Moonspear a grin made for war

I would like this thread to be used toward one of the following trades:  Chronicler, Warden, Outrider.  :)

The hustle and bustle of a new pack was one thing, but the additional chaos of a newly formed pack added a little extra stress.  There were constant patrols, more than there would be if their borders had been defined for months or years, and getting to know the others.  There were the Bay wolves that knew each other and those of the Sunspire that knew each other.  They all knew of each other, he was sure, but getting used to one another as pack mates would take some time.  Lex, unfortunately, was getting lost in the mix of all of it.  He’d met a small handful of wolves and knew Amekaze okay, had gotten a chance to get to know Charon, and his sister is here.  That is enough to make him feel a little grounded to his home.  

To get over the hectic lifestyle of their creation, Lex decided to put his skills to good use.  He spent quite a bit of time at the borders to familiarize himself with the mountain as well as to strength them against outsiders.  They were lucky to have minimal problems and their numbers were impressive enough to make the transition easier.  His former pack had been small, originally him and his sisters, with a few others that came and went over a span of a few months until they were forced out.  It often eats at him but each day was easier and with Izo around, there was some familiar comfort he could depend on.

Each time there was a weak spot on the border that wasn’t particularly strong of Charon or Amekaze, he’d rub against a tree or bush just to clarify that they belong to Moonspear.  His ears were cupped forward and alert and his nose working wildly for any strange scents that could catch his attention. The day is quiet and slowly turns into a quiet evening but Lex doesn’t mind, though if company happened to come along he wouldn’t complain about that either.

Despite her best efforts to outrun it, the inevitable breakdown came. And then it went. Wildfire spent two full days crying and wallowing, then woke on the third day feeling a little better. She hadn't seen anyone, even Floki, in all that time and set out from her solitary hideaway to seek some fellowship. When she still hadn't tracked him (or anyone else) down after several hours, she gave in to her hunger and ate some late lunch in the forest near the bottom of the mountain, took a long nap and then rose right as the sun began to set.

Yawning and stretching, she began to move toward the borders. Perhaps Floki was busy patrolling. But instead of her "boyfriend," she found a stranger lurking about the territory's fringes. Wildfire moved slowly toward the large white wolf, studying him as she closed the gap. His scent identified him as a member of the pack. It was strange but exciting to run into so many unfamiliar faces around here. After several days of solitude, any friendly face was a welcome one.

"Hey," she called to him when she was within a few yards of him. He reminded her of Uncle Pan and she felt a momentary twinge of sadness but she was relieved when it didn't overcome her. "I'm Wildfire. Do you mind some company?" she questioned politely, flicking her soft black tail.

Lex temporarily loses himself in thought about his other sisters and whether or not Rox and Tavi are happy.  He can’t help but wish they’d follow Izo and make their way here but he didn’t want to disrupt them if they were content.  They could start their lives there with a bigger pack and wolves that weren’t family.  A family of their own, perhaps, and Lex and Izo could do the same.  Maybe one day they’d reunite and catch up but he made no plans to leave Moonspear for any length of time that wasn’t in the immediate vicinity.  

The greeting caught him a little off guard but he turns to see a smaller wolf—well, what he thinks to be—but her scent spoke of Moonspear all the same.

“Hey there, little nugget.” Lex offers her a smile and then nods his head.  “I’d love some company.  I’m Lex.”

He turns to face her, wagging his tail in a friendly fashion, and remains relatively relaxed.  He was glad he hadn’t felt threatened in his new pack since he’d come to them.  Lex had spent a good portion of his time with his sister since they’d been reunited, not leaving a lot of chance to really open up to the rest of the pack, but now was a good a time as any.

Little nugget? she thought quizzically, though the strange pet name caused her lips to twitch at the corners. "Cool," she said when he accepted her offer of company. She moved a bit closer, keeping her head and tail low. If they hadn't been perfect strangers, she might have bumped her smudged snout beneath his chin but she refrained for now. "Nice to meet you, Lex," Wildfire said genuinely when she came to a stop now three feet from him.

Her amber eyes swept their surroundings for a moment, squinting through the darkness. Her gaze then returned to Lex, albeit she was careful to avoid looking him in the eye. "Were you patrolling?" she wondered. She didn't want to disrupt his duties, so even though Wildfire wasn't particularly fond of roaming borders, she offered, "I could join you."

“Nice to meet you, too.”

His nose dips respectfully and he watches as she steps closer, questioning his purpose on the borders.  He’d been patrolling, scouting the borders as a means to pass the time.  It was always put to good use, more and more familiar with the land and making sure others respected their boundaries.  

“I was, yeah.  So if you’d like to.”

Lex jerks his nose in the direction he’d been walking and takes a few steps, giving time for Wildfire to follow.  He didn’t take long strides as he had been before, aware of her small size.  He thought her to be fairly young, younger than she probably was because of her petite frame, but nonetheless Lex had a soft spot for the little ones.

“Unless you’ve got something else up your sleeve?” he asks with a slight tilt of his head, ears readily cupped forward.  There hadn’t been any young in his former pack, it hadn’t lived long enough for him to find a mate of his own and create a future for his home and now that he is starting over again, he knew it was pushing it more on the back burner.  He could enjoy the company of what Moonspear had to offer for minds easy to mold and he’d heard there were a couple he’d yet to run across.

He confirmed and took a few steps, so Wildfire trotted along beside him. They didn't get very far before he asked if she had any other ideas. She thought about it for a few seconds, then shook her head. "Not really. I already ate and I just woke up from a nap. I have lots of energy to burn and the only other thing I'd like to do is get to know my pack mates—specifically you at the moment." She smiled. "And we can easily talk while we wear circles in the ground," she quipped.

"Did you come from the spire or the bay?" Wildfire wondered as they traipsed along in Moonspear's shadow, her dark tail flicking with each step. She knew that patrolling required a certain amount of attention paid to her surroundings but truthfully Wildfire was focused solely upon Lex as she anticipated his answer. It was too dark to see much of anything else anyway.

She explains her schedule is wide open and he nods, offering her a smile when she admits to getting to know him.  While she may not have sought him out specifically—hell, maybe she did, he doesn’t know her life—he is flattered she wants to know more.  Besides, border patrol is always more fun with some company around.

“I guess technically the Sunspire but I came to this area right before Moonspear became official.  I met Amekaze in my wanderings and I really didn’t spend much time at the Sunspire, so it’s hard to hold any relevance to the other mountain.  Moonspear, through and through,” he offers.  The phrasing of her question made her wonder if she’d come from either.  If she was apart of Sunspire previously, she might have known who he is and if she was from the Bay, she could have assumed he’d been from the other pack for not knowing him.  Or none of the above.  He shrugs it off.  “And what of you?”

Oh, interesting, she thought as Lex explained his background. He then bounced the question back to her. A few days ago, Wildfire might have feared this subject. As it was, she felt a ripple of apprehension pass through her, as if she feared her own natural response. She did feel the need to take a deep, steadying breath, but she thought most of her breakdown was behind her.

"I actually moved here from Redhawk Caldera, a pack slightly southeast of here. My parents rule it. I'd met Charon and Floki and they'd invited me to come join them here when they founded the pack. I thought about it a while and, well, I guess you can figure out what I decided." She hadn't specifically chosen—her brother had forced her hand—but Wildfire didn't mention that. She liked to think she would have arrived at the same decision in the end anyway.

Although it wasn't her way to confide in near-strangers, Wildfire blurted, "I actually really miss them." This patrol actually made her think of her father and Nightjar and she felt a little ache in her chest. At least it wasn't anything overwhelming.

Lex listens, taking as much as she spoke.  He doesn’t know much about the packs in the area and he hasn’t been able to associate different smells with different territories just yet.  Most of his time has been spent in Moonspear, keeping the territory borders locked down from outsiders.  Perhaps in due time he’d venture out and get a lay of the land but for now he was content at home.  

“What made your decision?” he asks, turning to look a the smaller canine.  If she misses her family, but chosen to move away, there had to have been something to make her leave.  Maybe it wasn’t something as dramatic as different morals between a parent and a child or conflict between siblings, but maybe there was something.  Perhaps even nothing at all.

He shrugs off the thought before looking back ahead of him before he trips over something by not paying attention.

“They don’t sound like they’re too far from here, though,” he muses but doesn’t suggest visiting in case it is a sore spot.  His sisters leave a little sore spot for him and he’s lucky Izo at least found her way around.

Her shoulders tensed slightly at Lex's direct question. Of course, the deciding factor had been the threat of Nightjar's teeth. Wildfire didn't want to dwell on that, though. It still hurt to recollect her brother's reaction that day, plus there was the fact that he had pushed her into a decision she should (and would) have made on her own. She took a breath, preparing her answer in her head.

"A lot of different things influenced my decision in the end," she said lightly, shrugging and coaxing the stiffness out of her shoulder blades. Luckily, Lex chose that moment to stumble over something in his path, so Wildfire didn't have to elaborate any further. He didn't react much, so she didn't either, though quietly she was thankful for the small distraction. Plus, it looked like she might have found a kindred klutz in him.

"They aren't," she agreed with his next statement. She had no plans to go back and visit for a while. She still needed time to recover from the circumstances of her departure and adjust to life in Moonspear. No matter how much she missed them, she wasn't ready to see them yet. Wildfire was actually a little bit afraid she would be tempted to go back there and wanted to strengthen her ties here first before tempting fate like that.

Skirting around a bent sapling in the way, Wildfire asked, "What about you? Why did you leave your family?" She hoped it was just a natural dispersal like her own rather than some sort of misfortune or tragedy.

Lex focuses a moment on where he’s going so he doesn’t trip up again, watching his feet touch the ground in the dark.  Once he’s taken a few good, solid steps, he looks back up and takes a deep breath.  It’s quiet, even with Wildfire talking, and it gives him a weird chilling feeling.  He brushes it off, for now, and turns to listen, entirely missing how tense she’d gotten.  She doesn’t go into detail about her decision making and he doesn’t pressure her for it.

“I came from a small pack and I left because another pack nearby wanted our land.  They were a lot bigger than we were, we didn’t stand a chance if we wanted to fight,” he tells her with a flick of his tail.  It was a little more violent than Lex was willing to let on but his own tension rises in his shoulders and it takes a couple of awkward steps to shake it out.  “They told us we could join them if we wanted.  I chose to find my own way.”  It is, at the most, some sort of half truth.  He certainly hadn’t been given the offer.  “So I’m here.  And I’m glad for it.”

It sounded like external forces had forced his hand too. Secretly, Wildfire felt that small sense of kinship growing. She wondered what it must be like, having a larger pack suddenly threaten your home. Her mind briefly wandered to Haunted Wood and the way the Redhawks had relentlessly assailed them. That was much different, though; the caldera wolves had been there first and were entirely justified in trying to ward the interlopers away.

Something ghosted in Wildfire's peripheral vision, causing her to stop. She motioned for Lex to halt too, so she could listen. The night was still and quiet. "I thought I saw something," she mouthed to her cohort. For reasons unknown, she suddenly heard Charon's voice in her head, telling her she was a rubbish fighter. She had always considered herself pretty decent, despite her notable physiological disadvantages. But the Alpha's words were like a self-fulling prophecy, damaging her confidence and making her question whether she would be any use if there was some sort of threat out there in the darkness.

Accordingly, she took half-a-step back, moving to align herself just behind Lex. He was the Warden (in the making) and he should take point anyway.

Want to make it a 1d3 roll?  I apologize if this is dumb, fail for creativity.

1: Pesky fox/coyote lingering nearby.
2: Random prey that happens to be a little too close.
3: Nothing.  Wildfire is losing her mind.

Before Wildfire says anything else, she stops, and he jerks his attention to her in time to see the words form on her lips.  It’s too bad Lex sucks at lip-reading and so he shrugs his shoulders a little and gives her a confused look but it doesn’t last long because she shifts her weight to stand behind him, and he quickly scans the area to figure out what’s happening.  

Lex lowers his head just slightly, narrows his eyes, and takes a step out of their original path to figure out what’s gotten the younger wolf to take her few steps backward.  The quiet around them disturbed Lex a little bit but he stalks a few steps forward.  He jerks when he thinks he sees something out of the corner of his eye, ears cupping intently forward to listen.  He glances back to Wildfire for a brief second before he returns his focus.  There’s a sound of a stick breaking in the distance and Lex growls a low rumble  in his chest in warning.

I like it! I'll roll here (too lazy to go to SP, hehe), then edit in a post. :D

3

Edit: Haha, looks like Wifi's crazy! 8)

Lex moved forth into the darkness and Wildfire stuck close behind him. His head jerked and she tried to follow the direction of his gaze, though of course it was very dark and thus difficult for her to pinpoint anything. She saw nothing now. When he cupped his ears, she did the same. The night was eerily quiet. Then a stick snapped off a ways and Lex responded by growling.

Wildfire tilted her snout into the air, trying to catch a scent, but the night was breathless. "Maybe it's nothing. Just a rabbit or something," she guessed, then thought of the stick. Could a bunny break a stick? "A... fat one," she said, some tension leaving her svelte body as she began to chortle under her breath.

Shucks!

Once the stick had broken, nothing happened.  He didn’t notice any scents that didn’t belong and there isn’t any more movement that draw his attention to anything.  The growl quieten the area around them.  It doesn’t last long when Wildfire speaks up, a little more relieved of herself.

“Maybe.  We should check it out, though, just to make sure?” he asks, wondering if it might make her feel better that they won’t find anything if they went further into the dark to clear the threat.

Lex takes a few steps forward, looking back out through the woods.  His steps are careful and quiet, despite his size, to further make sure the pack is safe.

Although the coast appeared to be clear, Lex proposed they take a closer look just to be sure. Wildfire nodded her assent, then fell into step behind him as they skulked furtively through the darkness. Her hackles prickled expectantly but she neither saw, heard nor smelled anything out of the ordinary.

Then what had she seen out of the corner of her eye? What had broken the stick? Perhaps it was meant to remain a mystery to them. As long as there was nothing that would threaten themselves or the pack, Wildfire wouldn't worry too much.

When Lex is satisfied nothing is there, he shifts his weight back to return to their work on the borders. He nudged Wildfire in the shoulder gently. She is the first wolf to keep him company on his border patrol. Izo visits once in a while but never long and he is usually left alone for the majority of it. Problems were minimal, he discovered, and for this he is thankful. 

"Do you have any plans?" he asks, vague. Trades, leadership, wherever she thought she might see herself in the next two years. 

I didn't know if you wanted to fade off or keep going. :)

They made their way back to the borderline, Wildfire musing that the distraction at least made things less boring. Her lips twitched. She had a lot of respect for Warden types, though she could not imagine spending so much time walking in circles. She loved walking, yet her ventures always included some sort of (often distant) destination. It suddenly made her want to go out on a trip, though there was still much to do as far as settling in here went.

Lex's question prompted her to cant her head. "Plans?" she echoed, not sure what he meant. Did he mean immediate plans or future plans in general? Either way, Wildfire decided to reply, "My only plan right now is to become one with Moonspear." She smiled, her tail twitching. A big part of that was acquainting herself with her pack mates, as she was doing now. "And, well, I guess I'd like to find Floki sometime soon," she added more specifically.

Her cohort was probably wondering where she had been these past several days. Suddenly, Wildfire very badly wanted to track him down and explain her absence. "I think I'm gonna go do that," she announced with a twitch of her black tail, "unless you'd like me to stick around?" If Lex wanted her to finish the patrol with him, she supposed finding Floki could wait. Hell, he might already be in bed anyhow.

Wildfire covers short and long term plans and, in an effort to accomplish them, announces she should work on it.  Lex smiles, noting the name Floki.  He’d heard it in passing but he hadn’t met the boy yet.  “No, no, not at all,” he tells her with a few wags of his tail.  “Thanks for the company,” he tells her, it was nice to meet you.

Thanks for the thread. <3

Right back at you! Let's have another soon. :)

Lex didn't seem bothered at all by her wish to depart in search of her companion. Although they were newly acquainted, Wildfire bumped her snout against his. We're family, she thought. It was a strange but not unpleasant thought. With a wave of her tail and a final, "See you later!" she turned inland from the boundaries and began her search for Floki.