Nova Peak unkundig
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Ooc — ebony
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#1
All Welcome 
set the same time as this :o

having not been informed of any current goings-on, and assuming wylla would keep him notified as she had kept him fed, mahler ventured from the cavern for a walk. he did not know how long it would be before he must turn back or rest, only that he must drive himself further than the day before.
the wound in his neck had further covered, though the pink scars were vibrant against the stripped pelt. in his flank, however, the scrape and punctures he had received before snapping the other's muzzle still healed. it forced him into a limp as he sought after the wayward trail of astraeus; he hobbled there, thinking of the celestial boy, his reticent daughter, his lost son, his growing daughters.
for the moment, mahler was not worried for wylla, she was capable, but little did he know her capabilities had carried her directly into a seething clash.
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#2
Elke had been keeping relatively away from her father for the past few weeks, command of her mother and thus, had been spending the majority of her time with her sister instead. Though @Ciri and Elke were quite different, they seemingly did well together even if sometimes they clashed as siblings from time to time would do. Elke's dark sister taught her to be stronger, bolder, and to keep on her toes. Elke taught Ciri to be more observant, cautious, aware. 

Where they had a certain lack of other friends their age (and mother had kept them distanced from the rest of the pack and its female leader, for good reason) they had one another and together they learned and grew. 

Today however, when the rains were not heavy and it was safe to stray further, Elke silently headed off, but sure if Ciri would notice and join with her or not.  For now, she carried on alone, eager to try and see her father which she had quite so missed. And there he was, out and about and yet moving with an obviously noticeable limp. And as she neared and rounded him, fresh scars about his pelt. 

Dad? Questioning in her voice, yet obvious as to why she questioned without the words. What had happened to him?
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#3
"elke." 
mahler drew up as his schneekind settled her eyes upon him, her voice. she had grown, he realized, grown into a long-legged girl spiraling heavenward toward adulthood. and while puppy nature still clung to elke, she was shedding it.
like phaedra. like ciri. even astraeus, growing fierce and boisterous and surefooted. 
his daughters, three of them, pale sky and dark wheatfield.
mahler tossed himself from his reverie, smiled guiltily into the inquiry of her eyes, his shade, his hue.
"i vent to the cliffside to make sure no vone else vas settling near us. they vere not unoccupied. and so i defended us, and our right to be here first." the gargoyle explained what had occurred in a a quiet voice, though through the telling of it he weakened and lowered his haunches to the earth in fatigue.
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#4
I swear in my head I feel like Mahler sounds like Rammstein.

She stares with concern, those same lilac eyes which her father had, as though shining brighter around the dark of his coating. She was not colored much like her father savor a smudging of soot along her backside. As though he had graced her with this mark when he had licked down her tiny spine as a pup. 

He explained to her and she nodded quietly with agreement to his words. He had been protecting their claim, their new home. Intruders were not welcome and as far as she knew, those settling too near outside their territory was not favored either. For competition of hunting grounds, herbs and such.  

Are all outsiders bad? She wondered, having never met someone outside her pack before and barely knew anyone outside her family of four. She was a rather sheltered girl. Though she had rarely shown signs of wanting to wonder off. She was happy here with her family, at home.
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#5
i can dig it :O

elke was right to ask, mahler decided. "no." an honest truth; he would not raise her with baseless fear. knowing how to comport oneself before strangers was imperative to both her rank and her role. "but you must not trust strangers until you know them. then they are no longer foreign to you." caution was a virtue. fear must be healthy.
"these vones, however. ve cannot have somevone living so close." in truth, mahler was not sure how the cliffs could be held, save for building another closeline pack to expand their hold to the cliffside.
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#6
Her father is quick to answer, deciding then for her that no, not all strangers were bad. Techniqually speaking, everyone to her, savor  he, her mother and her sister, were all strangers which included all those who lived on this mountain with her. Certainly if her father allowed them to stay on this mountain and had equally brought them to this new mountain they were not bad wolves. She had to trust her mother and father's decisions and views. It was all she had after all. 

I see... She spoke, her pale eyes drifting over the expanse of mountainous forestry around them. Maybe, she decided then, she should get to know those that she lived with. But for now... Should we find medicines then, to help you? He couldnt keep watch if he was feeling so bad and Elke wanted to help her dad so that he could help them in turn. Everyone had their roles to play.
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#7
mahler could not hide the amusement that played along his scarred lips, nor the relief that filtered through him to see no lingering horror on elke's face. "i vould like that," he responded quietly. "vhat vould you bring?" he had taught her many names of plants upon their forays, or at least said them aloud. if she had retained his long-winded missives, mahler would be intrigued. he knew his own abilities to be quite semantic.
wylla had been close, tending him as was needed, but mahler saw here an opportunity for a new sort of bondmake with his child, one rooted in the skills he had kept close to his heart these many years.
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#8
Happy with her father's response, she bounded along forward for him to follow. Of course, she couldnt move too quickly, he was hurt after all! 

Hrm... The little babe then pondered, Maybe marigold. It will help heal the wound and keep away infection. She explained to her father as she moved along in search. Of course she knew fully well he knew this already. He had taught her, after all! And...poppy seeds. For pain, but not too much right? She knew the seeds could help with pain, even swelling, but quite frankly did not remember how much was too much, as she remembered that would be bad.
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#9
a peculiar feeling, to hear her speak the name 'marigold' though elke only meant it in the manner of his teachings. mahler shook aside the grim thought and grinned at her. "very good." she had a quick mind and a head for the names of things, and he was deeply pleased by her interest in what he had taught himself to be an expert at.
"and vhere do you find marigold?" mahler asked his little snowflower, adjusting his position so that he might rise again. to limp before her tormented the man, but he refused to let his body atrophy in even a small way, and so pressed on with only a small grimace to evince his pain.
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#10
Marigold, a word she had used a number of times, favoring the pretty little flower though not noticing her father's pain behind it nor knowing why there would be any. 

She beams, a large smile upon her creamy lips and her tail goes wild to her father's praise. The meadows, right? She had thought they thrived in the open fields where they could soak up the sunlight and collect its brilliant color. 

She would nose along the backside of her father's elbow. Taking note of his pain, she would not rush forth hurriedly and kept at his side.
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#11
"the meadows, yes." mahler's mouth quirked in spite of himself. "and if you cannot find marigold, you may also use yarrow. it is a vhite flower," he went on, more to distract himself than anything. "it also grows in the fields. a small flower. if you let it dry, and sprinkle it upon a vound, it vill help to clean the torn edges." 
rather hoping it would be quite some time before elke encountered such, he nevertheless saw the necessity in learning such things while young, as he had done.
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#12
Yarrow... She would repeat the name of the flower, small and white, in order to try and hold it to her memory. Its good to know of multiple herbs that do the same thing...In case we cant find one. Her nose crinkled as she looked to her father. In this case it seemed to be the missing marigold. 

Ah-ha! She yelled out, dashing into the direction of yellow, only to come to a halt before it. It was not marigold, but what was it? Erm....Tansy? I forget what it does though... She admitted and turned her gaze toward to her father for answers, as per usual.
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#13
"tansy," he grunted in a pleased paternal nature one he had limped back to her side. she was becoming quite adept. mahler was pleased to think that he might easily pass down this sort of skill.
"if you find a flower such as this, do you know how to gather it home?" a harder sort of test; there were many ways to transport things, and each method required on the type of greenery.
he settled himself again, knowing soon they must turn toward home for the sake of his torn flesh, but knowing he would linger to the very ends of his limitations for elke.
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#14
You pluck it? She questions with her answer, a tilt of her head to the side as though wondering if this was some sort of trick question. Last time they had plucked herbs together on the move, they had done such as that. However, she had yet to learn about digging plants from the roots in order to replant them to not only save for later, but to perhaps try and get them to grow much closer to a medicine den. She, of course, had no such thing yet. We could pluck them, take them back to the den to use so you can rest, dad. She was enjoying her time with him out looking for herbs, but knew too he could show her how to use them back in the comfort of the den he had been resting in and off his feet.
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he grinned in spite of himself. "this vone is safe to pluck and take home. but if you ever encounted a plant you do not know, wrap it in something. a leaf, a piece of hide. protect your skin and mouth until you know for certain vhat you have found." 
mahler wanted to add that elke would always be able to bring such things to him. but he found himself wary of the future, of promises made; he could scarce afford to find himself breaking another one. and so the gargoyle nodded, reached to nudge her soft cheek. "that is a good idea."
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#16
Last for me on this one!

She listened carefully, her father letting her know that this particular plant was safe to pluck although some might not so be. To use caution for even if you werent directly eating the plant, you could still get hurt even having it in your mouth. She didnt really think to realize that before. That's smart... She murmurs, a bit upset with herself honestly that she hadn't thought of that herself but she was still learning much so and it seemed her hardest critic was herself. 

Nosing her father's throat to his own touch, she would then snatch the cluster of tansy (still not knowing how well it would help her father) and began to make way slowly back towards the den her father was settling in. On the way back, she would finally spot her marigold and snatch that too quickly with a satisfying smile on her mug.
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#17
<3

and mahler would follow. his heart filled with love for his child, love and guilt. how could he know that this would be one of their last interludes? devoted as always to his time with his daughters, his lavender eyes watched fondly as she picked the medicinal flowers. mahler embraced her when they had returned home. bidding her close as he stretched his wounded body for a healing slumber.
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