Stavanger Bay take care, they said

backdated a couple days to when he visits donnelaith, set at SB's edges -- maybe someone from the pack-to-be wants to join? :) but AW!

It was a sad day when he wasn't able to enter his old pack's territories any longer; yet he knew this was something that was coming when they'd left. It wasn't that he wished to return here in favour over Moonspear; it was just that in a way, he hoped these wolves'd take good care of it. Charon felt a bit sentimental thinking about it, which wasn't much like himself, but maybe it was the pressure of recent events that weighed him down, too.

Along its borders Charon trailed, where the forests nearly met with the Sentinels and Donnelaith's territory, where trails lead inwards that he knew. Yet he waited along the frays of the forest and sniffed the scent trail, hoping that he would maybe be able to find out something more about this pack.

Pleased as she was with her home in the bay, Doe still thought the game there left something to be desired. Fish were slimy, yes, but that would never wholly make up for their lack of hot-sweet-blood taste. In secret, she'd slipped away that morning to search the outskirts of their territory for something warm-blooded to eat. And, although she was doing nothing wrong, the little shewolf still felt guilty for thinking the sea might not provide all that she wanted.

So when she saw the pallid male, her conscience immdediately told her it was Szymon, and he would be disappointed in her for looking outside the sea for sustenance. The chubby vole she'd snatched dropped immediately from her jaws and - as she liked her prey alive and squirming while she ate it - immediately took flight.

"Sz - oh!"

Silence reigned as Doe realized this was not her love, but a stranger - marked by stone-colored spots and cold blue eyes that held none of the blaze that Szymon's yellow ones seemed to gleam with. Uncertain, her paws tapped a nervous little dance into the earth. Challenge his presence - he should not be here!

But her thoughts of Szymon had thrown her, and she was too close to him to feel comfortable with any sort of challenge. Should she call for someone? He wasn't in their territory yet, and seemed to be respecting the borders that they had all so clearly marked.

Doe stayed silent, waiting for him to set the tone of this encounter.

The great towering brute had caught the scent of the stranger on the borders of the bay and had found himself drawn toward it with a hesitance that had not touched him before. This wolf was not alone; they carried the scent of another pack on their coat, which brought the leviathan into a defensive state. His inky coat shimmered with the water as he emerged and loped steady toward the wolf on the edges of the bay. As he neared, the familiar scent of Doe wafted through his inky nose and the silver-ribbed brute breathed a sigh of relief that she would be the one to catch the wolf on their corners. Skellige’s dark gaze roamed toward them and he blinked in surprise at the figure who stood beyond; a pale brute with coal smatterings along the ivory of his fur. As the wraith drew nearer, he began to see the deep blue of the male’s gaze. The witch doctor’s voice had not yet touched the air out of inquiry, and this troubled the looming shadow.
 
Closing the space on the two wolves, he lifted his head upward and held it level with the man on the other side. The deep russet of his vision roamed the stranger’s features and he breathed a short huff. “What brings you to the edges of the bay?” the leviathan asked softly. The timbre of his voice struck the air firmly and lingered there a moment longer than it should have. His coat still dripped from the sea where he had been hard at work preparing for his pack. Still, he could not help but to remain curious at this wolf.  

At first a female arrived, one that began to speak, only to realise that she had the wrong wolf (or so he guessed from her abrupt stop). Or maybe she had started to talk to herself before noticing him eventually. Charon flicked his ears forward and looked at her for a moment while she stood and stared, not coming closer but neither speaking anything. "You okay?" he called out, though there was little tone of caring in his voice; it was more small talk to get her from her frozen state than anything else.

It was soon after he spoke that a second stranger arrived and Charon looked at him with interest. He moved as though gliding and his fur was wet, presumably from the oceanside. Charon watched him as he arose from the forest and he knew he was dealing with someone more important here. He remained neutral in body posture, not intending to submit but neither showing any dominance over the other. He was asked a question and answered: "I was born here. I live at the tall mountain to the south of here now, but I grew curious who lives in my homeland now."

phone post

The pale wolf's question was a simple one, and Doe opened her motu to answer, glad that she had one at the ready. Yes, she was okay, only startled. What did he want, how could she get him on his way?

But her Leviathan saved her from having to answer. Doe felt the man's presence before he was truly upon them, and her jaws snapped shut as he entered the scene. Stepping back, she dipped her head in assent, hiding the shame and relief that flooded her at his presence.

He must think I'm an idiot, just standing there and staring at someone so close to the border... and Does he know about Sy and me? What will he think? What will happen to us? ran rampant in her mind, but she kept her body carefully demure as Skellige and the stranger spoke.

The witch doctor at his side seemed to react sheepishly at his approach, but the wraith regarded her with only a slight glance. He had been curious why she would silently sit on the border with her gaze trained on the pallid male, but it was not something he would openly address. The flighty female would have had her reasons, or so he would assume. Instead, his lengthy ears swiveled forward to meet the words of the freckled stranger. An intense listener, as per usual, the leviathan found himself surprised that there had been wolves who had occupied the bay before his own brood. A thoughtful frown creased his inky features at the response that had been given, and he nodded his head solemnly.
 
“It’s natural to be pulled back to your roots, I suppose,” he said gruffly – this was not because of the present company, but merely because the sea king was gruff even in moments of leisure. Meeting the gaze of the other wolf, his dark eyes played across the features of the man and he wondered faintly how the sea had procured such a beast and then allowed him to depart. Was she not pleased with her makings? Casting the thought from his mind, Skellige believed that it was simply his destiny to dwell on the shore and that was the reason for the previous pack having fallen. The mystics had willed it, and so it became a reality.
 
“I am Skellige Cairn; the Leviathan of the bay. This is Doe, our Witch Doctor,” he motioned toward the slender female at his side with a swing of his muzzle. “We await the blessing of the mystics before staking claim on these lands, but our preparations have offered great promise.” It would not be long before they would be allowed to call the land theirs without argument from passersby.

Charon wasn't sure if it was natural to be pulled back to one's roots. He hadn't seen the Bay in some time and hadn't even visited Ragnar's grave, before or after it had been raided. The Bay held little special meaning to him, other than that it felt oddly at home to walk the paths that he had once walked when he was young. He wasn't even sure why he was at its borders now, but he supposed that it was curiosity that had drawn him in.

The female remained standing, staring, doing not much of anything, while the man introduced himself as Skellige Cairn. Charon nodded in acknowledgement of his name and title — one he'd not heard before, Leviathan; he thought of Levi a moment as the name reminded him of his brother — and then introduced: "I'm Charon Ostrega, Alpha of Moonspear." He gestured in southern direction, towards the jagged Moonspear which poked out from the rest of the scenery in the distant mountain ridge. It looked smaller from so far away, but formidable all the same.

"Who are the mystics?" he asked curiously, wondering who these wolves were. Their elders in some form, he presumed, or perhaps more distant entities, like the gods Ragnar had followed. "Stavanger Bay was a good home. I hope it will be equally favourable to you and yours." The offer was extended with a confident, friendly smile towards the gruff leviathan. He might not live at the Bay anymore, but that did not mean he held any ill will towards those who claimed it now. He had given it up for greater prizes and a better life, after all.

Some of the Doe's nervousness began to fade as the two men futher conversed. Skellige did not seem too worried about this wolf, and the wolf himself seemed polite and disinterested. Doubtlessly, this would all be over soon, and she could tuck the embarrassing encounter into the back corners of her mind, only to be reviewed when faced by another intruder. Next time, she would do the right thing.

For now, she stood behind her master, eyes bright and curious as they tracked over the pale wolf she'd almost mistaken for her love. He was a pretty thing - thought not as pretty as Szymon - with his dappled nose and jewel-toned eyes. Her tongue darted out to run over her nose as she thought of similarly dappled bird eggs - one of her favorite foods. If only I'd kept a firmer grasp on that vole... she thought sadly, fixated on Charon's muzzle. A whine of hunger threatened to breach the quite of the forest, but she quashed it with minimal effort. I'll be a good Doe and have some fish later.

Tail swishing wistfully, she waited for the impromptu meeting to be over.

Another leader in those lands, and he went by the moniker Charon. Skellige allowed his dark gaze to travel over across the land in search of the mountain that the dappled male called home. When he had settled on the figure that must have been home for the man, he wondered what had driven the wolf so far away from the ocean and toward the rock at the center of the earth. It was not a question that was appropriate to ask of a stranger, so he held his tongue and flicked his gaze back to the fellow leader without a change in expression. Once the dappled male inquired about the mystics, the leviathan seemed to take on a look of surprise. It etched into his grizzled features for only a fraction of a second before it was washed away.
 
“The mystics are the great spirits of the sea,” he spoke firmly. Again, he had been surprised that Doe had not piped up to speak of the great ones with whom she was so closely associated. He could only excuse the behavior based on the idea that she must have been shocked that this wolf did not know of their ancient beings. “The bay is very suitable for myself, and for my people,” the wraith then added with a small nod of his crown. Though he had gathered wolves who knew very little of his culture, they were quick to adapt and to learn. He could not help but to believe that it had been fated.
 
“What drew you away from it?” he inquired with a slight cant of his skull.

Charon didn’t look too phased by the mention of sea spirits. He knew different wolves believed in different things, and even if he did not share this Skellige Cairn’s belief of sea spirits, he could see why someone would believe in it. Nature was powerful as well as beautiful, so it was not surprising one should be drawn to any of its aspects.

He nodded knowingly, letting the pieces fall into place. Then he was asked the question of what’d drawn him away from this place. ”It was not as good a place for me and mine as it is for you, apparently. Our numbers were dwindling last year before winter. I was Beta at the time, so I knew I needed to do something to make us survive the winter. Amekaze, from another pack, faced the same troubles so I suggested we bond our packs together, and so we did.” He added with a grin: ”She likes mountains.” Not that he minded much; from Moonspear it was great to see the ocean’s waves sway. It felt like he now had the best of both worlds, even if he at times longed to dip his paws in the waters of the sea.

doe be like

Why hadn't she just killed that vole in the first place? Curse her love of wiggly things! She could be happily saited right now if she'd just eaten it where she'd caught it. She'd never even have been out here if she just ate the seafood that she was meant to be enjoying. Or the sea lion pups! That's what she would do after this! She'd go hunt some sea lion pups.

There was something pleasing about the speckled male’s acceptance of the mystics. Skellige had faced many others who had doubted his beliefs and had chastised him for the devotion that he expressed toward the great spirits he had been witness to. The leviathan was pleased with this beast for his willingness and knew that he truly must have been blessed by the waters when he had been born there – the bay would always be sacred ground. For the titan to have found the beautiful waters and the luscious terrain was, well… it was fate. The inky creature could only continue his belief and know that it would provide for him in his days to come.
 
As Charon continued to explain why he had been pulled away from the bay, Skellige listened with cupped ears and an intent expression. His russet vision was trained on the darker parts of the other male’s face. The story was unraveled and he nodded his head sagely. Truly, the great ones had paved a pathway for him to stake claim to the lands. Flicking the tip of his tail upward, the silver-ribbed titan glanced back toward the mountain and squinted. “A large change to go from the sea to the mountainside,” he remarked quietly. Having tried to take his time away from the swell of the ocean, Skellige had found that his nature turned quite sour and savage when he could not taste the salt in the air. “It shows a great skill to know that you have adapted well to such an adjustment,” the titan then commented with a flicker of a smile on his leathery lips.

The female was pretty much forgotten by now, so long had she been standing there staring quietly. A confident smile fell across his face when Skellige Cairn complimented his adaptation abilities. He didn't mind too muc that someone had taken over his homeland -- he no longer claimed it, so it was anyone's, really.

"It's been nice meeting you," Charon said with the same confident, charming smile still on his face. "I must be headed back. Take care of my home land." But he did not doubt that Skellige Cairn would, for he seemed like a good sort and his mystics would ensure that he cared for Stavanger Bay in the same way that the vikings had, once.

Charon waited briefly to see if either of them had anything more to say to him beforee turning away and heading home once more.

i can relate to how doe feels xD

His intent to depart roused Doe like none of their other wods had; she leapt from her place like roosting birds startled from their tree, and then wagged her tail excitedly as she thought of eating a nice, feathery bird.

"We will!" she said happily, inordinately pleased by Charon's friendly smile. It made her want to run up to him and rub her cheek against his - but that wasn't what she should do. He was across the border, after all.