Lion Head Mesa Disinterested eyes

@Merrick joining thread

She was alone - again - as always.

Sick of being alone. Tired and too old to be alone. She was walking, always walking and hunting. Collecting plants and flowers, herbs and the like. Collecting like some sort of hoarder. She had no use, no purpose for these things. She knew though that someday these things would be needed. She carried several different things in her mouth. A dead mouse, lavender and some sort of plant she had never seen before, but she wanted to experiment with.

She was hunched toward the ground, careful to not be spotted by anyone unwelcome to her domain. She soon arrived to a small make shift den. It was mostly just a hollow den in-between tree roots. She carefully placed the object there and sorted through the items, watching them. Then she ate the mouse. She had always been lanky and slender to look at, but lately she had lost weight. She was getting older - not fit for much else but watching plants and herbs. She couldn't hunt as well as when she was younger.

She sighed as she looked at the collection of different herbs and plants in her small den, there was barely room for herself in there but she had been careful to split plants up by category and organize it as well as she could. She looked things over with a certain disinterest. All this for nothing.

merrick looked forever at the line of mountains.
there was no loneliness in him. there was a suspended sense of sorrow, but its cobweb edges had been blown away by the air of maddened focus that encircled merrick as if it were a crown of thorns.
this place was filled too far with coyote. they reminded him of his own blood; of the ones he had maimed and tortured and killed, both alone and with those he loved — or once had.
his teeth gnashed in the night for their scent, for but one to feed his fevered lust until he might truly feast;
and now he found himself tormented and hunting in daytime light for something else.
the wind brought the man the dusty scent of gathered herbs and he veered toward it, mindless.

She was deep in thought and moving around on her herbs when she scented someone else coming. She turned with a sharp twist and her lips curled upward in an “almost” snarl, until she saw it was just another wolf. The words that snapped from her lips were harsh sounding. ”What?” She then recognized the harshness of her own words. Her lips fell down again as if realizing she was speaking to someone. ”What can I do for you?”

Saved. She hoped. She didn’t mean to be rude, she just was at times, harsh in her words, over all harsh. Not used to the company of others. She looked the male over and felt – nervous? He was darker than herself, much more fit and healthier looking. Slate, who was on the skinny side due to her loner nature, suddenly felt very self-aware.

Did he mean to hurt her? Claim her? She took her nervous look around. Where could she escape to? Where could she go? Friend or foe? She looked at him again and not until now did she see his battle scars. And there were many. He was missing an eye, his face scattered with scars like stars on a starry night. Her gaze shifted again, uncertain. He was clearly a fighter, and she wasn’t. He could easily do something horrid to her and it made her uncomfortable.

”Do you need medicine?” She took a quiet step toward her home made den and took a glance toward her herbs. None of his scars were recent obvious, not the ones she could see anyway. She wasn’t sure of the outcome of this encounter, and it made her uncomfortable as hell. She didn’t take her eyes off the stranger. She was scared. Like a wild prey animal, she felt cornered and so very lonely. This was why she needed a pack. Protection.

merrick's prowling rewarded him with the sight and voice of another. she was rangy and aged, and ferocious as a badger in her set along the dark red earth. the man's nostrils flared as she approached. 
the scent of her fear intoxicated the bearwitch. "not medicine."
merrick wondered how her blood might taste, and advanced a step. she did not carry the scent of the mesa-dwellers, and she was not one of ursus' own.
merrick hoped to terrify her, and laughed softly. "perhaps you might tell me why you are here. alone." his voice was light, frothy, conversational.
but the remaining eye did not blink.

"not medicine"

The hair on her back rose like a cat feeling threatened. She almost arched when she pushed herself further into her den, cornering herself. She was terrified, so if that was his goal he certainly succeeded. He laughed and it urged Slate to almost turn her frown into a snarl, but she resisted the urge. "perhaps you might tell me why you are here. alone."

Cause no one wanted her.

"I - "

Useless, they thought but she knew she wasn't useless, she knew her capabilities, she knew she was worth something, she was just rude at the same time, and that was rarely a good combination in the company of others. She wanted to say her honest two cents, but she had only experienced that it had gotten her nowhere but chased off. Maybe this nasty one was different? He was certainly watching her like he wanted to eat her, she wasn't sure if she even wanted to know his intentions.

"Circumstances." She snorted lightly and straightened out slightly. "I've tried joining packs in the past, with, obviously, not much luck. They don't want me."

She knew he was going to ask why that was so she decided to go on ahead and just say the truth. "I guess you could say I am not a sociable creature. I am rude when the mood strikes me, I am not pleasant company. But I know my plants and herbs, I am. Useful, should a pack ever give me the chance." She watched the other with much interest and took in every reaction he would give.

"So. Circumstances. I don't want to be alone. I am getting older. I need a pack. Maybe you know of one that could tolerate me?" Somehow she doubted that. But it was worth asking, even if he was a total creeper. She flicked her left ear to listen if there was anyone else around but him. Last thing she wanted was some sort of ambush cause he was catching her off guard.

merrick listened. she was alone and aged without the protection of a pack. this fired the bearwolf with bloodlust. 
he glanced along his shoulder. in the far distance, two wolves had come out of the mesa to presumably begin a patrol.
they would not see him if he struck, but her shrieks would carry far on flat earth. the bearwolf's tongue lolled, dripping saliva.
"i am merrick of ursus. my wolves and i are here from the mountains to avenge the murder of my mate." his answer was calm, for now merrick knew he could not kill her.
"that is akashingo., led by others." he gestured. "we work against a common enemy. anyone with knowledge of herbs will be useful to both of us. there will be wounds to tend."
a choice. had she ever received one before, this fearful, thorntongue old woman? merrick knew surely she did not understand how closely she had come to death this hour.

"i am merrick of ursus. my wolves and i are here from the mountains to avenge the murder of my mate." She listened as he had for her, and she waited for a few moments to make sure he had said everything he wanted. But there was more. "that is akashingo., led by others." he gestured. "we work against a common enemy. anyone with knowledge of herbs will be useful to both of us. there will be wounds to tend."

There was a pack out here? She had no idea, but she saw his gaze fall upon the patrolling wolves in the distance. She had seen a lot of activity out here lately, but she had avoided it, and knew nothing of any on going war or fighting. She knew little of anything sociable. But if a war was on the way she would be needed, she would be useful.

"I am Slate." She wondered if she should address the murder of his mate. She decided not to comment on it. The last thing she wanted was to upset the male, he seemed dangerous and she wasn't fit for fight.

"I will come with you Merrick of Ursus." A choice was made. She didn't know this Akashingo pack, she didn't know anything of Ursus either, but a pack that avenged it's dead and with a man leading it as dangerous as this one was bound to give her protection. She rose now, ended her crouch and her eyes swifted to her collection behind her.

She could leave it behind. No ties.

She took a fearful step toward Merrick then a stronger step and for each careful step she took, her confidence rose. What would Ursus bring her in the future? Time would tell. "Let's go to war." She would be there. Healing the wounded, being useful once again.

let's go to war
she was ready to leave now. merrick cocked his head slowly to one side. "should we bring your things?"
slate's immediate willingness to follow him had cooled some of the hunger he still held for her; he would find another substitute until the true conflict might begin.
his implication of help was clear. arielle had taught him some of these herbs. she might learn much more from this vagabond. "ursus serves the bears. it is understood that it is by their mercy that we are allowed to live." he watched her quietly, waiting for the tell-tale flicker of reluctance or mockery.
it was not something tolerable to merrick.

"should we bring your things?" She looked over her shoulder at her stuff. There was quiet a lot of it to bring along. She turned her back on Merrick for a second and took a few essentials. Something for wounds, pain and of course. Something dangerous. She put it all in a large dried leaf and with her jaws she folded it around itself. The essentials for war, things they could use in battle.

She looked at Merrick. "The rest I can gather again. This is what we need for the war." She was a logical being, so when Merrick suddenly spoke of bears and a belief system she froze. She had never had any belief system enforced upon her, she had encountered them before and been thrown to the gate for saying her two cents. She didn't like to lie or pretend, but she could keep neutral, right?

"The bears?" She asked with a certain curiosity. She knew what bears were, obviously. But what exactly he meant she didn't know. "You mean we serve the bears?" She felt quite confused by this sentence, she was trying to understand. Maybe she said the right things, maybe she didn't. There was no knowing from this man. She looked at her small package with herbs. She felt so uncomfortable around him, like she was handling a bomb and she had no skillset to deal with one.

"I can respect that." Bears were formidable creatures, she feared and respected them. She could go ahead and serve them too. If that was what he meant. She had no clue what this maniac was thinking of bears, were the gods? Monsters? Protectors? Maybe a little bit of everything? Either way she could deal. She picked up her package and readied herself to leave if Merrick was ready as well.

slate's narrow spine watered his mouth; he looked away until the woman turned back and was speaking once more. the bittering scent of leaves rose sharply. he was transported first to the valley and then to the mountain. 
to her credit, the woman did not react. merrick nodded. "ursus serves the bears. they speak through me, and i will say their words to the rest of you."
this time he did not look to see slate's face. the man's lopsided stare was reaching across the crimson grounds toward the high-rearing mesa. "this belief is particular only to ursus. not our — allies."
"among us you will find arielle. she is a young healer and has not yet seen battle. she will learn quickly."
"and in akashingo there is some boy or another. equally young. they call him a physician." so slate would have her own sort of alliance here, he supposed.
merrick lapsed into silence. he did not expect slate to respond so long as she carried her pouch of healing things.