Frostfire Ridge I don’t dislike him, I just don’t like him

@Ragdool

Truthfully, they weren't far from Frostfire when they originally departed the woods upon which they first met. Just a quick jaunt south really. She knew this much. She'd skirted Frostfire on her way to those woods and if she were to retrace her steps a bit she'd eventually stumble upon that mountain. It was hard to miss. When the trees faded, it was the only giant rise in this valley. Or at least, the only one she knew. She could find it. Her sense of direction was something awful, but she'd get them there one way or another.

The trees thinned into nothingness. She said nothing, but she beamed internally and accepted the personal success. "It's not far now," she prompted, assuring the wolf-dog as to their final destination. "Another small wood and we'll reach the northern border." She pressed onward, satisfied with the direction she chose and equally thrilled she'd properly coaxed the Ragdoll into joining her. Even if he wasn't all wolf, a little extra muscle to toss around would be appreciated if there was any kind of encounter.

They passed through an open area before slipping into another hollow. This forest was thinner than the previous one, smaller, but wooded all the same. A few more minutes and they'd reach Frostfire's perimeter. She pressed forward, occupying their travel time with meaningful thought as opposed to mindless babble. They were nearly there. Nearly there.

The slope shifted to a rise and she stopped. Nose to the air then the ground, she caught faint traces of a pack, but nothing concrete. "The scents are stale," she spoke out loud before she continued further. Perhaps they'd tightened their borders? A possibility if the pack was low in number. "Find anything fresh?" she asked, turning her nose downward again.

Sorry for the belated response. Just now seeing this. ×-×" @Citali

Having been a messenger, of sorts, for the pack that housed his family, traveling to another pack was nothing new to him. It was new, however, to approach one without having obtained the proper permissions first. He could do nothing but hope that the territory was abandoned, less he end up answering for the crime of trespassing. The boy was fast, that was a given, but he didn't know anything about the wolves of the Wilds, and especially not of those who could be living where they were heading. He didn't know if he could outrun them, on the off chance things went downhill, which made his hope for the land to be abandoned grow even stronger. That, along with his nerves, amplified as he heard they were getting closer. There wasn't much more space between them and a potential pack. Briefly, he considered turning tail and running, leaving before things got out of hand. Then the woman's words from earlier ran through his head, and the idea of leaving was chased away. He was a wolf. He would not run and hide.

It hadn't taken much longer, just as Citali had said, before they'd reached the border—or at least the place where one use to be. The scents were stale, nowhere near how strong they'd be if the pack was still there. It made him relax further, though his tail still hung over his back like a sickle due to his being alert. Aside from that, though, his body had visibly relaxed, the tension once in his muscles having slipped away. His ears perked when he heard her voice, pulling his nose away from the ground as he shook his head. "I don't smell anything fresh," the hybrid voiced, giving the area around him an once-over before looking back to the elder. As far as he could see, there was nothing there to signal the presence of a pack. "I think they've left," Ragdoll concluded. "Unless they're hiding, and don't care about wolves coming and going whenever they want." That was a ridiculous idea. A wolf wouldn't allow strangers onto their land, unless said stranger was interested in joining. The fact that the scents were stale, and no one had come to greet them, left him confident in the idea that no one was there.

No worries! I'm a little behind too!

She turned her eyes to the scene as Ragdoll took the opportunity to check the scents out for himself. Her ears swiveled when he spoke, moving to confirm that the scents were, in fact, stale. She frowned, mostly out of curiosity and a little out of disappointment that she'd not encounter the once Tezcacoatl. There was a part of her that really wished to box his ears again, but if he'd vacated the area he'd done well to spare himself from her nusemaid-ish attentions.

"It does appear as though they've left, doesn't it?" The question was rhetorical. Since they could both be certain no one would encounter them on these borders it was time to press forward and see what else they might discover. She took a few steps forward and looked back only to find the wolf-dog with his tail stiff up in the air. She frowned. "Calm down, won't you." She turned her gaze back towards the incline of the mountain and kept walking. "If there's nothing fresh, we've nothing to fear."

She doubted very much that any wolf still lingered in these parts. The pack that once resided here had barely gotten off the ground before it'd crumbled from the inside out. When she'd left, there'd only been a few wolves left anyways. Given the present company of the two of them, trouble didn't seem likely. Strength in numbers and all that. Even if one of them was technically more of a dog. No matter. She had an herb store to fetch a few things from and he had his heights to reach in order to discover a vantage point. "Come along now. We'll get you that view."

There was a part of the boy that urged him to stay alert, despite the lack of fresh scents in the area. Waving it off as being nothing more than the nerves that came with arriving in an unfamiliar domain, he listened to what the woman had to say and, albeit a bit reluctantly, lowered his tail. The tension that had driven itself deep into his muscles started to die down, pushing a small breath of air out through his nostrils. They had nothing to fear. He had nothing to fear. A pack of angry wolves was not going to tear him apart—not today, at least. Though he’d managed to unwind, his ears continued to be perked up, but it was not due to a need to stay attentive. Instead, the motion was driven by curiosity alone, as could easily be deciphered with a single look at his face. His pale eyes held a glimmer of interest, and even the corners of his lips seemed to be turned upwards slightly. With one final look at their surroundings, he allowed for his legs to start moving, carrying him in the same direction the elder was heading.
 
Ragdoll didn’t need to be told twice as he followed after the woman, as excited as ever. He couldn’t wait to reach the vantage point she had mentioned, to look out over the land he’d ended up in. That caused a question to form in his head, and after waiting a few seconds, he decided to break the silence that had settled between them. “Why’d you leave this place?” he asked, his tone doing nothing to hide his interest. Given her knowledge of the view able to be witnessed within the territory, and the way she’d complimented it, he knew she had to have lived there at one point. He couldn't think of a solid reason behind why she'd left, though. Perhaps something drastic had happened, he guessed, or maybe it just wasn’t a place that called to her. His intentions were not to pry, really, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself from asking. To him, it seemed like a nice place to live, and he hadn’t even been there for more than five minutes, at best.

At her bark to relax, he calmed down considerably. She shook her head, glancing away as she rolled her eyes. Dogs. They were always far too cautious for their own good. Like they had something to prove or something. She couldn't say. Her own demeanor was more thrilled if only because this area was uninhabited. The part of her that secretly wished for Teza's fall as false king was pleased. The Amazon world was made for females. There was no room for kings. He'd learned that the hard way, it seemed. Oh well. Life went on with or without him.

"More like, 'Why'd I come here in the first place'," she corrected as she pressed deeper into the territory and climbed the mountain at the heart of it. This area wasn't called Frostfire Ridge for no reason. There was an elevation change to it and she was determined to climb it. "My sisters and I were a part of a garrison sworn to protecting our prince. When he vanished into the night we were sent off into the wilderness to find him. We tracked him here. He'd forgotten who he was and was going by a false name."

She was being particularly chatty, but she continued all the same. "He held these delusions of becoming king, which sounds well and good until you consider his origins. We are Amazons first. There's no room for kings when queens reign completely." She continued through the woods, though the trees were starting to thin. The soil here was conflicted. It was torn between the rich warm soil of the nearby volcano and the cool ice of the glacier on its opposite end. The earth battled. Torn in two, nothing flourished. In the same way, so had the pack here risen and it fell just as quickly.

"We humored his dreams long enough to realize he'd gone totally mad. When we discovered there was no stopping him and that the prince we knew remained in figure only, our mission was over. The wolf we were sworn to protect no longer existed and so, we left." Some had gotten farther away than others. Manauia was born to travel. She returned to their Queen to report of their failure. Citali and Nochtli were less prone to traveling so far with winter so close. They remained here and currently made their home within the Maplewood.

She pressed forward. "Come along now. Not too much further to the top."

There was a slight tilt to the yearling’s head in response to her correction, wondering about the story behind it all. He was a curious being, at times, though not always were his curiosities voiced. For a second, he focused on moving up through the territory, the elevation not being something he wasn’t use to. He had, for a good portion of his life, lived atop a mountain, so his body was use to the effort needed when ascending the change in levels. Especially since he’d been a courier, and had needed to go up and down the mountain continuously in order to reach the other packs he was meant to deliver messages to. His focus was pulled from his past experiences and brought pack to the woman as her voice reached his ears. It was odd, the idea of leaving one’s home for the sole purpose of protecting the life of a specific individual. Then again, that simply wasn’t a part of his culture, so his view of the act wasn’t surprising. “Did he ever remember who he actually was?” He assumed he hadn’t, since wouldn’t that have allowed the woman to return home with her sisters and him in tow?
 
As she spoke, he listened. He was interested, though confused at the same time. Did no kings exist where she came from? None at all? “What are Amazons?” Ragdoll had never heard of the Amazons before, nor did he have the slightest clue as to what their culture was like. He knew only of what he was taught up North, and what he’d witnessed during his travels away from it. Despite his long journey, he never once ran into an Amazon, or anyone from one particular cultural background. Mostly, he’d crossed paths with lone wolves who looked down on him, or wild dogs that wanted to use him. No one had seemed to really believe in anything but themselves, what they were capable of and what they could provide for themselves. The lives of those he’d met had seen miserable, at best, having nothing going for them. Citali, though, she was different. She had left her home with a purpose, and though she’d been unable to complete her mission, she’d still entered the Wilds with a cause in mind. And she remained there, for why he did not know, but surely she had a whole new purpose.
 
“Do you wonder what happened to him? Where he went?” The hybrid knew not of how things worked in her mind. The prince, the one she was meant to locate, had not sounded like a nice fellow. Even so, he wondered if she ever felt curious of his whereabouts, and what type of fate had fallen upon him. He continued forward, finding that he was beginning to wonder where the male had gone. If he was alive and wandering aimlessly, or dead and buried somewhere, only to never be found. Unconsciously, he nodded, and kept close to the elder as they grew closer to their destination. Though his legs were moving, avoiding anything that might trip him up, his mind was elsewhere. Ragdoll had no reason to wonder about the missing male, having never met him, but he couldn’t help but do exactly that.

She wandered and roamed as she spoke of her history in this place. His questions were pointed and fair, a touch intelligent too which made her think all the more highly of him. "I couldn't say," she admitted when asked if Tyrr or Tezcacoatl (as they were one and the same) ever remembered who he was. "When we called him by his original name he eventually adopted the name back, but he was still only ever a shadow of the wolf we knew. He was not the same. I'm not sure he ever could be." She hadn't lingered long enough to find out. They'd given up fairly quickly. Truthfully, after wandering in the wilderness for as long as they had, Citali hadn't wanted to live on this mountain and certainly not beneath the rule of a male.

A prideful smile began to form upon her lips as he inquired as to what the Amazons were. "A pack of females lead by more females," she was quick to answer. It was the simplest explanation there was. Of course, that question always led to another which she answered before it could be asked. "We keep males for sport and reproduction purposes only, but otherwise there is no reason for them." She glanced over her shoulder. Perhaps this explained a great deal more as to why she'd been so snobbish to her present company. "We're warrior women, truthfully. All skilled and talented in a variety of things, but as for culture. The Queen alone rules. That said, I'm sure you can only imagine how controversial it was when her son ran away here, forgot who he was, then expected my sisters and I to support him in ruling. It simply isn't the way of things."

At his last question, she glanced at him thoughtfully for a moment without breaking stride as they continued on their way. "Not much. No. Duty and obligation does not leave much room for sentiment. Truthfully my life is made all the easier thanks to his absence." Selfish thoughts, but reality all the same. Her eyes were for the here and now and the task at hand. She saw no value in looking back on the past unless it were to seek insight for the future.

She'd meant it when she said the top of the rise wasn't too much further. Here, the forest thinned as the ground became harder and rockier. Soon they would be free of the trees entirely, but from this height she could already begin to get a better view of the valley below. "Enjoying the view yet?" she asked as she turned her gaze through the lingering trees towards the distance.

For a moment, Ragdoll found himself feeling pity towards the unknown male, assuming something drastic must have happened to cause him to be anything else than who he once was. The feeling was forcibly cast to the side, however, not wishing to sour the air between them by thinking negatively. Whatever had happened to the other, it was his business and his alone. The hybrid decided against pressing further on the matter, both because he didn’t wish to pry any further, and also because he got the sense the woman could not answer what he wished to know. Whether his feeling was correct or not was up for discussion, but even so, he said nothing more about the wolf who was, but also was not, himself. The whole thing was a bit confusing to him, anyways, though he wouldn’t admit to that aloud.
 
While he hadn’t the slightest clue as to what an Amazon was, the response he was given shocked him. He’d held no expectations or thoughts as to what their culture was like, and yet, the information provided still managed to tear apart his (nonexistent) ideas. There was a shocked look that spread itself across his face, eyes widening in surprise. “That sounds…” As his voice faded away, his invisible brows lowered, furrowing to create an exhibit of confusion. He couldn’t come up with a word to describe how he felt towards the idea of males, which he was, being kept simply for sport and reproduction purposes. He wasn’t even positive on how he felt towards it. The hybrid was conflicted, he soon realized. While he felt negatively about how his gender was treated, he also felt positively towards the idea of the woman being the sole possessors of authority in a pack. “So there has never been an Amazon king?” he questioned, still trying to fully wrap his brain around what he’s just been told. While his home pack was one of equality, he had heard of packs being controlled mainly by one gender—though the stories he’d heard were usually of males leading entirely, rather than females.
 
With the new bit of information he’d acquired recently (recently being literally a few moments ago), Ragdoll was not shocked by her disinterest in where the lost prince had gone. He gave a stiff nod of his head as he took in her full answer, but said nothing more on the topic. He could not judge her for her lack of concern towards the male’s whereabouts, nor was he even in the position to do so. The prince was born into a world where the woman rule, but had still tried to claim a leading title for himself. For that, Ragdoll would commend him, but also look upon him as being rather foolish. Though the son of who the wolf-dog assumed to be a queen, he was not meant to rule, as was clear since the Amazon had left him to his own devices.
 
Ragdoll was pulled from the recesses of his own mind when he, once more, caught the sound of the woman’s voice. He looked passed her then, pale eyes greedily taking in all that they could. Though they’d yet to actually reach the peak of the elevated earth, he could already see far more than what would have been possible on the lower-leveled ground. He could see that the valley was vast, filled with many things he could only hope to see someday. It was just a glance at what could be viewed, however, and had him eagerly awaiting their arrival at the point she was leading him towards. “How big is this land?” he asked, eyes trained towards the distance, sparing only a quick glance at Citali before looking back towards land.

To say her Amazon culture was different would have been an understatement. It was certainly backwards from most heritages out there, she was discovering, but it was the way she was raised and it was the way she knew. As something of an old soul, change of any kind was particularly difficult for the earthen healer. Her opinions on matters would not be so easily swayed or molded towards the modern world. This created a great deal of frustration for her, but thus far she was managing with a great deal of patience and sighing. It worked for her. Somewhat.

The wolf-dog started to say something then stopped. She looked to him as though to encourage the boy to complete his thoughts, but it seemed he wished to go in an entirely different direction altogether. No matter. She could answer this question for him. "Never," she confirmed. "We wouldn't be Amazons if there was ever a true king. A male on an Amazon throne would defeat the very purpose of our culture. It isn't done. Ever. Or we'd become something else entirely." A king would defy their very premise. A society of females for females. Males were there by necessity, not by choice.

All that considered, she was trying her very hardest to be amicable towards males. They frequently gave her reason to remember why females were the greater gender, but she was getting better about tolerating them. She was still bossy towards them. Her natural inclinations led her to be a bit of a know-it-all and with that territory came a self-assured sense of dominance towards everyone she met. It was both a blessing and a curse, but it was her burden to carry.

Their feet led them further. They were nearly at a summit now, but Citali had only a few more yards of elevation left in her. She was high enough for her liking and did not wish to travel the more precarious heights to get the entirety of the view. They could see plenty from where they stood now. Escaping the tree-line was truthfully the only thing that could make it any better. "As far and wide as the eye can see," she told him, "and then some." The world was a vast place. Whatever he was looking for, he was sure to find it if he traveled far enough.

Ragdoll discovered himself to have a growing interest in the woman’s culture. It was not something he ever wished to be apart of, for obvious reasons, but that didn’t prevent him from appreciating it. A land with no king, or any sort of male lead. He was curious about what it was like from a male’s perspective, but doubted he’d ever be given the opportunity to ask. If they were kept around for a specific purpose, then surely none would be sent away from their home... right? While he felt he shouldn’t ask her how the males felt with the arrangement, he saw nothing holding him back from asking of their travels—if such a thing was even permitted. “Are the males ever allowed to leave?” He took a second to reevaluate what he’d said, before quickly adding; “Not permanently, but for traveling or exploration purposes.” The yearling couldn’t quite decipher whether or not that, too, would go against what the Amazons believed in. Perhaps the men were kept close, unable to leave, so as not to lose their tool for the creation of the next generations. His brows furrowed as he thought deeper into it, not having the slightest clue as to what would actually be true.
 
The hybrid’s mind was plagued by thoughts as they progressed, though it all seemed to become of little importance once they reached their stopping point. His eyes were pulled to look out over the valley, and any frustrating thoughts faded away. One of his ears turned slightly to better catch the woman’s answer, awe scrawled across his face. “Sounds like there’s a lot to it,” he commented, optics continuing to scan the outreaches of land. There was so much to explore and see, making him all the more excited to travel further into the valley. “I thought the humans taking me away had been the worst thing to happen,” he started, not necessarily speaking to Citali, but not speaking solely to himself, either. “But this makes it better.” At that, he smiled and gave an unconscious wag of his tail, before glancing over at the elder lupine. “Thank you for letting me come here with you, Citali,” Ragdoll voiced, giving a low nod of his head. He hadn’t picked out exactly where he planned to go from there just yet, but he’d at least decided on a general direction. Journeying through the foreign land was bound to be difficult at times, but he believed himself fully capable.

He was awfully curious about her heritage. No doubt, given his gender, he was increasingly suspicious as to what like he might have led if someone like himself had fallen into their midsts. Truthfully, with that collar and as a half-breed he would have been killed on sight. He would not have lasted much longer than his discovery. They took no risks and were cautious creatures. Unfortunately, given her present situation, she was fighting against the grain so to speak. Even now she did her best not to dwell on her company's breed nor that noose he was content to wear.

"Some were," she answered, thinking on it while her eyes surveyed the scene. "Not all, but some could be trusted to go on excursions or missions whenever it was needed of them." It'd never been without necessity and even then a female was preferred over a male. Give a male too much freedom and he'd return thinking he deserved more. Reconditioning them after that was always a chore, but thankfully something she did not often have to partake in. Of course, now she didn't partake in such things at all. It wasn't the way here and she was having to adapt accordingly.

A yawn escaped her. At this height the sun fell upon the earthen hues of her coat and wrapped her up in a blanket of warmth. She grew tired and would need to return soon, but this wolf-dog still had his questions, or rather a few statements that he felt the need to voice. She flicked an ear towards him, but said nothing. She was not going to recant his life with humans. She had no need to, nor any desire to know what it was like. He was here now and she was more a creature to focus on what is, rather than what was.

"Mm," she said, the warm sound leaving her as she turned her eyes elsewhere. Her private stash of herbs must still be around here somewhere. She lowered her nose to the ground as if to scent for it. "Best of luck to you." With nothing more to say, she set off to further explore the area. No doubt, Ragdoll would have plenty to explore himself.

Thank you for the thread. c:

The hybrid was left feeling confident in the fact that being born outside of the Amazon culture was for the better. It sounded nice, for females, but being a male he just couldn’t see the appeal any longer. It was the restrictions on traveling that had lead him to make such a conclusion, believe it or not. Being kept around only to assist in the creation of new generations, or for amusement, wasn’t appealing, but it also wasn’t truly horrendous—well, it didn’t sound that way. But being born with a knack for traveling made the mere thought of being tied down, so to say, worse than anything else. He was a courier, through and through, even if he was no longer a member in a pack to make deliveries for. It was something he enjoyed, the sense of freedom presented as one was left to run alone indescribable. That was, he believed, most likely the reason behind why the males could not come and go as they pleased. It would fill them with that strong sense of freedom, making them feel as if they were capable of anything and everything. Not a good trait for someone being kept for necessity alone.
 
Ragdoll glanced over at the woman again, giving a nod of thanks. “Same to you,” he returned, watching her head off. He looked out over the view one last time, making note of the direction he wished to travel in. Then, without looking back, he started his descent of the peak, trailing down the path they’d used to get up to the point. He had an idea of where he wished to go next, and didn’t want to waste any valuable time staring out into space. The boy was on a mission, even if he didn’t realize it, and was determined to reach the peaks he’d spotted out over the horizon. Surely the place would be of interest to him.