Heron Lake Plateau Lots of booze, and lots of ramblin'

A quiet grey dusk had settled over the summery glade when Raleska stirred. She sleepily squinted out into the hazy light, noticing both Svalinn and her mother were still asleep. For some reason the girl was fretful. As she stared at the stone archways of their den she suddenly felt quite alone, isolated, and cut off from both slumbering forms next to her.

They looked so content in their sleep; perhaps they walked in dreams far away in an eternal autumnal bliss, reunited with the fragmented ghosts of their family. Perhaps they dreamed of the seeping warmth of a full belly, or the peaceful lull in a navy-blanketed night with a crisp crescent moon.

Raleska had no such dreams; they were neither blissful nor quiet. She dreamed not of tranquil glades far away, nor of softly dappled hills mor fondly remembered faces. Raleska dreamt only of the towering, imposing eyes of the beasts that had turned them away, their figures distorted, their faces gnarled, and their words colder than even the deepest wellspring. She dreamt of her brothers' faces, gaunt and starved and some nights they crept into her world unbidden, eyes sunken back into grim and ghostly skulls. She dreamt of the desolation of her father, his emaciated and beaten form contorted beyond reckoning.

Their fell forms and features snaked their way daily into her sleeping realm, and wickedly, wrenched her often from sleep.

Sitting there with her eyes heavy in exhaustion, Raleska gave one last look to her known surviving relatives - and then with a sense of overwhelming loneliness, walked out into the embracing night.

Not every night could be spent curled up comfortably next to Colt fr the entire duration of the night. The pack's borders still had to be patrolled, lest some nighttime intruder try to be opportunistic, so occasionally Niamh would go back and forth between daytime strolling and night time patrolling. This night was one of those nights that she strayed from the little copse of trees where she and Colt slept and moved toward the borders as the stars awakened. 

She nearly missed the dark girl as she moved along, until she caught her scent. She glanced around and finally caught sight of the lighter charcoal markings along her sides, and uttered a quiet chuff. The girl was nearly 5 months old now, old enough that Niamh figured she could come along on a little midnight border patrol if she wanted. She gestured with a tilt of her chin to invite the girl along with her, and waited for a moment to see id she would agree to join.

There was a strange stillness that settled over the small corner of the world Raleska occupied. She turned her head skyward and looked at the star-studded firmament; deep and navy and remote yet filled with a terrible beauty. Each star seemed to glimmer and gleam in incandescent silver or pulsing red, paused only by the humble passing of murky clouds.

Her ear turned back involuntarily at the sound of noise - turning around, she was startled by Niamh's presence. The girl had not heard the woman approach until she was upon her, and felt her fur climb instinctively in little quills. Her surprise was quick to pass, but she regarded Niamh suspiciously. Despite the honey-furred wolf being fairly familiar (Raleska was under the understanding Niamh was one of Mom's friends, ugh, weird) Raleska still squinted at her, half expecting to be chastised for being up so late, or escorted back to the den.

Instead the wolf nodded at her in.... invitation? Raleska's scowl seemed to crumple. All guilt or defensiveness on her sharp face was lifted, and with one last sneaky glance at the den, Raleska silently followed.

Truth be told, Niamh had definitely spent more time with Caiaphas' adopted charge than her actual daughter- so she didn't exactly know what to expect from the young girl. Niamh had a fair amount of respect for Caiaphas, simply because of the way she held herself, and acted. Svalinn was a playful, boisterous young lad- but she didn't know what to make of the dark girl who always looked sullen...No, sullen wasn't the word- Raleska always looked like she was judging the world, and that it didn't pass the test. She tried not to notice the girl's snarky look- but she did catch the fact that it lifted a bit when she was invited along. She didn't exactly have permission from Caiaphas to take the girl on a late night patrol- but she could always beg for forgiveness later. 

Once they were far enough away from the den for her voice to carry back, she gave the girl a welcoming nod. "Gonna do a quick patrol of the borders, if that's cool with you," She said. "It's always good to have backup at night," She said, hinting ominously that it wasn't quite safe enough for her to go alone, hoping that might intrigue the girl more.

It was a little liberating slipping off from the den; Raleska hadn't counted all her eggs before they hatched though, and did not think she was truly free until the den was well out of sight and no angry harpy burst forth, furious at her daughter's after-hour jaunts. Looking back, Raleska watched as the den slowly faded into obscured trees and stones, and then breathed a sigh of relief. She was unaware she had been holding her breath close up until that point, and felt a wince in her little ribs as she exhaled.

Trotting obediently after Niamh, Raleska struggled to appear attentive but not too interested in whatever Niamh was doing. She never really knew what to make of adults, but assumed all hated fun to some order or another. Maybe this adult was different - she did look a lot younger than the other adults in Raleska's life. Bitterly, Raleska wondered if that was why she was still around.

Either way the girl begrudgingly welcomed the company - and the opportunity to keep herself busy. Her ears shot up as Niamh spoke, catching drift of the hidden peril in her words. Looking furtively around them, Raleska readjusted her expression to what she imagined was grim and very daunting. She would take this job seriously, and set her chin stubbornly out as she nodded mutely, disguising the quickening anticipation that fluttered in her heart.

She got a resolute nod from the young girl, so she straightened up her shoulders, tilted her head to one side, allowing her neck to crack audibly. "Good. Thought I could count on you." She meant to boulster the girl's confidence- and possibly win a few brownie points, of course- but if the girl's mother was Caiaphas, she would expect nothing less from her than determination and gumption. While she did peg the youngster as being a bit on the sullen, judgemental side of things, it at least meant that she was a realist and a skeptic, and having lost most of her family would have stripped her of at least some of her childhood naivety. What she needed now, Niamh thought, was someone to put faith in her and simply accept her as she was. 

Knowing she could easily say something that might make her seem uncool, or rattle whatever opinion Raleska had of her that was likely dangling precariously, she stayed silent, moving along and focusing on sniffing for tracks. She huffed a soft breath at each set of tracks they passed belonging to a packmate, as though checking one after another off a list. Non-verbally, at least it would communicate that those tracks they crossed- which happened to belong to Quixote, Ceara and Colt- were a non-issue. 

It was when she came across the scent of a fox that she paused, and allowed herself to bristle slightly. A fox wasn't a terrible threat- the pups were all big enough now that a fox would be out of its mind to bother with them, but it could raid their caches or catch prey that was rightfully theirs. She gestured for Raleska to come over and investigate for herself, giving the girl time to see what she made of the musky scent.

I am so sorry I could have SWORN I replied to this.

Raleska's chest puffed in pride as Niamh said she knew she could count on her; damn straight! Raleska was a serious puppy, and took jobs even more seriously; she positively emanated serious determination as she followed after the golden she-wolf. Out of the corner of her eye she studied everything Niamh was doing, and then suuuuper casually, would repeat it a little bit later as if it had been her own idea, and not at all inspired by the more experienced Gamma's actions.

When they came to the scent of fox it was all Raleska could do not to bury her face in it. She sniffed carefully at the blades of grass that Niamh had inspected, her long ears flopping as she bent over. She hadn't really smelled that before, it didn't smell like a wolf, but it didn't smell like the scents Caiaphas had warned her about either - (bobcat, and bear). She lifted her head with a frown and looked at Niamh. "What is that?"

Raleska's usually grim features looked just a bit brighter when she moved forward to sniff the scent left behind by the fox, and Niamh felt pleased. Maybe this was something that interested the dark girl; she was of the right age to start doing an apprenticeship of sorts, as she'd lost most of her puppiesh build and would be ready to cover more ground and put her body through a tougher regiment. Also, there was less chance she'd get hurt, given the fact that she had some size coming her way, and that alone would often be enough to discourage other predators like foxes and coyotes. Hence why Niamh didn't mind taking Raleska with her to chase a fox off. 

"Fox," She said. "No danger to you or me, really," She assured her companion, "But they're nasty stealers and will raid caches. Can't have them thinking they can waltz around here anyway, if there were puppies." She said, and rolled her shoulders to loosen them up a bit. "We'll track him down, rough him up a bit and send him packing. Sound good?"

Raleska nosed the brittle patch of grass, her expression churning into thoughtfulness. Niamh mentioned they were thieves, and the girl felt righteous indignation puff her fur to prickly ends. 

She took one last breath as if to seal the scent forever in her mind, and then she nodded determinedly. Niamh’s suggestion of roughing up the critter elicited excitement in the wolf, but she kept her responses toned and simply mutely followed behind the blonde Gamma.

Niamh wasn't sure if any of the other juveniles in the pack had their eyes on a trade or apprenticeship, but from what she could tell, the sullen girl would make a fine guardian. She didn't talk much, but seemed fairly concentrated on the task at hand. If she grew into a fine size and trained well, she'd cut a fine figure protecting the borders. Naturally, any guardian would have to learn negotiation techniques- something Niamh was still working on, of course- so if Raleska was interested in the trade, she'd have to speak up more. But for the time being, her silence was just what they needed as they tracked down the fox. 

Its trail led this way and that, and it occasionally marked here and there, which Niamh found odd; it must have been a young and dumb fox to think it was a good idea to mark inside a wolf pack's borders. It was clearly looking for something, the way its trail led this way and that, zig zagging almost aimlessly when in reality, it was trying to cover as much ground as possible and sniff out a cache. If the fox thought the pack wolves would bury a kill this close to the border though, it was truely a dumb creature. 

The scent became stronger, to the point where Niamh could smell it on the air. She halted, and lifted her muzzle, opening her mouth slightly and wetting her nose with her tongue so she could smell better. Her ears pricked slightly, after swivelling this way and that- she'd locked onto its whereabouts, even though she couldn't quite see it yet, through the tall grasses. She looked to Raleska then, and nodded questioningly.

They weaved in and out of tall blades of glass and slender trees, one wolf a brilliant gold, the other a miserable grey. Raleska remained silent as they stopped and inspected each patch of grass or root. Her expression was studious; she was learning, albeit slowly.

Eventually the strength of the scent changed, to the point where even Raleska could notice the difference. She pulled up questioningly besides the goldenrod she-wolf, and mimicked the part of her jaws and deep inhales of the air. Her ears flapped as she jerked her head this way and that, looking desperately for this alleged "fox".

All the restraint she had shown before suddenly disappeared - with a surge that was loud and fully announced her presence, Raleska sprung for where she thought she scented fox the most.

WC: 651

When Raleska surged forward without warning, Niamh almost burst out laughing. It wasn't that she'd gone in the direction- but she'd startled Niamh so much with her sudden action that she'd actually flinched and lowered her center of gravity. While she wasn't heading straight toward the fox's whereabouts, it wasn't altogether a terrible thing- she was going off on roughly a 20 degree angle from where Niamh assumed the fox was, so she wouldn't get too far off course if she kept running that way and aside from that, Niamh could work this into a sort of strategy. With Raleska not heading straight for the ruddy creature, she would end up flanking it, and as Niamh too burst into a run, she knew exactly what she could to do make things easier- she would rush the fox from the other side and, as an adult wolf posed a much larger threat, she would do her best to spook it to make it run out toward Raleska.

Probably not the best thing to do when puppysitting, but Raleska wasn't exactly a puppy anymore anyway; she was teetering on being a juvenile, so that put her in the right spot to begin dealing with small, manageable threats like a fox, as long as she had supervision. A fox could take down something smaller than itself, and Raleska was definitely bigger than a fox. A coyote would have had a shot at seriously inflicting damage on the young female, but then again, a coyote with a fair amount of experience and speed could inflict a good amount of damage on an adult wolf as well, if they were so inclined- which they usually weren't. Like a coyote, a fox would likely only ever attack a wolf if it was cornered, which Niamh was aware was their goal. Still, she didn't have too many reservations- Raleska's mother had charged a cougar without hesitation, so she likely expected her daughter to grow up with the same amount of gumption.

As expected, the fox heard Raleska's hasty approach and veered away from her, which meant that Niamh had more ground to cover if she wanted to be able to steer it back toward Raleska. The fox was quick, and had Niamh waited a few more moments, it would have veered far enough away from Raleska that it might have escaped Niamh too, or in the very least it might have gotten far enough away from Raleska that Niamh wouldn't be able to overtake it on its flank and herd it back toward her co-warrior. The fox continued on its path, body held low to the ground as it sped through their territory, and it was in sight by the time it realized that it was being pursued not only by one small wolf, but by an adult wolf as well. That certainly hastened its pace- but the one Niamh had set had already been dialed in to 'overtake,' so she did not slow down or change her route. Had the fox been smarter, it should have veered directly away from Raleska on a 90 degree angle, but it didn't, luckily for Niamh. She was able to cover the distance between the two of them, and cut off any escape route it might have had.

With a low growl, she snaked her head down and close to the fox, snapping her teeth together menacingly. That was when the fox made the decision to veer suddenly, directly away from Niamh. It had quickened its speed again, but already it had forgotten about the other wolf- and rather than bounding away to safety, it instead made a beeline away from Niamh- and directly toward the path Raleska would be taking if she continued going straight. ”He's comin' yer way!” She cried excitedly, and continued to herd the fox on, hoping to drive it right where she needed it to go.

Raleska had been quite confident in her abilities to pinpoint where the fox was, but that was the funny thing about the world: you could be surer than gunfire and the bullet that followed it, but that didn't mean you'd be right.

The fox had heard her coming, and understandably wanted none of that. Raleska bellowed when she saw him, diving after it with very little care, and very little skill.

Niamh had better plans; be it because she was smarter, or far more experienced -- she managed to skillfully fill in where Raleska left much wanting; before long, and after a fair bit of flustered flitting by the fox, they almost had it --

then, the fox roused and darted straight for her; Raleska wasn't ready for such commitment and she faltered just long enough that, if the fox was as clever as his kith were often attributed as, he would easily be able to weasel right past her -- leaving Raleska both disappointed and defeated.

WC: 485

There wasn't much else that Niamh could or would do. Unless the fox managed to get the upper hand, if it came down to a brawl, Niamh wouldn't step in and she would simply allow Raleska to handle the situation. Naturally, she wouldn't really have an excuse to give Caiaphas if Raleska got too torn up by the fox- she was trying to teach her, but teachers were also responsible for the well-being of their pupils. A certain amount of bites and scratches from what appeared to be a healthy fox wouldn't hurt her too badly. Unless a fang hooked Raleska in the eye, or managed to tear something significant in one of her legs, she could probably handle it and would heal up fine in a matter of days. She was young- young wolves bounced back from injury quickly, right? Regardless, Niamh wouldn't be too far away and she doubted very much that the creature was going to go savage on Raleska anyway, unless she caught the fox but dilly-dallied in killing it. Too much hesitation, for sure, would not behove the female, as a fox could potentially get quite nasty and Niamh didn't want her to get frightened of attacking a fox in the future if she didn't handle this one well.

She was also glad that the fox seemed healthy enough- those 'varmints' often carried disease, or so she believed, hence why she looked down on them as nothing more than an infection-laden pest. It had never stopped her from killing one before, even though they were technically a canine like her. But coyotes and foxes weren't wolves- and she believed selfishly that wolves were far superior to their cousins. Cats were completely out of the question- bobcats and lynx were just stuffy, egotistical creatures that hissed and were almost perpetually pissed off- so she wanted nothing to do with them, unless she was in the mood to aggrevate the creature. Cougars...Well, a cougar was a completely different beast altogether- and due to its size and power, it demanded a certain amount of respect or fear- or perhaps a bit of both. Niamh had tangled with one once- and even with two other wolves, the cougar could have easily killed one or more of them had it chosen to keep fighting them and chance more injury to itself.

She closed in after the fox, but didn't intervene when the two crossed paths. She uttered a growl of encouragement. If Raleska didn't catch or kill the fox, she would continue pursuing it until it was either out of their territory or until she'd caught and killed it. Foxes were smart, so they weren't welcome. And while she knew that she would thoroughly enjoy killing the fox herself, she hoped that Raleska would do it, so that she too would feel how good it felt to dimiss a foe who had threatened their pack.

If nothing else, Raleska was stunned by the sudden appearance of the fox in her periphery. She slammed on the brakes, mostly because those eyes... They looked just like her eyes, or what she had seen when she stared in a mud puddle. Sure, they were wide with terror, but they were clever eyes. Predator eyes.

The eyes of a wolf, or canine, or cousin. Raleska didn't know the fox was a distant relation in terms of species, but she was so overcome by the fact it looked too much like a puppy to do much.

Niamh had kept to her huntressy prowl, and Raleska caught a flash of sinister golden fur looming. "No!!" She blurted, sudden compassion riming her usually sulky features. "Don't hurt him!!"

She didn't understand that in this world it was kill-or-be-killed.. and to her it seemed awfully cruel and unjust to just kill for no reason. Suddenly, Raleska was reminded of Valette and Stark, and how cruelly they had denied her family food and shelter. She didn't want to be like them! She didn't want to make this fox endure what they had to endure! Her eyes grew dark and wide and she wheeled away, a quiet cry threatening to break from her bobbing throat.

WC: 351

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Niamh felt sure that Raleska could handle the challenge and if she was anything like her mother, she would be able to do it with swift precision, and bear herself proudly after having vanquished the fox. Niamh had high hopes for Raleska and believed completely that though the girl was quiet, she would come into her own in time and be exactly what Niamh would want in an apprentice. Tegan had found his apprentice, and now she wanted to find her own apprentice- build a bond with one of this year’s youth in particular so that they could help out, particularly in the next year as Niamh intended to have her own plate completely full with the birth of fifty or sixty children of her own, or so.

The fox came right into Raleska’s path, but with a shout she slammed on the brakes allowing the fox to skitter away. She cried for Niamh to leave it, and Niamh too backpedaled, pulling herself to a stop as Raleska swiftly turned on her heel and bolted away. Perhaps she’d been hiding her reluctance all along- but Niamh hadn’t noticed it and was flabbergasted by the girl’s reaction. Frustrated- as she’d come so close to sharing a triumphant moment with the girl, she grumbled lightly to herself and let aleska run away. She might go back to Caiaphas and tell her that Niamh had tried to make her kill a fellow canine- but Niamh didn’t care. Niamh was a guardian, and foxes were dangerous. It was them, or the wolves. 

So, without thinking anything else of it, she denied Raleska’s plea, as the girl was no longer in sight, and chased after the wretched creature, putting on an earnest burn of speed so that she could make up the ground she’d lost. The ruddy creature was already tired, and it was relatively simple for her to hunt it down and kill it. The fox would trespass no longer on their territory and instead, ended up filling a cache for the winter, should they be so desperate that they would need to eat foxes.

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