Moonspear tengu caller

The motions were all but mechanized as she made her lap around the mountain's base, her heading set to patrol and not much else. She was keenly alert, keyed in by instinctual, possessive response to guard what was hers, but perhaps not wholly invested with the heart as the hours bled together and her mind began to wander in search of something more mentally engaging.

She lowered her muzzle and sped her slinking gait up a notch. This only moved her faster to the next crossroad, and there she found no direct pull in any given direction. A smattering of scents lie before her and motivations all too hazy yet. She could always patrol more, or wrangle up a hunt to spend pent up energy on. There was the vague notion in which she'd been meaning to sniff out Thistle after noticing the sandy female was keeping quiet lately, but she'd yet to act on it. There were, of course, all of the rest of the pack's individuals (new and old alike) to consider as well. She could probably find some sort of business with each and every one of them if she tried, especially with several of them being her attempting to open their pack to an influx of new blood when they needed it.

Sundown approached. She sniffed thoughtfully at the landscape, skimming a squinting stare towards the path ahead to see who else may be around as she pressed onward over the lower elevations.

Harley had decided to give himself a break, heading down to the mountain base to explore down there. His dark alphas scent was fresh, and on a second sniff he was aware she was alone. Was this normal for the female? Shrugging, he decided to keep going. If he saw her, he saw her, if not, she was an alpha and could surely either handle herself or know when to call for help. He went on his own path, but apparently fate had other plans. There it was, her scent again, but stronger and even fresher. A quick scan of the landscape revealed her dark shape, and he trotted on towards her with a low and friendly chuff and his tail wagging behind him.
       "Hello Ame, how are you this evening?"
He spoke as he got close, amber eyes shining and the deep colored tips of his fur glowing russet in the dappled sundown rays.

Her ears shifted and she turns her head to face him not long after the realization dawned that company approached. Since he is familiar, she remained relatively lax. "Harley," she greets with a low chuff and sway of her tail. She can't help but glance over him in a quick sweep, infinitely curious to how he fared in light of the adjustments to the pack he was inevitably busy with. "I cannot complain," she answered with a vague swing of her muzzle and small smirk. She was a little restless about things entirely unseen (like the gravity of such recent losses), but, handling it in modest succession. "Settling in well?" she returned onto him, far more interested in his details than her own as the last rays of sunlight sprinkled onto his coat.

The wolfdog easily noticed the change of subject, but left it be. He felt he wasn't close enough to the alpha to be prying, and didn't want to earn a place on her bad side. And so he smiled back, feathery tail wagging behind him. Already, his pads had toughened and his muscles were strengthening, adjusting to life on the mountain.
        "Very well, actually. It gets easier everyday to travel here, and I'm growing attached just as swiftly. Life here is better than I could ever imagine."
Albeit a bit lonely, but eventually that would be fixed. He planned on branching out more in the very near future, and grow to be a part of the family.

The feathers of his tail accentuated the warm wave he offered when he answered favorably. Amekaze couldn't help but glance their way, perpetually finding herself curious of the bits of him that suggested his heritage more strongly than others. But, dog blood aside, she was glad he was doing well. "Good, life has treated me well here too on the whole. It is a generous mountain to those who can master it," she smirked knowingly. She'd already grown to like it more than the Sunspire, despite her sentimental attachment to the place where she first stood as Alpha, and she still felt like she had much to learn about the Spear.

She then gestured for him to accompany her on the loose trail she'd been prowling on before. Mostly, she just wanted to keep moving, even if it was an ambling walk. "I remember you saying you wished to be a storyteller -- you should tell me more about that," she peered sidelong at him with a light wave to her tail. "Like.. your favorite types of story, myth or reality. It is not my primary focus any longer, but I consider myself a historian on the side." she offered in exchange and to justify her interest in it -- not just from an alpha-esque "hey, get to being useful" standpoint like it may have seemed at first glance. She did not weave her own tales from nothing but preferred to collect the myths and historical tellings of events as she went along in life.

Harley of course noticed her looks, but he also saw that she wasn't judgemental. She seemed to like him, and so the wolfdog said nothing. The ebony female said she was well and for that he was glad: a happy alpha meant a happy pack. Ame turned and, signaling to him to follow, moved away. She seemed ansy but that was okay, for so was the shepherd wolf. Not so much that it was an inconvenience, much, but he could always feel the need to move, move, move. They didn't get far before she asked of his trade, and he smiled. It'd been awhile since he'd spoke anything of his stories.
                 "Being the first born, it usually fell to me to watch over my siblings. Usually my way of winding down was to tell a story. Any story, really, usually the ones my father or aunt told me. I started coming up with my own though, usually somewhere between myth and reality, and sometimes firmly one or the other. The more I learned, the better stories I came up with. My favorites are probably mythical, just because anything can happen really, I suppose. I do like KNOWING though, I like being able to call up things to help out. Lessons, I suppose. Whatever makes people smile, really."

While by default, she was a creature rooted in logic because it was the means by which she survived, she had always enjoyed a tale. Fiction or otherwise, she'd hear whatever she could. It was information of all shapes and sizes that she craved, all of which was practically endless, so she was happy to hear him talk at length about this.

He did not seem to be the sort to be picky when it came to stories, either, and this was proven when he didn't quite pin down a favorite. Which she understood in full -- she wouldn't be able to narrow it to just one on the spot. Her favorites were the myths that handled natural events, or the ones of just pure oddity that were so bizarrely out of this world. But, then again, that varied by the day as well and as he had said in his own way, they varied by the circumstances calling for the story in the first place.

"I do like the knowing, too. It is part of why I like myths that attempt to justify natural events, even if there is not exactly whole truth in them -- or even any at all. Something about the possibility is entertaining," she chuffed. "I have never been very good at weaving.. lessons into my storytelling, though. It is just mainly fact when I tell it," she smirked. She was too straightforward in that regard, but knew it would be useful to make it less clear-cut when the listeners were of the younger sort. They probably wouldn't want to hear it if the subject was too dry. Best to buffer it with the fluff of a tale.This had never been an issue for her personally because her audiences were generally few. "It is an admirable skill to have."

Harley was absolutely thrilled to hear that she understood the need to know, and the wolfdog felt as if he had made some accomplishment in finding her. The milky male listened quietly as Ame spoke, loping along next to her. The dark female liked myths, huh? Hm.... Harley made it a project, right then and there, to find a myth to tell the young woman that she didn't already know.  
           "It was too hard keeping the attention of others without putting some fun in it. I was the only one willing to sit and listen to my aunts stories, and she preferred clear-cut facts as well.  It was my job to twist them so all of my siblings would hear them and learn from them."
The russet-tipped male smiled over at Ame, feathery flag waving behind him. Amekaze was nice to talk to, he decided as he padded along at her side. He liked her, and moreso he respected her. She was someone worth serving.

"I would see why," she replied. For some, the cut and dry just didn't work. She'd respect that always and it was why she'd see the use in wolves like Harley who could manipulate it into something for everyone -- and by having the siblings he did, practicing it upon them had surely honed his skills. Perhaps he could find ways to further it here, even if it may not be the same as with his brothers. "It is good you are able to," she nodded readily, for while her words may seem scarce, she appreciated knowing this about him now and would remember this.

With this, she lapsed into an easy silence but her overall relaxation signaled her appreciation for the company. Now and then, she'd steal a moment to pause and sniff further if the landscape dictated she must, then soon after her pathway would continue on -- and so it was, until they eventually parted ways upon the mountainside. In the end, she did feel like she knew him a bit better. The glimpses she received were certainly worthwhile.

a wrap-up bc i have been the slow with it (we should have something up to date soon~)