Noctisardor Bypass Falling fast to the ground

A small piece of cold, grey flesh clung Saena's lips as she padded away from the half-day-old kill. The pack had felled a healthy cow elk just this morning and they'd cached all they could carry, but the remains were left out in the open for the scavengers to feed from. By leaving it for them, Saena knew they would not be as tempted to steal into the wolves' territory proper to take from their stores; there were easier pickings to be had. Such was nature's way. It didn't stop her from returning to it and picking away what little flesh they'd left behind.

She swept her tongue over her jowls, picking up the limp piece of skin in the process, and paused to scan her surroundings. To her back was Phoenix Maplewood. To her left was surely more forest. Directly ahead there yawned a chasm, and it was this that stole the former outrider's attention. She loped across the distance, eager to see what was hidden beyond the sheer drop.

It turned out there wasn't much of anything. As she approached the edge of the bypass, she could see disturbance, as if the stone itself had been cracked off. Indeed, that's what happened, as the force of the storm unsettled the already precariously unstable cliffside and sent hunks of earth tumbling into the gorge. What she saw when she peered over the edge was exactly what she expected: huge pieces of stone shattered at the bottom of a long fall.

Somehow, someway, the Greek had gone in a circle. Not a small circle, either. He'd started at the Bypass, wandered around the valley he'd yet to actually visit, before finding himself back where his previous pack once resided. It had been a long process, the storm having stopped him several times, but that came as no big deal once he'd seen the once beautiful land. It was not as he remembered, now riddled with craters from falling debris, and littered by boulders and the like. It was awful, to put things bluntly. It caused his bottom jaw to fall, leaving his mouth agape as he stared at what once was. While it saddened him greatly to see his old home in ruins, it also gave him a sense of... release. No longer was he tied to the nonexistent pack, no longer was there a place for any of the old members to return to. It was almost as if his slate had been wiped clean, causing a sort of bittersweet sensation to wash over him.

Wandering along the trail that was once a heavily scented border, Alastor continued on to get a better look at it all. Eventually, the wind brought a scent to him. He did not recognize it as being anyone in particular, but he could tell it was a wolf. Curious, for numerous reasons, he followed after it, his stride a bit lopsided. Only when the form of the girl became visible to him did his pace slow to a steady trot, and then stopped altogether a respective distance away. "The storm really did a number on it," he commented, looking towards the old pack lands once more. Her scent did not match any of those he could faintly recall from his time in the bypass, leaving him without a clue as to who she was or, more importantly, what had brought her to the area. None of his inquiries were voiced, however, as he wasn't too sure if he wanted to know the answers just yet.

She stood there for quite some time, looking down at first the debris and then the wide valley itself. There were trees dotted throughout, likely still standing because the high walls protected them from the tornado that cut through this area. The outskirts of the valley were wrecked, though, and Saena suspected it would take a few acrobatics to get down there safely. She didn't know about the sloping path to the west, and she wouldn't find out about it either, for at that moment a movement in her periphery caused her to turn her head and regard the strange male approaching.

Long-legged and graceful, with a voluminous coat giving the illusion of bulk. A large wolf, then. Probably a warden, Saena assumed. She knew that wasn't necessarily the case, but she pegged him for it immediately. She was also thinking selfishly as she looked him over; their pack only had Arion for strong males. They could certainly use another.

But maybe she would bring that up later. "Did you see it when it was whole?" she wondered, looking back at the debris below. Unconsciously, she took a step away from the edge; she didn't know Alastor and instinctively didn't trust him not to throw her over the side, even if she hadn't actually thought of that possibility. "I never knew it was here. I'm newer to this neighbourhood. Saena," she introduced, "alpha of Phoenix Maplewood."

By the way... "you're not looking for a place to stay, by any chance?" So much for bringing it up later.

Entering into the Bypass had not crossed the male's mind for even a moment. It was an action he probably could not complete, anyways, thanks to his potential inability to leave again once inside. To say he didn't miss it would make him a liar, so while he did not deny his feelings, he did try to keep them sheltered. His ties were no more. Several times, he reminded himself of that. The land was not as it once was, and all those who'd dwelled within the shelter of it's walls had long since gone away. All but Alastor, that is. Memories of those who'd left flooded his mind when a question was posed. It was not an in-depth inquiry, it was simple, and yet he still found himself unable to answer right away. His voice had left him, if only for a momemt, and he found himself looking at the old pack lands once again. "I did," the Greek answered, forcing his gaze off of what once was, and returning it to the female. "I use to live within it, actually. There was once a very kind pack here." Never had he butted heads with anyone, everyone had been quite nice.

Alastor's ears perked ever so slightly when news of how she was new to the area reached them. It explained why she wouldn't have known of it's existence. They hadn't been overly close to any other packs, and hadn't any real trouble between others, either. Well, not that he knew of, anyways. "Welcome to the area," he remarked, giving a small dip of his head. "My name's Alastor. It's a pleasure to meet you, Saena." He was taken aback for a brief second upon learning she was an alpha, having believed her to be quite young. That thought was disregarded quickly, and he regained his composure right after. From what he'd witnessed thus far, it was not too farfetched for younger wolves to take on leading roles. Even he had been in a position of high standing when he was a mere yearling, so the information really shouldn't have come as any sort of shock to him.

A small smile made itself known as the corner of his lips turned upwards, noting how she wasted no time in getting right to things. He hadn't given the idea of joining another pack much thought as of late. Actually, more like since the Bypass had disbanded. He'd spent the entire time wandering around, practically acting as if it was the end of the world, when it so clearly was not. It was merely the end of a specific period in his life, and he'd wasted long enough mourning over it. The time had come for him to move on, but this time he planned to be smarter. Impulse and the want to be close to a friend in the unfamiliar area had drove him to join his previous pack, and that had ended not entirely long after. That wasn't something he wished to experience again, if it could be helped. "I hadn't given it much thought," Alastor responded, having let a few pondering seconds slip by. "I suppose joining a pack and finding a new home wouldn't be bad, but I do not think it's something I should jump right at." Past experience, and all. "May I first know what your pack is like, before making any definite decisions?" Couldn't hurt to learn a few things before saying, with certainty, 'yes' or 'no'.

Saena lifted a brow when Alastor admitted that he had not only seen the bypass when it was whole, but had lived in it. It seemed like a decent locale for a pack, though a lot of its area was now taken up by rubble. It was tragic, almost as tragic as the loss of Redtail Rise, but the pack must've been gone long before the land's collapse. A good thing, too; any wolf who had sought shelter in the shadow of the cliffs would not have survived.

"I'm sorry it's gone," she said. The sentiment was mostly sympathetic; she had no ties to Noctisardor Bypass nor the wolves that lived there, so it was hard to make it truly heartfelt. Nevertheless, Saena was usually a gentle soul and knew she would be devastated if anything ever happened to Blacktail Deer Plateau. Hell, she was devastated by the loss of Redtail Rise, which had had far less sentimental value even though it was her claim. She didn't show it outwardly so readily as others might expect, but her heart ached for it just the same, as she imagined Alastor's must for his ruined home as well.

Even though he currently lacked a home, Alastor didn't seem overly committed to finding a new one based on his response. Saena was a little disappointed that she hadn't hooked him in immediately, but he offered up an opportunity and she was happy to oblige. "We're mostly a pack of wolves that had rough beginnings," she told him. "Or some bad luck in their lives. It's a pack for starting fresh. It was founded with that intent in mind and it continues to serve as a home for wolves who need to start their lives over, put the past behind them as best they can. Almost everyone that lives there is driven and almost everyone is kind." Almost everyone. Most of them were rough around the edges, too, well-meaning miscreants. That was a product of circumstance, surely.

"We just recently started over, too. Our former land caught fire the night of the storm." It was an easy assumption that Alastor had also witnessed the tornado or its aftermath. She often forgot that not all wolves hung around these parts all the time, and not all wolves knew exactly what went on outside their own front doors.

Apologies for the long wait

In response to her apology, her could only give a nod of acknowledgement. He missed the bypass, but perhaps the ruin it'd been turned to was a sign from the gods and goddesses. Maybe, for some reason or another, they wanted him to move on right then and there, and leave the silver Romen's old land behind. It was not very likely that the gods had seen him specifically and decided to take action, but the illusion of that being the case was enough for him. For the time being, anyways. His unconscious want to leave the place behind him, to move on and find a new home, was probably want influenced him the most, however. Effected him to the point in which he was all but certain he could leave Noctisardor in his past, though the route his journey within it had taken would surely have a say in determining where he settled next. The mere thought of settling somewhere that was just going to fall apart was, to be frank, a bit horrid.

Alastor listened attentively when she started in on telling him about her pack, having grown a bit more curious in the passing moments. He had to remind himself, of course, that he could not jump into something like that without giving it any thought. His previous joining had been driven by the fact that, somehow, the only beings he really knew had resided within the bypass. It had seemed as if he was fated to join them, but that had gotten him nowhere once the pack disbanded. While the girl appeared to be kind, he made sure to keep in mind that he couldn't allow that alone to have a pull on his decision. "Starting fresh..." he repeated, more to himself than to Saena. The concept was not unpleasant to the boy, but instead struck a chord within him. That was what he was looking to do, wasn't it? To start anew, leave the past in the past. But, of course, things could not be that simple for him. He had, secretly, wished to reside near the sea, due to a friend of his living within a pack on a bay. It seemed that, again, his decision was to be guided by the location of a friend. Old habits die hard, after all.

"I am sorry to hear about your previous home," he responded, recalling the storm. He wasn't surprised to hear that some land had caught fire, as the storm had been pretty severe. "Your new location," he started, deciding to use the opportunity to ask what currently felt like the most important question he possessed. "Is it close to the sea, by chance?" He was ready to move on, but he didn't want to go so far that he left a good friend behind.

"No," she said, perplexed. She did not wear even the slightest of salt in her personal scent, having been to the sea a grand total of two times in her whole life, but sometimes Saena judged others for their inability to consider things like that. Hers was the fresh smell of greenery, the fertile scent of earth, the tang of a female wolf, and the sweet smell of grass. She wore her mate's musk on her and he retained a little of the sea's scent, having lived there so long, but other than that, she was clean of it.

"Is there a reason you ask?" she wondered, wrongly assuming that Alastor thought otherwise from some cue she'd given. Maybe Redtail Rise had smelled more like the sea than she thought? Furrowing her brow, she told him, "our old territory was close, but... well, it's not reclaimable. There's nothing there anymore. Between us and the sea there was nothing but cliffs." In other words, it was also uninhabitable, or at the very least, inhospitable. Not the sort of place her healer husband would enjoy, and not the sort of place the amazons would've appreciated.

The answer given did not come as much of a shock to the male, but was no less disappointing than if it had been. The want—or rather, the need—to be a member in a pack again was not something he could deny. He missed it, more than he had originally thought himself to have. Visiting the bypass had stirred up that longing. A tiny voice in the back of his head urged him to jump on the opportunity before him, to ask more of the pack the girl lead, but he refrained from doing so. The distance between her land and the sea was not something he could ignore, not like the lack of a salty scent on her coat. Something like that was able to go unnoticed by him, as wishful thinking presented him with reasons as to why she would lack the sea’s smell if her pack was close to her. He could have continued to ignore that little detail, and headed straight for her territory, but hearing her actually say they weren’t close was not something he could just push to the side.
 
To her question, he shook his head. “I was curious,” he answered. “I wish to settle as close to the sea as I am able.” He did not explain any further than that, deciding it best to leave out why he wanted to. When she mentioned the old territory her pack had resided in, he nodded. It was not a place he could head towards, nor was where she currently lived. It seemed that, due to his mind being set on something, he would continue on for a bit longer without a pack. “I do not believe I will be able to join your pack,” Alastor said then, offering an apologetic smile. “A fresh start is tempting, but I have to be near the ocean.” He had to, since he refused to let go of the one friend he was sure still resided within the Wilds.

Though Saena tried not to feel disappointed, she felt the loss of a potential member deeply. Their pack was small, tight-knit but not exactly prosperous. She'd had bigger hopes. She would have to deal with the fact that perhaps her location wasn't popular, or maybe it was her. Maybe Redhawk Caldera had far-reaching influence over the loners and whispered untruths in their ears. Unlikely, but if Saena could've justified scapegoating them, she would've.

"Why?" she asked abruptly when Alastor repeated that he had to be close to the ocean. There was nothing about the ocean that should compel a wolf, or at least that was her belief. It was salt water, not drinkable. The food there tasted like brine. The land was ill-suited to their kind. She could think of no reason why any wolf should wish to settle near the ocean. The view, maybe.

When it came to refusing a recruitment attempt, though, Saena wasn't adverse to pressing the issue. In this case, she wouldn't give up until she had a solid reason why Alastor would prefer the seaside to a well-suited forest.

With the way he’d spoken, he should have expected the question of “Why?”. Why a wolf would wish to be near the sea, near a place where survival was made either difficult or extremely uncomfortable. Even if one managed to find a storage of fresh water, there was no guarantee any animals commonly hunted would dare venture close to the dangerous waters. It wasn’t the easiest location to settle at, but it was where a friend resided. The cream-coloured wolf had never seemed as if he was malnourished, either, which had made the boy’s decision resolute. Living there was survivable, to an extent, but still not ideal. It lead him to think further on her question, though short it was, wondering briefly if it was actually worth it.
 
“A friend of mine lives close to the sea,” he responded, his thinking process having been brought to an immediate end. Of course it would be worth it, he couldn’t think of any reason as to why it wouldn’t be. “I do not know for sure if he is still there, since I have not seen him since months ago, but something tells me he is, and I don't want to be overly far from him.” Alastor couldn’t explain it, really. There was a feeling urging him to believe that the elder still resided in the bay pack, and he made no move to reason with himself. Even if Aesop had gone away, the Greek was confident that he would eventually return. And when he did, if he even left at all, the boy didn’t want to waste any time finding him again. Teekon was a big place, as he’d come to realize, and it could take ages to find someone who’d been lost within it. Unless, of course, you waited in a place you knew they had enjoyed—which was exactly what he planned to do.

A friend. A friend from months ago, allegedly. While Saena secretly thought this was the most bullshit reason in the world to decline a pack's recruitment, she was careful to smooth her features and keep any hint of judgment hidden away. Whether she thought his reason was good or not, Alastor had it, and that was all he needed. It indicated that her work here was done, and since she had little interest in the crumbled wall they stood on, she was about ready to conclude their meeting.

"Sounds like he must be a very important friend," she thought. Saena wouldn't likely make such a commitment for any of her friends. Her mate was probably the only one she would ever actively work to stay close to. She was much too used to seeing others leave to make promises to anyone else. "Well, I hope he's still there then, and I hope you find somewhere closer. I'm sorry to cut this short, but I should probably get back home soon."

She waited briefly, giving him the chance to add anything he might, before saying, "see you 'round, Alastor," and turning back toward the maplewood.

The male nodded, a faint smile crossing his features. The elder wolf was an important friend, and perhaps even his only friend. The others had taken their leave, and though it had hurt at first, he sort of understood. Sort of. For some of them. Aesop was the only one who remained, or so he strongly believed. In truth, the cream-coloured man was no longer there, having gone off to wherever, but he didn’t know that. Not yet, anyways. Her words only encouraged his belief, as was shown through a slight wave of his tail. “I hope so, too,” he said, a new sense of energy surging through him. It became his mission, in that moment, to find a place he could settle at that was close to the sea. Going directly to the sea would have been the better option, but that might be weird.
 
“Travel safely,” Alastor added, then, silently wishing her the best during her journey home. He watched her go off for a moment or two, before glancing back out over the bypass. It would most likely be the last time he’d see the old territory, or at least the last time for a long while. Surprisingly, that thought did not sadden him. Giving his final goodbyes to the land, the Greek turned and headed off, allowing his legs to carry him wherever. It didn’t matter where he went at that point, for he was free of what had been weighing him down. Free to travel and find a new home, to find his lost friend.