Blacktail Deer Plateau rattlin' bones

She returned to the plateau empty-handed, her happy bubble effectively burst. Junior skulked up the towpath and prowled through the woods to the whelping den, intending to slump down there and nap. When she arrived there, however, she felt too fidgety. Instead, she bypassed the den and made her way to a nearby brook for a drink. She passed a cache on the way but didn't bother. For the first time in weeks, she wasn't hungry.

When she reached the creek, she took a drink, then settled on the bank with a sigh. Catching sight of her rippling reflection, she leaned forward, waiting for the water to calm. When she saw her image mirrored back, she frowned. She looked like a bony mess. Both Tytonidae and Saēna were a lot curvier than this. Junior was all sharp angles. She looked... boyish, she decided. Feeling a surge of hate for her body, she tore her eyes forcefully away from the water and glowered at the nearest tree.

Hey hey! Assuming Junior isn't jumping in on the aktaie thread (not even sure I spelled that right, hate mobile posting. )

Dante had just been thinking about looking for Junior when he happened to run into her on the bank of the creek. The encounter with the woman on the borders had been on his mind, so he took a detour. "Hey," he greeted her, sitting down next to her.

"One of your Amazons came by. She wanted to tell your father you had disappeared." He looked at her curiously. "You left without saying anything?" There was no disapproval, only a question in his words.

When Dante appeared, Junior wanted to shrink away and hide. She liked him and she didn't want him looking at her, not when she felt like an ugly mess. But she didn't really have much of a choice. It was a good thing eye contact was considered disrespectful among wolf-kind; Junior could barely bring herself to look at him.

And when he admonished her for not leaving the Nereides under the best circumstances, her ears flattened. "They didn't deserve a goodbye," she replied defensively. "Do you know how they view males?" Despite herself, Junior now looked sharply at him. "They think males are beneath them. Males are always at the bottom of the hierarchy, even below female pups, no matter how much they contribute. And the sisters even beat them." She looked away again, ashamed of her involvement with them, however brief.

Though his tone had not been accusatory, she must have sensed his reason behind bringing up the subject, for her words were defensive. He hadn't meant to raise her ire, but the subject might have been a touchy one. "I am glad that you saw the error in their ways, then. None should be deemed unworthy by such shallow standards." He frowned. Would this pack be a problem in their future? The leader had seemed respectful enough in her previous visit, but if she did not see him as an equal, he could not be sure. Hopefully it would come to nothing. He did not understand what could cause a wolf to be so narrow-minded. Even in his birth pack, women had been warriors right alongside the males, their positions just as solid. His father's favored Captain had been female, a hardy fighter and shrewd tactician. It was strange to think they had gotten something right that this new pack had not yet grasped.

"But that still doesn't change the fact that you pledged yourself. It's not my place to say what you should or shouldn't do, nor would I want to. But if it were me, I would feel better tying up loose ends. I didn't tell them you were here. So it's entirely your call." He had to grin a bit at her. "If you want, I could escort you. Sounds as though they'd just love that." Perhaps not the most Alpha-like thing to do, wishing to bait a pack that was forming so closely, yet he figured he could get a pass for doing so with good intentions. He wasn't about to let Junior go alone if he could help it, no matter what Aktaie had said about not meaning her harm.

If anyone else had told her to tie up loose ends with the Nereides, the adolescent might have told him or her to fuck off. This was Dante, though, and Junior not only liked and admired him, she wanted him to like and admire her as well. She chewed on her lower lip, staring thoughtfully at her small black feet a moment, then glanced up at him. Her mouth opened, then shut, then opened again.

"I'll think about it. But what if they try to trap me or brainwash me?" Junior asked with a flair for the dramatic. "And if you went, they might try to kill you." It didn't occur to her that she might have misconstrued the sisterhood's beliefs, exaggerating their worst aspects. She truly believed that they might try something like that if she and Dante showed up there.

"But if you insist..." she added after a few shallow breaths that were not quite huffs. Smiling sideways at him and fighting the lack of self-esteem demanding she drop her eyes again, Junior said, "I wouldn't mind spending more time with you."

For some reason I always seem to get migraines on Sundays -.- wierdness. Finally got it down to where I can post some though :)

Dante didn't want to sound like he was lecturing, but he knew he had done just that. Still, a pack family didn't only support one another. They also called one another out when the felt it necessary. And in this moment, he at least needed to let her know how he felt on the issue. What she did with it was up to her.

The leader who he had met did not seem the type to attack another on a peaceful visit, but she did know them better. Her concern wasn't going to stop him, but it would make him proceed with even more caution than usual. He wasn't fond of leaving the territory but was sure Blue Willow would be fine for the short time it would require. They were rather close to the coast after all.

"If you do, let me know." He would leave it at that. She would come to him if she wished to go and for him to accompany her, so he wasn't going to press for a timeline of any sort. She was old enough now to decide that for herself. "How was your time away? Were you with them the whole time?" He was curious as to what sorts of places she had traveled and if she had been to any of his old haunts. He'd seen quite a bit of these lands before settling down here.

Hope it goes away soon!

She said nothing, sensing that Dante wanted to let it rest. She did too, of course. She would give it some serious thought — only because he'd asked — but Junior definitely didn't want to think about it right now. The Alpha male queried about her adventures beyond the plateau and she cocked her head, chewing thoughtfully on her lip as she paged through her mental catalog.

"Most of the time I was gone, I was at the sound. I helped them find the territory and claim it," she began, "but then I had... I guess you could call it an 'aha!' moment. I left. I traveled wherever my feet took me for a while. I actually really enjoyed myself and the... freedom of it all." Junior's mismatched eyes cut to his face briefly, hoping he wouldn't disapprove of this candid admission. It was part of why she was an Outrider. "But eventually the hunger drove me home... and the fact that I missed everybody!" she added hastily, realizing how that sounded.

"That's why I look like such a nasty bag of bones," she groused under her breath the next moment, swallowing and frowning thoughtfully at her black toes.

Dante listened quietly, quite the opposite of disapproving - he understood. His time as a loner had been, well, lonely, but it had also been liberating. There was a good deal of freedom in knowing that the only opinions, and the only responsibilities, that mattered were your own.

"Well I'm glad something brought you back." He looked at her, "though I disagree about that. You look lovely." She was at an age where such thoughts and self-awareness weren't uncommon. However he didn't see what she saw. Honestly Dante wasn't one to dwell on looks, an indivual's personality almost always overwhelming their physical impression on him. And Junior's personality was such that he could never term her just a 'bag of bones'.

"Wandering seems it would be more fun when you have a home to return to," Dante added thoughtfully. He wondered if she was back for good or if she would again decide to pick up and head out. He wasn't going to ask, since he was just happy she was home, but he would likely keep an eye on her in the future.

"You look lovely."

He might as well have said nothing else because Junior promptly forgot everything that came before that and simply didn't hear anything that came after. Although she badly wanted to disagree with him and point out all her flaws, she simply basked in these three words for a few beats. Butterflies danced in her stomach and she acknowledged in a slightly wry inner voice, Damn, you've got it bad for him, don't you?

At length, she blinked back into focus, smiling demurely at her handsome counterpart. She tried to mentally backpedal to gather what he'd last said, failed at it and simply breathed, "Thanks, Dante." Her eyes were rather starry as she regarded him.

But it only took a few seconds for self-consciousness to begin bursting Junior's bubble as she realized she might have sounded inattentive at best and dumb at worst. "You're a good friend and you're going to be a phantasmagorical Alpha," she told him, trying to recover. She was unaware that she'd just entirely misused that large word, likely making herself look a bit like an ass.

close this guy up? ^^

Her word usage and it's unintended truthfulness amused him. His head had been quite phantasmagorical these days. "Thanks, Junior. That means a lot." He was glad her confidence in him was unshakable, his was decidedly less stable.

"Guess I should probably go get a start on that, huh?" He turned to leave, then glanced back. "I look forward to hearing more outrider stories. I don't get out much nowadays, not that I ever did, so it's nice to hear about what's going on. Let me know if you go out again?" He wanted to get more in tune with the movements of the packs around them and their standing amongst the many groups.

When Dante made to leave, Junior fought the urge to beg him to stick around a bit longer. He was an Alpha now; he had things to do. Besides, she didn't want to look like a stupid child with a silly crush. She wanted him to take her seriously. Yet she couldn't help the slightly wistful look that came over her dark face.

"Okay. And I really will think about the Nereides. I'll let you know," Junior called after him, watching dat ass as he moved out of sight. She had a lot to think about but at least she was a little cheered by their encounter.