Otter Creek Walk it off

All welcome, but perhaps saena

Gunnar was very seldom, in the bay area. Not because he didn't love it, on the contrary he loved it very much. Simply, because he felt suffocated there, with his father and mother and siblings right there with him. It was hard for him to stay put. He cared for those in the borders, and even came to view Levi and Charon as his brothers. But it didn't stop the strangeness from bothering him. 

He found his paws taking him to the plateau again, and the she wolf @Saena . He had found a kindred spirit within her, and counted her a friend. He wondered, how she was getting on. He decided to follow the creek away's and then, just hang out and see if she happened to show up. If she did awesome, if she didn't well he'd just keep walking. There was a lot of wilds to haunt.

Being vague about a lot of things.

The flatlands called her and she came, descending the towpath with a bounce in her step. For whatever reason, the season made her feel light and cheery in spite of what had recently occurred. Her half-tail bobbed behind her at half-mast and her posture, though alert, was also relaxed and at ease. The plateau's shadow loomed over the river, but its cool shade did nothing to dampen her mood, even knowing that she likely wouldn't be returning here anytime soon.

Her mission now was to find a messenger to send after Junior. Though she was nowhere near establishing herself anywhere, she thought she might be able to entice her sister and Swordfish to return to the Wilds prematurely.

Spotting a tawny wolf in the near distance, Saena loped toward him, intending to offer some fresh hunted food in exchange for a speedy message to the north... but when she got closer, she realized he wasn't just some random loner. Her pace quickened and she had to rack her brain for only a moment before she called out, "hey, Gunnar!" She wasted no time in reaching him, and though she sort of wanted to lean over, sniff at him and learn his news that way, she stayed put and asked, "how've you been?"

Gunnar heard his name being called and turned his gaze backward. Ears thrust forward he turned paw in midair. He saw her coming, the telltale color on her ears, and he wagged his tail. He yapped at her in greeting, and trotted over to meet her. No use making her walk all the way.

Hey Saena Then his eyes alighted on her tail and he stared at it for a moment. He didn't want to be rude, but he really wanted to know what happened. He dipped his muzzle towards her instead, and sniffed at her gently, in greeting. He tilted his head, and gave her a small wolfish grin of hello. Not much, mostly just running around, my moms pregnant again, so i've been doing what I could for her. How about you? What's new? And what, what happened to your tale?

He shifted from paw to paw, and then he settled to his haunches, anxious to know how she was, the news.

She was glad to see Gunnar again. Although she'd only really interacted with the stocky Bay wolf once, she'd immediately felt comfortable with him and was happy to know that none of that had disappeared in the interim. Maybe it was because they were sort of kindred in a way, but she felt like she could trust him, and so she had no reservations about talking openly.

But first, his news. "That's cool!" Saena exclaimed, her short tail beating back and forth as best it could. "My aunt had puppies recently, too, they're really cute! It's exciting having them around!" She was going to miss Constantine, Casmir and Eilidh the most. She spent little time with them individually, but her brief time with them had endeared them to her. It was almost impossible to imagine that she'd thought very little of them when she made her decision to leave the plateau.

"A dog bit it off," she said succinctly, and then said, "and not much is new. Some... weird things have happened around here that I'm not too fond of," she gradually led in, paused and then said, "so I'm planning to strike out on my own."

Gunnar wagged his tail, pleased to see Saena as well. He studied her, it still astounded him that there were such small wolves, his mother, her. Most he knew were fairly large, his father one of the largest. Gunnar encouraged most ot talk to him, he still wasn't entirely sure, what he wanted to do with his life. He did know though that he was going to be an outrider some day, and perhaps a hunter, that would be nice. He tilted an ear forward to catch her words.

Gunnar chuckled, I don't know how exciting it will be. I feel bad for my mom, she's so tiny and my dad isn't. He shrugged, he was worried about his mom, he really was. However, he was also unsure if he wanted to stay in the bay. Not because he didn't love them, but rather because he did. He felt as if it would be better if he left them, to their viking ways. Puppies are very cute. He agreed with her, unsure where to go from there.

Gunnar listened, and he heard the slight change in her voice and he wondered at it. A dog? Are you okay? What weird things? Should I be warning the bay?

Saena, being pretty naive about sex and how it worked and how puppies took their genes from their parents, didn't fully understand the implication of Gunnar's parents' dimorphism. Part of her knew it meant the puppies would probably be big, but they were so tiny when born, as far as she knew. She only had Blue Willow's litter to go off of, but she thought they were small enough that it was hardly difficult at all. She couldn't possibly understand how hard it really was to give birth.

"I'm all right," she told him, and quickly added, "no, no, the Bay should be fine. The dog was pretty beat up when I found it, I'm sure it's dead by now. I haven't seen any others in a long time." As if to make sure, she glanced past her friend's shoulder, then returned her deep indigo eyes to him. "The weird things have been here, they won't affect you. We had a female come back pregnant not long ago without permission. She's still the highest ranked below the leaders even though she broke a law. I don't agree with it." Another pause, then, "and there's this jerk here who can't show a lick of respect to his superiors, but it's like no one cares. He's spoken down to me so many times."

Okay, two was hardly so many, but it sure felt like it to Saena. "So I don't think I'm going to be staying. Actually, I'm almost positive I'll be leaving very soon." She briefly thought to ask if the Bay would have room for her, but she knew it wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to rule like her parents before her, and Ragnar and Thistle Cloud would never step aside for her. It would be worse than here in a way. "Claim my own land, or something like that."

Gunnar, knew more than he probably should have. However, his father was never shy about telling him the truth of the birds and the bees. Neither was his mother, really. If he had a question, they answered it that simple. So he knew pretty well the mechanics of it at least, not exactly having experienced it himself. He wasn't even sure if he wanted too, so far there had been no drive. Sure he had noticed that a female was cute, for instance the one in front of him. Beyond that, however was nothing.

I think there was a dog that Attacked Charon too. A big thing, he told us. Granted he was still mostly pup, so it may not have been that big. But dad took care of it. That was all his father had said on the matter and his mother had taken care of Charon. Gunnar's eyes went wide, That's a big law that is. My parents are usually easy to give permission if we have the resources, but they won't tolerate someone getting pregnant without permission. I am however, grateful to the Leader before my parents. My mother and biological father, broke that law. Granted my mom was young and didn't know any better, but still I wouldn't be here if she hadn't. He shrugged and quickly looked down, hoping that she wouldn't hold him accountable for the sins of his mother. My dad would have dominated him, perhaps even ripped his throat out.

Gunnar smiled and nodded his head I've been thinking of moving on my own for awhile now. I don't know if i'd like to run a pack, but I'd sure like to be out from my parents shadow. Not that I don't love them or anything. I just need my own home, that isn't theirs.

The name Charon was vaguely familiar, but Saena couldn't quite recall her meeting with the freckled young boy at the shore. He looked so much like Pura that she muddied them in her head; her memory was of her brother, not his younger look-alike. Because she couldn't remember who he was, she made no comment about the dog, mostly because Ragnar had evidently disposed of it. The rest of what Gunnar said, though, Saena could certainly respond to.

"I think my dad would have done the same," she agreed. She couldn't think of any wolf worth their skin that would tolerate disrespect at the level Koda dished it out. Part of her believed now that the leadership of the plateau was weak and flawed beyond repair for that very reason. That wasn't true, and the bigger part of her knew it, but it was hard to look at them the same way knowing that crimes were going unpunished. Naturally, she lay most of the blame for that on Dante as the Alpha, though she'd never tell him that.

"Is it because of their beliefs?" Saena asked, recalling suddenly that they believed in different things than most wolves did. Saena hadn't had the pleasure of formally meeting either Thistle Cloud or Ragnar, and had forgotten all about the encounter with the cougar in which Thistle had made an appearance, but she fondly remembered the way Junior gushed about them upon her return. At the time, Junior had wanted to be a Shield Mistress, or something like that. "Do you... not believe the same things?" She could never guess that it just wasn't that simple. "You could always come with me if you want. The whole point is a new beginning, it sounds like you need one, too. I mean... if you trust me, that is. I won't pretend I know how to be a great leader or anything, but I'll be trying my damnedest."

Gunnar did not deign to know all that much more than Charon. Sure he was older, but Charon was an adventurer at heart. He had already had quite a few more adventures than Gunnar, not that he minded. He was happy the boy could be adventurous. Happy that he could be out and about and come home safe.

Gunnar nodded his head, Respect and knowing your place is big with my dad. Very big, they are a savage culture, willing to kill the alpha before them for a woman or just their place. My dad has done it. He killed his brother, for killing their father, and a woman he wanted. My father wasn't very tameable until my mom came along. He grinned ruefully, actually proud of his mom for taking his father, and keeping him on the straight and narrow so to speak.

Gunnar shook his head, No, not at all I'm a viking through and through, even if the man who knocked up my mom wasn't. Savage, and war and raids. I'll do it, but I just feel strange being the only one left of my mom's first litter, and Ragnar is my father, but he isn't my blood father. And knowing that now, it just makes it a little bit different. I don't know how to explain it. And I just kind want to make my own way, where i'm not always trying to get my dads approval, not that it's a bad thing, it's just hard to keep that up. I want to seek my own approval, not always try and do better. My dad taught me well, now i'm just ready to branch out.

He chuckled, I'll think you will do very well Saena, and sure I'll follow you if you like. I can't promise we will always agree. Remember, I am viking culture raised, so I may not give Mercy where you would.

"Well, I wouldn't say that's what I'm going for," Saena chuckled, imagining herself being dethroned by some other ambitious female and finding the thought frightening. It was a distinct possibility in any wolf society, but she liked to think her claim would be uncontested. That her followers would follow her and shun other ambitious wolves. She was naive to think it, but think it she did. "But I do think authority is important, and failing to respect it shouldn't be overlooked."

Of course, if Blacktail Deer Plateau operated by the same principles Saena tentatively did, then she would've been out of a home a long time ago.

Gunnar explained that he was wholly viking (for some reason she imagined him with long fur on his chin when he said it), but that his disconnection with his family drove him to find his own pursuits. Saena could understand that, albeit only in part. While Peregrine and Hawkeye weren't her real parents, Saena accepted them as her real family anyway and pushed her biological parents out of the picture. She couldn't possibly understand Gunnar's out-of-place feeling, but she'd felt misplaced once or twice before, so she could sympathize a little.

"I don't expect us to agree," Saena said with a good-natured wink. "Mercy isn't a problem. I mean, if you show no mercy to a pack mate over a food dispute, then that might be a problem," she went on, chuckling at the idea of Gunnar ever being that violent, "but otherwise I expect little mercy. I don't intend this pack to be like the plateau—no one will get away with the things that go on here, I can assure you.

Anyway, I still need to say my goodbyes and figure out where I'm even going," she said, unashamed at how incomplete her plans were if only because they were fledgling and new. "I can call for you when I've figured it out, and if you haven't changed your mind, you're welcome to come along."

Gunnar listened, and nodded his head. Granted he wasn't as violent as his father. He also supposed that his father was a little quicker to the draw than he was. However, he wasn't going to lie and say he wasn't like him, when he believed a lot, actually almost all of his father's cultures. Gunnar had never seen it, but he knew that some wolves just couldn't follow another. They fought it, and he supposed in a way Saena was one of them.

Gunnar did not doubt that Ragnar was his father, he fully believed it. No man was his father but Ragnar. It wasn't the problem mostly. The problem was being without his siblings, it felt strange to just live with his parents and younger siblings. He supposed if he got to the heart of the problem, home reminded him of Mercury and Gyda. Both of who he missed. And he just felt suffocated in the bay more than anything, loved the land the wolves, but he was always trying to do better. Always trying to one up himself, and he didn't like that. He wanted to just be himself, without worry that he might disappoint his dad.

Gunnar knew he wasn't as violent as his father. But he also knew that he would follow his father's laws. No trespasses against him and his own. It was just that simple. He thought about the food problem, with a chuckle. However, he thought to if it was a rough winter and they were rationing food, well he wouldn't be merciful then.


Gunnar nodded his head, Alright i'll be listening. You let me know Saena. He gave her a small smile, and then waited to see if there was anything else to be said.

"Will do," said Saena, smiling warmly at her first ever recruit. Gunnar would unfortunately be one of the last to hear of the place she chose, but only because he was so distant and summoning him would require a day trip. He would hear of it, however, and his choice would be made when he did.

"I'm gonna go let them know my plans," she said, hesitating before turning broadside and grinning nervously. "Wish me luck!" With that, Saena nodded a farewell to Gunnar, who looked like he was ready to leave as well, and headed back up the towpath to the top of the plateau. She would need to inform Dante and the Betas first, though it took her a long hour of fidgeting before she managed to get up the courage to seek a suitable place to summon them.