Duskfire Glacier can i get a long island iced tea please?

@Tzila

how long had it'd been since he'd traveled this far east? months? years?? nostalgia felt like a warm blanket in winter, and astaroth embraced it's much needed grasp. inky feet lead the nose of the wayward vagabond through thickets of brush, over hills, across rivers, until eventually it plopped him close to the doorstep of strangers. he wasn't the brightest of individuals, but he knew well to keep his distance. even so, he was a curious man with the heart of an adventurous child, and he tiptoed near to get the most the wind could offer him.

ah, the scent of companionship. unique aromas woven together as one, stitch by stitch. it'd been some time since he'd been in the company of others, as it'd been just him and his younger haywire brother for the past few seasons. the ebony wayfarer sucked in a another breath before continuing along the edge of the territory at a respectable distance, amber stained eyes watchful for any signs of life beyond the borders.

Veteran had thought it was his father prowling the border, and so he wasted no time in bounding out into the open, sliding on the gravely terrain where the ice of the glacier faded into the moraine. 

"Dad! Lemme help," he called, because he had been told over and over that he was supposed to ask permission before just jetting out to the borderlands. 

Veteran didn't actually wait for a response before he began his trek across the moraine. "You s'posed to tell me when is time to pa-tole!!" He chastised his father at the top of his voice, aggravated that Wintersbane had started the border patrol without him.

OOC: Let the drama begin! Also, permission given from Asta's player for powerplay.

Strangers lurking outside or near the borders was an occurrence that Tzila had long grown accustomed to in her role at Duskfire Glacier. With her children fully weaned and she back to 100 percent, she could now focus on dividing her time between parenting and perimeter checks. Not that balancing such was easy. She was insistent in encouraging her sons and daughter to accompany her, but not forceful. At this age in their lives, they needed to learn and experience the fundamentals of territorial border upkeep and handling guests. Today she let the children come of their own accord, suspecting that Ensio was close by.

What she was not expecting, was that this loner was no stranger to her at all. He wasn't alone. Veteran was already here, shooting towards them. Calling out, mistaking the male for his father, and her mate. Wintersbane. At a distance to the untrained eye, especially a young one, their was some similarity. Both were dark furred. Both large in stature. The differences stopped there. The scent was wrong, all wrong. But she knew it all too well. Astaroth.

Within her, his smell and the mere sight of his visage stirred up a flood of emotions. None of them positive. Her moonlit eyes hardened, narrowing. Hurt, anger, sorrow and rage blossomed anew in her chest. The darkness long locked away stirred, rising to the surface in slow, blackened wisps. In her, a shard of her old self was awakened. But in the past year, Tzila had been reborn, though would always retain an element of dark instability, triggered if pushed just that one bit too far. 

Veteran's presence, the son of her close friend Lane, forced her to cling to some small shred of rationality. He was but a child, never having witnessed raw violence and power before. She must control herself, for his sake, to save him from being blinded by a terrible fright. She called out. "Veteran...no! You are mistaken. He is not your father!" She rushed forward to place herself between the two before Veteran could get any closer.

That didn't mean Astaroth would escape the brunt of her anger. He was not trespassing by any means. That wasn't it at all, or that Veteran had been a little too close. Oh no. Her reasons were much more personal. Turning, every muscle in her body tensing, she carried herself with the posture of a leader. Imposing. Looming. Scarlet caped hackles spiked, tail held high. "You." She drawled in a low, ominous voice. Her posture shifted, head lowering mincingly to align with her spine. Then she struck, launching herself to pin his body beneath hers in nothing short of a brutal display of dominance and rage. Her lips curled, tongue furling out between ivory teeth. "How dare you show your face around here again!!"

Ensio had not been far away when the commotion broke out. Following either his mom or dad on border checks was becoming increasingly common for the boy. He wanted to soak it all in and to learn. Besides, he got to see more of his vast glacier home while he was at it. And it meant he might even run into wolves he hadn't met before! It couldn't get much better than that.

He heard his mother. She was using a voice that he had never heard before. It hardly sounded like her at all. Confusion and concern flitted over his sooty brow, blue eyes blinking with boyish innocence. Oh! And Veteran was there! Great! He always loved any time he could get hanging around his more reserved cousin. Slinking up on soft paws, with a fumble or two here and there, he chuffed to his agemate. There on the ground, under his visibly upset mother, was a wolf he never saw before. His ears flattened, contemplating. Well...if he had done something to make her upset like this, he should tell him off too! "Rrrr...r-raaghh!" He used his biggest baddest bark. Though it was more cute than intimidating.

and unsurprisingly, life did show itself, though not in the form he expected. a child, young and naïve, came charging at him with determination and intensity the inky vagabond had not anticipated. though on some level of cute, the child's mistake was all but appreciated, and asta was quick to take a few wobbly steps backwards as the fur along his spine raised out of fear. should an adult witness the situation and mistake him for a threat, the interaction would turn sour before he could blink.

"i ain't your daddy", he shot out as he turned to shoo off the child back to the safety of his home. too late. not a second later and his fear had manifested into reality like a bad dream come true. unlike tzila, in the fit of nervousness and fear, astaroth did not immediately recognize any form of familiarity the woman might have presented. his only concern was escaping her misguided wrath.

"oi, i didn't do nothin!", he shrieked out as she charged at him with burning rage. the actual fuck was going on? she was upon him before he even had time to think about bolting, and his body hit the ground with a violent thud and seething "motherfuc-", that was cut short by the pain now coursing through his shoulder. "what the hell do you mean again?", the confusion was genuine up until the moment he finally had a chance to take in her features. well shit.

"tzila?"

the other youth, despite his poor attempt of intimidation, went ignored for now.

Veteran stopped hard in his tracks when the man's words rang out. Everything about his voice was wrong-- cadence, tone, word choice, accent.. it wasn't Dad. Cold dread washed over him like a bucket of ice water, and for a fleeting moment both the stranger and Veteran wore the same look of terror.

The boy had never been more glad to see Tzila, who had been much more constant in his short life than his own mother. He gratefully allowed himself to be corralled off to the side with Ensio so the real guardian could handle things. Young as he was, he understood just how close he had come to uncertain harm, and how lucky he was that Tzila had come to the rescue. 

Both Tzila and Ensio seemed to innately know that this was a very bad guy, wasting no time in shouting and growling and-- oh, yep-- attacking. Veteran took a step forward to gently block Ensio with his shoulder, "holding back" the little spitfire just in case the other boy decided that Tzila needed some help. It was an instinctive move for Veteran, since he had to frequently and similarly hold back his sister from flinging herself at danger. 

"Who is that?" Veteran asked Ensio, gaze still fixated on the fight going down. "He's bad?" Well, that seemed kind of obvious. "Your mom hates him." How did Tzila know the bad guy? Tzila had shouted, "how dare you show your face around here again!" so Veteran assumed that he was some ex-packmate who had done something terrible during his time at the Glacier. He'd heard stories about bad guys in exile, and he knew it was the job of the Glacier's brave guardians and warriors to protect the pack from likes of them.

Imaq was, without a doubt, an overprotective mother. She could not let Siku out of her sight without the horrid image of the empty grass where she'd left Ikila flashing through her mind, reminding her what had happened the last time she left one of her cubs unattended. Still, she could not keep the boy at her side for the rest of his life and tried to allow the growing pup room to discover and grow for himself. 

It was a big step for her, leaving him in @Meerkat's trustworthy paws. It had been so hard walking away, even hearing Siku laughing with the new mentor that he idolized as she trotted away. The maternal part of her heart had screamed for her to go back and stay with him. She had refrained, of course -- not wanting to make a scene. And on some level, Seelie recognized that it was good for her son to spend time in the company of his other packmates. The Redhawk was more than competent and though Siku was a bit young for coaching just yet, she knew the younger she-wolf was dying for the chance to babysit. In short, she was the perfect candidate for the job. 

It had been sometime since Imaq had contributed anything to the Glacier and her rank had fallen to reflect such. The former Gamma was determined to put in the work to climb back through the ranks to her former position, to quit being a freeloader -- even if she did have a pretty good excuse, having secluded herself away to birth her son. She beelined for the borders after dropping off Sikuliak, feeling her mind settle with the simple but enjoyable task. 


Until a commotion up ahead sent alarm jolting through her chest and spurred the she-dog into a gallop, heart pounding as she raced towards the sounds of her tribe sister's cries and the snapping, snarling of conflict. The sight of the children so close to a stranger sent fear spiking icily through her bloodstream, soft noises escaping her as she trotted to the boys' -- attempting to gently nose both Veteran and Ensio for injuries before placing herself protectively between them and the two wolves. 

Tzila seemed to have the situation under control but even so, Imaq shifted into a defensive crouch as her ears flattened and her lips pulled back in a territorial snarl. She assumed the male was a trespasser, keeping her tropical hues locked on him as a low growl rumbled in the shadow's direction -- urging him to comply with her Alpha if he did not wish to feel two sets of fangs in his skin. 

Suddenly she found herself wishing that Veteran and Ensio weren't out this way, with her at the borders. But, had they not been, there was no telling how far her control would go when intercepting Astaroth. Her attack had been swift and clinical, but not severe. She did not and would not draw blood from the man this day. He didn't deserve that much. 

Unrelenting, she did her best to keep him pinned beneath her quivering form. Now that she had him here, she'd be damned if he was going anywhere. In some small section of her mind, she considered calling for backup. She dismissed it. Astaroth technically wasn't on claimed land, but he was still too close for comfort. Besides, the matter at hand, between her and him, was theirs alone. She didn't have to wait long until she heard Imaq arrive, bristling with motherly protection. The existence of her pack mates had been forgotten; reduced to blurry shapes in the background. Only when the racing of her heart pounding in her ears subside slightly, did she look to them. In that second, her harsh features softened some. Just enough to showcase her alliance and bond with these wolves she loved and cared for. 

"He is no threat to us." She deduced. Were Astaroth the same man she knew from a year ago, then her words were true. She knew him hardly to be the fighting type, or the kind of wolf who snatched pups away, or harbored ill intentions. If anything, she had found him almost to be too soft for her liking, at times. "I know this man personally. We have...a history together." Turning back to her ex-lover, her face contorted severely again. Forcibly, she pressed her nose in amongst the furs of his nape. Blowing harshly, searching with deep intensity. Nothing. She had hoped for a moment that she would find a wisp of their son's scent on his fur, but there was only Astaroth himself.

She reeled her head back just so, to glower down at him. "You said a few months. Now, a year later, nearly everything and everyone you know is gone. Including our son!"

OOC: Quick post from my bby. <3

His friend and half sibling, Veteran, moved to protectively block him from stepping any closer to the unfolding chaos between his mother and the stranger. "He must be if he made mommy so upset." He deduced, too young of mind to understand the complexities of a broken relationship and the hurt laced within. His entire pale body quivered, not with fear, but with tension. Forcing himself to sit down and not to squirm, he watched on with cold blue eyes.

despite that fact that it was a familiar face that had shoved him to the earth's floor did not make astaroth any less fearful than he had been before. he wiggled uncomfortably beneath the ink and russet woman, ear pressed flat against his skull as yet another figure appeared hazily in the background. how many were there now around him? ah the numbers didn't matter really - it was too many for him to want to stick around any longer.

but unsurprisingly, tzila was far more than he could manage, and any poor attempt he tried to use to slither away was in vain as she remained in place to tower over him. her unwelcomed intimacy made his toes curl inward and his body go stiff until she pulled herself away to shout once more. her words were the truth, and they stung like alcohol on a fresh wound.

"you're right", was all he managed to mutter out as his face contorted into one of self-disappointment and discomfort. all other words were lost in the twisted labyrinth of his mind. his stomach did flips at the realization of the woman's words. his son was gone. his friends were gone. and any who remained who might have once known him may be less than willing to meet on good terms. he'd messed up, and no amount of 'i'm sorry' was going to account for his mistakes. he could only admit the truth, and face whatever consequences that came with it.

Veteran leaned against his half-brother, his whole body humming with nervous energy. "Is she going to kill him?" he asked Ensio, sounding a little more hopeful than was probably appropriate. Even as he asked, the situation seemed to be cooling off. The bad guy stayed on the ground. He barely even fought back! Boo! Boring! You can't kill a wolf that won't fight back. His mother had told him so. 

Snippets of Tzila's growled words were audible to little audience. Veteran's ears flew to attention at Tzila's mention of their "history."

 "Oh shit," Veteran said, airing out one of the forbidden phrases, since his mom wasn't around to scold him. "Didja hear that?" he asked, nudging Ensio. "Your mom gots another son. With him. YOU got a big brother! Didja know that, 'Nsio? Hmm?" Veteran became even more fixated on the scene, if that was possible, watching events unfold with eyes like saucers.

The little princess had followed her mother out of a sense of duty as future queen. She didn’t enjoy patrolling like her brothers, in fact she hated it. It felt like work! WORK! That was SO peasant like and she despised that feeling. She huffed behind her mother, dragging her feet behind both her and Ensio. She hated work. Hated, hated, hated! She didn’t sniff out the stranger like her mother did, but she did see her come flying through the air, like a black devil in disguise she barred her fangs and came toward the dark man. Veteran was already there, and if her eyes hadn’t been glued to the scene unfolding, she would have rolled her eyes at the sight of Vetaran.

Her mother showed her something interesting today. She showed herself in a whole new light. Admittedly Makatza had never been too fond of her own mother, not like she was of Wintersbane. Today however she was rough. Ruthless and cold. Something she could relate to, a little too well already. She saw her brother yap at the trespasser. Pathetic. She stayed a little bit away as another adult came to the scene, scurrying the boys to the side. Should the woman try and herd on Makatza she would move herself away from her and send her a daggery look. She was staying right there and watching. She had to see this, had to hear this.

She couldn’t hear the conversation between the two boys, but the conversation between the stranger and her mother was crystal clear and she did not like what she heard. She felt something deep within her stir, something disturbing, something she had never felt before, but it would not be the last. She rushed toward her mother and the stranger and while the little lady seemed innocent enough, she was far from it.

Like mother, like daughter. She bit toward his face. Anything would do. An eye, a lip, part of an ear, something on his stupid, stupid face to take it away from him. If she got a hold of anything she would not let go. She would hold on with her sharp little fangs until she tasted blood. She had never tasted another wolf’s blood, but now she wanted to more than anything. She hated him. She hated him but loved him anyway. She hated how he came and brought news of some contester to the throne that was rightfully hers. Loved him for bringing some much-needed drama into her life.

She was unwilling to bend on this. She wanted his blood. Should she be so lucky as to get some of it in her tiny little mouth, she would smile at him. She liked this, she loved it. Drama, blood, a history. Juicy details were needed later.

The boys' conversation went ignored for the most part, save for a wayward, flickering aud of honey and nutmeg, the she-dog's strange gaze flickering silently to Tzila as she relaxed slightly. With the rest of the words that followed, it quickly became clear to the huntress that her help was unneeded -- and possibly unwelcome in this personal regard. 

Imaq was uncertain whether or not Tzila had been promoted to lead alongside Wintersbane, the details were fuzzy in her postpartum brain, but she dipped her head in a respectful gesture all the same. Her aquamarines flitted back to Ensio and Veteran briefly, lips parting but sound failing when she finally caught sight of Makatza -- lunging from behind the blackbird's rubied haunches to attack the he-wolf her mother held at bay. 

Imaq jerked in place indecisevely. On one paw, she was reluctant to rush forward and snatch up another woman's child -- even if it was out of good intentions. On the other, Tzila had her own paws full keeping Astaroth on the ground. She hesitated, allowing the warrior a chance to deal with her daughter alone, before asking, "Tzila want Imaq should take cubs home, find Wintersbane?" In her nerves regarding the entire ordeal, the syntax of her query was skewered.

Unsurprisingly, Astaroth did not try to flee or fight back. He only uttered an acknowledgement of her accusations. It did little to quell the storm of emotions brewing within her, but she could not bring herself to harm him. She wanted answers. Having been caught up in the confrontation, everything else was distant background noise, tuned out.

Then Makatza, her daughter rushed in. Tiny fangs bared, nipping and slicing at any part of his face they could reach. It was one thing when Tzila used severe displays of dominance, although physically, she had not harmed him. It was much different story in the case of her daughter however. And she would not stand for it. "Makatza!" She bellowed with a snap. "That is enough! This doesn't involve you." 

Without giving her the chance to get another nip in, she firmly scruffed the child and set her aside. Imaq's request had not gone unheard. To the cur, she nodded appreciatively, stress written on her face. "Take them home, please. I will meet with Wintersbane later. Right now, I need a few moments in private...with him." An ear flicked back to Astaroth. She hadn't forgiven him, but she certainly hoped her wrathful daughter had not inflicted too much harm.

Veteran was beside himself with excitement given all the action and drama, and he was more than a little curious about the connection of Tzila-- his new hero- to the strange man pinned upon the ground (which, by the way, was a technique he would definitely be practicing with Wayfarer the next time they trained). So it was with great reluctance that he cut short his conversation with Ensio when Imaq bid him to follow. 

He would do as he was told, but the whole way back to the rendezvous point Imaq would find herself peppered with questions about the stranger-- questions that she likely couldn't have answered even if that had been her desire. 

Skipping Astaroth since he's inactive. Last post from Veteran. 

Edit: I think it's appropriate to fade here and archive, since several participants including the thread starter are inactive. Feel free to revive if you want to continue, Mai or Eoran!