Neverwinter Forest The Return Journey

Lookin 4 mah packmates, ideally.

Welcome to winter.  The poor weather had caused their borders to retract a little -- who wanted to go marking territory in the clearings when there was a blizzard going on?!  Here in the heart of the territory there was snow, yes, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  A few faces had been scarce in the last week, but he hoped they'd be back soon -- prey was still a bit scarce, so going off hunting wasn't exactly going to be unusual.  As long as they came back in the end, he wouldn't necessarily hold a grudge.  Just come back...

Mal himself, though, hadn't wandered far from the forest's heart.  Right now he lay sphinx-like beneath the low boughs of a pine, looking out for familiar shapes roaming the monochromatic world.  He'd taken some time to do some self-reflection, but he was still unsure how it'd end up being in the long run.  Quiet times meant he could maybe figure out himself rather than fretting over the foul deeds of others.  Kinda.

Idleness caused by bad weather also gave him time to improve in a few other areas -- he had actually started properly grooming himself so he looked less like he should be named Scruffnugget McVagabond and more like a wolf quickly reaching maturity.  He might almost look good if you could get past the bad attitude.

the huntress was not prowling for prey, but searching for her sisters forgotten. it'd been some time since she'd last seen them, having gone on her trip without saying goodbye. araceli thought that preparing herself for the scolding would make it easier to sit through when the time came.

after wandering a bit, she eventually came across a border. well-kept, she thought; there were still wolves here. araceli tilted her head, sounding a call for anyone listening.

He couldn't sit around all day, could he?  Well, he could try, but it probably wasn't a good idea.  Always things to do, even if they weren't too exciting.  If the weather was clearing he'd have to think about going out to recruit again and all that nonsense.  Mal was pretty sure he had a better grip on it now (hopefully) so it should be easy to get a few more people, right?

He'd stretched and started winding his way out to the edges when a howl came.  Not too far, conveniently enough, so he headed that way to see what it would be today.  Hopefully a recruit, that'd save him a trip.  Or effort at least.

When the person popped into view, Mal froze a moment from within the cover of the trees.  There was a brief moment where he thought it was his mother out there -- right colors (mostly) -- but once the shiver faded from his spine he realized there were differences.  It wasn't.  But he'd never met anyone with the same pattern as himself other than Queenie.  It was only a few seconds before he started forward again, taking in a sharp breath to clear the ghosts before he got too close.  Nah, he was Mal, he was supposed to be cool.  He had this.  Ask about it later once he actually had a question in mind.  For now, he walked closer, confident and in good humor, You're at the borders of Neverwinter.  What's the call about today?

short posts while i.. figure her out.

i'm looking for my sisters, araceli replied, eleni and nirali. you seen them? while awaiting his reply, the huntress scanned his physique. well-kept, nicely built; she wondered if he was a hunter, too. 

she decided that the name of this pack might be worth remembering. you lead this pack?

Mal was trying to figure out if there was any way that she was somehow his sister.  When did he see his mother last?  Could that have been why the meeting was so weird?  He didn't think so.  Wasn't she too old?  Ugh, he couldn't remember when it was, it felt like it was so long ago.  Besides, when she brought up her sisters, those weren't the sort of names that anyone in his family had.  Maybe it would have been nice to discover that his entire family wasn't dead or gone, but Mal seemed pretty doomed to be on his own, so it was only a fleeting thought.  I don't know the names, and if they happen to look like you, I haven't seen them.  If you know where they were going, I could maybe point you in the right direction? Maybe.  He'd been pretty well leashed to the forest for quite a while now. Either way, he'd slightly tipped his head as he offered.

But that lasted only a second or two before he dipped his head affirmatively, Yeah, that I am for better or for worse.  He wasn't going to go for the "hey I don't know where your family is but you can totally join my pack" route in the same breath.  Even he knew that was a bit crude.

araceli smirked. i think i'll be okay. these wilds were foreign, but not so much so that she was unable to navigate. besides, it wasn't really his job to help her out; he had a pack to run, for better or for worse (as he'd put it).

do you think you have room for one more? she didn't mind sticking around through the hard parts, and if he was really doing that bad as a leader, she could help to pick up the slack.

well, for a little while. it would only be for a while, probably until late spring, araceli explained, but i'm a good hunter. i can make it worth your while. if he chose to deny her, she wouldn't argue.

Okay, so he didn't even have to find a good way to bring it up himself.  Okay.  In her position, when nobody knew where his sisters went, he'd kept searching.  But she was probably older than he was when he went looking so it wasn't of dire importance.  Probably, honestly, which was pretty disappointing for his side of things.  At this point, if they weren't dead, they were probably far enough away to be the equivalent.

He gave her a slight grin, Another hunter will be welcome.  We've mostly got small stuff around here at the moment, which is fine for us, but I want to get everyone together for a big hunt as soon as we're able.  I just wish I knew when that'd be.  Deer had to come back some day.  Hopefully soon, since the earthquakes and stuff had completely stopped. They must have run pretty far to be taking this long to get back to their old haunts though.

Unfortunate that her stay here kind of had an expiration date.  Man.  Maybe by that time he could figure out a way to get her to want to stay.  Bring the sisters back with her or something?  He'd try to figure it out later.  I guess the spring date is basically when it's easier to go searching?  Because I totally understand the whole trying to find sisters thing.  Hopefully you'll have better luck than I did.  How long was winter gonna be lingering around again?  Probably would feel like forever.  One other detail first, though, My name is Mal by the way.

i'm actually just coming back from a solo hunt, araceli laughed, moving to step over the border, i went past the taiga to find the herds and.. i found them, but they're pretty far. it would be a while before they made their way back, probably around mid-season. she sighed, finding the situation to be incredibly frustrating.

she turned over her shoulder, brow furrowed with concern. you're looking for someone, too? how long's it been? after a while, most folks could tell whether something was going to work or not. maybe mal was just holding onto hope; she couldn't fault him for that.

is mal your real name? or is it like, a cool guy nickname sort of thing? if allowed, and if within reach, the huntress would have reached to bump his shoulder. i'm araceli, but maybe i need a nickname, too.

He signaled for her to follow as she stepped forward.  Tour or something? That'd make sense.  It was both good and bad to know the herds were that far away (at least they weren't farther).  But things should get better, so he'd take it in a positive light for now. Well, I think I'll hope that they can be quick about it.  I don't know what all they like eating specifically, but there's got to be a lot of it around since it hasn't been mowed down in a few months.  Tree branches?  Dunno.  Something.  And yeah, both my sisters.  Solomon's been gone for over a year, Brillo's been gone like... Eight months?  But I don't know when she left, I was scouting at the time.  I never found a sign of either of them.  They were just gone. But hey, running theme in his family, seemed like.  

She seemed to be a different sort of cheery than Ceilidh was, and he wasn't sure what to think about it.  Variety was nice, and if it balanced out some of the quieter sorts that would probably work out pretty well too.  Hopefully they all stuck around -- it might actually start functioning like a real pack if they did.  He was a little more reserved than she was, but at least not being a negative nancy at all, trying to figure Araceli out as she spoke. Hm. It's my real name now at least.  I'm of the opinion you get to be called whatever you want to be -- like be yourself and all that, instead of what other people think you should be.  He shrugged, I mean I don't have a ton of philosophies here, but figuring out who you really are has gotta be a good thing.  For all his acting cool, he didn't entirely have the words to explain things.  That was about as close as he could get.  He tried, give him a star.

araceli laughed. grass. they eat grass, berries.. that sort of thing. she remembered spending afternoons watching the herds graze. it was one of her favorite parts of spring, seeing each doe with her fawn. there was plenty of food for them when they decided to return.. if they decided to return.

she decided not to speak on mal's lost sisters. she couldn't offer to help, and what point was there in giving condolences? wishing him luck? those sayings were never genuine.

mal isn't a bad name. she didn't want him to think that she'd meant any offense. it was just a joke, something to stir up some conversation. if we're going by who we are, maybe i should be called hunter. there wasn't much that she was good at outside of hunting. araceli envied those who could pick up whatever skill they wanted. what do you think?

Mal hadn't taken it that way.  But there were certain things where he just didn't read the subtext or kept things at face value, so that wasn't too surprising. Yeah. Maybe at some point I might think of something better, but it fits me I think.  

I dunno, is your job everything about you?  Your opinion matters more than mine -- I'll call you whatever you want, so you just gotta know if that's, well.. You.  A bit more of a grin than before. This was part of Mal being Mal -- everyone was free to be whatever they needed to be.  There was no point in him interfering 99% of the time.  As long as it didn't hurt the pack, it should help everyone... Right?  Will have to get you introduced to the other members either way, so you better figure out what sounds best.

Speaking of recruits, that did remind him of the last time someone wanted to join... And speaking of people...  If you run into a blackish woman named Belharra, she shouldn't be here -- she's some lone wolf that's lingering around and obviously not part of the pack.  She doesn't seem to smell or care about the borders and damned if I know why she's still around here unless she's wanting to steal from our caches or something.  Like hadn't they been clear enough that she wasn't welcome?  Someone who didn't smell borders was a liability, especially they were quite unapologetic about it.  Just nope.  She had to somehow be part ferret or something else small and annoying but her luck would have to run out at some point.

thinking about being a person whose personality depended on their occupation frightened araceli. she didn't want to just be known as a hunter, she wanted to be more than that. i'm joking, she sighed. when she'd suggested the name, she hadn't expected mal to trigger an existential crisis.

how long has she been here? she asked next. what sort of pack was too weak to get rid of one loner? it made her wonder how safe this place was and if it was really where she wanted to settle. if i see her, am i meant to attack? was neverwinter made up of brutes, or were they a peaceful lot? araceli preferred neither, but prayed for the former.

pausing for a moment to sniff at the air, she asked mal, how many wolves do you have here?

He shrugged.  Whatever.  I guess since people didn't get his jokes it made sense he'd miss some of theirs.  How did you exactly go about figuring that out? It was way more weird and obscure than figuring out how to hunt something. That had a definite pass/fail rating. It's still interesting to think about though -- people just take whatever they get and don't ask questions.  Mal was just so uncreative that he just chopped off the end of his name and considered it good.

She's been lurking off and on like a month? We've chased her off a few times.. But every time we think she's actually gone, that's about when she shows up again. Anyone else would stay gone, I have not a damn idea why she hasn't gotten the clue. Last time she even tried to intercept someone at the borders and act like it's her pack. She's nuts. Nuts, completely irrational, pointedly out to cause trouble for no apparent reason, they all kind of shared that same place in Mal's box of definitions.  Why would anyone stay where they weren't wanted?  I don't know what is the best way to make her stay gone at this point.  Tried telling her to leave, tried being more physical about it...  So feel free to try what you think is best.  Just don't let her take what little's in our cache, for sure.

Anyway, people. There's uh.. Ceilidh, Markus, Mango... Plus Cam and Simmik who are way younger.  Except Markus didn't seem like he was returning from that hunting trip, and Ceilidh was going to be called away soon as well.  Mal had great luck, right?

Anyhoo. He'd go give a bit of a tour. In the end, it would turn out Araceli's stay would not be long, but for now Mal had added another to the ranks.