Whitebark Stream düsternis

perhaps a @Meerkat? <3

mahler did not pause.
he drove his body forward, damned himself not to think of wylla or phaedra, not to be consumed with empty, hopeless longing, and ordered that his cough bind itself for a time.
the stream was as good a place as any. mahler stopped there and called in a grey dirge for a messenger from duskfire to attend their ally there.

She was idly scratching at an ear with her hind leg, a dopey smile on her face, when a nearby howl made her jump. Meerkat dropped her foot and sat up straighter, then swayed onto all fours. She peered in the direction of the call, then looked around for a sign of anyone else in the area. When she saw no one, the yearling decided she couldn't ignore someone so close by and began trotting south, following Qeya River out of the territory and then eastward as it dwindled.

She slowed when she spotted a swarthy figure beside the stream. "Hey there," Meerkat called, tail slowly swaying as she closed the distance. Towhee would've told her to say, "State your name and business." She opted for the slightly more diplomatic, "How can I help you?"

in time, a young emissary of the glacier answered. the gargoyle flicked his eyes over her, but no recognition came to him. "i am mahler, graf of rivenvood. friend and ally to vintersbane and duskfire."
"i am looking for a boy named vorripa who has recently gone missing from the bypass. he has a slim build vith a grey pelt and seavater eyes. i ask only that you look vhen and vhere you are able."
"the second news is that some time ago, kynareth deagon and nyra of the saints came to us. they vere rude upon the borders and vere ordered avay. ve had trouble vith them years before, relocating to avoid their strife. they seek a pack called ursus, but more than that, they are a violent sort. they are both large beasts. he has stripes and she is snow-vhite."
all the words tumbling, but mahler felt that this was a professional meet, and felt everything pertinent must be said at once.

An absolute deluge of information came pouring out of the man's mouth. Meerkat tried to keep up, though the mention of a lost boy made her stomach flip in an uncomfortably familiar way. "I ask only that you look vhen and vhere you are able..." On some level, she understood the words weren't necessarily meant for her personally, though she felt her skin prickling as her mouth suddenly went dry.

She did her best to focus on everything else he had to say. Almost none of the names and places were familiar to her. Meerkat tried to jot them down in a notepad in her mind, though honestly she couldn't help but think out loud, "Would you like me to call for Wintersbane? I think we should..." This all sounded like rather serious business and though she could've passed it on to the leader, she figured he might prefer to hear it directly from his ally himself, not some relative newcomer.

"i do not think so," the man said more gruffly than he had meant, though he softened with apology in the next. "i am told vintersbane has many children this year. he vould not vant to leave them for a message. i vill repeat anything you vish and more slowly. but it is important that this is carried back."
he had asked for all of duskfire, and it was this girl who had come. mahler was unsure he himself could stand upon the borders of the glacier and be faced with stigmata's degree of success. it was a privately toxic thought, one never utterable. "i vill come to see him myself vonce i have searched the taiga a vhile longer."

He disagreed with her and Meerkat could only blink at his curt rejoinder. Was he in a rush? Was this more emergent than she realized? Her lips parted but he softened and explained why he didn't think it was necessary to fetch the leader.

The yearling didn't say anything as silence fell between them. Most leaders bore children and knew how to juggle childcare with their duties. Surely Wintersbane would at least want the opportunity to attend this impromptu rendezvous himself, regardless of what this Mahler thought.

Then Meerkat realized: he'd howled and no one had come, no one but herself. She let out a breath and nodded, then said, "Yes, if you don't mind, run it past me one more time so I can make sure I don't forget any of it."

She felt a prickle of embarrassment for needing a repetition but she quashed it. Meerkat hadn't expected the dump of information and could take better note second time around. And surely Mahler wanted this critical information passed along not just as expeditiously but as accurately as possible too.

mahler began again, slowing himself and pausing after each piece of information. when he had finished, he regarded the girl with a blink. it would have been easier to give wintersbane himself, but their visit must come another time. 
"there you have it. vorripa and the saints." 
once upon a time, it had been praimfaya's name there.
he waited for her to answer, slightly relieved to have redeemed himself and this meeting.

"Got it," came Meerkat's response after he finished the second run-through. She paused, then added on a more personal note, "I wish I could say I've seen this Vorripa. I know what you're going through." She swallowed thickly, eyes cutting to her feet.

They swept up again and she told Mahler, "I'll deliver this message to @Wintersbane right away." But she waited, in case there were any final amendments.

I thought I'd tag WB so you can infer she spoke to him behind the scenes if you want! :)

totally good! <3

mahler shook his head, then paused. "i have nothing to add, save for congratulations on his successes." his eyes were soft with the recognition of her empathy. "i am afraid in my haste i did not receive your name," mahler murmured gently.
now that the moment had passed, it was his turn to feel rather chagrined.

"Congratulations on his successes," Mahler added. Meerkat wondered what he meant, though she didn't ask. She would pass it along with everything else. The only important thing was that Wintersbane understood it.

"Meerkat," she replied with a gentle smile, easily forgiving his prior gruffness. "Meerkat Re—um, of Duskfire." Well, that was rather obvious at this point, wasn't it? She felt a little bad, dropping her surname from the introduction, but the yearling reminded herself one of the reasons she was this far north was to make a name for herself.

"It was nice to meet you, Mahler," she said in conclusion.

"the pleasure is mine, meerkat. i hope ve can meet again. preferably under better circumstances."
he would watch until she was removed from sight, and then return to his search. rivenwood would not find him again until nightfall, dismal, tangled, and tired.
he knew his message would be carried well. the duskfire wolves had earned their good reputation.