Seaside Moors Once, you know, you were my friend.

Not sure on your timeline, but can forward date this a bit to factor in for Raleska’s travels?

How many times had Raleska done that circuit, how many miles under her young feet? She passed through Rusalka’s perimeters while rain persisted, splattering the world in a formless and cheerless grey. 

She howled for @Wintersbane, eyes clear and expression settled from the unremitting rage which had occupied her face a few day’s prior. Somehow, walking — and the journey — had done much to clear Raleska’s mind, and she had much on which to discuss with their newly anointed leader.

sleep has eludes him in all but starts and fits — small naps taken out of necessity. he is vigil and alert, both on the borders and within them. he has upset the balance of rusalka with his victory; he is a usurper captain aboard the pirate ship and he doesn’t dare close both his eyes or turn his back. not while his position rankles them. still, he patrols and he hunts and he fills caches; because the routine is possibly the only thing keeping him from descending in the bowels of paranoid hell. it’s on one sweep that raleska’s voice rises for him.

their last conversation …if one could call it that …is not so easily forgotten by the tundrian who makes quick work of the distance with each long, purposeful stride.

he wonders if she is going to yell at him some more. or perhaps she’s going challenge him. polar gaze settles upon her as she comes into his view. you called? either way, he suspects it won’t take long for him to find out the nature of her summons.

Wintersbane arrived, coming along in long purposeful strides that called back to a more leonine order. Raleska’s gaze assessed him flatly, noticing he looked wary and perhaps a little tired. 

No small wonder, after all — he was a stranger among a lion’s den. 

She afforded a rare smile. It did not reach her eyes nor flatten the alertness of her ears, but it was a change from the virulent hate that had contorted her face only a few days prior. 

Well, no use beating around the bush. Raleska took in a deep breath, canting her head sidelong so she could watch him as she spoke. I owe you an apology. Her words were contrite, and it was hard for one as proud as she to admit it. I shouldn’t follow an apology with a long, elaborate reason for my behavior — but we’ve had this happen before. Vercingetorix. It’s left a bad taste in my mouth. Anyway. You said you wanted to prove to me you were different. That this time, it would be different. Had he meant that? Raleska surveyed him slyly, wondering if he really was different from all the others. I’m here because I love my family, and Rusalka. Not you. But, maybe I can put my pride to the side and work with you — to make it all better.

an apology? it draws his ears forth; attentive and alert atop his skull. right ear twitches with a tick as he considers it. you don’t owe me one, wintersbane says, a soft flick of his tail against his hocks. believe it or not, i do understand. but he’s been in this position before. courtfall had never truly accepted him despite his status as andraste’s husband …but at least his ascension there had been …peaceful. he knows, would the tables be turned, he’d be angry, too. still, understanding or not he’s done what he’s done and now stands at the mast that feels more like the edge of the plank.

i would appreciate it. deep down, he really does want to prove himself to them, to her. he thinks his reasons are righteous but she was right that they were, ultimately, selfish. on the topic of what he thinks she’s saying, though, he was the first to offer. you accept my offer, then?

He was far more gracious than Raleska ever hoped to be. She waved off his insistence she did not owe him an apology — au contraire...

No. Raleska answered, tone firm and in a way that brooked no quarter. But, I can be your advisor. Raleska thought the idea of her as a ruler was laughable — she always did make terrible mistakes... Yet, it was easy to think ahead, to guide someone else — and if nothing else, Raleska was a great resource when it came to the history of Rusalka. You took over a pack, when you knew very little of its history. Very little of my history. I can help you, but I’m not interested in leadership. You don’t know — Raleska’s lips curled in a sly smile — But I was a leader of Rusalka once, too. There is more to governing your people than using their heads as stepping stones.

fair enough. wintersbane says simply. he wouldn’t ask again, besides, if she truly wanted it, she’d have taken it the first time or challenged him. this, he’ll believe in. still, a small rise of suspicion blossoms beneath his breast. she was quite adamant on where he stood to her their first meeting — as shit under her paw, he’d be willing to bet — so …why the sudden change of heart? what made you decide to help me? wintersbane cannot help but ask; out of little more than his own morbid curiosity.

for all he knew, this could be a set up.

— but that seemed awfully extra when a much simpler solution stood ready for seizing.

…and any failures on his part were now rusalka’s too …or for at least as long as he held the title of alpha among them. needless to say, however; he doesn’t want to fail them. alright, he accepts, hesitantly. so, what’s first? he reclines back upon his haunches, grateful for the taken opportunity to rest his tired legs a bit.

He didn’t — and shouldn’t — trust her. Simple. I can’t kill you. Raleska gave an indifferent shrug of her shoulders. Her delivery was matter of fact and painfully bald. If she was capable of defeating Wintersbane, she would have. But, Raleska was half his size and she was no idiot. You only fought when you knew you could win. 

 Rosalyn and Erzulie are not getting any younger. We need change. You said it yourself, although differently.

Raleska’s shrewd, hawkbit gaze turned away. Make no mistake — you and I are not friends. But, there’s a way I can make this work for both of us, and for Rusalka too. So, my interests are purely aligned with Rusalka. As long as you are within Rusalka, I suppose that means my interests are aligned with you.. She hedged a careful sigh, still feeling anger lap lazily along the battered shores of her heart. We’ve moved a lot in the last few years. It’s never been safe, no matter where we go. To tell the truth, I’ve hated it here. Maybe, we just keep trying to do the same things and that’s why nothings changed. There is one thing you can do to prove to me that this time, it will be different.

a quirk of his brows is given at her admittance but he admires the honesty. there’s always going to be danger, wintersbane murmurs, that’s apart of life. he knew that better than most …although at least half of his misfortunes were of his own doing ( cough ). there were ways to help keep it at bay ...but nothing and no one was safe. not even in their own beds as they slept. he learned that the hard way when he discovered andraste's still and cold body.

doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. he quotes aridly, not sure where he’s heard it from but surmising that it must be true. she’s said as much herself. and what’s that? wintersbane asks tentatively. it seems too easy that it would only take one thing to shift the tides in his favor.

Indeed, life was fraught with danger. But just for once, did it always have to be so hard? Couldn't Raleska just once live her life without that red mark on her back, that target that had been there since day one? Couldn't someone like her and Erzulie and Rosalyn shape an empire, a safe haven -- a home uninterrupted by strife?

Raleska took a long moment, drinking in Wintersbanes words about insanity. She had never heard that quote, but it had a way of sticking. She played around with it in her mind, wondering if it was that simple. "Doing the same thing over and over again. Hmm." Raleska repeated to herself, wondering where it was Wintersbane had got that token advice.

Unfortunately, it was not so easy as one simple task. Raleska, to her credit, made it sound as if it would be a simple thing -- in reality, it was anything but.

She resisted the urge to say (she was Caiaphas' daughter, after all) okay great, fuck right off -- instead, Raleska took this turn of events as an opportunity to push into placement some pieces that had long since needed momentum to move. "To be Rusalkan, is to walk with a target at your back. We only barely surived Drageda, and there's no telling when -- or if -- they are planning their revenge. You picked a strange pack to overturn, but that is your business, and now you're part of this mess same as us."

Raleska drew in a breath and pointedly turned her muzzle north and then south. "Look around us -- this place is no fortress. We're exposed on all sides. We moved here out of necessity a few months ago, but it is no sanctum. I would think, as your first action as leader, it might serve you to look at this place objectively and ponder if it's not worth it to move. Rusalka has lost many of its warriors, and all that's left are the hardy and scrappy -- but none of us are ready for war again."

it isn’t the first time i’ve had a target on my back, traversing with one of those was something wintersbane was well versed in …which also meant he wasn’t afraid of it. of course it meant he had to be weary but they couldn’t be any worse than blackfeather woods. and i doubt it’ll be my last. not with his current string of decisions, at least. even so, he cannot help but wonder at how foolish it makes the wolves of rusalka that they bothered to have cubs if they were such a high price target.

he’s noticed the exposure of the moors; she brings to light his own question of their claim here: what, possibly, did it have to offer them? no fortification, not easily defensible …not that they had too many to offer defense; not when most of their numbers came from cubs not even yearlings yet. and then there were the coming wintermonths. how could this place possibly offer them shelter from the elements?

no one likes being uprooted time and time again, spoken from the experience of a being little more than a stray as a cub. there’s a lot of disadvantages to these moors from guardian perspective alone. let alone how it’s going to shelter and feed us in the coming months. on the topic of moving, raleska hardly how to convince him at all. so a territory must fit the criteria: easily defensible, natural fortifications, plenty of shelter and food sources and access to high migrating herd traffic. it would be helpful to bulk up caches now when they’re in their rut and not concerned about migrating.

as far as finding such a place, wintersbane is well travelled and a few pop into his head without much prompt. i know these wilds well. there are plenty of territories that could easily fit the criteria …the options should be narrowed down though. are you thinking inland or staying on the coast?

and on the topic of wars no one was ready for…

what is rusalka’s stance on allies? i have some connections, old friends in high places i could call upon. but as it was, wintersbane wasn’t really sure what rusalka had to offer any other pack.

Raleska hid the flicker of annoyance that darted across her mind as Wintersbane casually swept aside the mention of a target on his back. Did he not know how much Rusalka had lost when they fought Drageda? Raleska buried the memory of Eurycrates, of Ephraim, of her mother -- every one of them scrabbling for their piece in the memory-limelight.

Perhaps that was the fallacy of men; they never thought anything could be their downfall unless they explicitly permitted it. Raleska believed Wintersbane was being too casual, but she huffily packed this belief away and soldiered on.

On one front, they agreed -- the Moors were indefensible. Raleska had never cared for this place, but they'd arrived here out of necessity. "We are seawolves." Raleska said almost immediately, without even a moment's hesitation. Her blood was overturned with salt; her children's blood ran with salt -- taking them from the coast would be like taking them from their birthright. She guiltily corrected herself - she had no children.

"There are three territories I can think of that would make me feel safer." She wondered if he, well traveled as he was, would know of them. "One is a stony fortress to the north of us. Follow the coast and you will not miss it. I believe there is one other pack on the coast, but I do not know who -- or what -- they are. The further north you go, the less charitable the landscape is.  There are two territories to the deep north. One is where I was born, and I know that place better than any. The other territory is our old enemy's stomping grounds. The sheer cliffs make it difficult to raid, and that worked to our detriment when we were in the Sound.  It's more advantageous to be on higher ground, we've found."

seawolves.

so, the coast then.

it definitely narrowed down the options mapping themselves out before him; darkening those vein-like paths. they were off their charts and he does not spare them any more thought. it does not go unnoticed that she doesn’t mention anything regarding alliances and for now, he tucks that away. he could needle her about it later. perhaps once they were settled in a new, better home …if his reign even sees it to that point. regardless of what the murky future may hold for him, he will see this set in motion.

dragoncrest cliffs, wintersbane murmurs with a nod and hard glint of his pelid gaze. it was true he had nothing against the drageda wolves as a whole, he still cannot help but feel the needling annoyance that molly lived among them, had once walked those lands. from how raleska spoke, it was empty now.

what if we took dragoncrest? claimed it for rusalka? hell of a way to get back at old enemies, his and her’s. and between the cliffs and the tangle there would only be two borders to worry about. wintersbane contemplates it aloud. i’d say we could split to claim the sound too, but there aren’t enough of us for that — even so. we can still consider it apart of our claim. he would have no qualms about chasing wolves off of the sound even if their claim only actually held to dragoncrest cliffs. he didn’t bother mentioning being territorial over the tangle…assuredly, it wasn’t a territory they had to worry about being claimed as inhospitable as it was ( or so he assumes ).

So, he was a man well traveled. He knew almost instantly of where Raleska spoke -- this needled the young Eyjolfur, who now had seeds of doubt about the depth of this man. If he knew of Drageda, what if he was a spy?

She shook off the thought, same as she had shook off the thoughts of those that had died. Nope, this was Now -- no room in the vault for boogeyman memories or past doubts and guilt.

"So you know it." Raleska affirmed. She couldn't say she hated the idea of extending their reach to the Sound as well, but as far as she knew, their numbers were too scrimpy. As much as she wanted to say it was revenge that guided her hand, it really truly was simply that, strategically speaking, Drageda had the higher ground. Ankyra boasted stormy shores and a heavy forest, but those were fair easier traversed than a cliff.

"Have you been to either recently? I just came back from scouting both - one, before your.. ascension. And the other recently. The floods have changed the terrain slightly, but most was just as I remembered it. Still unoccupied. My main interest is in offensive protection. Ankyra was my birthright, but we had to fight for it. You've seen Rosalyn's scars? That was the cost -- that, and a few dead." Raleska fell silent for a moment. "I think the history of Rusalka would be too much for an evening chat. I could tell you more, if you wanted to come with me and scout both."

i know it, wintersbane affirms gruffly. my …sister ran with the dragedians. his tongue curls unfavorably ‘round the term ‘sister’. she’s as dead to me as she can be without me having finished the job. regardless, i have no love for the drageda wolves either. the fact that they took molly in was good enough for him to want nothing to do with them. he wouldn’t start a war just to start one but …he wouldn’t weep if they were all wiped off the face of the earth either.

no, not recently. wintersbane admits. strategically speaking, the cliffs offer the best protection and offense positions. but he wasn’t the kind of wolf to get attached to territories. he isn’t so sure that leaving rusalka to scout potential territories is a good idea, given the upheaval his ascension caused. there was a good chance, if he departed the claim even with raleska, that he’d come back to an occupied throne.

my rank here isn’t exactly stable, his fault for not trying to prove himself first before challenging. he contemplates for a few moments. but, wintersbane is of the mind that if someone’s going to in turn usurp him then they’d try to do it whether he was here or out scouting with raleska and regardless of what was to happen with his position here rusalka was a priority for him. his hope was, ultimately, to make it a home for himself.

i’ll go with you, he doesn’t trust not to be stabbed in his back. regardless of what happens rusalka is too exposed here. and he knows no other way than to suggest that while selfish his motives are not entirely impure than to help rusalka survive regardless of the cost to him.

It's not favorable, in Raleska's eyes, that Wintersbane had a sibling in Drageda.. but... then again, she wasn't exactly free of her ties either. Hello, she had slept with one -- and now had two bastard children from that legacy. So, her track record wasn't pristine either.

She brushed it aside, pleased at the very least that Wintersbane seemed to agree to some extent the cliffs were better off than here. Hell, Raleska would rather live in a pit than the Moors - at least that way, no one could sneak up on her.

She was still tired from her last exodus out, but if things were going to improved for Rusalka it was better she didn't lag behind. On the plus side, Wintersbane was realistic about the atmosphere in Rusalka surrounding him. Unstable was an understatement. "Putting it lightly." Raleska commented dryly, shaking out her ruff. "It might be better you are gone for a bit on a scouting mission. We could see all three, see which you preferred. Give everyone time for their tempers to settle. Cooler heads prevail, and all of that." Hell, even she was still bitter he'd overthrown Aningan, but the order must be respected -- and allegedly, he'd won it fair and square.

She vowed then, to rest -- and told Wintersbane as such. Come morning she would seek out his form and they would depart to scout.