Sawtooth Spire wolkenbruch

ewiger schnee.
it raced in tight whorls, tiny eddies; it played with the edges of the man's proud ruff and tugged at his chinfur, long now for the season, but growing into a permanent cascade that curled tightly into the pelt of his chest. mahler was ageing, and for the first winter, the former general had begun to feel its bite.
dismayed, he forced himself into a run, to prove to the treacherous thoughts that his spryness was retained. flat muscles, hard from years of work and roaming, did not protest, and mahler was relieved.
the gargoyle cut a long lope upon the spiraling ridge upward, tongue lolling as he narrowed his eyes against the pale fray and thought of @Nyx.

She roamed the spires alone. It had become a way if life for Nyx who, despite being surrounded by pack-mates, continued to feel the weight of her seemingly endless loneliness.

Soon, however, that would change. In the near future she would have cubs to occupy her time.

When the tawny Ostrega caught sight of the wolf who vowed to sire her future litter, she paused in her tracks to observe his run in silence. Her avoidance of him had begun with Wylla's heat and her first thought was to slip away unseen - so strong was her unwillingness to step on anyone's toes.

he had not been alone with nyx for some time, but when the scent of the wolfess drifted into mahler's awareness, he drew up at once, turned his heavy muzzle toward her.
for a long moment, mahler only lay his lavender gaze upon the woman. she had been reticent, moreso now that wylla had gotten with child. it was the way that ketzia had begun her transition away from him, and he was loathe to repeat it.
"nyx," he called to her in a low voice, approaching carefully. "it has been some time."

Nyx felt a muscle in her jaw tighten, anxious, as the General stilled and turned his cool stare toward her. She straightened somewhat, muzzle tilted upward slightly to mask the uncertainty she felt - not at all to suggest a challenge.

She breathed in deep as he veered in her direction, noting some reluctance in his heavy stride. Her tongue snaked past her dark lips to sweep a stubborn snowflake from her whisker; "it has," she responded, "I am sorry for that. Wylla is not my biggest fan - I thought it best to stay away, considering the season."

mahler knew very little of what had transpired in grimnismal, only in passing. and so he was briefly annoyed that years and packs later, it should still be alive, this ill feeling between the two. yet it was not his affair.
he lowered his muzzle in a silent invitation for nyx to travel with him.
"i vould not like sagtannet to be a place vhere you must valk upon eggshells," he commented dourly, sweeping lilac stare from her to the path ahead. the pair of them had an agreement, and it would be honored, wylla's opinion aside.

She was fearful of Wylla, and had made no secret of it even during her time in Grimnismal. Lycaon's sister had always been particularly sharp-tongued and eager to assert her dominance over Nyx, long before that pregnancy was confirmed. Perhaps it was the fondness that her littermates held for the tawny Ostrega that threatened the coastal leader; perhaps Wylla simply decided that she didn't like her. 

"I am not without fault," she rolled a peppered shoulder, thinking back to those dark days - the birth of her crippling anxiety. Nyx pressed on at Mahler's flank, gaze cast downward as she recalled her shame: "I was of her pack, and carried illicit pups by her brother. She took her leave of the sound following this discovery and I did not think I would see again."

nyx' words revealed a world that mahler had not realized. he had feared caiaphas, and when she took the helm, he had only waited for a chance to leave, abandoning them all to the whims of the bear.
he recalled how he had gotten glimpses of nyx, rounded with pregnancy, and saw now the truth of it.
surely that had not been the only reason wylla departed the shoreline? he would not accept it, for that meant the woman beside him would have been responsible for the disappearance of the she-wolf he had loved.
"vylla is not someone who takes disrespect lightly," he commented. "but now she is ruler again. perhaps it vill satisfy her." 
a glimmer of a thought, to ask after nyx' first litter. he passed it by, knowing with a wry reluctance that wylla would not be sated by a mere rank.

She had not lured Lycaon in with the sole purpose of riling his sister. Wylla had been far from her thoughts as she and Grimnismal's pallid Beta found comfort in one another's embrace, as had the concept of conceiving. Back then, Nyx had never thought herself to be the motherly type, and shrugged that possibility off with the opinion of I don't want this, so it can't happen to me.

Little had she known, her naivety would go on to be her undoing - and she'd spent the years since wondering if or when it would come to snap at her heels again.

"I made a mistake, but I learned from it," she exhaled softly, "and suffered the consequences."

It did not surprise Nyx to learn that Wylla had taken a leader rank, for she'd always known her to be an ambitious creature. Title was not something the tawny Ostrega ever craved and so she failed to understand the appeal of responsibility, but a fresh bout of anxiety swelled in her chest as she considered what this new development might mean for her future.

consequences. a wave of apprehension clenched his throat. he knew the practice of killing illegitimate cubs. it was one he would never allow to be implemented in any kingdom of his.
had they met that fate?
too leery of veering headlong into an intimacy nyx was not ready to share with him, he instead presented his physical being as support, turning his shoulder against her own, lowering scarred muzzle to brush the woman's, if so allowed.
he had hoped sagtannet would be a place of new beginnings, but it could not be that if enmity still had hold in the hearts of his wolves.
"i vill understand if you vant to change things," he murmured stiffly a moment later. he refused to have strange males fathering children within their ranks, so melkor would be the next logical choice. selfish. prideful. he had not been able to assure her against takiyok, he would not be able to do it for wylla, and so he gave nyx a way out.

Mahler maintained his silence, choosing not to comfort her with words but with touch. She accepted it, was glad for it, and while a reluctance to let herself get too close kept her from leaning into the gesture, she turned her bright eyes toward his face to reveal a watery smile. A silent gratitude.

He did not need to know the fate of her newborns, though the tawny Ostrega feared the likelihood of Wylla's demand for information  if she knew the truth, Mahler would surely have been informed by now. Confident that her grim secret was safe with her, Nyx was content to let the topic of her past remain there where it belonged.

"I don't," she answered, a little confused by his offering in her ignorance of what the General felt for their former Alphess. Mahler had promised an opportunity for her to whelp in safety despite Takiyok's disapproval, but their arrangement had been made prior to Wylla's rise to leadership. Her opinion was irrelevant, she felt, but it did, rouse fresh wonder... "do you?"

"no," he answered after nyx had asked. there was no reason to shift anything. mahler would not be called a liar. the auraed had earned the right to motherhood, and he had agreed to provide the means, before wylla returned.
he would not begin his life with the fierce she-wolf under pretense or lies or claims that he was less than honest.
moreover, beyond the cold logic, mahler truly cared for the woman alongside him, affections blurred and snarled as they had been with ketzia, with ruenna, but sharper than what he had known with the fairy. a hint of purity, he supposed.

His opinion on the matter of siring her litter matched that of her own, and she sensed no reluctance to the tone with which he spoke it. Nyx felt relief seep from her in a soft exhale; she could never love him, but wanted so fiercely to trust him.

She found herself wondering of the Winterwhite then, and for the first time sprouted the worry that perhaps she'd unearthed Nyx and Mahler's plans to bring forth new life to Diaspora. It came naturally to her: a previous pregnancy had driven Wylla from the shore, so why wouldn't this one bring about Takiyok's dispersal from the mountains. 

Swallowing, Nyx made attempt at veering their conversation from the delicate subject of her turbulent past and in the direction of their former Kapitän's uncertain future. "Takiyok chose not to relocate with us," she observed, "I was sorry to learn of her decision to move on; I know you were close. What happened?"

a long sigh purled from the man despite his best efforts to bite it back. "takiyok and i had a falling out over my decision for this season," he said simply. nyx would know what he meant. "but she has not been happy here since stigmata died." it was his true belief that the winterwhite had suffered the final blow with his dissent, yet her love for the pack foundered with the death of their beloved ironstar.
mahler trudged quietly beside nyx a long moment, musing bitterly that his relationship with takiyok had ended as one of his greatest failures. he did not know if stag would remain; he hated the idea of the boy torn between the love of his northern mother, and the few fatherly attributes mahler could offer.
pensive; he turned into the cold wind and was silent a long time.
"vould you like sons or daughters, nyx?" anything to drive out the memory of takiyok's flashing teeth, to warm him again to fatherhood.

At Mahler's words, Nyx' raven-tipped ears splayed back. She did not raise her head nor even shift her yellow gaze to eye him sideways; shame pulsed through her veins, almost burning. A muscle in her jaw tightened and, remaining silent, she chose not to comment on the matter.

He went on to mention their former General, and she thought of the day they'd lost him. She remembered happening on that bloody scene, the solemn subordinates who gathered, how one of Stigmata's sons had swiftly disappeared. His other cubs vanished soon afterward, leaving only the long-legged Stag to bring his father's vision to light. Even Ketzia and her litter had gone, too broken by such a loss to continue calling the mountains home in his absence.

"Daughters," she answered without much thought, eager to press on from grim subjects. Nyx had dreamed up her future offspring on several occasions and, considering the boy who lived from her first litter that she'd been unable to mother, it felt wrong to bring sons into the world. Girls, she felt, would bring her greater joy. "You will be expecting several of each this year," she commented, suggestive of Wylla's heat cycle back at the fox hollow that Mahler was sure to have covered.

something wordless swept through nyx; he sensed it, but was still, uncommenting. her words evoked a nod, and mahler thought of sarah. had she conceived? he realized in that moment he did not even know where this ibis had made her pack. this was a failing upon his part, both logical and moral.
but he could not think of it now; nyx was beside him, and mahler shelved the wonderings after sarah for another time. "i hope," he grunted in answer. wylla would not take kindly to another litter of his within sagtannet, no matter that she had agreed to it. the gargoyle knew he must stand between the fiery she-wolf and the golden idol; a slow blink. now to puzzle out the logistics of that!
"i vould enjoy daughters," mahler murmured, drawing himself back the present. it was unfair, his behavior; she had not even swelled with pups yet and already he was not giving nyx his due within his mind. guilt rushed through his veins. "are you happy vith the move?"

She felt no bitterness, no jealousy, as Mahler went on to confirm her suspicion. Truthfully, such thoughts had never crossed Nyx' mind; she did not wish to have the General at her side as a mate. It seemed unnatural to consider it a possibility, for she'd always looked to him purely as his title of leader. No, he would never be hers just as she would never be his, and she was perfectly okay with that.

Pups were her priority and, although he'd vowed to sire her litter, Nyx rather selfishly wished to play the role of parent to them alone. She would never deny Mahler of his desire to be involved, but she fancied herself to be the primary caretaker. Her primary goal was to provide all the care and affection for this litter that she failed to do so for her first.

"I am," she carried on, brushing her possessive thoughts aside, "I don't think I'd have been happy to leave the mountains. So many things have changed, but... I feel it's important to be here."

"i am glad you came," mahler murmured, feeling a sudden sentimentality overcome him. things with nyx were easy; he was careful about what she might feel, but the gilded she-wolf had never seemed to ask more of him than his ... role in her future conception.
it was both odd and a relief, a comingling of sensation he would explore later. the day was getting on; he climbed a small stone rung and looked back to nyx. "i vas heading to this odd little cave i found the other day, if you vould like to come vith me."

"Glad", he said. Glad that she had tagged along, drifted from Diaspora to Sagtannet. Nyx felt something stir within her then, a flurry in the pit of her abdomen that she struggled to understand. When was the last time someone had shared appreciation for her presence, if ever?

She smiled, a thin and watery expression that tugged at her muzzle - silent gratitude for Mahler's sentiment toward her. The tawny Ostrega, having been through a great much with the Diaspora wolves, had not given thought to moving elsewhere. Besides, the idea of starting over entirely once more was hardly appealing.

"I would," she responded with a curious twitch of her peppered tail, "no monsters making a home of it, I hope?" An amused smirk then, as she considered the possibility of its suitability as a whelping den.

"none that i have seen," mahler rejoined, musing over potentially gifting such to nyx. wylla would want to pluck her own den from her surroundings, more than likely ensconced in briars and set far away from easy reach. but he did not know what the golden she-wolf wished.
mahler guided them to windholme's higher reaches, trotting along the bank some ways until he came upon the recently discovered cave, sitting back some ways from the downward flow of the river but still in sight.
a pause, lilac stare shifting to nyx for a moment before he approached the small mouth and sniffed the earth-toned air.

Silence fell over the duo and Nyx followed Mahler obediently, trailed quietly along at his flank. Hawkish eyes studied their rugged surroundings, swept over undisturbed snow and dark rocks that glistened beneath Winter's sun with a thick layer of ice. The spires were cold, she felt, unforgiving - suitable for Sagtannet's toughened wolves.

The General paused at the mouth of a cave, and the tawny Ostrega eased alongside him. She lowered her head to sniff at the ground, test the scents to ensure there were no other creatures making a home of it. Her dark-furred companion did likewise and, with a sideways glance at him, Nyx dipped her crown and moved to venture into the darkness.

it was his turn to follow at nyx' flank, intrigued by the empty loam-smell of the cave. it would have been suitable for plants, for his traveling pharmacy, but as he looked to his companion, he wondered if it might be better meant for other things.
children, perhaps. 
it was secluded enough from the rest of the pack without being inaccessible. nyx was a standoffish sort, shy; she seemed to enjoy her solitude. lavender gaze glinted in the half-light as he explored the floor of the little hollow.

She looked around, over a peppered shoulder, to seek the dark features of her companion in attempt to gauge his thoughts. A raven ear swivelled, alert for the sound of running water nearby. Nyx rather appreciated what the cave had to offer and, with a future litter at the forefront of her mind, she knew exactly what she was looking for in a whelping den.

Mahler did too, evidently.

This one may not be home to monsters, but the tawny Ostrega fanced that it could be. Her monsters.

She regarded her leader with an approving gaze, the hawkish irises glimmering with quiet gratitude. "I think I'll keep it," Nyx announced at last.

mahler gave nyx a warm look. "i am glad you like it," he sighed with pleasure into the convivial atmosphere of her new den. he was relieved in a way that she had accepted this, for he felt it suitable to her needs. 
if allowed he would reach out to her now, a moment of quiet respect and affection.

When he spoke, Nyx wondered if it had been his intention to present this hollow to her as a whelping burrow all along. It didn't bother her that Mahler might potentially see her as incompetent in finding her own, and in fact she found it rather sweet of him to have considered her with such a find.

Her tail wagged softly as the dark leader ventured closer, reached out to her in a gesture of quiet affection that she accepted with warmth. Nyx bumped her snout to her companion's chin and drew back to offer one last fond glance before she turned away, keen to begin work to prepare what was to be her new densite.

fading this! <3

mahler returned her gesture with a gentle nudge of his own, warmed by nyx' clear gaze before she turned back to her densite. he took himself off then, glancing back one time before he sought out a task, though the warmth of the day's find remained in his heart for many hours.