Honeyed Pasture But here you come alone and crying, now you want to be my friend

maybe @Mal ? raleska is scouting!

Endless rain drove Raleska from the coast up the tree-line, scouring for herds that were long gone. She had let @Rosalyn and @Erzulie both know her intentions, and while she mostly believed she was leaving camp to look for food, Raleska also just needed to be alone. Since their move, the pack had grown smaller -- and it made it harder and harder for the Eyjolfur to live besides her children that would never know what -- or who -- she was to them.

Coming to rest in an area that once must have been a meadow, Raleska's gaze swept the floodplains indifferently. Near the eastern segment of open land she saw a dark treeline -- and it was this she drove towards, heedless to the mud and rain that drenched her pelt.

He was healing well. Still not 100% but close enough he could be for chunks at a time as long as he rested a bit later. So he felt well enough to go for a bit of a jaunt, sliding away from the borders and off into the open field beyond. The deer from the forest sometimes wandered out here for the grass -- on the not-torn up chunk at least -- at least while the weather was in the not frozen stage of the year. 

Things were pretty good again, honestly. Or as good as they could be, all things considered. He was home, most people were back -- all but his son. Out here, he could keep an eye out for Asmoses. Where did he even start on that search? Sigh. But as he wandered, he spotted a shadow coming the other direction. Not anyone he knew, or so he thought. But as he got closer, curious, a vague memory surfaced. The dumb girl with the broken ears. The pack she was with had left, hadn't it? Or at least, it had at some point stopped being something present on his radar. He had his own pack and family to worry about. But the version of Mal she faced down now was a different one than before -- he'd grown up a little in attitude and potentially respectability.

Perhaps if she wasn't pointed straight at his home he'd have gone by, but well. Seemed silly to avoid at this point. Was she still as dense? Might be fun. After a certain other ghost from his past, he wasn't giving anyone the benefit of the doubt of growing up. So, he put on a broad, bemused grin as he approached, Where are you going? It wasn't antagonistic, or at least not on purpose. A better distraction than wondering if his son was gone, at least.

The rain drove in heavy gusts, obscuring Mal's footsteps. Raleska froze as a voice called out behind her, the tone not quite readable. Turning around slowly, it took the mud-splattered Eyjolfur a minute to place Mal.

So much time had passed that were it not for the almost familiar way he hailed her, Raleska wouldn't have recognized him at all -- but that tone brought it all back.

She didn't remember the specifics of their conversation, but she did remember how he had made her feel -- as if it had been her fault he wasn't being clear. Anyone else would have calmly explained the simple misunderstanding, but Raleska recalled he had been a little drip.

Raleska's skin crawled and she stiffened, fixing Mal with an expression that was far from warm. She wasn't keen on a repeat, and figured she owed this guy absolutely nothing -- least of all a modicum of civility when Past-Mal had expended her none.

But that was Caiaphas thinking, and she was Raleska. She was older. A little wiser. Maybe not kinder.

Raleska's fur settled, but the coldness in her gaze remained. "I'm going towards the tree line for shelter." She was far enough that she didn't realize that tree line encapsulated Neverwinter - come to think of it, Raleska had no idea where Neverwinter was, and had never planned to visit it herself. "Are you here to be rude to me again?" That was definitely antagonistic -- oops, Raleska's Caiaphas slipped.

Oh yes, she seemed to still be such a dour woman! No change there. Mal, though, was of good cheer. Would that annoy her too? Probably. But Mal didn't blink. That was no fun, and he did always prefer things to be fun if possible. It wasn't like he trusted her (why would he trust anyone after recent events?) but he wasn't going to let the rain or her attitude dampen his style so easy. He'd rather see what response he could get out of her first.

A slight cant of his head, Unless you're looking for a new home, I think you'd be disappointed when you got there. That'd be Neverwinter, which is, unsurprisingly, still claimed. His grin broadened for a moment there. See? He was a hard one to get rid of, and just time alone wasn't going to be able to banish him to history. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the one who'd started it last time, though. But I suppose I can make an exception for it now -- they were odd times. Though I guess these aren't particularly usual either. At least not from his limited experience. But regardless of talk of the weather, here he was, playfully being forgiving monarch, not that it mattered at all. She probably didn't care. Did he even know her name? Did he remember it? Probably not. She was that chick with the broken ears.

Raleska’s gaze slid back to the tree line, which was shadowed a deep emerald by the grizzled mist. Learning it was claimed immediately ended her interest in it; she traced the dark shadow of the bosk south, wondering then if that part of the forest was also claimed. 

Oh. Raleska answered simply, giving a twitch of her tail in slight annoyance that she’d have to navigate elsewhere. There were many things Raleska was, but she wasn’t a trespasser — learning Neverwinter was occupied effectively quashed all interest in making that her destination. 

She didn’t know what to make of Mal’s quip — was it surprising? Unsurprising? She didn’t know the male from Adam other than that one time, and her  experience with wolves left her largely unimpressed with their longevity or consistency. She chose to ignore it — as well as the dig about who had started it. I guess I’ll go that way then. Raleska motioned, hoping that Mal would save her a trip if that was also claimed. I was just looking to see how far the rain goes. She didn’t owe him much of an explanation (and she expected he’d be full of savage glee to learn of it) but that didn’t stop Raleska from expanding: We got flooded out of our place by the Moors. It hadn’t been home to Raleska (neither had the Plateau) but she supposed anywhere was home where you could lay your head safely.

He had no idea where the moors were. Not anywhere nearby as far as Mal knew. What even was a moor? But as long as she wasn't looking at his forest any more, that was about all he knew of claims-wise. If anyone else was lurking around they'd been damn quiet about it. Other than Moonspear, and they were farther. If she went that far she was on her own.

Considering I've recently been up in the mountains and a bit beyond, I can say it's not ending anywhere nearby. You've got your choice of wet or other wet. It's a nice variety. Suddenly going all serious like she was wasn't too appealing to Mal. Gotta make a joke to get through the weirder times. He wished she was a little less emotionally flat about it all -- give him something he could work with, c'mon. Not many people out along the way, I take it? There had been a few others who were apparently out wandering to find out much the same thing (or gonna assume someone mentioned Moonspear's visit).

Equally deadpan as Mal detailed the rain seemed to have no end, Raleska swept her gaze to the distant forests. The gloom of the rain obscured what she could only imagine was traditionally a very picturesque view: green valleys, dark shoulders of distant peaks -- all reduced to a cheerless grey haze by mother nature.

It occurred to her Mal was trying to make a joke, which earned the flicker of her eyes in surprise. He had not been like this last time -- but, then again, how much had she changed since their last meeting? In more ways than she knew.

"No." Raleska intoned, answering honestly enough. It was not her intention to be curt, but her succinct nature often made the Eyjolfur appear as cold and unfriendly as the coast she hailed from. Standoffish as she was, Raleska had a rare talent for emotional intelligence -- she could not leave Mal's upbeat change untapped. "What happened to you?" Raleska wondered why it was that everyone seemed to get dealt a better card in life than her -- certainly, time had been nothing but unkind to her, and as the years settled into her bones she seemed to only get harder, cocooned in a shell of life's misfortunes.. And here Mal was, looking like it hadn't rained for a month straight and life had been relentlessly kind to him...

What was his secret?

So, no Asmoses. A young boy on his own would certainly be notable. And probably nobody who might have seen him anyway. He wasn't getting the reaction from her he wanted, which was somewhat disappointing. She just looked kind of confused. He was pondering another line of snark when she spoke. What happened to him? Huh?

Mal, not knowing what she was exactly referencing, assumed it was about his shoulder -- was he bleeding again? If he hadn't been caught so off-guard he would have played the whole thing off but he did glance at his shoulder before sort of halfway pretending he hadn't and just asking, confused but upbeat, What do you mean? It wasn't a bad wound -- it was well tended, some random wolf he met once before shouldn't give a damn. So uh.. What then?

As far out-field as Raleska's query had been, she hadn't anticipated Mal wouldn't understand it. He looked from his shoulder half-heartedly, back to her again -- equally as confused.

"You're different." The seafarer supplied, an edge of a smile curving her lips indulgently. What had made him so -- and more importantly, was she as visibly different as well? Raleska had only met him once, but he'd been a fair shade different - not as upbeat for one, and twice as snarky. Now he just seemed relentlessly cheerless -- what was in the water of his forest over there?

He was different? And she smiled a little? Was that it? He paused then, Mmm, mentally rolling back time to try and remember what all happened in what order. He tilted his head the other way upon finishing that little bit of reminiscing, Well people did finally stop trespassing like the idiots they were and the ones who wanted and expected me to become a monster got bored in left. Oh, and the world stopped shaking. Does all help brighten the mood a tad if that's what you mean. Maybe it was a little hyperbole, but it was true. There were none left in his pack that expected him to be awful -- they all lived elsewhere and that was freeing. He could be who he needed to be without getting glared at for not being some perfect, innocent person. Or something.

Then, he had to add with a smirk, That and a bit of better grooming. Now he was a dashing young man, wasn't he? He was probably fairly scruffy back then due to just not giving a damn. He was good at that at the time. His life was near what he wanted and he didn't have goons and ghosts of the past breathing down his neck.

Was that all it was? Raleska tilted her head to the side, studying Mal in a somber, absent way. The world was devastatingly different — why, last time she had seen Mal her mother had been alive. 

It seemed to Raleska that life had a way of stepping on the neck of all the things she cared about — her life had only gotten systematically worse, while Mal’s had been on the upswing ever since the quakes faded into memory. Whoever orchestrated the events of her life, seemed to have a cruel sense of humor. 

I don’t think it’s the grooming. Raleska supplied mirthlessly, though the hardness of her gaze had softened. What do you mean about being a monster?

He tut-tutted about it being suggested that it wasn't his grooming. Come on! He was totally a dashing young man now, gotta respect that. It at least proved he wasn't some ratty little child that could be overlooked. People had to listen now. 

More information, hm? Did he mind sharing? Not really. Old news, and of course it was painted in favor of Mal. Oh you know. The usual. The witches that took over the pack ignored us, and them and their spawn weren't too happy when I complained about how they were treating my sisters and I. Plenty of double standards, blah blah. But even now I'm somehow the source of all things bad that happened to them. Couldn't be they made bad choices, naw. Elysium was full of hypocrites, and he was glad to be rid of them. They were hard to take as anything other than a flat joke at this point. But now I don't have to deal with any of them. If I'm still their boogeyman, they're the ones with issues. A shrug, and he was fairly dismissive about the whole thing. It was nice to not care. History was history.

Mal’s past life became briefly illuminated, painting a picture of a sorry cast of characters and, naturally, the ever revolving hand of change. Raleska hadn’t had a similar childhood, but she could identify to some extent with poor choices — Raleska’s entire life had been a rough accumulation of bad choices. 

Witches and spawn painted a strong picture, though. She neednt wonder after Mal’s true feelings, with strongly phrased language like that. What’s done is done. Raleska affirmed, thinking of Drageda — and Dacio. Had she ever been considered a monster? Maybe in Drageda’s eyes — but she suspected that they thought her more like a persistent annoying gnat. Your forest over there — what is it like? What are your people like? Meaning — who were you, what defined you, and what values did this neighboring pack hold?

So what was she getting at? Why suddenly so interested in his pack? Wasn't like she was super keen on smiling so maybe whatever was behind her was eating at her. Still, Mal didn't expect she'd trot on home with him. Probably curiosity. The forest itself is nice, secure, not too badly bothered by the weather, home to enough food even in the harsh times. So that's what it is -- home. I made it as a place where people could start over, without their history hanging above their head. And those who need a home. Though it did spark a thought -- maybe not so fresh of a restart if they were a scumbag. So.. Maybe murderous psychopaths excluded.

So, the ones that have kept around are people I think are worth calling family -- and my kids who don't get a choice in that matter I guess. A smirk there. We used to be quite the batch of misfits but I think we've all meshed together well, and kept from starting trouble. There's enough out there already. Had her pack had to deal with the Saints and other psychos?

Raleska's curiosity came from two places: one, a wish to know who lived in their general vicinity. And two, a wish to know how that other side lived. Raleska hadn't had an easy life, or an easy upbringing -- she was as indoctrinated to chaos as she was to breathing. It was part of her in every way. She lived it, she breathed it, she endured it -- and in some ways, sometimes she exuded it.

For today, she simply absorbed what Mal said in contemplative silence. Had Rusalka ever tried making an alliance with anyone? Did Erzulie and Rosalyn even care about the world at large? It was not her place to extend an olive branch, but at least now she knew Mal ran a forest that was seemingly stable when it came to life values. Of course, for all she knew, he could be lying or omitting things, too. Since he'd given her a bit of information, Raleska would give some in return. "Doesn't sound so different from my family, back at Rusalka. Mostly it's wolves we found along the way. We don't get to pick our blood relatives, but, we can pick our family -- those that share our values and stuff. My family doesn't have a single biological relative left in it." Raleska's smile was short and seemingly sad, but she brushed it off and continued. "There is enough trouble out there, between the water and everything else." She wondered what he meant by trouble, and backpedaled, her gaze intelligent but not too intense. "Do you think there's any trouble we should worry about?"

Draggin' myself back to posts, whee!

Hoo boy, trouble? She wanted to know about trouble? Well, there was plenty of that growing in the mountains. I don't know if you'll ever run into them on the coast, but there is a pack named the Saints of the Dying Light in the mountains. They've pretty much pissed off everyone, like four or five packs worth of everyone -- kidnapping people, trespassing, attacking folks randomly, thinking they're the hottest stuff out there. Their leader is this huge guy with stripes and a weird tail. He's just weird looking overall, named Donovan -- and trust me, there's no mistaking this dude. If you run into them, leaving is probably safest.

But that wasn't all, was it? There'd been a lot of trouble. And there's some other guy out there in the mountains too, who's attacking women and children. Big, white, got brown on his nose. But I wouldn't worry too much about him long term. He's wanted dead. By wolves he knew, and probably those he didn't. The guy would end up dead one way or another -- it was much easier to assign that end to a singular wolf with repulsive behavior than an entire pack.

How small was the world?

The answer was infinitely small.

Raleska's ears were the only thing that betrayed her surprise as Mal continued, detailing the trouble that visited his corner of the world. Only the tip of her ear twitched as he spoke of a man -- a man unmistakably familiar -- who had seemingly riled up enemies in the most unlikely of places.

He'd left her flowers. In a cave where she was sure she might have died. And maybe, this was all a dream -- all of this walking, restless wakefulness -- maybe she had died in that bitterly cold cave, and the surrealness she was feeling now was her ghost coming to terms with the incorrigible truth.

She shook that snaking thought from her head, her lips pressing in a firm line. So, Donovan and a white wolf. Well, she met Donovan, which meant she'd probably someday meet the white wolf too.. Lots of wolves fit that description. "What color are his eyes? The white guys?" Raleska queried, feeling a chill settle in the pit of her chest that she could not quite shake.

If Mal had known what she was thinking, he would definitely have some Opinions about it, just based on Simmik's experience. An ear twitch was the only information he was given, so it was possibly unfortunate for her that she didn't get to hear any further warning. But then again, who knew how the world would turn -- for all Mal knew they might never cross paths again and whatever fates befell them both, it would be a nonissue.

Eye color? Well. He hadn't thought about it -- the brown nose thing had been something he hadn't seen on any other white wolves, so he had thought it was distinct enough. But maybe she'd actually run into him before? It wasn't like she'd said anything before asking her question, Uh.. Blue? Maybe grey? I knew him by scent, he attacked my daughter. Reality was somewhere in between color-wise. If only it was easy to pass along a scent like a mugshot to others -- if he could, Mal would have quite the little collection of scents he'd be eager to warn the world about. He might not be a fighter, but he went out of his way to make the lives of those who caused trouble miserable by to the best of his abilities removing their opportunity to have victims in the first place.

If Raleska knew the true extent of Donovan's deeds in the wild, hell, she'd have Opinions -- and if there was anyone with as many Opinions to be had, it was Raleska. She stored that interesting fact for later (aside: love the idea of scent mugshots, lol), focusing on the man she didn't know.

Raleska didn't piece the full context of attack, but her eyes slid to Mal in surprise as he mentioned he was a father. Oh, word? He looked much too young -- which was ironic, because he was the same age as her. She hadn't pegged Mal for the "settle-down-and-have-a-family" kind of guy, not by their first meeting. Maybe her initial assumption of him had been nothing but crow-crockery.

"You've told me a lot that has been helpful." Raleska finally spoke, mulling over all that had been imparted. "I don't have much in exchange. We mostly keep to ourselves. I don't think we have enemies other than Drageda -- but that doesn't stop the kind of monsters you mentioned from causing grief, anyway." She supposed even the most peaceful hamlets in the world had their slice of drama. "Can I come to you again in a few months? It's worth it to us to have eyes on the inside. We're so far removed we often don't know what is happening around us. I do not want my family to ever be taken by surprise."

If only she knew what Mal's family life was actually like -- she might actually think it matched up with Mal's antics before. Or not. Who knows. He wasn't going to pretend to be normal, it wasn't like he knew what normal even was. Even if things were totally settled down by the time he and Raleska next crossed paths, it was probably gonna still not be normal.

Either way, at least it sounded like Raleska's pack wasn't gonna cause his any trouble. Now, could be a lie, but at least right now, he'll take it as a no, especially if they were far enough away. Distance did make for good neighbors. Yeah. I mean, we're not going anywhere. Just the same, hopefully there won't be any news... I'd really like a break where nothing happens and I can just hang out with my family. I doubt it'll be allowed. That's what life was like, unfortunately. Mal could get into enough trouble just when left to his own devices, he didn't need anyone else helping!

Normal was never a permanent condition: even Raleska, who believed herself mostly normal, was aware of how fleeting a sense of normalcy was. Strife on the other hand.. Strife lingered like an unwelcome frost; cold and glittering and ever-present in the landscape of her heart.

Learning Mal was unlikely to move, Raleska dipped her head. "If those monsters come back -- if you see of them -- can you spare someone to let us know? I will do the same.  I should go soon, there are many miles between the two of us.. but this has been helpful."

'Twas an interesting thread!

He nodded, Can do. Hopefully there's nothing new to share, as I've said. A moment of silence, Yeah, I should probably be getting back too. A look over his shoulder back home again. What a goddamn year. Couldn't they all have peace? NAH.

Assuming she had nothing more to say, he'd bid her farewell and head on back to Neverwinter. He should probably quit limping around anyway -- or Aibreann would probably chew him out at the very least.

Assured her request had been heard, Raleska recognized the subtle signs that suggested Mal was preparing to leave. His body language was enough to impart his intentions, and she stood up alongside him with a shake of her ruff.

They were better met this time than the last, though part of Raleska still felt disabused by their last encounter. She gave an appreciative dip of her muzzle all the same, announcing her leave with a wave of her tail.

The road home was slow, and Raleska ranged far -- but she returned back to Rusalka all the more armed with knowledge of their peers.