Neverwinter Forest The Last Stage

Another lookin' for packmates ideally!

The weather had cleared a little, and it drew Mal towards the edge of the territory.  He moved without a rush, knowing that the job of repairing the weather-worn holes in the invisible scent fence of their claim would be an ongoing process.  If he rushed to do it, he'd wear himself out, so he figured it'd be best to take his time, make sure it was done right, to make sure others were doing similarly, and all would be well.

That train of thought lead to a visibly calm attitude, and that plus his well-groomed coat probably made him actually look a bit like a proper leader instead of just some angry punk who thought he could do better than everyone.  Well, he was still pretty sure he was better than a lot of people out there, but the morning light wasn't somehow magical enough to dredge that fact up.  Some thoughts, after all, were his own and nobody else's.

There was no saying that the walk to the borders and said tending of the borders was gonna be all that entertaining on his own though.  It was a chore that needed to be done.  Maybe he'd cross paths with another -- and if not, he'd go hunt 'em down after.

i know we're still working on our other thread, but i felt like they needed an updated one too since i've been slow :)

She, too, had chosen to freshen the borders today. She liked the task; it was one of her favorite duties, and she much preferred it to hunting for sure. She might like hunting more if there were actually things to hunt, but it seemed like it usually just left her frustrated and still hungry. 

So instead of spending time and energy doing something that might be a waste of time, she had been patrolling the borders. She was at it for some time before Mal's scent and then footsteps caught her attention. She paused and turned, allowing him to come closer before offering him a dip of her head in greeting. Hey, she said first. Find anything out of the ordinary today? she asked. Simmik hadn't noticed anything strange, but she could have missed something. And she had no idea where all he checked either. She could only get through part of the borders in one patrol, which was why it was always helpful to have multiple wolves keeping up with things, she had learned.

It didn't take too long before he crossed paths with Simmik -- well, spotted her up ahead, he'd slowed to watch her move along a moment or two just to see if she was giving off "leave me alone" vibes, then deciding she wasn't, trotted forward to catch up.  When she heard him and looked back, he wagged his tail and bounded forward to close that gap a bit quicker.  Hey, he said with a smile, apparently in a pretty good mood.  Then again, the longer the world seemed to have stabilized -- both the lack of earthquakes and number of wolves in the pack -- the better mood he was in in general.  

He was glad she'd stuck around -- he'd felt as though they could relate over quite a few things, but it did make him realize that over the last month he'd been pretty hermit-like.  He should fix that, he needed to make sure his packmates were all doing well, so he'd have to go through that chat at some point in not too long too.  Nah, not so far, just starting out -- maybe the weather kept things home.  Though, wait, did you smell where that one chick kept trespassing a while back?  I haven't smelled her since the last big storm, but she's definitely one to watch out for. I don't know why she hasn't left the area yet.  To be an irritating git, probably.  She'd pretty well made it so Mal was completely uninterested in allowing her into the pack, so she'd best scram and find somewhere that might like her.

Her expression twisted in thought as he mentioned a stranger hanging around the borders. I have scented a few strangers. I even caught one too close to our borders and made sure she stayed on the right side, she replied. But, who are you talking about? Should I be keeping an eye out for her? If she needed to add another wolf to her list to watch out for, she definitely would. I've been patrolling a lot, so it wouldn't be a problem. That reminded her. But I still haven't found any big prey, and I'm worried about the rest of winter, she confided. Winter was hard enough, and she worried about how strong they would be going into spring when packs might be more inclined to challenge them over territory. They were already all thin and weary. She'd hate for something bad to happen, and she felt somewhat responsible for helping ensure the forest was safe.

He was glad that Simmik definitely seemed to be someone he could rely on -- build a strong foundation for the pack and all that, right? Young or not, she had a better idea of how a pack was supposed to work than Okeanos and Ibis and they were the same age as he was. Go figure. Anyway, sharing the news, She's blackish, tall, named Belharra. Really chatty -- even when we were basically saying 'you're in our territory, leave' she was milling around going on and on. It was when Cam came back a while ago, he was hurt, Ceilidh had taken care of his wounds, but this chick was like.. Not seeing it.  So she not only didn't seem to care about our borders, but couldn't seem to tell that Cam was being helped. I don't get it. At all. He could understand Moonspear having egos -- the concept, at least, was not unfamiliar even if he thought they were stupid -- but he just couldn't figure out why this lone wolf had been so blind and stubborn about it all. Markus showed up so we could make sure she left -- couldn't just leave Cam there by himself. Mal had been pretty dang paranoid about it being some kind of weird trap. Like somehow she'd have a friend lurking around to kill him if they left the kid alone.

At some point, Mal hoped that they could stop worrying about prey. Maybe he was hoping for too much, but considering everything he knew in is his life suggested that this was a weird year rather than a normal one, he had hope. Simmik didn't really have the experience, right? Hopefully that was the only reason for the question, rather than some sort of weird psychic foresight kind of thing. He nodded, Yeah. It's kind of getting bad even for us. I've thought about whether we should move or something... But from what I've heard, even farther away places are in much the same state. I think if we have to, we'll know, right? It was his best guess. But surely if there was that breaking point, everyone would probably be in agreement. Hopefully that'd be the case, but really he'd rather just stay. A lot of winter was just gonna be sitting around waiting.

Simmik committed the name and description to memory. She must have been out of the territory when this happened. She thought it was a good thing that Markus was there, even if she didn't like him very much. Some wolves are dumb I guess, she said first with a shake of her head. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for her, she assured Mal. She wondered what it was about this forest that attracted trespassers. It seemed like a more common occurrence than it should be. But when it came down to it, she didn't have much to compare with. There wasn't much she could do about it anyway except be vigilant in her patrols. 

Well, where I was living in the mountains, we had trouble with prey too, she offered. I wonder if there is anywhere we would even be able to go that would be different. If they had trouble in Diaspora and they had trouble here, then she was willing to bet they would have trouble anywhere. I would move if that's what you want, but I kind of like it here, she admitted with a shrug. She had grown fond of the forest and the idea of growing a pack here. But if he thought they should move, then who was she to argue with that. If it comes to that, then yeah, I think we'll know.

Yeah, that's about all I could figure. But if she stayed gone, then he would be okay forgetting she existed. Hopefully she's gone for real now. But did he count on it? Well, given everything that had happened he wasn't as cheery about things as he had been in the past, but tough times did kind of make it all less fun and games.

Mal wished he knew how far the troubles went. Forever, it felt like, as long as Wraen wasn't lying. The person I talked to was from somewhere to like.. The southwest? Maybe from the other side of the mountains, she said it wasn't any better over there. It'd probably be pretty far at this point. The northeast was pretty much off limits in his eyes -- he was not going near Elysium again. Ever, if he could help it.

And yeah. I don't really want to move either. If we have to -- either because some of the other packs start being crazy again or the food just keeps being gone -- then I'll give it more thought. I just don't see a good place to do so right now. Hope it doesn't come to that. He had to be a realist about it. Mal wasn't interested in dying over a forest. Some people might be, but he had better things to do than to stubbornly cling to a patch of trees where somewhere might exist that doesn't have the same problems.

Either way, that was gonna dead-end things conversationally pretty well, so he added on, Do you think there's anything we should be doing in the meantime? Stuff had stalled out a little, and he wouldn't be surprised if it was because of all the problems they'd been having.

It seemed they were pretty much on the same page about the whole moving thing, which she thought was good. They seemed to be on the same page about most things; she hoped it was always like that. 

His question caught her off guard a little. He seemed to have more life experience than she did, and it made her a little insecure that he would think to ask her for advice on things they should be doing while they were waiting for life to stop being so shitty. She racked her brain for something useful to say so she wouldn't make him regret treating her as an adult and not some dumb, useless kid. She couldn't come up with anything, though, and so she settled on being honest. Not really, she offered with a shrug. I think we're doing all we can. As long as we keep searching for members and keeping an eye out for prey, hopefully we should be fine come spring. She hoped that was sufficient for him because she had no idea what else they should be doing. This sounded like a good question for her mom; she always seemed to know what to do. The thought made her chest tighten and she looked at Mal, thoughtful curiosity in her expression. Mal, do you ever miss someone but like, not want to be with them? Simmik asked, suddenly changing the subject. From what he had told her of his past, it didn't sound like he had many from his past that he missed. The feeling was confusing, though, and she wanted to know that she wasn't just emotionally messed up.

They were in agreement and he nodded.  What else could they do? They couldn't just tell the world to cooperate -- well, they could but it wasn't going to cooperate just like that.

The question she asked was a heavy one, and Mal took a moment to respond. Uh. I dunno... Most of the people I've known, I've either definitely wanted them around, or definitely don't. He hadn't really thought about it too much. A pause. Maybe, I guess. But more I just want to know what happened to them. Like why did Okeanos not come back? Or why my mom left? Or who she even really was in the first place.  A pause, But maybe I don't know better. I was really alone as a kid, some my own fault. Even his sisters seemed to prefer each other rather than him -- it was only when it was him and Brillo that he got attention from her, and then they were under strain from other sources. And were the other members of his pack even that close to him? Probably depended on their definition.

She listened intently as he spoke, her heart sinking a little when it seemed he hadn't really ever felt the same way. But his childhood had been a bit different from hers, too. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with her. She guessed the way she felt was maybe a little similar to how he was curious about how some of his family was doing now. She could definitely relate to the being alone part, even more so to it being her fault. It's just that sometimes, I miss my mom and brothers, but I don't want to go home and I don't necessarily want them to be here. She shrugged a little, expression briefly turning sad. I guess it's kind of like you said, Simmik continued. Maybe I just want to know how they're all doing. She fell silent, considering his words again. She felt bad that his mom had left him. She may have not gotten along with her own mom, but at least she had been around; Simmik had been the one to leave her. Why was your being alone your fault? she asked quietly. Surely he wasn't blaming himself for his mom leaving.

Relating to people was something Mal still had issues with. Sometimes he felt like he was from a different planet based on his experiences growing up. I could see it making sense but like.. I'm no good example for this stuff. My life's been all colors of messed up, and I don't even know what I've missed out on. Like.. I'm pretty sure one time I totally offended Ibis when I didn't know what she wanted to talk to me about or whatever. She walked off instead of clarifying, so I still don't know if it was my fault or if she was just being weird. But he wouldn't put it past her. At this point he didn't remember it entirely clearly, but he was pretty sure he hadn't tried to be a total jerk or anything, so... Since she's gone, guess I won't know. Not a big deal from the sound of it either, just would have been nice to know for sure.

His response in the end was probably not gonna be what Simmik was expecting, but since his mom was practically just a shadow in his life, it was others that took the forefront. I wasn't particularly nice to the two women who took over the pack since they seemed to be at the heart of everything bad happening -- honestly, if they showed up here today, I still wouldn't play nice. But I wonder if they told everyone to stay away from us because of that... The only way it ever felt like we only got heard was when I was loud and obnoxious, and I doubt people liked that either. But considering everyone pretty much avoided us, that's the only thing that makes any sense. Shrug. And it literally was everyone at that point -- aside from Okeanos showing up and being a pest. But we were just kids. It didn't really make sense, but he couldn't argue with what happened and he saw with his own eyes. They should have left way earlier and maybe they could have recovered some sense of what was actually right in the world.

poor mal; he's so misunderstood LOL
do you want to wrap up and have something current?

She understood messed up pretty well; maybe not to the degree that he described, but it wasn't exactly like she had an easy childhood. Witnessing her father die from a gore wound to the neck had scarred her in more ways than she even knew at this point. The grief had slowly festered inside her and soured her to Diaspora so much that she had eventually needed to be anywhere but there. She just wished she knew how everyone was doing. As he continued to explain his reasons for keeping to himself, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't understand how a pack could treat children that way. That's messed up, she commiserated. It sounds like you're better off without them, Simmik added with a shrug. That's not how pack should treat each other, so I think it's good that you're not there anymore. It seemed he had learned from that awful time, though. At least now you know how things should be and you can make sure it's like that here. He could actually do something to prevent others from feeling the way his old pack made him feel.

Yeah, sure! I was gonna start the trip to Moonspear stuff in the next couple days. Interested in a traveling thread or should I just skip right to MSP? XD

He'd yet to find anyone who thought that the way he was raised was the right way. Maybe it was the way he told it, but that was the only way he could think of to explain things. It was easy to explain that the ones who acted like villains to him did negative things.  Yeah, I mean I'm still guessing a little, but I can at least not make those mistakes. A pause, then he grinned, I'll just make a bunch of other ones instead nobody's expecting. Which was probably not too far off the truth.

As they walked along, Mal swayed a to bump her shoulder with his, But we're all supposed to keep each other from going too crazy, huh? He'd gone from sort of a dark place to joking around awfully fast. But not entirely goofy, Sorry I'm missing some of the answers, though. He tried, though.

She smiled a little at his comment. Well, nobody is perfect, I guess, she teased in a rare break from her usual serious demeanor. The moment passing quickly, she added, I'm sorry your family was so shitty. The thought actually made her pretty angry, considering he had never been anything but and kind and helpful. Even if the story was somewhat painted by his perception, she felt like that probably only accounted for a very small amount of the story. 

She released a small huff of laughter as his shoulder lightly connected with hers, nodding in response to his statement. If keeping each other from getting too crazy was what he wanted from his pack mates, then she was happy to do it; she was happy to have the support too. Simmik shook her head as he apologized. There's no reason for you to be sorry; I'm glad just to have someone to talk to about things. Someone she trusted enough to let her guard down a little and tell them some of the shit that goes on in her anxious mind on a daily basis.

I found a potential weak spot along the borders the other day in my patrol, she said after a few moments. I want to show it to you so we can be sure to patrol it often. It was a particularly dense place in the trees that began to back up against the mountains to the north. It looked like a good place for someone to hide out and possibly sneak in without initial detection, which was something she wanted to be sure wouldn't happen. She paused a second to make sure he was following and assuming he was, she headed that way.

feel free to post once more or archive!

At least now it's all in the past. Has to just be up from here. It was the only thing he could make out of it -- to dwell too long would throw him back into the darkness, where he felt like a child. He'd managed to dig himself out of that hole once, and wasn't planning on going back there ever again, no matter how dire things may look in days to come.

They all needed more laughter. He'd have to find way to bring that back to all of them. One way or another. Well, I'm always around if you need me. So don't be a stranger. Another smile from him. Sure, there were things that everyone wanted to keep secret -- he'd have a few of his own later on -- but for those things that they wanted to talk through, Mal would always try to make himself available. Even if he didn't have the answers, at least they wouldn't be alone.

But then things shifted to the more practical. Huh. Well then, let's go. Lead the way. They'd get it locked down again in no time. Gotta make sure nobody came sneaking on in to cause trouble -- they already had enough of that. And off they went.