Nimbus Summit the one that i came with, she had to go

i went ahead and started <3 eep @Floki AW! maybe someone from SC? ;)

Their journey continued, in no way exciting or rewarding. Aria grew more and more tired each step she took, but it was not an exhaustion that sleep could help. She felt bad, like she was weighing down the moonspear male with her slowness-- but she could not help it. They hadn't had much to eat, and the pale princess had eaten more bugs than she'd ever even seen in her entire life. They hadn't even been gone for very long-- the world was just cruel.

Floki had proven to be a much better companion than she'd hoped for, and his playful teasings often gave her sour mood a much needed uplifting. She returned his quips happily, making their travels much more enjoyable. There was still a pit in the bottom of her stomach, one that grew each and every moment. What if they would end their travels empty-handed? No plants, no prey, no land-- no nothing. The thought burned holes through her heart, scorching each bit of hope she'd had at the beginning of their adventure. She prayed they'd find something-- anything-- in this god-forsaken barren land, but right now she felt that it was stupid to think such a niave thought. The world was dead and brown, and she could do nothing about it.

They walked on more elevated land now, and Aria's breathing was heavy. It didn't sound obnoxious or unhealthy, but it was clear that their lack of food over the past few days had damaged the girl at least slightly. She'd been pampered her whole life, and prey had never been far from reach-- even if it was small. Bugs were simply not as filling. In an effort to distract herself from her physical state, she nudged Floki gently. "I can't believe you live on a mountain. Do you have to climb every day?" she teased, raising an eyebrow at the man.

*offers cookies for other peeps to join us* :D

Floki was certainly worried about what would happen when he returned to Moonspear empty-handed; the vast devastation was enough to dampen anyone's spirits. He had no idea what the lack of plantlife would mean for his own pack, but he had already seen first hand that prey was exceptionally scarce. It was like the locusts had wiped out the squirrels and rabbits and deer themselves.

Yet he maintained something of a positive attitude, and it was because of Aria. Despite the concern that was etched evidently across her brow, she was a pleasant companion. Small talk between them had eventually turned to more in-depth conversations and she always had a response for his banter. At the end of the day, he was glad that they had made the trip together.

Presently, they had begun to scale a mountain, though they kept to its lower reaches for the time being. It reminded Floki of Moonspear, in a way -- its peak was completely obscured by low-hanging clouds, and he wondered just how tall it was. His ear turned towards Aria as she spoke, and he noticed the breathiness of her words, indicating that she was slightly winded. "Yup, up and down to get anywhere," he replied. His body had adjusted quickly, but he remembered how exhausting -- and dangerous -- it had been at first. "It took me a little while to get used to it. I used to be all out of breath like you," he teased, tongue lolling in a grin.

/wants to wait for others but is obnoxious

Aria sticks her tongue out, nudging him roughly. Her tongue soon falls, becoming less of an annoyed face and more of a pant. "I'm not out of breath," she tells him, her gaze falling over the male. "I'm simply saving some of it for later." She dips her head, tail swaying behind her, and sniffs at the ground. It smells of heat and water-- two things that don't actually have a smell but are oddly recognizable. She exhales loudly and raises her head back up, looking to Floki with large white eyes. "I feel like we're in the clouds," she says, glancing to the foggy terrain around them. "Do mountains really go up that high? Are we really that high?"

Casmir had decided he would make it up to Saena in style, his stupid faux pas. he had no reason to act that way; even with Luke gone, he wasn't the alpha male, and maybe she needed one. the thought made him bristle, but perhaps in a year she would choose him after all. he'd proven himself, hadn't he?

the boy stood upon a high precipice, fog wreathing through his dark fur, as he gazed out over the remains of the forests below, searching for any large movement. wolves were in these lands now, and the Mayfair boy looked for them as well. it occurred belatedly to Casmir that an alpha male would breed with the alpha female -- he blinked, a bit scandalized. 

however, the sound of voices rose to his ears, one male and one female. the Silver Creek wolf turned, padding though the pale mists until the tones grew louder, keeping himself sheltered by a rocky outcropping.

Aria.

he was displeased to note that his stomach seemed to drop out of his body at the sight of her, but moreso was he angered by the sight of her companion, a man with whom she flirted outrageously. she got over things quickly, Casmir thought bitterly to himself, and then decided it didn't matter. what was she doing here anyway? 

gathering himself, the boy made himself known, approaching the pair with a confidence he did not feel. his gaze was kept carefully guarded; his smile was his father's pleasant bow. "Aria," Casmir greeted in tones he was inwardly surprised to realize had grown deeper. "What brings you here?"

her companion was wholly ignored; the boy smirked deep inside. man, he was killin' it. KILLING IT.

Oooo...!

"Oh, okay," Floki replied with a roll of his eyes, as though he didn't believe Aria in the slightest. He chuckled, then paused as she lowered her head to further examine the rocky terrain with her nose. It was humid here, in a way that Moonspear wasn't, and her question was met with a shrug. "I'm not sure," he said, "it doesn't feel like we're that high up, but these clouds..."

His voice trailed off as another wolf approached them, moving confidently across the uneven mountainside towards them. Floki's first instinct was to bristle defensively, his yellow eyes riveted to the other young male. He was dark in color and missing an ear, but it was his gaze that caught Floki's attention -- especially because he was staring directly at Aria.

And then, the boy greeted her by name. Floki's brows pitched upward in surprise and he turned his head to regard Aria quietly in an attempt to gauge her reaction. There was a coolness to the yearling's tone that raised his suspicion, but Floki was a mistrustful wolf anyway. Who is this guy? his expression asked.

o shit

Floki responds thoughtfully, and the pale girl listens as he describes his take on it. She trusts him more when it comes to his opinions of their standing-- he does live on a mountain afterall. He trails off, and she stares at him for a moment before she realizes why he had trailed off. Someone had joined them.

He head turns, and suddenly her veins begin to pound in her ears. She feels deaf for a moment, her  body swaying slightly as emotion rushed through her. She steps forward, staring at the Mayfair boy with large, white eyes. He has grown-- but she isn't sure he looks older. His voice, however, is deeper, even if only slightly, and she's almost caught off gaurd even more. 

"Casmir," she murmurs in response, almost too quiet to hear. She doesn't answer right away, instead she takes a quick glance at Floki. She realized how this looked-- but doesn't feel that he has any right to be offended. After all, even if there was something between she and the Moonspear male, Aria had generously offered to share the boy with Behati-- even if she'd never truly been okay with that offer.

"Donnelaith is barren," she tells him, her voice a normal volume now. "I'm looking for prey and herbs-- and new land, maybe." Her gaze shifts to Floki again. "This is Floki, he comes from the Moonspear pack."

>D LANGUAGE AHEAD

 

the dude that had accompanied Aria glanced between the two of them. Floki. Fowkee. Fuckee. Casmir shook away the bitter and immature thoughts and forced himself to look at Aria's stupid manwhore friend. "hello, i'm Casmir. Aria and I lived together at Donnelaith for a while," he intoned gently. 

the news that his family packlands were bare wasn't surprising to the boy -- he cast a wide glance at the surrounding lands. "it isn't better here," he rejoined, mustering an apologetic tone. in his heart he was hurt, angry, angry that she had dared to follow him here and bring her fucking .. what was Fuckee? her boyfriend?

"i live in a pack here now," Casmir went on. "there isn't food here either, unfortunately." a pause followed and the most wicked thought came to the boy, but he kept that same inscrutable, vaguely pleasant expression on his face. 

"there's a forest not far from here; i'll help you guys scout if you want. my mate is around somewhere also," Casmir added, sauntering beyond Fuckee and Aria to gaze over the ledge as if searching for this nonexistent hot wolf who had agreed to marry him.

Floki couldn't quite make out Aria's whisper, but she seemed momentarily unbalanced as the other wolf calmly introduced himself. As soon as his name was out in the open, the missing puzzle piece slid into place. Casmir was the guy Aria had been looking for when Floki first met her in the moonlight some weeks ago. He remembered that she had referred to him a close friend, perhaps even a lover, and he felt a peculiar twinge of jealousy pinching his chest.

He swallowed the unexpected emotion and gave a slight dip of his muzzle. "Nice to meet you," he replied nonchalantly. He couldn't quite make sense of the dynamic between Casmir and Aria, but he cast a furtive sidelong glance at his traveling companion as he listened to the other boy speak. The information shared was stored carefully in Floki's mind; there was no prey here, either, but Casmir belonged to a pack.

"Where is your pack located?" he asked, his gaze following Casmir as he moved past them, glancing around for his mate. His mate -- perhaps Floki didn't have anything to worry about, after all -- but what would that mean to Aria? His insides hadn't unclenched quite yet, but he remained still alongside Aria for the time being. He would prefer to continue their explorations as a duo; however, the final say belonged to the pale she-wolf. If she invited Casmir to join them, he couldn't very well protest.

"Silver Creek," the boy answered glibly. he hadn't missed Aria's reaction to his appearance, nor the dude's weird expression in regards to it. "there are some idiots setting up shop way too close to us, but they'll leave. we don't play." here he gave a feral grin, aimed more at Aria. her stupid boytoy moved closer, as if to assert some sort of dominance he didn't have -- Casmir wasn't stupid enough to think they were mates. after all, Aria's one big game was breaking hearts, and damn, she was good at it.

"you too, man," he murmured, warming to the other male. if he couldn't have Aria, he'd just fake being chummy with her idiot boyfriend. hey, did you know i kissed her first? i held her close and we slept together first? his mind spat, but he didn't say any of these things.

"i haven't had a chance to get home yet, Aria; how are the kids? are Dante and Osprey gonna have little ones too?" his tone was friendly, and yet Casmir's vindictive streak ran hot. she had rejected him, told him no (he had of course forgotten all the times she'd said yes) and now look at him. running with a new pack, as healthy as the situation could have warranted, high-ranked, and yes, with a little wifey.

sucks for her, didn't it?

Aria remains silent for a little while, letting Floki and Casmir speak without any sort of interruption. For a moment, she refrained from shouting accusations at him. A mate? There was no way. She knew he was lying, there was no way. No way. Absolutely no way. She wanted to call him out, force him to prove it. But hell, what did she know? He was probably fine. Fine when he left her at the border, probably fine all those days she spent wandering aimlessly looking for him. Fine now. 

"We don't need any help," she adds at one point, eyeing Casmir for a moment before she turns to stare in the direction of the forest he'd pointed out. She would avoid it, she did not want to go near it. Somewhere in the pit of her stomach, she had this feeling that if she went she would meet this mate of his-- for some reason. Aria pictured a black female, tall and muscular with brightly colored eyes and a deep, honey filled voice-- quite opposite from herself, but even more beautiful. It hurt her, and she looked to her paws for a moment, lost from the conversation completely.

"The kids?" she questions, her voice thick with confusion. After a few heartbeats though, she realizes he means Deirdre and Emaleth, and shakes her head. "They're doing well-- Deirdre and I started a garden with Eilidh before the swarm," she shares with him. It is forced, however, as she currently does not wish to bring him any comfort. Any gesture that Floki has made towards her has gone unnoticed, she is too distraught to pay attention. "Osprey should be due any day," she adds, and a twinge of guilt runs through her. She probably already missed it. She pauses, her gaze falling to the dark male for a moment. Her gaze falls to his ear, and she suddenly straightens her posture slightly. 

"Your brother returned to the pack," she tells him, her tail waving behind her.

oh, yeah. that had done it. Aria never did have much of a poker face. Casmir watched as her countenance fell and she fumbled for words -- but it was not satisfaction he gained from hurting her.  it was guilt. yet he was in too deep to back out now; he nodded as she spoke. "that's good." the news of his brother caused his single ear to flip back momentarily -- what did Constantine make of this all?

"rad," the boy drawled. "i'll hafta go catch up with Connie sometime soon then." she didn't want his help and he was sure that her boyfriend would go along mindlessly with whatever she wanted, so he glanced between the two of them. 

if he was being truthful, there was a single spark of pleasure in which he reveled, knowng his words had struck home, and the only reason there was for that was that she still felt for him. in that moment he wanted to take her aside, to pour out all the love and resentment and aching loneliness he'd felt these past weeks without her.

i missed you.

Casmir didn't say a word of this, of course; he nodded at the idiot man and smiled in Aria's direction. "guess i'll be going then. nice to meetcha, dude. good to see you, Aria." that part he did mean, and so his tones rang true. "come by the creek sometime," he offered, preparing himself for the killing blow. his golden eyes gleamed briefly. "we'll make a day of it. maybe a double date." 

Cas paused to gauge her reaction and to listen to any proffered words before sidling past the two and picking out a path down the mountainside, sending up a "good luck!" to the pair with a cheeriness he did not feel; he loped for the Creek now, tears stinging his throat. fuck everything. he'd lost her completely now.

sorry for skipping floki! let me know if this isn't okay <3

Casmir seemed unbothered by her comment, and therefore she had no reason to attempt to make him jealous. She doubted it would've worked anyway. If she really wanted to bother him she would've just told him that she was Lasher's co-alpha, and they were bangin' the days away. But she couldn't think that far, and she'd found that most of her pettiness has died with Behati. Now she was just sad. Suddenly, the boy ended their conversation. He said a quick goodbye to them and skipped away from the mountain pleasantly. "Right," she had responded, not fully hearing him and therefore unable to argue the 'double date' scenario that Casmir had so joyfully attempted to lodge in her mind. Had she heard him she might've passed out-- the thought of having to watch Casmir rub up over some other woman right before her own eyes might've driven her mad. 

Her gaze did not watch him go, and instead she stares to the ground in front of her and takes in a long breath. "Found him," she murmurs softly, glancing up to Floki and swallowing heavily. She knows he knew exactly who that was, and she wonders what he thinks of the conversation. She doesn't ask though, she has no idea how to gather her thoughts. 

No worries! <3

Casmir answered Floki's question; Silver Creek was the name of his pack. Normally, the scout would have pressed for more information, like the group's physical whereabouts and how long they had been there. But Casmir soon began to address Aria once more and, feeling very much like a third wheel, Floki clamped his mouth shut and simply listened.

They spoke of wolves that Floki didn't know, their conversation friendly on the surface but with a sharp edge hidden beneath their words. There were promises made -- mostly by Casmir, to come visit Donnelaith to see his brother and the pack's newest pups. Although the one-eared fellow was perfectly polite when addressing Floki, there was something about him that he just didn't like.

He was relieved when Casmir finally excused himself. The whole exchange had lasted only a few minutes, but it seemed like it had been much longer. The wind promptly went out of Aria's sails once he disappeared from sight; she sighed heavily, making a shaky quip that pulled a half-hearted smile from Floki. He stared in the direction that Casmir had gone, then turned and stepped towards Aria, reaching out to nudge her cheek gently with his nose. "You okay?" he asked; although he didn't want to make the comparison, he had to imagine that he would have felt much the same if they had just run into Wildfire.

Floki nudges her gently, and although the weight of the previous conversation had harmed her flirtatious personality, she leans into him nonetheless. "Yeah," she murmurs, but her head betrays her response as it shakes. "I'm just-- I'm just glad he's okay," she adds. With heavy feet, she stands straight and begins to move forward. She isn't sure she wants to talk about it-- she really hates talking about things-- but she feels like Floki will ask more questions. In an attempt to shift the conversation away and to reassure him that she's alright, she gives him a half-hearted smile and a brief wag of her tail.

"At least I'm not out of breath anymore," she jokes dryly.

Wanna wrap this one up too? :)

Floki offered nothing more than a vague hum in response to her thoughts on Casmir. Perhaps this would give Aria some sort of closure; if she knew that he was doing just fine -- better than fine, even -- then she could move on, too. He wouldn't say as much, however. Aria had to process her own feelings -- and besides, Floki was busy trying to understand the spark of jealousy that Casmir had ignited in him.

When she made a weak joke, he chuckled. "Good. I think we're almost around the mountain, anyway," he said, glancing at the path ahead. While Casmir had gone in a different direction, he could see that the trail they were following snaked down the rocky slope. It wouldn't take too much longer for them to reach flat land; he was eager to leave the foggy peak behind, both because of its humidity and because of the unpleasant interaction that had just occurred.

sure <3

The girl nods, her tail waving lowly behind her. "Yeah-- maybe these clouds will go away," she mutters, her ears flicking. She didn't really understand the terrain, but she decided she didn't like it very much. The pair continued to the bottom of the mountain, the 'clouds' eventually dispersing as they grew further from the mountain. They moved on through the dusty land, silently and without much interaction.