Blacktail Deer Plateau hoti rehti hain

backdated to yesterday afternoon. for anyone who wants to meet him/say hi/etc

it wasn't as if his tail was between his legs. he oughtn't to be ashamed of not spilling blood. after all, hadn't his mother once taught him to do no harm? he had never been a warrior, had always chosen the peaceful path in life. he could fight for self-defense, but beyond that, he had no thirst for vengeance.

then again, he had never had anyone worth fighting for, either. until now.

the woman was gone, vanished. off to do her dastardly deeds elsewhere. his lips curled into a snarl at the thought of her on the loose, terrorizing other packs. he hoped that someone would take the liberty of of killing her. if not, should she reappear again. . .  a rush of pleasure, shockingly akin to sexual satisfaction, rushed through him at the thought of sinking his fangs into her throat.

he trudged over the border, head hanging in slight dejection, raising a leg to quickly mark the line before moving on. if dawn asked questions regarding his whereabouts over the past day and a half, he would answer. otherwise, no one would know. no one needed to know.

she would be mad if she knew aditya had raced off to exact justice. . .or perhaps just worried. maybe she identified strongly with the urge to slaughter the one who had wounded her sister and taken her father's eye. he could not see how she wouldn't feel strongly about it; if he had woke in a cold sweat since he had heard the tale, how wouldn't she?

sighing loudly, aditya began to pace this length of the border back and forth, tail lashing in frustration.

Aviana found she really loved the territory, and spent her days exploring it. She also made note of where prey moved, how often, and if there were any patterns she could follow. It put her brain to work, and she had less time to worry about anything else. She thought of Sebastian often, but until Grayday returned from his trip, she knew she couldn't leave to go see him. Surely the war hadn't started yet, right? Maybe they would even find a truce before the fighting started. She only hope.

A loud sigh ripped her from her thoughts, and her head raised as her ears perked. She looked to find the source, and her gaze landed on a male who seemed to be angrily pacing back and forth, a fluffy tail following him. Aviana froze, wondering if she should approach, or slink off as if she had never been there. He hadn't seen her yet, so she knew she could get away. But, how would that help her move on from her past? Sure, maybe the male was angry, but she needed to remind herself that it didn't mean he would take it out on her. 

She took a few steps forward before giving a chuff to announce herself. Maybe her luck would be that he didn't want the company. That would be an easy way out that she would take in an instant. 

a low sound of greeting caught his ear, distracting him from his thoughts, and his head shot up to find a slim agouti female staring at him. aditya hastily altered his expression to his customary easy-going smile and took a few steps toward her. she looked familiar--he had seen her at the latest hunt perhaps. avi. . . avi-something.

"hello," he said, his voice kind, if a bit hollow from the disappointment he had been feeling. "we've met, right? at the hunt? i'm aditya," he reintroduced himself.

he noticed she looked a bit taken aback, and felt slightly ashamed. he must have come off rather poorly to this new member, pacing around and grumbling as he was doing. he hoped his true nature would shine through to her now as he smiled, golden eyes twinkling in the sunlight.

The male's head shot up and his eyes met hers. Suddenly, his expression did a one-eighty, and changed from angry to happy. It damn near gave Aviana whiplash, and she retreated a few steps as the male came towards her. She didn't find it natural that such a change should occur, and it unnerved her. Her ears folded on her head as it lowered, both in fear and to protect herself. What if he went back to angry?

But, his voice was kind, and he was right-- they had met at the hunt. Aviana hadn't noticed anything abnormal about him then. It was a few moments before she decided to answer him. Yes. I'm Aviana. Her voice was neutral, not her usual friendly tone. She was weary of him now, and she waited to see what he would do. She would have almost prefered if he had stayed annoyed; at least then she would have expected it. 

further distress swept through him as she took steps back, looking concerned as her ears folded atop her head. had he really unnerved this woman so much? he wondered what trauma she had suffered in her life that led to such a reaction.

"aviana," adi repeated, keeping his smile and relaxing his posture as much as he could. "hi. how are you settling in?"

before she could answer, he added quickly, "um, i. . .forgive me. i know i looked rather angry just now. i wasn't able to complete a task i needed to do, and, well, i got frustrated." pausing, he also said, "i'm dawn's mate," as if maybe throwing her name out there would put him in aviana's good graces at last.

She wasn't mad, exactly. No, that would be hypocritical; too many times had she vanished now and in her youth, with not a word to anyone. Still, to awake alone and track his scent to the border, gone without a word, had her - well, disappointed was not the right word either. The familiar sound of his voice ahead had her heart skip a beat, relieved that his trip had not been long. She moved to meet him, pausing when she heard the voice of another; Aviana. Surely she must not have been the first to intercept him, and as she peered through the cover of a thicket, the sight of Avian shrinking back, and her mate's reassurance that he wasn't angry all the time had her pause. 

It seemed one of her hunches had been confirmed to an extent; it was not her father's size that made the woman nervous, nor his leadership position; rather, it seemed to be men in general. Her ears flicked back; she'd been about the leave Aditya to meet the woman and speak with him later, but Aviana's obvious discomfort had her step from her cover and approach, shooting Aditya a quick glance that said I have questions  but not addressing his absence, instead chuffing her arrival and attempting to relieve the tension in her spine. She felt oddly protective over the other woman since witnessing her full submission, somehow, that seemed to place some sort of responsibility upon the girl. 

 "hey Aviana - Adi."  She said, smile on her face that came a little forced; not out of anger, but out of the desire to put the girl at ease. She stopped a short distance from the two, not wanting to crows either of them, though part of her wished to draw closer to Aditya.

Aviana wasn't sure what to do in this situation. The male asked her a question, and she thought for a moment before answering. Before she could even come up with an answer, he continued talking, saying how he had been upset, and then confessing that Dawn was his mate. Before the disbelief crossed her features, Dawn arrived, as if summoned.

Aviana relaxed mostly, her tail even moving back and forth quickly in greeting to Dawn. She had never been so grateful for someone else coming forward as she was in that moment.  She didn't really want to distrust the male, but his moods had her confused, and she couldn't quite seem to get over it. Hello, Dawn, she offered, her attention fixated on the female rather than her mate. Still, she kept Aditya in her sights, though didn't answer his question. Maybe having Dawn here would get her out of it. 

before aviana could speak, dawn of all wolves arrived on the scene. shit. he could tell by the way she looked at him that she was cross, and adi knew exactly why. giving her an apologetic glance, he stared back at aviana, wanting to tell her something, anything, to break the silence--and quite suddenly, the words caught sharply inside his mouth, like a fly in a spider's web.

no--shit! he was usually quite glib, and adept at lightening awkward conversations. he rarely, if ever, found himself in situations like these. but this aviana seemed a spooked girl, indeed, and dawn. . .well, they would have to puzzle that out, later.

om, hari om, hari om, hari om, he prayed inside his mind, trying to bring himself back down to a level peace. if only hari were here--though he'd likely laugh at aditya, jokester as he was.

"nice of you to join us, dawn," he finally said, mouth dry and hot as desert sand. "i'm sure you two would love to catch up. aviana. . .i--i mean, that is--mujhe maaf kijiye, lekin. . .mujhe jaana parega, maaf karo, sorry, fuck. . ." he said all this as he descended backwards into the brush, losing all grasp on the common tongue.

maybe, with luck, hari could make him invisible. or at least simply a blinking pair of golden eyes in the bush.

aditya rn

He seemed apologetic, she could credit him with that, at least. He moved to stare back at Aviana like a deer caught in the headlights, seemingly rendered mute for a few moments. When he finally did speak, the words sounded dry, and she arched a brow, incredulous. "nice of you to join us?" She muttered, half under her breath, projected at Aditya. Hawk-like gaze turned even more hawkish as he continued, intensity mixed with confused dubiousness. 

He began to move then, sliding backwards while mumbling incoherently, Dawn's slightly-cross transitioning rapidly to  most-certainly-cross.  She stared after him as he seemed to vanish, glaring into the bush with a second look that said I'll find you later. She was still a moment before turning to Aviana, her own words seeming have fled momentarily with Aditya's most spectacular exit. "so," she began, finding at once that she didn't have an ending to the sentence she'd been trying to muster. Instead, "you've met Aditya." 

Something in the air changed, Aviana could feel it. Her eyes went back and forth from Dawn to Aditya, and back again. The male started to speak, seemingly tripping over his words, and then speaking a language Aviana had never heard before. Her eyes widened as if he had grew a second head. And then he began to retreat, backing away from the females.

When he was mostly gone, Aviana looked to Dawn questioningly. What the heck was that? her eyes asked. She nodded once, slowly. Yeah... He's... Weird. she confessed. What else was she supposed to say? The entire scene was just awkward and weird for her, and she had no idea what to think of Dawn's mate.

She sighed as she turned to Aviana, unconsciously chewing her lip, an action born out of worry and anger vying for supremacy in her mind. "he isn't like this, normally. he-" She considered trying for a smile before neglecting the idea, peering out in the general direction of where Adi had gone. "I'm sorry, I should go after him." She'd meant to speak with the woman too about the hunt she'd meant to take her up on, but doubted she could focus on that at the moment. Shooting Aviana an apologetic look, and determining to find her again later, she moved off in the direction Aditya had gone, nose to the ground as she tracked him through the gathering snow.

Aviana looked to Dawn as she started speak, but then suddenly excused herself to go after her mate. Aviana watched quietly as she left, a little perplexed as to what just happened. Usually, she was the one exiting from the conversation, so she was unfamiliar with being the one left standing. It was interesting. 

Deciding that whatever was going on with the pair was none of her business, Aviana turned to continue her exploration of the territory.