Redtail Rise xv makittuk
Napatuqvik
Sangilak

“We are all eaters of souls.”


Dan Simmons, 'The Terror'

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#1
Limit Two 
Once everything was settled at the Watch the boy felt the urge to explore again, this time to the neighboring valley instead of the distant one; he wanted to check out the coast primarily and yet found himself ranging across a giant crevasse in the earth and around the fringe of forest that was the tangled maze—thinking fondly of the elder woman he had met.

Stjornuati had made his decision: Kigipigak would not venture back to the western valley until a later date. He was only welcome to travel locally for a while, and so Kigipigak would make the most of that.

Rather than venture in to the maze to get lost all over again, Kigipigak moved beyond it to where the forest tapered in to cliff. Curious about this space, as he thought of Njord and the cliffs the boy said he had migrated to, Kigipigak thought this could be the place.

Kigipigak climbed for a few hours and as the light began to leech away from him he realized, admittedly quite late, that the rise was not home to anyone. He recalled, as the purple sky lost its lustre, that Rosalyn had been nervous of strangers in this area—something about a rival tribe. The boy sniffed the air as he journeyed and remained cautious.
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#2
Stjor & Rökk's reunion thread isn't complete, so I'll be vague about their discussion - but this knowledge of Stjor's suspicion has been agreed OOC.  :)

From the watch's higher slopes where he lounged lazily beneath the Winter sun, Rökkvi observed the departure of a white-furred wolf and followed with a curious stare as he ventured across the valley below. Quick to assume that this was the secretive yearling his brother had spoken of, he wasted no time in his pursuit of him over the flatlands. Gathering to his paws, the ironborn picked his way carefully down the mountainside and trailed the river's edge toward the distant surf.

It took him several hours to catch up to the pallid yearling and when he did, his winding trail led him onto an unfamiliar spire. Rökkvi sniffed at the ground and the trees as he navigated unfamiliar terrain, eager to pinpoint the exact location of the wayward palefur, and at last caught sight of his light pelage through the foliage.

The ranger greeted him with a low rumble as he approached, unashamed to scrutinise him with a searching stare. He did not care if the alabaster brute had even noticed his pursuit of him across the land, nor if he had attempted to evade being found; Stjör was suspicious, and Rökkvi trusted his brother's intuition.
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Napatuqvik
Sangilak

“We are all eaters of souls.”


Dan Simmons, 'The Terror'

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#3
Empty of much, but not void of life. The rise held the scents of prey creatures primarily as well as a scant number of animal trails; some of these led north to where Kigipigak presumed there were wolves. There were faded scents along some trails that told him they were not often used except by a few knowing wolves.

Then there came a familiar scent—a gust bringing Rokkvi's allspice notes to him. When Kigipigak turned towards the scent he knew he would be close, but was surprised at just how close. The stranger held Stjornuati's mark upon him; Kigipigak did not appreciate being followed in this way, treated as if he could not be trusted.

The stranger tread closer, rumbling a warning as he drew near enough to do a full inspection. Kigipigak did not reach out to gather his scents the way he might have to Valmua, the way he had with Stjor; he tried to think of who this could be and could only name one other sibling:

You are... Sol? So far as Kigipigak knew this stranger fit the description.
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#4
"Rökkvi," came his low, levelled response. He had never once been mistaken for his littermate. Born bearing opposite pelts of soot and alabaster, it had been Solpallur who'd maintained his solid hue. Rökkvi's fur had darkened considerably through the years, steel and charcoal building in various shades. It had been the meaning behind his most recent title: to grow dark.

He pricked a raven lobe, and paused several feet away from the pale-furred yearling to study him with an invasive stare. An ear had been sheared quite recently, Rökkvi noted, and a fresh scar marred part of his face.

A reminder by the beast who gave it to him that he should probably talk less, he thought with mild amusement. 

He twitched a whisker. "You are rather far from the watch," came his observation, a suggestion in his tone that Rökkvi was very much aware of his brother's warning to the subordinates who he felt conspired against him. Really, he ought to punish the boy for disrespecting their leader's instruction by stealing away on his own, but his own place among the Greymoor wolves was uncertain still. For the time being, he was content to allow Kigi an opportunity to right his wrongs.
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Napatuqvik
Sangilak

“We are all eaters of souls.”


Dan Simmons, 'The Terror'

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#5
Valmua had told him of two brothers, not three. He wondered if that was on purpose or if she merely forgot the last one; maybe they did not have a strong foundation to their relationship. Maybe, and more appropriately, she did not anticipate his arrival. But whatever the reason Rokkvi had gone forgotten—and it made Kigipigak burn with a sharp embarassment to be corrected yet again by another Stormhaven. 

Maybe she had withheld the information for this precise kind of moment, a little fuck you to Kigipigak, some sort of bizarre power-play just for kicks.

The man's comment makes Kigipigak's mood sour a little. He turns his attention away from the sullen glare of the stranger and looks around at the white trees with their stripes, the piles of red scattered around and covered with a thin frost.

I needed space. I am still within sight of the mountain and can return if called. Kigipigak remarks with a flick of his tail-tip, one of his tells. 

He regards this newly arrived brother in the next moment, studying him with care to avoid a direct challenge. Valmua never mentioned you. Kigipigak states cooly.
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#6
A tiny spark of electricity courses the air between the pair, and the ironborn was swift to ready himself for action. Kigigipak was young, probably easily reigned by his pride - a more youthful Rökkvi would've bristled defensively at any negative observation of his rebellious nature. An aggressive response did not come, however, and instead the palefur cast his stare away.

Good he mused, content for the time being that there should be no need to dominate the alabaster yearling.

To his defence of roaming further from the watch than Stjörnuàti would probably like, Rökkvi hummed out loud in contemplation of it. He disagreed with how far Kigi had roamed primarily because he'd adopted the role of keeping an eye on him, and that meant having to get off his ass to trail across the valley in pursuit of him.

"She wouldn't," he answered with an amused snort at the mention of his sister, ""she doesn't know I'm here."
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Sangilak

“We are all eaters of souls.”


Dan Simmons, 'The Terror'

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#7
Kigipigak's doubts towards Valmua's trustworthiness vanished when the man gave his reply. While Kigipigak still did not hold much trust for Rokkvi the other man held Stjornuati's scent upon him, so at least one sibling knew of his presence, and that was enough to take some of the edge away. 

He strode out from the tree line and by Rokkvi, taking a few tastes of the air around him, his nape bristling ever so slightly; it was as if his body were saying, I am no threat, just in case Rokkvi took the sudden interest to be aggressive. Kigipigak moved on swiftly enough—his tail lashing the air with a slight raise to it.

You were not close with your sister back in... what was it called, ah... Stormhaven? Perhaps he could learn a few things from this man about his family—or at least the one he had become fixated with, more recently. Even while asking this Kigipigak held some reservations.

A part of the young man thought Rokkvi was here to displace him and his position, not that they held positions yet among the Watch, and Kigipigak wanted to make it known he would not be treated as a child despite the familial connection among the Stormhaven wolves. He did not speak of this, only implied it with his posture as he walked. 

He was heading back the way he had come, following the trail of Rokkvi's scent as it wound towards the mountain; but he was at a pace that allowed the man to follow so they could at least talk along the way.
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The pallid yearling stepped from between the trees, closer to him, and Rökkvi himself bristled as he did - though for an entirely different manner. While Kipigigak displayed no hostility in his approach, the ironborn regarded him with a pointed stare. If you try to test me was his fierce thought, as champagne eyes narrowed slightly, you will regret it.

No threat came, so no violence followed. Rökkvi simply followed the palefur's movement with a keen eye, curious to learn more of this boy who'd so offended his brother. He knew Valmúa though, enough to know that she was especially manipulative. Perhaps Stjörnuàti could be wrong about Kigipigak, who could very well be another victim of the crimson she-wolf's puppetry.

"I wouldn't say that," he responded simply with a roll of his shoulder, turning smoothly to pace along casually behind the ivory youth as he made to trail along the track that Rökkvi had come. His relationship with Valmúa had been as expected of siblings: disrespectful, challenging, sometimes toxic, but he loved her in his own quiet way and would not have hesitated to end any outsider who dared treat his sister the way he often did. Still, the ironborn had no interest in sharing tales of his earlier life in Stormhaven with Kigipigak, though he was curious to know how he'd come to be associated with his siblings. "I hear she is rather fond of you, though," danger now, as he attempted to decipher what the Arctic wolf thought of his own relationship with Valmúa, "how did you meet?"
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Sangilak

“We are all eaters of souls.”


Dan Simmons, 'The Terror'

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#9
Feeling as if his limited questions were being met with stale answers, Kigipigak's ears briefly slanted as Rokkvi spoke, although he relaxed as they marched. It was likely that the brothers all had contentious relationships among themselves - as all men tended to influence each other down avenues of war - and it should not surprise him that Valmua be the odd one out. Kigipigak's own sisters had been troublesome near the end of their relationship.

Siblings were complicated, which is how he chose to take the oblique statement Rokkvi offered. The other man's focus was still on Valmua, and Kigipigak grew suddenly frustrated with himself for bringing her up; he did not want to think about her too deeply, nor the sense of betrayal he still felt for how she had used him.

I came across Stjornuati and your sister together, Not even saying her name now - childish. I was surprised to hear the language of my people - our people - fall from their lips. I did not anticipate anyone of Tartok to be here. I was glad... am glad, to have found them. For the most part, anyway. Kigipigak could not help the small slip of the tongue as he spoke and wondered if Rokkvi would notice. Before long I pledged myself to their cause, as any loyal wolf of Tartok should.
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#10
As the pair ventured in the direction from which they had originally come, Rökkvi trailing along as the rear like a shepherd, he too allowed himself to slacken. Despite Stjörnuàti's suspicion of Kigipigak that had naturally been rubbed off on the ironborn, he found the pale-furred yearling rather compliant and eager to avoid conflict. Perhaps he'd learned not to test the star-eater's patience, had perhaps grown fearful that his brothers' tempers could equally quicken,and as such had come to accept his place for the time being.

Maybe this was simply a way of luring him into a false sense of security.

Rökkvi listened quietly to what his comrde had to say of how he happened across the Stormhaven wolves collectively, ignorant of Kigipigak's unwillingness to speak Valmúa's name. His focus was on the mention of Tartok, for although he very much resembled what would be expected of a Tartok wolf, the steel-pelted brute felt a muscle tense in his jaw. His breeding favoured these genes, as was clear in the warrior's bulk of his frame, but his family did not carry the name. He felt af Stormskýli to be far superior.

"I see," was his flat retort. Rökkvi wasn't really sure how he'd been expecting Kigipigak to answer his question, though he supposed he'd been hoping for better insight to what Valmúa meant to him. "Stjörnuàti is not impressed by what happened," Rökkvi rumbled, sure that the pallid yearling would know exactly what he was referring to, "which does make me wonder: are you loyal to him, or to Valmúa?"
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Napatuqvik
Sangilak

“We are all eaters of souls.”


Dan Simmons, 'The Terror'

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#11
Fade with your reply? :) #200 for you!


Kigipigak did not know what the woman meant to him; had he, perhaps there would have been a more suitable answer. It had been easy to fall in line and enjoy her company while they schemed as it had felt like a return to something normal, a taste of life when his sisters were welcome back home. Yet in the manner of women, mercurial creatures they were, Valmua had twisted him in to a knot and left him to detangle himself after-the-fact. He could not align his thoughts any further than the obvious: Valmua was like his sisters, worthy of his time and his trust until she wasn't.

Are you loyal to him or to Valmua? The man had a good reason to ask. He was looking out for his brother with a simple question; Kigipigak felt he lacked a decent enough answer but he felt the twist of his gut, the flare of memory for how Stjornuati had so easily denounced the pair for their dealings.

I am loyal to the Watch, to whoever will helm it. I was wrong to think it would be your sister. Kigipigak was honest. He did not feel it necessary to clarify why — the man knew his ties to Tartok as they were all in some way linked to the same people, and assumed the traditions of his small tribe was mirrored elsewhere. It would be strange and new for Kigipigak to follow a man above all others but he would have to adapt, lest he be cast out.