Blacktail Deer Plateau Little Fang

AW! Preferably someone Val hasn't met yet.

The friendless pup aimlessly wandered through the frosted plateau. The snowfall he had seen the other night had disappeared with the morning's warmth and it left the admittedly disappointed. He frowned as he kicked the ground with a broad paw, sniffing the forest floor absent mindlessly in passing. Where was he going? the boy would wonder to himself. This wasn't an adventure or game like he would play with Larus, Mae, or Jo... he wasn't out discovering something new or thriving. He was merely existing and had little desire to befriend any of the wolves here, still salty about misdirecting Lucius.

Pura had spotted Valtýr at the pack meeting, but the tension of the situation had distracted him from sussing out exactly who this tiny intruder was. Now, with his affairs in better order, the freckled teen was free to hunt down the younger pup.

He found Valtýr wandering the Plateau alone. Unusual for someone that young - at his age, Pura had not been permitted out of his three parents' sight. Things were different now, but he was also older, and much better adjusted than he would have been if he had grown up alone.

Concerned, Pura stomped into Valtýr's line of sight, broad and hulking in comparison to the younger pup. "Why aren't you with your guardian?" he demanded, staring (as usual). Surely Dante had assigned someone to watch this guy.

Yay :D

The paltry waif was just about to kick a hunk of discarded bark when a familiar wolf emerged from the trees with a leering gaze. Val had seen him at the meeting but hadn't taken the chance to closely scrutinize his new pack-brother, too preoccupied with grief. The man had seemed big far away but up close the boy realized how large his senior truly was. Husky but not stout with a thick winter pelt and broad skull; the murky and be-speckled pelt only heightened his ominous glare. Val, who was nothing more than a reedy scarecrow, felt his limbs weaken and he instinctively dropped to the ground, pressured by the other's stare.

'Why aren't you with your guardian?' the other asked forcefully, his words curt. Valtýr looked away, rattled by Pura's strong approach. "Guardian?" he mumbled feebly, "I dont have one of those." The child didn't understand the role of 'guardian' its full capacity, for he had never had one in Duskfire. The whole pack had watched out for the Sveijarn brood.

I missed youuu! I'm so glad I get some BDP Lieu action. :D

Valtýr shriveled under the intensity of the older wolf's chilling gaze, which, had this not been their first encounter, he would have dismissed as one of those Pura Peculiarities. Pura stared at everyone.

Up close, there were parallels to be drawn between Valtýr and Saēna. Same ears. Pura padded unabashedly into the youngster's personal space, nosing his narrow skull and tapered legs. There was a faint smell of something unknown, but the scents of the Plateau dominated. "Guardian," Pura repeated, following the turn of Valtýr's head bodily so that he could continue staring. "Someone needs to watch you, otherwise you will be kidnapped, or eaten." That's one way to put a child a ease.

The other wolf did not cease his approach when Val dropped like the boy had hoped. Instead, the older male chose to unabashedly inspect the reedy kid with rough pokes and prods. The sooty child's tail curled under his haunch as his ears cupped against their darker crown. Every time he managed to glance towards his company, Pura's hard glare waited for him. The child resigned to look at the ground and let an uncomfortable whine slip from his lips.

But Pura's next words caused a potent brew to stir within the youth chest as a playback of Larus' abduction reeled in his head. The child had not yet come to terms with that fact that his brother probably had been eaten. According to Lucius (or rather Val's misinterpretation of Lucius' words) the siblings were supposed to fight the cat off, not glued to the den floor like weaklings.

All at once his grief, fear, and anger came to a head. "SHUT UP!" Valtýr shrieked as he jumped to his feet, fur puffed up like a scared cat. Pura's words had hit a raw nerve.

Valtýr did not react as expected, but that was not an unusual occurrence in Pura's life. No matter what he said or did, individuals could have entirely opposing reactions to the same information. Apparently, this pup was one of those souls that did not appreciate facts. Pura filed thus information away for future use and asked "Why?" Sugar-coating required exhausting amounts of imagination - it was easier to let the offended party speak.

Valtýr huffed a few ragged breaths. The other wolf looked neither stunned nor inquisitive even those his query, why?, hinted at the latter. An icy expression was all the mottled wolf offered and suddenly Val wish he was back with Lucius. Even the cold Roman had a touch of sensitivity to him... this man was painted in nothing but apathy.

Pura's question caused the waif to stammer, feeling conflicted. Saying it was akin to admitting realit, and Val wasn't ready to cope with the fact that Larus was truly gone forever. His face felt hot, knees weak, as he tried to push the binary wolf out of his focus. However, the boy could feel his eyes become glassy with scalding tears.

"B-Because he's gone!" Valtýr shouted loudly, "It took him! And he's dead!" The pup's inky lips wobbled as he tried to regain composure. Dad was gone too. And Jo. And Mom. Only Maera had been left in the den when Valtýr had followed Tuwawi into the night; a grave mistake for a child.

Pura wrinkled his nose at the noise, but didn't budge. Valtýr had a lot of voice for such a little pup. Everything about his tone and body language suggested distress. The older boy analyzed all of this in contemplative silence before speaking.

"OK. We can look for him," he offered, thinking that perhaps the kid would calm down if he had some closure. "We thought Junior was dead, but it wasn't her. She's fine now." Pura presumed that by 'taken', Valtýr actually meant 'deceased'. The freckled Virtúte did not mince his words, and was of the opinion that 'dead' and 'gone' were two very different things, and one really ought to specify.

Val's huffed as his chest heaved, eyes blinking away tears. Pura's acknowledgement of his plight held back the Sveijarn from a full force breakdown, and the pup gave a weak nod as a paw wiped away snot. Yes... look for him. That would ease his worries. Or would it?

But the boy had seen the lynx pluck Larus from the den. The fear in his brother's eyes. The commotion as the adults searched for the lost child. To Valtýr, there was little hope left that his sibling was alive; a notion he had steeled himself against for some time. Yet, something about Pura's objective gaze unraveled him and a macabre shroud finally, and probably irreparably, tarnished his spirit. "O-okay," he agreed hesitantly, unnerved by Pura's presence.

"O-okay," the pup stuttered, successfully soothed. Without a word, Pura made tracks towards the mountains in the east - without indicating that Val should follow, but expecting that he would. They would spend the afternoon cataloguing the scents at the base of the mountain; Pura would tell the pup to remain at the Plateau whilst he followed promising leads into and beyond the mountains.

It was all for show, of course. Pura knew that it helped others to search, and hope, but the child's family was most certainly dead.

Conclude? :) Is it OK to make the end a bit vague?