Sheepeater Cliff To gather, such curious things

Envy spoke regarding pack life and to Cassian it was a treasure trove of knowledge.

She was well versed in the ways of the world in manners that Cassian couldn’t have even begun to dream of. Twisting, bending paths that those silver haunches no doubt became eventual masters of. Her words struck chord after chord with him, too. Maybe that was why divulging attention to this soul in particular came so easily? Naturally, almost as if every word that drawled its way out of the female’s mouth was crafted expertly to curl the man’s ears to her tone.

Always having a meal, basking in fun, and no longing being weighed down by a sense of purposelessness. Admittedly, that did sound… alluring. Boring days were no stranger to Cassian. Yes, there was the occasional encounter here and there, but so far none of them held a candle to the warmth of the one he basked within now. Briefly, imagery began to form within Cassian’s mind. Older wolves? Were there any he’d managed to cross paths with yet? What exactly were the signs of age? Were there any wolves out there who were near the end of their natural lifespan that were not meddling in the affairs of the youth within a pack’s protection? Why, they sounded awful with the light that Envy shone on them. Detestable, disgusting, deplorable geezers who sought to snuff out their encounter from ever occurring beyond the reaches of time itself.

”I haven’t run into any old wolves yet. Every soul I’ve come across has been young, I think? Maybe a bit older than me, but then again it’s hard for me to tell exactly how old I am to begin with, haha! I just have to go off of their faces, you know? Oh, and their scars. The ways in which they handle themselves and their speech patterns, too! Old wolves sound like they’d be annoying, though! What’s the fun in doing the same thing every day?! Why stay rooted in your ideas and not explore other ones? If I didn’t explore I wouldn’t have met you, you know! I think that would’ve been pretty sad, too! Yeah! We don’t know each other all that well, but I feel like…”

Cassian’s brown eyes transformed from their typical, softened demeanor to one that was of a more calculative and cornered nature. Analytical for a change as the wolf’s mind churned to encapsulate the correct words, the cornerstone of his sentiments, and the sharpshooter angle to play this off of. Infatuation was a foreign ideology to Cassian, and it would likely continue to elude him so,  but even with the lack of such a notion what the man felt in his heart of hearts was well off the beaten track from that to begin with. It was something… horridly and naively unique. Envy, despite the chagrin they expressed during their conversation, was entirely honest at face value. Such brutal honesty was all it took to garner Cassian efforts  towards a more…fruitful endeavor.

”I feel like…we’re cut from the same, weird cloth. Maybe on polar opposite ends, but there’s common ground and if we’re made of the same material then I guess it doesn’t matter where we originally come from on that piece of cloth! I guess, if that makes sense? Who knows, haha! I’m not even sure what I’m really trying to say, but if you were to jump off this cliff and asked me to follow I’d probably do it. Just because it’s fun! You’re fun and the things you teach and know are fun, too. The scars you gave me were fun! That’s all I really want in life, I think. To have fun, even if it isn’t my version of fun or someone else’s version of fun. As long as it’s a collective version of fun and it gets my blood pumping the…the….”

There was a word that fit perfectly here and Cassian was certain of it. The man’s mind rattled and clamored for it, too. If it were possible steam would’ve funneled out of those soft, floppy, scarred ears while the Mini Cassian’s inside of the wolf’s mind scrambled. Tirelessly they searched for it and, eventually, they crossed the foggy prison where the past two years of the man’s life dwelled. There, the word was brought forth and with it a spark of life that sprung in those typically joyful, yet awfully vacant eyes of his. A grin, twisted yet sincere in nature curled atop the man’s muzzle.

”Morality. Yeah, the morality doesn’t matter as long as fun is being had! Haha, man, it feels great to get that word out! Oh, and I’m not really hungry, but that’s really nice of you to offer! Besides, that was part of the deal! If you can’t stomach any more then I’ll finish off what you can’t, but hunting isn’t all too bad of a task for me right now. I can usually manage to catch what I’m after. My legs rarely fail me, especially when something manages to scare me enough to chase me off. Funny story, actually! I ended up going too far south once and one thing led to another and…I ended up stealing a bear’s meal. If I hadn’t ran into another wolf and jumped on top of a boulder I’d be dead! So, if that doesn’t tell you what kind of trouble tends to follow me I  don’t really know what will!”


Watching her eat her fill was entertaining enough. Cassian’s head lay between both paws while watching her and his tail swung leisurely behind him. Unknowingly, the wolf leaned forwards, body language giving away that she held the entirety of his attention right now in a way that nothing else did.

If he knew the word earlier Cassian would’ve said it was loyalty that he felt towards Envy. An inclination to protect her? Far be it from him to ever even suggest a thing. This woman was marred in memories and experiences that dwarfed his own by leaps and bounds. Sometimes, in life, one just met another that was so explicitly captivating and utterly unique it grabbed at the soul’s frontal lobe and demanded their entire attention. This was the case for Cassian, but there lacked an ember of obsession to the mixture. It was simply commonplace, temporary, cheap loyalty and nothing more and it was through that that Cassian continued to engage with this twisted, murky, invigoratingly grey soul.

”What’d you end up doing with the fox from earlier, by the way? I didn’t get to watch the rest of whatever you put it through. When I was catching the second meal I thought about trying to break the bones, but they were thicker than the fox’s. So, I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I didn’t want to kill it, either. I wanted to do it the way you did and my weight is more than yours so I strayed away from it. If it hadn’t tried to run away it’d still be alive, but the thought of it escaping and you growing hungry set me off into just ending its life then and there. Which was boring! I think I’ll try the bone thing another day. Even if it leads to a killed meal I think I’ll get it eventually! It’d be nice to play with a meal. I’ve never done that before, you know! That’s an Envy Special, haha! Thanks for that!”