Greatwater Lake spice and wolf

@Wildfire

a herd of elk had drawn lasher from the borders -- he had remained close for some time, shaken by the recent storm, as well as saena's announcement. his mornings had been tinged with pain, as of late -- his right shoulder had stiffened. making a mental note to ask blue willow for a remedy, the earthen beta contorted himself into a series of long stretches along the lakeshore, keeping his murkwater eyes trained upon the herd.

a bull and five cows, the grouping also included half-grown calves. altogether too much for him to attempt, lasher intended nevertheless to mark their progress. the man waded into the shallows and lapped briefly at the clear liquid, allowing himself a long moment of relaxation.

It was becoming a pattern: Wildfire would disappear for a day, then return to the caldera for a little while, only to set out again within the week. Mostly, she went off alone, despite Fox's warnings. Today, however, she decided to drag @Raven along with her. Her sister was reluctant, up until Wildfire reminded her of all the new and interesting plants she might find out there. Then Raven was nearly as eager as her to get away from home!

They wandered around for a while before Wildfire decided to take her taller sibling to Greatwater Lake, to show her the incredible views. Each time she had come here in the past, she had run into someone, so the dhole lookalike expected much of the same today. She wasn't disappointed. Not only was there a strange wolf there, he happened to be stalking a herd of six elk.

"Let's stay back," the youthful Outrider muttered to Raven, leading her to the shore furthest from both hunter and hunted.

out of the corner of his eye, lasher caught sight of a yearling pair; one dark, one fire-flame. he was reminded immediately of fox, and summarily of peregrine; his hackles rose involuntarily. but the two were much too young to be the murderous alpha pair of the caldera. he could not catch their scents from where he was, but he would not draw near, as they began to draw away from his location.

lasher turned back to the elk herd; the bull raised his head, snorting, for he had spotted the earthen predator. pawing the ground, the elk gave a slowly speeding charge at taltos, and the plateau wolf wisely turned tail and set a quick lope away from the enraged ruminant, heading inadvertently in the direction of the young wolves as he trotted 'round the edge of the lake, tongue lolling as he tossed quick glances over his shoulder to see if the bull would follow.

They chose a spot and while Wildfire approached the shallows for a drink, Raven began to meander along the shore, studying the various greens growing along the water's edge. While her taller, darker sister paid no mind to their fellow across the way, Wildfire eventually sated her thirst and, licking her jowls, reposed on her haunches. Her golden eyes followed the stranger as he engaged with the bull elk, her ears drawing back a bit warily as the venture led him closer.

"Rave," Wildfire piped up loudly, just to alert her sister of their company. The young she-wolf rose onto her paws again, eyes skating between the unfamiliar male and his prey. She snorted quietly when she felt her sister's warmth sidle up beside her and press lightly against her flank.

they seemed to tense at his approach, and the elk no longer followed. lasher halted, his eyes falling on the young pair, and offered a gentle smile, a sway of the tail behind his hips. "hello," he called with his usual affability, unoffended if they chose not to respond. thirst stroked his throat; he padded again to the edge of the lakeshore and drank, deeply this time, his gaze wandering back to the herd of elk.

he made no move to address the two again, though the image of fox prickled into his mind again; he wondered if the pair were of the caldera, but chose not to assume such things, doubting that peregrine and fox would allow their children to wander far after what junior had attempted.

Although Raven was nearly twice as big as Wildfire, the latter was older, superior in rank and more experienced with these matters. "Get behind me," she said out of the side of her mouth, "and as far as he's concerned, your name is Haunt, okay?" She turned, their eyes meeting briefly, and they nodded to each other simultaneously.

Wildfire's attention shifted back to the stranger even as he said, "Hello." Before she could make a reply, he padded to the water's edge and began to drink. With a flick of her black tail, the youth began to move closer, her demeanor careful but not frightened. She wasn't scared of him, though she was always wary of (and often uncomfortable around) brand new people.

"Hi." She paused perhaps five yards from him, nose twitching as she silently studied his scent. "I'm Attica and this is Haunt." Wildfire motioned at Raven, who continued to hang back silently.

attica. haunt. "i am taltos, a leader of blacktail deer plateau." while they had not offered their names, the ruddy girl had drawn near enough unto him for lasher to garner her scent; it was thickly caldera. his thoughts confirmed, the beta pointedly led his thoughts away from that note.

"are you two hunting today?" he questioned gently. while he doubted that himself and two half-grown children could hope to bring down one of the elk calves, protected as they were by the hooves and antlers of their herd, perhaps he could offer a quick lesson in hunting larger game.

his gaze traveled again to the herd; they had gathered to chew cud and watch the three wolves, the bull snorting softly from time to time.

Wildfire exchanged a glance with her sister when he identified himself as Taltos from the plateau. Something about that name struck her as familiar, though she couldn't place it. Her father had mentioned several of the plateau's members over time, so she assumed that must be the connection. It was neither here nor there, really.

"No," she replied honestly. "I was just showing R—Haunt the sights. We're checking out the plant life. She's an apprentice medic," Wildfire explained. "Is the plateau very far from here?" she had to wonder, based on the fact that she kept running into her parents' comrades of old here at this lake.

"a medic," he repeated approvingly. "my mate is a wonderfully skilled healer. it is a good and rewarding profession," he added, meeting the dark girl's eyes. his attention was drawn back to the crimsonfurred little wolfess, who resembled fox more with each passing moment. "it is a ways. this herd of elk was near to us, and i followed them, to see where they would go. perhaps they will return for the grazing near the plateau, and i will organize a hunt."

he skimmed his eyes over the greenery nearby, but he saw nothing that he recognized, and was ashamed for a brief moment, as he was husband to blue willow.

"I think so too," Raven said quietly, her shyness apparent. It was clear that she preferred Wildfire to do the speaking, even though the smaller of the two sisters would never claim to be an extrovert either. She waved her tail at her darker sibling, who offered Wildfire a meek grin.

Facing Taltos again, the adolescent listened as he explained that the plateau actually wasn't that close. It was ironic that she had run into both Saena and Dante here previously, though she was pretty sure the former wasn't part of the plateau anymore. She had her very own pack, if memory served. She wondered where they lived and then abruptly found herself wondering just how many packs this neck of the wilderness housed overall.

She hadn't mentioned their affiliation with the caldera yet. Once upon a time, she had hesitated to share this information with outsiders. Yet she wasn't as cagey about it these days. He had shared his allegiance, so Wildfire offered, "We're from Redhawk Caldera. Our parents are Fox and Peregrine." Her warm honey eyes flashed and she stiffened slightly, acutely aware of the can of worms this statement tended to open.

attica spoke again, and this time she revealed her parentage, along with her pack. lasher nodded gently. "i know." how he knew, the man did not divulge. the tension that leapt into her body quelled any words he would have spoken -- this child did not deserve to bear the sin of her parents. "i loved peregrine very much, once upon a time," he answered instead, his gaze flickering to haunt.

he wondered if this was the child wildfire whom the panther had mentioned. her red pelt certainly espoused the name, but he did not ask this. instead he smiled gently at attica. "haunt seeks the role of medic; what do you seek?"

the mention of his love for the devil had caused taltos' heart to throb with pain, but he kept this from his eyes as he waited quietly for a response.

Even as the words sprang from her tongue, it occurred to her that sharing their homeland but not their names was sort of silly and moot. But Wildfire didn't get a chance to feel stupid for very long because Taltos's response caught her off guard. Her lips parted, only to press together a second later. It was a thing of the past, clearly, and she wasn't sure she could handle another wolf declaring his hatred for her parents. She was still recovering from Saena's outburst. She didn't ask any of the questions that sprang to mind.

Anyhow, he sidetracked her with a question instead. "I'm a Naturalist, Warrior and Outrider apprentice," she said, a touch of pride in her tone, though her demeanor remained humble. "That's why we're here. I've been to this lake a few times and I wanted to show her." Her gaze flicked to Raven, who had begun to scout along the nearby shoreline again, then back to Taltos. "I keep running into my parents' old pack mates here for some reason." It was kind of strange, actually.

she did not comment upon his words, and nor did haunt. her next speech carried a hint of pride, and he listened approvingly. how gentle and ambitious were the children of his enemies! but ambition had ruined him in many ways. though he was silent on this subject. his gaze traveled to the placid mirror-surface of the lake, and taltos smiled. "it is a beautiful place. many wolves are drawn unto it. i visited throughout the years, and often," he explained. "it is a place where i shall bring my children."

perhaps in some small way lasher also wished to face the direction of the caldera, concentrating his thoughts. yet this was something he had not shared even with the willow, let alone the heirs of the caldera. "she is a quiet girl," he commented gently of the dark haunt.

Evidently, this lake was a local watering hole, in the social sense. Wildfire made note of that. Taltos mentioned children. She was a child herself, so pups didn't interest her particularly, not like they might with a fellow parent anyway. Had they not hailed from enemy packs, these faceless youths could have been her friends, though that wasn't likely to happen and Wildfire didn't ask about them.

"She doesn't leave home much and doesn't like talking to strangers," Wildfire explained, "although she's quiet, even around family. It's not really personal." She glanced at her sister, who had paused in her explorations to face the two, a bit of a sheepish look on her face. Wildfire motioned for her to continue, mouthing, You're fine, at her even more introverted sibling.

"I met Saena here," she said next, picking up on the prior topic, "and I saw Dante here the other day too. I'd already met him before. Neither of them are huge fans of our parents but they didn't do me any harm. Heck, I think I might even be able to call Dante a friend. I'm glad my parents were wrong about the northern wolves."

"both good wolves. saena is my niece, and dante a kind man and my leader. no wolf from the plateau would bring you harm, attica." he spoke simply but firmly, a little abashed that she would think such a thing. while lasher wished for the caldera's alpha pair to be punished for their murder, he had never intended for his heart's edict to be extended unto the other members of that pack.

"your parents mean to keep you safe" was all taltos said upon the matter of the wrong impression attica had been given. he was quiet for a moment. "you look very much like your mother," he commented gently. these were undoubtedly the children who would have been reared companionably with his own brood, and again the brief sting of bitterness plucked at his heart. "i will tell you that savage wolves roam these plains. they speak in a foreign tongue, and use coyotes as their translators and slaves. for your own sake, give them a wide berth. they are an unpredictable lot."

"I know, they've done things to upset you guys and they're afraid you'll hurt me in retaliation, like Junior did," Wildfire said sagely. "I know," she said again when he referenced her likeness to her mother. She smiled. As unpopular as Fox seemed to be outside the caldera and as much as Wildfire had begun to establish independence from her parents and their views, she still adored her dam. She would take his observation as a compliment. "And she takes after our dad," she added, flicking her tail in Raven's direction. "Our brother looks like a mix of both of them."

The topic moved onto something else, something which piqued the young Outrider's interest. "Where do they live? Dante and I spied on a pack the other day, though they live in some woods southeast of here." She was finally getting directions down pat. "He didn't mention foreign tongues or coyotes either," she thought aloud, which probably meant that he and Taltos were talking about completely separate packs.

the girl spoke, and this time taltos could not keep the tension from his jaw; he pulled his eyes from her face and narrowed them at the ground, fighting the sudden grief that rose to choke him with its bitterness. swiftly he composed himself, and his gaze warmed at the mention of dante. "i do not know for certain, but one of them who called himself a khal came to our borders, and my daughter met them. she said they had a coyote with them who translated."

"i know the alpha of ouroboros spine, near to here. she told me once that the plains wolves had tried to poison one of their own by leaving tainted rabbits near the borders." his lips drew into a grim line; he did not think that the foreigners would dare to assault the plateau, but he was unsure.

wildfire -- that was her name, but lasher did not speak it.

"Strange," Wildfire said quietly when Taltos provided further details. It sounded like there were two dangerous packs nearby: the one he was describing and then the one she and Dante had spied on the other day. She couldn't even remember if the silver wolf had mentioned its name. But they lived in some dark and dreary woods, whereas the pack Lasher spoke of appeared to reside on the plains.

"What does that mean? Tainted?" Wildfire asked. She knew the word, sort of, but she couldn't imagine how it applied. What had they done to the rabbit carcass to make it poisonous? Even as she wondered, she glanced over at Raven. Something clicked in her head and she called, "Rave, come over here and listen to this..." And the taller, darker youth trotted to stand beside her, shyly pointing her face in Taltos's direction even as Wildfire's golden eyes rested on his ocher features.

"ruined. unfit for consumption," he answered, his eyes flickering to haunt's face as attica called her over. lasher was silent for a moment; tonravik had given no details. a wolf of tartok did not do such things. however, he had mentioned it in passing to blue willow, and she had shed her light upon what had happened to the prey animal.

"tonravik -- that is her name -- did not outright tell me what had happened to the rabbit, but i know that there are tasteless, odorless herbs that can be tossed into water or stuffed into a tear in pelt covering the meat. but they are rare. most often, poison can be tasted through the more bitter herbs used. it is a foul, burning taste, and immediate proof of tampering."

explorers though they were, lasher hoped they would not seek out tonravik. surely she had borne her cubs by now; she was a savage beast by nature, but her wrath would be magnified tenfold by the presence of little ones, and she would not spare the halflings here if they trespassed too close to the spine.

As he explained, Wildfire looked at Raven to see what she thought. Perhaps because she was relatively young and innocent, Wildfire hadn't realized until now that certain plants could harm versus heal. Had Raven known? Judging by the look on her face, the answer was no. Wildfire faced Taltos again, lips pursed thoughtfully. She would make sure never to eat carrion unless it came directly out of a secured pack cache.

"I'll let our parents know," the Outrider murmured. It wasn't an official message, per se, but she could tell them what she'd learned today.

"I can't believe they'd use herbs that way," Raven said quietly beside her. "To hurt, not heal. It goes against everything..." Her voice trailed away into silence.

Wildfire gave Raven a sympathetic look, then said to Taltos, "We'd better start heading back. C'mon, Rave," she said, unaware that she'd just said her sister's actual name. "We can look for more herbs on the way home. Good ones," she emphasized. She could see that Raven was badly bothered by the bastardization of medicinal plants, her passionate field of study.

"Thanks for the information, Taltos." She didn't immediately start moving, giving him the opportunity to say any last words before the pair of young sisters departed toward the caldera.

"unfortunately, evil exists in all things, even the art of healing," he said gently to the dark-hued girl. "it is wolves like you who will turn the tides against them, however," lasher added encouragingly.

he nodded at wildfire and her sister. "thank you," he murmured in response to her statement that they would bring the news to their pack, carefully keeping the tension from his voice. he would not have wished to see any innocents of the caldera harmed by the unpredictability of the plains wolves.

"of course. travel well, wildfire," the man answered, tipping a wink. taltos gave a single sway of his plume behind his hips and a smile to them both before he turned and began a comfortable trudge in the direction of the plateau.