Blacktail Deer Plateau infinite earth

The plateau held a somber aura as the snow fell. The greylight of dawn was hazy and did not encourage the boy; he had been sleeping a restless sleep while layers of the substance lined across his coiled body. The cold didn't bother him now that his coat had thickened, and Tuvak had even managed to track a rabbit through the trees that morning - fortuitous as that might have felt, he remained hungry for it hours later, having lost its scent and path. He prowled, trying to focus on his next meal, but found that each step made his head pound. Dehydration was a dangerous thing in winter and the boy had learned he could not fill his belly with snow to satisfy his needs; doing so left him chilled, empty, and ultimately worse off. He needed to eat something warm. Frustration and spite powered him now as he stalked along, glowering at the piles of snow as he passed.

Although the herd that once inhabited the land was yet to return, the small game remained; to survive off of the little things was not nearly as fulfilling at what he was used to eating but it was enough to get him by—but not enough to keep caches filled, the wintry winds making even the boldest of beasts cower as of late. Aningan found himself searching for a meal despite this, wondering if he might even be so lucky as to have the rarity of leftovers. But what his search turned up was another wolf instead, his stalking form difficult to spot against the snow; at first, the young leader wasn’t sure he was seeing correctly but, moments later, he realised who it was.

“Tuvak!” he called out, legs carrying him towards the younger boy. “How are you doing?” From the looks of things, he seemed more capable of carrying on through the snow now—but he also looked rather disgruntled, and at what Aningan was curious.

It was different here; while in Diaspora he had been fed whenever he wanted it, or could go out for a training pass with an adult and be rewarded that way. Here there was less difficulty with the terrain (which wasn't very satisfying, leading him to bitterness), but also less food overall (strengthening that same bitterness). The caches never held much, and Tuvak didn't know if it was because the pack itself was weak or what, he did not think too hard on the subject. It wasn't Diaspora — that fact alone made him doubt the capabilities of the strangers who lurked around him. Whether it was a justifiable thought or not, his prejudice was growing with every passing day. He wanted to go home; but what the hell did that mean now?

Tuvak! Called a voice — the stranger's voice blurred in his ears, and he moved to look towards the oncoming bulk of the wolf. It took a moment or two before he recognized them as the man from before -- the northerner. Tuvak's interest flared for a moment, but as he was a teenager, he was also innately resistant.

He stepped towards the man stiffly, trying to be nonchalant without making himself diminutive; it wasn't normal for him to be subservient in his behavior and so he wasn't in this moment either. Regardless of Aningan's rank or posture, Tuvak couldn't help but raise his tail a bit and watch the man carefully. 

Aningan, he muttered — his tone made it sound like a greeting, or maybe a warning. He didn't know anyone else in this place yet and was nervous of them all.

The boy did not appear as easygoing as Aningan; he seemed skeptical, causing the young leader to wonder about him. Was he fitting in well? Was he greeting others? He wasn’t sure if asking such things would be taken well, so he bit back the flow of questions for the time being. Instead, he flashed a smile and wagged his tail, putting on the friendliest of faces that he was capable of with his own awkwardness.

“What are you up to?” he asked, eager to get them both to relax. Truthfully, he knew very little about the boy, aside from his name and their shared heritage; they were both of northern blood, able to speak—or partially speak—in a tongue that so few knew in these lands. It made him curious, more than anything, wondering from where Tuvak came. He wanted to know more, as he was more interested in the other male than he’d be in anyone else for some time now. There was so much to ask, almost too much, and yet the only other question to leave his mouth was: “Do you want to walk with me?”

He was on a roll.

To the first question the boy stared blankly, as if the absence of a response was sufficient enough. He looked around at the stillness of the snowed-over plateau and back to Aningan, bright-eyed but otherwise unenthused. It was enough of a motion to wordlessly say, 'What does it look like.'

He took a slow breath, feeling the cold fill his lungs and roost there until he exhaled, the fog rising from his nose in the manner of a dragon's smoke. The pause was broken by Aningan's second question — and this time there was no hesitation to respond. Okay. He agreed, and with a few quick thrusts of his steps he was cutting through the snow and closing the distance between them.

Tuvak couldn't shake the tension in his body though. He didn't know anything about anyone here, and he had put his trust in to this stranger solely because of his familiar language and appearance. He looked and sounded so much like Tuvak's mother that it was hard not to see her within him — but they couldn't be family and Tuvak knew that. His curiosity and his need for a connection in this wild place kept him from leaving.

A wide smile took over the male’s expression when Tuvak agreed to join him. He stood in place until the boy was nearer to him, then began heading towards the treeline; he wasn’t entirely sure where they should go but he felt like the trees, which might have protected the ground partially from the snow, could potentially make it easier to walk. Either way, he wasn’t too concerned—they had nowhere to be, as far as the bear was aware, and he was more interested in talking, anyways. And while he started out quiet, that quickly changed after he was able to settle his mind and piece together actual words into real sentences.

“Where were you born?” was the first of many questions to be asked that day. “Are you from the far north?” Up until then, Aningan convinced himself that Tuvak was, without a doubt, led to him from the north. It was only when he really thought it through that he realised he never actually asked the boy where he was from—he heard his first language and immediately made assumptions, forgetting that others could easily be taught the language, as Maegi was. Speaking of Maegi and conversations with her…

“Who are your parents?” Did he know them? Probably not—Aningan knew very few northerners outside of his own family, after all. And even those he didn’t know as well as he should.

It was easy enough to keep up with the adult. It made Tuvak miss the days of patrolling with his mother, though. Thinking of her made him ache in a way he'd never felt before - even after the death of his father, and in the absence of his siblings, being away from Takiyok was the most painful thing. He often went to sleep with his mother on his mind and now, faced with questions about his origins and his blood, he found himself resistant; he wanted to keep Takiyok close, protected, covetous of the memories.

So he opted to lie a bit. My family is from the north, he sort-of fibbed; there was truth to parts, like how his mother was definitely not from around here, and the familiarity between Takiyok and Aningan could not be mistaken; they must have been from the same place, the boy reasoned. But she's -- he almost made the blatant lie and said dead but couldn't fathom it, so couldn't voice it. His awkward cut to silence was enough of an answer, and the sour look on his face would fill in the blanks however Aningan chose to interpret.

Eager to push aside the topic, he turned the questions back upon the man. What is this place?

Aningan was quiet, giving the younger boy all the time in the world that he needed to answer. His first response was not unexpected—he assumed right!—but still made him smile. “My family is from the north, too,” he shared, hoping to better connect with him; the emotions that came with being in the company of another northerner were indescribable. However, he did wonder why the child knew so little of their language if his family was truly from the north. But the Inuk did not question him further on the matter—surely there must be some other northerners out there that weren’t all too good at the language, either. Just the same as how not everyone was good using the common tongue.

There was more than he wanted to ask, about his family and upbringing, what brought him there, but when he spoke again and his expression soured… he thought it might be best to leave the topic for another day, if ever. “Kangâ,” he said in place of further questions. “I didn’t mean to ask too much.” Even if he was curious, he knew he should respect boundaries. Under similar circumstances, he wasn’t so sure he would appreciate being questioned, either.

As a question was turned towards him instead, he didn’t fight the change of topic. “It’s… home,” he answered, uncertain how else to describe it. “I don’t really know too much about this place. I know there is nice coverage and that there used to be deer here but not much else. I used to live beside the sea.” And before that, a glacier. The finer details of the plateau were not something that he knew much about. Slowly, he was learning more and more about the land through exploration but, overall, much of it remained a mystery.

Home. Well, if it suited Aningan it would eventually suit Tuvak, the boy reasoned. But it wasn't really home, and likely couldn't be home, without those he felt attached to. Should his family ever resurface he would leave the plateau behind without a second thought to the odd wolves gathered here; as it sat now, he was dependent upon them. Even as young as he was, Tuvak knew he couldn't bite the hand that feeds. He did not have to like this place or its people, he merely needed to survive until times were favorable, and then go out and hunt for Takiyok himself. In the meantime he could train and better himself, as he was taught.

He listened half-heartedly, his mind buzzing with grandoise plans for a few minutes as he walked alongside the alpha. When Aningan spoke of the sea the boy's eyes lit up, wondering what exactly was meant by the word. He had not been taught of the various biomes he might encounter and hadn't lived long enough to see anything beyond the reach of Diaspora's mountain range. Well, except for the stampede, the traumatic death of Kazimir, the flatlands where he spied stone spires... He had seen some things, just not enough.

What is that like? Tuvak queried next, hastily, unaware that he was subconciously avoiding thoughts of Kazimir's skull being crushed to pieces in front of him. He felt his mouth dry out and idly grappled with some snow between his teeth to compensate, then added: I lived in mountains. This place is okay, but my mountain was big, it was much better there. Ah, but he remembered the shaking, and how angry the mountain had become - and this thought quieted him.

Aningan was at a loss for words—what was it like? He fell silent, thoughtful, trying to come up with the best way to describe the sea. “The sea is… very big. And deep,” he tried to explain. “Imagine a lake that stretches on forever. So big, you never see the other side of it. And the water… the water burns your eyes and dries out your tongue.” Talking about it, it sounded kind of awful—“But it looks amazing. And there’s so much life in it.” Some life that ventured out of the sea and onto the shore, small meals on which he once dined.

The boy spoke of a mountain as his home, which Aningan had some experience with. “Before the shore, I lived on a glacier,” he shared. “It’s like a mountain but… colder, I guess? I remember there always being snow.” He loved it for that reason—if only it loved him, too. Shaking his head, he forced down any regretful thoughts that threatened to rise. Instead, he focused on spending time with Tuvak. And when there was nothing left to share, the older male parted ways with him, leaving the kid to his own devices.