Morningside Cuesta Soul Survivor

@Arbiter ?

The wolves of what was supposed to be Morningside seemed harder and harder to find and Soleon could feel boredom enveloping him as the days passed. He had gone on explorations. He had allowed time to idle by with the occasional and odd meaning of others. There was something missing within him though. There was no bond and as that became more apparent he realized he was toying with himself. He was not accomplishing anything and there was a higher calling that needed to be adhered to.

 He didn't exactly know what...only that he better get to listening!

 The sun had been bearing down on the lands harder and harder. The heat amplifying and beginning to become bothersome to the boy. He wasn't particularly fond of bright lights, but as it were that was how the world was and he needed to adapt. Luckily, it hadn't proven a hard task today. Clouds covered the unforgiving beams of sun and Soleon was able to travel with little to no annoyances. 

He found a small creek and a smile would grow on his features. He always enjoyed the water. He liked that it was such a life-giving force. Water was a good omen and Soleon was doing his best to listen. He sat down at the banks and set down some moss he had gathered. That Whimsy girl had been right...it was ideal and he wanted to keep some. It was, odd, perhaps that a full grown man be travelling with plants draped over his body, but he would be the one laughing when he was saving someone's life! well...not exactly. 

 Soleon pressed his head down and drank generously before returning to an upright position. This seemed like a decent enough area to rest. When it got darker he intended to get on the move again and try to find some food. Less things moved around at night and being on his own he found he preferred it. Sounds were more obvious and it was always one of two things. Either way he could always make a last minute decision to stay or go.

His mother had said she was going to have his siblings soon. He wasn't sure what to think about it. It kind of terrified him a little, and it had driven him out again to try one last time to see if Pike was coming home in time. It didn't seem like he'd be having good luck. But he'd just check a little farther -- that pack was kinda northeast or something, right? No signs yet.

It would have been nice if he could bring good news home. But he was trying to make the impossible happen at least. That was better than nothing, right? Probably. He couldn't change the world by himself, after all, even if he might wish he could. Spook did what he could.

But wandering around did bring him across the path of a stranger. Wait, did he have plants stuck to him? Ok. That was weird. But maybe he just ran through a bush or something. Spook hadn't been wandering along particularly stealthily, so he announced himself thusly, Um, hi. Who're you? Spook had gotten a little better about being able to say things, but he still wasn't very good at having a conversation -- he might have been abrupt, but at least he was friendly. Not to mention the fact that as soon as the guy looked his way he was likely to be distracted by the fact this guy had a face marking that was far more striking than any other he'd seen.

He had been consumed in the task at hand: collecting plants that could be utilized in most effective means. A task that required close attention and one he didn't exactly take lightly. He had never been much of a warrior, willing to try, but his skillset was mostly in that of understanding a plant and understanding how to take down prey. Perhaps hunting and battle should have been something that went hand in hand, but at the end of the day hunting was to provide life (ultimately) and war was to take life. The only thing he was particularly aggressive about was healing. He had a very straight forward demeanor about most things. 

 He had been so eveloped in his own thoughts that he was not aware he had been discovered. Eyes turned to seek the body that produced the words he heard and his ears fell back against his head. The motives of another were never truly understood at first sight and he didn't know what to think. He did sound a bit...tentative. Perhaps curious as to why Soleon appeared as he did. 

 "Soleon Mathias," His name came out quite matter-of-factly and his eyes remained unmoving. While this was a perfect stranger...Soleon couldn't help but spiral into a thousand questions (that he would never voice). 

 "You?" Soleon offered him a smile. That was the normal thing to do. He wasn't equipped to be quite as bubbly as the ones he had met before, but he was quite certain this was how normal conversation began. Honestly, he hoped this was a normal personality to get to know. The others had seemed to run off on him... Perhaps it had been a dangerous road afterall, "Do you need something?"

Did people normally have markings like that? He was going through his (relatively short) list of people he knew and wasn't finding anyone that matched up even close. There was a second more delay than usual when he replied, I'm Spook. Simple as that. He wasn't used to introducing himself with his last name -- not that he didn't have one or something, it just sounded weird to him.

Uh. What was he here for? Oh yeah, back on track, find your brain, Spook. I was looking for my brother. He's left before though, so... He shrugged. Spook hoped Pike would be back, but at least his brother knew how to take care of himself, or so he seemed to prove. It was just really bad timing. At least Spook wouldn't seem crazy concerned, and really, he was a year old now, so having one sibling wander off wasn't unheard of. So he changed the subject, How'd you end up with so much uh. Plant stuff on you? That seemed a little odd to him.

Soleon stared at him a bit as he was inspected. He didn't think much about the meeting. It was common to meet others of his kind and it seemed as he drew closer to packs, even the loners, seemed to commune. Regardless of status they were social creatures. 

 "Nice to meet you," His smile began to taper off as he shed the moss thrown over his back and realized it had made him quite dirty. Remnants clung to him and he wrinkled his nose. It was a dirty job sometimes. 

 "Who's your brother?" So far Soleon had seemed to develop a knack for attracting or finding relatives of his acquaintances. Perhaps he could help. Though, that became a far fetched thought. Soleone figured he was running out in the luck department. Oh well. 

 "I collect plants. I'm a medic," Well, that was far-fetched too. He still had a lot to learn. It seemed like an endless task to familiarize one's self with all of the useful things the world had to offer. Especially when it came to plants and herbs. The point was he was dedicated to his studies and training. He was confident he could probably save a life, or simply delay the inevitable, "I'm just figuring out different uses and what the best ones for certain jobs are,"

His name is Pike. He's mostly grey and stuff. But given the short description, yeah, Spook wasn't expecting Soleon to have seen him, still. He shrugged a little. He'll be back eventually. He's been gone before. Hence the lack of worry. Of the litter, Pike was the most accomplished, wasn't he? Brou certainly wasn't. Spook tried, but he wasn't really pushy about anything.

But what was said was something that got Spook's attention quickly, his ears perked. Really, a medic? Which sounded probably a little more hopeful than most would have. But there was a reason for that, promise! A second passed and he realized that, Um! Sorry, my friend has been trying to find someone to teach him more about healing stuff. And uh -- are you staying around here? Recruit him or just keep him in the area, Spook was okay with either but he didn't want to seem too pushy. He could totally help them all out though! Spook wasn't sure what to do beyond that though, so with his mentally fumbling, he was

Soleon shook his head at the description. Honestly the only wolf that he had met that came close to the description was standing right in front of him. So, either his brother was out on his own little adventure or the wolf before him was a bit off in the head. They came in all flavors he supposed. 

 Soleon's eyed widened a bit at the enthusiasm displayed by the other, "Well, I mean I'm still in training y'know," He confessed. He may have been a little over enthusiastic about his skill set. It wasn't that great...yet. Soleon sat down and made himself comfortable. It didn't seem like this young boy was going to be much of a danger to him. 

 "I'd like to meet him. We can swap findings," Maybe between the two of them they could become more skilled healers. Soleon thought back to the wolves he had met that were forming morningstar, but he didn't know where most of them had headed off to. Journey likely just got distracted--as for the rest he was left curious, "No...I uh--I sleep wherever. I don't really have a place to stay," He shrugge his shoulders and exhibited indifference, but that was quite far from the truth. He was a social creature and yearned for interaction more often that he thought he would.

Oh. Uh. Hm. That did kind of stump the youth for a moment, but then Soleon kind of provided an option too. Learn from each other and then maybe it'd be easier to figure stuff out from there? Maybe? I'm sure he'd really like having someone help him and stuff, he said with a nod. Spook had wished he'd been able to, but unless he wanted to get hurt and be a guinea pig, there wasn't too much he could have done.

But he was still a little less sure when he suggested, Well uh. If you don't want to travel any more, you could talk to my mom. We live near here. I'm pretty sure like.. even being a training medic would get you some points? His ears perked a moment, hopefully, but that didn't last too long because he was just not the most positive and hopeful wolf. It wasn't like Spook was a professional recruiter anyway -- he just wandered around and met people and stuff happened or it didn't, mostly didn't.

Soleon hated to disappoint, but it was a bit apparent in the decline in excitement the boy offered. His ears rocked back against his head and he offered a look that was slightly more sheepish and quite apologetic. Perhaps it would all work out in the end. It was sort of a best-case-scenario type of situation. 

 Spook offered him further information and  Soleon's head was suddenly atwixt with curiosity, "Will you tell me about your pack?" He didn't want to jump into something he didn't understand. He certainly didn't want to become a part of something that he might not agree with or found to compromise his moral system. He wasn't the best conversationalist even though he deeply craved for conversation.

A moment of utter awkwardness. Spook really needed to get a better grip on the whole ability to talk thing, even if he was a year old. He'd been too quiet as a kid, so whether he could actually figure out how to be properly social at this point was still up in the air. At least he wasn't a complete jerk, that was something he had going for him, though he was definitely influenced by the others he was in conversation with, as his ears drooped a moment more too.

But it was Soleon's turn to be more excited at something? Well, that was okay to Spook. It would help Pheiros if he ended up joining, after all. Um, okay. Like what would you want to know? Like there's my family there and some friends. Uh. It's called Legion. My mom kind of set it up so there's like the people who will fight and stuff and the people who do more like... Thoughtful things I guess? Uhm. She wants to make it so everyone can really focus on getting better at stuff and improve. Um. Yeah. It was sort of a rehashed thing of what Arbiter always said, but he'd probably left out a little and he wasn't really sure what would appeal. Has it been mentioned he wasn't particularly good at this? Yeah, if there's something more specific... A sort of question.

There was a bit of an awkwardness from Spook. They were both young an dealing in affairs of a generation older than their own. Perhaps Spook wanted to live up to his mother's expectations. Especially as he mentioned his mother was the leader. Did that make him a prince? An heir? A future leader? Soleon wondered about questions that didn't actually matter to him. 

 "I'm an adept fisherman and I'm learning how to heal. I don't fight unless absolutely necessary and I'll never initiate it. Life is meant to be protected and convserved," He look at Spook quite seriously. He knew if he had to he could hold his own, simply, it weren't preferable to inflict harm. He supposed he wouldn't heal an enemy of those he lived among--so that was something at least. 

 "If that sounds reasonable to you, then I'd be more than willing to come see Legion," Of course the choice wasn't entirely his to join was it? Was this boy capable of allowing him to become one of the many? Perhaps he was just the first of those that he needed a good word with. Soleon nodded, "I'm tired of being alone, frankly,"

Spook did want to prove himself to his mom. But what that made him in the pack itself? Who knew. But he sort of understood the whole not wanting to fight thing. Yeah. I'm not great at fighting -- my mom taught us but I was never good at it. He didn't even know if he'd get a passing grade. So, he moved on to something more interesting, We have a lake too. I don't know what's in it, but I think there are fish in there and stuff. Every once and a while there was activity out there, but sometimes it was just birds, not 

Come see...? Like um, come join or do you just want to talk to my mom and see if maybe you wanted to? It was this weird mix of some excitement and trying not to get ahead of himself. Bringing in someone who liked healing stuff would help Pheiros and Arbiter so that was totally a win-win scenario but he didn't want to do the equivalent of throwing Soleon under the bus by accident. I'd say talking to her is better than the guy who helps lead anyway -- Kaertok -- I don't know him as well. And he hadn't seemed particularly interested in getting to know Spook either. Shall we say Spook was not too impressed by him? The rest of us are pretty cool though. Excluding his sister, maybe.

Sorry for the delay I've had the worst desire to write ;-;

Soleon wasn't totally sold on the idea of going somewhere new with so many faces he wouldn't know about, but what else was there to do? He was alone and tired of it and he could continue to complain or he could make a change and see what this new place could offer to him. He listened to Spook and supposed if it didn't work out he could just leave; right? 

 Of course, that was being quiet pessimistic about the situation. He knew if he went into this he needed to give it absolute best shot. A small smile formed on his face and he nodded to him, "Take me there. I'll give it my best shot," He wasn't sure what his best actually was...but the point was it was time to make a choice. Spook ha given him the best suggestion he'd heard in some time. If anything Soleone supposed he owed him for that alone.

If you want, we could say the meet with Arbiter behind the scenes? Would allow you to get posting and such. :D I'm cool with having it be an in thread thing if that's what you'd prefer too, though.

And Soleon was really actually interested? Spooks ears perked up a little more. His tail wagged. Okay! Um. Yeah. When we do run into my mom, uh, she's one of those people that's kinda scary because she's really serious about stuff. But she's supposed to protect the pack so.. He shrugged. That was just her. But she'll definitely be glad to be able to have you and Pheiros be able to team up and stuff. Look, Spook was intimidated by anyone who was kinda scary like that, even his own mom. 

But then he turned and started to lead the way, taking a couple of steps before looking back to ensure Soleon was following, It's not too far! So um, any other questions on the way, you can ask? Spook was cheery now. Before hew as a little uncertain, but hey, new friend, seemed like! That was good. Hopefully he and Pheiros got along too, since they'd be obviously be spending time together learning medic stuff. He'd start leading the way to the pack territory.

We can say he got to briefly meet Arbiter so I can start doing stuff with him! 

 Soleon felt a burst of excitement. He was going to have a home.  A place where he could contribute and a place that would have his best interest in mind so long as he did what was required of him. That was how it worked there, right? That's what he had desired for so long anyways. His tail absently, happily, moved side to side behind him and he shook his head at Spook, "None that I can think of!" He hoped that some day he would run into Journey again. He missed the girl something fierce. Still--his life had to go on. He waited for Spook to guide him to Legion. To his future.

Sounds good, I shall wrap here! Feel free to tag either of my chars if you want a newer thread, I am now behind again so will be a bit before I make AWs, haha.

Spook had done something right. Or at least he was pretty sure he had. It had been easy, and probably the fact they were both a little bit awkward helped. But he'd recruited someone! It put a bit more of a spring in Spook's step as he started to lead the way back to the bypass. Ok! But I'll be like.. your guide or something until you got your way. Or at least I can be I guess. Or something. Was that too big of an offer? Uhh. Maybe. But hey, he'd smile and be happy that now there was probably another friend in the pack. That was good. 

He'd lead the way to his mother's den and they could have a nice little official chat. But honestly Arbiter was probably not too much in the mood to have a long discussion at the time. Again, another mention that Soleon should talk to Pheiros. Beyond that, Arbiter was gonna go be grumpy on her own for the day. Exciting stuff! But hey, new person!