Whitefish River and i saw death in the eye of a buck

The next place she searched was the river. On the end of it closest to the plateau. She paced along its shores, looked for pawprints that might be fresh or a track that might be telling.

She stared at the woods far, far in the distance. Even then she could not see them exactly, but she could see the paths they had traveled on the way home.

Had he returned to that place? Despite the way it had seemed so cursed?

Then she turned and stared towards the mountains that lined the backside of the plateau. She had compared him, in her mind, to snowy mountains. Glaciers. She wondered if he was drawn to them with the way he looked as one. Perhaps he would descend soon — or break free from woodlands.

Even if it had not been long in the grand scheme of things, each moment of absence placed a deeper dread within her.

He hadn't found shit in the mountain, which was fine by Zane. Good news for Duchess! And good news for him, since he hadn't been about to fight in that death trap. And if she was lookin to claim it again, he was outskies.

He could lie and say it was claimed to prevent that, but it was too easy to debunk that. Besides, maybe it was time to look for reasons anyway. The air was gettin hot and his paws were gettin an itch.

So on the way back, he wandered a bit. He crossed a few rivers, slipped through some forests, and now had arrived to watch some babe make her way towards another set of rocks in the distance. Now here was a looker.

Hey there sweetheart. You lost? She didn't look lost, but Zane wasn't actually interested in the answer. He was more interested in making her stop so that he could get a better look at her while he walked, cocksure, down the slope towards her.

"Hey there sweetheart. You lost?"

Her stomach felt heavy. Immediately worried that the ghoulish man from the woods had come back again. Back to stalk her, to spit weird words at her.

This time...this time I will meet him with tooth and claw.

Only she wouldn't. Frozen by her own fear once more. The man from the woods had been large, too large for her to take on by herself. With Kigipigak amiss and Gleipnir likely still on the plateau... She would not last if she fought.

Her head slowly turned in her still state, narrow skull looking over her shoulder with big moon eyes.

He was not that man at all. This was a new one. Smaller (still bigger than her) and paler.

No. She finally responded, tail limp between her ankles. I live nearby, looking for a friend.

She was young. Like, real young. That had never really stopped Zane before, but he noted it. There were a few factors Zane took into account when he met a chick; age, looks, confidence, willingness. That last one was pretty much the only dealbreaker. Zane was no dude to write home about (a fact he wore proudly) but he wasn't a fuckin monster.

This girl didn't really read anything yet. Zane slowed down as he got in range of her, sauntering to a stop and looking around. A friend, huh? What sort? Maybe I could lend a paw. I got a knack for finding lost things. Oh shit there was a set up there. Hold on... he just had to think of it.

He is...large. Pale. Scars. Yellow-ish— Unaware that it was copper. —eyes. He goes by Kigipigak. Uttering his name out loud felt wrong in a way. As if she had given him up to some stranger. She just wanted him back to the plateau, wherever he had gone.

Yet if this man was as good as he claimed, she had to place a grain of faith in him.

Have you seen someone like that?

He hadn't. Funny enough, if he hadn't gone to Moonspear first, he would have been able to give her the answer she looked for completely by chance. He'd bounced from the territory before Kukutux brought the man back to recover.

Never seen him. What was it with wolves around these parts and their weird fuckin names? Kigglo or whatever. Fuck nah, no way he was remembering that.

I don't mind helping you look, but if the dude ditched on a pretty thing like you, doesn't seem like a great friend to have. Zane added carelessly, smiling his most charming smile. The clear implication was that he would never have done such a thing. So why would she need to look for some other dude when he was perfectly capable of giving her some company?

"...but if the dude ditched on a pretty thing like you, doesn't seem like a great friend to have."

There was a lot to unpack from the man's words.

Ditched. Pretty thing.

They stuck out the hardest. She had not thought that Kigipigak had ditched her, or that he had even stayed in the first place because of looks. Hadn't he been interested in the deer? The land?

Yet this man said it so nonchalantly, smile and all. It planted that seed of doubt in her chest. What if she had disappointed him with what she had to offer?

She was not skilled enough to see through this. Young and still inexperienced with the words of this man's way.

She promised she would still look for her pale friend, unable to give up on him so quick. Perhaps only now it would be with a guarded, worried way.

I don't know... She drawled out cautiously and yet in her tone she showed that she had indeed considered what had been said.

What are you doing here? Carefully pushing the topic away from herself, from this newfound hurt.

Well, whoever he was, definitely didn't deserve this chick's loyalty. Zane gave a small shrug, but wasn't going to push it past the point of slight obnoxiousness. Truth be told, he wasn't about to stick around much longer. He could blow Duchess off to go traveling with some random chick but something told him he'd be tired of travel a few days in.

Me? Headin back home. Friend of mine asked me to scout that there mountain, so I took a peek around. Of course she'd send me, seein as I'm a bit of an expert in the whole mountain thing. Living on a few of 'em does that to a wolf. He replied, full of unearned confidence. Wasn't like they were close enough she was going to ask him to prove it.

Didnt see anyone else that way, so least you know he didn't ditch ya for that death trap. He chuckled, pleased with himself for being so goddamn helpful.

She couldn't question such a claim. If only because she knew nothing about mountains. The plateau was the closest thing she had ever known to a mountain.

I would hope not. Shy, sheepish. She would have been ashamed if she had driven him to such lengths. To be ditched for a death trap, as this man had called it.

Are you sent off to explore a lot? More interested in talking about him now than herself. Perhaps he could pepper her with tales of distant places.

oof <3 gonna wrap this, if she comes back in maybe they can meet up. I fell off with him but I enjoyed this!

Lady, you are talking to an expert in the art of exploration. Zane replied, the lie rolling off easily. Mostly because he considered it to be more true than false; he was no expert, but he'd spent most of his life moving from one place to the next. It was maybe his only accomplishment and when he could tout it, he did.

Zane didn't need much prodding; he'd spend the next while regaling her with story after story of his excellence in adventure. All of them chock full of lies, set to feature him as the gallant hero in a series of unlikely places. But if the events were exaggerated, the places were true, and he had a hell of time revisiting it.