Mudminnow River One by One

recruitment thread for LCH

Val had struck out North from the Plateau back into the Taiga's cradle, but the yearling had a change of heart that lulled him to the valley. A deep wanting to rekindle his family could not overcome the memories of fear and abandonment forged in Duskfire's first winter. With a weak constitution, the Sveijarn doubted he would ever be able to step foot beyond the ridge again.

Resigned to evade his past a bit longer, the youth traveled South by himself. He vaguely remembered Swiftcurrent's sweet smelling summer months and the kind pack he had been born among. However, when he arrived at the river the scents of wolves had grown stale and the quiet night cast an eerie spell upon the territory.

By dawn he was on the move again, hungry and without much direction. Though prey was ample, Valtyr was not capable of catching a decent meal for himself. The squawking of distant waterfowl caught his attention, and so he began to head in the direction of mudmiow river. 

In general, Luke was a patient wolf, but he was also excitable, and in that excitement formed a sort of impatience, an anxiousness, a restlessness. He yearned for a pack, and the more days that swept past him without news from Harlyn, the more that desire burned within him. He knew when he had pledged to follow her that he could be waiting sometime, but the blue-nosed wolf was like a pup and even a short amount of time could seem like forever. In reality, it had not yet been very long. Although there was little he could do to make things move faster, there was one thing he could help with: recruiting. So with that in mind, he kept his ears, eyes and nose on the alert for wandering lone wolves who might be persuaded to join him, Harlyn, and Mordecai.

So, when the white wolf spotted the young soot-and-red male, he bounded over without missing a beat, calling out hey!" as he drew near. His tail, of course, waved behind him, and his lips were formed into a broad, friendly smile.

Mudminnow's freshwater aromas were a welcome change from the North's alpine scent -- a perfume that perpetuated the youth's emotional discord -- and Valtyr contentedly watched the small silver fish dance just beneath its surface. The ducks and egrets were too far off the bank for the boy to even dream of catching, and so he sniffed along the water's edge for a tasty frog or fat water vole instead. 

However, a holler in the distance caused his burnt ears to snap erect, bronze eyes searching the flat earth for signs of an approaching wolf. The white male was not hard to spot -- his pale coat flashing amongst the verdant scrim -- and he moved with a lofty gait, his good health and coltish physique easily marked from yards away. Valtyr stood rigid on the bank, knowing he probably couldn't outrun the pale man if he decided to give chase, and shrunk his posture a bit to make it clear he wanted no trouble. 

Though the other appeared friendly with a relaxed face and open expression, Valtyr was suspicious. What did he want?

The young male did not return his greeting. He remained firm in his spot, his posture shrinking a degree or two and Luke noted a look of suspicion on his rust marked faced. The blue-nosed wolf was not one to fault others for their suspicion. It was sometimes a cut throat world out there and it could be hard to tell what business someone had with you. So, Luke did not press too close, stopping a good eight feet or so away, a distance he felt the other wolf would appreciate. As a compliment to this, he too lowered himself to show he had nothing but friendly intentions, tail still waving has he repeated his greeting in a softer voice. "Hey," he smiled. "Any fish in there?"

As a boy Valtyr had only opened himself to a handful of others, not needing to be noticed by many but deeply desiring the attention of those he idolized. It was easy to stay secluded in the Plateau though Dante, Saena, Osprey, and Pura had all been good company. Yet, he was still lacking in social courtesies... probably as a side effect of spending too much time with the bespeckeled titan, Pura, and was awkward at best when it came to introductions. Thankfully, for him, the alabaster vagrant didn't seem too off-put by his skeptical look. 

"Just small ones," Val replied, reflecting inwardly about how incredibly stunted he felt while addressing the white wolf. His eyes traced the male's face until the adolescent noticed how dark the other's mouth was. Puzzled by the unusual color, Val stared a bit too intently (by his own measure) and only after a few moments did he realize it was a deep cerulean. Val's gaze lowered towards the bank's dark loam politely, not wanting to gawk though his anxious curiosity had been piqued. "Too fast to catch."

His long, thin limbs took a few paces into the shallows as he stared wantonly at the depths, knowing that attempting to catch a fish would be a fruitless endeavor. He was not swift enough... and didn't know how to swim anyways. Making conversation was a lot like swimming, he imagined: difficult.

Val took a gulp of air. "Do you live around here?" he asked the stranger. 

The young male seemed to relax some, so Luke took a few more paces toward him. It was hard to properly meet someone and chat with them over the previous distance. He was aware that his blueness was noted by the boy, and only smiled, his eyes moving to the river in tandem with the boy's respectfully dropped gaze. "They can be caught," he commented, his eyes darting to and fro with the swift direction changes of the minnows. "But they are hardly worth the effort if you're hungry. Good fun though," he chuckled a bit, recalling the many times he had chased the minnows. He had developed specific techiques for those but as he said, they were not much for a meal if one was hungry. A recreational fish, to be sure.

"Sort of," Luke answered. "I'm Luke. Luke Bluenose, he dropped his surname as a way of breaking the ice on that subject. "I'm just a lone wolf, but hopefully for not much longer," he looked at the young male, who did not carry on him the scent of a pack. Perhaps he could recruit the boy. He would have to find out a little more about him first but he seemed like your average decent wolf.

Good fun. Thought Valtyr as he watched the tiny minnows frolic in the slow-moving current. It took him back to childhood adventures with Maera, though the youth didn't permit himself to remain in that reverie for long. Time wasn't worth investing in the past. 

"Valtyr," he yearling said upon the exchange of names. Luke's surname, Bluenose, confirmed that Val wasn't just seeing things, though he would not ask about the topic any further. It wasn't in his nature to pry about such personal things. "Ah," he mumbled, "plan on running with a pack?" he inquired, knowing it couldn't be Swiftcurrent; their scent had long grown stale. 

"Valtyr," he repeated with a grin. Holding the name on his tongue like this allowed him to store it in memory more easily. "Nice to meet ya."

In the next moment, the boy perfectly opened the door for Luke, and the blue-nosed wolf smiled broadly. "As a matter of fact, yes!" he chirped, his tail waving and the expression on his face clear evidence that he was rather excited about his future. Now was his chance to see if could help Harlyn in her quest by gathering up another body to add to her roster. After all, they could hardly call themselves a pack without a handful of packmates. "A friend of mine is looking to found one soon. I don't suppose you might be looking for a home?" He looked expectantly at the youth, tail still swishing.

Valtyr's expression appeared languid and thin-lipped even in the presence of Luke's contagiously excitable demeanor; the white wolf was like a ray of sun, while his grim company acted more like a dreary bog. However, despite the youth's thin face and listless gaze, Val's burnt ears orbited forward with interest at the mention of a new pack on the hoirzon. He had abandoned the Plateau to find the North an untouchable place. Where could he possibly go now? With little direction and a hungry belly... a new home was an enticing offer to the wayward yearling.

 "Maybe," he said, toying with the idea. Luke seemed like good enough company -- even though they didn't seem to share many similarities. "Depends. Who's your friend?" His eyes fluttered back to the river where the small fish suddenly scattered into the deeper parts. 

"Harlyn," Luke answered back with a smile. But a name was not much of a telling answer, saying nothing of the sort of pack that might be founded by her. Unless by some chance this yearling knew of her, but the blue-nosed wolf doubted that, and so elaborated. "Companion of Mordecai, who lives at Blacktail Deer Plateau. Harlyn stays with him for now. She's a kind wolf. She dreams of leading, to guide and protect her packmates." He paused, recalling what Harlyn had shared with him when last he visited her. His fondness for his companion evident in the warmth of his words and softness of his smile. "She also wishes to be a mother and wife. Oh, and if it matters," he continued, remembering one detail that while it mattered greatly to him may not be so important to this male, but that he would share anyway, "she intends to settle in a forest, with a wide river that divides it. Protected by tall trees and mountains." If she could find it, that is. Luke was confident though that amid this beautiful land she should could find something along those lines.

Valtyr's weight shifted as he turned away from the brook, his full attention on the Bluenose. However, the Sveijarn's stomach sank when he heard the new leaders would be defectors of the Plateau -- just as he had been. Guilt swam like an angry fish in his mind. The wolves of the Plateau had done so much for him; offered shelter, training, and love when he, but an orphan at their borders,could offer hardly anything in return. Even winter's hardened touch could not break their strong bonds... so why had he left in the first place?

Mordecai. The name sounded familiar, though Val could not remember meeting the man. He was much too shy, especially as a youngster. The adults intimidated him. But as Luke spoke, the puzzle pieces started to come together. A family... Blue Willow's pups were still young, and the chance of the pack being able to support another litter was slim. Even Valtyr - an adolescent male - knew that much about a pack's functions. "I see," he said, voice slow as he drifted into thought. Dante would not have accepted Mordecai if he did not prove to be  solid of mind and temperament. Truly, if the plateau's leader had put his trust in this wolf, then surely Valtyr could too. 

Plus, their future purchase sounded nice, too. Surrounded by mountains in the lowlands... where the young Svaijarn yearned to be. He looked to the north, where the Taiga's stoic peaks stood proud. Joining this pack meant he could prolong the inevitable reunion with him homeland on the glacier... an idea that was most welcome. 


"Alright," the bracken wolf stated, his mind made surprisingly quick for being such a languid beast, "I mean- if Harlyn's looking for others... and you have the space." His dark lips twisted, feeling the need to offer some sort of proof that he could be a capable member. "I'm from the Plateau too," he added.

Luke could not hide the excited sway of his tail when Valtyr said, "alright". It meant he had just successfully performed his first duty as a pack member to be: he had recruited another to add to the pack's foundation. It also meant they were that much closer to Harlyn's dreaming being made a reality, and his heart beat delightedly in his chest. "Awesome!" he exclaimed, grinning broadly as he moved to bump the male's shoulder with his own. In his excitement, he neglected to formally confirm that they had space and were indeed looking for others, but surely the answer was spoken between the lines. "I'll let her know, and we'll come get you when it's time."

He paused then, the last words the boy spoke suddenly dawning on him. "Oh!" he said. "I'm sorry, I am a wee bit excited about all of this. Do you know Mordecai then?" Luke did not pry into why he was not part of the Plateau anymore. It was his business and wolves dispersed for a lot of reasons.

The bracken yearling couldn't help but muster an awkward smile as Luke bumped shoulders with his new pledge. There was something... pleasant about Luke's ceaseless optimism and even though Valtyr was a tough nut to crack, the instant camaraderie he felt with the pale man was refreshing. Too long had he been mistrustful of others. Though this shrewd temperament was unlikely to completely change, the Svejarn could feel a new sense of self on the horizon. 

"Right," Val affirmed with a lopsided grin as he pressed back Luke's coltish shove. Perhaps there was time to make one last trip to the Plateau before his new home came into being. He owed Dante, Osprey, Lasher, and Blue that at least. 

As his thoughts drifted back to Blacktail, he was suddenly stuck trying to think of Mordecai's face. The male must have arrived as Valtyr became distant from the pack's core. "No, not really," he answered, wondering what the others thought of this future split. "But... the Plateau is a good pack," he said, remembering them fondly, "we should hope to be just as successful." 

Suddenly, a school of minnows swam by. Countless silver fish glittering in the rising sun. With his spirits lifted and future looking brighter, Valtyr turned to Luke and asked, "want to try and catch them with me?"

"It certainly seems to be," Luke grinned, his tail thumping the ground. He had not spent any time in the plateau pack, had never seen the heart of the territory, but he had been in the company of several of their wolves: Mordecai, Lasher, Harlyn, and Osprey. They had all been good wolves, and it followed that the rest of the pack ought to be similar in disposition. Though opposites attracted, it was also true that like minded wolves grouped together. "Don't worry, we will be just as successful," he affirmed. He believed it, too.

His eyes were drawn to the flash of silver in the stream, and the boy turned to him, inviting him to a game of catch the minnow. He need not be asked twice, his tail started beating back and forth wildly. "Oh yes," he said, grinning devilishly. Then he gestured with his muzzle, "you first!"

Last post for meee! :D

With the day looking brighter a and promising future ahead, Valtyr leapt into the shallows with wild abandon. The minnows scattered as he snapped at the water, completely lacking an ounce of tact. But why should he be careful? It was fun to chase the silver fish around like a nut. Val poked at Luke's rump with his long snout, egging him into a game of fish-and-chase. It was only the second time the yearling had ever felt relaxed and happy, and he would reflect on this good morning for days to come. 

That's a wrap! ;)

He needed no encouragement. The blue-nosed wolf leaped into the water along side his new companion, and together they chased after the spirited minnows. The water splashed and sprayed into the air as jaws snapped playfully at the silver bullets. He managed to snag one and was about to toss it to Valtyr, but it wriggled out from between his teeth and was gone in a blink. They laughed, and their game continued on for some time before they would part company, both wearing smiles.