Lost Creek Hollow crows remember human faces

welcome to anyone but looking for @Arbiter. ♥

in the early vestiges of morn, the moon is but a curved crescent in the velveteen navy sky above, obscured every so often by lazily drifting clouds that look grey consumed by the shadows of the stubborn night. a steely glance at the horizon tells law that the candied colors of sunrise would soon be cracking through the sky, but for now law relishes in the shadows, using them for cover as he moves towards the pack scent that grows thicker and heavier upon the air the nearer to their borders he draws.

originally he merely intended to pass thru. finding the teekon wilds ( though he does not know its name ) was nothing short of happenstance. a coincidence; and from what law's seen it was not a coincidence of fortune. upon the air lays the tang of smoke and ash though this far from the un-slumbering dragon as it froths its lava lakes and exhales plumes of ash and smoke it is not near as strong. still, it carries upon the winds and it prickles at law's primal instincts. flee.

the tang of smoke and ash wasn't the only occurrence he's noticed, either. there was a distinct lack of herd scents upon the wind, upon the ground. only the frightful scuttling of small woodland critters as they scurry to hide from his methodical footfalls upon the earth. if the four wolves of the fucking apocalypse have lain claim to this land then law decidedly wanted nothing to do with it. except...

except there was a scent upon the wind. achingly familiar despite the unfamiliar scents lain heavy upon her pelt. at first, it was nothing more than a whiff — near enough for law to think that he merely imagined it. it's been many moons since he's seen his baby sister treason, after all; and law was swift to reject the idea that there is a part of him that misses her with a ferocious scowl as soon as it occurs to him that it may just be a trick of his mind giving him what it thinks he wants. yet, it is treason's scent upon this pack's borders strong as day and it solidifies law's resolve to ignore his primal instincts and stick around.

he assess the scents on the borders, gleaning from them what he can about the pack: how many wolves strong they are, namely. law draws in a deep breath and moves back, making sure there's plenty of distance between their borders and his body before he tips his head back and lets out a howl to announce his presence.

but it was not treason to arrive first to the borders, but instead her sturdy mate, who wore her scent proudly in his fur. of course, he wouldn't think that that would mean anything to a stranger at the border, but here he was. it's night time, as but that does little to hide his dark coat among all the snow and ash -- same for the stranger, who terance doubts wants to be invisible anyway. after all, he had called, hadn't he?

terance stands still before him, assessing him gently, finding nothing familiar about him. he cleared his throat, a little heavier than his usual ahem with all the debre in the air -- he hoped this apocalypse would pass soon... can i help you? asked the leader, standing tall before the other, tail arched just above his back. his ear flicked, gaze hovered, nose twitched.

though law had hoped that the sound of his voice rising through the tress would be enough to draw treason out to the borders he is, instead, met with a middling mix of disappointment and thinly veiled curiosity as he realizes that this male wears treason's scent thickly upon his pelage. the arching of the stranger's tail tells law that he's the alpha and dokuga humbles himself by adjusting his posture to be appropriately submissive. the past was the past and while he might've been a usurper in the recent past he has no actual issue with hierarchy.

i'm looking for my sister. her name is treason. law tells the scarred man. my name is law dokuga. he offers his own name in the breath that follows her name ( or rather, the name he knew her as ).

though historically good at hiding emotions from taking over his expression, terance let slip a bit of surprise in the arch of a brow as the stranger revealed he was treason's brother. the leader looked him over, briefly, matching features to hers as he decided that he'd believe her. when arbiter arrived she could give her own thoughts on the matter. treason's here, he affirmed for the man -- law -- with a nod, but she goes by arbiter now, though only recently. right away, terance wondered what kind of information he should be sharing. arbiter had never really talked about her family -- not enough to give terance a cue on how to treat this perfect stranger. does he tell him about their kids? about their pack? invite him in? terance looks at this as unbiasedly as he can... ah, but what could be unbiased when arbiter was involved? 

my name is terance, he drops his own last name as it's too long and boring to pronounce anymore, though he typically might've since the other said his. it was once a nod to his parents... but they were no longer with them, so terance found little joy in saying it now. arbiter and i lead this forest together, she joined me almost two years ago, he added, wondering if that information would be over any use to law. but beyond that, terance had a few questions of his own. what brought you here? he asked, ear flicking forwards. surely arbiter hadn't made her presence in the wilds so well known it had gotten back to home country... right? or had he heard word from strangers?

the man affirms what law's nose tells him: that treason inhabits this forest. law's steel-blue gaze lifts for a minuscule second from terance to the territory expanding behind him before flickering back to the leader. arbiter, he repeats his sister's new name softly in acknowledgement; though overall law isn't overly surprised by the news. it wasn't as if name changes weren't a common occurrence in their family. he has been law for almost three years of his life now but before he'd been known as snitch for, well, his penchant for snitching on anyone. everyone. nothing and no one was sacred. everyone had become a stepping stone in law's eagerness to be the apple of devil and victory's eyes.

terance, the scarred male introduces himself as, followed as it was by the fact that this pack was led by him and arbiter. i see, law murmurs in contemplation, with a flick of his ear. she's done well for herself, law thinks. i was passing thru, actually. i didn't intend to stay but i caught her scent on your borders and, well. here i am, is left unsaid but expressed in the lofty roll of his shoulders.

his response comes as a humm and a nod of his head. luck seems to run in these wilds in strange ways -- you always run into wolves you don't expect to, he says with a small smile, as if he had some sort of anecdote to pair with it. but terance made no comment of one, instead swiftly moving on. 

you came at a bad time, i'm afraid. the wilds are usually a much more pleasant place to live, he added, glancing towards the smoke that the mountain had been fuming out, we think we're at the end of it, though. what made him say that? hope, probably. for all terance knew, this thing could last for years.

luck. in that statement, though, terance wasn't wrong. the chances of him happening across trea—arbiter's scent on his trek out of the wilds he's just so very recently stepped within had been a mere sliver of chance ...and yet he'd caught it. a phantom whiff that he almost hadn't followed. so easily, law could've just brushed it away as nostalgia; and yet that age old question he appeared to live his life by lit like a neon sign in his mind's eye: what do you have to lose if you're wrong? but ...did law believe in luck? maybe not. he didn't believe in fate. he made his own fate. life's full of surprises. law rumbles simply, noncommittally.

a grim glimpse around is given as law's lips press into a terse line. looks like the apocalypse is happening around here, spoke with a slight curl of his lips to be a ill-timed joke. i noticed the lack of herds. law says more seriously. it was one of the reasons he'd been on his way out of the door in the first place. any good hunter knew that while wolves could survive on small game they wouldn't be at their peak efficiency ...and law spent too much time being trained to always be at his peak efficiency for self and pack.

probably. another noncommittal response, but law was no naturalist and had no idea how to read the earth, stars and weather to predict whether the apocalypse was coming to it's end or not. still, terance seemed optimistic about it. he didn't doubt that once things calmed down that the herds of animals that didn't migrate for the winter would return — like wolves they had generational territories and tended to be creatures of habit. how's the hunting? any stragglers? what about the small game? because surely not every herd/large game animal could've made it out before all hell broke loose.

terance gave a snort of a laugh to acknowledge the comment. i lived through two, i'll live through another, he commented with a wave of his tail, thinking quite unfondly back to the locust infestation that drove his family from the wilds. and then to the famine on the mountain that drove seabreeze away from him, kids and all. and now this one -- which so far had just brought some lung problems. hopefully, this too would pass. 

he gave a few wavering shrugs, head dipping from side to side as he pondered whether telling this guy about the state of the pack was a good or bad idea. there are some stragglers, he said with a click of his tongue, few and far between but arbiter came across one recently. it's mostly small prey for now. floods have brought fish, too. though not much, and terance wasn't a huge fan of water. 

was this happening where you came from? he asked the man, head tilting to one side.

the snort from the alpha brings forth a coy curl of law's lips that vanishes near as soon as it forms. a veteran apocalypse survivor, law considers with a flick of his tail against his hocks and a small, bird-like cant of his head as he regards terance again. if there was anyone i want on my side it's definitely someone who knows how to survive. law doesn't attempt to keep the fact that he's kinda impressed out of his voice or off his face. if one thing he could say about his sister was that she knew how to pick her co-leaders ( because he remained unaware of her relationship with terance ).

law's muzzle crinkles slightly in a cringe at the mention of fish. he's not a fan but he supposes if he's going to be sticking around it was either fish and measly woodland creatures or starving to death. i'd say i can offer my hunting skills but ... law trails off. presently he doubts his hunting skills would do much good. they're skills wasted on simple and smaller prey that is usually reserved for the unskilled but again, beggars can't be choosers. — no, he replies to the flow of conversation. aside from the usual migrating of herds for the winter i didn't come across anything like this. so this was definitely isolated just to these wilds ...but whether that was a good thing or not law had no answer.

terance nodded, a bit of a grin on his own maw. arbiter wouldn't stand within 50ft of a wolf who wasn't capable of survival, he quipped, though quietly wondered how capable this man was. especially to his next comment -- though, terance would have to admit he wasn't the greatest hunter either. skilled, sure, as any wolf should be, but not an expert by any means. terance nodded in understanding, tail flicking. 

what are you good for, then? terance asked, though by no means accusatory. if he was anything like arbiter, he could expect a mercenary standing before him.

i know. law replies with a quirk of his lips: a ghost of a sincere smile at terance's quip. not being tolerant of wolves unable to survive ran deep in their DNA, starting with devil and victory themselves and possibly further back then that. possibly at the very beginning of the dokuga line itself. the question might've been insulting — and perhaps it was still a bit despite that it was not spoken in a manner that suggested that terance meant it as such — given what law expected terance to know of arbiter. they were different, true, but they were of the same blood. the same upbringing. as one of the first born children of devil and victory, law was a soldier.

i can fight. defend borders. offer protection to scouts venturing out of territory. you name it, i've done it. after all, being a mercenary wasn't restricted to just guarding borders and sparring. he considers briefly mentioning that he also spent some time as an alpha but talking about his conquest is near equivalent to talking about his birth pack. it border-lined treasonous ...and besides that from what law can see things appear to be going fairly smoothly.

terance nodded at the comments, a smile gracing his features again. you'll fit in well, then, he said with a roll of his shoulders. he decided now that he'd let some important information slip, for some reason. he was getting bored waiting for treason and running out of non personal things to talk about. or something. how are you with kids? asked the leader with a quirk of his brow, we have some aspiring mercenaries who would love to get some one on one training from their uncle.

the affirmation that he'd fit in well pleases law and he expresses this with gratitude in a slow wag of his tail. while fitting himself into a niche of hierarchy was easy, the truth was he wasn't exactly adaptable. he was a hunter and a mercenary — years of rigorous training couldn't be undone. law was good at what he was good at: following rules and bending them just short of breaking them. he couldn't trade habits or lethally honed skills for something more pacifist even if he tried.

i'm pretty good with kids — law replies offhandedly, largely of his own opinion. he'd been a year old ( or close to it ) when arbiter'd been born anyway and law liked to think he had a hand in raising and training her ( even if it's an overstatement ). only to stutter over his next words in a choking sort of breath as the words aspiring mercenaries and their uncle flow in the same sentence. a small, near hysterical laugh escapes law's lips before he can stop it.

their uncle? arbiter? kids?! law? an uncle?! by whom? steely gaze sharpens and then he lets out a part sigh, part laugh as he looks at terance again. are you and arbiter ...together? law asks a bit awkwardly. it should've been a line he'd drawn but part of law still saw arbiter as the cub he remembered. talk about a bomb drop. sorry, it's just — hard to imagine? strange? ...holy shit. law mutters under his breath, trying his best to let it set in and make an effort to answer what he's left unanswered in lieu of his own questions.

uh, i'd love to train them. yeah. he eventually replies. they got names yet? law asks, wondering if they'd kept with the dokuga tradition or followed some other tradition.

It usually took a lot to freak Arbiter out.  Perhaps "freak out" was the wrong pair of words -- "unnerved greatly" might be a bit more accurate.  She heard the howl, she recognized it, and it set her to pacing deeper in the packlands as she debated what to actually do about it.  It was probably a good thing that the pups were older and not currently around her because this was significantly out of character for her.  Indecision.  But she'd be forced to face him one way or another, it was just a matter of when.

Her initial fears when joining the pack was that they'd try to draw her back -- more soldiers were always useful, but the problem was of course there were only so many places at the top of the pyramid and she'd wanted more. It was why she became Treason the instant she left her home territory and left a trail of short stays with other packs before the larger gap  and eventual arrival in the Teekons.  She did her damnedest to make sure she'd be harder to track.  She'd thought she'd been safe enough to return to Arbiter, but apparently it hadn't all been enough.  Chance couldn't have anything to do with it.  The hell was Law doing here after all this time?

But you know what, she should totally appear on the scene after Terance responds!  But regardless of whether she actually did or not, she was gonna have only one question anyway.  The woman that arrived fashionably late was not the sub-yearling that dipped out without a word nearing two years ago -- no, now she would have been a perfect example of what their parents had wanted to create, but she was immune from their control.  That frown was probably pretty damn familiar though, What are you doing here?  She prowled forward up to Terance's side, but her suspicious gaze was laser-focused onto her brother.

a low chuckle was terance’s initial response, and he nodded in affirmation without giving any real response. law seemed to trip over his words for a few moments before finally asking a more solidified question. terance began to answer, cut short by the sound of footsteps crunching the autumn leaves. yeah — arbiter’s been taking charge of that... 

he turned to look, spying the steely gaze and heavy frown of the woman. oof. maybe he’d been too friendly. to be fair, terance had a much spunkier relationship  with his two sisters... even if they’d grown apart. he stepped aside to give her some space, green gaze rested upon her as he searched her features. he stole a glance towards law, briefly, to see his reaction, and then again focused on arbiter.

ah, law replies noncommittally to terance's admittance that arbiter was taking charge of their 'relationship' with a small curl of his lips in amusement. everything seemed to be going smoothly ...until arbiter herself appeared upon the scene. it wasn't quite the welcome law'd begun to imagine — though in all fairness, he hadn't been quite sure what to expect and had imagined several different scenarios. nothing about her appears pleased to see him ...but he takes small comfort from the fact that she isn't outright hostile either.

she is, understandably, suspicious.

is that anyway to talk to your big brother? law teases, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth in mock disappointment. try as hard as he might, he hadn't been able to help himself. big brother or not she is the leader here — he understands well enough the rules of hierarchy ( craves them in his own way ) to acknowledge this. still, the itch to annoy her is there and law's never been very good at letting it be.

don't worry, law begins in an effort to reassure her and an attempt to smooth any feather his teasing might've ruffled. i'm not here for anyone but myself. i haven't even been home in a year or so. time sort of blurred together until he wasn't certain how long he'd left himself. i was passing thru, didn't really have any intention to stay given the state of things but i caught a faint whiff of your scent and it led me here.

Just by chance then, huh?  Good, because if you'd dragged yourself out here on orders to bring me back, unsurprisingly I wouldn't be going.  My family is here.  And of course she wasn't too keen on being anyone's underling any more.  Honestly, she probably didn't even have to say the bit about her family being here -- the many reasons were obvious, weren't they?

Arbiter was certainly not entirely herself here.  She was probably harder to read than usual and if anything, somewhat indecisive in addition to seeming more standoffish.  She trusted Law not to lie, not to mention it'd make no sense to do so.  He was unlikely to gain anything by doing so.  It didn't mean that she had to go and accept that this was all by chance and everything was going to be sunshine, though.  Perhaps it was just old habits -- you were supposed to defer to your older siblings, after all, and she hadn't been a proper adult around them very long before heading out.

After staring at Law for a beat longer, she finally looked to Terance, took a sidestep closer to him and touched her nose to his cheek.  Has he been behaving himself?  If she wasn't thinking clearly, hopefully he was, as she shifted her gaze to peer at her brother conspiratorially.

when arbiter at least seemed satisfied with the current state of things, terance relaxed. he took her gentle touch as a search for reassurance, though terance didn't really observe her as being frazzled. more so... on edge, and as far as he was concerned, arbiter was always on edge. quite well, terance chirped, returning the nudge to the crown of her head, i was telling him about the kids.

he paused, gathering her reaction briefly, then nodded towards him. he was asking about their names -- which you're a little more involved with than me, he said with a small smile, casting law a look that was less accusatory than arbiters and more friendly. terance was typically the warmer of the two anyway.

as if i could drag you anywhere, law murmurs with a low snort of amusement. i do] like my limbs attached to my body, you know. law quips up teasingly, though knows that his words, despite the nature of which they fall from betwixt his lips, are serious. law knows that arbiter can hold her own against him. perhaps he'd even feel a bit sorry for whatever poor sap they sent — if they ever did — to drag her back. luckily, that sap wasn't him and frankly, that was all that mattered. whatever issue their parents had with his sister ( and perhaps vice versa ) was theirs and he was in no hurry to be drug into the middle of it. and i've been the model citizen of good behavior, thank you. law scoffs playfully, as if he were insulted by the perfectly reasonable implication.

speaking of which, law draws. it's a little hard to believe that you have kids. but maybe it's just because despite that she was an adult it was kind of hard for law to shake the vision of the little cub sister he remembers her as. looks like you've done well for yourself. something that could and could not be said for him. he's had his streaks of victory, of course, but the high of victory only lasted so long.

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He was certainly right on that one.  Though she might not have some of the more intense training here, having allies and the bulk of true adulthood would certainly make it a lot harder than it might have been in the early days.  Either way, she seemed to be relaxing a bit as time went on, snarking back, Mm. I'm sure that won't last.  Sure there were more troublesome siblings (she was quite happy a certain littermate wasn't anywhere nearby), but she was pretty sure he'd find some mischief to get into, sure as the sun rose.

I left, what? Two years ago almost?  It's not like that's such an odd thing.  Okay, it wasn't like she was like some amazing motherly figure or something, but it was totally a possible thing.  That and Dokugas were totally the best, so if someone in the pack was going to have pups, it was probably best it was her.  But yes.  I've done well, she agreed, bumping Terance's shoulder slightly.  Brouhaha, Pike, and Spook, for now, she said, to give him an idea of what they were dealing with.  Utter chaos, a very toothy fish, and the sole owner of the entire family's nervousness.  Or something like that.  At some point they'd find their proper names, but since they were still figuring out who they really were, no point in rushing them too much.  Then she looked to her mate again, musing not-so-seriously, Think you'd be able to stand having him around?

terance merely grinned as arbiter bumped against him, silently beaming in the spotlight arbiter was shining on him, enjoying his moment being shown off as a trophy husband. 

as he was reentered into the conversation, terance gave a nod, returning a little quip with a flick of his ear. oh fine by me — we’ll see how long he lasts after being with brou and pike for an hour, though, he said. spook... well, he was easier to get along with, terance thought. less bitey and less loud than his two siblings. 

the stone motioned to them both, tail swaying. should i leave you two to catch up?