Moonspear the heavens swung their blinding gates

Persistent, ever persistent, snowfall continued to smother them. Smother was the word that Dirge decided to plucl from thin air on yet another overcast day rife with more snow than he cared for. If spring was drawing ever near—of that hr was certain—then winter would only tighten its hold until it could grip no more. Long covered were the juts of dark shale and granite and now only the juts of rocks just as long loosened from the crag stood out in the depths of quiet wood. He passed by them quietly, an earthen shade in a world that remained droll in its palette.

It irritated him in varying degrees; the rolling ebb and flow tide of wolves in their season, the not long lapses of sunny weather did not aid him much either. He longed to stretch his limbs and head for open plain but doing so was a fool's errand, and getting caught in vastness was a longer plummet to a swift end than going haphazard over a cliff edge into the void. He kept his frustrations to himself, though a tense sort of terseness had unfurled across his features and set into the absence of his swaggered gait.

The borders loomed ahead and along him as he shifted to follow, seeming more like tempting sirens singing lost across snow-swept grounds. He bickered over options internally; sure, the snow was light now but it had not abated and surely seemed it would not today. Then there was the matter of foxes and cougars and all manner of other beasts bound to be lurking as well. He didn't know the details in depth but had gleaned enough, which all and all made the borders the most exciting locale in reach that would have a lesser chance of getting him into trouble. Maybe. Dirge was no mathematician. With a huff and a shake of his coat to set his fate, he decided to patrol.

steals patrolling thread

by now, terance's shoulder was alright. it was still a little sore but he was good to walk and patrol now. he was on his way to the borders, ignoring the weather as it pillowed down onto him. each flake was giant, weighed down and falling fast. he wished it'd lighten up, he was getting sick of trudging through the snow just so he could do his job-- it was so much extra effort. and truthfully? the weather was really fucking with him mentally. he tried to push it away, at least for now, since he was feeling okay ish... again, at least for now.

on his way, he came across dirge. despite hydra's high praise, dirge was not his favorite. he had a certain charisma that terance simply lacked-- and that gave him the upper hand when it came to lyra, who had given all of her attention (at least in his mind) to dirge. 

though always inwardly petty, terance kept it to himself-- as per usual-- and gave a bark to grab the guys attention. "hey, dirge," he greeting, padding up, "mind if i join?"

The minutes drew themselves past quietly and he had remained in relative silence. A silence that was just as dangerous as being on those borders, because after all came the snippet of his thoughts, someone else had their issues there too. Her name eluded him bit he knew she was Hydra's sister and she too had not been too fond of him. Thay was of course, if her silence in his presence had meant anything all thoe days ago.

Like the heavy curtain of clouds looming overhead, he felt his thoughts gathering towards burdening things. This was not to last however, for when he had paused to shake bothersome snow from his coat he heard the approach of another announced via bark. His ears turned ahead of his head, hoping for a fleeting moment it was Hydra in another good mood, and found Terance instead. Any trace of his disquieting thoughts were whisked away, safely tucked behind the flourish of bravado and his usual performance.

"I don't mind at all," came his smopth rejoinder. "How have you been healing? I hear you were going toe-to-toe with a terrible dancing partner." All left feet had been the cougar, but he hoped to take some of the burn out of what could have been yet another disasterous event. For the most part the wolf definitely seemed well on the mend, as he was there in the first place.

yay ty ♡

dancing partner? what a weird way to phrase it. terance didn't dwell on it, but decided he would've never said something like that to probably anyone. besides the point. 

he gave a small smile, green gaze falling briefly to his shoulder. "eh," he said with a small shrug, "it's fine, it'll probably be weird for a while after this." it was fine enough to patrol on though, it just wasn't as great as it was before. oh well. "matches the other one," he added with a toothy smirk, his tail wagging a bit at his hocks. he was slowly gaining some street cred-- if anything. though, to be fair, terance wished he'd stop running into problems that fucked up his appearance. again, oh well.

Dirge nodded to Terance's words—it was going to be fine. A little weirdness sure, but he still had some mobility and most importantly, his life. Cougars were no jole to mess with and even with his light-hearted commentary about them being terrible dancing partners Dirge knew better than to tangle with them. He had done his best to avoid them so far, though that instance could have happened to him just as easily as another.

"That's the spirit," he said with a wave of his tail. "Some ladies do enjoy a wolf with battle scars. Especially ones with noble stories." His words were genuine, an extension of friendliness he wasn't too sure he had offered before. Terance had gone third wheel in their last encounter but seeing their duo was staying just that so far, it seemed fair to try and bolster some semblance of a bond.

Of course, Dirge had no scars with good stories. Any he could have still bore lay unmapped and lost. He hoped to keep it that way. "Now that we've gotten all this unpleasantry out of the way perhaps things will go our way for a change. These borders could use a bit of quiet," he went on to muse, stepping onward.

dirge didn't appear to have any scars-- at least none that terance could see. so although he gave a jovial chuff in response to that comment, paired with a small smile, terance disagreed. because, just based off of experience, it seemed that lyra had preferred dirge over him-- and he had gotten his first batch of scars fighting a bear for lyra. well, not for lyra, but for lyra... all the same. to him, that was as noble a story as they came-- and it had gotten him nowhere in his pining. but whatever. 

"i fuckin' hope so," terance grumbled, letting the expletive out with little care to censor, "honestly, the whole blackfeather-redhawk thing was really a pain in the ass, i don't think anyone benefitted from it." and then the cougar, on top of that. trying to keep up with his 'i don't hate you or feel threatened by your presence in what should be my love life', the stone gave a toothy smirk and added, "though patrol is a lot more exciting this way."

Churlish words started off Terance's reply and did some to tickle his humor, though he couldn't quite decide if they were earnest at first. He had felt their impact had been lacking, but then again he had kept his nose out of it. Hydra had supplied him with bits and pieces of what went on but he knew them to be from her agenda than parts of the whole. Dirge hadn't bothered trying to sort them or put them together and ultimately, found himself glossing over it with a thin smile.

"Oh there's little doubt to be had there, it has been interesting. I suspect being caught somewhat in the middle as we were is more annoying than what's let on. Shame over the turn of events though," he said, referring to the loss of Galaxy, "but I suppose all things right themselves in the end." Maybe the justice was all tooth and claw, but such was their edict—they were wolves, after all.

He laid eyes on Terance again briefly as they went along.

"I wonder if there was a way we could have benefited. Is it better to observe than be involved, or the other way around—what do you make of it?" Since Terance had already made his opinion clear on the matter, Dirge made a bid to rifle through his thoughts.

ah, the same question rannoch had asked him not too long ago. truthfully, terance was only as hip to politics as the cerberus let him be-- he didn't make the big decisions and so he didn't really know how to feel about the whole thing. he voiced this opinion to dirge, though truthfully he didn't care to have any in depth conversations with the man. he didn't deserve it, but terance still preferred to keep his opinions of others buried deep beneath the surface-- professionalism at it's finest.

"i mean... i usually just trust what they--" he paused briefly, glancing at dirge, "--the cerberus-- think. they seem to be closer to the situation and know how to interpret it. and truthfully i like to be more hands on with things like this-- might just be how i was raised though." 

It seemed a thin response, but Dirge did not discredit it. Perhaps Terance was comfortable letting others make decisions and hold opinions, but he did not think it detracted from the substance of his worth. His head bobbed all the time; his stance had gone along those lines as well, as he had remained largely uninvolved in what was distinctly a family business. So long as it hadn't included him in questionable affairs then they were all content to do as they pleased.

"I tend to stay out of such things," he went on. "Messy business, all of it. But when it ends up in my lap I suppose I am like you—hands on. If you want a job done right you do it yourself." That last line he had, without question, heard a lot. It was why he carried paper thin opinions of what Hydra had done. It hardly affected him and the perks therein only secured him a place he'd eventually vacate at the turn of the season. He felt for her, certainly, but he kept that back at arm's length for good reason. All good things came to an end, that was what life taught him.

terance nodded. "that's about how i feel," he told the male, his tail swinging behind him. everything could be handled in some way or another, and though terance preferred to be kept on the back burner, if he was needed he would quickly step forward to take matters into his own paws. the cerberus seemed to have a good hold on things, anyway, so he usually didn't have to worry about actually getting involved. 

terance's nose twitched, but he kept up with the patrol, not adding anymore to the conversation.

did you wanna wrap up? :o since terance is sort of gone now haha

Their conversation seemed to find a natural close then and Dirge allowed it to lapse, letting his gaze and his thoughts meander and absorb his attention. Though he kept an ear out for Terance to tack on something more or find a conversational footing somewhere else, nothing came about in the minutes that passed. Eventually the two parted their ways for better climes and perhaps company.

i'll end in that case. thanks for the thread!