Sawtooth Spire siedlung

spiriting @Stag over the borders, the general led him at daybreak to the spires.
"today, i vant to show you the places in this mountain that vill be useful." 
he would never show it, but there was desperation in mahler's heart, suspicion that the boy would soon leave him and diaspora.

Stag was thrilled to be invited alongside such esteemed company. And of all the wolves Mahler had at his disposal, he picked him!! A little pep was in his step as he trotted gayly after the General, tongue lolling as they trowled past snow-capped vistas.

His eyes went wherever Mahler favored. He slowed as the General spoke of the mountain, his eyes inquiring. He was ready to learn whatever it was Mahler had in store for him -- and while he would never admit it, in the wake of Stigmata's death it was often Mahler Stag attempted to embody, recognizing him as a distant paternal figure in his life.

the boy was jubilant, the general reticent, but at length, mahler warmed to his young company. "look around this little clearing," he murmured, indicating a small, treeless vale set amid the forests that climbed into the heart of sawtooth.
"vhat do you see?"

Eager to do Mahler's bidding, Stag peered into the white clearing below. There were no herds he could see, nor wolves roving -- but there was, at the edge of the valley, a littering of evergreens before they too were claimed by the rearing heads of the spire.

He looked to Mahler, confused. Was he to describe all of this? Or was it a test of his eyesight? He scrunched his gaze, trying hard to peer down in the snow-studed valley, hoping something obvious would jump up to him.. "I see.. snow..?" He glanced to Mahler, and read from the General's expression that was clearly not the answer. "Umm.. There's a valley, and it's surrounded by trees. There's.. mountains." His gaze traced the teeth of the spire, noticing they encircled around the flatlands like a half-lidded jaw. "Is.. is it a fortress?"

the boy was young, but swift. mahler had indeed envisioned this a fortress, and his solemn features were crossed with a warmer light.
"yes. those stone spires below vill hold off attack, should ve come to it." 
lavender eyes flicked to the boy, then to the stone teeth. "i vill need patrols down there sometime. but for now, stag, ve find the edges of the mountain and ve make it our own."

So he had answered correctly. The boy's eyes lit up in pride, and he puffed his chest a bit as they continued to study the valley below. Only one thing didn't make sense to Stag, and he voiced it quietly, concern writ across his visage. "Are we in danger of being under attack?" His voice was quiet, filled with a boy's innocence: who would attack them, and for why?

His gaze followed Mahler's, back to the glittering plains. Suddenly the mountains that rose like teeth around them didn't look so welcoming, after all.

"not now. but vhen you choose a new home, you choose for the future also. any number of potential futures."
"the fool, zarya," he growled lowly. "this place vill not be so open to trespass as before, and if they are caught, ve might vell throw them off the cliffs onto those spikes." a cold remark; he moved on.

Stag absorbed this lesson in silence. He didn't like Zarya, but he didn't want to kill her either. He just wanted her to leave them alone. The prospect of 'any number of futures' seemed an ominous expression, and it caused Stag to think long on what Mahler meant in that regard.

In the end he was too young to think so broadly, so he followed after Mahler with a curious aspect about him. They were making their way down the slope, and eventually, they'd come to the snow-rimed oasis. "Is it always like that?" Stag asked, hoping it wasn't normal that they had to constantly fend from trespassers. In his opinion, Zarya had been a highly irregular wolf.. but he didn't have much experience with his own kind. Maybe they were all like that.

"no," mahler assured, lowering broad crown to sweep at a patch of grass. "usually sane volves vill avoid those who are established."
a pause; he looked to the boy, who so resembled both stigmata and takiyok that mahler's heart fair ached. "but this year, very soon, there vill be new children in the pack. anything ve do now, any plans we make, must be around protecting them."

As they walked Mahler marked. Stag, if he was not so young, might have been able to do the same - for the time being, he could only rub his scent along landmarks. He did so by scratching roughly in spots near (but not on) where Mahler had marked. It would do, for now.

Stag had yet to learn to think very far ahead. Thinking of puppies this season made him grapple with an uncomfortable reality. He was Diaspora's baby, their puppy -- but now... now he would be pushed out by new whelps. The thought made him both distressed and curious - for he was growing, and growing into a new role alongside Diaspora.

"Are you having puppies?" Stag asked curiously after scratching roughly around a rock.

"yes," mahler answered truthfully. there was no need to lie; stag would know the true of it, even if takiyok was planning to take her son away from diaspora.
the thought harangued mahler with worry, but he refused to speak of it now.
"in another year, it may be you who vill be a father," mahler commented lightly, for this was unsteady ground. he was not stigmata, nor would he force himself into a paternal role if stag did not wish it.

Stag looked up from a bush he had been chewing roughly. Mahler was to have puppies this year? He was conflicted on this news. First, he felt keenly interested -- but he also felt like maybe, he might be replaced. It was a weird feeling, so Stag immediately buried it.

Healthy coping mechanisms aside, Stag was more curious about what Mahler said next. Him, a father? It just seemed so inconceivable to the young buck - he was so far from fatherdom.. plus, there were no girls his age that weren't related to him. His face scrunched up unfavorably, as children were wont to do when presented with uncomfy topics like girls. "Nuh uh, not me." Stag boasted in characteristic juvenile confidence. "Girls are gross, and I don't wanna be with them. I'll be my own man." His plume rose behind him proudly as he bragged to the world his goals - little did he know, life had a way of changing ones perspective as they got older.

mahler hid a grin. of course stag would be too young yet to understand, and so he gave a nod of validation, swept on into the snowy underbrush. "you have been traveling," the man commented softly, unable to keep takiyok from his mind, nor the dread that stag would be departing.
he had always been fond of the child, and that sensation had grown inestimably since inviting the boy to sawtooth.

The irony of the situation was that Stag didn't know how ignorant he sounded, but blessedly, Mahler played along. He nodded, not at all shy to share his 'adventures' with the General. "I went to Easthollow with my mom to see my uncle!" Stag conveyed to Mahler all that had transpired, eager to share his knowledge and earn more of the General's favor.

He did not know or realize, Mahler listened with a heavy heart. Too young to pick up on such nuances, Stag chatted Mahler's ear off for the rest of the afternoon, happy to explore their new rendezvous in typical childlike energy.

stag relayed all the details with a childish happiness, while mahler felt himself list as though his world had sickeningly tilted. but he showed none of this, opting to rumble back to stag in his stoic baritone with commentary upon what the boy said.
takiyok
would you leave even now?