Sawtooth Spire And if I diagnosed the pain in my life

Well, his hunt was on.
He'd found some scents around the lake that fed the canyon and he was fucked off.
Praimfaya and Renard, together. Deliberate.
He knew where Praimfaya came from, or so he thought so.
She never actually told him, but if Hela had found her, she couldn't be far from the pack.
It was either the Vale, or the pack across the range.

Anyway, he didn't fancy venturing off towards the Court again should they start their shit stirring again so he went off looking for the pack that had seemingly eaten Auriel.
Sagtannent if he remembered rightly, from Nemisis. And if he was right, Nemisis and Praimfaya had a run-in with each other.

Anyway. They were gone.

Derg called from the very faint touches of the border, but nothing. Usually, if they had disbanded, there would be some strays left behind. But obviously, to him, they'd moved.
So he wandered into the former pack lands, searching for a trace.

there was a faint wolf smell that he had encountered before but never investigated, preferring to give the area a wide berth. but this time..it smelled stale. dead. were they gone? he was curious, sauntering into what was once wolf-territory.

he had prepared to give up on the land and write it off as abandoned, but there was a fresh smell, then the sound, then the sight of one of brown and gray. he approached the wolf with a casual swagger in his gait, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible (though that rarely worked — his presence was enough to frighten some canids off. 'sup man?

He was in his own world.
One he'd left behind a long time ago where he was a hunter, not a pacifist.
But hee he was, reverting to times of old when presented with a leader who offered him his old life and certainly didn't fulfil it. So he took it upon himself.

He didn't notice the cat until it was too close for comfort.
It certainly wasn't hunting though, but they were crafty.
Derg stiffened, fur bristling and hackles rising. Teeth flashing like he was protecting a meal.
A casual tone, casual demeanour.

He waited for something more. Unmoving, ready to fight his way out of this.

uh, chill? benry wrinkled his whiskers. this whole cat fear was really ingrained huh? in their brain spaces, deep in there. carved. it was kinda annoying? like he just wanted to hang out. he wasn't even sure if he could take down this wolf if he tried (not that he knew). i ain't, uhhh, i ain't tryin' do nuthin'. just sayinnnn', sayin' hi. yo. he plopped his haunches on the ground. bro'm just s....i'm just sitting here? he pressed his ears back, making his eyes bigger. that worked with his owner. would it work with wolves?

He stood motionless for a few moments.
Assessing. Deliberating.
Slowly, he lifted his head to take in the cat.
A shimmer of lightly dappled silver, tail flicking and curling around.
His hackles softened, Derg licked his lips, but still didn't move his feet.

Derg didn't know much about cats. What follows is a list of what he does know:
They have claws, they have teeth, they don't like eachother, they don't like dogs, and they can climb trees.
However, this one was different in one respect, where he didn't seem to care much for dogs.
He hummed softly, thinking he must be stupid or something as he too took a sitting position.

"You're a strange cat," he replied. Still dumbfounded by what he was doing. Sitting down for a little chat with a cat? Yeah fucking right.

yeahhhhh, he purrs, pleased with himself. rolled a 20 on the diplomacy skill check. calmed down the opponent. he didn't think he'd specced so much into charisma, though. maybe a buff? what did that mean again? 

yoooo, i've heard, man. he says, a slightly impertinent tone slipping into his monotone voice. fricken — like, like, i dunno if its the rules or sum'n but uhhhh, i ain't got nothing against wolves. y'all just big shaggy dogs. 'n dogs are a cool. at least some of the dogs he knew. they were the only ones who ever bothered to play with him when he got bigger. some of the dogs barked at him non-stop — the little ones especially, which was lame.

He really was weird.
Like, hella weird. The drawling, boring voice spoke to Derg. Not in a good way though. Like, more of a  'Get the hell away from me' sort of tone.
He kept eyeing the feline, wondering if just running away was easier.

His head tilted at his first tone. What had he heard?
Was he about to die or some shit?
But no. He just thought that is was some stero type.

"Most of the time, cats only come to steal our food, or make us food."
And it wasn't something he was very ready to deal with.
He wondered what his real intention was, or was he just...young? Stupid?
He truly didn't know, and likely wouldn't until it was too late.

that'ss, uhhh...that's rude man. i ain't gonna...gonna do that. nah. if he'd known better he'd figure that he at least had the right to, as a young male lion without a territory and little life skills. he could harass some packs for food and steal kills. but he just didn't. he wasn't a griefer. or nothing. yooo, when i first got here, sum, uhhh, sum wolf asked me if they, uhhh, they could eat me, it was a strange encounter, even if he wasn't a total noob at, well, life in general. so maybe we're uhhhhhh, even. he grins, hopeful that this was enough to get the wolf to chill a bit.

Rude? Yeah right.
His brow quirked, giving him a 'yeah, right' sort of look.
Did this idiot have any sense?

Seemed strange though that a wolf would just ask to eat something so...repulsive really. Look at it! The scrunched up face, the lack of floof, and that horridly skimpy tail.
"What a weirdo," he commented.
He wondered if that wolf was still lurking around these mountains.
"Where are you going now?"
He wanted to know where this thing was going, to protect his pack. 

benry purred in response. yeh man. nothin bad tho. he could handle the creature — they were small and lean, while benry, for all his weak gamer bod, was a bit stronger than the average wolf. he paused again, the words fuzzy in his head before gradually coming clear. 'm just kindaaa...walkin, man. he was naive to the wolf's scoping, still in his head as he was. 's there anywhere, anywhere, uh. cool roun- round here?

Good.
For how slow-witted this...thing seemed to be it managed to give good enough answered -- even if it took an age to hear it, and then another few years off Derg's life for the absolutely abysmal tone.

"My pack is in a canyon of red sand. Come there and we'll kill you," like, as cool as that place was, they would kill this feline. For food and for trespassing.
"Though, that way there is this neat cave, it's probably cool on the inside."
Derg pointed his muzzle in the direction of sunbeam lair. He'd only passed it and never bothered to venture inside, but it might be a mystery solved for the cat.

after taking a second or two to finally process was the wolf was saying, benry found that he could only shrug. cool. it wasn't cool to be threatened, of course, but benry knew better than to protest against such an earnest promise. he probably couldn't even fight off one wolf, let alone several. wats so cool about it? he figured most caves were cool, for both temperature and aesthetics.

This animal didn't seem too bothered about shit really.
Concerning, to say the least.
Anyway, his death wish, not Derg's.

But it was his turn to shrug now.
"You tell me," he replied with a soft chuckle.

He wouldn't think this cat would ask so many questions, considering he seemed so dim in the first place.

aawww, cmon mannn.... benry groaned, pouting as best a cat could. not even like uhhhhh, like, like a hint or nuffin? he pleaded. his tone made it unclear whether or not he was joking, and benry himself wouldn't be able to say for certain. he just hunched his shoulders and scrunched his face, displaying his, if anything mild, annoyance.

Derg just shrugged.
Like he wasn't talking to a beast that could end his life in one foul sweep.
But this beast was dumber than the rocks they stood on.

"I didn' go inside it, might be one of your sort in it. Maybe a lady or something." He grinned, teasing the fuckin cat. God he should just run away now. There was no Sagtannet here. No Praimfaya.

"Don't look so sour," he cooed. Poor kitty in a strop now. Derg shouldn't be so flippant about this shit. Seriously.

he perked up then, even though the words were in the hypothetical. it was hard enough for him to decipher the wolf's words through their strange accent — and the fact that wolves had other accents besides the natural one was annoying too! umi? niiiiice... he said, expectantly. not that the wolf would even know who she was. he didn't know where she had gone exactly, but there was a chance that'd she go into a cave....he was excited to go there now, thinking back to the strange way she made him feel. it wasn't entirely unpleasant, just foreign. where you goin to? he redirected the question to the wolf.

The feline uttered what seemed to be a name.
So there was more than one? In this landscape?
Well, that wasn't good, especially if they banded together to steal from a wolf pack.

"Sure," he mused, casting his gaze around and standing.
His ears tilted to Benry.
"Home," he smiled.
"Have a nice day." hopefully that would be the end of that, and Derg wouldn't have to suffer that droning tone any longer.

the wolf seemed ready to leave. fine by benry. if he'd seen signs of another lion around, then it had to be umi. or someone else. either way, that cave sounded interesting. he wouldn't mind exploring around a bit today. m'kay, man, you too, he said. well that ended cordially enough, though a bit terse. benry trotted off, heading in the direction that the wolf had indicated before.