Arrow Lake higher vampire

head low and gait steady, the iron warden of diaspora prowled slowly along the frozen lake shore. his jaws were set firmly about the limp body of a dangling snowhare, and his aloft gaze seemed focused on something invisible in the distance. a light snow had started up, and the wolf quickened his prance while following a thin trace of their youngest (and sickliest) resident, @Winterbourne. he was eager to see about the progress of the youth's digestive "issues" and he continued to wonder idly if it was time to push him further or cut him loose.

the boy couldn't be called a child anymore. no, he was cornicen now - and stigmata hunted skeptically after the young adult with his gift/test in sullen tow.

i know you're on absence, xy - so i left this open for anyone - but wb officially became an adult this month and i didn't want to let that go by unacknowledged! <3

❤!

Adjusting to pack life again has been a struggle, regardless of the differences from Morningside. He'd accepted awhile ago that he was on his own for good — and now he isn't. So that's weird. Good weird, though, he thinks, idly trailing the borders of Diaspora's claim; he's healthier now than he's been in months, and maybe happier, too. It's been a slow recovery, (at least, by the standards of one so young) but he's grateful for the improvement.
Stigmata's presence slips by him at first, lost as he is in his own thoughts. He doesn't really expect anyone to be looking for him, either, so it comes as a surprise when he finally does spot the man's purposeful approach. He pauses, gaze flicking briefly over the hare dangling from the other's jaws as he turns, and greets him with a deferential dip of his head and lowering of posture. Hello — um, sir, That's right, isn't it? He hasn't interacted directly with the leader very much, but there is an imposing air about the man; something that demands respect. He's not eager to find out what happens when Stigmata feels disrespected, anyway.

as winterbourne came into sight, stigmata's tail lifted dominantly and then wagged once the proper respect were given - an old fashioned good boy from diaspora's resident general. he bobbed his head in greeting, dropping the rabbit at their collective feet as he did so. he looked the sterling young wolf over, noting that his hips looked fuller and his dirt-penny eyes were no longer sunken. all good signs, but perhaps not enough. "i came to see for myself if you are able to eat," he said, getting right to the point, and leaning down once more to nudge the rabbit forward suggestively. he took a step or two back, and cocked his head. "just a few bites. if you cannot keep it down, you cannot stay." might as well let him know what was at stake, while he was at it.

Stigmata's next words are not at all what he'd expected, and he finds himself pausing briefly over his response, glancing to the rabbit as it's nudged toward him. His first thought is that it can't be so simple — but maybe it can. The leader's intentions seem rather clear to him, and it makes sense; it had been made clear from the beginning that he would be expected to become stronger here. Still, he can't help but feel there may be some underlying test. Alright, He agrees, deciding that he's being too paranoid and trying to find some confidence in the fact that he knows, at least, that he can eat now. He bends to rip into the rabbit without hesitation, taking three careful mouthfuls. He draws back from the carcass when he finishes, swiping his tongue over his lips and turning his gaze to the General without making eye contact. Is there anything else you want me to do? He asks, trying to stifle his increasing paranoia about the apparent simplicity of the task. He's only just found some semblance of security with Diaspora, and he isn't eager to lose it already.

satisfied by the young wolf's performance during this "gut check," stigmata gave an approving wag of his tail and smirked bemusedly at his cohort's following query.

is there anything else you want me to do?

"but of course, young winterbourne," the general replied coolly. "ours is a work that is never done. join me, if you will. we can see to some of those things right now." he would take the once ailing boy, and try to show him what was expected of him. more than this, he would try to imbue in him a sense of ownership - a sense that a territory in these very mountains could one day belong to him and his own children, if he thought he wanted that for himself...

but it may have been these same things that would later find winterbourne gone from his ranks, and though stigmata may never know what happened to the sterling adolescent, he did hope his absence was not because any harm had befallen him.