Ghost Lion Crag i know there's greed and there's corruption

@Wraen

he told both @Dirge and @Hydra of his plan to scout to the west. from high up in the spear, early that morning, arcturus had seen dark shapes loping across the plains below. he hoped -- but he did not hold his breath.

the plains were empty, and arcturus prepared to return home devoid of good news. either a trick of light, or his hungry eyes were envisioning things.. resting briefly in the weak afternoon light, arcturus felt his eyelids droop -- a side-effect of having gone a little too long without good sleep.

Not much was left from the ram now - almost a week later, but Wraen's spirits were still high. With a solid meal in her belly, even the days, when hunts were unsuccessful, did not make her feel too disappointed. With conditions being quite peaceful, she pondered scouting East and beyond to see, if things were any different in the valley she had called home in the past.

Today her path had led to Deepwood weald, where she had scouted and tracked for quite a long time. By the afternoon she decided that all that there was to find, had been found and returned home through a narrow grass-covered passageway between the two mountains. Once out in the open again and with copse around the corner, she spotted a wolf lying down for a nap. 

All black wolves look the same from afar, therefore she recognized Arcturus only, when she had come near and not only smelled the Moonspear signature scent all over him, but also was able to trace the facial features that made him unique. Not wishing to disturb him, Wraen sat down quietly and watched the young man, waiting for him to wake up.

if not for the fickle mind of the wind arcturus might have drifted off entirely — and missed wraen’s presence. his eyes flickered heavily, once, then twice.. abruptly flying open as the scent of a wolf nearby registered.

he stiffened instinctively, head jerking up to look around him. small vestiges of tiredness lingered in his expression, under the wells of his tired gaze in particular. he scanned the vicinity twice before he caught wraen between the foliage. her dark grey and brown pelt offered her camouflage this time of year. hey! arcturus called out suddenly, recognizing her as the woman that had taught him about a different kind of game on the cliffs.

"You woke up!" Wraen sprang to her feet and ambled towards Arcturus in the same joyous manner that my dog has in the mornings, when he realizes the very same thing about me. "Here I thought that - if your sleep extended until the very next day, it might be of enchanted kind and that I should kiss you awake," she teased him in a good-natured humour.

"Or if that did not work, I would have to find someone, who could. True love and that kind," she mused about the silly topic in a half-serious manner. One could believe that she would have actually done it. "I don't expect you know the reference to that story, do you?" she asked him, being 99% sure that the answer was negative. "About princess Brave saving Prince Charming from 1000 years of sleep?"

by the time he managed to get his composure back in order, wraen was nearly atop him — he wagged his tail while a sheepish expression stole over him. he had nearly dozed off entirely, which would have made wraen’s proposed scenario all the more hilarious had it happened.

arcturus was a bit lost, as wraen expected — story time was not big in his family, particularly not fairy tales. he set his ears to the side and tilted his head, visibly confused. was she offering to kiss him (not that he would decline that offer!)? what... is that? princess brave saving a prince? isn’t it normally the other way around?

"Do I look like someone, who needs saving?" Wraen asked playfully, tilted her head to the side with a quizical look in her eyes. "Normal just as beauty is in the eyes of beholder," she explained, in case the previous joking comment had not hit the mark with Arcturus. From what she had gathered from their previous encounter he was a tad bit too stiff and serious. Kind of like a boulder and she wanted to make at least a dent in it.

"Anyway - what are you doing here?" she asked. "Your home is over there, the last I heard," she beckoned towards the range, where Moonspear was approximately located.

in many ways wraen’s depiction of arcturus as a boulder was inherently correct. he was stalwart, and strong. hardened by the mountain. he was not easily eroded, and could withstand many things.. but that’s not all stones were. they also could be unfeeling, and not very enjoyable to talk to. sometimes they were dense, and difficult to get through. he was these things, too.

wraen’s explanation only somewhat alleviated arcturus’ confusion. no, he had never heard of this story — but he could agree (and admire) that wraen very likely needed no white knight to save her. she probably was better off being her own hero than arcturus was. i was looking for my sister vela. she looks much like charon. guessing you haven’t seen her, have you?

"I have met her - she was a special friend of mine," Wraen explained, feeling a little disappointed to hear that Vela had gone on another adventure without so much as coming by and bidding farewell. But could you ask for more from a person you had met few times. She was a peculiar acquaintance of hers, just like Arcturus. And it was very likely that Charon's daughter had seen less of friend in Wraen than the latter had imagined.

"But not for a while now. She had just returned to Moonspear, when we last saw each other," she explained. "Told me all about hoo-mans and the roaring dragons on stone floors."

hope glimmered in arcturus’ eyes, only to be dashed like coal thrown in cruelly cool waters. he had misinterpreted wraen’s answer as recently, and his disappointment showed on his blackened muzzle.

she has been gone several weeks now, and no word. with all the quakes... he trailed off, not wishing to articulate the unpalatable. he hoped desperately vela would soon return. onto another matter — wraen never ceased to make arcturus feel ignorant to the world — he was not sure if he hated it, or liked it, as he learned things often from the woman. hoomans? what are those?

"Let's hope that she is fine and well," Wraen said, because considering the other option was very unpleasant. Not that it could not be true, but the very thought that Vela could have been reaped from her life so untimely and unjustly was unbearable. This did not change the fact that fate tended to play cruel tricks with people.

"Beasts unlike us. Aliens. Hairless and horrid," she shrugged, drawing a mental picture she had made from Vela's description. And it was just as accurate as that of elephant drawn by artists in Middle Ages (https://imgur.com/gallery/MpRBy). She had heard the concept, but not seen the real thing. "How has Moonspear been faring through the earthquakes?"

arcturus fell to grim silence, keeping his counsel to himself. if vela had seen these things why had he not known? with all the quakes and suffering it seemed very likely his sister was not returning— yet arcturus could not stomach the idea of demise.

these beings Wraen spoke of caused a flicker of scrutiny to cross the beta’s face. horrid and hairless had not been in basil’s description of the beasts that had ligatured his neck — but all the same Arcturus wondered aloud: pale faces? he hoped he never saw them.

as for the spear — well, it still stood. charon and amekaze’s empire was unassailable, it seemed. some rock slides, but it seems most of the damage is outside our home. what about you? prey has been scarce at the spear..

"She didn't say anything about faces," Wraen shook her head. It was possible that she had forgotten, because experiences of others were not that easy to imagine, if they had not been particularly descriptive. But - hey - term "aliens" is ve-e-e-e-ry broad, they could be anything: hairless and horrid, pale-faced with almond-shaped eyes, lettuce green, insect-like (cult classic "Men in Black"), you name it! So - with this in mind - Wraen did not argue much on this subject anymore.

"Pretty much the same," Wraen replied. "So, this means that the wilderness in the direct vicinity of Moonspear is off-limits?" she asked, recalling, how she had almost got in a very bad argument with Charon over, what she had considered just a meadow, but he - a valuable piece of land. "I would not wish any of my people run in trouble with yours. I have seen, what Cerberus can do," she said with a knowing look and unpleasant smile.

arcturus wished he had known of what vela saw -- before she left.. it might have lent some clarity to basil's story.. or at least, cleared up some of his own confusion on the matter. he did not like to learn things existed in which he knew little of -- such things, if it was so bold to say, ought to not exist at all as far as arcturus was concerned. his world was quite small, and very threatened by the unknown things outside of it.

his attention was brought back to the subject at hand, by mention of 'cerberus'. he had heard this term many times, and had often been regaled by stories of his older siblings and their exploits before he was born. it was so strange to him, that there was a time outside of his own that existed, before he did -- it made him feel just as small. "yes, the hunting grounds are rather fiercely protected.. but with allies, so long as a kill was made and shared, i think things would be fine. it seems large game is entirely gone, though our allies helped us defend a kill -- a moose of all things -- by a lake not so long ago." he could not speak for dirge and hydra, but he viewed wraen as a friend and ally -- both by familiarity, and by the fact she had been connected to his father, once.

"Well, my pack is not an ally of Moonspear," Wraen replied and, when she realized that Arcturus might misunderstand this as a some sort of personal agenda, added hastily. "I mean, I do not know, if you know, but I was once part of your father's pack. And I did not leave on good terms," she explained. Why not let him hear all the truth and then let him judge for himself, what he made of it. "I settled my record with Charon shortly before he passed away, but I am no friend of Hydra and vice versa any longer," she said, her tone without passion. She was calmly stating the facts.

"With that in mind I will warn my pack mates to stay clear of your hunting grounds. I would not wish them to come to harm, because of my past," she added with a smile and then settled to wait and see, what would Arcturus say about all that he had heard now. Would he let this odd history between her and his sister stand between them? If so, it was better to end things here and now, when the relationship between the two was just budding. "I can never fix things with Hydra, but this does not mean I do not wish to have you as my friend. I like you, Arcturus, I really do," she told him, smiling sincerely.

arcturus had not known of wraen’s terse history with either his father or hydra. he received the news the way one would when they preferred to not have heard it — with a slight frown and pulled lip.

maybe reparations could be made — a hopeful thought instantly dashed by wraen’s admission things could never be repaired between her and hydra. well, heck. why not? what happened fully? arcturus felt maybe if he knew the whole picture he could put the pieces back together again — or at least nudge them together in a way that might lead to something worthwhile.

all the same wraen’s words kept repeating in his mind. on an impulse, mostly because wraen had managed to compliment him and stir something akin to prideful flattery in the boy, arcturus found himself blurting something he didn’t truly mean. i don’t care what hydra thinks. his mouth closed with a click of surprise — he knew that was not true .. but in the moment he was tired of how, it always boiled down to his sister and what she wanted. he felt awful for what he had said, and remorse settled deeply into his heart. yet he could not take back those words - those ugly, untrue words. that’s not what i mean... i just.. we’re our own people and we can make our own decisions, you know?

"Neither Hydra, nor Charon take people leaving kindly," Wraen replied, trying to summarize the long and complicated and already ancient history of her relationship with two generations of Ostregas. The story already felt old and worn, with the King dead, it seemed even less important now than it had been, when the mutual dislike had been real, palpable and painful. "I could have managed things better myself as well, but it does not matter anymore. We are neither friends, nor enemies, we are..." she paused, looking for the best description of her situation, "...nothings to each other." Hate and love implied that people involved still cared, but, when it came to indifference, you could argue, whether it was worse or better. Wraen personally did not feel loss of Hydra, she hardly thought about the newly crowned Queen at all. Her name crossed her mind only, when diplomatic matters were necessary. 

"I am glad and honored to have you as a friend then," she smiled at the boy, who felt confused by the words he had uttered inadvertently. It had come as a surprise to himself, but by saying, what he had, he had earned more respect in Wraen's eyes. He was loyal to Moonspear, but he was his own man too. "So - now that the serious business is cleared," she picked up the thread of conversation again. "What have you been up to lately?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, curious to hear, what Arcturus had to tell.

arcturus received wraen's statement of his sibling and father solemnly. it was true - no one in his family took kindly to leaving - and unfortunately in that regard, arcturus was cut from the same cloth. for he had sworn off wolves closer to he than wraen had been to charon or hydra -- and had not looked back.

as long as they were nothings to each other, arcturus could live. somewhere an ugly voice chittered that everything was nothing to charon, since he was dead -- and that ugly thought struck arcturus like a lance. how fortunate was it that wraen deftly changed the subject then - because what was about to come out of the boy's mouth was even uglier than the thought that had speared his heart.

"hunting, guarding, mostly." he was going to leave it at that, but then found that sounded incredibly boring.. and for some reason, he did not want to seem boring to wraen. "there's been a lot of trespassers on the mountain lately.. and the prey has been scarce, so we've been going further and further out.. we've met a few hostiles, one especially by the pine forest near our claim. i've been working with one cub in particular, who shows promise but is not moonspear blood. things are alright on the mountain, they could be worse. what about you?"

Wraen smiled and almost laughed, when Arcturus mentioned a "hostile from a pine forest". Mal the Great's image sprang to her mind and their exchange about, what big ol' meanies and overall jerks Moonspear wolves had been to him. The guy had seemed young, nice and full of himself. Hostile? Not really. A threat? Not even likely. Were she in her "nothing"s place she would not bother. Let the youth have his own brush with the world and she would watch from the sidelines, how he managed. 

"Pretty much the same. Hunting, gathering, managing an army," Wraen said the last words with a smile in her voice at a joke that only she understood. "Have you tried story-telling?" she asked him, recalling the topic of their last lengthy conversation. "'cause I could teach you some still, if you are still interested," she offered. "Or... maybe you can teach me something? I learned a lot of interesting stuff about meteorology from Jarilo. Give him my well-wishes, when you see him, by the way!"

arcturus noted -- with something akin to light suspicion -- the almost-laugh in wraen's eyes. so she knew, likely, who he was referring to. arcturus' opinion of mal had been poor, and it was possible the same could be said of mal's opinion of him. arcturus was not a man of easy sympathy, and had looked upon the "claim" with a sense of irritability.

yet the topic of mal came to pass; arcturus forgot all of his ill-will, as wraen asked him of story-telling. admittedly, he had not tried it at all -- but the boy had no one on the mountain to test it upon. hydra? poor choice. dirge? arcturus supposed the man would have humored him, but he somehow did not think dirge would find the game amusing. the puppies, could possibly be great candidates -- if arcturus could get one to sit still long enough.

"no." he answered, his ears falling. "but i would be interested in learning more. there are puppies on the 'spear i think would benefit - and more likely on the way." his eyes lit up as wraen mentioned his brother; a smile graced his features briefly. "i will. as far as teaching.. i know only one thing well." he felt coarse, uneducated, a brute -- standing before someone who was articulate and clearly well-learned. whereas, arcturus was simply a beast of meat and might, and little more. "sparring."

"Aha... I guessed so much," Wraen smiled slyly and narrowed her eyes for a moment, regarding the man before her. She had to admit that though she was not the mercenary type herself, there was a certain appeal to those people, who learned or knew the trade well. Just like in real life - men in uniform or in suit at the first glance seem more interesting than gentleman in casual. The fact that Arcturus was handsome and less awkward than the first time she had met him definitely helped. How interesting... A thought she would entertain herself with later.

"Hmmm... would it be considered a treason, if I expressed a wish to learn some trade secrets from you?" Wraen asked and it was not clear from her tone, if she was just teasing the guy or speaking in earnest. Maybe it was both.

arcturus noticed (of course) the casual inspection behind wraen's eyes. he was not so young to misunderstand it, either -- he stood straighter under her gaze, feeling a strange inclination to present himself as positively as possible. the thought was fleeting, but arcturus held onto it with a sense of hidden bewilderment - what had urged him to do that?

he returned her smile with a softer smile of his own. he thought perhaps she was teasing -- in the time he had known wraen, he knew one thing above all else: she constantly kept him on his toes. it was an alluring sense of bewilderment, being outside of advantaged ground - and arcturus doggedly pursued the fleeting feeling. "depends -- will you use it against me, in the future?" his gaze held a light glint to it as he thought of the two of them sparring -- and another thought, a little less casual than sparring hit him.. they would be touching.

I read this and blushed. <3

Arcturus manner changed slightly, Wraen thought she sensed a glint of similar appreciation from him, first beamed, then looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed. Just, when you thought that you had outgrown the age of blushing, fate threw a new challenge your way. But then she thought - why feel ashamed, if you find liking towards someone? Why not be proud and confident that you have something very beautiful to cling upon. 

Therefore she met his gaze again without fear, grinned and said: "If I have to, I will." It was a challenge - would he dare to betray his secrets for a possible future enemy.

<33

arcturus struggled to keep an idiotic grin from welling his features. the more he thought of them sparring, the more appealing it became — and not for learning reasons, either. he felt exhilaration ripple across his skin, and settle shakily in his breath — there was something different about sparring with a not-stranger, especially wraen.

so he met her challenging gaze, rising lightly to his feet. an inner sense, a guidance he had never known he had before, bid him to be smooth and slow — for somehow, the stakes were high in this game they were partaking in.

a smile curved his features, though it was gone quickly as arcturus rounded his shoulders and looked to wraen in an expression he believed was unreadable. he would test her first before any contact was made; while he felt a thrilling note play in his blood, he also felt wary. cautious even, that he might ruin the intoxicating spell that was settling around them.

knowing some wolves that did not fight were slow in their reflexes, arcturus straightened his head, flashed wraen a sunny smile meant to disarm her, and then lunged for her paw. the maneuver was not meant to make contact with her — not yet — but already, the beta felt his blood soaring in heady excitement.

Wraen beamed at him in response, a strange sense of exhiliration filling her heart to the brim and spilling over. She would dwell on it later and bask herself in it's warm glow for days to come. It was not the first time she had found someone else attractive and built dream-castles around an impossible future, knowing well that this delight would cease at some point and she would be able to smile at her own silliness.

She met Arcturus's attack with a quick snap of her jaws inches from the tip of his muzzle, then went for a counter-move of her own. Forepaws outstretched, she attempted to drape them around his neck and, if she did not manage to topple him over, at least give a playful nibble at the base of his left ear.

arcturus' first move had been a feint -- but it was wraen, that brought the battle into a close.

arcturus felt a whoosh as her teeth snapped a hair's breath from his muzzle. he pulled back, but not in time -- her legs draped across the back of his shoulder, her breath suddenly hot at his ear. a ripple of some alien sensation wormed its way down his spine -- an excitement the late blooming beta had never experienced before.

that sensation caught him off guard and made his next moves clumsy. it was enough for him to belatedly react, by dropping his shoulder and chest abruptly to the ground in the attempt to worm out from under her. at the same time he attempted to bump her with his hips, hoping the lack of support and the gentle push would be enough to bowl her over.