the reaper is not grim

The land from whence she had come was a distance from here, but the traveling was no bother. She came the Mountains and stopped at the sight of a River. First and foremost, Razorback was a wolf. She needed but one thing to be complete: a pack. The agouti wolf had found one, and made her way into it with no difficulty. Razorback had much to offer, and was a wolf whose loyalty lasted up until her leaders last breath.

She had been warned about the packs in which to beware of. And beware she would. For now, Razorback was focused on integrating herself into the land. It might not be theirs for much longer, but she would be a part of it so long as it was. Near the borders, Razorback moved to roll her body in the earth so that her scent would be another warning to those that thought it wise to come too close. And she was a reaper that felt no misery in performing her duties.

The ranks had thinned again, leaving behind a hard core of supporters. They would likely fill again as spring brought stragglers to their doorstep, but a major relocation was imminent and Bazi worried about ferrying children across so many hundreds of miles with less than two adults to a pup.

It relieved her therefore to see a newcomer doing her duties so diligently. Swiftcurrent's 'borders' were vague, like the red halo around a tick bite, and needed constant reinforcing to keep intruders at bay. Bazi could scarcely wait to have a mountain at her back.

"You'r new -" she called pleasantly to the rolling wolf, approaching with a confidently swaying tail and alert ears. This one was slight but healthy, with a sleek, feminine build and mottled colours that disguised her well. Bazi stopped a few paces away, and licked the fur around her lips. "Did Scimitar welcome you?"

After rolling on the snowy ground, Razorback noted her large imprint there. She did not mind the snow that clung to the edge of her furs, and given more would cling to her as she continued to rub along the ground here and there she did not move to shake it off. Her left ear cupped and rotated at the sound of the others approach, and Razorback swung her head in the direction of Bazi. The wolf before her was sleek and svelte, and the air about her allowed Razorback to know the woman's place. Razorback felt her ears flatten submissively and her body shift from a proud stand to a meek crouch, drinking in the woman's scent. It smelled like the man she had recently met who had accepted her in his ranks. This would be the woman Razorback also would obey.

When the woman had finished speaking, Razorback nodded and introduced herself curtly. Razorback, she introduced, her voice alto in its pitch. Her eyes averted to the woman's forehead, having no interest or desire to challenge her. The tawny being was obedient, to a T.

Bazi took Razorback's submission as an invitation to approach, and did so cautiously, neck extended to sniff at the new recruit. The mingled scent of long-distance travel still clung to her fur - she smelled of pines, and Elsewhere. The Alpha breathed it in, nostrils flaring and eyes curious. "Bazi," she introduced, studying Razorback's face intently. She was Bazi's age - no more than two, perhaps even younger. Her coat was clean, marked with a smattering of healed scars that were barely noticeable. She was a long, leggy thing, built for speed, but Bazi had learned not to pigeon-hole a wolf based on their physique - she might very well prefer warden duties to outriding.

"Scimitar's...," Oh, crap. Scimitar's what? ".. Alpha female," she settled on, making note to have 'The Talk' as soon as possible. "What has he already shared with you?" Moving plans? Shadow? .. BlackFeather Woods? The list of things to share was endless and almost exclusively bleak.

She could feel herself being scrutinized, but did not mind it. Her traveling had made her leaner than she normally was, and her diet had also changed her typical girth. In time she would fall back into her bulk. Although Razorback was by no means a mountain of a wolf, she was formidable in her stature. As Bazi inhaled her, Razorback did the same. Bazi now smelled like home. It was a scent she could get used to.

If Razorback noted the pause in Bazi's speech, there was no sign of it. Her question was answered swiftly, We will not be here much longer, she started, And of our enemies. Razorback was as succinct in the delivery of this as Bazi's counterpart had been. But at last, a question she felt needed clarifying: Are they to be attacked on sight? Her head cocked to the side, her question truly innocent. Razorback was a woman collared by her leaders command, and that alone.

That about summed it up. Bazi was glad - the news of their imminent departure had not yet been delivered officially, but most of Swiftcurrent Creek knew that it was on the cards. She thought of the distant land that they would soon call home - the dark forests, the thickly frosted peaks, the complete and utter lack of Bypass wolves and Blackfeather cretins.. heaven.

Razorback's question creased her fair brow. Was it worth getting into a scuffle? Scimitar certainly thought so, promising relieve Crescendo of his innards in her honour.. but that was a special case. Still, it made her worry. They were so close to an exit. Why risk a revenge attack? "...if they come anywhere near our claim, yes," she responded after a moments' thought, quickly adding a caveat, "But the Bypass wolves are.. welcome to visit the border. We're taking most of their Alpha's legitimate children away with us. If he wants to say goodbye to them, he can. They didn't choose him," she gloated. Well, most of them hadn't.

It was her turn to scrutinize her leader, something she did not often do. Razorback would do whatever her leader truly desired, and she could sense the conflicting ideals by the furrow in her brow. Once her leader had spoken, however, the Iota delved no deeper into her own personal question. Razorback nodded, physically displaying her understanding.

As for the information on the children, Razorback blinked slowly, her bright eyes drifting toward their border. She had not been given all of the details on the matter of how the others had come to be their enemy, just that they were. So, the Bypass wolves were the exception. While she would not let the wolves past the borders, she would grant them at the least access to them. She imagined Bazi would not be pleased with any non-pack wolves coming past their borders regardless.

Do these Bypass wolves know we will be leaving? This she felt should be known to her, not wanting to give information to them if her leader would not have it.

If Scimitar had told Shadow about their plans, Bazi had not been paying attention (Karm also doesn't know yet, because the thread isn't finished, so she's winging it). She gave a little shrug in response. "I can't remember. They're already based several days' travel away from here. A few more in a slightly different direction won't matter if they're hell-bent on finding us. I'll find out from Scimitar," she added, shifting weight from one set of legs to the other. "Did Scimitar tell you that Shadow was one of ours, once?"

As Bazi spoke, Razorback comprehended her meaning. Razorback would simply say nothing. It was not uncharacteristic. If her leaders saw it fit for the Bypass wolves to know, they would tell them. And if they believed she ought to tell them, they would tell her. It was simple. Razorback enjoyed that. Bazi's response was long-winded, but her subordinate was attentive. A mere flick of her left lobe was all that was supplied afterward, until the question.

Razorback was not too inquisitive. And she knew very, very little of the packs history. Truly, what she had supplied Bazi was all that she knew. Scimitar was as talkative as she herself was, she had gleaned. So it was Bazi who—if she so desired—would teach her of that. All of a millisecond had past when Razorback shook her head. No, he had not told her this. And while Razorback was curious in what way he had left—had he been chased out? Had he abandoned the pack, without word?—she did not feel it appropriate to ask. If Bazi wished for her to know, she would tell her. It was clear the pale leader had all of her attention.

Had Bazi known that Razorback considered Scimitar 'chatty', she would have laughed. Bazi, on the other hand, enjoyed the sound of her own voice, but had toned down on the narcissistic ramblings a little since returning to leadership a second time.

"He was," she confirmed ominously, meeting Razorback's shake with a nod. "But I didn't trust him. Sometimes you just know." And sometimes Bazi acted without thinking or seeking advice, but whatever. "He treated the mother of those pups - one of our own again - so poorly that she left him and returned home, kids in tow. That says it all, don't you think?" A slight exaggeration; Shadow had no doubt loved Paarthurnax, but it hadn't been enough. Still, Bazi would make sure members of her own pack knew that Shadow had made his own bed.

Sometimes you just know.

Razorback was not intuitive. Her loyalty lay to her pack, regardless of whether or not they were dishonest or liars or lacked any sort of merit at all. Bazi—for all Razorback knew—could be the worst wolf of them all and still, Razorback would follow her blindly. She knew wolf instinct, and ignored any instinct at all that foretold of one being bad or good. That didn't matter to her.

At the woman's query, Razorback nodded in agreeance. Her opinion was that of her leaders. Self-thought and reflection was not her forte. Razorback wasn't one to come to her own conclusions.

Razorback nodded - no questions, no judgement, which was unusual in these parts. Perhaps she was made of different stuff. Older stuff, like the subordinate wolves of home. Shar-Kali had ruled the roost there, and nobody questioned her judgement.

"Okay then," Bazi concluded, giving her new pack mate an appreciative look. "I'll show you where our latest caches are. If they need refilling, we'll do that today." No ifs, ands, or buts. Whoever this wolf was, she seemed to prefer decisions over questions.

Fade? :)