Nova Peak The rhythm of a beating, braver heart.

If you've got time?

Nova Peak. Not quite as intimidating as their previous spires nor as grand as the range of Sunspire, but it was theirs. A lone mountain, far enough from the proximity of other packs that Nyx could continue to raise her brood in the best possible way.

Sagtannet would thrive there, she was sure. Having settled her offspring with ease that night, Nyx stepped carefully over her slumbering daughters and out into the crisp air of midnight to breathe deep ans look forward to a brighter future.

The tawny Ostrega, forever a wanderer at heart, knew that the decision to relocate their pack and been for the best. @Mahler had impressed her enormously by putting the safety of their children before rights to any territory, further solidifying her silent affection for him. Wandering paws brought her to a smooth ledge, slick with the day's rainfall and void of interrupting foliage, where she paused to look out over the dark land stretched for miles before her.

a l w a y s
(gonna say this is before his fight thread as i don't know its outcome yet)

mahler did not know how to trust the rebirth between himself and wylla, did not know what he might say or overlook, and thus, ruin hope again. but a thought came to him, half-formed and tentative.
in the interim, however, the peak must continue to be claimed. it was nightfall by now, the air still rife with rain. meaning to perform a check of all those in the vicinity, mahler left off his tasks to find the soft trail left by nyx, and followed it to where the goldtipped woman stood bathed in the gentle glow of moonlight managing to cut through the clouds. 
he stepped to her side, silent but for an affectionate glance.

She felt confident in knowing the sound of his footfall, thus regarded Mahler's approach with a simple cant of an obsidian-tipped lobe in his direction. Her hawkish gaze remained on the far stretch of moonlit land before her for only a moment longer, then turned her attention wholly on her Alpha.

"This was a good choice," she crooned to him of their newest claim as he closed distance between them until he stood close by her side. Nyx thought, fleetingly, how nice it would be to sink into the support of his, but she was quick to spirit such temptation away. Instead, the lioness turned her head to look up at the dark leader's face. "Ciri can't wait to visit the sea."

A smile then, as she spoke fondly of their fierce little daughter, but it dwindled at the stabbing reminder of how her time in Ankyra had once brought her to ruin. She'd vowed to herself in the presence of her brother, a long time ago, that she would never face those shores again for as long as she lived. "Perhaps, we can make a day of it?"

"i vould like that," he murmured. "it has been a long time since ve vere so close to the ocean," mahler remarked, hinting toward grimnismal. "i did not think i vould see it again." how long had he dedicated himself to the mountains, to the forests, to the high stone spires and the grave of stigmata?
even now, he and nyx stood upon yet another of the endless rock faces, another belonging to sagtannet.
"ve have done a lot of moving."

The words had come awkwardly, and left a sour aftertaste that Nyx attempted to swallow. Would it be weird, for them both to take their offspring off into the wilds for a day - pretending like they were a real family? She wasn't sure, but the uncertainty would linger.

Regardless of the lioness' anxieties, Mahler accepted her idea and she offered a thin smile in acknowledgement as her thoughts turned to Ankyra's grotto. Lycaon had surely buried the bodies of their children she'd bore and slaughtered within those halls, but what of the boy who lived? Was he alive, still? Did the pack still roam that forsaken sound that'd brought her to her knees?

Fear tightened its grip around her heart as she considered the possibility Mahler might wish to show their daughters the territory where their parents first made their home. She said nothing more on the matter, simply tried to content herself with exploring another area of the shores that would be far from the traumatic reminders of her dark past.

"We have," she told him, "I hope you don't have any regrets?"

"i am only tired, i think," mahler admitted softly. "vorried that ve vill have to leave again." diaspora, the hollow, sagtannet. and through each of these places the goldspun sylph alongside him had been, even hearkening back to the pack upon the shoreline he had once inhabited with wylla.
all unsaid history — considering it now, mahler marvelled at the separate roads they had taken that seemed intent on reforming once more. he held a similar thread with wylla; grimnismal, the creek, at which they had parted bitterly. he from her. 
mahler had known nyx the same length and yet not at all, for he had not known her near the sea, only as she was after the mountains had honed her. and he had not known wylla in these past years, only carried the memory of her burning.
blinking away the observations that declined swiftly into shame on two accounts, mahler returned to himself. "are you lonely, nyx?" rather hesitantly, and he did not dare look at the woman for fear he would see resentment in her gaze as well.

His own worries of uprooting once more planted the same within her, and she hummed to herself in dark contemplation. As an Ostrega who once lived to wander, there had been no sorrow in her to leave the spires behind. In fact, despite the circumstances that forced Sagtannet's relocation, Nyx rather appreciated the chance to roam again. It bothered her that Ciri and Elke were affected by the loss of their birthplace, but they were strong girls and she was confident that they would adapt.

Quiet, then. A silence that was edging on uncomfortable, though it heightened considerably when Mahler chose to speak. The tawny wolfess pricked her lobes in surprise, blinked his way to find amethyst eyes averted, and though she parted her jaws no answer came. After a pause of hesitation, Nyx too cast her gaze away to stare emptily out over the midnight scene before them.

"Sometimes," she admitted, "I miss where I came from: my mother, my sisters, my brother. Other times," she hesitated, dared to glance Mahler's way again, and wondered if he'd regretted asking such a question, "I just miss you."

no regret, only the contrition that washed through his soul like frigid seawater. "i am sorry," he said simply, weakly. "i did not expect this to be so cruel to you." and how could he not? he had not thought ahead, only in the selfish moments of his grand plans, a legacy to continue that of diaspora in stigmata's name.
illusion. grandiosity. endearment and anguish in his shalebloom eyes.
he had no more left to say, not in the moment that left him weakened and faltering inside the stony planes of his impassive face. mahler, turned to rock, unhewn and ugly; gone within whilst nyx surely suffered outside the closed door. he forced himself to quit the tightening of his muscles, the leap away from the question he himself had asked. but he dared not speak again.

He apologised, which is not what she'd expected - or wanted. Nyx merely looked at him, this withered wolf who was not only her leader but the father of her children, and focused on the erratic thrum within her breast.

She had long shied from her affection of Mahler, knowing that it would never be returned. Nyx, having now tentatively admitted some quiet feeling for him, did not even dare to hope that he might share something for her. Partnership had never been something the lioness had craved and, even though she'd presented herself exclusively to the gargoyle, she was content with her status.

"Cruel?" She thought it harsh of Mahler to tar himself in such manner, for his unrequited fondness was not the end of the world. Did he think she yearned for him each night, perhaps? Wept in longing for his constant companionship? "We have two wonderful daughters together, Mahler. I see you with them, and I think-" that if ever I could find love, it could be with you. "I know choosing you to be their father was the best decision I ever made." She exhaled softly, turned her face away. "How could it ever be cruel, for you to make me feel so alive?"

he could not conceive of a world where nyx might be satisfied with his visits while knowing his heart belonged to another, always. for it was not a world he would have tolerated, and he was reminded anew of his hubris in expecting such from these two women.
her soft words floated to him, firm, impassioned; breath hitched in his throat and he stifled a sob, gaze narrowing only briefly before he swung it toward nyx and her sungold eyes. "you gave me a beautiful gift in them, nyx," mahler ventured a moment later, above a taut smile that loosened slowly, gently. "and each of you make me vish to be better."
there was no dearth of feeling in his spirit for her, he knew. it simply did not bear the same mark, and mahler knew there was no feasible way to offer this that would not harm her faith. "you are good to me." undeserved.

No soft declaration of fondness for her came and though she felt some stirring of sorrow in her abdomen, she did not wither. The lioness stood strong, a proud pillar, determination coursing her veins to not sway or falter beneath the gargoyle's gaze. No man had ever held any real control over her and she wasn't prepared to allow one to start believing they could - not even Mahler.

She cared for him. She always would, and although the reminder of this night would forever dampen her stirring of what she thought could be love, she was grateful for his honesty. Mahler had never once led her to believe they could ever be anything more than what they were, she realised with a watery smile. Nyx harboured no bitterness or resentment, and as long as they could maintain their respect for one another, she hoped they could continue to live peacefully.

"I try to," she answered, wondering when the time would come that she would finally be kind to herself, "this won't change anything between us?"

"nothing vould ever change how i feel for you, nyx," mahler answered swiftly, a moment of naked admission that landed his eyes to her own. "i simply vant more —" voice now trailed, but he refused to take his gaze from her own.
"you deserve more."
a breath; mahler wished to reach for the lioness, and in the next moment did, hesitantly. mouth closed to wording of all he felt, as if by speaking it to life might mislead her or betray wylla. "valk vith me?" an invitation, one nyx was welcome to forsake if she chose.

Nothing, he said. Nothing could change what he felt for her. A wave if emotion came hurtling toward her at this admission, one she hadn't expected. She inhaled deep, and something bitter flared within her: not even Wylla?

Even after all this time, she and Nyx had managed to evade one another. To be ignored by the wolfess she'd run with on Grimnismal's coastal claim was the best response she could've hoped for and, while she hoped it could continue in such a way, she was afraid for what it might mean for her daughters. Unaware of the extent of Wylla's dismissal of Ciri and Elke, Nyx naturally suspected that there would be some unfair dislike toward innocent cubs. With it, she was afraid that she might use her position to poison the pack against them, as well.

Mahler reached to touch her, asked that she walk with him, which brought her once more to reality. She blinked toward the gargoyle, let her hawkish gaze meet briefly with cool amethyst. Wordlessly, the lioness gathered to her paws and dipped her muzzle in quiet agreement, content to pretend that she wasn't screaming internally, and waited for him to take the lead.

wylla could not change the nature of his heart. but she had long abided there as well, and it was to she he had turned after it all. balefully aware of the myriad ways in which this could have caused nyx' silence, mahler too embraced the quietude. 
he did not wish to do this again. his daughters he adored, but for the sake of future children, mahler must keep only to singular planning. he saw already how the bitterness had churned phaedra; he feared it for elke and for ciri.
but such vessels of things untouched and unnamed; he walked alongside the golden woman in shame and pensiveness. "i have a suggestion for the children, vhen they are of age. in regards to moonspear."

Nyx, having known before the conception of her daughters that this most recent litter would be her last, allowed her own thoughts to trail in a direction similar to those of Mahler. She, too, did not wish to place herself in such a position of vulnerability ever again.

Ciri and Elke were more than enough to fill her heart, and it beat solely for them. She adored them, only them, and as she padded along at Mahler's flank in silence Nyx considered all the sacrifice she would make for her children if she had to.

The Eisen's words drew raven-tipped lobes forward, curious. Moonspear was the far off peak where her brother reigned, and she wondered just how well the gargoyle might know him. "What do you have in mind?"

mahler thought carefully of how he might word the communication that had passed between he and hydra. it would not do to suggest he had offered a political alliance based upon birth; that would only inspire a wrath he did not wish to kindle. and as he thought of it now, it was with an eye far less desiring of politics, and more directed toward the confirmation of the future.
"i vant to send them to hydra. first, to train. they are a place of varriors, and do not discriminate." hydra herself, an established queen in her mountainous seat of power. "in time, perhaps they might consider the sons of moonspear." he did not like to think of it, not now, but neither would mahler allow his daughters to be influenced by anything less than what he had granted. leadership. land. the seeking hereditary roots of his first litters. it was a silent part of him, one not yet insistent, but the gargoyle held fast all the same.

Moonspear. The place where her brother, Dirge, had made what Nyx assumed to be his forever home. She took a moment to reflect solemnly on her last encounter with him, back when Diaspora lived alongside the lake, and bitterly regretted how abruptly she'd ended that encounter. The lioness seemed to make a habit of disappearing acts when it came to her most beloved sibling.

Her focus turned to what Mahler suggested for their children: how he wished for them to dwell on another mountain's slopes to hone their fighting skills, and how he wished for them to think on seeking companionship in their ally's sons. Nyx wondered if he'd considered this for Phaedra too, or if the gargoyle wished only to remove her daughters by him from his fresh start on Nova Peak.

"I shall consider this," she said levelly, and would do so at great length in the days to follow.

something in nyx' tone turned mahler's gaze toward her. it was upon the tip of his tongue to ask after it, but in his arrogance, mahler supposed he would not. deciding to be content with her oddly toned words, mahler turned his attention to the view beyond themselves and gave a low sigh.
"elke is very devoted to learning plants and herbs," he remarked softly, wishing to fill the silence between them with a sound, any sound. to train them in moonspear would be to invest into them the nobility he thought they deserved.