Firefly Glen Viva La Vida

Hello hello! Anyone and everyone is welcome! Here's a good way to get a lone wolf credit =D

With a wintery nip preceding the wee hours of dawn Ridir's focus of his and Caeli's future -mainly their destiny to join a pack- seemed renewed. He held no doubts that his fellow lone wolf was doing her fair share of exploring as they hashed out their findings to one another when they rendezvoused in the afternoons...but for the most part the Nox felt that he needed to take the lion's share of the campaign. This involved early morning scouting and territory studies from a wary distance; thus far he'd not crossed paths with another wolf that did not bear the name Caeli.

Tepid pangs of hunger gnawed in the wolf's belly as he trotted along the dark trails of the Glen. Days of uprooting fish stuck in the slippery gunk of the lake had made him a tad bored of the meal. He would not allow himself to physically starve but, in the mean time, he skipped breakfast with the hopes that he might stumble upon a rabbit during his short trip.

i couldn't resist :D

The young Alpha was pleased that his and Ame's pack was doing so well, although the encounter with Nishu had ruffled his feathers. Charon doubted that the self-proclaimed knight knew anything about being a knight at all, or he would've seen how much of a knightly presence Charon was, despite his young age. Heck, he was probably like, a knight reincarnated or something. Well, what did that dude even know? Sir Knight Starchaser knew better. He set out to the nearby firefly glen after passing the forested borders of Moonspear, eager to get some food in his stomach. He trailed through the Glen, his nose searching for prey while his teeth occasionally playfully snapped at the jittery firebugs.

It didn't take long before not Charon's nose, but his eyes found something. A hare darted through the glen in front of him, coming onto the very trail the yearling was following. Head and ears perked up attentively as the hare looked round and realised its mistake, and Charon broke into a swift gallop to follow the hare. Little did he know he — and his hare — was headed straight towards someone else that followed his trail from the other side...

It has been a LONG time =D

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If it was one theme this mysterious land maintained it was the sudden, disembodied sounds that rose from the darkness. Cream colored audits twisted to either side as a thunder of footsteps intensified with worrisome speed. He could not pin the source down exactly and his gait became a jerky sort of high-step as he proceeded further down his path...there was no definite source to help guide his decision of either retreating or proceeding. The ambiguity of his company soon became much clearer.

"Frick FRACK!" he squawked as the calamity spilled from around a small turn that had thus far hid the source from view. The visual of pale fur made his think at first Caeli was the culprit and hence his natural spirit of defense was far more subdued; rather than greeting the potential threat with bared teeth the wolf's wild scrambling of his legs sent him careening off to the side in an effort to avoid a head on collision.

Somewhere in the distance (it sounded a lot further away in his head than it actually was) Charon heard someone's voice, but he paid it no heed, caught up in the heat of the hunt. Just as teeth clamped around the hare's hind legs it tried to dart to the left, off the beaten path, to try and avoid the second wolf to the side. Charon snatched the hare's hind legs and then crashed to the ground at the other side of the trail than the other wolf was at.

Charon put a paw on top of the hare and crouched forward quickly to snap its neck. He noticed the other wolf halfway through and felt his hackles instinctively rise to protect his catch, though he made no other move. Instead he waited for the other wolf's reaction, the hare still limp in his mouth.

NOT Caeli he immediately concluded as the peppered pale horse made quick work of the squirming capon. There was tension in the air as each wolf noticed one another. As he spied the wary prickling of hackles from Charon the Nox's ears fell flat to his head in muted disbelief. "Hey," he started in a state of dumbfoundedness, "you almost bulldozed me!" His tone was a tad accusatory but without overall sharpness; there was a scattering sound as his tail flicked and upset the fallen leaves around where he sat anchored in place.

"Good work," he complimented as a few seconds passed in painfully awkward silence. A small gesture of his nose clearly indicated he was referring not to the near train wreck but to the rabbit instead. And then it hit him. He was supposed to be advocating for himself and Caeli so that they didn't risk being stuck alone for winter. Their summer and autumn travels may have gone well enough but they serious lacked the experience necessary to survive on into the frozen months. "I'm Ridir Nox," quipped the wolf in a somewhat formal manner. "I'm a lone wolf with my friend, Caeli. We just came into the area." Can you help us his gaze silently asked.

Though he would normally be instantly offended by another's offence, Charon was mostly relieved to hear the other dude's accusation. It meant that he wasn't going to fight him for the catch, at least. Charon put down the hare between his front legs and was about to make a retort when the other guy complimented him on the catch, making Charon forget any irritation he might've felt at the earlier accusation. His hackles fell, his posture visibly relaxing as he concluded that this wolf wasn't going to be a threat to him.

As he licked his lips, the guy introduced himself as Nox and mentioned he was a lone wolf. It was good information, for Charon's nostrils were still filled with hare and blood, not that focussed on any background noise (which Nox was in the heat of the hunt). "I'm Charon Ostrega," he introduced himself with a confident smile. "Alpha of Moonspear." Charon glanced in Moonspear's direction when he said it, and pride flooded him as he reminded himself that he was that magnificent mountain's supreme ruler. Even now it looked like it pierced the very sky. One day, Charon told himself, he ought to climb to its top to see if it really did pierce the sky, and if one could really touch the stars, the moon and the sun up there.

"Where'd you guys come from?" Charon asked conversationally while he licked the blood off his lips. He considered that Nox might be hungry, considering he was a lone wolf and had a friend to boot, but then again, two lone wolves would probably have less trouble getting their stomachs fed than if he were all alone. And it wasn't like Charon was a charity foundation of any sorts; he and his pack needed this food, too.

Though there was an instant that there encounter chanced turning sour the scale seemed to tip in both their favors as each male's placid natures took root. As Charon relaxed so did Ridir - he'd not realized the amount of tension he'd been holding in his shoulders - and he controlled the flicker of surprise across his face when news of the other wolf's leadership status reached his ears.

"Alpha?" he echoed scrupulously. There was no depth in his voice lent to disbelief or overall rudeness but he was obviously taken a bit off-guard. Charon didn't seem any older than him after all. But before the alpha could be mislead by Ridir's impression he chimed in with, "Cool! Congratulations on your achievement." Truly it was spoken without sarcasm.

"My home was called Morning Star," he replied while gesturing his snout westward. "My friend and I came from several hundred miles away...we've been traveling for about 2 months now." And in the case his new acquaintance was silently wondering he added, "It's customary in our pack for wolves our age to travel and experience independence. We don't have the plague or anything! And we don't come from a land pillaged by murderous or evil uncles seeking the throne." That last bit was added with a dramatic shake of his head...he'd lost track of what was perhaps considered important/pertinent information by this point.

Charon was used to others questioning the fact he was an Alpha despite his age, and so the surprised exclamation came as no real surprise to the yearling. A smile fell across his face as Ridir congratulated him on the achievement, though. Charon had worked hard to get where he was today and he wasp roud of who he was and what he had done, so the pat on the shoulder was well appreciated. "Thanks dude," he said casually, though the proud smile on his face betrayed how pleased he was with the compliment.

Morning Star was a funny name for a pack. Charon was used to packs named for something their territory held; something they resembled or just what sort of territory it was. He doubted the Morning Star pack lived on an actual star. "Cool name," he said. Charon grinned at the last bit about evil uncles. Most wolves he met were rather serious, and he liked this dude. It was almost a shame that Moonspear was quite full as it were, or Ridir would've been an amusing addition to Moonspear, presuming he could hunt. But he probably could, if he'd really been on the road for a couple of months already.

"Sounds neat. You must've seen lots of places already. Any cool stories you could tell me, stories you've heard or, even better, stuff you actually saw or that happened?" Charon asked. "I like stuff about the stars, nature, and about knights and other adventure game type stuff." Charon looked at Ridir, hoping that a story would follow suit. Maybe if the story was good enough, he'd share some of his meal.