Broken Boulder That gaze, it makes me anxious

@Mahler! ^-^ (Forward dated by a day or two since Rivenwood is.....busy with Legion I believe? XD)

And there you have it -- Kaster had finally gotten sick and tired of tending to that fucking den all day. If it wasn't being covered by moving snow that he had to keep re-digging, it was being raided by some malnourished rouges or flea-infested foxes attempting to nab his food storage. The stubborn side of him wanted to continue his attempt at trying to survive this winter alone to prove those who doubted him wrong, but the archer was not a reckless idiot -- even he'd eventually come to terms with such a low possibility.

So instead, The woodlander kissed his disaster of a home goodbye and set of eastward, pawprints left in the thick snow from which he'd came. A pack was not far of from his trail and despite the snow making it more difficult to sense, Kaster would've had to be noseblind not to sense the strong scent of someone's piss marking these surrounding lands -- in addition to the presence of others.

Stepping a good distance away, his cranium was thrown back to emit a long, deep howl to call for anyone who resided nearby. Hopefully this pack could provide a good shelter in these upcoming winter months....

sorry about the wait! wanted to see how the other thread might play out lol staying vague

snow billowed.  mahler's body held a protest as he clambered from his rock perch beneath the boulder. 
his decision was in response to the howl that rose through the trees. rivenwood was an uneventful place, and so the gargoyle did not usually expect visitors.
but here was another man, standing in the blowing snow with a pale ruff and a unique color to the rest of the tall ranger's body. 
surveying the stranger, the shadowpriest was silent, waiting for the voice that had called to detail the rest of its message.

No worries! <3

The one who'd eventually heed his call appeared from the snowy drift with audible, heavy footsteps. He was tall, dark, and thickly compact -- the shadow of a man with a posture to tell any and all what position he held in the pack. Acknowledging this and the way things played out in regards to canine body language, Kaster respectfully averted his gaze and opted to look at a nearby tree instead.

The silence that followed was assumed to be Archer's cue to explain his presence here, so he'd clear his throat before referring to the brute before him. "Greetings. I assume you lead the group here, yes?" Beginning with his previous judgment -- the position this man held in the pack -- and then back to business. "My name is Kaster, and I wish to join your ranks."

a joiner. observing the man for a long moment, he spoke. "i am mahler. this is rivenvood." it would be welcome to have another hunter, with the snow unabated. he shifted, switched his plume at his hips once.
"vhat sort of skills can you bring to us?" kaster held the build of a quick wolf, rangy and firmly built. tucked so far back into the taiga, offensives were not necessary. quietly he waited, warmer than he had been before.

A moments pass and the man would soon introduce himself as Mahler, and seeing as how his previous assumption was not corrected, Kaster would take it as confirmation that this was the lead man of the pack. The woodlander quietly hummed to himself in observation when he noticed a thick accent in the reaper's voice. It sounded completely different from the accent Kaster once had when he started transitioning from French to common, so a part of him was curious as to what language Mahler (and possibly others of this pack) were most fluent in.

Next was the questioning of his skillsets; fair enough. "I can provide you with an additional paw (hand) in hunting game. I have quite a bit of experience with such and wouldn't have a problem assisting you and your pack this winter." He responded calmly with self assurance, though certainly not in a haughty manner -- simply straightforward. Packs were always in trouble when it came down to food for the winter, so Kast didn't doubt this one was any different. Besides, he was not lying when he spoke of experience -- it was a skill he needed to pick up during the time he lived with tantine Noelle...

mahler picked up this winter and took it to mean that kaster needed only a temporary place to stay for the snows. he weighed this in mind for a long moment. what harm would it be? and privately the gargoyle thought it both a good and a poor choice to accept: rivenwood could do with more men, but a male posed an inherent challenge to himself.
yet it would be a pair more jaws to bring in bloodstained meat from beyond.
"come and live among us, then," the gargoyle grunted. "the pack is small but ve function vell." he stepped back from the border, seeing no reason to continue his interrogation of the man. innate suspicion made all untrustworthy, but he would not allow this to show as he waited for kaster to join him in their path toward the split boulder.
"from vhere did you come before?"

Some truth was held in the assumption that he'd only plan on staying in the pack until winter blew over, because that was Kaster's initial plan. Seek shelter, brush up on his skills with what resources his temporary home would provide him, and bid Mahler (and any others he might come across) farewell as he continued his journey as a loner. The archer could do perfectly well on his own after all. Despite this, his plans were not always as straightforward as written out at first; perhaps Kaster would end up staying here for longer than expected.

The woodlander hoped not. He disliked when things changed course unnecessarily -- disliked attachment. It always ended up disappointing him in the end......

Mahler shifted some steps away from the border and beckoned Reinhardt over to join him, 'To come and live among us', as his words went, and the boy quite appreciated how quickly the exchanges had ended. Slowly, he'd move to walk side-by-side with the gargoyle, though not without feeling his shoulder muscles tense a bit -- a habit developed whenever he strode too close to someone he didn't quite trust yet. He'll have to make an exception for the present though and keep things professional -- Mahler was his new leader, after all. 

Previous whereabouts were brought upon the table and Kaster let out a breath before responding. The sire did not wish to share specifics, especially regarding his life, so he decided to keep things simple: "Yandolia. It was a large piece of land separated into several small claims, one of which I was brought up in as a child..." and hopefully, they'd be leaving it at that...

a land cut up like that was not something mahler had ever envisioned. yet he liked the idea at once, picturing small plots of family territory tied beneath a looser leadership. unbeknownst to kaster, the gargoyle wondered privately if this was something he might be able to fit into the way that rivenwood currently worked.
yandolia also — it was musical, and the knowledge of that reminded mahler on a bittersweet note that it had been long months since a hint of songbird aria had come into his life. musiker once but no longer, and on a sudden, dizzying whim, the shadowpriest wondered if returning to the ocean might assuage these many things.
"i came from a smaller place," mahler mused, wishing to meet the pinne halfway with notes of his own. his recollections of dornenfelder were few and sparse, but he dredged some detail all the same. "a little villlage vith a council who chose the leader. ve invested ourselves not only to the hunt, but choosing green places vhere herds might be drawn. it vas a skill taught and educated into those volves."