of nature - they had invented them not the other way round. The logic was simple - the wolf-dog had lived all her life without a knowledge of gods and fancy rituals and been perfectly fine.

"How do you pay tributes to them?" Pump was curious about this one. As far as the fairy tale had gone - it had been pretty interesting.

Offerings and prayers were all a matter of personal preference, although Shearwater Bay had celebrated named moons in different ways. March was Bison Moon, a time of prayer and sacrifice, but there were no associated rituals. It would be difficult to explain the Pump the significance of Bison Moon without any associated rituals to refer to, but she made an earnest attempt nevertheless.

"By offering Them things They like. Some seasons are better for Them than others, and require different offerings. They like different plants, animals, and stones depending on the moon, and we prayed to Them daily." Sos and Atka had never let Shearwater Bay down, either. When all the heathen wolves from another land had come to claim all the free territory of the Seahawk Valley, the Bear Gods had one by one removed them, until Shearwater was again liberated of its intrusive neighbours. Even Tartok, the swine of the mountains who claimed to be elite, had left, yet the Bay still stood.

Thinking of the Bay compelled her to glance out toward the sea, and it was then she noticed the sun beginning to sink. "Forgive me," she mumbled, with a polite look in Pump's direction, though in reality she knew there was nothing to forgive. "It's getting late. I must be back." She began to walk away then, pausing only once to turn her head over her shoulder and say, "it was good to see you, Pump." I hope Akhlut improves, she thought about adding, but in the end chose not to. The reality that she didn't actually think Akhlut could or would succeed in his role was best not to be muddled with well wishes on his part.

Religion was not for Pump, because she couldn't understand the fundamentals. The simple reason for that - she saw no point in Gods. Unless a god could give something valuable (food) in return for every time she prayed then maybe she would consider. In her opinion relationship had to be mutually beneficial - be it a regular person or the one that lived in the sky or wherever they tended to dwell. But she respected Jinx enough to understand that there must be some sort of reward to have such a solid fascination with this, therefore she neither commented the situation, nor pushed the subject further. Jinx had said all there was to be said for such a person as Pump.

"It was good to see you too, take care," she said and turned to go home. It wasn't that late and she considered scavenging down the seaside. There was always something edible to find there.