Overture Downs One life

The world was in a weird place.  Not much prey, but winter was soon.  She wanted to bolster their ranks, but at the same time, that meant more mouths to feed.  But if they fell into a bit of a slump again, they'd find themselves without much of a pack with winter at their door.  Perhaps it just meant that they would have to work a little harder in the short term.  At least it was something for her to think about while she searched for something edible or entertaining.

The weather had certainly shifted to be colder in recent days.  Snow clung thinly in places on the shaded side of hills, a warning of what was to come.  Yet as Arbiter looked out from her current vantage point -- as she had done quite a few times recently, with or without the terrible trio in tow -- there was not a hooved beast to be seen.  Was it bad luck?  She thought the smoke coming from the distant mountain had lessened, so perhaps things would start turning around.  Or maybe she was just dreaming that was so.  Arbiter searched -- for anything.

Before she got wind of Arbiter's presence in the area, Jomyo was on her way back from the lake with nothing to show for it. Since seismic activity had seemingly tapered off while need the viable prey increased accordingly, she had finally seen it fit to range out a bit more and stretch her legs lately--see the area's sights, look for game especially, beware damages, so on. But, to be only met with frustration didn't leave inspiration plentiful and for today she had decided to head back and rest it all off.

When she could spot the leader, she eased off the cruise to her jog and angled it towards her steadily, tail low and ears tilted back a touch. Anything..? she asked once in a conversational distance and went passing an icy-blue glance over the larger wolf in trying to gauge the situation. The scout guessed her packmate had similar motivations to her own in looking for usefulness out here; it did not need to be said that times were feeling ominous right now in many regards, and the outlook admittedly felt more grim than winter's average.

I'm gonna boop things forward in time a teeny bit I think, for future post stuff.

Perhaps the scout would have information about what was beyond?  But since Jomyo wasn't bringing with her the spoils of a hunt, it didn't seem likely.  Arbiter shook her head.  I'm sure we've done better than some.  But I don't like it.  Though the forest hadn't collapsed upon them they still needed prey, they needed members.  They needed to be able to prepare properly for winter instead of starting the season with emptied caches and children not at the point of hunting large prey where their peers would have been previous years.  Arbiter was plenty ready for things to go back to normal, but it wasn't going to acquiesce yet.

She pointed to the smoldering mountain, Do you think it's safe to travel nearer to it now?  The volcano seemed to have stalled, or at least not being any worse.  Arbiter wasn't too keen on getting any closer than the pack already was, and certainly wasn't going to force anyone to do so because of it.  She might have a cruel streak, but when you got right down to it, Arbiter was pretty reasonable, and she wanted the members of her pack to stay alive, gee.

Her nod was slow, but pensive with that now in mind. Mhm could always be worse, I'm sure.. she agreed through a soft sigh, sharing the sentiment there more than she liked. It wasn't the worst, she believed at least. Could be better, too, and that was where she decided to take her issue--not that there was anything to be done about it except keep up a damn good fight in the meantime, which thankfully the rest of Lost Creek seemed good at doing as well. 

Jomyo then followed Arbiter's point, visually at least, to the north. Safer than it has been definitely, she could agree, although quick to wonder why the leader had an interest in that way. Looks better by the day, I'd say. Barring any sudden relapses into a fully-fledged volcano or anything, that seemed to be the trend lately. On the whole, the heat there seemed to be backing off and maybe she was just getting used to it, but it wasn't so alarming now. The present had become more about dealing with the aftershocks, she was finding out. Word out there is that the coast's a wreck. Haven't heard much from very north yet though, she mentioned for whatever it was worth. Everything just felt uneasy right now.

Certainly these problems couldn't go on forever, or at least Arbiter held on to that bit of logic perhaps a bit more than some might.  But it was not a baseless assumption -- she had never heard of a place staying truly barren of prey forever, especially not when things hadn't been entirely trashed and uninhabitable to all.

She nodded in reply, thinking.  Probably about due for seeking out familiar faces, except for the one problem that had arisen, I just heard the other day, Elysium may be gone.  I don't know if that means they moved, died, or what, let alone when. I don't know how much the one who told us this searched for them either.  Arbiter didn't exactly consider Ibis the most reliable of wolves.  She seemed like the type to just give up when things didn't go her way, but that was speculation on Arbiter's part.  Perhaps it was because of that, she vaguely pointed to the volcano, perhaps not.  There were a lot of questions involved, apparently.  Kind of annoying that way, but add enough distance and it was hard to guess about anything.

Her expression stayed where she had left it, though Elysium pinged as familiar enough to explain this much for her. So that was why, at least in part. Ah, makes that tricky then. She couldn't help but wonder if Delight had remained involved in their likes until the end or if he had moved on before, or hell, even with them. Jomyo would keep this all in mind, however. I'll see what I can find out, the scout mentioned. Do you know who led them last? she asked, though knew it didn't always matter--names were sometimes valuable in the right way, too. Anyway, it was just something, and since she wanted to go towards the mountains anyway, it gave her good work to do while she was out.

Also, do you know many packs that claim a mountain these days? she asked of the leader, while she had her for the time being, and while it was potentially relevant--in a very stretched out way, true, but she had some things in mind when it came to wandering the Teekons at large. A smoldering volcano was just one of them, really.

She did wonder where they went -- she had thought that Elysium was one of those sorts that would certainly inform everyone if something changed.  If they were north of the volcano now, though, perhaps that would explain why they weren't around any more -- travel might be more difficult, but at the same time, perhaps the air and prey were better up there.  Hm. As far as I know, the leader around the longest was Olive. Some of the others shifted a fair bit.  Was Seabreeze still a leader?  Hm.  She honestly couldn't remember too well from the last time she was there -- Olive certainly seemed to reliably ran things, but there were a few other faces that Arbiter wasn't sure if they were highly ranked or actual leaders. She really didn't pay much attention to Elysium people, whoops.

Hm.  In the near range, assuming they're still there I think it's just Diaspora, though I'm not too sure where there they're settled -- I don't think they travel too far from the slopes, so I only ran into them this past spring.  How did they fare during the earthquakes? Surely there were rock slides...   She hadn't been too fond of them, so as long as they stayed out of her way, they could exist or not and it wouldn't matter. Far to the west in the next range is Moonspear -- they're allies, but I haven't been there myself.  If there's more than that, we haven't heard from them, most seem to be in the foothills or flatlands. Maybe once things really were all nice and settled wolves would consider it again.

Olive, the leader that had been around the longest, then. Jomyo gave a slow nod, for she could work with that, hopefully. It was better than a complete shot in the dark, anyway, and a bit of padding should she find anyone that might know something about Elysium. Though, considering the recent tectonic events, Jomyo wasn't about to make any guesses now how likely this search may lead. Depending on the damages, or their exact area of effect, who knew where they went last.

And, as for the mountains, Arbiter furthered what she had already--a vague understanding of Diaspora, that they were in the range somewhere, and Moonspear was her next mention. A familiar enough hit, too, from when the scout had based herself in the hinterlands, and had traveled past there a time or few. I know Moonspear. Vaguely--the landmark, anyway. she noted, for whatever it was worth there. It didn't sound like the Creek had a lot of contact with them, but she had only just learned they were allies in the first place. I used to live south of there. Southwest. The King Elk forest had left a curious little mark on her, she realized now in retrospect.

Anyway, one of the messages I was sent with is to someone who is supposed to be associated with a mountain, she added, just to clarify why she asked. I just don't know which one yet. So, I think I will head more towards the  north next? See how it fares.. Then back over by the Sunspire after, unless a lead on Elysium--or the herds, comes up suggesting otherwise, she supposed, unless Arbiter sought to steer her elsewhere, that was.

Arbiter tried to mentally map that out, gaining a thoughtful look.  I don't think there should be too many surprises on that route.  Hopefully you can find the one you're looking for without things devolving more around here.  I don't think there's much left in the caches for you to bring along as a snack on the way either.  What was going to turn out to be out there?  She was mildly curious, but at the same time, she was not a scout.  She was one who protected their home.

Since you've traveled a lot, I assume you expect you'll manage well enough?  At least when it came to food availability, there was no good answer.  Traveling without food being regularly available would put Jomyo in a bad state potentially -- if it went really bad, would the pack be able to save her if she came back just the living side of skeletal?  Hopefully things would change.

Though it carried with it no warning, she would still keep it in mind that there shouldn't be any issue. It was no guarantee, but she was getting the sense it was just like anywhere else in the Teekon's as she had known--keep moving, mind claims, sensible things--usually. As for the caches and their sorry state, she gave a knowing little hmm. Definitely not good news, by any stretch of the definition, though not the end of it all for them yet. I'll make do, she said, confident enough to say so still. Winter was fresh. Outlook might be a bit grim on some days, but, in the end, she would make it all work out for her somehow. I'm used to traveling light, anyway. she quipped with a little roll to her slender shoulders.

Anyway, barring anything else Arbiter saw fit to tell her about the matter (or others), she was fine to exchange farewells and be on her way from here. They both surely had a few things to see to before much longer, so Jomyo wouldn't hog her leader's time unnecessarily; she was certain their paths would cross again soon enough.

At least so far, with things not getting worse.  Hopefully Jomyo's scouting expeditions, whenever they happened, were fruitful.  Not to mention, the sooner it was completed, the less likely Arbiter had to worry about her being gone at an inconvenient time.  Good.  Keep us apprised of your plans.  

They parted not long after.  Arbiter continued searching a while longer and eventually returned home.  May fate change soon -- she hoped it would.  She didn't look forward to the leaner months if things continued the way they were.  Yes, change was ahead, but it was unclear how the results would be on down the road.