Big Salmon Lake Relativity

What the hell, he'd gone and found a virtual highway of wolf traffic.  He'd passed by one pack on his way over from the shores, but just from the variety of scents and how he'd passed some of the same ones a few times, there had to be at least one, maybe two others nearby?  This was where most of the wolves here lived.  Had to be.  Well not here here, but nearby.

It would turn out to be the warmest day out of the next few, and here he was at the edge of a sizeable lake.  Not a bad place to spend a day.  He'd already seen plenty of evidence of large prey he wasn't apt to go after on his own, and being a lone (after all, he wasn't going to go making his decision until he knew all his options, even if they might sound good!), food was always on his mind.  As he lifted his head from the water's surface, dragging his tongue across his maw to remove the few droplets that clung there, he gave the whole place a quick lookaround.  Nobody was in sight at the moment, so he went back to looking at the surface of the water.  Perhaps there would be a conveniently swimming fish to nab?  What was in these waters anyway?

Quixote, to say the least, was not much of a fisher-wolf. His birth pack had been relatively landlocked and the only time he could remember trying to catch fish outside of puphood was during salmon runs.  That was a whole different batch of challenges -- though he imagined it probably was a lot less challenging, overall -- than trying to catch the mystery fish of the lake.  The section of the lake he was at was probably not very good for fishing anyway, not that he knew.  It was rather gently sloping in this area, with little cover for fish to hide.  Quixote, ignorant of it all, trudged out to almost chest deep in the water, looking down into the depths.  He did think he saw the odd silvery flashes down in the depths, but they seemed pretty small.... Eh, whatever.  Not expecting a positive result, Quixote dove down after the next he saw, coming back up a second later with nothing to show other than being now totally drenched.  Yep.  Totally worked well.  He moved back to shore to shake himself off and try to think about it a bit more before making another attempt.

For a guy who wasn’t much for sticking to one area, Colt certainly found himself in this neck of the woods often enough.  Since his last departure, he’d gone quite a ways, but for some reason no place really felt like home.  What could he say? His standards were high and he was too much of a free agent to settle.

There’d been a brief moment, a year ago, when he’d caught a glimpse.... a small look.  But she took sick and died soon after, and again, Colt was in the wind.  Nell.  It still hurt to think about, but it was fading slowly.  There hadn’t been time for a whole lot, but it was fun while it lasted.

Well, he may be 5 years old now, but that didn’t mean he had to stop enjoying taking direction from nothing but the wind.  Like now, look at this, a big-ass lake.  And a... wolf? Seemingly appraising the water.

”Good fishing prospects?” He called our conversationally, sauntering forward with very little regard for whether the other guy actually wanted company at the moment.  Of course he was welcome.  Why wouldn’t he be?

He saw that someone was now waiting for him on the shore. A slightly older guy? Brown, either way. Droplets flew everywhere as Quixote shook as much as he could out of his fur, but he was still pretty drippy, unsurprisingly. Saw some fish.  Looked pretty small.  Not really my usual prey.  He wasn't broken up about not catching any.  If he had to depend on aquatic food, he'd have to practice a hell of a lot more to be able to catch them reliably.  Probably would be better if I knew what I was doing. Quixote shrugged.

The wind was wrong to get a scent from him, but there seemed like it'd be a reasonable chance this guy might be from a pack. Certainly enough of them around just based on the volume of wolves that had traipsed through previously. You a local? Quixote had what.. Maybe another month or something before he really, absolutely needed a pack, so no harm trying to get some more info before then about his best choices.  He had to be at least a little bit friendly until he got settled down, and at least so far nobody had done anything intensely irritating, but there was always time for that to happen.

His eyes wandered back to the lake again, wondering if he should go back in for another shot or if fish were too wily for him to be able to catch without experience.

Colt couldn’t resist a growing smile as the other man mentioned his lack of experience fishing; not a condescending one, but one of genuine friendliness.  He wasn’t much in the mood for a fight at the moment, but he was feeling snackish, and fish would hit the spot.  Giving him a wink, Colt approached the water.  “Well, lucky for you, I’ve been in more than a few rivers and lakes.  It’s not so hard, once you get the feel for it.”  Fish wasn’t his go to normally, but it was one of the easier forms for a serial loner such as himself, so he wasn’t useless at it.

”Trick is to go where they probably are and let them come to you. As for being local, nah, I’m just passing through.  You?”  He eyed the water as he finished his question, looking for likely shadows where slightly larger fish may hide.  Noting one, he waited, watching.  This might be a bit.

What was with these other wolves around here?  They didn't seem unfriendly and all and that in itself was starting to make him a bit wary.  Was there something in the water?  Was he going to be frolicking around like some pup in a few weeks? He hadn't been snarled at or anything. Just a little bit of lip from a scrawny wolf when he first entered the region.

Either way, now that this dude was closer, scent confirmed what he later said. No, he was not part of a pack. Trying to figure that out. If any of the packs nearby would be good or if going back is better. Going back sounded like more work than finding something here. It also would take more time. He might end up not being able to find anything before things were frozen solid if that were the case.

Thought that was just for river salmon. Runs, that is. That was the fishing he could get behind. Stand there, wait, pretend to be a bear, and lock your jaws onto one that flips out of the water your way. Those in lakes had more room to hide. Either way, if this guy was gonna show him how to best catch fish, Quixote was gonna watch and learn, tilting his ears forward inquisitively.

Colt didn’t notice Quixote’s bewilderment, and if he had, likely he wouldn’t have tied it to his own friendliness.  Colt had never been much of the territorial sort, not since leaving home.  Had to have a home worth protecting for that.

”Good luck,” he replied somewhat noncommittaly.  He knew next to nothing about the wolves in these parts, despite having run into a couple last time he was here.  He tended to run into loners, and with good reason.  If he wasnt looking to sign over his loyalty, he doubted any of them would want him hanging about.

”You can’t chase them any better in a lake than a river.  Less you got fins hiding under that tail.” Colt bent slightly, keeping his eye trained on the water.  It did take a bit, but eventually, a mediumish shadow flitted across his peripherals.  Cmon, cmon...... yes!

He lunged and managed to snag the slippery thing, which immediately set to flopping like a, well, fish outta water.  “Shit”.  The fish had managed to get lose before he could get a better hold or toss it to the bank, but that wasn’t entirely the reason for the curse.  Another was the cause of his momentary distraction.  A familiar mountain, one that he recognized as soon as his head rose from the water and his eyes set out over the trees.

It was, to a point, somewhat irritating that he'd managed to be found by someone who didn't have the information he wanted. Instead, fortune seemed to be making sure that he wasn't going to get what he wanted quite yet. Quixote resolved that he'd have to go do some hunting for people on his own later. Maybe make a point of tracking someone else down rather than leaving things to chance. Sure, he could still find a popular lone wolf by accident, then, but the chances were lower.

Whatever.  That was something for a later time.  He stepped a few feet back into the water so he could get a better position to see what would happen -- if he learned something, it wouldn't be all lost.  Watching the other wolf, he also couldn't help but reflect that maybe he would be better off just keeping to only catching fish when they jumped into your maw, for even someone who seemed to profess expertise had gone and lost his catch. The guy that shows you how to catch Pokemon is always supposed to actually catch one, right? I don't think talking is going to help you hold on to the fish-- he started, but though it could be the end of a phrase, the last word was noticeably clipped once Quixote noticed that the other was looking more upwards rather than at the water where the scaly escapee had gone. Did he miss something?

It was a bit of a bust as far as demonstrations went, but hey, almost?  He was too surprised by the landmark to care much anyway.  He hadn’t realized he was this close, but now that he did, he supposed the lake was somewhat familiar.

”I’m more in the mood for bird anyway,” he said with a shrug, dipping his muzzle in the water again for a quick rinse and then making his way back to shore.  “That mountain.., pretty sure my sister lives on it.  Guess I know something about the area after all.”  Stepping from the water, Colt gave a hearty shake to dry somewhat.  If Quixote wanted to try with his advice, he might have a bit more luck at least, but Colt was done for the moment. “You been by there?”

Ok, so it wasn't turning out to be Quixote missing the impending doom like the NPCs in the opening cutscene of Skyrim -- Alduin wasn't landing on the nonexistent tower behind him or something. He relaxed a little, not realizing how much he'd tensed up just in case there was a threat. Quixote followed him to shore, also shaking the remaining water off, though most of it was only on his legs at this point.  He'd try again later, perhaps.

Only at a distance. I think there's still a pack there, yeah, but when I walked past, I didn't see anyone. It's not like I was walking the borders though, so... Quixote shrugged.  He'd been hoping that he'd find one of them on neutral ground rather than showing up at the borders to as questions but not join quite yet. The other guy's reaction, though, made him ask a followup question, She crazy or something? I mean, you kind of dropped the fish. Maybe he was just weird for prioritizing food over potential relatives unless they were apt to show up and turn him into food.  If there was some sort of infamous, completely bananas wolf around that was out to chew up random people, he would like to know.

“The funny thing about fish is they tend to be hard to hold onto,” Colt said with a slight smile, still not too bothered by the lost catch.  It was poor luck he’d been surprised and distracted at the key moment of the catch. “Unrelated, yes, crazier than a bear in spring.  But harmless.”  Probably.  “Least, I doubt she’d bother you any.”

He, on the other hand, wasn’t sure how he would be received.  Yet, for some reason, he felt this overwhelming urge to find out.  He wasn’t sure what drew him to the idea; maybe it had just been so long since he’d seen any of the old family.  “That might just be my next stop.”

Quixote wasn't sure what to think of someone who was crazy but apparently harmless.  The one's he'd bothered to categorize as the former definitely weren't the latter.  Maybe he just hadn't thought of them as crazy in the first place.  Eh.  Whatever.  There any I should be worried by, or has it been too long since you've been by?  Obviously if this dude knew his sister lived on a particular mountain, he'd at least passed through before.  Sure, maybe it was when he was barely not-a-pup, but if there was some homicidal maniac running about then, there'd still be shadows of it now.  Then there was always the theory that there was something in the water and that was why everyone acted weirder than he was expecting.

"Nah.  I wouldn't imagine so, unless you are looking for a problem.  I met her mate last time I was by, he seems far more reasonable."  How Finley had managed that one Colt wasn't sure, if he was even still there.  He didn't recall a name, but he remembered the guy's demeanor well enough.  Chill.  "It has been a year or so though.  So who knows."

Who knew if it was even still them?  Someone else could have moved right on in at some point over the last year.  The thought tugged a bit at his Blackthorn pride; take a place his family had claimed?  No thanks.  They could try.  No, it had to still be them.

"If you want, and give me a head start, I can put in a good word for you?  Though fair warning, you might do better without it."  He seemed agreeable enough, though Colt didn't know if he was actually looking to join a pack in these parts or continue on.  And Colt wasn't exactly doing a good job at selling the place.  But that aside, it would potentially be nice to have someone a little closer to being on his side in this whole ordeal.

Quixote nodded.  Stuff changed over time, that he was aware of even though he wasn't some old geezer.  Not even the world was immune.  He was still wondering if there was some sort of change in the world in general after the eclipse or if this area was just... softer.  Eh.  Maybe when he got in a pack it'd turn out they were no different than anywhere else, but so far the slightly odd outnumbered what he considered normal.

Thanks, but I'll do without for now.  I'm still trying to get a bit more information.  I'd rather that it not be the case that I join, realize somewhere else would be a better fit or someone there is an incomprehensible moron and leave after a week,  he rolled a shoulder in a shrug at the idea.  He wouldn't be surprised if it happened.  Loyalty or promises were important to him, though he wasn't sure which was more important in the end, and he wasn't keen on giving pack leaders the idea he was chomping at the bit to hop into the first pack that he found.

Still, there weren't any giant blaring warnings about this pack.  Yet.  They'll be on my list, though.  And I'm Quixote, by the way.  He'd realized that if he did go to that pack's borders to join, even if he smelled the guy was then a resident, he had no idea what to call the other guy.  Somehow he doubted 'Yeah, he's kind of muddy looking with black on his back," was the best way to try to prove he had a potential connection with a pack.

What he said made perfect sense; it was a philosophy Colt often practiced as well.  Loyalty was a gift to be given only to those worthy, and it was better to break off a promise and leave than throw your weight behind someone who wasn't smart enough to use it correctly.  Colt had met his share of idiots and left his share of places behind.  This fellow was a kindred soul if his standards were high as he said they were.

"Fair enough. Perhaps we'll swap notes sometime.  Just ask for Colt.  Colt Blackthorn.  If I'm around, that should do it."  And the family name would hopefully at least earn the guy a pass, even if Colt wasn't there.

Things seemed to be slowly wrapping to a close.  At least Colt did seem like someone reasonably reasonable -- always the chance he was one of those people that seemed normal and then turned out to be homicidal maniacs, but that was always a risk, wasn't it?  Well, if you're gonna head over there, good luck. Hope your sister really is there if you're looking for a reunion.  He turned back to the lake with a frown, continuing gruffly.  Think I'm going to try that whole fishing thing again.  Wow he sounded so enthusiastic about it.  He was still quite damp so it wasn't like he'd totally dried off in the meantime, but Quixote just didn't seem that into it.  Food would be nice, though, and it'd be best if he learned.  Oh well.  Colt was welcome to join him but since he earlier mentioned he'd rather have bird, Quixote wasn't expecting him to.  'Til next time, he supposed, and slowly waded back out into the water.

"Good luck yourself," he responded, but he grinned and nodded.  It was fair to assume they'd both need it, really.  But he should get going if he was going to make it before dark, and he'd already kept this wolf from his food long enough.  Hopefully they'd meet again, though Colt wasn't about to make any bets.