Noctisardor Bypass It's a blood diamond, flawless but for that one thing

Wylla had heard of their newest arrival. It wasn't common for the spiny Sonnenwaser woman to care about a newcomer. It wasn't common for her to seek out those of Rivenwood at all. Besides the juveniles, her mate, and her daughter, she made no effort to get to know anyone else. Sometimes she thought about it and wondered if this was how Nyx had felt in Sagtannet — that nobody else in the pack was worth her time — and sometimes she felt guilty about her own reclusiveness, what that must do to her mate.

That was the trouble, however. Wylla no longer cared what others thought of her, and spared almost no thought for her packmates in turn. She'd done that song and dance before. It got her nowhere in life. That she went looking for @Ålesund under a cool midafternoon sun was therefore remarkable, but he had two things going for him: he was the same age as her children, which made her feel fond of him despite having not met him yet, and he was not another goddamn woman. She knew from Mahler that he was learning from him in the pharmacy, so Wylla wandered up the bank of Tealwater Creek in search of the yearling, doing her best to smooth the sternness from her face.

this got a bit lengthy, no need to match!

and at the creek he would be.

almost mindlessly wandering along its cold shores as he made his way the pharmacy — and seeing as he now resided within a pack, it should have been no surprise somebody else was around. yet he still found himself caught off guard by the presence of somebody who wasn't Mahler.

whether her features had been full of sternness or smoothed entirely would not have changed how he reacted. tail delicately tucked away in the protectiveness of his hind legs.

she was a tiny woman, although nothing about her suggested daintiness. she seemed hardened by time, a strong woman in her prime who would look upon his pathetic form with a one-eyed hawk gaze.

he could not help but think of his mother and although wylla's gaze may not have been one of scorn, he could not help but feel fear that it might melt into that. that he might have all of his darkest secrets and fears plucked from him by the way mature women knew how to do so best.

he wished he might have been anybody else. another man, a stronger man, perhaps not a man at all. perhaps not wolf even.

oh, but she had not even greeted him with the ferociousness of the south. instead he thought of how Mahler had been. steadfast but softened over passing moments — and look how well that had worked in his favor!

no need to let his anxieties tank this before it even began.

hello, he cooed respectfully, soft and boyish in tone.

It was perfect!

Ah, that must be him! Wylla picked up the pace until she was striding right alongside the boy, still gathering her thoughts together and mulling over how to be nice to someone outside her family when he folded into submissiveness. She lifted her lips in an approving smile. That was when she took her first good look at him and felt her stomach fall out from under her in a steep swoop.

If not for the soft blue eyes, the snip of brown on his nose, a smattering of black over his spine and the conspicuous scratches across his muzzle, Wylla could almost swear she was looking at Caiaphas. A much younger and much more hale Caiaphas. It wasn't Caiaphas, of course. She was far too ugly for this fellow. But someone even slightly resembling the witch made Wylla's blood freeze in her veins. It was like she could never be rid of that ghastly woman or her lifelong curse, which by now, Wylla was wholly convinced of.

It took her some time to recover from her shock, at which point she narrowed her eyes at him just a little. Just enough to put his guard up, like she might do something unkind, but she had no such designs. Her lips remained curved up at the corners, suggesting that her snarky remark of, what, you been beat up by a little girl before? was well-meaning, if a little crude. She liked that he was respectful — it sure was a nice change from her usual reception — but she saw no reason for him to curl his tail down like that. As if to dispel any tension, she waved hers jauntily.

It's okay, I'm not gonna bite ya. Hard. She snickered, waving away her unease from before. Not Caiaphas. Definitely not Caiaphas. But gut her for a sea bass if he didn't look like her from far away. I'm Wylla. You're new, she said, no hint of a question. What do they call you?

if he had not been so stunned by her question, he might have blurted the truth. he might have even thought that meant she did plan to beat him up! he supposed he was even more grateful he had learned how to patch minor wounds but, oh.

she softened and he allowed himself to relax some as well. his guard not entirely down and his position still respectful, but he did not shrink into himself any further.

she was Wylla.

Wylla who wouldn't bite him — hard. Wylla who had sniffed him out and pinned him for the fresh blood he was.

well, i'm Ålesund...and i hope they call me that. his own attempt at humor even if his tone fell a bit flat for that. nervously his eyes drifted away from her and towards the pharmacy, then towards the ground beneath them.

if you're, um, looking for Mahler he's probably up ahead?

he couldn't predict that she of all wolves would know that and also that somebody might come looking for him intentionally.

I see, said Wylla, bobbing her head as though she recognized the name. She supposed Mahler had said something like that. I heard your name around, but they said you like being called Quailshit, does that ring a bell? She was teasing. It was cruel; crueler still that she delivered it with such deadpan monotony as to seem serious about it, even though she couldn’t mask the mirth in her eyes.

Mahler? Never met ‘im. Just thought I’d come say hi to the new guy. It was more socialisation than she’d managed in… Oh, several months now? There was Kukutux, she had spoken quite a lot with the northern woman on their way to Rivenwood, and her hunt with Druid, but since returning home, she spent most of her time with her mate and daughter.

So. What’s a new guy like t’do? she wondered as she beckoned for him to walk with her, maintaing that casual but slinking tone that teetered somewhere between friendly and threatening. She was still just playing, but no one would blame Ålesund if he was offended by it.

They walked and talked.