Moonspear The lion cannot protect himself from traps

Norah had hunted in the forest area of the mountain in the morning and had caught a hare for her breakfast. It was a young thing and lacked just that much experience for the average hunter the lady was to pick it up with ease. Being hungry enough herself, she did not have any intention to share it with the rest of the pack. She therefore finished her meal in solitude, until there was hardly anything left of it. 

With a pleasant heaviness in her belly, she yawned and stretched, and decided to walk to the territories, which were frequented by other Moonspearans. Time to make some new acquaintances and learn the perimeter of the field she had landed in.

She moved quietly off the borderlands, and too found herself drawn towards some of Moonspear's more frequented areas. Opalia was not often the sort to mingle at length, but she had tried to grow more comfortable around some of them without the veil of duty to hide behind. This was one of those times.

Her route was just a simple meander, and it soon would intersect with another path. When she thought she heard footsteps, tension wove in its way, but this far in the territory, this would have to be one of Hydra's approved, surely. By scent, it seemed to check out and a breath later (spent mustering her composure into something more presentable), she decided to finish the approach. Hei, she greeted simply, and tipped down her nose in a nod towards the other as she stepped closer slowly.

oooh are you okay with bumping this up to closer to present date? mostly so i can reference a few internal monologue pieces w/ her that are more recent, nothing major ^^

Sure, no problem! Thank you for saving this!

Norah's solitude was interrupted soon enough by a young, good-looking blonde, who approached her from the side, making the silver maiden stop in her tracks, turn and scrutinize her with a mix of interest and surprise. The girl was on the smaller side, but something about her told clearly that she was by no means a fragile being. Try to cross her and you may unleash a berserker from within. 

Curious. 

She deemed her worthy of knowing, therefore she encouraged the other with a polite smile and a small wag of her tail. "Good day!" she returned the greeting, tilting her head to the side, taking more information about the blonde's appearance, now that she had come close enough to be properly appraised. "Norah," she broke the brief silence again and had she been a human, she would have extended a hand to shake.

Her expectations were open enough and it seemed like a pretty decent welcome back from the stranger once things were in motion. A part of her simply had to trust the caliber of the wolves the mountaineers would tolerate to be here. It hadn't stung her yet, but with everything going on in the wilds these days, who knew in every single case. Anyway, the pale warrior softly swayed her own tail back and aimed to look friendly enough for no one with any explanation. I'm Opalia, she returned, once she realized--or rather, hoped, that was a name she had just been given. It had fit into place as such, she concluded, and forged on past it.

You are not a face I recognize yet, so.. how are you? she asked, aiming for her steadiest expression--a well-intentioned one, overall, as she tried for conversation.

"You have a chance to learn then," Norah remarked, offering a small smile and after locking her gaze briefly with Opalia's let it run over her body again, to memorize details, to see, if there had been something her scrutiny had missed the first time. She did not know, how to reply this question - tell the truth, lie, offer just as empty and a meaningless reply? Surely the stranger did not care and was not interested. Just as Norah had no curiousity about the other's well-being here. 

"Alive and well - that's most, what a wolf may want during the harshest of the seasons," she replied. "You're not related to the reigning family, I presume?" she pointed out to the dissimilarity between this lass and the general template of countenances here.

Indeed, now was a good chance, as good of one as she could hope for. She dipped her muzzle in a small, slow nod of a motion before she listened in for the answer to come. Norah questioned back to her in the end and this time, she shook her head, a small hint of a laugh too. She did not have to wonder long why she drew that conclusion so soon; Opalia knew very well what it looked like. No, not related. she agreed. I come from the coast.. north a way. the warrior gave her mention then. The reasons that brought her down from the cliffs here were heavy, and without any prompting, that was all she would tell there.

How about you? she asked with a thoughtful look at her companion, all dark, accented in pleasant silvers that drew her eyes in, but never to one exact spot. Truthfully, you do match their archetype a bit more than I, she mentioned with what she intended to be a friendly mien. The Ostregas she knew were generally all decent to look at, tending towards strong, proud, and well-built for their purposes.. so this was intended to be a compliment.

Upon learning that the blonde chick was not one of Ostrega clan (not much of a surprise, really) Norah felt very tempted to ask, what it felt like to be among this tight-knit family, how she found worming through and upward the ranks of Moonspear? Was it any easier for her? But then she was asked about the lands of origin and she chose to be just as vague as her companion had been: "Forest lands far South of here."  To be honest, she had no idea, whether her home was south, east, west or north - she had just wandered here and, when the time would come to pay honours to her mother - the road would find itself to the Black Forests. It always did, regardless of, where Norah found herself on the map.

"Really?" she took the compliment in a graceful silence. "That might become useful one day then," she joked. "What are you planning to aspire here?" she asked. "Are there any grand dreams to fulfill?"

It confirmed the suspicion that she came from far, too. It had only been a vague inkling before but Opalia appreciated knowing now. Then, as her compliment got questioned, she nodded slow. It might, she agreed beneath a small smirk; it could very well be useful knowing how the Ostregas could be, who was to say. The pale Drakru wouldn't discredit the chance, for they were a vast family. She sensed their influence ran deep, and that they were ones she wanted to be on the same side of, certainly.

All the same, her ears flicked up tall, a little barbed at the thought of her aspirations. Revenge, she wanted to say, even as its ache burned in her heart. Not exactly. My aspirations are not easy to describe, but I want to help train.. and be a useful guardian to this pack, she answered, easing into it. My grandest dreams are lonesome now; I have lost many I would want to see to them with. But, despite that, here I have a purpose, and a strong home. the pale warrior answered, deciding to categorize her keyword of revenge somewhere within purpose for now. But, here she did not have to worry about losing any of that. Not since my birthpack splintered had I come to something quite.. like this, she added, speaking on softer then. It was difficult to articulate for her as the feeling was born of high standards, and many letdowns after the pair of siblings left the cliffs. Now the best chance to get what she wanted to settle to heart was here on this peak. So all the same--what brought you from far to here? she returned.

Revenge! - would have definitely sparked Norah's interest and, perhaps, put Blondie few notches higher up on the esteem ladder. Instead she went for poetry and, though the gray she-wolf kept her expression perfectly composed and focused on the subject, her inner self was yawning and rolled her eyes few times, waiting for the other to finally get to the point. In her defense - Norah had encouraged her companion with an open-ended question, saving herself the arduous task of telling about her own dreams and aspirations. On the other... by the time Opalia had finished, Norah did not know for sure, what exactly she had been told. 

Anyway... "Food and safety for winter," she replied, mirroring very little eloquence of speech and choice of words. "Who knows, what happens in spring..."  she shrugged. "Do you think these guys experience a lot of avalanches here?" Norah changed the subject, eyeing now the cloud covered tip of the mountain, where there was just as plenty snow as here.

In her time here, it had already served her well to stay relatively unassuming, given where she had come from, and why she was here at all. Opalia didn't see a reason to change that now. She didn't need them all to view her through such a lens, which was not to say her intentions here were deceptive--for of anyone, Hydra knew her wants most of all--but for the day to day interactions, she just thought it easier this way to fill the role of guardian, and another face here.

Reasonable. Do you think you will move on then, come spring? she asked openly, as someone with no family ties to tether them down. Unless Norah had plans to change that somehow, but she didn't pin for the type just yet. In fact it was hard to group her that well. Yeah. I think some are inevitable. It must not be that big of a threat, though. They've lived here a long time.. she reasoned as she followed her companion's sights up. I came here last.. midwinter. I don't know of many bad ones since. A few small that blocked up higher-up paths, but that just comes with the territory, I think, Opalia went on to say. She had not yet felt bothered about avalanches here when she grew up on a jagged edge of the earth overlooking the hungry sea, but she could see why they were worth a look. The snowy heights warranted a frown.

"I tend not to plan my life too far ahead," Norah replied and shrugged. "Most bizarre things may happen in the most unexpected ways... some would use a metaphor about a long, winding road - you never know, what will take place around the corner," she said. Though she hated cliche sayings, she agreed with the "enjoying the ride and not caring about the destination so much" part. 

"Just because something has not happened yet, does not mean it won't ever take place," she remarked, her gaze travelling across the snow-covered mountain ranges. It was dangerous to source confidence from an assumption that may turn out to be horribly wrong.

"But I will trust their judgement," she would not. "And I will keep my eyes open," she would. "I am a forest wolf myself, mountains make you realize your own insignificance," she remarked. "So, your birthpack - what was it like?" Norah wanted to know more about Opalia. "Like this or completely different?" 

Norah's answers were starting to beef up a bit, and it gave Opalia more to consider as well. In what she said, though, she found she could not disagree and nodded a slow, thoughtful bob. Best to expect the unexpected, she added, on all accounts, in any way, or shape even. Always. Though her lifespan was still just a mere blink, the Drakru felt wizened enough to believe such flexibility for the curves life could deal was key to survive.

As for their judgement, she supposed. It had worked well for them so far, and the fact that they had kept the claim all these years appealed to her need for something steady. Too many packs came and went, or lacked the leadership with a backbone of Opalia's caliber... My birthplace was a jagged cliffside over the sea, I guess I grew up used to.. rougher landscapes, she said, thinking that she did not feel insignificant in the shadow of the mountain, but an appeal in its vicious teeth reaching to the clouds. And at least this mountain had forests too, though probably not in the same sense that Norah spoke about. In practice, Drageda was not that much different from here. We followed a commander, the skilled gained favor, and we trained young. We had different names and titles for things, a language too, but it felt a lot like this in some ways. Opalia imparted in a very general sense. So were you born in a forest? Or just fond of them? she asked back.

"A forest wolf born and raised," Norah remarked with a hint of a smile in her voice. She was not very sentimental and had left her home at the first opportunity, but that first year spent there had marked her for life. She would always prefer trees to meadows or barren, unwelcome landscapes as the mountain areas were. Her mother would say that she had her forest in her bones - her daughter agreed that it was the same for her.

"So, as a fellow outside recruit - what observations have you made about the reigning family here?" she asked nonchalantly, opening a door for a friendly gossip. "I have not mixed with them much save for honorable Dirge, but what can you tell me - which ones are the friendliest and easiest to approach, which should I be careful with?" she asked.

So, her preferences were easily explained then if she was born into the life of a forest wolf. There was likely some comfort there, just like the one Opalia felt overlooking an open sea--despite its danger, loneliness, and what it had taken from her. From that point, the pale Drakru followed the train of thought suggested by Norah's questions. Opalia had to wonder why she asked about another outsider's observations at all. She didn't seem to allude to looking for notable signs of trouble there, but she just thought that few others had asked so outright. Then again, most of the others were related.

Hm, I have got along alright with many of them so far, though I try not to ask much but a mutual respect and am not the most sociable myself. They are a dutiful lot. Some more talkative than others.. she supposed as she recalled them, and a good share of business-report like patrols. It got stuff done for her though when she didn't always feel like mingling, and no one had ever pushed her badly when she had been a real pitiful piece of work after not only ditching them to search the wilds hopelessly, but return empty and adrift. The beta, Jarilo.. he helped me once when times were pretty bad. He seems friendly, she mentioned. That being a dead brother and a fled Praimfaya, but she wasn't really wanting to get into that. And I would find it smartest to watch out for the matriarch's sisters, of course, though honestly, she felt that one was a given. She respected them all, though, because she wanted to be on their good side if it ever came down to it. Opalia couldn't rightfully say what she thought Norah felt of it all--beyond that she seemed to perceive herself as an outsider looking in still.

Not the quarrelsome kind - that Norah could live with, though a good spat now and then did bring some colours in life. Except winter was not a good time to stir up conflicts or arguments. After all she was one against many, even if she played her cards in a very clever way. "I will keep that in mind, thank you!" she told Opalia, now wondering about the three sisters, who looked like one another like peas in a pod. At the first glance it really was difficult to tell them apart, but Norah had figured that, while appearances may give you an illusion of them being identical, characters and mannerisms were not that easy to replicate.

"They are very close, I presume?" she asked next, wishing to draw out more details about them to draw a first sketch of each. 

I apologize for the long wait!

There was that part of her that kept wondering just the intent behind these questions, if she was just scoping it out for personal reasons so she knew who to look out for, or what exactly. It was all only things Opalia had picked up on in her time here, which even she did not consider to be that lengthy.. considering all of her preoccupations, and the fact that the mountain had more history than she did made it kind of.. a lot to take in.

But whatever the true cause was here, she was fine to answer so far. Nothing had stepped too far, and she had been able to keep it general otherwise. They are close, she replied with a nod. She respected strong bonds between siblings, having once been so near and dear to her brother (while decidedly at odds with her sister at the very same time). The Ostregas seemed to draw strength from this fact too, though alone, they were no less imposing. Why do you ask? Have you met many here so far? she asked, a light bit of curiosity there just to see what she would say.

"Oh, no, not many at all," Norah shook her head lightly in denial. "I spoke to Dirge, upon joining the group, but ever since I have kept to myself - explored the lands, got to know the good hunting places and stayed out of trouble. From where I come, subordinates approach leaders, when there is a true necessity for it. In the meanwhile I was taught to keep on my own. Be invisible," she smiled and only half of, what she had revealed, were lies. 

"Well, would you like to join me for a hunt?" she drew their conversation to a close. It was getting cold and with them being two strangers to each other, they were running out of subjects to discuss too. "I spied some hares down in the plains and two hunters have it easier to out-maneuver than one," she suggested and was ready to go.

Opalia supposed, overall, that all sounded pretty fair. At least it was more of an explanation than she anticipated. It felt like reasonable justification for the impression she was getting from Norah, perhaps. Not that it was bad but maybe a little different from what the Drakru was raised among anyway.

But in the end, she could certainly agree to the idea of a meal. The gold guardian was appreciative of the offer from Norah because she did agree, two heads made a hunt far better than one. Sha, I could eat. Let's hunt. she agreed with a soft sway of her tail, more than ready to put her mind towards more tangible things such as that. Opalia waited for her to lead the way, and followed along intently beside her.