Bearclaw Valley eyeshine

i am tagging ur @Chacal account bc her tag got eaten by the board!

merrick told Æsilfír a little of the lore as they traveled. he informed her that his son led beside him, along with arielle, but did not expand upon their connection. she was their family, even though she was not blood.
"you will meet them first," the bearwolf decided when they had come to the main border. he called there for @Aventus and @Arielle, to be his council for this first meeting.

The roan followed the madman to the valley he claimed, listening with uncharacteristic attentiveness to what he chose to tell her about Ursus. While she had more questions, she held back; she was beginning to tire, after all. Her shoulder still needed to be tended to, and theyr earlier spar and chase had sapped some of her energy. She was, after all, a sprinter. Like any other, she needed rest. 

Still, she did her best to hide the stiffness that began to creep into the tissue of her shoulder and she straightened slightly when she was informed she would have to pass judgement of the two wolves Merrick had mentioned- his son, and the healer who led alongside them. She glanced at Merrick, and couldn't help but smirk slightly as she nodded. She wondered what they might think to see their leader return with a fresh wound upon his cheek, alongside a stranger.

Aventus arrived, tall, dark, and carrying the severed head of a mountain quail by the long feather on its head. Behind his impassive silver eyes lurked an unfamiliar glint brought on by new scents wafting in from far beyond the valley. 'Tis the season, and those pheromones called to him, compelling him to wander and making his blood run thick in his veins. Lately, killing lesser creatures was failing to appeal the way it used to. He wanted something more.

Those silver dollar eyes raked hungrily over the newcomer, the deep grey of her coat, the white accents. Aventus frisked his tail but did not say a word. Instead, he tossed the quail head up into his mouth and crunched loudly on it, considering the wounded Æsilfír and Merrick both, though his eyes never left the latter even when he swallowed it and swiped his bloody tongue over his jowls. The scent from outside did not belong to her, but his gaze and belly both smoldered as though it did.

Arielle was quick to answer the call from the borders, although not faster than Aventus; being in his presence never ceased to make her heart race in her chest. She trotted forward to stand beside the prince and then she fully took in the state of Merrick and the stranger. Concern pulled her eyebrows together. 

She stepped closer to Merrick, currently not caring about the wounds of the stranger; she was not of Ursus, and so she did not deserve the healing of the bruin-heart. What happened? she asked the bear king, inspecting the wound on his face, eventually moving back to stand beside Aves again. It was only then that her gaze finally settled on the woman, but she held it there only briefly before returning her focus to Merrick as she waited for an explanation.

first aventus, then arielle. merrick thought that each of them cut an imposing sight, bloodied, cold, focused on him. he preened somewhat under the attention of the wolf he had begun to think of in a fatherly fashion. he supposed it was only natural, given her age and interesting proximity to aventus.
"we were playing," he said, grinning toward æsilfír. "out — in the meadow." he did not add that he had been hunting her. perhaps the ursus wolves might see the implication.
"she said she'd meet you and then decide about the pack. i've informed her of our sacrifices. our — relationship with the bears."
and now it was her turn to make a case for herself. merrick's single eye roamed between the other three wolves as he waited for them to begin their judgement.

His family ushered themselves to heed his call, arriving within moments of one another. The first was silver-eyed, carrying a prize with him that caught Æsilfír's gaze. Quail. Caught here in the valley? Likely. Noisy little birds that often travelled in groups, making little chuckling sounds as they scratched for food in dead leaves. An easy source of food- just the kind Ash liked to hunt. Maybe Aventus was as practical as she was. She licked her lips when he tossed the head, caught it and crunched it with his teeth. 

By the way the female followed so close on his heels she might have at first thought Arielle was a suitor for Aventus- until she caught how she fixed her gaze on Merrick's injured face. Æsilfír seemed to phase her very little- and her alpha's welfare seemed to be her first concern, though Ash thought she was making a mountain of a molehill. It was little more than a scratch.

Had Merrick brought her here to be tortured, she imagined the others might have looked upon her more hungrily. Both inmediately sought Merrick's explanation before even beginning to scour her. How interesting, she thought...And she liked it. She, too, found her gaze drawn to Merrick with a newfound admiration, so that all three of them warmed him with their attention. 

Perhaps his words were intended to reassure them that she wasn't a danger. She figured that they knew what Merrick's definition of 'play' was, and that it didn't likely concern them. She wondered if he mentioned the valley so that they'd know she wasn't trespassing. She blinked. She could infer, then, that trespassers were not forgiven easily. 

And then she was given space to speak for herself. She bobbed her head, as though to thank Merrick for the introduction, acknowledge that she respected her audience. "Æsilfír. Call me Ash if ye'd like. Reckon I could be useful t'ye. Dead handy at trackin', won't lose a scent easy. Ain't a scent I'll ever forget. Faster'n a hawk, can stan' me own in a spar, gave e'en this one a run fer 'is luck, though I thenk he went easy on me," She said, giving Merrick a coy side-eye. Had he wanted to kill her, he could have torn her apart. All he'd had to do was catch her- fortunately for her, he'd been interested in being entertained. She shrugged. She knew she wasn't entitled to their acceptance at all, simply because Merrick had agreed to introduce them. "S'yer call, really. H'enny questions?" She yielded the floor to her jury.

Only when Arielle arrived did Aventus pull his eyes from his sire. They swept once over the newcomer again, accompanied by a flip-flopping in his belly that surged into possessiveness when they landed on the Bruin-heart. Not her scent, either, but in her presence, he had eyes for no one else. The Bruin-jaw pressed subtly closer to her when she stepped back from his father, looming, hoarding her to himself in a way, and unabashed by the eyes that might be watching. With his sense of control on tenterhooks, it was a wonder he did not try anything else.

Merrick opened the floor for Æsilfír then. Aventus snapped his eyes back to her, appraising now not with the hungry eye of an insatiable young man, but the critical eye of a leader on a new prospect. Shorter than he thought a capable hunter should be, but with a long, willowy body that hinted at spryness. That was about the sum of his thoughts, because her accent was so difficult for him to parse that when she asked if they had any questions, he nearly asked her to repeat herself.

Instead, he just lifted his shoulders in an unconcerned shrug. She would prove her claims or she would not. Was she an Arielle or an Ashlar? Time would tell. Aventus had no reason to turn her away and, deciding this business was concluded, abruptly turned his muzzle into the side of Arielle's neck, proving more forward than he ever had been before. He nipped gently, but mostly lingered there, inhaling her warm floral smell and using it to block out the maddening aroma on the breeze.

They were playing. Interesting. It seemed the bear king had found the woman in the meadow, and then they had proceeded to fight. Merrick's wound was superficial, but still she didn't like the look of it against his cheek. 

Arielle did eventually take a more careful look at the the stranger's wounds once the bruin-witch made it clear that he had brought her here to potentially join Ursus. Her attention was suddenly split, though, as the prince stood close enough to her that their sides touched. The move felt possessive, and it made her face burn and her heart beat impossibly faster. 

But back to the joiner. The woman named Ash started to speak; her accent was like nothing the healer had ever heard. She, too, had some difficulty understanding all of her words, but she picked up enough to get the gist of things. She was a tracker, which could come in handy. When she teased the bear king and offered him a playful look, Arielle wondered if anything else had happened in the meadow. Not that it was really her business what Merrick did in his free time; she was still very curious. 

She did have some questions for the hunter, but they completely left her mind for a few moments when she felt the bruin-jaw's nose against her neck. He drew in her scent and nipped playfully at her skin. It was so brazen, more so than he had ever been when it came to her. And to be this way in front of a stranger and Merrick—she wondered what had brought this on. Of course, she was more than happy to let him stay there for as long as he wanted. She had often wanted to do the same to him. 

She smiled a little and leaned more into the affection, letting her own possessiveness guide her actions. When her gaze found Ash again, she didn't pull away or motion for Aves to stop, she just carried on. Those are useful skills, she pointed out. But what I'm most concerned with is your willingness to learn how to live with and worship the bear. If your heart is open to the bear, then you are welcome to stay here. They would know eventually if she was worthy of a permanent place in Ursus.

æsilfír gave a good reckoning of herself. merrick had spent enough time beneath her accent to parse it now, though he would still need to be accustomed to her vernacular.
their eyes were upon him; they touched the bearwolf's sense of command and his tail arched briefly in response. merrick watched his son shrug toward the newcomer, which amused him. aventus had the words to say whatever he wanted, and said nothing.
merrick was suddenly buffeted; his amorous son moved to place his stamp on arielle. æsilfír had passed this part of the interview. as the two young wolves sucked face and all but began to undo each other's proverbial belt buckles, merrick delivered a knowing look to the woman he had just met, one that implied an eye roll even though he didn't do one.
faster than a hawk. he wanted to test that again. 
arielle recovered herself and spoke clearly. merrick waved his plume in tacit approval, both of her statements and the fact that he'd been given the first sign — or maybe he was only just noticing now — that ursus might have children pending on the horizon sometime soon. 
grandkids. was he ready for that?
"i share the same concern," merrick grunted. "we've had a few — honestly, a few fucking cowards come through. and i for one am really over it." 
tongue darted to sweep over his muzzle. merrick settled his cyclop's-stare and glasgow grin on æsilfír. 
so. what do you say?

It almost amused her to see Aventus say nothing, and move as though he wanted to herd Arielle away. Clearly, he had eyes for none but her, and no interest in a stranger who'd possibly come to join their ranks. But Arielle wasn't so easily shepherded away, which she found curious. Æsilfír wondered wickedly perhaps if there was something more to this dynamic. Was Aventus keen to make his claim to Arielle obvious because perhaps he worried she might have eyes for his father? She seemed to enjoy the attention, but such a show in front of a stranger gave Æsilfír the impression that they were, truly, a family pack. 

Merrick's comment caught her interest, and she met his grinning gaze with a fierce, yet playful one of her own. "Ach, comm an, I denna strike ye as a coward, nah?" She said, the only faulter in her gaze as she flicked them momentarily to the wound on his cheek. A coward probably wouldn't have followed him here. "I'll have ta hear more about your bear-lord. Wot yer sacrefaices entail, how often, an' such. Worshippin' a bear en't the sort of t'ing you'd wannae do wrong, eh?" She grinned.

Aventus drew in a few more steadying breaths before he pulled his nose away from Arielle's hide. There was a wanting spark in his eyes, a strong compulsion to test the waters by throwing an arm over her back, but at least he knew better than to try his luck in front of his father and a newcomer. Arielle leaned into him. For now, that was enough to sate the confusing need within him.

Æsilfír spoke again, and again, Aventus could hardly understand her. That accent would take some time. Not wanting to appear like the dullard among his more intelligent comrades — rather, ones who were not dealing with a male-in-puberty brain — he fixed his gaze on Ash, willing the smoldering in his body where it touched Arielle's to abate.

You will learn. We will teach you, and the bear will teach you. In the end, it matters not what you claim you can do. You will be tested, and only what you do then will say whether the bear sees you worthy.

Arielle nodded when Merrick spoke, agreeing with him: there had been enough cowards and now they would no longer permit them to stay here. She would happily help enforce that.

The joking tone with witch Ash spoke of the bear rubbed Arielle the wrong way. Maybe she was was being too sensitive, but the bear deserved respect. The bruin-heart expected their skeptics to take their learning seriously. 

Aves pulled away to speak, and Arielle wanted to protest the movement; she might have if he hadn't remained glued to her side, as distracting as it was. She had to force herself to actually process what he was saying to the hunter. He basically summed up the way she was feeling about Ash; in fact, she didn't think she could have said it any better. The healer beamed at him before turning to the joiner to offer her a nod. 

If this all still sounds like something you can do, then you can find yourself a place to rest, Arielle added. I'll come by in a bit and tend to your wound. Right now, she wanted the prince's undivided attention. She was intrigued by the mood he was in, even if she had no idea what to even do with it. 

The healer dipped her head first to Merrick and then to Ash, offering them her silent goodbye. Slowly, she detached herself from the bruin-jaw but not without casting him a look that invited him to follow. Then she turned and trotted away. They had said everything that needed to be said; as Aves had told her, they would soon know if Ash was worthy.

very cool that his son had something to say now. merrick's thoughts were dry but not uncharitable; he was highly humoured by this little display in front of a perfect stranger. it said something about them: that they were irreverent. that they did not care.
their bruin-jaw laid out his firm words. he offered few details and æsilfír would just have to deal with that. the sensual tension between the two young wolves did not abate. arielle kept her calm, even offering her genuine, deep skills to their newest skeptic.
merrick did not miss the look she gave aventus, and would watch with pleasure and amusement as the bruin-heart led his son away. another approving wave of his plume. he looked back toward æsilfír. "i can continue your education, if you'd like?" he offered, stepping to her side.
they would go opposite the ursine pair, moving toward the meeting-place. he wasn't ready yet to show her their artifacts, as much for the fact that the third of them was very new as it was anything else.

She had to try very hard not to make a face at the subtle, but palpable flirtation happening between Aventus and Arielle. Æsilfír was an inherently nosey wolf, and supped on their tension hungrily, though she kept herself focused as much as possible on what she was being told. She felt lightly skeptical that a bear could be the judge of her- they were primal creatures, and she wasn't sure how spiritual she was. Still- she was curious. Spiritual or not, she figured she could at least seem earnest enough, for now, and learn what she could so she could decide if this was just a bunch of sexually-charged cultists or not.

Morbidly- she hoped they were. Life had never been this exciting before. 

"Aright," She replied to Aventus, curious to see what kind of test she'd be given, and how a bear would decide her worthiness. Arielle's offer didn't really interest her as she considered the wound superficial enough to be allowed to heal on its own- but turning down the offer felt like it might be rude. "Appreciated," She said. Both of them seemed keen to wander off, so she said nothing, keeping her jaw clamped shut as they stalked off. She hoped at least they'd have the sense to roam out of sight and earshot before succumbing to their obvious desires. 
 
Merrick seemed jovial enough about it. He certainly didn't disapprove. Æsilfír's gaze danced with amusement when they were alone, and he offered her more counsel. She was very obviously trying to rein in the wide, cheshire grin. She nodded. But first- 

"Straight up mad about each udder, ehn?" She said commented, intending her observation to be somewhat of a compliment. A family pack indeed. Had Merrick seemed the least bit opposed she might've chosen to keep that to herself. "I get mad power-couple vibes off'em." She praised.  She reached out as though to nudge him- but didn't reach to touch, lest her gesture be too forward for his liking. She liked to push boundaries, but had no idea what to anticipate from him yet. "Ye'll be a granfadder by the h'end of Spring, Madman."

feel free to archive or fade, im gonna start a new one for them!

merrick watched ash move toward him. the gesture was not complete but it was noticeable. he laughed, closing the space between them to rub his shoulder against her own, bestowing the fragrance of the valley.
"i think so too. but they can't call me grandpa. i'm not old enough to hear it yet. they'll have to call me glampa or something." æsilfír got it, right? she was fairly young herself beneath the rolling accent and the chipper way she had suddenly and swiftly fit with ease into ursus.
it was easy to overlook that. merrick did not recall a recent time in which he had been so amused. it was a dangerous, aching sensation which brought his blackbird to mind at once.
a muscle suddenly jumped in his jaw. the bearwolf continued his lope through the valley until words began to filter back into his mind again. "in order to understand ursus, you will need to know who our bruin-tooth was."