Silvertip Mountain Today's air quality is mauve and speckled

I don't know if the thread is still being crashed so I'll be vague til we know more!

From Moonglow's ouroboros mountains, the young man who called himself Arctos descended into the lowlands. He made a grand show of searching along streams and brooks for small fish, and when he was certain no one would notice, he made a furtive bid for Silvertip Mountain, slinking in the manner of a feline until he reached the borders of Ursus.

There, he called lowly for @Merrick. He had spent many days now studying the wolves of Moonglow, their strange customs, and most importantly, their punishment of Tuur. While he had little in the way of concrete advantageous information to share with father, Aventus knew he had to keep his presence in Ursus and report regularly, and he knew Merrick would want to hear about Tuur, if nothing else.

merrick hungered for a word from either of his departed children.
when aventus called, the bearwolf attended at once, melting from shadow to shadow until he came upon his son.
the boy smelled of foreign things, unknown wolves. merrick met the bruin-jaw's gaze, keeping himself back as to rein the scent of ursus.
"what have you discovered?" he would not tell aventus yet that avicus had come to stay around the mountain.

Merrick arrived, borne in the shadows that Aventus thought only he and Astara could slip so thoroughly into. Asperas, too, he supposed, though his little sister showed very little inclination for stealth. Too straightforward in her violence. Too predictable in his estimation. His mind touched upon her only briefly, himself being ignorant to her disappearance from Ursus, before returning to Merrick.

They are strange wolves with strange customs and a strange language, he said. I am not permitted near their young to see how many and how healthy they are, but they certainly do have pups. I believed they might be gentle, toothless dogs like Easthollow, the last word spat out like offal, but I was wrong.

A few days ago they marched out a prisoner and took his ear before exiling him. Easthollow would never have the guts. Aventus tongued his teeth for a moment, then let his muzzle wrinkle in a sneer. Not because he felt any particular way about the treatment of a former Ursus wolf, but because he believed that former Ursus wolf was a waste of flesh and was disappointed they had not killed him outright.

It was Tuur.

strange wolves who painted their teeth with blood. merrick's remaining eye filled and his gaze tapered with a trembling interest. "tuur." maimed and thrown out of a savage den. it seemed he had not found peace after disappearing from ursus.
perhaps if he had only stayed to serve avicus, such things might not have occurred. "did you see which way he went?" it might be rather good to call him home, if only to see what time and the scarring of wolves had made of him.
maybe now he was ready to serve properly among them.
"it would be wise for ursus to make allies of this moonglow. i want to know what gives them strength." aventus could arrange a meeting; no one need be the wiser. merrick thrilled to the idea of blood, and to shed it again brought the hunger of hunting and tearing parties.

I did not see him go, said Aventus, feeling then that he had been wrong to leave the gathering. Tuur's location would be useful information. I did not want to be recognized, and he only stood there like a whipped cur when they took his ear, he explained, but it felt like an excuse now. It was true, but it was also true that Aventus was quite an unremarkable looking wolf and could easily have pretended he did not know what Tuur was talking about if the boy called him out among the crowd.

Too late for that now. I can search for him, he offered, eager to claw his way back into Merrick's good graces despite this blunder of letting Tuur go. They simply had different goals. Merrick saw Tuur as another opportunity to bolster Ursus. Aventus saw Tuur as prey.

Moonglow as an ally. It would be a tall order, and one Aventus would not see to completion before being called back to Ursus. Another failure to add to his count. To learn what gave them strength, though ... Now that was something he might be able to do. He could start by learning what wrong Tuur had done them. I will do what I can, he said, and prayed it would be enough for the bear's regard.

merrick shook his head. "if he does not thrive where he goes, then he will come back." the blocky stone sons of revui had been the perfect dray beasts for the purpose of the bear. maybe he would have one yet again. silvertip was an oasis of memory. perhaps the clay of tuur might be better shaped in this new place.
"i will search for him. you go back to this moonglow and find more interesting things to bring back."
merrick was not disappointed in aventus; by contrast the cyclop's-gaze glinted with pride and affection and relief, that the dark young rogue had come back.
not only had there been a return, it had been fruitful.
"i know there is not failure in you." merrick was steady upon this truth.

Perhaps Merrick was right about that. Whatever Tuur was doing in Moonglow, it was not thriving, but it didn't seem like he was able to leave until recently. Aventus wondered if the basalt wolf would make for Bearclaw Valley now that he was free. He had nowhere else to go. Perhaps Merrick was right.

Like so many times before, the boy misinterpreted what his father said next. Merrick was proud of him, but in those words, Aventus read expectation instead. There was no room for him to fail. That is what he heard. Tilting his jaw down toward his chest in an obedient nod, the boy whisked his tail thrice and then turned back for Moonglow. He was disappointed in himself for not having more to report, but at least Merrick knew about Tuur now. Aventus couldn't see the boy being much use to Ursus even now, but stranger things had happened.

I will report again when I know more, he promised, but it would never happen. Aventus would return to Ursus at the whim of a strange dread in his belly rather than with news of their neighbours, and he would learn nothing more of Moonglow in the days to come.

this determination formed the bedrock of merrick's faith in aventus. failure and success took many forms. they had surrendered the valley but they had been given this primal place of first bear-blood. "go with the blessing of ursus, my son," the man said softly, a sound somehow fitting and not to escape the battle-ruined hewing of his face.
merrick must return to his search and to astara — his single eye glowed with all that had gone on. he would wait until his eldest son melted back into the shadows that embraced him so willingly, and then he too would turn and disappear into the heartstrings of silvertip.