Redtail Rise Do your dirt, make your mark

She had finally departed from the glacier on her own, or what was left of it. Her home was now covered by a wall of snow bigger than she was, and Taki couldn't bare to look at it anymore, so she turned to her oldest friend--wandering. It was weird not having the anxiety of responsibilities looming over her every action, but she didn't for once think she preferred it; everything was still too fresh and painful, and all she really wanted was her life back. 

The mountains she traversed were nothing compared to her decimated home, and she moved through them with relative ease, thinking that the fire-scarred earth looked a lot like she felt--scorched and empty. Maybe that's why she had been drawn here in the first place. She didn't really care. The northerner just needed to keep moving; keep her mind occupied so it would stop tormenting her with flashes of the storm that had ruined her life. Sometimes when she closed her eyes, everything was blindingly white like it had been that day, and she would have to wrench them back open and convince herself that she wasn't back in that moment. It didn't help that her new reality didn't seem much better. At least she was alive, right?

Her family was gone, her pack was gone, and all she wanted to do was wander until she felt numb.

staying vague; tag for ref

upon departing elysium, mahler had ranged outside the chosen range of he and his counterpart, idly following a herd of elk gone down into the valley for better grazing. while it was more out of boredom than anything, the gargoyle pressed forward all the same, crooning a dirge to @Stigmata in regards to his whereabouts.
he would be back; for now the man moved in a trot beneath the gently falling snow. the elk dipped, but he meandered beyond them, in the direction of a flame-licked rise. if anything, it would provide him a decent vantage point to look down upon his quarry, noting their place below.
the ground felt odd beneath his paws. mahler supposed that was the nature of fire, and would have turned away, had not the wandering figure of the winterwhite takiyok caught his eyes. a pleasant sight, she elicited a bark of announcement from the musiker, and he widened his lope to eat away at the distance between them.

The sound of hooves against the snow-covered ground below warranted a brief, uninterested glance from the scout. Food had been really the last thing on her mind, and she had absolutely no desire to hunt at this moment. Gaze moving back to the dead, ashen trees ahead, she began her trek again until a bark paired with a familiar scent made her pause. She turned to face Mahler as he approached. Company was something else she wasn't particularly interested in, but at least it was someone she could tolerate and not some random irritating stranger. That was probably the only reason she met him with her normal impassive expression and not teeth. 

Mahler, she greeted with a curt nod, her gaze flat and empty. She took a seat in front of him but said nothing else as she waited for the inevitable questions she didn't want to answer.

takiyok was not a warm creature, similar to himself. however, mahler had seen what passed for warmth in the woman, what comfort appeared to be. today she was devoid of either; the lines of her body bespoke a weariness he had not seen in the northerner before. as she settled, the gargoyle mirrored her, avoiding the desire to glean what had befallen takiyok with a stare.
he was concerned all the same, however, and presently, the stone lavender of his eyes sweeping back to the molten burn of her own, he regarded her with an inscrutable expression. "you are alone." a statement, rather than a question. the wolfess did not appear to be hunting, and he knew her to be devoted to her packlands. why was she away from them now?

Alone she was. Sia had returned to their home up north, a place she would rather die than return to, and she had no idea where the rest of her family was. The winter storm had separated all of them. It was just luck that she and Sia had ended up escaping the glacier near each other. She had searched for hours, finally sending her brother on with the promise that she would find the rest of their family. She had yet to do that, though, and the more time that passed, the more worried she became that she would stumble upon their lifeless bodies somewhere near the glacier or even worse--in the spring when some of the snow began to melt. Regardless, she would search for them until she had answers. 

Taki pulled her gaze from his to look to the herd below before answering. A storm destroyed everything...Took my pack and my family, she said, eyes still firmly trained on the grazing beasts. I barely escaped, and I haven't been able to find anyone aside from my brother who returned home up north. She tried to keep her desolation from her voice, but wasn't sure she had been very successful. It was hard to say out loud the thoughts that had been dominating her mind since the storm. In just a few short hours, her entire life was gone, and it still sometimes didn't seem real. She supposed she could have avoiding telling him since talking about it just forced her to relive her horror, but what was the point. Might as well get it over with so they could move on, and she could work on burying the grief deep inside where she kept everything else she didn't care to deal with.

mahler was not a creature of emotion, but recognized the agony that lurked quietly in her voice. she had lost many things; her wolves, her home. takiyok's devastation was to be expected, and in some way, the gargoyle understood what it cost the pale woman to speak of them to him. he was silent, following the line of her dulled gaze toward the herd below them; mentally marking where they had chosen to graze in his mind, the man returned his attention to the former glacier wolf.
"i lost my three children, and my vife. i never saw my daughter's body." as it had with apple, speaking of it clenched the man's throat, caused a dull thud of pain to begin in his chest — things he would rather not feel. but he wished to impress upon takiyok that there were things beyond the control of any creature, and that one must create their own closure if they were to move on.
grief limned her; she would not want to move from this place. but she was alone, and winter was not kind to those who remained alone. mahler studied her for a handful of moments. "come vith me." 
his voice was hushed; the invitation might very well be rejected. but she could not remain here; or perhaps she would. the gargoyle offered his company, as well as that of stigmata and whatever wolves the ironstar had recruited. it would not replace who takiyok had lost, what she had lost, but he would not leave her here without proposing such.

She whipped her gaze to him at the mention of his loss. Losing any family member was tragic, but losing children--she couldn't even imagine. Yet he appeared to have continued on despite the very shitty hand life had dealt him. It had to be something that would always cause him pain much like she knew her loss would. That's...I'm...sorry, she offered quietly. She wasn't sure what else to say; she was never very good with talking about emotional things, but she had appreciated what Mahler was trying to do by sharing something awful from his past. 

His next words surprised her. Go with you where? she asked, brow furrowing slightly. Even if she did actually prefer his company to being alone, she wouldn't just take off with him without knowing what all he had going on. She hadn't even thought about what she would next; her thoughts had been completely consumed by how to deal with the aftermath of her pack's destruction and the loss of her family. She had just been searching for a way to numb the pain so that she could find some kind of peace from the suffocating grief.

"the mountains," he answered promptly. "i travel now vith a man called stigmata.  he has gathered others." it would not replace her own family, and he could understand well the need to continue searching. takiyok's loss was great, fresh, riven across her heart like a brand. but loneliness — no. he did not wish to leave her wandering alone here, searching for bodies she might not find until the spring melting arrived.
wary as always, he saw in her vibrant eyes, and for this he respected her more. of course she would question, even amid her grief. she knew him not, only tolerated his company. there was little reason for the northerner to accompany him so far from where she had once lived, only the logic of being alone in the time of snow. whatever her decision, mahler would respect it.

She was even more surprised to hear him mention Stigmata; the name was kind of like salt in her gaping wounds since it reminded her of the children she was supposed to have in the spring, but now--she had nothing; it was not a good environment to bring pups into, and she was reminded of one more thing that was lost to that damn storm. But if she couldn't have her family or her pack, she might be able to stand with the male that had curiously slipped past her solid, long-standing walls. She was forged from snow and ice and was of the assumption that she could survive the winter on her own, but she couldn't deny it would be easier with others. She at least knew Mahler and Stigmata well enough to know they were just as capable as she was. Was it the right decision, though? She would be farther from the glacier, but not too far to make trips back to search more, which she would most definitely be doing. She wouldn't give up searching until every last one of her family and pack members were accounted for, no matter how long it took. 

She released a slow sigh, citrine gaze focusing on Mahler. I know Stigmata, she said first, leaving out how exactly she knew him since it was too painful to speak of right now. I will go with you, but I cant promise right away that I will stay, she added, searching his lavender gaze. She had to be sure it was a good fit before she pledged any kind of loyalty. She had no idea who these other wolves were, and she couldn't be sure how she would feel about them.

mahler's ears swung forward with mild surprise that she knew the name of his companion. however, the other seemed cunning, prolific even. perhaps it was not such a shock after all. the winterwhite agreed to accompany him on his return to the range, and he gave a single nod. "i do not need your fealty, takiyok." she belonged only to herself; if she only stayed through the snows and departed, it would be her way, for she belonged only to herself, as did they all.
those were mahler's thoughts upon the matter; he did not know now if stigmata's would mirror his own. but the northerner was hale, intelligent; for even a handful of months, she would bring her pride to diaspora, and the gargoyle could not fault her that. "vould you like to stay here for the evening?" came the quiet cadence of his voice, seeking briefly the woman's flame-bright gaze. the mountains could wait; a night of grief could be spared on the cold cliffside before they went back to stigmata.

A single nod of her own was her response to his first statement. It was good that he didn't expect loyalty from her; she was hard-pressed to pledge herself to anyone without a hell of a lot of proof that they were deserving of it and wouldn't use it against her. A small inkling of suspicion sat in the back of her mind, asking how he could just take her in without wanting anything in return, but she kept it to herself for now; neither ignoring it nor giving it room to grow just yet. She would wait and see how things went with Stigmata and whatever wolves he had gathered before she made up her mind on this whole thing. For now, she would just appreciate the offer of companionship through what would probably be a rough few months for her. 

She looked around a little at his question before meeting his alluring gaze. Yes, she replied quietly, sliding to the ground to rest her head on her paws. She fixed a sorrowful gaze on what she could see of the glacier, taking the time to silently say goodbye to what was once her home.