The Sunspire the gilded age has long been done

Set off from the borders a bit, but he's distinctly trying to pay a visit. Open for anyone!

Though the snow was still quickly fading away in places, the snowcapped mountains on the other side of the plateau still boasted what winter had brought them. Mordecai found himself lingering through the vale once more, though this time he had not encountered Falwasi there again. For the most part, he had been left unattended and unaccompanied through the majority of the vale's span, and now had come to rest beneath the towering gaze of the Spire's peak. It was tall, perhaps if not almost taller than he recalled Silvertip. But the terrain uphill looked like an easier fare, yet he felt beneath that inviting look lied unseen dangers. Chief among them, if not for his sense of smell that kept him at bay, would have been the wolves living there.

It was this loosely spoken about agreement between the Sunspire and the Creek that had drawn him there, though he had not come to ask about it. No, Mordecai's interests lied on the creatures that lived there. As the leader of the Spine in a much different season, the wolves of the Spire had boasted scouts that had come knocking at his proverbial front door a time or two. He had thought them decent and still did. But whether or not they lived there now, he couldn't have said. There was nothing overly familiar about the scents he found carrying on the crisp wind, and from the cover of the bare forestry to his back, he had yet to see the scouts he expected.

And so, the ruddy Ostrega pressed on, trailing out from their sweeping border and through what he presumed were their hunting grounds. He walked no particular path but instead forged his own across the brittle decay of grass, sweeping his feet through any tufts of snow still lingering. Someone would spy him out here and undoubtedly intercept him.

william elliott whitmore — field song

As usual Jace was patrolling the borders, he did it with a fervor everyday, almost bordering on obsession. It was just how he was built, he cared about those under his care. He wanted them safe.

So it was with a bit of an aggressive stance, and tilted ears that he noticed the other wolf walking near their borders. He wasn't close enough to earn Jace's ire, but he was still uncomfortably close. Jace headed down towards him, head and tail erect. Blue eyes studying him as he went.

he chuffed and stood a few feet away. Speaking quietly, he asked the question he was dying to know. What are you doing near our borders stranger?

Sure enough, in a matter of minutes as he skirt3d near their border, a dark-haired wolf came out to investigate. Mordecai caught sight of him in his perpherials and slowed to a halt, but not before a quick test of the air. Something caught his attention for a brief moment, but it was in passing. It had been something sickly and yet sweet; leftover meal, perhaps, left to rot along the wayside.

The quiet intonation of the warden forced all his attention to the forefront, mostly if he wanted to hear him. They were pointed words, but not without the curious expectation. He could have called them kind. "Just out for a bit of exploration," he replied gently. "I've met some scouts from here before, but I've never been close enough to admire the height of your mountain." His gaze, which had been lingering beneath the feverent gaze of his greeter shifted skyward towards the peak. It was magnificent to a degree, but not the tallest Mordecai had ever lay eyes on.

Jace tended the caches rather frequently, but it was possible that he forgot one. Though he smelled nothing, but the scent of another. The wolf before him, he smelled familiar to Jace, but he was unsure why. Perhaps he was part of a pack he had met members from, it was possible. Jace didn't really pay attention to any packs, but his own.

Jace tilted ears forward, and dipped his muzzle forward. Scouts, he wondered who had he met Summer perhaps or Vienna or maybe even Amekaze. He himself would have remembered.

Who did you meet? If you don't mind me inquiring. Are you here to see if they are still here and speak with them? There is much to explore around this mountain, and much of it you wouldn't even touch our borders.

"I believe his name was Cuan," he supplied when prompted. Mordecai took no offense in being asked; it was something he expected. Though it had been a long while since his original encounter with the wolf from the Spire, the name had come back to readily. "But I'm not here to visit him. I just headed out to visit the nearby views. I haven't done much exploring of this valley, but it seems pretty insulated." How little he knew of course, there had once been another pack in its midst.

Shifting his weight idly, Mordecai pushed ahead to other topics of interest. If nothing else, he figured his ventures out could at least yield some information. Something he hoped that would be of value to the wolves of the plateau. "And if you don't mind my asking, how have you fared though this winter? Seems as though we had a mild one in these parts." He returned the courtesy simply by asking permission, as his counterpart had been more than kind in inquiring who had visited in the first place. It was refreshing from the turn of events from the last two packs he had come by.

Jace grimaced, one of the ones now gone. He had recruited Cuan himself, it had been a bit of a low blow to see him gone. It was the way of things lately though, no one wanted to stay. It saddened him. It's good in a way. Cuan has been gone for a few weeks, left us. I don't know where he is. He didn't want the other to think him dead, he was just gone.

Jace gave him a small smile, We fared well on the mountain. It was mild, though some of the nights were cold. You and yours? Jace was curious if others would be as good as them. The mountain was largely self sufficient, so others may not have fared well as they did.

So, Cuan had left the mountainside at some point. Mordecai wasn't sure whether or not the revelation of this information was a good thing or a bad thing, but it remained a note of interest. Perhaps that was common of scouts, he reasoned inwardly. Even himself, having reclaimed the old task, was apt to wander. It had been a much different story at the head of the Spine, as Mordecai had wandered less and less.

"We fared very well," he answered, though it was truly double-sided. He himself had fared very well through the winter, outside of the Spine and Plateau. But as it were, the Plateau had bolstered and keep itself going through the winter as well. They were well enough off that there were puppies, but Mordecai did not touch upon that. It wasn't his place to share such sensitive information. "But at least winter appears to be on its way out now. Or so I hope," he added with a chuckle.

Jace was a neutral party where Cuan was concerned. It was sad that he left, and it left them one wolf down. However, it was also happy. Because if he wasn't happy here, Jace did not want to force him to stay. So thus he was neutral.

Jace listened and dipped his muzzle, That is good. It was a mild winter, but winter all the same. Winter was hard for every creature, except maybe those who hibernated. They seemed to have it made, sleeping all winter only waking in spring. Jace nodded his head I hope so too. Though I do not mind Winter. Spring is nicer and there is more game. When you are a gamekeeper that is important.

True, it had been a winter all the same. Cold and snowy, perhaps even icy at times. But Mordecai felt it was not as bad as it could have been. But with their mild winter coming to fall behind them, he could not help but wonder what the coming seasons would bring. Perhaps their mild winter was the start of a drier year in general, or maybe the skies had trapped all that unused snow up to dump on them in the form of torrential rains and storms. Ultimately, time would tell, and he found that he was honing in quickly on another statement altogether than the affairs of the weather.

"There's plenty of game now if you know where to look for it," he mentioned, wondering if the warden did any scouting himself. "Many of the herds have returned to the flatlands on the other side of the mountains behind me. I think we'll have a good year ahead of us, if they multiply willingly." Being a hunter himself, he saw no qualms in sharing that information. He didn't know if the wolves of the Spire would bother to come hunt in the flatlands and truth be told, he hoped they wouldn't. There would be enough competition coming and unbeknownst to him, the pressing urge of the close proximity of the other packs was weighing in on his mind.

Jace was young, so he did not remember many winters. However, near the coast they had been cold, and further up the mountain they were cold. It was all year around up there, so he supposed his winter had been a bit colder.

Jace chuckled I don't have to leave the mountain to often to find game. That was all he said on the subject. He did not wish the world to know they were self sustaining, but they could know that they had a bit of game. Especially if you know where to look. I go to the meadows towards the creek pack, and the forest there. If I need to find some game. I can usually find some.

In truth, not even the wolves of the Plateau had to leave their home to hunt. It was majorly out of habit that Mordecai traveled the way that he did. It was easier to keep track of herds that way, scouting out for the potential ones that were liable to cross near pack borders. A ritualistic thinning of the herd, at least for those who enjoyed it. If anything, it meant to him that they would not have to worry over whether or not the wolves of the Spire would be encroaching upon them.

Then came the mention of the Creek, and with it he thought of the information Falwasi had shared with him. "The Creek? I don't know much about those wolves there," and he felt with any luck and the good natured banter he had started, his companion would be forthcoming with some information.

Jace did not take the same stance, as the male before him. He preferred to scout his home, and the few areas around. To learn of the game, that he could prey on. And the mountain was so self-sufficient, and they never struck the same place twice. They moved about, that way the creatures wouldn't know, and they could keep them on the mountain.

Jace frowned and thought about it. I don't know much more about them anymore. They used to be lead, by a rash and foolish wolf named Fox. Hopefully, she has grown up. Now they are lead by my friend Bazi, and her mate Scimitar. He wasn't sure if they were mates, but they might as well be. They are strong, and they guard their pack, and the surrounding areas, zealously. Though, I have heard a whisper of movement, but I do not know if it them. I don't go below the mountain often.

Success abounded as he gained more information than he had expected. Names, a bit of history, all of it was good and more than just a supplement to what he expected. It was nice for a change not to be so stonewalled, though the information was also coming secondhand. What Falwasi had told him rang true, though it seemed fair to suggest that whatever ill tension had been between the Spire and the Creek was absent now, as Jace did not speak of them poorly.

"I'm afraid I don't know either, though there has been a lot of movement around. New packs have made claims to territories to the west," Mordecai offered in return, though he couldn't have said much about them. "One of them is on another mountain range. Silvertip. Seems like there's a bunch of dispersals there, yearlings at that. They bickered with each other when I visited." A wane smile crossed his face briefly; he still found humor in that. It was a testament to the newness of their pack. "The other I've been told is a dark wood near the river. I don't know much of them yet," but soon he would learn the hard way of them.

Jace did not mind, giving information of others around him. Even some information of his own pack, was a given. Of course, he would not just bring a stranger into his territory, but he could speak of it. There were so many packs, and he just offered the same amount of information that they would offer themselves, usually.

Jace chuckled, in return. He looked about him. Sometimes I think some are too young too lead. I was a beta young, but I would not have accepted the mantel of alpha. It would have been far too hard, and I was not mature enough. I know that, and other's should realize that too. Yes this place is getting populated quickly. Sometimes I enjoy that, and other times not so much.

The irony that rolled out of Jace's mouth struck at a funny bone lodged somewhere in Mordecai's chest. He could have spoken tit for tat of the Spine; Mordecai had seen this lesson played out the hard way. It was no easy task, leading wolves and keeping a territory together and safe. Depending on the various tumult within, it was incredibly difficult to do so. But in some places, like the plateau or even this pack on the Spire, he imagined that the tasks were no different, just leisure. There was a calm air to either place, to those who led it, from what Mordecai could tell.

"Sometimes they're just arrogant, too eager to grow up," he said, agreeing with the statement his dark-haired counterpart made. "And sometimes, maybe they don't have a choice. I suppose everyone has a story to tell, or one to live out." He wondered if he had stayed in Sedona, where he would have been now. He wondered at times whether or not his father led, or if he had given the title away to another sibling worthy of it. Leadership was undeniably in his blood, but Mordecai evaded it where he could.

"But I don't worry too much over this place getting populated. It seems like its large enough to house us all so far and when it does hit that point, they'll branch out. Someday all that will be here will be a bunch of stubborn old folk." A chuckle left him, because Mordecai did truly believe that. It always seemed like at the end of things, it was always the stubborn folk left to hang onto things and keep them together.

Jace was not the best leader, but he was also merely a beta. The leaders that had coveted the alpha spot they were leaders. He thought of Fox and her rash judgements. He still disliked her, wished honestly terrible things upon her, if he cared to admit it. However, he kept that to himself. She had thought she was right, and in her arrogant youth, ostracized assets and those she cared about.

Jace nodded his head, That is very true and some stories are ugly. that was all he had to say on the matter. HE could think of stories of his own that could curdle hair. How many would guess that he had loved and lost at such a tender age. Or that he had already killed another wolf, it was ugly and dark and scary but true.

Jace chuckled, Well friend when you're that old I look forward to your stories. He jested, he would be old too of course, if he lived that long.

Fade on your next post? :D

Truth be told, Mordecai was no means all that young any more. Though he was still riding out the coattails of his prime, even he was aware that age carried its limitations. With half a decade almost behind him, he had plenty of stories to tell already, though he did not bring this to light. Instead he chuckled, nodding in partial agreement — they would all have stories to tell someday, and those stories would more than likely stretch out easily over several days of reminiscing.

"I suppose I should be heading back to the plateau now," he said, feeling the conclusion of what had been an informative conversation. "But it was nice to meet you, Jace. I'm sure our paths will cross again." In what way he could not imagine, but he hoped that it would be a good reason nonetheless. With a wave of his tail, Mordecai turned back towards the Plateau and set off, leaving the second-in-command of the Spire to his duty.

Jace watched him go, he had dipped his head in salutations. It was nice to meet another from a different pack. However, jace was glad when he was gone. Not because he had found him irritating or anything. No, it was rather because having outsiders near just made him nervous. He probably could blame that on some sort of former trauma or something. He looked one last time, and then he too turned towards home, and strode up the mountain. Maybe he would seek out Ame, or Vienna or Summer. It was a long time coming that he speak with the latter.