Blacktail Deer Plateau I've been sleepwalking

For the first few days, he'd barely spared a thought as to where he was heading, only sure that it was far from the Plateau's scarred face and the wolves who would seek in him a strength he couldn't give.

But as time passed, he came to know... his path was taking him back to where, all that time ago, he had struck out, leaving his sister behind to start a life of her own.  The road was a long one, and he knew if he took it, he wouldn't return for weeks, if at all.  Perhaps it was time... but even as he thought this, he knew it couldn't be.  No matter what, he would not abandon them.  Not unless doing so was justifiably the best thing for them.  And in this case, he knew that was not true.  To run would be out of his own selfish desire to escape, to forget.

He had not loved her, not like that.  As a dear friend, yes, and a treasured companion. But though his affection had lain beyond the reach of friendship, for sure, he could not have fallen so far for one who he suspected did not return the feelings.  The potential had been there, though... and its loss gutted him.  He hadn't realized the hope until it was gone, or what their friendship had really meant.

So despite his resolve to return, he remained away a few days longer, hoping to find some peace on the windswept reaches.

But all he found was even more heartbreak.  It came in the form of a messenger who claimed to be seeking him for weeks, but who had been unwilling to venture into a place so heavily claimed as Teekon.

The messenger spoke of his luck, but the news he brought laid ice upon Dante's heart, blood roaring as a terrible rage and desperation filled him even as his expression smoothed to stone.  As though sensing the shift, a mumbled apology was delivered that the Alpha did not hear, and the wolf fled unnoticed. He had known the missive would not be happily recieved.  How could it be?

A month had passed, and he hadn't a clue. Where had he been, a month ago? How could he not have...

Realizing what this meant, he immediately rounded and set a charging course for home, breath heaving from still smoke-damaged lungs.  He came quicker than he left, and arrived exhausted, but made steady by a harsh fire that swelled within and turned his gaze to steel.

And as he crossed into the territory, it was @Lasher he sought, though any who patrolled would have the knowledge he wished to gain..

They would come.  Be it a week, a month, or a year from now... If they hadn't found this place yet, they would.  And what before he had dreaded, prayed not to occur, he now sought with a fierce expectation.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON BUT I WANTED TO POST

All he originally saw as he broke away from the borders was a flash of gunmetal against the verdant terrain.  Giving it pursuit was not that difficult at all, though originally Mordecai was under the impression that it was some vagrant come to skirt their borders and venture in to root through an unguarded cache somewhere.

Instead what he found as he broke through the undergrowth was not some vagrant, but Dante.  It was enough for him to falter in his step for a split-second and consider calling out after him.  But instead he found himself slowing with curiosity, questioning if he wasn't just seeing a direct lookalike versus the real deal.  Yet there were the indeniable things that made Dante himself.

And wherever he was headed to, he was clearly on a mission.

One that Mordecai particularly did not have objections in delaying or otherwise aiding him in, and his approach in Dante's wake was swift and certain.  Concerned and friendly, almost needless to say.  "Dante?" he piped up as he closed in to earshot, his head tilting minutely as he waited to see if his friend would respond or not.  Perhaps he did not want the company, though the details of where he had been, or where he had gone, or even what he had found were just as unknown as what existed on the otherside ofthe world.

the fragrance that rose over the landscape took taltos' breath straightaway from his chest -- the smoky scent of the fire still hung in his nostrils, and the fear therein surged to the fore. but he was running suddenly, his legs churning with blurring speed -- they carried him in the direction of dante's wordless call.

the leader's disappearance had struck more than a single chord within him -- it had fluted along the strings born by the grief-sistrum, for in one fell swoop lasher had found himself bereft of a companion, a brother, and a man he loved perhaps more deeply than himself. the man epitomized all that the beta had sought in a lover, but he had resigned himself to the fact that he and the gunmetal wolf would never come to such an understanding.

lasher had instead forged a deep appreciation for the man's strength of character, his gentility, thrown about with a rampantly handsome set of features of which the romanesque man seemed to be unaware. lovers they would not be, but the aokatti with which he had never been blessed -- yes.

dante.

his pace quickened ever further until he burst breathlessly into the little space wherein the man was attended by a surprised mordecai. he gave the ostrega no heed -- the wolf knew he was well-loved by the beta -- and with abandon he sought dante with a wordless embrace, desperation and relief mingling in his murkwater gaze.

Dante slowed at Mordecai's arrival, whirling defensively before he realized who it was that called out.  When he attempted to answer, he found himself unable to catch his breath, and instead was required to take a moment to slow his desperate heaving.  The run had done few favors for his smoke-scourged lungs and lasher had arrived before he was able to get a word out, shaking from effort.

He'd come back numb, but Lasher's embrace and greeting was so unexpectedly warm that it cracked the harsh veneer.  He leaned into it momentarily, pressing firmly against the beta and allowing a flicker of sorrow to pass.  He had not wished to bring heartache, but nor could he be sorry for keeping them waiting.  Not now.

It was to Mordecai he looked when he was able to speak.  "I found nothing."  It sounded wooden even to him, but with that statement, he closed the questions they may ask.  He did not feel the need to inquire of them... If anything had been found, he assumed he would know immediately.

It was done, and there was nothing more to be gained in that regard.

"Has there been any sign of anyone entering the lands? Or any strangers lingering?"  He asked, with pointed interest.  He did not suspect so, but if there were, he would need to investigate to be sure.  He knew the request was a strange one to be adamant about, but he had no intentions to explain fully.

Lasher was the first to close in the distance between all of them, and his certainty of approaching Dante gave Mordecai the reason to close it in as well. Not entirely the type to embrace, he lingered back for a moment and remained quietly. His draw to attention was when he caught Dante's gaze moving to his own, the words decisive. It was saddening, briefly, but at that point Mordecai realized that they had exhausted the opportunities to search. No doubt they would continue to search still, looking for that little sliver of hope somewhere — the fact that a body had never turned up was better for it.

And where he thought Dante may have felt hollow, it was his second question that drew Mordecai to the conclusion that he was all but. Whatever time had been there for that may have passed, or had simply passed beneath his own perception. "The borders have been quiet when I've made my rounds. Other than Charon from the Bay, we haven't had any other visitors that I know of." His gaze shifted curiously to Lasher for a moment, wondering if he had seen others. It had been his request to up their patrols after all. "Charon's my nephew as well, so I reined him to search around the foothills outside the Plateau a bit as well," he went on to add, "but we didn't turn up anything either."

dante leant into his embrace and lasher gave a low and welcoming rumble deep in his throat, pleased that the silver one relaxed enough in his presence to do so. the man was exhausted, and tense -- rightfully so, given his ordeal. taltos held his tongue until mordecai had finished speaking, casting a grateful glance at the ostrega, and nodded in affirmation.

"no one has come to our borders seeking a quarrel. tonravik, of the spine, informed me that there is a new pack near to us, one who had striven with her and her wolves -- she warned me of their deception and their presence. but i have seen none of them."

there was the matter of junior; pain touched a chord within him, but he would speak of it at a later time.

Dante nodded, some of the words escaping him but the important ones getting through his tired senses. No unknown visitors. Had they come, they would not have been subtle, at least not after initial verification and scouting. They would have known. While a part of him was glad, for it meant they were safe, another fell to disappointment. The burning anger within his chest called for blood, and he would gladly slake it.

"Thank you," he replied when they'd finished, knowing he would need to seek them out for further discussion later. And a meet. They needed to gather. But that could come another day, as when the rushed adrenaline of his travel began to wind down, exhaustion hit him hard. Rising shakily, he gave a small smile to each, not quite genuine but hopefully enough. "We can talk more later?" If they had something pressing he would try to listen, but right now he wanted nothing more than to find a place to collapse and sleep.

apologies for holding this up massively. time really needs to stop getting away from me.

It would have seemed in knowing that the Plateau was truly safe and sound, Dante gave in to whatever held-at-bay weariness. The consuming nature of it washed over and out from him, perhaps lending itself a bit even to the lingering Mordecai. He took some ease in knowing that Dante had not burned to ash and was left cast to the four winds. Though he took particular interest in what Lasher said of the Spine, that was left to be stowed away for another time. The words of their gunmetal alpha stole his attention away easily, and he nodded loosely to the words.

He needed to rest, that much was probably more than evident now than it had been. "I'll head back to the borders and finish my rounds," Mordecai concluded for himself, offering a crookedly thin smile to the leaders. He would linger long enough for it to settle, and then be on his way.

last post for me!

he nodded, understanding the deep weariness in dante's eyes. "i will continue my own," he responded, proffering a gentle nudge to the alpha's shoulder before dipping his head and slipping away from the pair, lingering only to grant mordecai a grateful nod.