Moonspear but now's the time to look

Alone, he had come to the borderlands to practice his patrol a bit and interest waned exceptionally fast today. Everything seemed strange lately. Not only was there a bunch of snow everywhere, but he was simultaneously sad, excited, weirded-out, and even angry sometimes. As uncharacteristic as it were, this was all finally piling up and starting to get to him, or he had simply not rested well enough to not be a little crabby. Either way: everything was happening so fast and so much.

He could glance away and there would be something new to think about. Vela was attacked on their borders, his parents were preoccupied with the neighborhood and home at once, his sisters were fewer in number but even more watchful than before... and these were only the things he knew enough about to put to words. Yet here he was, wanting to one day be a proud warrior or a mighty guardian for this very spire, unable to really grasp what all of this was still--even on the cusp of his entry into the adult ranks officially.

Instead of doing anything useful for now, Jarilo sulked and picked a random spot on a random rock with enough flatness to fit him on and view to satisfy. He gave it a few testing scrapes with his paw, then curled into a pensive ball upon the surface. There, on this small, natural piece of mountainside shelving, he intended to watch the area and all who passed.. and more importantly, stew over this. Whatever this was.

Like Jarilo, Rannoch had been attempting to navigate a seemingly endless spectrum of emotions. It was when Rannoch was alone that he became more vulnerable to these feelings, and it was in these stretches of solitude that he found himself in the company of conflicting narratives. 

Without him even knowing it, his residence at Moonspear was precarious; conversations were happening, and although he was unaware, he could sense that something was amiss. Naively, Rannoch fell to the natural assumption that the feeling in the air came from all the hardships that the pack had endured as of late and the threat of war that lingered on the horizon. 

"And what are you doing about all of this?" voiced a venomous string of consciousness; his insecurities seemed to triumph when he was alone. "You're just moping around like a stupid piece of shit." Rannoch cringed, knowing the words were factual. There was so much more that he could have been doing and yet, he meandered about with a head full of thoughts and did nothing to contribute. 

"Go do something with your life." 

Coinciding with the voice inside of his head, Rannoch dropped his head towards the ground and sniffed. Although the trails of many mingled, a stronger scent popped out to the Epsilon: the smell of Jarilo. Curiously, as it had been some time since he had last seen the only son of the Alpha couple, Rannoch turned towards the direction where Jarilo's scent radiated from and set off to see the boy.

He had let his head sink down to set on his paws, and there he stayed until he noticed Rannoch. Thankfully, unlike all of his shadowy family members, his approach wasn't all that difficult to miss and didn't put him on guard. Jarilo popped up his head, but his mood didn't particularly spring up with it yet. And, now that he'd heated up a little spot here on this rock, he was truthfully a bit reluctant to uncurl himself just yet since he doubted the Frostfur to come at him that intensely anyway. A proper greeting, one more fitting of how the juvenile typically took to others, just may have to wait a minute for the motivation to get all in place... or for the burly gray male to come within range.

Still, he would call out before he could get there, if he was going to. "Hey Rannoch!" he barked from his spot, and fanned back his ears when he wondered what his packmate was doing out here. Although he didn't go well out of his way to show it, he was still glad to see him and beat his tail against the stone. He had been kind of wrapped up in other stuff, so had not seen him a lot lately. It crossed his mind only briefly that maybe a piece of being out of touch like this was contributing to his Mood. It definitely wasn't helping any.

"Hey Rannoch!" came Jarilo's call, and quickly, Rannoch found himself turning in the direction from where the call had originated. "Jarilo!" replied Rannoch with a smile as his negative thoughts were quickly pushed aside. "Just the wolf I was looking for," he said happily, as he turned heel and walked towards where the boy was perched. 

"I wanted to catch up with you," Rannoch said once he stopped before Jarilo's rocky seat. "Want to talk and patrol with me?" he asked with a smile, hoping that the dark-pelted child would be up for it.

Without hesitation, his dark ears tipped towards the older pack mate. ”Oh?” he asked and drew his front half a bit more upright now that he knew he was the one  Rannoch sought. How nice for him to be here, then! ”I know I’m a lucky find,” he grinned, having made it easy from his spot—no ambush, stalking, or teeth this time. He wasn’t in the mood. Just Jarilo, just a little more subdued than his usual beneath new, weighty worries.

”Yeah.. I should,” he answered before uncurling into a catlike stretch. He could use the motivation of someone like Rannoch to patrol with, definitely. It was easier in pairs, too. ”I tried to patrol earlier ‘cause mama says Vela and me will be able to rank with everyone else soon,” he said, feeling his face want to scrunch at how daunting that sounded right now. ”But I don’t know, I didn’t get very far..” as evidenced by the Jarilo-sized warm spot he was parked on. 

Anyway, he pulled himself up to his paws and nimbly hopped beside Rannoch. He swiped a lick beneath the gray male’s chin then pivoted towards the borders he hadn’t gone to yet, ready when he was.

Rannoch flashed Jarlio a smile, his amusement in the child's statement evident. Although he did not contribute a reply to the Omricon's words, Rannoch's amusement lingered as their conversation progressed. 

"That's alright," replied Rannoch to the news of the attempted patrol. "We can do it together, and motivate each other," he leaned forward and offered Jarilo an affectionate nudge to the cheek. 

Once the pair stood parallel to each other, Rannoch set off at a leisurely pace; there was no rush, and Rannoch preferred them to take things slow as they talked. "How have you been?" he prompted as the walked along the boundaries of the territory, his ears cupped towards the younger wolf.

He was apparently quite easily disheartened by his lack of motivation.. usually, it was much the opposite for him after all. The taste of such a contrast didn't suit him much and to go against that, the prospect of shaking this off and away really did sound good. Jarilo fell into stride easily with Rannoch.. feeling more encouraged with two sets of eyes on these borderlands. It'd been a while since he had come down to make an easy round like this with anyone but his parents or sisters.. not since the Galaxy incident. Maybe thinking about that had him on edge too.

Since the pace they set was leisurely, the juvenile had time to take it in. Here, for a start, all seemed.. fine. To Rannoch, he nodded but stuck a squinty stare straight ahead. "Errhh," he grumbled, stepping lightly and kind of feeling bad about it. He had nothing to fuss about with a full belly and cozy bed. Sure his littermate had died but maybe she'd been doomed from the start? Jarilo and Vela weren't dead yet and still healthily here to keep learning (and pestering) so there was that to be thankful for. "I've been okay I guess, but everything does seem kind of weird.. with everything going on, I know. It's.. I dunno." The boy didn't really have the words for it. Tense? Extra hostile? Winter??

Jarilo's initial reply was the vocalization of how Rannoch had felt as of late. Although he also had nothing to complain about, it seemed as though the majority of Moonspear was in a funk— and understandably so. But even with the recent tragedy, Rannoch couldn't help but wonder when the unusual atmosphere would vanish. 

"I understand," replied Rannoch as he looked from Jarilo to the barren trail before them. "I've been feeling the same way, actually," he admitted with a frown, "And I understand why everybody is feeling off but, it's put me in a weird mood, too." Rannoch laughed to himself in light of his next thought. "It's all just weird," he decided. 

Weirdness aside, Rannoch was left to wonder how long Jarilo had kept from the borders. He could understand not wanting to patrol when in a weird mood but, Rannoch knew that keeping away was not beneficial. "Have you been patrolling much?" he asked, as he held his gaze to survey ahead.

He was too young to know whether or not this was just how it was out here. Maybe this was thanks to a growing understanding, and therefore, a slightly better picture of the world. It wasn't much. But it was more than he had ever known before... at least knowing Rannoch was feeling it too did kind of make it feel a little less alien. He still could not say what it was exactly about it that bugged him, either. "It is," he agreed with a thoughtful frown and his ears folded back for a moment.

As for his patrol, the juvenile shook his head. Before everything, yes, there had been more hours spent seeing more.. then everything happening kind of put an abrupt end to that trend. "Not really much lately," he admitted. "Not as much since it's been weird, or since what happened to Ax..." Some of this was contributed to not getting to see his mother as much too and although he still lurked with the cerberus watching over him. Doing so alone these days just seemed like he was sure to invite trouble. He didn't want to

Jarilo's admittance did not surprise Rannoch. "I understand," he replied, unphased by the report. "But, I can help change that, if you'd like," he offered, turning to glance at Jarilo. "Terance and I patrol every morning, and I was wondering if you wanted to join us." 

Although Rannoch yearned to gauge the other wolf's expression, an unwelcome scent distracted him— fox. Although the smell was relatively faded, it was still unnerving to Rannoch. "You smell that?" he asked, his body growing tense as stopped to get a better sample of the odor.

He was baited easily enough, curious about how to help. The offer to patrol with him and Terance perked his whole face, kind of hesitant at once, but easily enthralled by the notion because it was a good way to help him get out, and doing the rounds like the others.. "What, really?" he asked, not sure if he was ready to get to hang out with the boys on patrol. Shiiit. Was he good enough yet? And every morning? Jarilo nodded. "I would like that.. if I could," the young Ostrega's tail wagged at the prospect, strangely thankful of the opportunity and before he could go on any further, the something out there distracted him too.

Rannoch zeroed him in even harder in the next second. Jarilo's eyes narrowed ahead, half hopeful that he could get so lucky as to catch a glimpse already. "Yeah.. I think so," He said as he sniffed too, nose scrunching up as he realized and connected the dots. This was vaguely familiar to him, even. It was something he had a growing experience with too. "I've heard them screaming out in the meadows before," he almost-whispered, having decided to drop his voice so they could hear before going any further. "Do they usually come up to the borders?" he asked hurriedly. If so, he best get to knowing how to deal with them.

Rannoch nodded, finding Jarilo's acceptance endearing. Although the child was inexperienced, he felt as though Jarilo would fit right into the group. He would need to talk to Terance before confirming anything but, Rannoch was confident that his friend would agree to allow Jarilo to join in their daily routine. 

Before Rannoch could speak further to his idea, he redirected his attention to the near-by pest. Although Jarilo's remark about their loud tendencies caused him to smile, he did not allow it to distract him. "They only come towards the border when they're incredibly stupid, or incredibly desperate," Rannoch answered as he stole a glance of Jarilo. 

"But, let's continue along and see if we even run into it," he suggested as he kept his attention towards the neighboring territory. Although he was confident that it was not near them at that given moment, Rannoch wasn't sure if they'd run into it further down the road. He took a step forward and motioned towards Jarilo to follow so they could resume their guard.

He had a lot of good inspirations as for his archetype of strong wolves, and as such, his aspirations were quite lofty. He wanted to be like them in the greatest, broadest sense he could--at least until he could imagine a clearer image for what he wanted to do and be for the pack, besides just some vague description of a protector with a pretty good eye for nature itself. It was what his family shaped him up to be, and the rest of the pack was really helping him keep up with this.

Noting everything Rannoch told him about fox tendencies, Jarilo nodded along. It all aligned with what he understood from before, although in truth, a small part of him did hope to one day catch sight of a too-desperate fox, and get to do something about it. He was simultaneously spooked and excited by the idea.. "Yes, let's.." he agreed readily, and kicked up to a little bit of a faster pace--although not by much. "Do you usually see a whole lot out on your patrols?" Alone, with Terance, or whoever else.. Jarilo was just curious to hear more on his experiences out here.

Rannoch shook his head in reply to Jarilo's question. "Not until recently," he elaborated. Rannoch hoped that in time the trend would depreciate quickly, as he knew the added stress of their presence was not desirable for the members Moonspear— there was already enough to worry about. 

Although there was much that Jarilo could learn about foxes, Rannoch felt that it was fitting to ingrain the importance of safety into the juvenile's mind. "If you do come across one on your own, I want you to call for help," he urged as he looked to Jarilo with a look of solemnity. "They can be very tricky to fight, and even the best warriors can get injured from them." 

He blinked. It seemed things had changed lately. Not until recently. The boy wasn't sure what to do with that kind of information yet. Maybe it was just a fluke, not a sign. "Hm," he nodded for a show of his acceptance. As for the foxes, he still wore his best stern-face. "Can do," he said, definitely more than able to voice his issues. "Mama says they're fast," he said, assuming Rannoch would only confirm this anecdote. Obviously, he was far more interested in what Rannoch had to share on the topic, and what the path ahead had in store for them. So far, he still saw nothing. The scent drifted but his guards were up.

"They are," Rannoch admitted with a nod. "They're pretty crazy, too." Although the fox that he and Bernard had been relatively tame, he was aware that this was a rarity among the species. "They'll do anything to get out of your grip, so you have to be especially careful in protecting your neck." He paused his dialogue for a moment to allow Jarilo the opportunity to digest the information he had been given. 

"Do you have any questions so far?" Rannoch asked. Jarilo didn't have any, and he nodded. "Let me know if you do."

The two wolves continued on from there, and Rannoch did his best to educate Jarilo to the best of his ability. They spent some time on the border, and when their work was done, they went separate ways.