Duskfire Glacier I will fall to the ground

Set prior to Capricorn joining the pack.

His waddling had taken him far from the caldera that had first enchanted him, almost to the other side of the wilds, in a week's time. He thought long and hard on his decision and ultimately decided that a newly forming pack wasn't his cup of tea. He was spoiled by his father's longevity as Alpha of Montem Aquilonem, as well as his place in line for the throne, which was forfeit now. He hadn't won the Beta rank, and knew now he wouldn't have won the Alpha one if ever it was contested. He wasn't extraordinarily ambitious, yet to say he wasn't motivated by class would have been a lie... and he desired a pack with an established hierarchy rather than a new, tumultuous one.

At some point, he came across a pack to the far east, but bypassed them save for a short while that he lingered to learn what he could. He swept north and west around an impressive mountain range only to find another, equally impressive range as he neared what could only be the coast. The temperature grew warmer as he moved further and further away from the central wilds. It was characteristic of the ocean.

But he never made it all the way to the ocean, for a splendid glacier in the distance caught his eye. It made up a part of the mountain range. This glacier had a similar effect on Capricorn as the caldera initially had. Without hesitation he began to waddle toward it and wasn't at all surprised when the scent of wolves—wolves who presumably had been here longer than those of the caldera—wafted forward on the breeze.

Danica wasn't feeling all that well. The stress of Njal and Larus' disappearances had taken a toll on the entire pack and the small family was being run ragged in the search. She'd hardly slept, a thing that didn't sit well with the she-wolf. She was used to getting her rest. Those damn cats had gotten them, though, and stolen their heart while they hadn't been watching. If it had been any but the children... but Danica had a soft spot for the pups, much as she refused to admit it.

Currently she was doggedly walking the perimeter, taking scents without much hope but moreso to just be doing something. She almost walked right by the miniscule figure who approached, but stopped short when movement caught her eye.

Dear god, please don't let him be wanting to join, she thought scathingly, not much in the mood for meeting anyone, let alone this sad excuse for a wolf. "Hey, what's your business here?!" she asked shortly, refraining at least from throwing in an insult.

He stopped at a respectable distance from the glacier. The scent of wolves was now unmistakable, but if one could draw a line around the claim, they would find him well outside it. Capricorn was no fool; even if he'd dared to draw closer, his instincts would eventually stop him. It was not the wolf's way to risk injury to itself for anything but noble or necessary reasons.

At length, he was found by a patrolling member of the pack. The female was of average stature, with a coat of white gold. Shots of brown streaked along her dorsal side. Her tone was brusque, but Capricorn couldn't blame her for that. A patrolling wolf must look intimidating to be taken seriously, and Danica was playing the part very well. He himself surely looked ridiculous when patrolling but, as he was a wolf whose only exposure was Montem Aquilonem, it was never brought into question. Even if someone did laugh, he could do just as much damage as any full-height wolf.

"Greetings," said Capricorn softly, beaming up at Danica and none the wiser that she thought he was sad. "I was just admiring. Your home is mighty impressive." With a grin he seated himself comfortably (for you see, he wasn't close enough to cause discomfort by doing so), and said, "I'm Capricorn, by the way. Capricorn de Septentrio."

Danica had never really operated with a whole lot of tact and this situation was to be no exception. "That it is," she responded, studying him somewhat intently. "Though I hope you are not getting any ideas. The Glacier needs warriors, not bait." Her tone was straight, not unfriendly but not joking either.

She didn't mean any aggression by the comment, but she did not hold back when it came to speaking her mind. And a part of her wanted to push this little wolf's buttons, see what his response to her comment was. He seemed the genial sort on first meeting, though were Danica in possession of such an absurd form she would certainly be even more bitter than she already was.

Though Danica was quick to write him off as inept, Capricorn continued to smile up at her, although the very corners of his smile faltered for just a moment. He'd never been subject to the sort of humiliation she was surely looking to cause, but his father had always told him to keep his head should discrimination ever come looking for him. This seemed to be the situation he was trained to brush off, but it would have been a lie to say he was unaffected. He hid it very well.

"Well, I like to think I have good ideas," said Capricorn, his smile broadening, "and this seems like a fine one." Swishing his tail, which was straightened on the ground behind him rather than curled like it usually was, he glanced at the glacier in the backdrop and then said, "you will be surprised to know I can bite as hard as you can. I seem to have the distinct advantage of being very hard to flip over." He was, after all, built half like a wolf and half like a valhund: he was a muscled male and his legs, though short, were thicker than hers.

Had he been more in the mood, Capricorn might have challenged her to flip him if she could, but of course he was being on his best behaviour. Father'd said he would never earn trust if he wasn't a perfect gentleman most of the time.

Danica was equal parts disappointment and respect when the smaller wolf(?) didn't rise to her banter, but instead responded with something akin to a challenge. It was one she wasn't going to push farther, for as much as she loved a fight, now wasn't really the time. Her focus and energy needed to be elsewhere.

"Touche," She shook her head, smiling. "Though I doubt you do much of the flipping either." This was said in a more friendly manner, though she still held herself somewhat warily. He was a stranger, after all, and she had a home to protect. She liked his spunk, though doubted he'd had much choice in it. It was likely a survival instinct, a result of a lifetime of ridicule and abuse. She could relate.

" 'Fraid not," Capricorn quipped with a wave of his tail across the ground, "but what's a good fight without an anklebiter?" He could sense that Danica's inutial reaction had changed, but didn't presume she was accepting of him. He was an anomaly and, though his skills were on par with any other wolf's save for not being the fastest and running out of stamina much faster, he could understand hesitation.

He wanted to say something more, but no words came. Capricorn was a creature comfortable in both silence and conversation, undaunted by long stretches alone... but social by nature. His preference was definitely not solitude. "Is your pack very old, then?" he asked, remembering his initial thought at Redhawk Caldera that it was new, and his recent observation that Duskfire seemed more established judging by the scents.

It was good that Capricorn was understanding of hesitation because Danica had quite a bit of it. To her rigid mind, held fast by her own sense of logic, it made absolutely no sense that a creature small as he could keep up with a full-size wolf in any capacity in a fight. Lucky for her the conversation had moved beyond such talk. On this matter, along with many others, it was likely her logic and reality did not quite line up.

"We are relatively new to these parts. Broke off from our old pack and moved ourselves up here. It was quite the journey, but you really can't beat the view." She was beginning to appreciate this new home more as she got used to it. "You are new here as well, I presume?" She hadn't met too many lone wolves around, and doubted they lasted long before joining up with a pack in a land that had so many to choose from.

Fade with your next post? :)

Capricorn's initial expectation that the pack had longer roots turned out to be a false one. Danica spoke of its newness in a way that suggested getting here was a great ordeal. If this was meant to lay the subject to rest, it didn't, for what Danica left unspoken implied the pack had a great history. Extraordinary packs usually did have some sort of story.

"I am," Capricorn said with a finality that said he didn't want to discuss himself. "Come, let us walk. Tell me how your pack came to be here." A second glance at the glacier enamoured him as much as the first had. He'd been unsure when he left the Caldera whether he'd ever go back there, and now he was certain he wouldn't. This was his place, this glacier... if he could only ease Danica enough to permit him passage.

Cool deal :)

Danica wasn't sure she wished to have storytime with this strange looking dog-wolf-creature, but she was intrigued as well. That and he'd been a relatively good sport with her jesting, so she'd throw him a bone this once.

"Alright, I suppose, though I'm not much of a storyteller." Her prose left something to be desired and she didn't engage in the practice much. Only with the young and then only stories that her father had imparted to her. Dwelling on the past was somewhat impractical to her, though it had it's merits she supposed if only to provide warning for the future. She wasn't about to let him cross the border (without Tuwawi's order, of course) but she could hang out here for a while. She had nothing better to do.