Bearclaw Valley viridis

someone to tell him ico has gone. or attack him *whistles*

the pathway to the mouth of the valley was an odd red stone. germanicus stared down at it; the crimson dust mingled with the rainwater until his feet were caked in scarlet. lifting a lip in disgust, the soldier stopped his march. the meadow had ended; he stood before clearly marked borders. no scent of ico upon them, however.

having informed @Célnes of his plan to return once he had found the boy, germanicus now pondered the ancient trees that towered along the curved stone walls. if she and her family set off, it was well-met; he would follow or he would not. his affiliation was only to her, after all. now he let out a great wondering howl, summoning ico, who he did not know had been weeks gone from ursus.

a tiny, silent sentinel, Avicus watches from afar as the man approaches the entrance to the valley. her ears cup at his howl, and then she stalks toward him, caring not a whit that the call is not for her. it takes her a little longer than it would an adult wolf to reach him, but eventually she does, and she stops several paces away, watching him coolly.

big and gray; he looks like the mountain man that her mother had tusseled with. but it wasn't him—this man smells not of the valley, but of places she doesn't know. she doesn't know why he's here or why he seeks someone within bearclaw's ranks.

all she knows is that he's a stranger, and strangers aren't high on her favorites list.

germanicus, who was used to the attention of adults, and their protectiveness over their land, was surprised at the sudden stare of a red pup. an aloof expression on her small face, not at all how alsek had once greeted him. but this child was older, and alsek was gone, the eaglebound reminded himself.

"do you know a man called ico?" he asked, deciding not to bother with pleasantries or demands for another wolf to come. something about the eerie purple of the child's eyes and the high stone walls of the valley did not tempt germanicus to stay long.

Ico? no. not at all. probably one of the nameless faces around here that have never bothered to meet the children. she stares at him, muzzle wrinkling slightly. shakes her head, a quick gesture, dispassionate. but she's not the one to speak to. she doesn't really speak at all.

lifting her muzzle, she howls for Merrick and @Astara, hoping they can set the record straight. her call has become less infantile with time, gaining a resonance that will only grow as she ages. it echoes, and she looks at the man. waiting again. just waiting.

silence is golden.

i have never done this before

the coolwater call of his dainty bearberry drew merrick out from his open-jawed slumber beneath a stand of tall ferns. muzzy, he jogged in that direction, yawning along the way and shaking his head to clear his eyes.
first his scarlet child, leggy and brilliant against the foliage still bright with summergreen. second, a greystone man merrick had never seen before. he stepped to avicus' side. "what can i do for you?" conivivial. joyous, even, completely unmatched against the brazen pierce of his hard eye.

no sound came, and none seemed likely to follow. "he said he was from here," germanicus pressed in a gruff voice that cut off at the sight of a shadow slinking forward. a ghoul in wide daylight, lips nicked with tiny scars and the staring gape of an empty socket boring his way.

"i was asking after a man named ico," germanicus repeated, straightening beneath the nauseating stab of the haggish stare. his own gaze fell to the silent staring crimson girl, and then he forced its return. "is he present among you?"

giggles

she feels relief as her father joins her at the border, addressing the man with words. glorious words. silence is golden, but words are a different kind of currency. she soaks them all up, intending to use them later.

what can i do for you? she mouths, and then does it again, a broken, quiet automaton. what can i do for you?

anyone paying her any heed at all would think her mad, likely. but she is learning in the only way she can. her dam hasn't offered her anything of verbal substance, so she's picked things up from others. her father has the gift of the gab.

what can i do for you? she mouths.

merrick enjoyed the drag of the taut man's eyes. a small flicker of motion alongside him furthered an observance of her soundless lips; expression pooling with approval, the bearwolf looked back upon their guest. "ico." 
"he ran away from a party i was throwing. a celebration. for this one, and for her brother," merrick mused affably. ico had always kept to himself; he hadn't known the alabaster waif to be someone who had companions outside of ursus. curious.
"unfortunately, he didn't care for the proceedings. up and left us a while ago."
lacewing tonguetip touching the edge of his own mouth. "i hope you didn't come too far to be given bad news." a sneer rode high upon his countenance.

100 wooo

the eaglebound did not care for the tone in the other's throat. his jaws parted, but his softgold gaze tipped without words toward the child. she mouthed back the utterance of who he assumed to be her sire. for some reason this chilled germanicus; he wished at once to leave.

but the man was speaking, something confusing before he revealed that ico had gone away some time before. the soldier fought to keep dismay from spreading tangibly to his stare; he was successful only by shifting his eyes toward the girl again. and then to merrick. "do you know where he would have gone?" germanicus was aware he was pressing for more information than was normally given, but he was worried behind the cool facade of trained distance.

'grats on 100!

a celebration. a party. does he mean the dying man, and Merrick's passionate speech? Avicus hadn't noticed anyone leaving early, though she had been too immersed in the proceedings to notice, well, anything beyond the blood. still, if he had left, she didn't care. she hadn't known Ico from anyone.

and she is growing bored with this conversation anyway, one that doesn't much involve her. Merrick has it handled, and so she presses slightly against her father's foreleg, giving him a glance and a nod. she casts one final look at the stranger before departing, dutifully following the border line.

what other surprises are in store for her today?

avicus, a press, and the glitter of the bloodstar pacing off and off. merrick's eye did not leave the stranger. "no." voice cool, for their meet was swiftly coming to an end. "check easthollow," and a sardonic lilt attended his lips. "it's that way. can't miss it."
merrick drew up, lopsided stare turning to orestone. "was there anything else?" a pleasant host, tip tip tapping in a lure along the sticky edge of his web; flesh for his children if the right words were not spoken.

ty!

the girl, moving away. the man staring at him. his gut dropped, but still he maintained himself, if only for the sake of appearances. and the serpentine voice lilting toward his ears; it made the guard wish to drop to the earth, to scrub the sound from the inside of his mind. sibilant and greased like fatted lamb.

"no." nothing, nothing at all; he wished to get away, and turned at once to pace off along the red-stone with a gait he refused to turn into a gallop. the sun turned to ash in his mouth; heartbeat flailed as germanicus thought desperately of ico and where he might have gone.

"pity." sharktooth grin as the greyrock man turned away, and then merrick tasted the air and traveled up to the setting-stone. there he laid himself catlike to watch the charcoal shadow retreat across the meadow. 
dust and blood upon his tongue; where had ico gone? merrick wondered idly if the little snowdrop had been killed. such a piece of fluff was not made for life out-of-doors.
not curious enough about the weirdly formal man who had come to his doorstep, merrick yawned and lay chin upon forepaws, soon finding a momentary slumber stretched out upon the sunwarmed surface.