Noctisardor Bypass fülle

@Ellora i know we had one five seconds ago but this can be for whenever and we can bring it utd <3

the caches were stocked. the pharmacy was full.
he sat down beside the lake and fell into daydreaming. soon twilight would rise and he would turn to find those he loved; for now the man only existed, he and the bedtime twittering of the birds so often watched through these days.

Still new to this place, Ellora spent her days wandering the territory, taking note of things. Either that or sleeping. If others wished to speak to her, they could approach her to do so; she found she was not quick to seek out company. She had never been so. When she came upon Mahler, who seemed to be staring out at the lake and lost in thought, she merely took a seat nearby, but far enough away so as not to disturb him if he did not wish it. A companionable silence followed. If anyone broke it, it would be him.

ellora settled nearby. mahler did not immediately move to break the quiet. he existed in companionable solicitude for a while longer.
"i have loved this place for many years. each morning and each evening i find something new to appreciate."
mahler was silent again.

One ear flicked in Mahler’s direction at his words. “I admit I care not for the beauty of the world,” she said. “Only for its usefulness. Some love to look at a sunrise—I care only for the warmth it brings, and the light.” She paused in realization. “No, that is not true. I like trees. Forests and woods. And cold weather. Anything different, I do not notice. I suppose I like what I am used to.”

ellora said she did not care for beauty. but as mahler listened, it became a tome of knowing. "i love the mountains. the cold, thin air vhen you climb high enough. vild forests. ridges of stone." it was sagtannet, looming in his mind. "i find familiarity in consistency."
perhaps she might relate.

“Yes,” she said, referring to that last—consistency. It was something she had been lacking before coming here, to Rivenwood. Her pack had been overtaken by a brash yearling, full of power-lust and no intelligence. She had left, and then wandered for months on her own. Those days of wandering had been, in their own way, consistent. Days of nothing and no one, hunting only for herself. But wolves were not meant to live alone.

She sighed, thinking of the winter that had forced her to look for her own kind again. “Cold weather I like, yet I would like it more if the prey continued to come despite the snow.” Were this the case, she would not have had to find a pack for warmth and protection from winter, though she did not say this to Mahler, who had taken her in.

"rivenwood has been blessed vith the benefit of space. there are several herds which call the bypass home." he crossed his paws. such small talk felt disingenuous in a way, as if mahler should press to know more.
but ellora's company was comfortable.
"the taiga is not far. great expanses of snow. a beast called caribou live there, i believe."

“Caribou I have heard of,” Ellora said, “though I have never seen one. They are, apparently, enormous. Bigger than moose, I wonder?”

She noticed Mahler’s shifting but said nothing about it and did not move. She said nothing else. This was more talking than she had done in several months and she found that it wearied her. A pack she needed to survive, but its constant interrelationships were something she could live without. She sat still as a boulder, perhaps coming across as cold and uninviting, though she did not mean to.

"not so large as that."
mahler finally lifted himself to a sitting position. the waters lapped against the large boulders that fell in a ring around it. wind played upon the ice-skimmed surface, sweeping he and ellora with an air that carried the promise of snow.
the gargoyle was silent. he turned his head presently and offered her a warm look, but did not keep its pressure upon her for long.
the cough began to rise.

Ellora made some small noise in acknowledgement of Mahler’s reply to her, then tilted her head back to smell the air, enjoying the scent of coming snow. She felt the alpha’s eyes on her and turned her head to hold his gaze, mildly curious.

And then he began to cough.

Instead of turning politely away, she watched him, ears forward, to see what sort of a cough it was. Merely a tickle in the throat, or something more serious?

the cough was merciful today.
it faded near after it had come, though mahler felt pain clutch his chest. he leant forward toward the water, drinking gratefully.
the liquid sat cold and stonelike along his stomach. ashamed, he rolled his shoulders. "the cold," he muttered, as a way to perhaps explain himself.

Mahler stopped coughing nearly as soon as he had started, and Ellora turned away again in disinterest. She heard him lap at the water before them, and explain that the cold was to blame for his small fit. She lifted one shoulder in acknowledgement, then her tail thumped once in amusement. “Another strike against the weather I so enjoy,” she murmured.

Feeling suddenly that she had not been the most open wolf in the world these past minutes, she sighed heavily, as if burdened with a great weight, and said, “Have you any questions to ask me? About past, or family, or what have you?”

mahler shook his head. "only vhat you are villing to tell, ellora. you have already told me vhat i need to know. anything more is your choice."
laurel had taught mahler a good deal of what it mean to be involved.
a pause followed.
"i vas going to leave here and go to silencepine. vould you care to come vith me?"

The burden of long speech was lifted from her shoulders at Mahler’s assurances, and she found herself smiling. It was good to be near such a one who could keep silent company, as she could. “Good,” she said.

And then, at his request to travel with him to Silencepine, she stood. “I do not know this place you speak of, but I will go with you.” Whether it was mere curiosity, or a sense of newfound loyalty, she did not know, but he had asked, and that was enough.

mahler nodded. "each place, each forest, in rivenvood has its own name."
he walked westward with ellora, around the tree-lined edge of the lagoon until the rich land widened into a cape that butted up against the river which fed the bypass.
the air was sweet with loam. the ground was rich underfoot, and here the pines clustered together, muting the noise of the outside world. "i scented a coyote not long ago. not since then, but it is good that ve came this way."
mahler began to mark, reestablishing the boundaries of rivenwood.

Ellora nodded at Mahler’s explanation of the name Silencepine. It seemed she would have to learn lots of little names for little places.

“A coyote?” she repeated, surprised. “A very brave or foolish coyote you scented, to have trespassed into wolf territory.” She, too, began to scent mark the area, rubbing against trees and bushes, leaving her smell and fur behind.

As she pushed against another tree, she asked, “What are the other areas of Rivenwood?”

"they can be very bold indeed!" the graf exclaimed. he paused a moment to scrape his large paws against the bark of his own chosen trajectory.
"vell. the lake is called birdsong lagoon. north of us are the ashstone cliffs. to its east is the forest called nightvatch point. there the pharmacy of my medicines can also be found."
he smiled. "there are many names for the little creeks and the great tree. i vill take you to them, if you like, ellora."

Hello hi sorry

Ellora listened as Mahler explained to her the names of certain places. She glanced around herself as he explained where places were, scrunching up her brows. "It seems I have a lot of names to learn," she mused. To herself, she added, Names I'll forget as soon as they are told to me. No matter.

"You may tell me the names of things if you wish," she told Mahler, but shrugged in a noncommittal way. "I'd just as soon understand that Rivenwood is Rivenwood, and that is all. But you are the Alpha, so if I must learn all the names of all the things, then I must."

never fear!

he smiled. "rivenvood is rivenvood. i am the alpha. these names are only for fun. vhat matters is that this entire place is called noctisardor bypass. it marks the end of the valley and the beginning of the taiga. ve are a landmark."
he fell back into an affable silence, though his curiosity about her grew.