Moonspear Frozen here on the ladder of my life

Alaric moved through the pack lands again. In his maw, some antlers and sticks he had found. He wanted to put them some place where when he was treating children, if he ever had the chance. The spear was full of healers. Perhaps he should have tried to find a place with less wolves with the same trade as he. He briefly thought of the woman Avicus. He could have tried his luck there maybe? Eh whatever, he was in for the long haul he supposed.

There would be children to tend too and wounds to fix and sickness. He knew this. So quietly under his breath he hummed as he walked. Music dancing through his heart, ever so often moving in place a small little dance break. No one could say Alaric Willow wasn't a content and happy wolf. Sharp eyes glittered happily.

Ten days in and Lele seemed to have found the place to her liking. It had taken time to get used to the elevation and she still got out of breath, while taking paths that led upwards. Stopping and turning around to see, how far she had walked, helped to get back on track again. Still after a lifetime of being a "crawler" (meaning those, who preferred to roam the flat side of the Earth) adjusting was neither fast, nor easy. 

After that first friendly banter on the borders with Argent Lele had not found the courage or confidence to approach other pack members. Another old habit that was harder to break than she had imagined. In her life as a nomad for the most part she had not relied on anyone and therefore even the need to communicate was hard to find. Even now it held true, except she had chosen to be in a pack, because she no longer wanted to live on the fringes of life. 

So, when she spotted a tall dark stranger carrying, what appeared to be a bouquet of antlers and twigs, she followed the fellow at a distance to see, where he ended up with the baggage. Only then did she address him with a: "What is that you are building?"

I apologize in advance for him. he's loud and exuberant and I hope he doesn't upset her shyness too badly.

More and more wolves were making their home upon the Spear, and Alaric found he didn't want to engage as much as he once had. Perhaps it was just he was tired. He had made a living from talking, trading and sometimes even flirting and he supposed in a way he was tired of it. That didn't mean that he didn't mind company, or to have a conversation. He just no longer sought it out. He also felt strangely alone here. He had never felt alone before, or lonely. But here he really did. Everyone was making bonds, and well he just wasn't. And he knew in part that was his absolute exuberance in all things. he was tiring. He shook his head to chase the musing and continued humming. If his mouth wasn't full he'd have broken out into song. He gave a soft little dance in place.

A voice behind him, one he didn't recognize. Thank goodness he was mostly towards his wooded Ulaq. He laid the items at his feet and turned. Green eyes danced in delight and a foot tap tapped. Then he smiled, just as impish as the green eyes.

Hi. Not building anything. I am a healer, storyteller, and trader. And I was gathering things to give to little ones for treats when they visit me for healing or for a story. Can't have unhappy little minds now can we. I'm Alaric Willow.

If only he had known she too had traveled most of her life, but he had done it to meet other's. He had found no one with his inclination to travel as of yet.

Lele was not an introvert by nature, but rather an introvert by circumstances. She enjoyed company, but it had always been such a rare treat that she had it difficult to travel smoothly the intricacies of communication. Especially if she had to be the one to drag the conversation by the nape with the other party unwilling or not interested. Luckily for her - this guy was not shy and he talked for both of them. A definite win!

"Well, unhappy adult minds are also no fun to have around," she remarked, looking the man up and down as long as it was polite to do so. And - yes - of course, her biologically feminine part of mind, who had been screaming at her for the past few seasons "give me a baby!" - did an automatic matchmaking. Willow was a nice family name and he also fit all the criteria of a "tall, dark and handsome stranger". She smiled to herself glad that the packmate had no idea, what kind of mathematical equations her imagination was cooking up. 

"Name's Lele," she introduced herself. "So - do you have kids of your own here?" she asked, having not yet got to know the two (?) moms-to-be and their husbands. Plus, in her experience, having one mate did not exclude having a second. Or a third. 

Alaric had never been a shy wolf. If anything he was always so much to take. But his heart was always in a good place, even if his words weren't. It was the way of things really. There had been many times when he had been alone for days at a time, traveling from one pack to another. And it was then he had filled the silence with song and humming.

She read the room quickly and him. He felt a bit like he had just been walked in on doing something naughty. But he didn't entirely mind. She was a pretty woman. Few years older than him he'd wager, but nothing wrong with that. She could maybe teach him a thing or two.

Well Met Lele. He shook his head. I'm unattached as they say and I have not been sought after for anyone's favor either. He smiled good naturedly at that. 

Do you have kids?

"Handsome chap like you and no ladies lining up to woo you? That's very hard to imagine," Lele chuckled. "Or there is a story of, why is it so," she smiled, leaving it up to Alaric to decide, whether he wanted to share this or leave it be. 

"Well, I have not been sought after either - the way you put it," she said with such an ease that even surprised herself. Her mind was still not at peace at times for the difference between, how she had imagined her life to be and what it had turned out to be like. 

"So - no, no mate or children. Single and proud," she finished. "I used to think that I was the odd one out, but it turns out that there are far more single people out there than those, who have found their match. Even far less those, whose match is happy union," the longer she lived, the less she understood, what had held Larkspur and Tambourine together. They had had nothing in common, save for lust for each other every year. 

Alaric smiled impish and prideful. A glint in his green eyes. Woo me no. Get beneath the undercarriage sure. Though not in the teekon as of yet. Up until recently I wasn't a stationary beast. I was a nomadic storyteller and healer. I would go pack to pack trading different things. Sometimes even this body for a place to sleep. He shrugged a shoulder. He was proud of the life he lived honestly. There had been no cruelty in his life, and pleasure had by all.

Sounds like they were fools then. He winked at her.

Alaric settled to his haunches and tilted black head sideways. Brown tipped ears perked towards the she wolf in front of him. I believe most of the wolves here live by these rules. They seek out what make them happy. Njord and Meerkat are a couple. But I know Sialuk seeks out pleasure with many, and it is cultural that they can take more than one lover. 

He shifted. What I am trying to say is you might find happiness here, at least in the flesh. And can continue to stay single if you so choose.

Lele got an awful lot of details she had not asked for and did not quite know, what to think about the level of desperation the man had had been in to trade his flesh for basic necessities of life. For any other person she could have felt sorry, but Alaric did not seem to mind the way life had treated him. Whatever the reason was - he appeared to take pride in it too.

Then the topic moved to him talking freely of, how Sialuk - their leader - would hopefully take more than one mate and she looked over her shoulder uncomfortably to see, if there were no uninvited pair of ears listening. She did not now the alpha well, but she had a feeling that talking like this was a form of heresy. "Yeah... I guess everyone lives the way they deem fit," she finally said and with that she did not quite know, what else to add. Her mind still tried to ruminate on all the details she had received.

Alaric shifted and reached for his items. Realizing quickly that she hadn't wanted nor needed all that information. SO it was time to politely excuse himself. It was his life he could speak of it how he felt he wanted too. As a matter of fact in Sialuk's life, her family's traditions. He would have had a place of honor as a trader. It was common place for men to offer to allow women to breed with them. Some even married. They still took men to their hearth. It wasn't his place to judge the prude levels of anyone though, and he felt bad he had made her uncomfortable.

He saw no reason to lie about SIaluk. Sia told other's herself that she wished to take many lovers, at their meet and greet at the borders. So he saw nothing wrong with sharing, what she already freely shared, but who was he to know what other's would feel about it. He sighed. 

Have a good day, Ms. Lele.

"Hey!" Lele stepped in the guys way, in case his farewell was followed by him attempting to leave. "You do not avalanche other people with intimate details of your life and leave them to fend for themselves," she told, though for a minute there she wondered, whether she had misread the situation completely and he had wanted to get rid of her from the get go. People could fake being nice and cordial, but she did not believe that even Alaric had mastered the craft of being that natural in the art of lying.

"No, no, no, no..." she told him shaking her head and chuckling. "Now it is your turn to sit down and listen to all the stuff I have to tell you!" she looked him in the eyes, gaze alight with laughter, but expression semi-serious, as if daring him not to obay. Ranks or no ranks, she was the older of the two. She could very well be his mom. 

Well now he was just confused. He studied her and then dipped his head. I wrongly thought I had made you infinitely uncomfortable, which let's face it I do a lot. And thought perhaps it would be best to leave you to it, but I will stay. Alaric hated lying felt it was stupid. Honestly, he'd seen more fun things happen just from the truth honestly.

He settled to his haunches and held out a paw. Then the floor is yours my beautiful lady. Alaric didn't care one whit about age, and honestly older woman, could teach him a thing or too he had no doubt.

"Do you know, why assumptions make crap arguments? There is an "ass" in the word," Lele had a sense of victory, when she saw that Alaric was the confused one at the end of the round two. It was not often that she managed to score - especially hard, if you are on your own for most of the time. 

"So - let's begin with a very obvious question - why the hell do you think that leaving is/was the best option? Do you do that every time you shock a person?" she looked at him curiously. "I mean - my life has not been as adventurous as yours, obivously not in that kind of way, but that does not make you any less of an interesting subject to study," she explained. 

"So - before I unload upon yo my mommy issues and childhood trauma - care for a bit of interrogation at first?" she asked. "So in case we ever come to a situation, where you threaten to reveal my dirty secrets, I have something to hold against you," she grinned, half serious, half jokingly.

A soft chuckle left his maw and he dipped his head. Very true.

He didn't know how he felt about her getting one up on him, though he was amused at least.

He shrugged a shoulder. This is my first long term stay in a pack. I am still learning my place and nuances of pack life. And I don't no. Study all you want.

Ask whayever you want my lady. And I'll be honest, but be warned. I am blunt in my honesty.

What he didn't say was he was shameless always.

Alaric may have held back the "I am shameless" part, but after the first shock of him having no filter, Lele did not expect him to have any now either. The fact that this guy offered to unpack all the stuff that was inside his closet - dirty laundry, clean laundry, skeletons, living people, stolen jewels, dance shoes and deals with the devil himself - made him all the more interesting subject to study. She did not need to handle him as a fragile and expensive porcelain vase - she could hammer him like a concrete wall. 

"Okay - World peace or a good bang?" she asked the first thing that came up in her mind.

Alaric had no problems sharing his life. It wasn't for everyone and if they wanted to judge him for the life he lead that was a them problem, not a him problem. Did it feel good not particularly, but it wasn't his job to apologize for himself or his feelings on anything, just as it wasn't other wolves either..

He question pulled a laugh from him and he thought about it. So the polite answer is world peace, but since I don't believe that will ever happen, no matter how hard we try. A good bang. And if i'm giving up world peace, it better be mind blowing. Like f*** my life up good.

"Believer of the Big Bang Theory, I see..." Lele laughed at Alaric's almost predictable answer to her question. What would he do, if the activity proved to be disappointing? She refrained from asking him, what he thought of the quality of peace in the world - meaning that "peace" could be good, bad or peace for peace's sake. Sometimes a good conflict - though damaging and traumatic - could prepare ground for something new. The other thing his answer suggested was that he would put his priorities above that of other people. If the price was good enough. 

"Most embarrassing situation you have ever found yourself in? That's - assuming that you have any sense of shame or moral code," she poked fun at him again. 

He grinned. Only if it's life ruining good, love. Remember that. He winked and chuckled. Truthfully, Alaric was not one that went out and did whomever he pleased. He did like to have some type of connection at least. Whether it was communication or a physical like. He had to have something with the other.

He chuckled. Well i mean not much shame, but let's see.

He nodded. I was a trader and as i said I traded in flesh on occasion.......

He chuckled he could laugh now. I met a princess of sorts, pretty, funny and sarcastic. We made a connection and then one more physical...and i went on my merry way.... i went to another pack....where i met this prince. Handsome fella, down to earth, little wild.......and one thing led to another....his fiance showed up....it was the princess from the other pack.

"Here's the trick with "life-ruining-good", my dear," Lele emphasized the last word, retaliating for his hint of patronizing tone earlier. "Life does not stop at that one particular moment. It moves on. Then what? It is kind of like in that joke about all the people, who have committed suicide. And - guess what - the next day they feel different, but there is nothing you can do about it," she grinned. 

"So you formed one big and happy polyamorous family and lived happily ever after?" she asked sarcastically, but there was no malice in her voice. Just her having fun. "Like in the fairy-tales? Which part of the kingdom did you get?"

The suicide quote - paraphrased and borrowed from "Austenland" movie.

it does if the world is ending in a violent haze of death. Which is waht I'm talking about here. You said world peace or good bang right? So i figure if i have to choose between the two right this minute then something bad is about to happen. he smiled, there was no cruelty in his tone. He was merely explaining his thought process.

He chuckled. No, i almost lost both heads, but really it wasn't  bad. Once everyone calmed down. They thought it was funny as well. Their parents....eh not so much. I left them both happy so there's that.

I got the swamp lands, certified swamp witch here.

"Oh, no, no, no - there was no mention about the world ending. Just world peace. Does not mean that, if you pass up the opportunity to make the choice, the other ones will," Lele shrugged, then listened to the rest of his story. "Well, if they are all consenting adults - who cares, what parents think. Besides - who knows, maybe they ended up marrying a third in the family. Perhaps of bluer bloodlines and such," she suggested. 

"A witch - huh? What's your magic then? Besides acting as a succubus/incubus on the side?" she asked. 

He sighed in mock distress, but then smiled all the same. I'd probably still pick the big bang. What can I say shameless and sinful i live by it. There was a little bit of truth to that. Truthfully though he wasn't as shameless or as sinful as he liked to act. Well maybe as shameless, but sinful not so much. he tried to be good, most of the time.

Nothing wrong with Polymory if everyone agrees and respects one another.

His brow furrowed as he thought. Oh, I can tell you a story that will freeze you in place and I can cure your ails or poison your enemies. That is the type of witch I am.

"I have learned that, what constitutes a sin is a matter of perspective and perception," Lele remarked. What was considered a sin by one man, may not be such in the eyes of the other. "Yeah, probably, but I think that it is very difficult to maintain. The balance, I mean. Two people are hard enough and most times not very succesful. Three may be too much," in other words, with her experience (or lack of good ones to refer to) she did not really believe in the concept of polyamory. At least not for herself. 

"No one has cured old age yet and I am so boring that I do not have any enemies," she dismissed the offer. "But - do freeze me in place with a scary story," she challenged him.

Okay so this isn't that great. It's one of those two sentence starters so i had to infer a lot and honestly i'm terrible at scary stories lol

Alaric gave a soft smirk. She wasn't wrong. Often what he thought as morally unacceptable other's didn't and vice versa. This was the way of things. However, he did know that perspective mattered in everything. Because everyone saw things differently. And you had to have the grace to accept it as his sister would say.

He gave a soft shrug. I probably shouldn't really have an opinion on such things. I've never been in a relationship myself. One night stands and quickies are what I've always done. He gave a lift of his shoulder at that. A darkening edge to his eyes that he quickly shifted around.

He tilted his head and began. Adopting the voice and persona of someone other than himself. I used to ignore what they told me. And that my son couldn't talk anymore. But i told them they were wrong he's talking to my right now. Even though my paws are ditry from the ground and I lay him to rest only a day or so ago.

All is well.

If that was supposed to be a scary story, Lele did not get it. Her expression kept the curious look and after the short tale had been finished, she waited for continuation a little while, until she understood that there was not going to be any. "So - where is the scare?" she asked Alaric to clarify, because she sure had missed the point of it. 

"I mean, a lot of people would give anything to hear their dead talk to them again? A communication beyond the veil and such - if that makes you happy, why should it matter, what other people consider normal?" she mused.

Alaric chuckled. In most cases wolves would be disenheartened that another didn't understand their story, but Alaric was the kind who now wanted to prove he could do it. He saw it as a challenge. 

Apparently I need to work on my scary stories based on your reaction. I usually get asked for love stories or fantasy stories, so apparently I didn't keep my skill up. But don't you worry, i'll get it back. A grin of mischief lit up his eyes.

He shook his head. Telling would take away from the story, but he understood so he answered. It's one of those ones that's supposed to be short and make you think. He killed his son, and he knows he killed his son. His son is haunting him.