Ouroboros Spine for he will never know peace

for @Gannet! :-)

it takes vilkas a few days to reach ouroboros spine, not that he'd had any specific territory in his mind when he ventured south of the valley and taiga. the nord is still learning the lay of the land avoiding claimed territories like a fiery ghost as much as he can. this is only out of self perseverance though. he is lone and knows that his statistics of surviving any sort of serious injury were realistically slim. the firebrand gives pause along his path to study the short, squat mountains that guard the ancient, two story conifer forest. or, at least vilkas thinks as he studies the massive bowl of a lake that it once had been mostly a conifer forest. there is still forest left but the lake has evidently appeared to have drowned and claimed most of it.

there is a certain irony to the youngest whitemane's nomadic tendencies, an irony in the careful mapping of that he's been doing as he explores each new neutral territory. he's never been one for wanderlust. he enjoys and thrives in structure and routine: patrols, hunts, training and teaching. not that he'd ever consider himself a homebody necessarily but his job with the companions had been largely home based.

vilkas tucks his thoughts to the side as he gives another studious sweep of his gaze over what he can see off the spine's territory within it's fortress before he cautiously crosses the final threshold into ouroboros spine's southern perimeter, mindful of it's current state but feeling the urge to explore it nevertheless.

To the side of Moonspear was another mountain... Gannet had looked upon it often as he healed and climbed, but he hadn't actually visited yet. Today, this was changing!!

He thought about grabbing Hydra to see if she wished to come with, but he hadn't been able to track her down this morning and assumed she was busy elsewhere. So he went solo, determined to one day make some kind of exploration with a friend. It was still in his mind also to take Jarilo... as he walked he thought, and he wondered if maybe the younger boy would want to take a trip to the shore. He hadn't been! And would love to see.

When he reached the mountain's base he circled, staring up with interest. It was not near as impressive as the Moonspear, but as usual, his first wish was to climb. So climb he did, ascending with equal parts caution and enthusiasm. He kept his eyes and ears open, and did not rush... but he panted happily as he went, and his tail waved behind as he explored the scents and sights along the way.

vilkas is unsure of actually climbing the squat mountains that form the spine's fortress ( aptly naming it ouroboros spine, but he doesn't know that ) and thus he is limited to the area of the once sprawling forest that has yet to be swallowed by the massive lake. it doesn't particularly bother vilkas. the chances of being taken off guard by the presence of another has been greatly decreased by the forcibly small and easily controlled forest. unless, of course, wolves could somehow sprout gills and live under water in which case then yes he would be taken off guard ...for several reasons.

in reality, though, as he pads through the mossy forest floor that feels like he's being deceived and the watery earth might give way and plunge him into the depths of the lake at any given second, there isn't much to see. less yet to do. no hunting to be had beyond fishing and he easily assumes it will not take him terribly long to survey what is left of the forest. this knowledge forces him towards the side of the mountain and forces him up. from one jutting ledge to the next as he follows a precarious path riddled with pebbles and droppings of what he assumes belong to mountain goats though he has yet to see any ( and is not anywhere near desperate enough to try to attempt a hunt even if he did see one ).

he climbs upon a sturdy ledge and peers out over the spine, attempting to discern what is left of forested ground he has yet to cover. he catches movement out of the corner of his eye and thinks, upon first glance, that the other male is a mountain goat. an easy mistake to make, the firebrand might defend himself, with the pale coat and dark paws. yet, when vilkas realizes his first impression was dead-ass wrong and the other was actually wolf his hackles bristle along his spine. he is uneasy being as high up as he is — he was not raised on any sort of mountainous territory and he is unaccustomed to the heights even if the spine was far from impressive — and his unease of his current height from the ground coupled with his natural unease around strangers making him instinctively aggressive that flirts unabashedly with the line of hostility. he immediately feels cornered and for the warrior that is undoubtedly a feeling he never wants to have.

Gannet spots the other wolf at about the same moment he is spotted, and his ears perk up as his head raises. Who is this now?

The other male bristles, and Gannet quickly drops, his ears and posture lowering as his tongue comes out in a cheerful pant. He has no reason to fight here, so far from home, and is curious who this other one is. A traveler, no doubt, and therefore interesting!

vilkas watches with weary and hard eyes as the paler male's ears and posture lowers. it sates the initial spike of aggression but cannot soothe it away entirely. vilkas is on edge of his own doing and though the stranger appears to be submissive and cheerful neither are sediments that the firebrand returns. his posture is still sharp, muscles taunt with a distrust that he doesn't bother to conceal. he doesn't trust the stranger and he is uncomfortable with being so high near a stranger. he isn't about the apologize for it; it's not the youngest whitemane's style.

vilkas doesn't dare shift his gaze from the other male for too long, but he peers down, takes a small, shallow breath and takes a subtle step closer to the rock face. the world spins for a small second before he fixates his seaweed green gaze upon the pale male; whose presence he nearly forgot for a moment while he suffered momentary vertigo. there is a part of vilkas that wants to ask him why he's on the spine, if he's going down to investigate whatever's left of the forest but ...then there's the part of him that doesn't actually care. he lets out a small huff then, teeth grinding together as he silently curses the predicament he's found himself in. "if you're going down into the territory below don't bother. there's nothing worth seeing." the breach of silence surprises even vilkas himself but the firebrand is quick to hide the surprise before it lingers too long and runs a further risk of being picked up by his pallid companion.

The other relaxed enough to not present an immediate threat, so Gannet didn't alter from his own eased posture. He didn't seem particularly happy, but that didn't bother the boy.

The male's words surprised him though. Nothing worth seeing? "How do you know?" He asked curiously. There was always something to see anywhere, he'd found, if you wanted to.

i'm sorry vilkas is such a jerk-butt, lmao.

predictably, the pallid male questions vilkas's conclusion of the spine's inner territory; and predictably, it grates at the firebrand's nerves. he doesn't enjoy being questioned despite that he knows that would the tables have been turned he, too, would have questioned a stranger's dismissive assessment. but this wasn't about him and he's able to dismiss his own hypocrisy with ease. "i was just down there. there's a few trees, a little bit of soggy land but it's mostly lake." and as vilkas did not have gills and didn't think he was bound to sprout them anytime soon he had no interest in soggy land and a giant lake. vilkas's ears twitch back in a slightly exasperated manner but gestures to the land below with a jerk of his muzzle. "if you want to go down and see for yourself, be my guest." but vilkas had no intentions of heading back down and thus concluded his only way back out was up and over.

If Vilkas showed any outward sign of irritation, Gannet ignored it. Instead he mulled over what the other wolf said. It had been a while since he'd been to a real large lake, so a part of him did actually want to go check it out.

It depended actually. "No, unless... did you see birds?" If the lake had ducks then heck yeah he was gonna check it out. It had been some time since he'd had a nice fat duck.