Whitefish River Drawn Back Again

How? That kept running through his mind. How, whenever he left, did this place always draw him back. How, when all he had left was ruined friendships? That was a question he could not answer. The biggest mystery in the story that was his life. He stared upon the mountain where it all started, a couple of years ago. When he first came to Teekon, afraid and hungry, and was shown a great kindness, one he could never live down. One that had saved his life, changed it forever. Had he not accepted, or not been found, he would have been bones at the borders of that very mountain. Silvertip. He wasn't sure if he was to feel nostalgic over seeing it, or despaired at how things had changed, at how things had gone downhill from there.

Unknowingly, her thoughts echoed those of the wolf she watched through the rocks, keeping well on his trail for no other reason than boredom, and the potential that he may be useful in some way. Somehow, she always ended back in Teekon, no matter where her wanderings took her. Last she'd been here, she'd done little but pass through, but the cold of the north had pulled her back down here, where the winters were at least manageable. A silent wraith skilled now in the act of stalking, the woman shadowed the male as he moved, moving through the rocks with an easy grace, perfectly hidden among the snowy rocks.

Chaska sighed, reminiscing over the good memores he had in Teekon. The friends he made, the relationships he built, the stories he told. He turned away from Silvertip after some time watching it, and headed for the river. Perhaps he would start over, as he knew that going to Easthollow would not work. At the river, he would attempt to cross, not noticing the stalking wolf nearby.

He was an old man, she came to realize, and there was no fun and no victory in taking from old men. For a moment she hung back, until smoothly leaving the cover of the rocks, moving so that their paths would cross. She stepped smoothly into the river, chuff leaving her maw as she drew up a short distance from the male, movements oddly smooth.

Chaska saw the other wolf step out as they chuffed over at him, and he stopped for a moment, his eyes staying on them for a moment. "Well, hello there...what brings you out here?" he asked over to them. He remained standing watching as they moved towards him. He then turned to the mountain, sighing. "I was just...looking at the mountain over there."

His question she answered honestly, words slipping easy from her maw. Not every stranger was a battle, every encounter a minefield; this she came to understand as she slipped slowly away from the prime of her life. She was not old, no, but the blazing bonfires of her youth had burned down. "I have not been here for many months," she began, pausing as she spoke. "perhaps you know how this land has changed."  The man carried no pack scent; and a wanderer always tended to have more and better information than a pack wolf, she'd found.

Chaska shrugged. "I haven't been here for months either...so I know as much as you...sorry" he said, before giving out a little cough. He was not feeling so well as of late. And the cough was more than a tickle, it hurt inside his chest to cough. His muscles were also quite sore. "So, what's your name?" he asked to her. "I am Chaska."

He seemed rather worthless in the information regard, which was disappointing; old men ought to know the lay of the land better than most. Still, she expressed little of her disappointment, instead saying only, "I see."  He introduced himself, asking her own name.  "aeronwyn" She gave it without expecting either recognition or for him to remember it; she'd been gone too long for her name to linger, here.

He remained silent, turning his attention elsewhere. She didn't seem to mind his company, but he doubted she wanted to be here for long either. "So you left Teekon once as well?" he asked to her, wondering curiously for a moment. "If you don't mind me asking, why?" He paused for a moment. "I got sent away cause I...I did something quite stupid."