Ouroboros Spine Don't Believe Me, Just Watch

Updated to be during their return.

Their absence had stretched over a fortnight and while a normal wolf might have worried or fretted over their well being, Kroc was Tartok, as many others here were. @Tonravik and @Kerosene would return when the time was right. Until then, the Beta and Warden of the North of the Spine would continue to maintain the borders and lead in their stead. 

This moment found her pissing on the ground to mark their land once again before she moved on, keeping an eye out for any of those that would further test their boundaries. Past that, she also was on the look out for other Spine wolves as she made her rounds. She was to the West of the territory this day, oblivious to the return of the Alpha pair. 

After Toni and Kero return. Woot. Woot.

They'd taken the scenic route home and he didn't regret a second of it. They'd covered a lot of ground and explored many a new place. It'd been somewhat of a grand adventure that greatly appealed to his natural inclination for wanderlust. Those desires were staved for now, cast off beneath the dust of his travels as he returned to the borders to check on their status. Scents were strong. Seemed as though Kroc was taking her new role as Beta seriously. Good for her.

Speaking of the devil...

He circled the borders and found her there. The white wolf, in all of her glory, squatting to take a piss. "Full tank?" he teased as he sat down, leaning against a tree. It was nice to sit. Nicer to be in the shade. This summer was getting hot.

Her eyes settled on him quickly once he spoke. Not having been aware that they were back, it took a moment for it all to click into place. Her stream of piss faded out, finished marking for the moment. "Hey Shit-For-Brains. Been a while." A whole two weeks but it didn't matter. He was here which meant Tonravik was likely back as well. Good. 

"How'd shit go?" She paused in her patrol, heading over to settle on the ground beside him. It was a relief from the hot sun, which normally didn't bother her but today was particularly bright and sunny. Screw the sun, right? The heat, rather. 

She finished up her business and he watched that all too familiar female wobble as she drip dried and moved to join him. Kero shifted, allowing her a little more room beneath the cover of his tree. Just like that? It was as if they'd never left. The white wolf was back up to her same old nicknames and crassness. He hadn't expected anything less.

"As well as anyone could have expected," he said, mentally debating as to how much detail he wished to give her, but as she was Beta he supposed having the fullest version of the story couldn't hurt. "Dropped off her body. Her wolves got snarly." He smirked. "Heh. They have a coyote for a translator." Of all things... a coyote. The last time the Spine saw a coyote their wolves were dropping their corpses on the borders to make a statement. "Hard to tell whether it screwed us over or not, but I think we got the message across. If anyone of them comes near our borders, we kill them. End of story."

He filled her in as easily as she'd asked. Though she would have loved to be there, Kroc had understood the need for it to be the Alpha pair. Her nose wrinkled at the thought of a coyote having anything to do with a wolf pack, other than its bones decorating their borders. "It probably did. The fucking weasel." The tank was no fan of the species and even hybrids made her leery. Echelon, thus far, was the only one she accepted the presence of. 

"I said the same fuckin' thing. Any bastard that lingers signs their own damned death warrant." Though the Plains bitch had been dragged back, it had been done so as a message. The wolves of the Spine were not going to play this game any longer. Outsiders were not appreciated and would be met with violence every single time. "That pack must be full of retards." Her voice, though gruff, was intoned with amusement. How any wolf survived on that kind of stupidity simply meant that they were truly a special kind of 'special'.

Heh. A weasel. Probably. Coyotes were slippery little things and he didn't understand how a cutler could shape to accommodate them, but to each their own. He was certain the Spine probably did a thing or two other packs didn't agree with. Whatever. That's why there were multiple packs right? So long as everyone played night on the playground he didn't really care. The Spine borders? Off limits. Way the hell off limits. Enough with this mercy bullshit. He'd had enough.

A low growl escaped him. Realizing it, he cut off the sound, dropped his ears for a moment and looked to her with a frown. "Well, if they're made of something tasty at least we'll enjoy eating then the next time they test their arrogance against our lands." He was still hoping their special delivery was enough of a message as to why they were not to be messed with. As for the rest? "Wolves couldn't even bother learning the local dialect before moving in. It's... Its bleh. Whatever." enough of that. Story time was over.

As for Kroc? "How were things while we were away? Still quiet?"

An ear twitched in his direction as her pale fur lost its heat. In the shade, she was much cooler; Kroc did not envy Tonravik her dark fur, not in this kind of weather. Not in any kind of weather, truly, for the Saurturi was not an envious creature. The emotion simply wasn't in her palette. Perhaps she was simple for it but that was not her concern. Her concern lay in the strength of the pack and the maintenance of the borders. Of protecting. 

She snorted, her muzzle wrinkling at the idea of a language barrier. "No matter." Her tone was cool, unkerfluffled. "They will fall against the Spine and we'll decorate our fucking borders with their insides." 
Wouldn't that be fun? The grin on her face, though grim, put that particular thought on display for the briefest of moments. His question drew her in again, however. 

"Quiet. The only unrest was because the bitch kept her life." Which was well-founded. For her almost fourth offense, Kroc would have killed her, but she was not alpha, and it was not her decision. She would support what had been done, if only because she trusted Tonravik and was working up to the same level of trust in the male beside her. 

Kerosene grinned. Kroc always did have a way with words that put a grin on his face. "Mm. Something like that." Hang them by their own intestines. Leave a few wolf carcasses laying around. He smirked. Hell, if they left enough meat on their bones the spine could collect all the buzzards and scavengers. Give Blackfeather a run for their spooky reputation.

He had no idea why he thought back to them, but he was distracted quickly enough by her comment on a little bit of unrest. Wait. What? Displeasure over the fact they left the girl alive... somewhat when they returned her to her packlands? "Elaborate," he prompted, curious as to what exactly might have happened in their absence.

-frolics around to catch up-

He instructed her to elaborate and she looked at him for a moment, letting the words come to form in her mind, only to spill out in response. "The only one even fuckin' interested in what happened was Ivitaruk. The red male." That was helpful. There had been more red males in the Spine than black females and that was saying something. "Didn't seem like he was thrilled that she lived." She did her best to shrug. No one was really happy the bitch lived but Kroc understood why. It was a very real threat and if they didn't take it seriously, they would probably try and take revenge and start a war. 

Kroc pondered her words and then spilled. They flooded out and were marked by her current state of ire. Frustration pooled within her. He could feel it seeping from her like some unbound energy. It was true that while the Spine had a number of members, so few of them were active participants in the world that spun around him. He was somewhat impressed that Ivitaruk had taken notice. He seemed to hover the line between taking a back seat and leaning over the center console to as if to make suggestions while driving. Hearing this... did not startle him quite so much as it might have.

Kero shrugged. To each their own. At least this way the Plains pack knew trouble would find them should they try anything else. As for the girl? "Alive? Barely," she teetered on the brink of a true death. She'd not moved so much as a muscle since Tonravik had so efficiently put the girl in her place. The only hint of life within her was that she still breathed. "Comatose. A terrible way to live." And somewhat satisfying.

"You should take a load off." The white wolf seemed tense. No doubt guarding these borders mostly alone would do that to a wolf. "Explore a bit. Something." Let off some steam. "Tonravik and I are back. Echelon has also returned. You've earned a reprieve." They could hold down the fort if she wished to switch up the scenery. "It might be good for all of us to vacation a bit. When the pups come, we won't have the same freedoms."

He shrugg. She shrugged. They all shrugged. The bitch's life was forfeit. Maybe not now but in the end, the Spine would decorate their borders with her head. The pale creature felt it in her bones, even if they had to steal it from wherever they buried her dumb ass. 

He distracted her once more. A load off? Brows furrowing, Kroc gave him quite the look. Why in the hell would she do that? But she listened before snapping back to tell him she'd pass. But while he said it was a vacation, Kroc suddenly had other ideas. "I'll let you know when or if I roam around." It was all she could offer, for she wasn't gonna pack her fuckin' bags and say sayonara right now. No, she was too comfortable for that shit. 

"We should test the pack's fighting abilities. A spar thing or some shit." It was an idea. He could take it or leave it. 

He wasn't certain what her reply towards his suggestion might be. She'd more than earned a little time off if she chose to do so and he had no qualms with it. Perhaps some day she'd consider venturing out, but for now he knew well and true that protecting their borders was something she lived for day in and day out. With their white guardian haunting their walls? He almost felt sorry for whoever she happened to come across.

Almost.

He excepted her dismissal of the idea with no more than a nod. If she ever needed an escape she would let him know. Until then, he let it be if only because she followed that remark with an equally interesting suggestion. "What? Are you suggesting I got a little rusty out there?" he teased, knowing full well what she meant by that. Truthfully he agreed. Tonravik had asked all of her wolves to pursue the trades of warrior and warden. Sparring their own and learning each from each other would help them earn mastery over their own bodies.

"It might be time for something like that," he agreed. "If I can catch Tonravik on a day when she wishes to speak, I'll run the idea by her." Or just talk at her until she was forced to use words. That seemed to work too.

"Are you deaf? That's exactly what I fuckin' said." Teeth flashed dully as her lips revealed them in a grin. Her tone, while rough, was not malicious and she knew he wouldn't take it that way. SFB seemed to be a much more easy going wolf than others she'd met and did not take her jests so seriously, as he was able to differentiate when she was kidding and when she was deadly serious.

With the flux in pack members, Kroc was no longer one hundred percent sure of each of their abilities. They would need to know, for tactical reasons in the coming future. Additionally, it'd help the leading pair know who could help train their prodigies when it came to different aspects of combat. "Sounds good." 

Her paws stretched out in front of her, Kroc settled comfortably, letting the heat of the day pass them by.

Kero smirked. Oh Kroc. He hadn't quite realized how much he'd missed her badassery until it was right in front of him again. "Well then. Maybe one of these days I'll have to show you I've kept up with everything." It'd been a while since the two of them had sparred. Not since... He grinned deeper. That time when their playful spar had essentially turned into just playing.

As for the other wolves in these parts? There were enough new faces to go around that they didn't really have a decent assessment on their skills. A sparring event would do them all a world of good. Until then? Kero shifted on his feet and turned to leave as Kroc settled. There was more of the borders he needed to see. "Later, Gator."

-kero exits-