Redtail Rise sleepless solitude tonight

I had some free time and the other thread seems to be pretty underway. I know you said I could toss Merc in there but I figured I'd just start us our own. :P Hope you don't mind if I count this for his warden trade; two birds with one stone! :D @Wynter

Mercury tried to work off the still roiling emotions within him, feeling everything burn away except for the physical feelings — hunger, exhaustion, the subtle ache of his legs as he pushed himself on his patrol — detached feelings that served a relevant purpose. His anger and bitterness hadn't truly gone anywhere, not even with the news of Ragnar's death having been dropped on him in a nuclear bomb fashion, complete with a physical reminder of his brother's own anger and betrayal though Gunnar's feelings were aimed directly at Mercury. The wound, where his brother's teeth had spliced open his cheek — a small cat scratch, truly — stung every now and then, as if to remind him that while Gunnar might have been being a giant prick; so, too, was he. Perhaps Mercury had deserved Gunnar's anger, but fighting with Gunnar wouldn't solve Mercury's issues, and suspected it wouldn't really solve Gunnar's own, either. 

Dwelling upon it did nothing to soothe him, either, so Mercury was determined to push their fight far from his mind, doing his best to ignore the itch of his injury beneath the foliage he had chewed and sloppily swiped on it with his paw — wishing that he had someone he could ask to apply it more directly for him. Most of the green, medicinal, saliva formed goop had dried to the fur surrounding Gunnar's revenge wound, but it had served it's purpose, reliving the subtle sting when it would randomly hit for a small while. Imperial green eyes kept upon his path, following the invisible but tangible by the scent borders. Their individual urination marks came together as one scent, saturated in the earth, hanging heavy. A warning. Steps ceased as he paused, lowering his nose to the ground to sniff at a small section whose scent was weaker than the the marks around it, lifted his leg and relieved himself on it, strengthening it with his scent.

Wynter was resting by a small oak in the forest just daydreaming. Something she found herself doing a lot of lately. She had a lot of free time. Perhaps a little too much. It would be time soon for her to start pursuing her trades. The ones she could at least. The easiest one for her to pursue right now would be counselor because there were no pups around to pursue caretaker. 


She had also thought about Outrider because she enjoyed travelling but she didn't know whether Reek would approve of her travelling without him knowing where she was. Something she would discuss when the time came. That time was not now. Not with everything going on with Junior's disappearance and all. He definitely wouldn't let her go this soon after that. 

Wynter heard paw steps on the ground but the scent was one unfamiliar to her. Definitely from their pack though he had the scent of Reek and the others. Wynter figured it wouldn't be long before a wolf came by because she was reasonably close to the borders or the rise. She stood up and walked over to where the wolf had just marked a tree and let out a small chuff to let him know she was there. 

Sorry i didnt post one myself but i didn't have a lot of time and i felt sick. Bonus points to use it for a warden thread haha. :D

It's alright! <3

Mercury was not so absent from what was going on around him as he surrounded himself within the routine of patrolling that he did not hear the soft footfalls of another. Patrolling the borders, after all, was not a task to be performed at half attention. Ears splayed to either side of his head as it rose, ears twitching to determine whether the sound was coming from within the borders or from the outside. Black, leathery nostrils flared to take test the air, trying to decipher if he could pick up a scent, ahead of her as he was, or not. Bracken rustled under his weight as it shifted, his svelte body shifting so he could still keep a sharp eye on the territories outside of the Rise's borders, but also pay her attention as she came into view.  Her scent, readily presented to him now as she had drawn nearer, giving a soft chuff to announce her presence to him, told him that she was of Redtail Rise, as well, though he had assumed as such considering she had approached him from within the borders.

Another senior member of the pack, and though he recognized her from the meeting he did not know her name. When he had attended the meeting there had been only a select few he had known, Reek, Arion, and Gunnar. “Hello,” The Dark skylark offered her softly, lowering his posture into one of proper submission to show his respect. Being the lowest man on the tier was not something that was unusual for Mercury whom had been the lowest in both Odinn's Cove and Flightless Falcon before he had left them to return back to the Teekon Wilds. 

Wynter watched as the wolf bowed in submission. Being a black wolf and all he had reminded her of the time Reek had been forced to greet her like that by the Alphess at the Sound. Except Reek had been doomed to a life of submission for males could not rank above the females ever. At least here they had a shot at a high ranking position. I mean look at Reek now. Him and Arion both ranked higher than she did.

She nodded in aknowledgement of his submission. "Hello," she gave a small smile to the male. "I don't believe I've met you before, I'm Wynter," she said introducing herself. Too much had happened while wynter had been in a world of her own up on the ridge. Saena had gone after junior, who had had a major outburst when Reek had come back from Redhawk, Arion and Reek had been left in charge of the entire pack. New members had been accepted and she had no clue who any of them were.

A slight part of her felt incredibly guilty staying up on the ridge while the rest of the wolves were working hard to help the pack thrive. She had just needed some time to adjust to everything. "Hard at work I see," she said pausing for a moment. "You pursuing Warden as a trade?" she asked a small tilt to her head. 

Mercury glimpsed up through his lashes at her when she gave a nod in acknowledgment to his submission, and rose to a indefinitely more comfortable, neutral posture. It was relaxed, though there was a strong set to his sylphlike shoulders — a tension that he never allowed to relax when he was patrolling the borders. He had learned that one had to be ready for anything, for the peaceful, for the malignant, for those who only sought to cause trouble, and for the trespassers. To relax the set of his shoulders was to put himself at ease, to take down his guard. It was not something that he allowed to slip easily, not when many things could be and would be at stake. She returned his hello, her soft lilting tone accented by the soft smile she offered the dark skylark. His lips mirrored the action, the barest of smiles tugging at the corners of Mercury's lips. He was not sure what to expect of her, nor what to make of her, yet. He was weary if only because he'd been exposed to very different environments, not only in Stavanger Bay under Ragnar's regime, but in Odinn's Cove and the ruthless Vikings the lands housed, and the Redleaf-DiSarinno's of Flightless Falcons. Each pack was starkly different from the other, the only similarities he had witnessed had been, understandably between Stavanger Bay and Odinn's Cove, though Mercury had come to learn quickly that Ragnar's Bay was more like a melting pot instead of the steadfast, ironclad, unbending Viking way of Odinn's Cove. It had been quite a culture shock to Mercury who, as a child had always assumed he'd grown up in a true viking pack.

“I'm the new guy around here,” His simper was dashing upon his lips, before he offered her a sheepish half shoulder shrug. “I'm Mercury.” He responded in kind for her own introduction. “I was told upon my acceptance by Reek that I needed to prove myself,” The dark skylark gave her in the form of an explanation, despite that she had not asked for one. “As one of them, yes.” He considered that he might try for Outrider next, but it depended on the demand of the pack. It made no sense to have five outriders when other trades were sorely needed, and Mercury was adaptable. He had some knowledge of healing, albeit very basic, and he'd thrown around the idea of Chronicler or Naturalist as a third, though again his decision would be weighed heavily by what the Rise needed.

"It makes sense I haven't met you then," she let a small half laugh escape her maw. "It's nice to meet you." It appears this wolf had already met Reek. Her mate had made a valid point then telling Mercury he would have to prove himself to the pack. "Fair enough," Wynter said with a nod. She had to admit. Reek and Arion were doing a pretty good job leading the pack. Reek wouldn't let in anyone he wasn't sure would remain loyal to the pack. Arion she was sure was the same.

She listened as the wolf answered her question about trades. "Okay, cool. I'm beginning to think about pursuing some trades myself," she mentioned. It was true. These past couple of days she had begun to think about the trades she wished to pursue. The easiest for her right now would be Counselor. Her other trade she was considering was caretaker. As there were no pups around right now however. It made that virtually impossible.  

"You like it here at the rise so far?" she asked looking around. She didn't know this wolf would want to talk long because he was working hard patrolling. At least however she had figured out most of who's who. She was pretty sure she had caught up with the number of wolves that were now a part of the rise. 

Oh lord. Im having trouble writing right now. Sorry if this post is garbage.

Psh, your post was perfectly fine, dear! <3

His companion let out a small, half laugh and Mercury allowed something like a smile to tease at the corners of his lips. “To you as well,” The DiSarinno spoke with  an easy, natural eloquence. His weight shifted subtly, a small and languid movement in attempt to relax a bit. The tension never fully left him, with their conversation being so close upon the borders but there were two sets of ears upon them, while Wynter and his attention was diverted, after all; and Mercury did not feel bad about pausing from his patrol when one of his directives had been to introduce himself to the others upon Reek's acceptance of him. Therefore, he was still doing what he'd been asked to do. Smoky black ears cupped forth when she admitted that she, too, was working towards trades. 

“What trades?” Mercury inquired conversationally. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to help her earn any of her's, nor if she in turn could help him earn his but, at the very least he'd walk away knowing something more about her than her name. Her question recalled the dark skylark's attention, which had wondered demurely to the territory outside of their borders, eyes of imperial green raking the shadows for any unusual movement. Nothing seemed to be amiss and he turned his focus back upon her eagerly enough. “So far, yes,” He murmured honestly with a small, perhaps even sheepish shrug; to be fair though he had not been apart of it long enough to form any sort of solid opinion. “My brother lives here though,” And while their standing was not the best currently, it was something to hold him there. “So that is always a bonus.” Even if it looked a little malignant at present. At least they were working on it, and some progress was surely better than no progress at all.

Wynter smiled as the wolf acknowledged her greeting. He then proceeded to ask what trades she was following. "I am going for counselor, caretaker, and possibly outrider. The last one i'm unsure of though now because I have a feeling my mate might not agree with me wandering out in the wilderness," she shrugged it off. It didn't bother her too much that she might not be able to become an outrider because if Saena did allow her and Reek to have pups she would have to be around to look after them anyways.

Mercury mentioned having a brother in the pack although he didn't seem to incredibly excited about that. Which made Wynter wonder if there was something going on between the two of them at the moment. She remembered arguing with her brother and sister a lot when she was back home. Over sometimes even the stupidest of stuff. 

 She wondered who it could be. Definitely not Arion. These two were like polar opposites. Plus they looked nothing alike. "Who's your brother, I don't know that I've met him either," Wynter said feeling guiltier by the minute. She really should not have spent all that time detached from the rest of the pack.