the centuries fade below my feet

For @Lucius, set near the base of Silvertip. :)

He returned the mountain, though for what Mordecai had no idea. He didn't know what he expected to find there, whether it was the loa that Lecter had so fondly spoken of, or the ghosts that he did not believe in. It had been where his careless, thoughtless steps had taken him that evening. Where the mountain was nothing more than a majestic marker from the highest point of the Spine, he still knew the pathways and trails of its changing, elevated terrain by heart. Beneath it, twilight scarcely mattered. Darkness had coated itself over the finer points in that shadow, and above it he could see the constellations and entities of the world above.

It was the stars above him that had eventually drawn him upwards, finding an open break in the mottled, thinning canopy in which to view them. While the mountain still loomed over him, Mordecai chose not to look at it and left his back to it. Even through the last few rays of the setting sun, the darkening sky held the brightest of stars. Their shapes and sizes ranged from large to small, just as their colors varied. He knew nothing that some of those stars were in fact planets, and it was perhaps safe to say in his current state he could not have cared. Try as he might, Mordecai found it difficult to recall the stories of those constellations that his father had told him, and found his thoughts returning rapidly to that of the Spine and its inhabitants.

agalloch — as embers dress the sky

The roman had been on a many travels in his lifetime, but so far, this had been of the longest he had ever entrenched himself to. The man shook his pelt, sending the remaining of the glistening flakes of snow of of his silkily ruffled charcoal speckled pelt. How much longer before he reached the landmark?

Lucius scanned the desolate plains, until his electric blue orbs fell upon its target. A mountain. And a very large one, at that. The yearling decided it would be here, that he would train. As he continued forward, however, the faint breeze that barely blew, alerted him to something. Mercury was sending him a warning, and no matter how distracting it was to be grateful from such a gift of the God, he forced himself to focus on its meaning. Another individual was in the near proximity, and for the second time, he would run into another lupine.
A sarcastic oh great loped around his mind, as Lucius kept up speed with his travels.

The roman battle prince trotted up to the other wolf, and decided upon being a fairly decent conversationist. With manners and humility and all that jazz, he would simply save that for another day. After all, he didnt know this dude.

"Hello.", he said simply, giving the brief older wolf a swift size up with his luminous obs, before standing in a wary position behind him.

It was shortly into his distracted gazing that Mordecai garnered he wasn't alone. It was rare that he found himself truly alone except when he really wanted to be. Wolves were social creatures by default and no matter where they went, they were innately drawn to one another. He turned an ear just in time to catch the slowing of footfalls behind him, only turning when he heard a greeting.

What he found was a yearling, with startlingly blue eyes. Not what he expected, but then again Mordecai hadn't been expecting anything at all. He shifted in his seat, but did not move to otherwise close the gap between them. “Lost?” He ventured a guess. When it came to the canines of a younger sort, Mordecai had never seen many of them. The Spine was relatively empty of them and he assumed for the most part many of the packs were as well.

Nope. Manners no longer worked. The cream and russet sculpted lupine did not repond to his greeting, in turn questioning him. His golden hued orbs scanned Lucius, and it was one he had no choice but to allow. After all, the company was quite a size bigger than he, though intimidating, the roman would not let it daunt him.

"Yea, you could say that.", he replied, a slice of smartass in his voice as a retaliation for the brute not answering his greeting.
Hurt pride much, Lucius?

My replies are strange, and I apologize. Not running on a lot of sleep lately. :C

The smart quip that came as his response provoked a thin smile out of Mordecai. It wasn't like everyone expected to get called out, although he didn't quite catch that he had gotten the hurt response because he hadn't answered a simple hello. So in reality, he hadn't done much of anything other than suggest something that wasn't true. “Ah, and here I expected you'd tell me that those who wander are not lost,” he opted to say. In his mind, the act that the youth had claimed not to be lost told him that he had somewhere to be, or at least somewhere to go.

“Either way, it's not nice to sneak up on others. Where are you trying to find?” If he came from somewhere nearby, Mordecai figured he could at least point him in the right direction. But when it came down to it, he himself didn't know much about the land out beyond the mountain, other than the landmarks that he had come to discover had often held packs of their own. Fitting, in that regard he supposed.

Its chill, no worries! Its not like I have anything better to do, plus I dont mind the wait. :P

The salt and peppered layered young man observed the russet, his brains cogs working to figure out how to respond. Either be an ass, or stick to being sarcastic.
Oh decisions, decisions.

"I am lost, im pretty sure. But its not like I have anywhere to go, so no particular place to be. "

As the roman spoke, he kept his head up, refusing to hurt his dignity over him being homeless.
He knew he had no where else to be, and he had no idea where his siblings were, so he pomdered what his other options could be.

Lmao, but I promised daily replies, so I'm doing my best to stick to that! :D

As it turned out, it seemed Mordecai had been wrong again. He found himself surprised with his own assumptions, but brushed it off. It was probably the stress and strain that had been plaguing him from the last few weeks, though it had yet to lighten its own load. It was the same stress that drove him out, back to the point of origin where so much had gone down and started the tumultuous cycle he found himself in.

“So you're a traveler then? Are you looking for a place to be?” He dove in head first to the predicament, to the options that sprung up in light of the yearling's prideful statements. This particular note of strength in the fellow reminded him momentarily of Cara, but that too he pushed away. The Spine needed strength, and he was most curious as to what answer he would get this time.

With a cool look at the warm coated male, the sharp black and white contrasted roman studied his company. Was there something he desired? Something that Lucius could offer? A bit of superiority trickled into his mind, yet he did not let it get the best of him.
Though the effort was tremendous for such.

"Yea, I'm a traveler, but I don't have anywhere to stay permanently. I dont even know these lands."

Lucius listened to the fellow man's second question, the glint becoming more apparent in his unusually high bight blue eyes.

"Yea, I'm currently searching for a place. Why?"

It was that brief, thoughtful-seeming pause between the answer to the first and second questions that gave Mordecai a shred of interest. Or maybe it was just hope underneath the guise of interest; either way, he found his attention was ready to settle wholly on the two-toned wanderer.

“Well, you could be in luck,” he started off, studying the appropriate expression (or lack thereof) on the yearling's face. “I happen to know a place that might be willing to take you in. What are you good at?” Though his own version of an interview was awkward, it couldn't have been avoided. Mordecai was no recruiter, not even much of a greeter. As it were, he had sailed directly into uncharted territory.

Luck. Luck
The roman almost scoffed, but kept a smirk as a default expression, to sedate the thrall of power he felt.
Luck. Lucius did not believe in luck. He believed in the will of Jupiter.
But he would play this man's games.

"That's good news to hear, thanks. As far of my abilities, I would say I am of a Warrior bloodline, one untained by any other line, but Warden. So far, I have also hone my Gamekeeper skills, as well. I confess, I am not one who is great at speech or wording, so I would make a poor ambassador, but I do follow my orders, and I follow them well."

The moment the charcoal pelted lupine tell him he was in luck, he knew immediately that the creamy russet was attempting to recruit him. He smelled of multiple wolves, and in all honesty?
Lucius was kinda glad he asked.

He may as well have said some of the magic words. Mordecai unknowingly strove for those to follow him, especially in light of his coming into power. Of course, the yearling's skills were just as important. They needed hunter just as much as they would have needed those that could protect them; Mordecai still had no real idea just what winter would bring to their neck of the woods. If anything, he would have preferred them to be over-prepared than not at all.

“That's good.” He did not mask the fact that he was pleased. There was something about this fellow that told him that he had already figured out where Mordecai stood in the grand scheme of things. “How well can you handle privacy, though?” he queried, rising to his feet to come in for a closer look… and to gauge how well his own intrusion would be handled.

Lucius watched as the brown and tan arrayed man strided a bit closer to him, and he stood still, unflinching at such a closer contact in his personal space. After all, if this was to be his superior, why distance himself?

"Confidentiality is nothing to fear, in my eyes. Only to be respected. If something is not to be spoken, then that will be heeded, and if something is to only be shared specifically with a certain person, then so be it. I respect those terms."

The bi colored roman watched the older wolf, the glint in his electric irises showing no emotions to the current situation.

The younger creature did not pull away from Mordecai as he lingered there, nor did he show deference. This may have uncovered a sense of unease for Mordecai, but it remained a mental feeling as he listened to the firm wording. For all his emotion-less expression, it seemed that he understood well enough. Jinx had taken them all to the Spine for that sense of privacy, and Mordecai intended to uphold it for as long and as well as he could.

“Good.” Mordecai's attention shifted beyond them for a moment, eyes tracing the pathways that could have potentially led them to the Spine. Then they came back to the two-toned face of the yearling. “The Spine has need of wolves like you. What's your name?”

A quick confirmational nod came from the crown of the roman.
Then if this were to be his home, let him make the best of such.

" I am Lucius Verus Angelus Mortis,...or just Lucius. Or even simpler, just Luc."

He left the words at that, for the warrior was not one much for words. Such a waste of time, they were. He rather his actions speak for him, the sharp blades sheathed within his powerful paws, the daggers hidden behind mere flaps of skin on his face, the brute strength radiating within him,..
But the time would come for such, soon enough.

It seemed as if the man was testing him, his close proximity attempting to etch a sense of discord and discomfort within the bicolored roman, yet he held his stance firm.

The name that he gave was quite a mouthful, but it wasn't quite as much as some that Mordecai had encountered. He had never quite grasped naming conventions and often times, left his own surname out of the picture. This time was not an exception, either. “Mordecai, and as I'm sure you've guessed, the pack I'm speaking of is my own.” The ghost of a smile spread on his muzzle, but it was quick to fade. He moved on beyond the yearling then, bumping his nose against the young warrior's flank. A faint welcoming, but an encouraging one he hoped all the same.

“Come with me, and I'll take you there. It's a bit of a walk but nothing I'm assuming you can't handle.” He supposed it was now or never, as to whether he'd be followed. For all intents and purposes, Mordecai certainly hoped he would be. He hoped if nothing else, his time hadn't been wasted, but a considerable part of him felt it hadn't. Whatever were to come about once winter set in, he felt if Lucius was true about his abilities, they would be all the more safer with him in their ranks than out.

The welcome he recieved was to be expected. After all, he had basically just eased himself into the request, allowing the Alpha a new soldier.
So be it.

Dipping his dark crown to the man, Lucius offered his respect to the lupines name and rank.

"Pleasure to be within your Legion, Mordecai. I will do whatever is asked, from you. "

The bi colored roman followed the path that his new leader had made, clear as water, his intention for the charcoal to follow. And follow, he did.
At the reference to his ability of travel, Luc gave a soft laugh.
Mordecai had no idea.

If you want to, go ahead and reapply for the usergroup and I'll title you. I'm gonna fade here if that's OK with you — we'll have to have another thread soon! :3

Lucius followed him, speaking words that Mordecai only had an inkling of. Whatever a legion was, he assumed to be a pack. It lended the young fellow culture that intrigued him, but he would save his queries for another time. His stargazing forgotten about, he picked up his pace to cover more ground. With the overgrown forests beneath Silvertip to trek through being time consuming, Mordecai did not want to waste any time in bringing the two-toned Roman to his new home.

im so sorry I never responded...I was sitting here wondering if you were gonna archive it, not knowing I was final post.

With ease, the roman kept in beat with the creams weave through the rugged ground, his paws able, and his limbs ample in surefootedness. As the duo traveled deeper into the lands soon to be learned by him, the two toned male kept his vivid eyes all around, drinking in the passing sights, memorizing the new place.
After all, this was where Vesta chose his path to be, so with loyalty, respect, and obedience, he not only followed this Mordecai, but the Gods, themselves, deeper into his new home.