Noctisardor Bypass It's been a long day without you, my friend

He came from the uncharted wilderness to the east, a wiry waif blown in like a leaf on the wind. There was a large wound where his neck met his chest. It no longer bled, though the flesh was still torn and red and it wept yellowish pus. Relonikiv would never make the mistake of hunting a stag by himself again.

With every light footstep, he whined under his breath. The infected gash hurt. His weary feet hurt. His empty stomach hurt. His silver eyes flickered from a gaunt face. The last several months had been hard on him and he was at the end of his rope. Between the unseemly slash in his neck and the ribs stretching his pale pelt like rawhide, he wasn't long for this world.

With every pound that peeled off his already slight frame, his heart grew heavier. After suffering mistreatment at the hands of strange wolves, then weeks (or was it months) of solitude and starvation, Relonikiv yearned more and more for his mother, brothers and sister. He ached for Scimitar and Bazi. He just wanted to go home.

He never made it to Nova Peak, nor even to Swiftcurrent Creek. Naturally, he knew nothing about Jade Fern Grove. But as he passed beneath the arches of his father's long dead kingdom (without realizing it), Relonikiv thought he caught a familiar scent. He paused and whined, then veered slightly southwest. He swore he smelled Scimitar. Father?

He never made it past the lake. Succumbing to his poor health, Relonikiv swooned and slumped beside the shore. His eyelids fluttered and he groaned. Even if he was going to die, he wanted to see his family before he went. It was the dying boy's only wish, which he made with all his might even as he closed his eyes and lay still.

By the time anyone else arrives, he will have passed away. I just wanted to write an ending for this lil' guy! Rest in peace, Relonikiv. :( <3

@Scimitar @Bazi 

No matter Fox's answer to her critical question, Wildfire decided she would try to curtail the wandering somewhat. She would never be able to completely curb her wandering ways, though she wanted to make sure she was striking a balance between supporting her pack and indulging her wanderlust. After all, she would become an adult soon and she would be responsible for contributing in a much more intensive way than was expected of her now. She wanted to start adulthood off on the right foot. As much as her parents speculated that she might leave the caldera one day, Wildfire had no plans to do so and she wanted to be a good subordinate.

When she finally let herself leave again, she was tempted to head to Nocturne Summit. Maybe she would run into Charon there and help him scope out a suitable new home. But Wildfire didn't want to be tempted by the possibility of joining his ranks, remote as it was. She decided to go in the opposite direction instead. She hadn't explored to the north or east since the day she'd met Kaskara. Surely there was much, much more to see in that direction.

The sun was just starting to set as she veered as far east as she dared, giving wide berth to a pack she didn't know but certainly smelled. Wildfire came to a river. She drank, then crossed at some shallows and continued due north. She knew Jade Fern Grove was around here somewhere and began to drift west without even realizing it. She found herself drawing up beneath a stone archway that vaguely reminded her of Granite Gate. Intrigued by what might lay beyond it, the juvenile scouted forth, passing into the bypass even as night fell all around her.

A strange scent drew her forward and Wildfire came to stand over the pale body of a small wolf. Wildfire was strongly reminded of Dove, though she could see that it had been a young male. She frowned sadly, then looked around herself, wondering what to do. Should she try to bury him? Or just leave him there? Did he have a family? Should she try calling for someone? Having never discovered a corpse before, she did not know the protocol. Unsure and indecisive, the young Outrider's amber eyes slowly returned to the forlorn, wasted-away body at her feet.

Since you needed someone...!

Within days of her meeting with Scarlett, Saena set off from the maplewood once more. She made the day long journey south, tracking all the while the many scents of wolves on the wind. She wanted to know the locations of each neighbouring pack so she could know just how much rivalry to expect, and whether any animosity was warranted. The only pack the maturing Saena would tolerate close to hers was Jade Fern Grove, and it was now her task to ensure that it was the only pack that close.

She found the borders of one pack to the southeast. She didn't approach it, but determined that, being well beyond Jade Fern Grove, it was distant enough. The sun was starting to set when she glanced at the sky and she decided to leave her investigation of Bearclaw Valley, wherever that was, to another day. She turned and headed north once more.

This time she mistakenly found her way into the bypass she'd once looked down on with Alastor. Before ever realizing that she wasn't going the right way, the alpha female spotted the striking red-coated wolf standing over a lighter figure on the ground. The scent of a female and death hung in the air. As always, her spine stiffened and she lifted her tail, expecting to come face-to-face with Fox, but she could tell even from here that the other's own tail was too dark. Bummer. It wouldn't have surprised her to learn that Fox was out murdering more wolves and it would've fit the scene.

But Saena knew Wildfire when she saw her and she knew the girl was no killer, and so she drew nearer with conspicuous steps and stopped far enough to seem as little a threat as possible. She was curious about the body and what the context of Wildfire's presence here really was, but chose not to approach it until her half-sister noticed her. Her ears turned forward and she waited to be either acknowledged or dismissed with her short red tail flicking at her hindquarters.

Happy to have you! :D

She stared at him a long time, her eyes lingering primarily on his face. He looked so young. Wildfire mistakenly guessed he was younger than herself. She didn't have to guess at his cause of death, though. Between his gaunt frame and the wound on his neck, it was pretty clear what had happened. She wondered how he had sustained such a grievous injury. Only as she pondered that did she begin to wonder if another wolf had done this to him. Her fur prickled and, simultaneously, she heard the sound of paws softly padding closer.

The juvenile glanced upward just in time to catch Saena's gaze. Despite the darkness, she recognized the other she-wolf right away; she was pretty unique in appearance, after all. Wildfire's ears fell backward and her lips parted. Maybe her half-sister was responsible for this. Yet Wildfire detected no trace of Saena's scent on the corpse. Nor did she appear particularly concerned with it or Wildfire's presence. In fact, she looked hesitant. Perhaps she was wondering the same things about Wildfire that the youth was wondering about her.

"I didn't kill him," she said quietly. "I don't know what did." Her amber eyes dropped to the body again, only to lift swiftly. "I found him like this. I'm not really sure what to do," Wildfire admitted, fidgeting slightly. Everything about her body language spelled out her uneasiness with both the dead body and the live one across the way.

"Probably rotted from the inside out. Happens with wounds sometimes," Saena shrugged. The stench of him told her there'd at least been an infection, and those took time to take hold, so she fretted not over whether the culprit was around or not. She wouldn't pretend to have the knowledge of a healer but she'd seen an infection firsthand in Junior and knew it didn't happen in mere seconds. That suggested the male had had that wound for at least a couple days; his would-be murderer was probably long gone by now. She didn't draw closer to investigate. She could smell him plenty well from where she stood and could assume the rest.

Wildfire expressed uncertainty over what to do and Saena shrugged again. "I'd leave him there. His body will nourish the birds and the earth, which in turn nourish the wilds." It wasn't her usual philosophy to bury the dead. They served a greater purpose feeding scavengers and rotting into the soil, and besides, it was a lot of work to dig up ground just to put a body in it. Eating a wolf was also rather unacceptable and so the only thing the alpha could think to do was leave him. It was possible Wildfire had another idea about it, but she wasn't even aware of her half-sisters discomfort with her, let alone what she might be thinking.

Wildfire said nothing in response to Saena's observation. Raven would have been able to more accurately pinpoint the cause of death but she was miles away at the caldera. Sensing that her half-sister posed no threat, the youth let her gaze fall back to the decrepit cadaver. Saena spoke of just leaving him there to be devoured by scavengers. Wildfire winced a little.

"But he's so young," she said, not really protesting so much as pointing out something the other she-wolf might not have noticed. "What about his family? Shouldn't we try to find them and tell them what happened, so they can bury him or whatever? I don't know. I just feel bad." But perhaps Saena was right. They definitely shouldn't bury him themselves, in any case; then his family would never know what had happened to him.

Slowly, she stepped past the body, training more of her attention on Saena now. "I was just trying to check out the east some more when I found him. Do you live around here? I thought Reek said your pack was further north." But she wasn't at all familiar with her surroundings and didn't necessarily have her bearings, especially in the dark, so maybe she was much more north than she realized.

"Where would you start looking for his family?" she asked, genuinely curious how Wildfire expected to find them. Here lay a male wolf with no name. No one knew where he came from. For her it was a lost cause, but Wildfire was more of an optimist than she was, so maybe her half-sister had an idea. "They could be anywhere, you know. He might not even be from around here." Realizing that probably came off a bit cold-hearted, the alpha added, "it sucks, but maybe there's no one around to inform. If you want we can howl for him, then someone might hear. Otherwise..."

She trailed off there, feeling she'd made the point. She couldn't see well from where she stood but the wolf was fully grown. Maybe he had family in the area or maybe he was a dispersal wolf miles from home. There was no way to tell, not with the stench of death masking anything his life might've told them about him. If Wildfire had an idea then Saena would try to help, if only to make amends, but she didn't have any ideas herself.

When asked for confirmation on where she lived, Saena nodded, then added, "Redhawk Caldera is much farther south from here than my pack is north." That would serve as a good enough comparison, right? The alpha smacked her lips pensively, then revealed, "but yes, we are farther north. A few packs have moved in, apparently, and I was just heading home from investigating the location of one of them. I think I took a wrong turn down here."

She couldn't argue with Saena's points. They were valid. She was being much more pragmatic than Wildfire, whose heart bled for the unknown boy. But she eventually accepted that there was little to be done for him. She further sidestepped the corpse, sighing softly under her breath. Now her attention belonged solely to her half-sister, who mentioned having taken a wrong turn before winding up here.

"I guess I didn't realize how far north I'd gone," Wildfire said. "I should probably go," she added in the next breath. She figured Saena probably wanted her to make herself scarce, though she hesitated as she recollected her recent conversation with Reek. "Unless..." She had already begun turning away but she slowly spun to face the yearling again. "Unless you want to tell me more about yourself, now that we've gotten my parents' roast out of the way." A thin smile flashed across her face before her lips drew into a line. "And I can tell you about myself too." Wildfire had no idea what Saena might say to any of that.

Part of Saena agreed with Wildfire's next statement. She probably should go. The north was no place for a southern wolf to be and the alpha female still wasn't quite sure she was comfortable with any Redhawk wolf, even Wildfire, being anywhere north of the mountains. On the other hand, Reek had had nothing bad to say about the juvenile and he probably wouldn't have minded her presence here. Besides, with no claim over the land, Saena could hardly show territoriality. She'd made enough of an ass of herself once already. She wasn't keen on doing it again.

Talking it was. While she wasn't really sure that she wanted to know anything about Wildfire and her presumably perfect family, Saena obliged, having nothing else to do with her time. The white-furred bitch seated herself neatly, indicating she had no intention of going anywhere, and began. "I was born in Blacktail Deer Plateau but never knew my real parents. My real mom died of childbirth and my real dad was around but didn't contribute. In fact I only knew he was my dad because he said it before dramatically disappearing into the sunset." A bit of an exaggeration, Saena admitted, but almost true to what had happened. "Your dad adopted me and my brother." Ah, yeah, that. "I only have a brother, biologically. Junior and Tytonidae are my adoptive siblings. His name's Pura. I don't know where he is now." She missed him, but if she knew the sort of wolf he'd become, she'd sooner put him down than reunite with him.

"I'm a gamekeeper. My primary trade," she elaborated. "Also an outrider and a warden. I was formerly a naturalist but I've since lost interest." And what were Saena's interests? She didn't have very many. She led a rather monotonous life patrolling the borders and padding the caches. A good alpha, but a boring one. The thought would depress her if only it occurred to her. "I have a mate, Reek. I think you met him once or twice."

And that was pretty much it. She shrugged as if to say, "sorry I'm not more exciting". Maybe to Wildfire, one of those things would be interesting, but to Saena they were all just ordinary life. The way of things. "What about you?"

When I was updating the territory descriptions, it came to my attention that the bypass was partially destroyed in BWP2. Oops.....

Saena began to talk and Wildfire slowly seated herself, her smudged muzzle pointed toward her half-sister as she spoke of her origins, her sisters and brother, her trades and her mate. The youth found none of this boring. She had lived quite a life so far and though she knew Saena had gone through some rough stuff—and not solely the crap related to their shared father—it sounded like she was in a good place these days.

"You know what's funny? Naturalist was my first trade but these days I'm so busy being an Outrider that I sometimes wonder if I should drop it. I'm a Warrior too. I know I don't look the part but it's sort of a requirement in the caldera," Wildfire mentioned. "I have a brother and sister too, though I think you already know that. Nightjar and Raven. Oh, I guess I had another brother who died when we were really little. He didn't have a name." In time, she would have even more siblings, yet she didn't think Saena was remotely interested in hearing that.

"How did you and Reek meet and decide to be mates?" Wildfire found herself wondering out loud. She wasn't just trying to be conversational; she was genuinely curious. "You seem pretty different," she pointed out, "so is it true that opposites attract?" Her lips twitched faintly as she shifted her weight, her black tail winding around her left haunch.

It seemed that naturalism wasn't something the Redhawk-DiSarinno clan was very interested in. Saena had dropped it in favour of other pursuits and Wildfire was considering the same. Maybe they all liked nature at first glance but decided it was terribly boring and not very helpful in the end. She'd seen the storm coming, but that hadn't saved the ridge from burning to the floor. She couldn't help feeling that that was the moment her love of naturalism died.

"A requirement?" she asked, pursing her lips thoughtfully. Somehow it didn't surprise her that a wolf like Fox would demand that everyone be a titled fighter. Fox was kind of a bitch to everybody, it seemed, so no doubt she had a lot of enemies. A smaller part of Saena told her it was probably also due to Junior's infiltration, but she was more content to think of it as a defence mechanism against all those who hated Fox. "We don't have any requirements in the maplewood. Wolves do what they like to do. We have a few gamekeepers, healers and wardens as a result." No warriors except Arion, who was out and about too often to be very reliable. Saena's group wasn't very militant, that was for sure.

Wildfire's question was a much more awkward topic. Saena didn't see any reason to censor it, though, primarily because she didn't care too much about grossing anyone out. "We kinda had sex one day out of the blue," she answered, "and ended up growing from there. Unorthodox but I do love him." I think. In reality Saena didn't know much about love and couldn't tell love from attraction, so there was the possibility that what she felt for her mate wasn't exactly love, but she would never have known.

Wildfire sensed some disapproval regarding the caldera's methods, yet she knew by now not to take them personally nor worry about Saena's opinion. She was entitled to it, just as her parents were welcome to rule their pack as they saw fit. Wildfire didn't object to their requirement. She wasn't born nor built to be a Warrior, yet she did pretty well for herself in that department. It was a handy skill to have when out on the road. She could look after herself.

The youth felt her cheeks heat slightly when Saena baldly admitted to having relations with Reek at the start of their relationship. She used the word "unorthodox," a term which Wildfire had heard once or twice before. She supposed it was a fitting term. Although mating was as natural as hunting or howling, they were still a bit of a peculiar pairing.

"You two are having pups then?" Wildfire asked a bit awkwardly. Between her open-minded parents and her natural instincts, she knew all about procreation. She knew about heat cycles, pregnancy and birthing. What she didn't realize was that Saena was too young for all that, so she looked a bit surreptitiously at the pale wolf's flank, looking for the baby bump she had heard about.

"Oh, probably," she confirmed, not really realizing that Wildfire assumed she was pregnant now. "I guess whenever it decides to happen." There was no rushing these things, though the young alpha felt a building impatience for it. The sooner the alpha pair had pups, the sooner they properly solidified their permanent claim over the maplewood, or something like that. It had never occurred to her before but now suddenly it felt like a necessary step in being a good alpha.

"Between you and me, I don't want very many at once," she said, musing now on the potential future at the expense of Wildfire's time. It was likely the girl didn't care much about her half-sisters eventual kids, just as Saena wouldn't care one bit about her estranged father's upcoming litter. Yet she couldn't help it now that her mind was on it. "I like my freedom," she said decidedly. One or two pups would be easily handled between the two parents and both of them could remain free birds. Three or four? Not so easy.

It didn't sound like a delivery was imminent, which made sense considering Saena looked well-fed but otherwise not at all like she was expecting. Wildfire didn't have much time to wonder about this because her half-sister said four little words that sidetracked her: "Between you and me..." They were said with little care, she could tell, but the fact that Saena was confiding to her did something funny to Wildfire's chest.

"Can you... control that?" the youth wondered dumbly. She was actually pretty sure you couldn't but she had to wonder, "What happens if you have, like, six of them? Will you eat the extras or something?" Wildfire was mostly joking, though there was a tiny part of her that truly wondered. Did Saena value her freedom enough to cull a larger litter?

Wildfire's question brought put a queer sensation in Saena's belly. On the one hand, eating her own pups seemed completely abhorrent and she was certain she wasn't capable of it. On the other, it would ensure she got what she wanted, at the cost of her conscience. But was her conscience really as important as her freedom? It was something she didn't want to wonder about for long, lest she begin to see the value in doing something as wrong as terminating the lives of her young if there were too many of them.

"Of course not," she said, the socially proper response, whether or not she was secretly thinking about whether she could even do it. "I'd just prefer less, I think it'd be better for me and Reek. He's a traveller, too. If I have more, that's just how it goes, I guess." For the better part of six months, Saena would very likely try to force herself to believe that. Wildfire's suggestion that she eat her own cubs to keep the litter small would continue to cross her mind now and again, simultaneously disgusting and tempting her, until eventually the day came that she would have to decide or that her body decided for her.

Wildfire suddenly worried that Saena might take offense to that. Much to her relief, she didn't. Her response was no-nonsense but not particularly terse. To deflect some of the tension that had built in her breast, the youth quipped, "If you don't want to eat them, you can always trade them." She then fell quiet, worried that her lighthearted remarks might eventually wear on the Redtail.

Her half-sister had obliged her and Wildfire felt like she knew quite a lot more about her than before. But perhaps because of her odd jokes, she suddenly felt like she was wearing out her welcome. Saena hadn't really given any indication of this; Wildfire was just abruptly self-conscious. She wanted to make sure that when she left, she did it on a positive note. She should leave now, though she also didn't want to seem spastic or rude.

For a long beat, she was silent, then she sort of awkwardly blurted, "It sounds like you've got a good thing going, with your pack and Reek and pups coming up." Her lips quirked into a crooked smile. She knew Saena had had a rough first year but maybe it would be smooth sailing from here. "I hope stuff continues going well for you," she said genuinely.

"Hmmm, good point," she hummed. It was hard not to consider Wildfire's compromise. Trading the puppies would certainly get rid of them without bloodying her hands, but whatever would she trade them for? "Nah, I'm just kidding, I'd never do that," she said with a grin to mask her serious consideration. It was probably for the best that neither of them think too long and hard about the benefits or consequences of trading puppies away, lest Saena actually do it (or Wildfire actually think her capable of it).

She didn't sense her half-sister's awkwardness, but managed a more genuine smile when Wildfire wished her the best. "I hope things continue going well for you, too," she said, and for once actually meant it. It felt weird to be wishing any of Fox's offspring well, but Wildfire definitely wasn't her mother. Thank god for that, Saena thought. Realizing it was probably time to go, the alpha stood and cast one last long glance at the nearby body. "It's a shame no one came for him," she noted, but she figured it wasn't unusual. Relonikiv was probably miles from his family. There was no one here who would come looking for him.

With a parting glance and one last smile at Wildfire, she turned to leave the valley, giving her half-sister the peace and quiet she'd enjoyed upon first entering it.

Saena returned the sentiments, surprising Wildfire a bit. Before she could react, the Redtail mentioned the poor dead boy over yonder, then departed with a final glance and smile. The youth watched her for a moment before remembering herself and blurting, "Take care!" As Saena disappeared into the distance, a little grin began to spread across her face. Much to her amazement, it almost felt like she and Saena were kinda sorta friends.

But the smile vanished when the other wolf's last words echoed in her head. "It's a shame no one came for him." Wildfire slowly revolved where she stood to face the corpse, then moved to stand over him again. He looked way too young to have suffered this fate. Her amber eyes traced over the wound on his neck and her lips pursed. I wish there was someone I could call for you, she thought to him.

There was nothing to be done for him now, though. At least he wasn't suffering anymore. She lingered only a moment or two more, then sighed quietly and began walking away. Maybe when daylight broke, someone else would find the body, someone who actually knew him. Wildfire hoped it with all her might even as she slowly trekked back south.