Moonsong Glacier [m] going toe to toe with an enchantress

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@Aventus

night descended quickly, as it often did in the shortening days that hastened winter. val was already hunkered down under a lip of old stone, his back up against a spread of granite with ancient veins of iron which glowed like blood under a thin and sickly moon.

val had been mesmerized by this ancient feature: he stared at it even now, while the world drummed with activity of night-birds and lesser creatures weaving their lives under a bone-yellow autumn moon.

With nothing constructive to occupy his mind, Aventus took up nighttime wandering as a hobby. It was easy to put up a facade of strength after his mother's death, easier still when he felt responsible for holding his family together while Merrick and Avicus both crumbled, but it affected him nonetheless. In the lull between border patrols, hunts and manhunts alike. In quiet hours before dawn, or times like now when he found it difficult to sleep. In the darkness, he imagined her indigo eyes peering back at him.

No insects chirred in the cold air to keep him company, leaving Aventus mostly in silence with his thoughts. Here and there he could hear the scurrying of crepuscular creatures. Eventually, he forced himself to pursue one of their trails to avoid thoughts of Arielle bounding across his mind again. She was never far from it lately, which perturbed and delighted him in turns, particularly when those thoughts crisscrossed with smoldering memories of Akashingo's pleasure rooms or the pale, stubborn she-wolf from the north.

Following that old pika trail was how he found the fresh scent of a stranger, which then led him to the hollow with its silver webs in the walls. He approached on quiet paws with his shoulders tense and at the ready, but there was no monster waiting to spring. Just a dark wolf sequestered away against the wall, almost invisible there. They could have been doppelgangers, the pale green of Val's eyes reduced to a silver glint in the low light, except Aventus was alert, and this one was staring at the wall like a dullard.

What are you doing here? he asked, not too brusque, but not exactly conversational, either.

he'd been too preoccupied to notice light footsteps behind him, not that he would have picked up on those careful footsteps anyway -- aventus was stealthy, and it wasn't until he spoke that val realized he wasn't alone.

he startled instantly, remembering the last time someone had taken him by surprise. he couldn't help the rash of quill-like spikes along his back, or the way his ears flattened and heart raced. "oh fuck," val half-whispered, finally spotting aventus's silhouette against the pale wash of moonlight. "you scared me." val admitted, realizing he'd been asked a question and had yet to answer it.

val wasn't sure this stranger would appreciate the things in life he did: they might be the same age, but something about aventus was much harder, more developed even. for all of val's self-perceived masculinity, he wasn't sure he measured up to this stranger in any way worthy. "um. i can be honest, but it's kind of embarrassing." val finally answered, turning his gaze back to the wall with its spidery thread glinting in the navy light. "that rock is weird. i've never seen anything like it. i was going to catch a nap under it and then keep heading north in the morning. who are you?"

Aventus grinned a toothsome and mirthless grin, lifting his hackles to match the surprised flare of Val's. It would always be exhilarating to take someone by surprise like this. If only his mother could see him now. Would she be proud of him?

Good. He was lurking in bear country. Ursus had no claim over this glacier, but with tensions still running high and Merrick spiralling more and more each day, Aventus couldn't be too careful about loiterers. Not when he knew Nyra had been in the area recently and might very well be squatting with their nearest neighbours. Then again, this guy didn't seem like he wanted to cause trouble.

Val's openness was baffling, his interest in something as basic as a shiny rock wall stupefying. The stranger had ten times as much life in him as Aventus could begin to boast. That was the trouble with being raised in a cult, you see. While Val looked at Aventus as mature and experienced, Aventus looked at Val and longed to find wonder in the small things, to shed the shackles of what was expected of him just for once. Freedom. The only Ursus wolf like that, who hadn't worn a mask of apathy and duty, who played with him and showed him the interesting things she found, was his mother, and she—

He swallowed thickly in an effort to stifle an unwanted rush of emotion. Despite his usual control over his facial features, he only halfway succeeded to conceal the flash of grief. He hoped the darkness did the rest of the job. Aventus. I live near here. Can't be too careful. What's in the north? He glanced at the iron vein, trying to share Val's interest in it, but it only made him sad.

even if it wasn’t dark, val likely wouldn’t have caught the slight slip of iron composure in aventus’ facade. he was too busy trying to decipher what ‘good’ meant. good he has been scared..? good he’d been thinking of taking a nap..?

not that val was extraordinarily dumb, he was just naive in the way babies were to the world. he didn’t have enough experience to build on to know these things instinctively. to know that the male before him wasn’t simply a wolf, but a bear dressed in wolf’s clothing.

aventus’ gaze flickered back to the wall, with val involuntarily taking that time to shift carefully to his fore paws. my family. at least, i think. that’s where they were last time i saw them. i’m val. val’s face twisted in a moment of deep guilt. i kinda just left them one day. i dunno. it felt natural. but then one thing turned to another and i got lost. i know they live on the coast somewhere. val’s speech trailed off, realizing something a bit too late. why can’t you be too careful?

Val's name was a bright pop of colour in a sea of drab two- and three-syllable names. Aventus knew precious few wolves which such satisfyingly short names. Tuur might be the only one, he realized, and Val was more interesting already than the basalt boy had been, cowering and biting his tongue as he always had. This one talked and had the good sense to get to his feet, too.

How can wolves just up and leave their families like that? he wondered, pinning Val with cynical eyes. It wasn't even his problem, and he had no business feeling offended on behalf of Val's family. He was projecting his feelings about Avicus and Asperas and Apophis onto this stranger, and had not the common sense to realize it. Rather, he was too strung up on his father's maddened grief to consider that it was normal for wolves to leave, and not so normal for one to stay as he had.

There are Saints about, and Saints target the weak and unsuspecting, so I protect my family by looking out for them. Another little snap of cynicism, the mention of family. As if Aventus was somehow better because he had never left his, and Val was here all alone.

admittedly, val didn't know what to expect -- but he didn't expect aventus' reaction to so baldly sting him the way it did. the response he had already carefully drafted on the tip of his tongue withered away like gunsmoke, leaving his throat hot and scalded.

feeling the full weight of aventus' gaze, val looked away and wrestled the lump in his throat back down. "i got chased by a bear." val answered indignantly, which was the truth but only the half of it. he'd reunited with his family again months later, but it hadn't been the home he'd remembered. as talkative as val was, he had no words for the dissonance between his childhood nostalgia and the lens he'd been given as an adult. the cliffs were full of souls who roamed the stony halls, but the life was gone from it --

the life he'd known, anyway.

the mention of saints had his ears perk -- and instead of having the good sense to keep his mouth shut, val blurted: "those are the guys that found me! i stayed with them for a bit but when i came back from a hunt they were gone." he shrugged. "run out, looks like." then it dawned on him. it was a good thing he was on his feet, because he was already stifling the urge to run. "wait a minute... was that you guys?" and then more seriously: "am i in danger?"

But you just said you left one day, Aventus retorted, with intrigue in his eyes now as he pulled back from the stone wall and Val alike. Could it be a coincidence that Val's excuse for leaving home was a bear, told to a bear-wolf, a short trot from the bear's hearth? He had questions, but they would have to wait, because Val just admitted he was one of the Saints.

Aventus pulled his lips back into a grim grin, teeth glinting just like the iron veins in the moonlight. That depends, he said. Are you one of them? Do you think it's funny to attack kids and helpless sick wolves? Does it make your cock hard to tear someone else's family apart? That was a little extreme, and when it came out of his mouth, Aventus could not understand why he would say something like that. Why was his mind always in the gutter lately?

There's something wrong with you, he thought to himself. Now wasn't the time to try to figure that out. He backed up further, willing his fur to lay flat. Val hadn't done anything to him. Unless he admitted he was looking for Nyra to rejoin her, Aventus had no reason to be so aggressive. He didn't apologize. Didn't really know how, to be honest.

We are Ursus. We follow the bear's will. Nyra is our enemy. His eyes quietly asked Val if he was, too.

the change over aventus' demeanor was enough to clue val in that he was in dangerous territory. he had either said too much, or too little. he tried to keep his composure, which normally could be unruffled -- but even he felt like he was beginning to have his back up against a wall.

aventus' grim smile was hardly heartening. val's ears flew forward in indignity as he registered what aventus had just said. "what?!" he snorted, ears reverting back to a mulish ear pin: "no!" totally kerfluffled by the addition of his nether parts, val's back arched like that of a cornered cat. "that does not make me hard." huff. "wait. are you saying that's what they did?" then, more quietly: "did they kill kids?"

he had more questions, like who the fuck followed bears -- but for now, his one track mind was singularly on aventus' accusation.

That was a relief. He had no idea what he would even do if Val admitted that it did make him hard. He watched the other boy's ears tick forward and back, quietly calculating the distance to them if he had to tear one of them off for some reason. It was a conscious effort to slide his gaze back to Val's face.

Many wolves knew the Saints. Most wolves who knew them knew to steer clear of them and their bad behaviour. Not many of them knew the Saints like Aventus and his family did, however, the traitorous underbelly of them, the cowardice that festered within them. He wouldn't say he was a noble wolf by any means. He would have killed their children without a second thought if he got ahold of any of them. But that was something he would do to avenge his mother, not an instigating event. That was what set him apart from Nyra.

Aventus did not like to share these details about himself, but Val had asked. He seemed horrified by the possibility, so there was little chance he would side with the Saints on this. Besides, he was bear-marked. She attacked me when I was a kid, he shared. Broke my ribs. Could've killed me. She was supposed to be our ally. That wasn't enough for her, so then she killed my mother. His voice fell low, and while his expression never changed, his pale eyes grew more melancholy. He dropped his haunches to the cold ground, releasing the last of his tension. Val was no threat to him or Ursus.

Did the bear touch you? he wondered.

aventus' calculations went completely unnoticed by val; such things were beyond his comprehension. he considered the news aventus shared with a worried frown: this was not the saints he knew, but he had also known when he joined nyra's wolves that they were a bit ... above his caliber.

"that's awful." val announced, feeling a genuine sense of remorse for aventus that he had lost his mother. val's stomach clenched -- was he taking his for granted? now that brusque question of how he could just up and leave his family made a bit more sense. "i'm sorry." val offered lamely, warily resting on his own haunches once aventus did the same.

the next question threw him off guard enough it took him a minute to answer. had the bear touched him? "no." val answered, pulling into a memory vault he tried often to ignore. "the bear chased my pack out of their home though, and killed a few of them."

He dropped his head lower, but said nothing more on the subject of Nyra and his mother. Talking about it did not bring his jaws any closer to the white bitch's throat, and whining about it did not bring his mother back. However critical he had sounded just then, there was a little part of him that admired the Vals and Avicuses of the world. How they could just up and walk away from things instead of being shackled by duty.

He had killed Evien at the behest of his parents so that he might wear the title of Bruin-jaw, but sometimes the mantle lay heavy on his shoulders. Lately it was heavier than ever. To shrug out from under the bear's paw and live a life free of that influence, what must that be like? Aventus was too loyal by far to entertain the idea for himself. He believed and he did not; half of it was genuine, half of it a farce.

Hmm, he murmured. I am sorry they had to die. That was just how things went. The bear gave vigor and verve to its followers and put the fear of god in those foolish enough to trespass, but took much from them in return. Even now, he wasn't sure if the cost was worth it, but he followed Merrick, and Merrick would follow the bears to his death if they so demanded it.

Bears take much, but they can give much, too. He blinked solemnly, tipped his head back to look at the stars. You may not know it, but your encounter made you stronger.

val got the sense something in aventus had shut off. a flip, powering down. he could understand it. it wasn’t easy talking about loss, and he supposed for someone who thought their family was everything, the loss of one’s mother was a grief more profound than anything val would ever know.

he looked down at the ground, an ear turned towards aventus. he didn’t believe his encounter made him better, and he sure as hell had the fear of god (or bears) handily hammered into him, but he wasn’t about to argue. while aventus peered at the stars, val looked to the veins in the stone. i think my encounter just gave me a mortal fear of bears. like if i see one again, i might shit myself and run. the attempted levity was followed by a small smile. you don’t, like, live with bears right?

Aventus rumbled out a quiet laugh. They can be frightening, he agreed. The one that killed Evien had fit the bill. Aventus wouldn't ever want to be caught on the wrong side of a grizzly bear. He felt as though his blood blessed him and granted him their favour, and the corpses he often left strewn out in the open for them after feeding might have something to do with the bears having left him alone thus far. That wasn't to say it was impossible.

That was the catch, the little snag inside Aventus that questioned his entire life. His family was bound to the bears, or at least that's what he thought. Should that not have made them invincible? Astara was gone, Avicus had left again, and Asperas and Apophis might as well have never been born, so little was their devotion to their family and pack. How was it a family could be so battered and broken when they did everything right? Sometimes, he wondered if the bear spirit truly existed, and if it was anything more than a vengeful spirit devouring its followers with nothing gained for their devotion.

The bears allow us to live in their domain, he said, gesturing to the nearby mountain peak. A great bear died there. Its spirit speaks to my father. In return for blood, the bears watch over Ursus and grant us strength. That was what his father said. That was what he wasn't sure he really believed. When had the bears ever done anything for them? He was nothing if not loyal, though, and would be patient. Someday it would all become clear.

He licked his chops, eyeing Val a little more closely. Kind of rangy, like he'd been on his own for a long time now. Even in the darkness, Aventus thought he looked hungry. What if you lived beside them, too, and conquered your fear? Would that not make you stronger?

they can be frightening? no no no - they were always frightening. to val, anyway. unlike aventus, he held no such rapport with the ursine variety.

val had never possessed a good pokerface. he listened, genuinely interested -- but the disbelief that quickly flitted across his features betrayed him. they lived in a bear's domain? they spoke to aventus' father? val could take this at face value, and he did, but who in their right mind wanted to talk to bears?

as far as living besides them... val wasn't keen on it, but aventus was right about one thing: val was hungry. he truthfully wouldn't make it through the winter, and he knew that -- which was exactly why he had fallen into step with the saints in the first place. "i .. uh.. what are you getting at? is that something that can even happen?"

Conquering your fear? Certainly. Then Val would no longer need to cower at the sight of a bear. The memory of one would no longer haunt him in the nights. Aventus studied the glittering vein in the stone and thought of the ice caves.

Live among them, with us, and see that it is true. There is beauty in it, you know. And the valley. We once lived in a great valley. I would like to visit again sometime soon. He turned his gaze back to Val. He would make the offer only once. Ursus was not a lifestyle to be forced upon others. They had to come willingly. He saw that now, after facing Tuur and seeing that he was still nothing, and seeing how brilliant Arielle's shine was. Two youths brought to Ursus. One willing, one unwilling. Such a difference it made if they wanted it!

Only once, and then he would return to the mountain to look for the medic.

conquering his fear of bears did seem exciting - or at the very least, promising. val would never admit it, but a coward’s streak ran true in him — he was terrified of bears and the ocean, and always had been. even his dreams of late had been filled with the sound of rushing water, a distant bear’s bellow, and yellow eyes unblinking in the gloom.

was aventus truly the source of chasing all that cowardice out of his heart? val was in no position to turn down the offer: he was alone with winter quickly turning in. he had no support network if he got hurt or missed a meal. as much as he wanted to reunite with his family, he knew forging ahead when winter was nearly upon him was stupid.

okay. val said, glancing back to the veins in the stone aventus was studying. do i have to sell you on how great of a packmate i am first? the list was endless - great hunter, handsome, hilarious… i can hunt pretty well. i know - i bet there are deer in that valley you like… i could help you hunt them.

Wow I really dropped the ball on this. Entirely my bad, I didn't realize it had been so long! We can probably wrap up since they've gone back to the valley now.

I am sure you will, said Aventus with the ghost of an amused smile, the whisper of a chuckle. Some wolves felt it necessary to hear the skills of another and judge their worth on it. Not Aventus. He would judge what was shown to him with time, as he had everyone who pledged to Ursus. Evien and Ashlar had had the same heart but one would scrap like a wolverine to defend his family while the other couldn't defend a hunk of rotting meat.

Where Val fell on that spectrum of expectation was up to him. Aventus would judge him by his deeds. No pretty words would change that. Come, he bid the wolf of the sea. Come and see the mountain.