Blacktail Deer Plateau east will take me back

The first task at hand had been to intergrate his scent with those upon the border so that those inside knew he was one of them.  The second most important task was to familiarize himself with the cache.  He was a hunter by trade and a damn good one from all that he knew; to pick through the cache would give him a plethora of knowledge previously shielded from him.  

He was able to surmise that the plateau's main source of food had recently been moderate-to-large ungulates, but the lack of regularity in prey type clued him in that perhaps they'd been felled by opportunity and not of calculation.  There were fresh marks in the dirt here that solidified this belief further, as if they'd needed to make extra room.  Perhaps they truly did need his expertise.

Additionally, there was something tucked in the back that had rotted.  Although cache duties had fallen upon the plebians of Devil's Chasm, his name meant nothing in Teekon Wilds.  For now he'd take it upon himself, for he was not above doing a little dirty work to get ahead.  He cleared an area nearby where he burried the rotted thing, and then broke off a bone of one of the larger animals to worry.

Grezig wandered the territory, unsure how she felt in all honesty. Her thoughts about her return to the Plateau were put to the wayside, though, when she scented a new male in the ranks. Curiously, she trotted over to the cache, where his scent permeated, and found a white wolf gnawing a bone. Feeling strangely quiet and not wanting to speak more than necessary, she simply stood and stared at him—though not unkindly. Her stance was utterly neutral, almost as if she did not even see him and were staring through him instead. Strange for Grezig, but she’d had an odd few months and was attempting to get back into the swing of things.

It is not long before he is approached.  For all the men that the Plateau housed he had not met any of them, and that was curious for he had not made himself hard to find.  This woman seemed as built and warforged as the last, with a thousand-yard stare that looked through him rather than at him.  He draws his tongue over his muzzle and chucks the bone back into the cache before standing, observing the beta respectfully through his peripherals.

Grezig shook her head slightly and blinked a couple times to bring herself back to the present. It would not to do to stare oddly at others as the beta. She had to be on, not lost in thought about things that no longer mattered. It was time to get over the Kavik/Liri thing. She had let this drag out far too long and it was making her literally insane. No. She needed to get back to being to the beta of a pack she had helped found back in summer. Winter was coming and they needed to prepare.

She cleared her throat and focused her gaze on the male with the strange eyes. “Hail,” she said. “You are new. I am Grezig, beta of this pack.” She paused. “But you need not stand on ceremony with me.” A strange thing for her, of all wolves, to tell anyone. In her natal pack, hierarchy was strictly followed, and those higher up demanded the respect of those below. But so long in a pack like the Plateau had eased Grezig’s need to feel dominant over others. She only wished that they be properly respectful to everyone and that was good enough. It was lonely, being so highly respected that others did not even look you in the eye. She’d rather have friends. “What is your name?”

Devil's Chasm had been much the same as Grezig's natal pack, and Siege had the honor of being at the top.  Though he did not demand that those who hailed him carry themselves so low, Hadrian and Morpheus had, and he expected it to be the same from the highest ranking wolves wherever he went.

He was surprised (and also pleased) that it would not be the case.  He had not been looking forward to working his way up from the bottom just to be addressed by the higher-ups; to know their own beta did not demand this of him was encouraging.

Hail, Grezig. he rumbles in return, dark eyes moving to trace the lines of her somber face.  I am Siege.  He takes the time to lower his chin, neck curving down in the slightest bow before he regards her again.  I am new, he confirms, but I have made sure to intergrate my scent along the border, and I cleared the rot from your cache. 

He tilts his head an inch and regards her; something seems off, but it is not his place.  To what do I owe the pleasure of your acquiantance?

Grezig took in his name and blinked when he said he had cleared the rot from their cache. “Good,” she said, which was about the most praise that she gave anyone. It wasn’t that she was a hard-ass so much as that she had simply never been showered with praise herself. One-word responses had been her entire life until just a few months ago. 

’Of what do I owe the pleasure of your acquaintance?’ he asked her.

“I was merely wandering,” she admitted, too emotionally tired to pretend that she had been doing something all-important. “I just returned from a trip a few days ago, so I have been regaining my strength. What about you? Who recruited you?”

Her response should not have phased him, for it is all he would've given anyone at home.  Good.  As it stands, his mouth goes dry.  He is not so used to being on the receiving end of such conversation except for from his father.

He'd rather think of anything else.  He swallows and clears his throat.  Liri Tonrar, he says.  He's curious as to where she went and what could have possibly stolen the pack's beta from their ranks long enough for her to need to recover, but perhaps there would be a more appropriate time to ask.  

Would you like to accompany me on a patrol?  Or anything else, so long as he was doing something other than sitting here.  Unless you need to recover.

Grezig did not notice a change to Siege’s character. How could she? He hid it well, and she was not telepathic. She herself kept her face impassive at Liri’s name. She needed to get over this. Kavik was not for her, and now it wasn’t even about him, and that bothered her so much more. In her natal pack, if she had wanted something that someone else had, she would have fought them for it, and such a thing would have been acceptable. That was how disputes were settled, and if the loser didn’t like it, then… tough shit. They got over it or they left. So far, no one had left. No one had anything that anyone else wanted. Grezig never expected to want to fight a female over her mate. Grezig, until recently, had not understood nor thought herself capable of love. 

She realized that she was in her head again and silently chastised herself. “Forgive me,” she said to Siege, for she had surely been staring into space for at least a few moments. “I have been distracted for some time by a personal matter.” She cleared her throat, feeling awkward but seeing no point in lying. Besides, she hadn’t told him what it was and he seemed like the type to not ask. As is turned out, she was just as relieved as he was to go on a patrol and agreed eagerly. “Yes, please,” she said and turned to begin making her way to her usual patrol path. 

“No, I do not need to recover,” she said over her shoulder, waiting for him to catch up. “When I said that, I merely meant that I was a bit tired. I was gone for…” She thought about it. “Two weeks, tops, there and back. It was constant travel, so I was tired when I returned, but it has been a few days already, so I’m all right now.”

It was strange, she noticed, how talkative she was. Perhaps she was merely happy to be conversing with someone other than her alphas. And already she got the sense that Siege would be easy to converse with. He reminded her of herself… and of Kavik, a bit. No matter. She would get to know him better and find all the ways he was different from the dark male she’d loved for such a short time, before that love had turned bitter in her stomach. Trying to think of anyone but Kavik, she asked, “Where are you originally from?”

She did not respond to him for some time, and his ears began to fall slowly to the side until she addressed him again.  "Forgive me," she says.  He nods once in acknowledgement of this and dances carefully around her other comments, avoiding her eye.  Personal matters were not his expertise, since he rarely had any matters at all, personal or not.  The emotions of others were as foriegn to him as these new lands.

He is slow to rise and when he falls in tandem behind her it is at a languid prowl.  He wants to advise her to not overwork herself, but she's an adult and it isn't his place.  Not here, not anymore.

Then the tables are turning, and she asks an innocuous question.  His eyes, which had been focused on the back of the beta, move to the trail in front of his broad paws.  Devil's Chasm, he says, far from here.  He swallows again, turning his dark gaze upon her once more.  What business called someone of your position away from the packlands for so long?  Surely that's why they had the middle and lower ranks?

Siege answered her question but was quick to direct the conversation back to her. Perhaps he did not like to speak of his past. She shrugged internally. If that was so, she saw no reason to pester him about it. So far he seemed incredibly level-headed, so she didn’t feel the need to pick him apart. She also didn’t mind answering his question, though she would try not to show too much emotional weakness in front of him.

“There is a boy in the pack, Illidan. Liri and Kavik—the other alpha—found him wandering alone some time before I met them and took him in. He is quiet and secretive about why he was separated from his family, but I promised him I would find them once we settled into a territory. I finally got the chance to do so a few weeks ago, but, sadly, found no trace of them.” She sighed. It had been a disappointment to come back empty-handed, but there was nothing for it. She’d have to wait for spring and try again in a new direction.

They'd taken on an orphan, and he'd scented no other pups here; there was always the possibility that the previous year's brood had grown up or perished, though instinct told him that this was likely a new pack.  Already they were of moderate size, and their ranks seemed to be about even between males and females.  The coming season should be prosperous for them.

Not him, of course — he was nothing more than a plebian here, and he'd never had a desire to sire children in the lands of his fathers.  He saw no reason it'd be different now.

Back to the task at hand.  He ran himself along the trees, and a tuft of summer coat was pulled from between his growing underfur.  It had been itching for some time and he was glad to be disposed of it.  This plateau is a good choice.  The mountains will block the winter winds, which most flatlands do not have the luxury of being shielded from, and the freshwater stream at our base should not freeze.  There was a chance she knew this already, but it seemed like idle conversation...

It is honorable of you to go in search of his family.  It still could've been some lower-ranked wolf's job, but she took it upon herself.  Perhaps the boy meant something to her.

Indeed, Grezig did know all that Siege told her, but she was impressed that he knew it. Some here didn’t pay attention to such things. She thought perhaps he would not comment on her trip, but then… 

’It is honorable of you to go in search of his family.’

“Honorable,” she repeated, and the word, in this situation, felt strange on her tongue. She’d not done it out of honor. But… “Yes, I suppose it is. I did not do it for honor. I—

I fear for the boy’s mental health sometimes, and thought that finding his family might settle him down.

She did not say this. She’d met Siege minutes earlier and her strange mother-son relationship with Illidan was not his business. Yet. 

“He is special to us here. I imagine Liri and Kavik would probably taken in any pup they found wandering around without a family. They have soft spots like that. But they are good leaders, make no mistake. Having a heart does not make you a weakling.” She told herself this as much as she told Siege. A heart was not something she’d had until recently.

It was good to hear her speak so highly of her — and at least for the time being, his — consul.  Perhaps he has so bull-headedly decided he likes the plateau because of its differences from the Chasm in which he had been whelped and reared.  He had always respected the consul, but he had not always liked them.

But they are good leaders, make no mistake.  Having a heart does not make you a weakling.

This affirmation roused a fire in him like nothing else she had said so far, and there was a forceful purpose in his simple words as he delivered them: Most certainly, it does not.  His favorite wolf on the planet had a heart bigger than he could ever fathom, and he worried as to how she fared now that he wasn't at her side.  

Your consul has allowed me to trial for one moon cycle to decide whether or not I will be staying here, he tacks on, hoping to distract from what might have roused him so.

’Most certainly, it does not.’

Siege’s words were forceful and strong and Grezig turned her head to look at him in surprise. He quickly moved on, however, and she decided not to push that particular button.

Grezig found it interesting that Liri had allowed Siege to do a trial run of the pack. She supposed it was something the alphas would do, giving someone a chance to see if they liked it here instead of locking them down immediately. They were not particularly possessive alphas, which was another thing Grezig liked. She, too, enjoyed the plateau partly because it was so vastly different from her natal pack. So far, she and Siege shared more in common than they perhaps realized. 

Feeling a little awkward at such an admission, she said quietly, “I hope you stay.”

They were not friends. Not yet. But she could feel a kinship towards this male that she did not want to lose. After so much turmoil in her life, it would be nice to converse with someone who seemed so easy to get along with.

Grezig had led them to her normal patrol route and bent down to sniff at a scent here and there. Nothing out of the ordinary. Without batting an eyelash, she squatted and pissed to begin refreshing the borders.

He cannot make promises.  He wants to tell her he feels as if he will, but there are so many things that could happen between then and now that he is not confident he can assure her.  So he says nothing, because it's easier than lying.  He takes in a long breath through his nose.  Where did you come from, before all this?

He marks next to where she did, and pauses to itch at more of his loosening undercoat.

Siege did not respond to Grezig’s hope, but this did not bother her. He asked her where she had come from, and she assumed he meant before coming to the Teekon Wilds.

“I came from a forest far to the east of here,” she explained. “I lived there with my dam and sire, and my siblings. When I was old enough, I traveled away from them to make my own life and wound up finding Liri and Kavik. I’ve been with them ever since.”

She looked at him askance to see if he had any other questions for her, deciding not to ask him anymore about his own past for now. He seemed unwilling to share such information and she was not one to pry. However, he didn't seem to have much else to say, and she was fine with this. She wasn't much of a talker herself. Soon, they wen't their separate ways.

[Exit.]