Hushed Willows And one more thing...

Backdated to the 29th. @Tzila will be accompanying him, but all welcome!

Disappointed by their discovery of the one man army in Neverwinter, the pair had decided to extend their outing. Tzila wanted to check on a pack she was familiar with, and he agreed to follow her lead. But when they arrived, the place was completely deserted. A few stragglers still lingered from the smell of it, but the pack was no more. He was disappointed yet again, and it showed on his face.

Black Hat didn't bother announcing his presence, intending to actually rummage around for any caches this time since they were unable to without a struggle in Neverwinter. At least now they were less likely to be found out if a ghost who still hung around disproved of what they were up to. The whispering of the willow limbs was the only semblance of activity here, which only accentuated how devoid of animal life the place was. It was peaceful here though, and the abundance of willow trees was to his tastes. This place would be a lovely place to stay, he mused before getting to work digging up an old cache.

With Neverwinter forest behind and Mal forgotten for now, Tzila pressed on with Black Hat. Their trip was turning out to be quite a bit longer than she had expected. In her eyes, that was not necessarily a bad thing. It meant more potential opportunities to gather information of which Vengeance would find useful upon their return. She was able to use this time getting to know one of her fellow mercenaries better. And if they were lucky, they'd take the edge off her hunger. Which was partly why she had chosen to bring Black Hat here.

Elysium's fate had been lost to their once former member until she neared the borders. The absence of any fresh scent of kin was proof enough that something had happened to make them disperse. Huffing, she wondered if the emotional strain after losing their loved ones to the bear had made them crumble. They were weak then - she had seen that with her own eyes. Maybe they simply had ran out of steam, of willpower to continue on. 

In the midst of digging up the same cache as Black Hat, head lowered several inches away from his own, but never touching, a dark thought emerged. But she didn't voice it yet, staring intently at the soil around her chilled paws. "I thought you'd like it here. It has your trees..." She clawed at the remnants of a partially frozen beaver. She took several mouthfuls, hardly caring if it hadn't thawed yet. "You know...this used to be my home. The first one ever, here in Teekon." She said, raising her head to take in the place, as if for the first time all over again.

Tzila joined in, and he didn't mind the proximity. Her comment drew a smile from him. How thoughtful. I am fond of this place... maybe I'll come back for a vacation, He jested. They uncovered an icy beaver carcass, which she impatiently bit into. No judgment there though, Black Hat was just as starved. He tore a few chunks off, himself. It was far from fresh, and the cold crept into his core as the meat made it way to his stomach, but food was food.

What Tzila said next intrigued him. Oh? A pause, then it clicked. Ah, so that's why you wanted to come here. Elysium, was it?

Swallowing the crunchy, frozen chunks of beaver meat, the void in her belly diminished only slightly. Drawing her inky head back, she drew herself into an upright seated position. While Black Hat finished off the remains, no doubt listening to her snippets of information, her silver eyes were fixed elsewhere. In the distance, set just beyond the gentle knoll of a hill. Something dark and knowing was in her gaze. She contemplated...weighed the options. Did she dare?

"Partly. I thought it prudent to swing by and note the standing of Elysium during out little trip. Pay them a formal visit, as Nightwalkers." Her eyes drifted to the left of the small hill she had been contemplating. There was nothing remarkable about the spot. Only dull, flat earth. No claw marks, no shreds of fur or stained blood. "But they have since fractured." She cracked a small smile, sharing it with him in a glance.

"Last I was here, I could already see that they were coming apart at the seams. I think...what truly did them in was the attack. A grizzly...two of their family slain." Though her voice was soft, there was no less of that sadistic little edge than usual. "You see, they were a tightly knit bunch. Warm, giving...trusting. I always felt...conflicted here. Confined...unable to truly be myself." She snorted, muzzle wrinkling at such a notion. "I landed here purely by accident...against my will. Their kindness was too good to turn down...to use. I leeched off their resources...playing my part of good civilian. It was only after the attack, that I slipped away to the hot springs. That, was where I first met Vengeance." Concluding her little tale of her chapter in this once thriving pack, she held her head up just a bit higher. "It was like I had been reawakened."

Black Hat listened on, content to tear away at the beaver popsicle in silence. Only when Tzila was done did he speak. Ah, taking advantage of the weak... that warms my cold, dead heart, He breathed. Her story explained how and roughly when she met Vengeance, which was information he was pleased to have stowed away. I'd feel the same being tied down to a place like that... except it'd be so unbearable, I'd have to either leave swiftly or work towards situating myself at the top.

His last sentence triggered something within her. A feeling...a reminder of why she was the way she is. Power was something she craved, but so far she had never outwardly hinted at such a thing. The singular thought of bending to the whims of another made her stomach turn. 

Her features hardened, dark lips peeling back to expose a toothy sneer. Her crystal eyes flashed. "I follow no rules but my own." She rumbled darkly, her very air defiant. Smoothing away the snarl that had settled on her muzzle, her expression grew less harsh. "It is why I was so reluctant to join a pack. I only caved in because I felt there was a certain...understanding between Vengeance and I." Provided he was done finishing off the remains of the beaver, she got up and slowly began to walk to the hill she had been eyeing earlier. "What about you? What made you join him and his followers?"

Black Hat felt like he was talking to himself. However, his reasoning for joining was starkly different. I wasn't planning on joining a pack, but I managed to talk myself out of becoming Vengeance's next meal. I'm more useful alive than dead, so I serve him as a Nightwalker, He explained, mentally adding, for now. Like Tzila, he could not stand being an underling. He'd danced this dance before, except Nightwalkers was a much fiercer beast. He had his own plans...

Tzila let a certain silence settle between them. It hung heavy in the air, alive with a peculiar energy. Eyeing him, she considered the possibility that there just might be an understanding between them. She would not jump to conclusions. Never trust fully, nor too easily. The sting of betrayal was an all too familiar one, cutting deep. She did not wish to experience that again anytime soon. "If you are still hungry..." She drawled, gesturing to the hillside with her maw. "...and not at all squeamish, the bodies are still here." Or they could forget about filling their stomachs with the flesh of fallen kin and focus on a more...fruitful activity.

Oh? He quirked a brow. I've no qualms with the dead. Meat is meat. He was pleased to learn she felt the same. Best not to let the bodies go to waste. Lead on, He insisted, still very much starved.

To her pleasant surprise, he had no objections. Her eyes narrowed with a devilish gleam in them, a cruel smirk toying at her lips. She was interested in sampling the flesh of her own kind. And maybe the fact that these were once wolves she knew (by name and sight only) made this endeavor all the sweeter.

Coming to a stop at a precise but unmarked spot, she grazed her moist nose over the ground. Huffing, cold air expelled from her nostrils over the soil. Then with a shocking sense of vigor, in the next instant, her paws churned away at the soil, muscles straining beneath her coat. She made room for Black Hat to assist, and kept digging until her paw hit something hard and solid. She could feel the distinct contour of a ribcage under her toes. Delightedly she offered. "Well then, shall we dine?" She all but purred in demons hiss.

He mirrored her, searching for more buried morsels with his nose to the frigid ground. When Tzila began to dig, he assisted without a word. To her question, he replied, After you. His voice, textured as it was, had a smooth quality to it like the rumble of a panther.

Wrapping this up.

After some more pawing at the contents within the earth, Tzila was left a little disappointed. The carcass hardly had any meat left on it, leaving behind only strings of tendon and the bones. The scowl that had settled onto her face softened some. "Well...we can make due with this. There should still be plenty of marrow within the bones - high in fat." She said pointedly. During her days as a lone wolf, surviving alone, she had learned many little tricks. Settling down on her belly, positioned beside him, she began to feast. The peaceful silence had been broken, filled with the splintering crack of bone.