Nova Peak a mountain in my hand, my hand

For anyone <3

A week or a year had passed since the claim of the land. The song created by the small amount of wolves was truly a moment worth remembering, and one that Falwasi could not shake. She had since been cut-off from any socialization, save elk and bears, and had departed on a full-blown expedition across the independent peak. The warrior had found the area to be consistently targeted with frost, particularly in the morning. The northern and southern gradient of the mountain was not a harsh one, and instead proved an inviting evening hike when a day had been long. Many as in hundreds of coniferous trees surrounded the southern base, the scent of evergreen, spruce and pine heavy in the clean air. And there was more to explore beyond the claimed land.

Today she climbed higher than she had before, her wounds from the Blackfeather battle nonexistent. The move to the peak had provided a new, familiar body to Falwasi, one that she had only come in contact with on Eagle Mountain. She had lost muscle in her quarters when she resided in Swiftcurrent Creek, but the ache in her muscles now was showing the regrowth of what she had lost. The ache was all the more tiresome — Eagle Mountain was a friendly one, the sides sloping in a uniform pattern all around. Here, the faces were uneven, but in time it would become homely. 

The vegetation thinned out as she ascended to the top, which rapidly became a difficult climb that demanded breaks due to the lack of trails and access to the tip. It was during one of these breaks that Falwasi sat, regaining energy bit by bit as she neared the true top of [their] world. She wasn't sure if she would be able to complete her challenge today, because she was tired and thirsty — 'there was water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink'.

Woo! :D

Bazi had not seen much of Falwasi since their series of tense run-ins at Swiftcurrent Creek. But then again, she had not seen much of anyone except Scimitar lately; the move had coinicided with her first, brain-scrambling heat, and subsequent signs of pregnancy had kept the Alpha very busy.


But as Bazi conquered nausea, she once again became a frequenter of the wind-swept peaks - and this is where she finally spotted Falwasi picking her way delicately to the top some few feet below her. Alone, and with a look of vibrant health about her that warmed Bazi's heart - it had been right to move.

Bazi moved to the edge of the ledge upon which she was resting and chuffed gently to get Falwasi's attention, wary of causing a fall. It seemed unlikely - Falwasi was built for mountaineering, and had ascended thus far at speed and on steady paws.

A noise accompanied by a figure of ivory appeared above Falwasi, causing her to still with awareness of the potential danger. "Bazi," she hissed quietly, "What are you doing up here?" She for one knew it was precarious to mount this high up the mountain, but she had skirted it anyway. Perhaps the newly-made Alphess had a sweet tooth for pushing the limits like the tawny girl did, but although Falwasi was not selfish, she did not care to share these quiet places.

Their recent encounters had been full of tension when others had not been around, and as Falwasi remembered this she did not adjust her posture but the look of realisation became existent in her eyes. Every relationship owned flaws like cracks or discoloration, but once the plate was broken the pieces could never fit back together.

After a brief of reminiscence, Falwasi sat down, abandoning her thoughts and looked up at her friend with a smile: "How do you like it?"

Bazi stepped back to make room, and returned the smile with one equally as wide. She could not tell if Falwasi was just being polite or genuinely looking to make amends, but it didn't matter - at least they were speaking. For all her dramatic outbursts and mouth/brain compatibility issues, Bazi was quick to forget - genuinely forget, not 'process in a healthy way' - past clashes as new ones erupted. When she looked at Falwasi now, she could barely call to mind what the issue had been, and decided that it must not have been so important. "Better than the Creek," she admitted, sweeping her gaze across the descending treetops. "It's nice to start over sometimes. I hear we lost Star in the bargain." There was no hint of remorse in her tone at that. "I wonder if she and that Dovev guy re-claimed the Creek. Do you think they did?" Bazi had never seen them together, and wondered what kind of leader the socially awkward little cotton-candy cloud of a wolf would make.

She too could not tell if Bazi was attempting to repair their friendship, but part of Falwasi wondered whether her disregard to their previous encounter was not an act. Let bygones be bygones was a hard thing to accept, but the aspiring warrior knew that she had to. Maybe the two females had more in common than they thought, and by ignoring Bazi's naïvety, maybe Falwasi would be able to see this.

Falwasi ascended a fair bit higher to reach the ledge the pouf had been resting upon, each step subconsciously thought through with utter precision. As she climbed Bazi answered her silence-breaker, but as soon as she heard Dovev's name mentioned, she paused in her stride for a millisecond before continuing on with a falsely resumed step. Once she reached Bazi, she sat beside her, the warmth and light of the altitude gracing her pelt.

"No. Star wasn't cut out to lead," she said, shaking her head. "Dovev could have — maybe he did." Falwasi could not picture the two arctics together as a leading pair; mostly because she didn't want to, but also because she knew that Star would hold Dovev back. But, anything could work and she was one to know this — perhaps the pair were thriving together.

Falwasi settled beside her, and Bazi sat down too. Together, they stared out over their freshly claimed territory. "She was very odd," Bazi went on, grimacing. Star was by far the most socially awkward wolf she had ever met, and the least street-wise (or whatever the wilderness alternative was). Her folly had nearly cost the pack several lives - Falwasi's included. "Did you know Dovev well? I only really spoke to him once or twice."

I'm presuming Fal doesn't know about Nazi's pregnancy?

"You could say that," she replied, conscious of her ambiguous answer. She looked at Bazi, about to change the groove of the conversation, but something about her leader struck out as different to Falwasi.

The Peak wolf tilted her head at Bazi and looked over her subtly with furrowed brows. Then she softened her features in the slightest manner as she looked at her stomach, which was only a little swollen. Falwasi did this with sheer secrecy, and she hoped Bazi hadn't taken any notice.

"Are you pregnant?"

The timelines are so jumbled so they didn't announce it formally, so it'd make sense. :D

"You could say that," Falwasi answered cryptically, and succeeded in planting the seed of curiosity where there had previously been nothing. Bazi's eyes widened slightly, and she was about to fire off a number of intrusive follow-up questions when Falwasi beat her to the chase.

"Are you pregnant?"

Bazi averted her eyes, smiling a weak, secretive little smile. It was good news for everyone, and it ought to have been announced formally rather than delivered piecemeal around the pack, but.. that would make it real. And as excited as Bazi was, she was also utterly terrified; of the the logistics, the birth, the life-long responsibility. "I am," she answered finally, glancing back up at Falwasi. "I'm pretty sure about it now. I tried to hide the vomiting, but.." She shrugged, failing to understand that her shape had already changed enough for Falwasi to guess by just looking at her. "It's taking a while to get my head around it."

Falwasi was now experiencing a whole new Bazi; a shy and vulnerable smile, her conceding to her 'secret' pregnancy... It was odd, but surely her sensitivity would make her a good mother — after all, she was nervous. Falwasi on the other hand faltered with the idea of herself having children.

"That's great," she said with a soft smile, like she had said to Dante regarding Lasher's family. "Does Scimitar know?" Falwasi could not see how the couple worked together — they were so different. The Alphess was talkative, dramatic, youthful whereas Scimitar was serious and deliberate, but their differences would often offer two opinions and contributions to any problem, and would hopefully comb through any tangle. That was all Falwasi cared about.

It was a side to Bazi that had taken a full year to forge. She had re-claimed top spot at Scimitar's request, this time without any illusions about what it meant to lead. When shit hit the fan, yours was the final word - breeding rights and titular honour were your compensation. It was something Bazi had been slow to realize, and the road to understanding had been a humbling one. Wolves like Falwasi had stood by the pack through thick and thin, weathering the leadership's bumbling with grace and patience in equal measure.

"He does. It makes you really sick - did you know? - and he gets the honour of hearing all about it." Bazi grinned and shook her head. "It's a good thing he doesn't talk much. I don't think I want to hear what he thinks about me after this pregnancy." The wind picked up, and the Alpha shut her eyes to enjoy the cold, utterly relaxed in Falwasi's company. "Isn't it strange, that almost all of us are children of kings and queens? I don't think I would have left home if it weren't for the fire." A practied lie, though Bazi scarcely remembered that it was one. "Why did you leave home?"

It was a shame the former Creek wolves had lost a healer in the process of their move. Regardless of the astriction it sparked between the members (Bazi and Falwasi included), it was one of the core necessities of the  abiding of a pack, big or small. Especially in these early moments of the move they were like fish in a bowl. For all they knew a cat could come prowling along without an invitation card, and the alabaster woman would suffer the most.

Falwasi was not the least bit perplexed when Bazi spoke of her mate's laconism. The fact that he and the Gamma were able to converse with few tumbleweed moments was a phenomenon, but with a wolf like Bazi he didn't need to try as assiduously to strike up a conversation. She was a natural conversationalist; she proved it every time they interacted.

The wind was enhanced, ruffling both of their contrasting furs. Falwasi could see Bazi close her blue orbs and take in the cold with unmitigated loosening as the cream fused wolf drew in a long breath. The tranquility was short-lived, though, sliced through with a small snort coming from Falwasi. "Almost all of us," she repeated. If she had been bred into the lineage of royalty, her presence would not be hither. But it made sense that Bazi was here now, if her escape had truly been granted by a fire. However, nothing in the wolfess' tone made Falwasi even think whether or not this was the legitimate reason.

"Why did you leave home?" Words that were previously to be spoken froze in her mouth, and waned into nothingness that Falwasi couldn't even remember their meaning. She hadn't actually ever spoken to any of the Creek wolves concerning her reason of exodus. "Murder," she said, monotone, as she looked out over the eastern facing side of the ledge, towards her home.

Your posts are so beautiful. I really admire your writing. n_n

Bazi had not expected that.

In her experience, this particular genre of conversation went one of two ways - if the wolf in question had emerged pure and shining from an unfortunate situation, the words were many and the afternoon was lost. If they had something to hide, their origins were dismissively summarized in a single word. Fire was Bazi's go-to lie, and she wondered how many wolves had questioned the truth in it. But murder.. that was the sort of word that invited questions. Bazi stared at Falwasi's delicate profile and swallowed before asking tentatively, ".. what do you mean, murder?"

Thank you so much, that means a lot to me <3
Sorry for delayed post, but here ya go!

Falwasi hadn't meant to be so blunt and question-innovative, but she'd offered no other explanation for her statement. Unsurprisingly, the plush wolf's response was cautious, testing the waters, and causing the tall female to return her steady gaze to Bazi's countenance. She studied her silently for a moment before she began to unravel the evidence. 

"It started with disappearing wolves. One would disappear every other month or thereabouts, but we figured they'd left the pack." Falwasi lost her Alpha's gaze for a second, remembering the casual sendoffs the wolves had never granted, "We grew suspicious when one of our most loyal wolves left us — it didn't make any sense. The Alphas went to go search for the wolves, but.. they didn't return with anyone. 

They found one of them, dead," she said, her heart growing constricted and aching in her chest as she told the story — no, not the story, the truth — for the first time out loud. "We found more with the same wounds," Falwasi confirmed, visualising the sole tear in each of her packmates' victimised bodies. "They found my parents too."

Bazi listened with rapt attention as Falwasi recounted the morose events that had driven her into the wilderness in search of a fresh start. Once or twice, her pack mate looked away, recalling the past with painful clarity. Bazi swallowed hard. She could never have imagined that Falwasi, who seemed so free, carried such a burden. "Was.. Did anyone catch the killer?"

Thanks for the thread love!

An irrepressible shrug passed through Falwasi's body at Bazi's response. "No," she simply responded before adding: "It's not as bad as it sounds." Whether she was saying this for Bazi's or her own sake, she was not sure. Part of her wanted to express her past — to get it off her chest — but part of her wanted to conceal it. If she put it out in the open, there was no taking it back, and it wouldn't make her feel any better. She left her brother. There was no denying that.

Falwasi looked down on the previously scaled mountain. "We should start making our way down. It'll be dark soon," she said, returning her gaze to her pregnant friend. She would continue climbing, but not with Bazi — it was too risky. Maybe another day.

Although the sky was still bright with sunlight, the lithe wolf knew it's own descent was inevitable and soon to come. And with an hour or two of disembarking ahead of them (perhaps accompanied by a hunt along the way), Bazi would be tucked in with her love while Falwasi roamed the night.