The Sunspire (Angst! Angst! Angst!)
nomen est omen
1,069 Posts
Ooc — Jennifer
Master Guardian
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#1
All Welcome 
And another territory claiming/pack moving thread!

Dusk. She'd be heading back to her chosen gathering spot soon, but there was a patch of the lower slopes that she wanted to revisit before she did so. It was an area that was nearest to the easy pass through the mountain range (or at least the one she knew of) so it needed special attention, just in case someone wandered farther off the track than they should have.

This mountain was, after all, home now. She hoped that some of her packmates had noted this as well, if not, she'd make sure they knew soon enough. It would be important. Once things were settled, she hoped it would bring relief -- no Ursus here, no untrustworthy northerners, and the Saints were gone. No bad memories. Aside from her own (and maybe Jomyo's from down in the valley nearby, if she had any that haunted her). It should be better. She rubbed up against a tree, scenting around its base for hints of anyone who'd recently passed by.
Arbiter is often not a nice person and will think mean things without acting on them.
If you aren't sure whether her snarky thoughts might be readable, just ask!  IC≠OOC
179 Posts
Ooc — Starrlight
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#2
Lower slopes.  Yes, this was where Zane was chilling.  And not because he was too chicken to go higher (false), but because he liked it here.  It was.... quiet.  

More like boring.  Fuck.  Zane sat on a lower ledge and lifted his head to gaze straight up at the reaches of the mountain above him.  The ledge he was currently on edged a cliff that wasn't honestly all that high... but as he looked straight up it, he felt vertigo start to spin.  He spread his paws wider to counter it, then looked back down, shaking his head to clear it.

Y'know, this place has a lot of ups and downs.  And not the metaphorical kind, more like the 'hey, you slip, you die' kind. You feel me?  He said aloud to whoever it was walking nearby.  He heard them, but hadn't seen them to recognize Arbiter yet.
nomen est omen
1,069 Posts
Ooc — Jennifer
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#3
Can make this a short or normal length thread, whichever you prefer, since it's now pretty behind the times!

She heard him up ahead, moving smoothly through semi-familiar ground with relative ease. Arbiter, of course, had no such problems with terrain nor heights. She'd lived here first, after all. It was fine. There are steeper mountains. This is perfectly habitable. Are you saying you can't live on ground that's not entirely flat? Was this some other problem that he'd gone and hidden? It was beginning to become a theme that wolves here were quite disappointing. Perhaps it was just recent days though.

Arbiter was perfectly at home here, but she watched him with skepticism. It would be a silly thing for a wolf to not be able to tolerate an oversized hill. If he wanted something dangerous, he only needed to look elsewhere down the same range. The Sunspire itself was tame in comparison.
Arbiter is often not a nice person and will think mean things without acting on them.
If you aren't sure whether her snarky thoughts might be readable, just ask!  IC≠OOC
179 Posts
Ooc — Starrlight
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#4
Im slow with Zane, so I'm cool with either! If you wanna wrap older things up, that's fine by me <3 but if you needed this long for something I can keep it up

Ohhhh shit.  It was her.  Zane's ears tipped back as she ribbed him for it, but he wasn't fazed.  Look, hills are fine.  If I trip on a hill, I don't go ass over head down a fucking cliff drop.  This here is a nightmare.  Mountains were apparently destined to be a theme for him, though.  

What, hunting do we just chase 'em off the drop ourselves?  Actually, now that he'd said it, that didn't sound so dumb.  Would that work?
nomen est omen
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Ooc — Jennifer
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#5
It wasn't like Arbiter would humor him really. Not everywhere is like that. But you can, once you know the mountain. Terrain is always to be used to your advantage. She felt like she was talking to one of her children -- specifically the younger ones. He was somewhat childish. Maybe more than somewhat. Past behavior and now should probably both be brought into consideration. He was far too old to be childish in the ways he was. Not enough teeth driven into his hide.

Plenty of the slopes you can chase across or down. It takes more practice and planning than flat land, but perfectly doable. If you think this mountain is dangerous, I'd suggest against visiting some of those to the west. There were... what? Two or three mountains or other rocky outcropping type places that direction that were far more dangerous to traverse than Sunspire. She hadn't been there in ages, so it wasn't like she was remembering exactly.
Arbiter is often not a nice person and will think mean things without acting on them.
If you aren't sure whether her snarky thoughts might be readable, just ask!  IC≠OOC
179 Posts
Ooc — Starrlight
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#6
Though Zane didn't know it, Arbiter had him dead to rights.  He was a wolf who refused to grow up for a whole lot of reasons and half the time even he forgot his own age.  There would inevitably be a time when that caught up to him, but for now, he continued to swagger through life like a 2 year old bachelor.

Yeah, sure.  He was still dubious, but she made it sound so fuckin simple that he wasn't going to argue.  He'd already admitted to not knowing jack shit about life on a mountain anyway, so no use digging that hole deeper.

Still.  You're saying you don't feel anything, bein up here with that, he indicated the nearby cliff's edge, right there?  Way I see it, you either got some kind of death wish or you're part bird.  He laughed, a short guffaw.  Actually, that second one.  You got the stare of a hawk down, must be why.  

He meant it entirely as a compliment and didn't even think of the danger that it might be taken otherwise.
nomen est omen
1,069 Posts
Ooc — Jennifer
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#7
He did wear at her patience in many ways. But Arbiter didn't answer right away. There was the cold stare, a tip of her head. Was that on purpose? Probably. But with her it was hard to tell -- though really was it much of a stretch to think she might enjoy him suffering in the silence? That awkward void which she let hang there while he contemplated his very existence or whatever might be going on between his ears? Her expression was as flat as always, I lived here before. It's fine. Perhaps you just need better experience. We could go farther up and ensure there are no coyotes attempting to den towards the upper slopes. Was she kidding? Uhh. Yeah, uncertain. It was Arbiter

However, it was a perfectly reasonable thing for her to suggest and do if taken out of context. There was no question that if she did find some other intruder that she'd chase it down and kill it, and would thus expect him to help. Zane was on thin enough ice as it was. It was also clear that she was watching to see what kind of response he'd give -- predatory as always, as Zane had noted before.
Arbiter is often not a nice person and will think mean things without acting on them.
If you aren't sure whether her snarky thoughts might be readable, just ask!  IC≠OOC
179 Posts
Ooc — Starrlight
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#8
Fucking hell, she wanted to fight coyotes on the upper slopes?!  If a wolf could go pale, Zane would have turned a color closer to hers than his.  He hated everything about that idea and had a sudden mental image of a coyote kickin him off and watchin him spiral down the side of the mountain.  It was cartoonish but (to him) deeply unfunny.

Ahhhh, actually, I gotta check on some dens in the lower slopes.  Actually saw a couple and chased 'm both off the other day, course.  But I gotta check and make sure the little shits didn't come back, since I roughed them up pretty fuckin good but they took off afore I could finish it.  He was lying out of his ass but there was no way he'd be joinin her upper reaches strike force.  She could go get short stuff for that - her kid seemed to like throwing himself at that stupid shit anyway.
nomen est omen
1,069 Posts
Ooc — Jennifer
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#9
There were plenty of excuses that would have been fine -- that would have easily hid cowardice. Even a simple "nah, I'll come on the patrol" would have sufficed.. But no, Zane went a bit over the top and picked something particularly unlikely. Lying wasn't the way out when it practically reeked of his irrational fear -- or so was her conclusion at least.

She gave him a long look, How disappointing. And that was apparently all that needed to be said. In a way she said it almost blandly. Like it was expected. Zane had met her expectations by utterly failing the ones she expected of her wolves. Did she have do the equivalent of saying she expected him to fail his math test? Had he been her child, that would perhaps be the most cruel response she could give.

But part of the thing about watching, waiting, was to see what he'd do. Did he really "have" to go? Would he actually stick to his guns or would he suddenly have a change of heart when Arbiter saw right through him? She did shift her weight forward, but that was all. She'd only remain to deal with his antics for so long though.
Arbiter is often not a nice person and will think mean things without acting on them.
If you aren't sure whether her snarky thoughts might be readable, just ask!  IC≠OOC
179 Posts
Ooc — Starrlight
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#10
gonna wrap this!

Zane's ears went back only briefly when she made that comment. Then he shrugged. Whatever you say. It wasn't mocking, but it was careless. He planned to go either way, and he'd make a show of it. He wouldn't find any actual dens (of course) but hiking around the lower reaches for no reason was way better than scaling up. She could take her disappointment and see if she could fly with it.

It likely wasn't much of a surprise Zane didn't last much longer in Legion. If Arbiter didn't get sick of his shit and chase him out, likely he disappeared without a word.