eternal eclipse in the teeth of the risk

For @Tiarnán. Sorry this took me forever to get up for you! :C Open for any STM wolf.

Mordecai had once again found himself climbing up the mountain to escape the summertime heat that had unceremoniously rolled in over the Wilds. He hadn't anticipated the temperatures to begin to remind him so much of the sands and brush of Sedona, but life had its way of unexpectedly giving him the cues over things of the past. He had gone trailing past the place where he had met Lecter days ago, not interested in sunbathing in the slightest. He wanted to go higher up, against every fiber of his body implying that such thing may not have been the smartest thing to do. Mordecai had never lived on mountainsides, so the innate curiosity was at times almost too much to bare. He had tried to scale parts of Silvertip before with little luck, but he was stubborn. He kept trying, wondering just where and how high he could go before risk outweighed the pleasure of seeing what there was to see.

This time, however, he didn't reach that breaking point. When he found the right area where the temperature dropped steadily and the winds were a bit more than just a breeze, he made himself stop. Perhaps miserably on a certain level, he could ascertain that there was no getting to the top of Silvertip, and to try such would beyond foolish. It warranted a death sentence, as the degree of the climb went beyond what he was willing to try and could even bother with. Still, the view was breathtaking as he dawdled along a rocky path, and he reclined himself to dangle his front paws over the slope. Well above of the timberline, he could see for miles. Not to the detail he would have liked, but it was nice to take in the expanse of the Wilds that he was familiar with.

Sitri walked the paths of the mountain tirelessly, finding that they filled him with a sense of belonging of the likes he had never known. He had been a slave a servant, a tool to be used as the queen or her many people felt he needed to be used. The scars that littered his body were testament to the abuse he had suffered, and finally now for the first time in a long time he felt at peace and the voices in his head were not as paramount.

They had quieted to mere whispers, like the wind whispered across the rocks making a whistling sound. He knew there was no way to get to the top, but he liked to get up as far as he could go, he felt that he was finally untouchable; no one could hurt him here.

He sighed when he saw another wolf sitting looking down, would this one hurt him like all the others, or would they let him have his peace. He hoped so, because he was tired of violence, war and abuse. Though if his duty called for any of the three he’d be the first to do his duty.

Thanks again for joining! I've actually been wanting a thread with Sitri for a while now. <3 Hope its OK that I assumed they've at least heard/exchanged names somewhere, if not let me know and I'll omit that from my post. :X

It felt like time had stopped as he sat there in silence. But even Mordecai knew it was impossible; the earth still turned its slow arc around the sun even if he could not tell it was happening. The creatures beneath the canopy and to extent the very earth itself still went about their daily lives. The birds still crisscrossed the open skies in their flight. But his idyllic perch wasn't to be his alone; just as soon as he had started to relax the footfalls of another became louder and louder. His head turned just in time to see the other seemingly materialize from around a corner of jutting stone, and Mordecai regarded Sitri with a mixture of familiarity, but also unfamiliarity.

He had seen the earthen-hued and scarred male once or twice before, but they had never really come to know one another. He knew that Sitri sat somewhere above him in the general hierarchy, and greeted him happily with a wave of his tail. Mordecai hovered between deference and curiosity, lowering his head ever so slightly but still caught up in the trance of following the scars that riddled what he presumed was a warrior in his own right. “Come up here for the view too?” His voice was light and almost whisked by the gust that rolled across their earthy bodies. “You're Sitri, right?”

Sitri did not know about the universe, he did not know that the world went In an arc around the sun. He did not know any of that, but what he did know that was this was a peace ful place up this high. A small slice of heaven that the demon knew he’d never find again. He was bad to the core, and in the end he would end up in a worse place, but at least for now he could stop dwelling on his immortal soul and simply enjoy the day and the peace that came with it.

Sitri nodded his head yes to both questions and wagged his own tail. He saw the other look over his scars and he knew he bore them well most of the time, they were an unchangeable part of him from his past, and sometimes they bothered him, but mostly he was used to them now. yes this wolf is Sitri. Not the View the peace. You are Mordecai yes?

Of all the times he had seen Sitri in passing, he hadn't expected the pattern of speech that came. The broken common tongue of their kid wasn't hard to understand, and Mordecai didn't fault Sitri any for it. But he was glad that his greeting was returned happily, even if they had come there for different reasons. Mordecai had never considered the peaceful aspect to the higher ranges of their territory, but found it made sense. It was quiet and calm, parts of the very essence of peace itself. At least to him.

He gave affirmation of his identity with a nod, and then spoke. "It is pretty peaceful up here. I guess with everything going on this area doesn't get a lot of traffic." And with their pending move to the Spine, Mordecai was certain they'd be making these climbs much longer while the territory was still acknowledged as their own. "You can join me for a while if you want," he offered with a smile. He wouldn't hold it against Sitri if he declined though, seeing how he had come for the peace. Maybe he wanted to be alone.

Sitri made a point to not talk very much to anyone other than lecter, Jinx or Tyrande. Everyone else he kept quiet around, for the simple fact that he was embarrassed by the way he talked. Before it hadn’t bothered him so much, but here it did. Perhaps it was because he was finally realizing he could be more than what he was and what he had been. Or perhaps it was merely that he was getting sentimental and wanted others around him as he aged. He was not an old wolf in retrospect, but he was not a young one anymore either. It could be anything, and it made his head hurt to think about it.

Sitri shook his head in answer to the statement. not very busy at all. Sitri was anxious to get them moved, he wanted to find a place there too that was peaceful and maybe just for him for a moment. A place he could go to quiet the voices that threatened to overtake him sometimes. Sitri looked at the other male and unsure exactly what to do, he decided to stay. Stepping forward he sat down near the other and looked down. He gave a quiet Thank you.

As Sitri joined him, Mordecai briefly turned his attention to the sprawling view ahead of them. “I guess everyone's busy getting ready for the move,” he commented. Perhaps they should have been as well, but honestly Mordecai figured that they had both split their time pretty evenly between Silvertip and Ouroboros. With Jinx's instruction that they kept up both territories for the time being, he also imagined that there were plenty of bodies to go around for either place. It wouldn't be too much longer now before they fully up and left and the mountain for the last time.

“How long have you lived here?” he decided to ask then. Of what time Mordecai had spent living with the Silvertip wolves, he hadn't met all of them. Though he had established himself among them, there were still the fascinating stories behind them that he had yet to learn. It hadn't been all that long ago since he had received that offer from Jinx to stay, but Mordecai had already lost track of the time. There had been a fair share of tumultuous events that had muddied his ability to keep track of just how much time had passed since he had been wandering the wilderness.

Sitri flicked an ear forward as Mordecai spoke and he shook his head softly side to side. Most everyone is moved there now. Tyrande even has her den made already. Sitri is used to sleeping outside, so not worried about getting den so quickly. Took some time for peace. Sitri felt that he deserved a little bit of time, having been tirelessly going back and forth between the spine and the mountain, intent upon learning the game trails and the surrounding area as best he could.

Sitri thought for a moment about how long he had been here and he shrugged for a moment. I have not been here long only a few months. Sitri found Queen Jinx when she was still in the creek. I traveled from far away. How about you? Been here long? Sitri did not pay attention really to time and how long this person or that person was here, only that they were now, and that was all that mattered to the brown delta.

Tyrande. Mordecai remembered her well, if only for the fact that she had been the one who had crashed their party some odd amount of days ago. Mordecai didn't know anything about her, other than the fact that she had abandoned them for whatever reason. If not for Kaname, he felt that Jinx would have had her run out rather than roosting in their ranks once again, or worse. Still, it wasn't a topic he was about to touch on and let it go, instead focusing in on what Sitri was telling him. A creek? He must have been Jinx's follower a long time before the mountain had been thought of.

“I guess I haven't been here as long as you have,” he said. “I had just left the coast and ventured towards this chain of mountains when Jinx met me in one of the forests nearby. I've been travelling for a long time now. This is the longest I suppose I've stayed anywhere.” And still, he saw no reason to leave it yet. Definitely not with the potential of seeing what Ouroboros would yield in the days to come. “So did Jinx lead another pack before this one? This creek you mentioned.”

Sitri knew nothing of what Tyrande had done a few days earlier and he really didn’t care to know. If she didn’t get along with the others that was her business, he would still get along with her and anyone else he could. And besides she saw past the scars and the guttural language to the wolf inside that wanted to burst forth like a phoenix from the ashes, but had no way to do so. It was not fun to be trapped in yourself.

Sitri thought back to the creek and he shook his head No, but she was the beta I believe. A little red fur girl was the leader Fox sitri thinks her name was. He had sworn his fealty to Jinx as soon as he met her, when he mistakingly had thought she was the queen, but she was still his queen, just not the same one she had been, even though she had never been that one, but a different one.

“Interesting,” he said. Mordecai had never graced the lands near the creek, though he had been by a creek or two. Apparently not the right one, though. His mental map of the Wilds was lacking, but he did not consider himself in a large position to do much in the way about filling it in. Maybe later, once things had settled down he would set out to do that. Perhaps knowing what even their distant neighbors were up to would benefit them somehow.

Turning his gaze away from Sitri and back out to the lands ahead of them, Mordecai almost wished that they would have had a view of Ouroboros from there. But the direction they faced was all wrong; instead the duo could have easily looked out towards the Plateau if the haze of the day were absent. “What do you think of the Spine? Think things will be better there?” Not that they had ever been all that bad in his opinion to begin with, but once again, he hadn't been there long.

Sitri much like Mordecai had not traveled many places other than her. Granted yes he had been in the creek, but that was all. He had seen many interesting sights as they traveled from the creek to the mountain, but never had he stopped to explore, maybe he should do that more. It would only broaden what he was working on, yes he would need to do that, but first he would need some lessons on proper etiquette out in the wilds and how to behave, he had never traveled really other than scouting missions, to attack local packs and to steal children...he never had to really deal with anyone on a personal level.

Sitri tilted his head and spoke softly Not sure. There's more food for us to hunt. Theres more space and the forest is old it has secrets that it whispers. So maybe better maybe worse. Won't know till we are there. Sitri hopes it's better. Sitri liked it here and there had been nothing wrong except for bad luck keeping members that much he knew.

Wrap up in a couple of posts and maybe have an updated thread in OS? :D

Mordecai inferred from Sitri that he was about as much of a realist as he could be. Things really could have been better or worse in the Spine. Mordecai was hoping for better, but there was always that possibility that things could or would go south in an instant. But he held fast to the hope all the same, emboldened by the prospect and the renewed sense of strength he had heard in the voice of others. Hope had the tendency to be infectious in that regard, though there were always those who were impervious to its spread.

“When we settle there, you and I should explore some of those secrets,” he said then, turning his head to briefly look at the scarred features of his packmate. “Perhaps we'll stumble across something amazing. Or maybe we'll come cross something that needs to be dealt with.” A smile graced his features lightly, and the eager of exploration was unmasked. Even now, Mordecai still had the deepest enjoyment of finding the unknown.

yes and I'll start new thread as promised

Sitri was indeed a realist he had to be given his background. IN his former station dreams gave you hope and hope got you killed. Granted some may thing him cold and cruel because of but it was a means to an end it was a survival instinct. One that he garnered and held fast too far to fearful to hope to live.

sitri listened and he gave a nod and a semblance of a smile though it caused a ghoulish cast due to the scars that marred. Sitri would like that very much. He was not allowed to explore before I like it. he tried to incorporate the lessons tyrande was working on with him but most of context was still garbled but he did his best.

All right, I'll fade this out then. :)

It pleased him that Sitri would be willing to join him in a bit of exploration. As much as Mordecai ventured solo, he didn't mind company in the slightest. Even more so that he was now functioning within a pack; their exploration later he hoped would yield a find, and perhaps acquaint him more with the scarred fellow. Mordecai had little doubts in his mind that Ouroboros would have many things to explore, and perhaps even more mysteries to unravel in the days to come. The two chatted a bit more from there on, before the tawny Ostrega decided to bade Sitri farewell.