Sleepy Fox Hollow yeah, i've been throwin' down the whiskey

the morning sky, painted in drab colors of grey, works against kaskae as he trudges along the slick rocks of sawtooth spire. after spending the past few nights nestled in a cavern seeking the relative dryness from the rains and snows when the temperature dropped, he decides he can no longer remain there.

perhaps because there would always be a part of him that yearned for structure, yearned for socialization despite that he wasn't great at it.

never was, never would be.

the branch of tartok he'd stayed with on and off had seemingly accepted it but, as he was bound to do: found his way back to the wilds.

in the higher elevations of the spire the mist is thick and comes with a chill that seeps into his bones. it forces him to slow; to be mindful of where he stepped and then the scent of pack that grows stronger with each step he takes forces him to stop all together.

he was nearing borders; had to be.

yawning below he could make out the cradle of a valley and on little more than a impulse tilts his head back and howls for the wolves that inhabit the hollow, announcing his presence near their doorstep.

siku never patrolled.

not really. he liked to follow the trail of wylla and mahler. emmerich too. yet he did not guard as they did. he shuffled through the snow, searched for plants left behind or forgotten by the cold. an impossible task for an impossible boy.

so color him surprised when for once it seemed he was closest to a call.

for a moment, he panicked that it would be somebody from mereo.

then, as he rounded a slope, he realized they didn't look like somebody from mereo. nor did they really smell like mereo. he sucked in a sudden sharp breath and began to near. his towering height may have been frightful if not for the lack of bulk on his body.

hello, he did his best to stand tall, proud. paleo was his home now too. i'm siku, of paleo. and there he feels a small ember of pride in his chest.

might i...ask why you called?

the pack wolf that greets him is young, kaskae can tell. the unrelenting mist works to obscure some of the vision, but there is a youthfulness to the young man that introduces himself as siku of paleo that belays youthfulness. a boy not yet a man.

a growth phase of life kaskae has just cusped himself.

hey, greets the tartok; tone easy and body language neutral. i'm kaskae of ...well nowhere.

kaskae pauses for a moment, brows rising for a moment, considering the question. it was a good one. impulse had sparked the action but now consequence stares him in the face. well, drawls kaskae in a heavy breath. i was wondering if there may be space in your paleo for me.

oh.

he found a sudden relief when the other guy just said a hey. it wasn't formal, most certainly not the strict speech of a soldier.

oh! he beamed, livening up a little bit despite his previous awkward demeanor. well, i can't really say for certain. that will be up to @Wylla or @Mahler — they lead paleo. he informed the other male with a soft smile. truthfully he imagined wylla already had a mind on the situation. siku was more like a...fill in. hardly, but kind of!

buuut what do you offer, though? can you hunt?

kaskae tucks those names away, noting their importance. mahler and wylla. still, until one of them showed to take over, he would answer siku's questions. gotcha, kaskae murmurs with a sage nod of his head. his gaze scans the territory behind siku, looking for signs of approach from either of the wolves that the boy mentions before it falls back to the cub.

me? i can hunt. and i can guard. they feel like basic skills that all wolves should have though. i'm also a pretty damn decent tracker.

he was far more interested in the matters of hunting.

for paleo was a place of hunters and gathers. he already trusted it being well guarded by everybody else here. he imagined mahler and wylla might appreciate another set of hunting hands.

paleo is pretty big on plants and hunting. do you think you could teach tracking to...me? if you stay.

there was a tentative sway to the tail that hung limp behind him.

i could teach you plants.

to the information that paleo was big on hunting — and plants — causes kaskae to give the boy a sage nod. he didn't know much about plants, in all fairness, but between tracking and hunting he thought, maybe, he might be a decent fit. or at the very least have a chance at being considered.

the question siku asks almost sounds hesitant, at least how kaskae perceives it. `course, kaskae tells siku with an ease. knowledge is for sharing. at least, that's how he sees it. even if i'm not accepted, i could still show you how to track. there were a plethora of neutral territories, after all, and kaskae, without cubs of his own has that instinctual desire to pass along what he knows.

if siku was willing to learn: kaskae'd be willing to teach.

i can't promise i'll be any good with plants, but i'll do my best to learn if you're willing to teach me. a soft laugh slips from betwixt kaskae's lips, a lofty shrug given.

mahler arrived in time to hear the voice of the young man, strangely familiar.
but that had been years ago.
still, he approached with caution, lifting his head and coming to flank siku. the last time he had seen this youthful creature, mahler had taken the bypass from his mother and he had been angered, confused.
did he come back in her name?
'it has been a vhile."

siku allowed himself to feel that small sense of thrill.

to think that he may have secured a good body for paleo, that he had somebody else to talk to about plants. although that feeling gently shrunk at the voice of mahler.

"it has been a vhile."

he turned his head to respectfully gaze upon the advisor. there was something here the young boy was missing, but he was content to fall silent now.

it takes kaskae a moment, as the dark pelaged man appears, to remember. confusion settles over him for a moment, tugging the space betwixt his brows into a soft furrow. he does not place right away ... until he does.

the fall of legion, haunt and him faced with the man when they'd thought they'd been returning home.

but they were older now, both of them. and legion had been gone for so long.

indeed, drawls kaskae. i was speaking to young siku here, he gestures with his muzzle to the pale boy. and i was hoping you'd have a place for me. i can hunt and track and guard. a pause is given there and in a low murmur kaskae offers, what happened at legion was a long time ago and i have no interest in harboring a grudge.

mahler looked thoughtfully at the younger man. he was hale and if he did entertain thoughts of a takeover, he might be strong enough to be a competitor.
but paleo was in need of hunters and mahler was not fool enough to decline. he glanced warmly toward siku. "vhat is our guest's name, and vhat skills does he bring?" he asked of the aspiring guardian.
he would keep his wariness close.

he wondered more on if he had made a mistake somehow. without knowing it!

but kaskae seemed content to let whatever history was there be laid to rest. mahler said nothing for a moment, then spoke to siku. whose ears stood tall and when his voice came out it was soft.

son to father.

kaskae. he says he is a good hunter, a very good tracker.

a soft pause, bashful as he looked back to the other boy. then again to mahler.

i told him i would teach him plants too, if he stayed. then he would teach me more hunting as well.

the next set of questions are not for kaskae, directed instead by mahler to siku. kaskae is, accordingly, quiet, pyrite grey eyes following the progress of the conversation. he shifts his weight slightly, gaze moving then to mahler where it rests. his fate is in the hands of mahler; though if he didn't get accepted it wasn't be all, end all. at any rate, the idea of trying to find another pack to join was a grueling one and not one kaskae particularly looked forward to.

all he could hope was that his spoken merits were enough to buy him entry and give him the chance to prove he had the skills to back them up, that he could be useful to paleo.

siku pulled good details from recollection. mahler nodded at the quiet boy who had become his son and then looked back at kaskae. "i hold you to your vord," he said, but his tones were not commanding.
paleo had become a place of exchange. mahler stepped aside to indicate that kaskae should join he and siku. "ve have begun trading vith other packs. i suppose that by spring you, siku, might be ready to travel in trade. perhaps you, kaskae, vith your experience outside the pack, might see the merit in it as vell."
mahler presumed that he and wylla would be rather preoccupied come that time.

his cheeks felt flushed.

warm when mahler spoke of the coming spring, when siku would be a bit older to do...more. to travel and trade. he had not given too much thought to places beyond his paleo family.

he wished to ask what things he could possibly trade!

but now was not the time to doubt his knowledge in the plants and animals of paleo. so he stayed hushed, but warm to both men with him. prepared to lead the little group further into paleo.