Jade Fern Grove I'm with stupid

Please let @Thorleif reply first! @Liri @Kavik @Illidan @Elixir

It had taken about a day to go from the river back to the forest where the others were. As Grezig and Thorleif walked along, she told him things, like, “Liri and Kavik are the alphas. You report to them. Illidan is the pup. Leave him alone, he is not your concern. Elixir is the mutt, the wolfdog. Perhaps you two will get along.” This last, the comment about Thorleif and Elixir getting along, was an almost unconscious stab at the both of them. Elixir was a half-breed and Thorleif was thick in the head, so the pair would be perfect for each other in Grezig’s mind. It was not something she thought consciously, but it was there, a prejudice against particular kids of wolves. She still somewhat regretted bringing Thorleif along in the first place, but it was too late now and she still thought that they could at least use him as a body count.

When she began smelling the familiar smells of wolves she knew, she let out a low howl to get their attention. Then she glanced at Thorleif out of the corner of her eye. “Just… don’t say or do anything stupid.”

"Excellent.", thought Thorleif. This should be plenty of wolfs to mount a succesful bird raiding party.  He wondered how often the pack went to the river to look for fish.  Did they have whole days planned just for chasing birds from their catch?  The thought made him giddy with excitement.  He was excited to meet his new pack, and explore their territory.  

"Liri and Kavik are the alphas.", Thorleif mused out loud.  "That must mean they get the most fish on these raids.  I'm sure they have much to teach me in driving off birds."  And vice versa.  Thorleif was sure that there was valuable information that he could teach the tribe.  One such example was one he discovered not too long ago.  If one were to shake a fish violently enough, you may get some fish on your head, allowing you to save it for later.  But more importantly, he must warn them of the dangers of the Deer.  The Demon Deer.  It had a ring to it, Thorleif thought.  He must warn the pack to never stoop so low as to hunt deer, as the consequences are dire.  Yes.  They must stick to a higher form of aquiring food:  By chasing birds off their catch.

He picked up Grezigs scent as he was making his way back to where he had left the others. he had been lucky enough to come across an injured and apparently orphaned fawn on his patrol. It was bigger than most of the young fawns he had seen glued to their mother's sides, but its pelt still held the white speckles that immediately flagged it as young. The poor creature had been near death anyway, so Kavik's kill was a mercy, and it would offer some sustenance to their little pack. 

He had easily been able to drag the carcass back with him, and when he approached Grezig, he froze and let the deer fall to the ground. How had he not scented the stranger when he scented Grezig? He blamed the smell of his recent kill for blinding him to males scent and figured he only picked up his fellow group member's scent because he was so familiar with it. His gaze raked over the sandy-colored male for a minute before speaking. Only after he deduced that there was no apparent threat from the new wolf did he finally greet them. "Grezig," he said first with a curt nod. "Who is this?" He lifted his head to the other wolf with his words. There was no time for pleasantries when every day was life and death.

she’s just watching until she’s talked to. :)

Elixir was nearby when she heard the sound of not 4 paws padding around but 8, then those 8 added another 4.The scent of three wolves filled her nose, two she was familiar with and the other was a strange scent. The scent caught her attention, she perked her ears and then turned in the direction of where it came. 

Coming upon the wolves she noticed Grezig had another wolf with her. The wolf was larger, probably a male. She stood a good distance away so she didn’t intrude on the conversation between them and Kavik, the new wolf could meet her later. As of right now she was low on the totem pole of what was important, the Alphas getting to know him would be the highest priority but she decided to sit and listen.

Grezig's absence had not gone unnoticed and a small part of Liri's brain had idly wandered to the conclusion that their first recruit might have simply vanished into the horizon as her own brother had done to her not once but twice. It was not unheard of, Liri had since learned in her years in Teekon that others simply came and went. It was a risk that was taken every time she allowed another of them to follow them and it was the ultimate risk she'd taken in deciding to found this group. At the end, if Kavik were to walk away as Sam had, everything would have been for nothing. 

It was with some relief that Grezig's call found her, patrolling the area they'd chosen to rest in. They were not an official pack nor had they claimed the area but their band of followers was swelling so that they naturally deterred other loners and other smaller gatherings. Still, the healer was not content to rely on their numbers and often found herself scent-marking the area to warn off others. 

She was not the first to reach them; there was already a group assembled when the sylph arrived. Liri padded towards her giant, nudging Elixir affectionately as she passed, to stop at his side. She noted the fawn with approval for Illidan still seemed much too thin to be healthy. The unfamiliar male, however, she took in with a territorial flag of her tail and a low rumble from her throat. The small fae took in the stranger with a guarded look, until she seemed to decide that the newest arrival wasn't a threat. 

The healer didn't speak, Kavik had said everything for them. Her sepia eyes slid to Grezig with appreciation for recruiting a member before flicking back to the male to hear his words.

Illidan is still welcome. @Thorleif - it's your turn now!

The boy did not show up, and this concerned Grezig. She knew how fragile he was right now and was constantly worrying about his mental wellbeing in the back of her mind, as if she were his mother. This strange attachment to Illidan also worried her, in itself. She was not his mother, but she could not pretend like he was not her concern. He was a member of their band regardless of whoever or wherever his mother and siblings were and she supposed that was a good enough reason to worry about him. She shook herself mentally to focus on Kavik, Elixir, and Liri, who had all shown up in Illidan’s absence. 

Grezig realized she may have made a mistake. Perhaps she should have come back ahead of Thorleif to tell them that she had found a new recruit? Both Kavik and Liri watched Thorleif warily, as if he was rabid and would attack them at any time. Honestly, though, Grezig would not put such idiocy above him, and once again wondered if bring him back with her had been a wise decision, even if they did need the numbers. 

She cleared her throat. “This is Thorleif. I went back to Mudminnow River on a scouting mission and found him. He knows how to fish.” This she thought because she had seen him eating the remains of a fish, which a fox had caught, and he had chased it off. She did not know this. “He is packless and I thought that we could use him to boost our numbers. He agreed to come back with me.” After a beat, she added, “I only brought him to be assessed. Obviously it is you two who make the final decision.” She bowed her head, then, and kept quiet, glancing at Thorleif and wondering what kind of impression he would make on them.

"Hello there.", called out Thorleif.  He glanced at each wolf appraisingly.  "Fine specimens, each!", thought Thorleif.  "They will make excellent fish scavengers!"  He turned to face Kavik and looked down at what lay at his paws.  With a gasp, Thorleif cried out in terror!  It couldn't be!  How could a creature be so brazen in the face of complete and utter annihilation!  Remembering such a destructive force of death and carnage had befallen his own pack, Thorleif turned to Kavik and exclaimed, "He slew a child of the Demon King of the forest!  Defender and avenger of all that is deer!  What have you done?"

In an attempt to save his potential pack, Thorleif turned around and immediately started digging wildly.  "If I can cover up the body, I might be able mask the scent!", thought Thorleif desperately.  Unfortunately, the floor was compact dirt and could not be dug up easily.  Instead, his hurried actions had sent multiple small sized rocks and pepples flying towards Liri.  Thorleif had never been one for coordination, and never was so evident than right now at this very moment.  In his attempt to mask the scent of the fawn, Thorleif and misjudged his target and had started digging at the wrong angle.  Thorleif turned just in time gasped in horror as rocks flew torwards Liri's face.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Thorleif's heart seemed to skip a beat, his eyes bulging out comically, and his jaw slowly falling open in a rather unbecoming spectacle.

Elixir joined them soon after Kavik had arrived, and he gave her a quick greeting nod. Liri was the last to join, and when she came to stand next to him, he briefly nuzzled her both in greeting and to soothe her distress with the male's presence before turning back to Grezig and the unfamiliar male. He assumed Illidan was somewhere close. 

Kavik nodded at Grezig's explanation and introduction of the stranger. Initially, the new male seemed harmless, albeit maybe a little strange, but Kavik didn't really care much about strange as long as they didn't pose a threat.

Suddenly, Thorleif started yelling at Kavik about some kind of demon king? He was about to tell him to calm down and lower his voice before he attracted every possible threat in the area, but the weird wolf started digging furiously at the ground. It sounded like he meant to cover up something, but Kavik could not figure out what was going on. 

In the idiot's frantic digging, he started throwing rocks in Liri's direction. Kavik quickly jumped in front of his healer and snarled at Thorleif. Causing harm to Liri was one of the few ways to elicit true aggression from the otherwise quiet male. He didn't even register any rocks that may have hit him then, too pissed at the male for acting ridiculous and almost hurting Liri. He gave Thorleif a menacing glare before coolly stating, "You need to calm down and stop launching rocks at my mate." His every word oozed command and promised repercussion if the male's behavior didn't cease. He hadn't even realized the he had referred to Liri as his mate. She was his mate for all intents and purposes; they just hadn't had the chance to officially discuss it yet since they both had been a little busy with their current life situation. For a few, long, tense minutes, Kavik just stood protectively in front of Liri, continuing to glare at Thorleif until it became obvious whether or not he would chill the fuck out.

Her rumbling growl of distress, for she's unnerved having a stranger so close to where Illidan their small family sleeps, has only just died out as she settles beside Kavik, beginning to calm as she watches the proceedings from just behind his inky shoulder. 

At first glance, the male seems ordinary and Liri's lips part to greet him in return only for her face to fall in obvious bewilderment as Thorleif begins to rant about an apparent demon king. The sylph edges back slightly, unnerved by his rantings though frightened to move too quickly. 

Liri winces as the rocks fly in her direction, thrown due to Thorleif's frantic digging, expecting them to land. Her head is brought back up almost at once, in confusion, when the spray of stone fails to hit her and by the sound of Kavik snarling. She's surprised - not because it's out of the ordinary for Kavik but because she's never been protected by someone previously. Briefly, her heart warms and the fae makes a note to thank him properly later. 

For now, the sylph cautiously nuzzles into him, attempting to calm the anger that's transformed his features into something harsh. "It's alright," she murmurs, more for his sake than her own. He won't calm until he knows she's alright, this the healer knows. 

"You do need to calm yourself," she says it firmly as she turns finally to the cause of the problem, Thorleif. "However, I forgive you."  There's kindness there, beneath the calculating look in her eyes and the confusion in her voice. "Could you explain who this ahh..demon king is?"

Your turn, @Thorleif

And within seconds, it had all gone to shit. Thorleif was insane. Grezig had ignored her instincts and this is where it had gotten her. She wanted to kill him for spewing nonsense about a demon king, whatever the hell that was, and especially for flinging rocks at Liri. Even if that had been a mistake, it didn’t matter. And it didn’t matter if they hit Liri or not. They’d hit Kavik instead, who seemed to be too angry to notice. That was fine. Grezig was just as angry. After her alphas had said their part, she quickly butt in. “If you don’t calm down right now, I’m going to pin you to the ground.” She said this with forced calm, a growl in her throat. “If you don’t apologize right now and explain what the fuck is going on, I’ll do much worse than that. Do you understand me?” Her voice and body language combined made for a very dangerous wolf. She was deadly serious and stared Thorleif down with eyes that spoke of pain. It didn’t matter that Thorleif hadn’t meant any harm. Grezig was not going to put up with any bullshit.

Thorleif yelped and lowered his head, tail down and tucked away.  "I'm so sorry!", he blathered.  His heart was racing.  He had to force himself to calm down.  He lowered his head even more and slowed his panting.  The cool air helped soothe his nerves.  This was going to happen sooner or later.  It was only a matter of time before he had to tell them about the Demon King.  

Having calmed himself, Thorleif began to speak.  "The Demon King is the king of deers,"  He explained to no one in particular, but loud enough so that all heard him.  "A terrible monstrosity of inexhaustible energy and malice.  Bigger than largest buck, he is immense and has limbs as thick as small trees.  Covered in a thick coat of brown fur, instead of short fur.  Wicked talon like claws on paws at the end of each limb, instead of hooves.  A snout of fangs below black beady eyes.  The only thing that stood out was the lack of antlers."  One would think that huge forboding antlers would have been standard of any king of deers, if one had existed in the first place.

"It was such as creature that took and ravaged my very own pack when I was but a pup.", reflected Thorleif dramatically.  "Just a wee pup who learned the hard way to live off of fish instead of the sacred deers of the lands.  Such is my tale, and I live perhaps only to tell others of this danger, in order to warn others of my pack's mistakes!"

His healer's soothing affection and reassurance that she hadn't suffered any harm were the only things that could have pierced through his anger at that moment. He turned to her to check for himself that she was okay and then moved slightly from in front of her, still angling his body in a way that made sure he was between her and the ridiculous male. During Kavik and Liri's exchange, Grezig had given Thorleif a very deserved verbal beat down.

Liri asked him who this Demon King was, and the sandy male proceeded to describe the creature to them and tell of what he had done to his pack. Had Kavik not still been so angry with the male, he may have felt bad for him, but instead, he glared at Thorleif again while he stated, "What you're describing is a bear not a demon king of deer." His words were harsh, and he didn't care. He had identified the animal immediately from Thorleif's description as he had dealt with many of them in his homeland. 

Kavik didn't say anything else at that moment; he just turned to Liri once again to check her for injuries before nuzzling her and attempting to calm his anger a little.

Am exiting Elixir.

Elixir smiled as Liri nudged her, she felt as if her and Liri were close. A small wag of her tail showed a bit of happiness shining through. As she watched her band interact she noticed the tension rise a bit after Thorleif realized there was a deer involved. Thinking it might be time to step in to calm things down she stood up and just about that time she heard digging , which was odd. 

As she lifted her head from changing positions she saw rocks flying near Liri and Kavik step in front of her. Elixir paused for a moment, her head slowly moved to the one side. What even was going on here? It seemed like some kind of meet my parents gone very wrong. 

Elixir wasnt sure how she could make this any better or any worse so she decided it would be best to leave. One less wolf to worry about would be good for her leaders. With a small shake of her head she turned and exited stage left to see if she could be of some use elsewhere.

The sudden outburst of commotion and the aggression flowing through their group is enough to make the skittish healer tense - behind Kavik her ears are flat and tail is flagged with dominance. Her lips twitch, revealing the tips of wickedly sharp fangs. She stills as Kavik sniffs her over, a low rumble of anger dying out before its voiced, and the fae presses her nose to his cheek discreetly - silently assuring him that she's okay. 

"Deer do not typically harm us. In fact, it's the other way around. If you wish to stay, you will stop this. You will be expected to hunt with us, and amongst our prey is deer. If you cannot accept that, be gone," the tone  clearly projects that she's grown tired of the quarrels as she edges into Thorleif's line of sight. 

There's something about stupid people that frightens her more than the monsters of her past. Horrible people she can understand; the fae has seen greed, envy, hatred, even evil - she has seen it here, in Teekon. But stupid people had a way of getting you into danger, getting you killed.

Grezig remained silent after threatening Thorleif. She had said her piece and now it was time for him to explain himself. But his story just ended up confirming her suspicions. She should never have invited him to join this pack. He was clearly out of his mind. What he described to them all was a bear, not a deer, and Grezig had no idea how he’d gone his entire life without discovering the difference between the two animals. She grit her teeth in anger and annoyance but kept her mouth shut. So a bear had killed Thorleif’s pack and he thought it was a deer, so that was why he hunted fish. This was the most convoluted story Grezig had possibly ever heard.

Luckily Kavik and Liri were on the same page as Grezig because they both told it to Thorleif straight. He was clearly delusional or something and her insides were a combination of fire and ice as she once again remembered that she had brought this stupid, stupid wolf right up to them, and vouched for his competency. Gods. She was never going to recruit anyone ever again. She said nothing and instead waited for Thorleif to make some kind of reply, wondering if there was even a lick of sense in his brain somewhere.

Thorleif remained cowered on the floor.  He distracted himself by gently sniffing at some stones nearby his head.  That isn't any bear I've ever seen, he thought sourly.  First, off it was way to big to be a bear.  Plus, it had no buck teeth nor did it have a flat leathery tail!  Thorleif huffed quietly to himself.  These are some strange wolves, he thought to himself.  How did they ever survive this long?

Just then, he noticed some small black ants walking along the ground.  As casually as he could, he started to lick up the ants with his tongue.  Well, at least I have these moving dots to munch on.

The strange male neither accepted nor denied the terms Liri had laid out. When he started to eat ants from the ground, Kavik gave an exasperated sigh. He was done with this situation. "As Liri said, either hunt with us or find another group," Kavik finally said to Thorleif.

He turned to his healer then and nudged her. "Lets go," Kavik said, his expression tired. He and Liri had too many other things to worry about; this wolf could figure his shit out or leave. He looked at Liri and waited for her to lead the way, still needing to keep himself between her and the weird stranger.

He ignored her words.

It was the first time Liri had experienced such, particularly the first time as a leader. Any kindness she felt for the deranged male, any sympathy, seemed to drain from her dark eyes - leaving them hard and cold. He was not worth the breath needed for talking so, the healer literally turned her back on him.

He would take a place amongst them, if only to provide some extra muscle to their efforts. But Thorleif would find little favor in the fae and she would not turn her wolves from treating him as those at the bottom of the food chain deserved to be.

The sylph turned to her mate, offering him a private smile for she had not forgotten him. Her eyes slid on to Grezig and the rest of her wolves, silently thanking them and freely allowing them to do as they wished with Thorleif. She followed after Kavik silently, wanting nothing more than to retire with him and see that he was alright.

One more post from @Thorleif, and then I'll close this, if that's cool with everyone.

Liri and Kavik were leaving, so Grezig gave one last glance over at Thorleif and then followed them. She kept her head down, her tail tucked between her legs. She was feeling ashamed of herself. She didn’t care if Thorleif followed. No, actually she did care. She didn’t want him to follow, but her alphas had… sort of… accepted him. So now it was no longer up to her. She sighed, keeping her thoughts to herself. She needed a good hunt or something to take her mind off of the terrible thing she had done. Gods.

Thorleif watched as the wolves left one by one.  He blinked and looked back at the forest behind him.  There was nothing there for him now.  He had to look forward to new and better opportunities.  He had no doubt that he could learn much from these other wolves.  And he could perhaps teach them a thing or two.  He turned forward and his gaze fell upon Grezig.  He couldn't help but feel ashamed for letting her down.  That will be the last time I cast shame upon this pack, thought Thorleif.  However, it probably will not be so.

As he trotted forwards towards the pack, a small butterfly coasted down from the branches above and landed on his nose.  Thorleif smiled to himself and said to the butterfly, "Hello there."