Moonspear comedic timing

Markus did not miss the mountain in the distance, he was not oblivious to the tall peak. He had used it, in fact, as a beacon as he wandered, growing ever closer to the point he had fixed in his sights. He should have realized that it would be claimed - that a whole damn pack sat on it. As he grew closer to the scent barrier, screaming in his nostrils to pull up, move away - go home - his pace slowed and he frowned at what he should have known was the inevitable. Well, that wasn't entirely fair. Not every mountainside had a mass of wolves growing on it, he imagined, but it was by his personal luck that he should have predicted it. It was only because Markus was moving toward it that it was occupied - thus was the world he lived in, sometimes.

He gave the scent markers a respectful bit of distance as he stood a bit beyond them, inhaling softly and scanning the cold range beyond. He seemed to almost trance out of reality as he stared, still and quiet. Then he turned abruptly and began to follow the border at a casual, easy pace. He kept his eyes on the mountain, though he was not wary. He would just find a way around and then keep going, there would be another landmark to follow beyond this one. In the back of his mind came the nagging knowledge of winter and the push to avoid being caught in the season alone. He should join a pack, like this one, he should settle in and settle down. The idea made a part of him uncomfortable and itchy. He didn't want to die, frozen into the ground like some morbid monument to stupidity, but he was wary to commit himself to some random peoples, too. Random mountain people. Any people, really.

It was all very complicated, so he thought. He chewed on it, irritated with himself, as he continued along the borderline, watching the stone and rock on the other side with interest and a dash of hesitant curiosity.

It was likely impossible for any to miss their mountain in the distance; its height had a singular rival in the Sunspire, but Moonspear, Hydra perceived (and felt this perception to be fact) was its superior in every way. Hydra had been marking the borders again and patrolling when she caught the sight of a man unremarkable in his appearance; there was very little about him that made him anything other than ordinary. 

But this ordinary man was close to her borders, and Hydra was watchful of him. The Queen then trailed him without the active intent to engage unless he suddenly was what she defined as too close, pausing to sniff at the earth now and then. If he had wanted to speak with her, he could; she had imagined he was passing through, and if he though that he might find any shortcuts through [within] her territory he would come to find he was gravely mistaken.

dont mind me i'm just never looking @ my thread amount ever again-

It was long past morn;
but the stricken drifted from the once-claim of Deepwood all the same, having previously taken the toll of who would  (and would not, if any)  be accompanying the remainder of the caravan to the Sunspires. Again had she hoped to speak to the lune-lady, be privy to it. As it were—

—she seemed to be presently preoccupied with leisurely loping alongside an ashen straggler.

And so for a time, the sybil held back, argent halfsight guarded within a gentled, vacant countenance; who would only step forth if her ... tentative ally (?) finished away and saw to this rogue and deemed herself welcome enough.

Can be pp'd and referenced by Hydra.

The boy was rarely awake in time to be useful, spending many hours of daylight slumbering, but on this day he was coherent - squinting in the light, sulking, creeping along the path which smelled of Hydra in the manner of a cockroach avoiding detection. He was not stealthy.
The path coalesced along the border and so Tye hung back, keeping himself withdrawn from possible danger while he lurked. He watched the illustrious queen move to intercept a stranger.
As the omega he was forced in to subservience; so he remained near the queen in case she had requests of him, weak as he may be. Her thrall, to be commanded according to her whims.

ooc;

thanks for joining, folks! :D I'm having a bit of a hard time keeping up with where everyone is situated, please forgive me any mistakes! Also, he’s talking to Andraste and while he may have scented Hydra and Tye, he hasn't seen them yet (dark woofs, ya'll).

ic;

Markus found that the more he looked at what he could see of the tall range before him, the more he realized that it would take him...awhile...to get around it. A good while, too. A traitorous thought entered his brain as he slowed his pace to a halt, eyes still scanning the rock. Going through it would be much easier. He was no common loner, he'd been raised a pack wolf and he knew the usual ramifications for such an infraction. At least...he knew what they had been for those packs he had been a part of. In truth, the consequences weren't so bad – usually - and he could always claim ignorance. Or run. It wasn't the best way to make friends. Again, the inner voice nagged at him about the snow and the sleet and the devastating cold that would be soon on it's way. Did he really want to risk angering this pack or closing off communication with them?

Yet, if he could get beyond the range in a timely manner, he might find that he would have no need of them. He might even be able to find himself another loner of two, keep warm, and wait until...something...happened and he found his place. In a pack. Like this one but not this one. Maybe.

He huffed a low, annoyed noise, a single ear flicking back. He took one step toward the border, another, and then quite a few more - before he froze. As he inhaled again, the cool wind shifting, he caught the scent of another and he retracted one of those steps, nose lifting and bringing the smell to him in short, informative bursts. Well, that was cute. Not only was he not alone while he contemplated waltzing through unknown territory, whoever was there had probably also seen him doing as much. Markus scanned the immediate area quickly, retreating yet another step and turning to go when he caught sight of a pale, white, wolfish shape a small distance behind him.

He sniffed a bit more and frowned, unhappy with how this whole thing had dissolved. "Hey" he called to her - she was female, right? She smelled as much. "Nice mountain - is it yours?" his tone was casual but he watched with keen eyes, sizing her up with a detached coolness that didn't betray how his mind was turning over how to explain himself or - a more likely necessity – haul ass.

Hydra watched; she had thought herself visible, and had made no real effort of concealment. Her eyes drifted toward another presence, no more welcome than the first as of yet... but the stranger was distracted by her, and Hydra's path shifted. An ear flicked back in acknowledgment of her subordinate that followed after her, though her eyes remained upon Markus who had noticed detection in some capacity. 

He made his way toward Andraste, and Hydra emerged from the treeline when he was not looking; the Queen moved in long-legged strides to bridge the gap left between them, tail heeld loftily over her hindquarters. No, she answered lowly, I am. She informed him of this and looked him over from where she stood; he was healthy looking, and she could see or smell no injuries upon his person. 

Her silence was pointed; she wanted to know for what reason he had lingered, and she hoped he might know enough to fill in that blank without her needing to ask. She greeted Andraste with a small nod, not bothered by her presence here by any means... more curious, as she was with Markus and his lingering.

An enquiry!
nevermindful of the airy voidness which is ever-billowing upon pale features; the tones that lilt in a questing assumption have the corner of a shorn lip flickering; amusement. Before her mouth might part to reply, the queen shrouds behind him, before them both — but the stricken settles herself uoin harelike haunches, and condescends to answer, anyways:  "Ze foothills are rather resplendent, all ze same." 

The quiver of spectre's smile vanishes in the next half-heartbeat, and with it the fallen silver looks to Hydra, if not a bit loftily, herself; would the queen mean to appease this loner into her own realm? ...Perhaps unnecessary, and still a little imp made of innocent, needy wrongdoing roused within her; and still yet before she could douse such irresistible idlings: 

"They are not, however, as enthralling as a vale of mine own,"
and beneath her vacant veneer, therein the girlish ghoul lurked; peering around her wistful and whiling heart, for what better way to bring about this news?

No mention was made towards him, but the boy thought he caught a glimmer of recognition by the queen and it made his blood run cold. Enough to draw him back a step among the shadows of the trees, where he lurked and watched.
The stranger spoke; they were bold, but perhaps good health warranted as much. Tye could not fathom being so forthright when faced with a powerful entity like Hydra, whose very presence made him shiver. There was another; a pale creature who boasted of a vale, to which he gave a vague glance, but she was nothing by comparison to the brutal warrior he had pledged himself. Idly he wondered why she would seek to provoke his queen, but... Tye was not a warrior, and could not defend Hydra's honor.
She was fit enough to do that herself.

In the background, for now!

Alya had been sweeping wide around the foothills, taking note of the scents that had passed. There was a disappointing lack of significant prey scents, but today, she had put her mind toward wolfscent instead. As she came upon the scene, she took note of the two strangers, not yet close enough to spot her sister and their thrall, she wondered what the pair might want.

Changing her trajectory, she swung wide to arc back in toward the territory, and toward the pair waiting at her doorstep.

The pale wolf he watched didn't seem too hostile, which was nice. Markus gave her a quick once-over glance, trying to be subtle about it. He didn't think she would cause him any trouble, which was strange because he'd almost kicked down her door and helped himself to her house. The vague idea that, that sounded dirty drifted through his mind, before he was startled by the appearance of another wolf. This one...did not seem quite so nonthreatening. All dark and serious without the benign atmosphere, tail curled high. When she spoke to him he realized why. It was her door - not the pale lady's - he'd almost knocked down. That made sense. 

"Oh." He stated, a bit awkward. "Well...it's nice..." the silence filled in for a moment. "Good set of rocks." He finished lamely, eyes flickering up to see a second dark wolf beyond this heavily dominate female. They were everywhere. If they were snakes, he'd have been bitten, beaten, robbed and had his identity stolen by now. He did not notice that the dark female was waiting for him to continue. He offered nothing and brought his attention back to the pale wolf who had sat herself neatly on the ground - yeah, this one was much less threatening. And did they know each other...? There seemed to be some kind of recognition between them.

"They are not, however, as enthralling as a vale of mine own,"

Oh. Shots fired. He glanced at the dark form and back, again, to the paler one. "You have a mountain, too?" He looked between the two females again, genuinely curious how miss 'This is My Mountain' was going to respond. She seemed humorless but it wasn't as if the situation was keen for it. "Oh, I'm Markus, by the way. Loner. Passing through" your mountain, almost - not anymore. "I need to get on your level, I don't even own a rock." He snickerd. God, he was so lame sometimes.

Hydra's gaze turned to Andraste as she spoke, bored; whatever the foothills had to do with this, she was not sure—the returned look, her own attempt at lofty, was met with a flash of teeth. Her realm was not the place for her pride; if she thought to tout her ambitions here, Hydra would educate her on etiquette she had assumed the she-wolf to have been born with. Time and time again, she was found lacking—her patience was thin, and Hydra waited for Andraste to either recognize her error or begone with poorly-timed offense but then—

It went on. 

Andraste had met the end of her patience; she was dismissed effectively, as the Queen was far from amused with her antics. Hydra did not take this as news either good nor bad, but an attempt to subdue her total authority here—Andrastes words only served to diminish her and embolden the woman who had only ever extended one kindness after another. It was just as she had said to @Alya who she felt was near; @Lyra too would likely seek to give the woman what she felt she deserved for her unfair treatment. 

And Hydra? Hydra had had enough.

In the second between Andraste's tongue stilling and her catching her breath, Hydra lunged for her—

How dare she? After their hospitality, and them taking in what Aurewen could suffer no longer—

Hydra knew how she dared. As a fool did. And now, the woman would meet the fate of a fool should she not think to leave, and now.

Whatever it was he had said could wait—Hydra would not allow Andraste another word edgewise; she was, in this way, dismissed entirely from her own presence. 

Hydra never could suffer fools for very long.

shitty sunday post sry, can skip me tho

The jest was recieved both well and ill— 
—and then the sybil pranced in retreat from the fangs of Hydra, brandished with offense. And though she refused to submit in that archaic way  (were they both not helming of their own people?)  she seethed out, dismissal or no:  "We have a heading for ze northern peaks. Ze Wilderness is yours, entire—"

Means of what she had come to relay now dealt out, Andraste promptly, compliantly exited this frenzied scene.
To the reaching Sunspires, then; and from from this place wherein the Nightwalkers lurked beneath the queen's very banner.

The queen did not take kindly to the ghost's words, lashing out in a fluid manner which Tye could not help but watch, wide-eyed, fixated, intrigued.
He thought he would see that pale coat tarnished with red; he found himself hoping for it, if only so that the air would smell fragrant and pleasing. Never before had Tye been a vengeful creature and that was not what powered the feeling now - rather, he was hungry, always so hungry, and he was eager to see his queen mete out justice.
A part of him might've envisioned himself on the receiving end. Surely his daylit dreams would be made of such scenes now.
Hydra's lashing caused the pale woman to pull back, afraid, as she ought to be. He averted his gaze as the woman began to speak again and watched the shadows - then the man, curious if he would be received in the same manner. The boy had much to learn here.

Alya did not see her sister-queen until the woman lashed out at the pale wolf at their borders. Her ears turned forward in interest, but when her queen did not give chase to the fleeing wolf, neither did Alya. Instead, she continued forward at a leisurely trot, allowing the cur to pass by without aknowledgement. It did not take her long to reach the others. She looked curiously at the male but addressed her sister first.

"That was the mother?" she asked, having seen her scars. Alya sounded entirely unimpressed.

Her gaze slid toward Tye in acknowledgement, and then toward the stranger. "And who is this?"

He should have shut up and promptly did when teeth were suddenly flashing. His ears flipped first forward in alarm and then back, though they did not pin completely to his head. The movement was quick and if it had not been for the fact that he had not moved, yet felt no pain, Markus would have thought she had aimed for him. As it were, it was the pale lady she had snapped toward.

The woman retreated and, confused, Markus looked between the two - darkness and pale moonlight. Something was, indeed, going on here. He would wager that, yes, they did know each other, and that miss 'This is My Mountain' either did not like the pale lady or did not like what she had said. It could also have been both, it wasn't as if she'd been overly polite. It wouldn't have triggered Markus himself but the dark wolf seemed a bit tightly wound. 

The pale women was gone after saying something else that meant nothing to Markus - not really. He retreated a few more steps, eyes lain carefully upon the alpha. She was pretty spicy but Markus would never in a thousand years say that her face. Soon, they were joined by another and Markus began to properly calculate his exit. If he had thought faster, he'd of gone with the pale wolf but alas he was still standing here like a fool. The newcomer looked ridiculously like the aggressor, though she seemed cooler...at least for the moment.

'Mother'? What did that mean? Of who? Again, Markus took a step back and nodded at the newest patch of ebony. She asked her doppleganger who he was and he was quick to answer for himself, soft grin on his lips that only showed the anxiety underneath a little bit. "Markus - lone. Uh, loner. I was just...walking by. I don't really need to hang out, you know...at all. Seems like you might be busy." More steps as he looked back to the snappy chick and made it a point to keep the other in his peripheral.

Markus was not wrong; Hydra was tightly wound. When Andraste fled with flattering words, Hydra did not pursue; it was not a fight Hydra sought here and now, though her fangs had moved to pinch at a hind sharply without real intent to land the lazy blow (and, were she to, she would not tear or break skin—only offer a sharp, measured pinch to remind Andraste that her own pride was not for here; Mahler, an esteemed General, knew as much himself—but she had revealed to Hydra that they did not share the same manner of wisdom...). Alya's voice was heard then, and she confirmed as such with the mute twitching of an ear, one-two that meant yes; and her eyes drifted back to the loner who introduced himself as she slowed and turned. Her interest in him was simply because of his lingering and loitering; he realized, now, his error and seemed ready to retreat. 

Wise decision, that, if he was not looking for permanent residency; it did not seem to be the case. What is stopping you? She inquired without teeth, blue eyes hard upon him. Hydra certainly was not; if he had no desire to stay, Hydra would not feel hurt to see him go. Even toward Andraste Hydra harbored no ill will. Hydra would never think Andraste her equal [none but her mother, her father, or her own family could ever measure up to such, she vainly believed], though she could respect her desire to lead well enough. It was that Andraste acted in such a way on her homestead; even Hydra had enough respect and sense to know not to behave so at anothers door. There was a time and place for such behavior, and for Andraste (nor any other without such titles on the Spear) it would never be here. 

If she did not understand that, she would someday bleed for it; Hydra would not waste her energy on the woman who accepted defeat in her exit. Hydra would not waste her energy to follow her, though should the woman forget her place once again she might become no different to Hydra than meat. But Andraste had made her exit with no additional word; content to know Andraste respected her place and understanding, to a degree, that she had meant no harm now through her words, she hoped a lesson was still learned. 

Indeed, Hydra was a humorless woman; she found the joke only to be in Andraste's entitled behavior, and wrongful opinion. The Vale, more enthralling than the Spear? The lightning must have struck her where she kept her wits, she figured, though her features did not betray her thoughts: poor thing.  It was not very funny, for a jest. Hydra hoped Andraste found Mahler; she would need the guardianship of someone so as to not come to harm.

Skip me!

The arrival of Hydra's mirror image made things complicated; he did not yet know of the sisters and so, upon hearing a voice and seeing a shape so like the queen's own, the boy drew back, flustered. A trick of the light. Some sort of magnificent trick that marked Hydra a witch - Tye made mental leaps which made sense in his tired, addled state.
All the same he was unmoored by the scene; he would withdraw unless addressed, presuming there be any need for his involvement (of which he was plainly skeptical); loitering near but far enough to go about other business until the crawling in his skin subsided.

The commotion was done with by the time Alya arrived, and her sister was already warning the male away. This seemed terribly short-sighted to the shewolf, even as she too felt the need to hurry Markus away from their borders. "I'll see him on his way," she said to her sister, so that Hydra would know she need not worry herself further with the male. It was plain to see that the interaction had rubbed her sister the wrong way, but Alya found herself yet unaffected -- and she had questions for the male.

"Pleased to meet you, Markus. I'm Alya, of Moonspear," she said with a slight but friendly wag of her tail. She turned as if to depart the way she'd come, but waited for Markus to join her. "Where did you come from?" she asked him, her voice polite but intent. "Was the earth shaking there as well?"

Markus took the check, as it were, wrote the bill and gave the alpha woman a quick nod. He was unused to such aggression - unwarranted, in his own mind. She intimidated him to his very core and he hated the feeling. He thought she wouldn't feel one way or the other about it. She didn't seem gloated but she was not a reasonable creature, either. He didn't like her - at all.

He was soon to make his own way back to where he had been before when the second one - the doppelganger - stepped up and decided he needed an escort. That was fine, he didn't care one way or another. She introduced herself as she led him away and he cast a quick glance at the alpha woman, another nod, before following her. 

"Hey." He said lamely, still reeling a bit from the very odd encounter. Again he wondered briefly about the pale lady but turned his attention back to his, likely short lived, companionship. "Away. Definitely not from here and no, it wasn't. Nothing like that ever happen wherever I've been. I don't remember the name of the last place, I just...traveled." He shrugged. He hadn't been with the loner groups long enough or settled down well enough to establish where he was or even why. He'd just moved along, always. But the weather had been fair enough and the ground had never, ever shaken.

"Does...it shake around here...?" As the adrenaline began to fade with distance, he realized what an odd question that was to ask.

last post from me <3 Sorry, didn't realize I was holding this up! I stink, pls 4give

 

It was less Markus and more the woman who was no longer in their company that had caused her foul mood, though here and now Hydra had not the mind to sort through it all and primarily focused on her own duty as sentry of the Spear. Alya was kinder than she, here, and Hydra nodded to her. Content that the lightningstruck woman had faded into nothingness in the horizon. 

Nodding to them, having no true qualm with Markus, Hydra invited her subordinate along with a quiet look (not knowing that she and her sister, together, had unnerved him so); the Queen continued to trail her own borders, marking them carefully as she went.

It was readily apparent to Alya that the male had been spooked; she supposed she didn't blame him for being wary of her sister, but still couldn't help but think poorly of him for his perceived faint-heartedness. She kept this to herself, however, knowing that her opinion on his character would be unappreciated.

"Only recently, and not anymore," she replied, finding it curious that the male would come here when it seemed that other places must now suffer from an abundance of prey rather than the shortage that was coming upon the Teekon Wilds. "The herds have all gone because of it," she added, seeing no reason to sugar-coat it, since he would clearly not be recruited for the spear. "Things have been tense around here, lately. As you've seen."

Not to excuse the pale creature's behavior. Whatever she'd done, Alya thought the least of her. But not even she trusted Hydra's temper, at the moment. Her sister was endlessly patient and calculating, but not, Alya thought, above taking out her anger on a target she thought beneath her. And Markus was (if it could be said of anyone), truly beneath her.

They were nearing the outskirts of what Alya considered theirs, presently, and she saw no undue threat in the male. Her thoughts flickered, briefly, to the idea she's shared with her sister upon her return to the mountain. But it was yet too soon for cannibalism, and she had no pack to back her there at the edge of the foothills.

"May your travels be uneventful," she bade him, halting to allow him his leave.