Emberwood no way out

i prefer for nothing too out of the ordinary to happen in this thread since there's been threads set after this one already :)

Finding Duskfire Glacier turned out to be harder than anticipated. Charon could've sworn that he had seen something that looked like a white mountain in the distance when he had stood upon Horizon Ridge, but now that he was down here again, he wasn't so sure. The sun was growing lower and lower, and Charon was exhausted. He had run for quite a bit and he'd slept in a cave, far from home. When he slept last night, he'd doubted his decision to go to Duskfire Glacier to demand Kevlyn back (or at least to know if he was still alive). However, he knew it was something he needed to do, and he needed to be strong. Levi needed Kevlyn, and Charon wanted nothing more in the world than to make Levi happy and cheerful again.

As a result of his journey, away from home, and not taking the time or ease of mind to groom himself, Charon looged rugged and not that well taken care of. He took pause in a forest that was almost too picturesque to be on the path to a glacier where a bunch of puppy-murderers lived. Thinking about Kevlyn being dead, Charon felt anger boiling his blood, but he wanted to keep hope that maybe, his brother was still alive. Maybe he would find him on Duskfire. He'd show those treacherous wolves what Stavanger Bay was made of...

The sun was setting just as Charon reached the end of the forest, and he decided to take rest near a small stream. He leaned down to the stream to lap up some water and then rested his head on his paws while he looked up at the mountain ridge in the distance. He wasn't sure if he was going in the right direction, because he hadn't been able to pick up Scarlett's scent like he hoped to. It'd better be the right glacier he was chasing...

Exploration and discovering new things had always been an enjoyable thing for the boy. He'd especially liked finding and learning of new plants and such with his mother, though those lessons had often ended in him chasing down and tackling his brother for saying something crude. How their mother had put up with the two rowdy boys, even after losing her only daughter, was beyong him. Even now, he couldn't wrap his head around what had made her so strong. Whatever it was, it and the interest of plants had been passed down to Alastor, her eldest son, and he took every chance he was presented with to learn more. Whether it be searching for flowers he already knew the name of, or discovering uses for different leaves, he was almost always working to learn something.

The Greek's unquenchable thirst for knowledge is what had led him to Emberwood in the first place, as the brightly colored leaves did nothing but draw him in. Alastor had ended up staying there for longer than anticipated, and by the time he was done the sun was already starting to set. Making it back to the Bypass before it fell completely was highly unlikely, so he decided to settle their for the night. The argent boy made his way through the thin forest, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth as he pushed forward. He refused to stop until he'd reached a stream, then leaned down and drank until he was fully hydrated once more. It wasn't until after he'd finished and ran his tongue over his muzzle to catch any stray droplets did he spot the other form by the stream. Knowing they were in neutral grounds, he held off on showing any aggressive signs to his fellow traveler. "Where are you off to?" he inquired, mentally reminding himself to speak the common language, rather than Greek.

thanks for joining :)

Charon licked his lips. He felt hungry, even more now that he had quenched his thirst than before, but he didn't have time to stop and hunt (and he also wasn't very good at hunting yet, so it'd take a lot of time for him to catch anything). When he looked to his side, he noticed there was another wolf there. Charon stretched out his neck to sniff the air, but the scent the other wolf brought wasn't common to him. Charon had no idea what sort of packs resided in the area, but he didn't recognise this one's scent.

Normally, Charon would be pretty excited to meet another wolf out here in the open that seemed friendly enough. However, now he was focussed on getting to the Glacier. The wolf asked him where he was off to, and Charon said, "I'm looking for Duskfire Glacier. Do you know if it's that glacier there?" Dusk was about to set in, which would cause the last lights of the sun to play on the glacier, but it wasn't that time yet. In his haste to get to Duskfire Glacier, Charon completely forgot about proper introductions and such.

I apologize for the wait!

The boy's question was answered, and he had planned to get introductions out of the way after, but was stopped by a question for him to answer. He didn't know of Duskfire Glacier, as he'd never once visited it before, but there couldn't be too many glaciers laying around, right? He hoped so, at least. Those things were just giant heaps of ice and snow all year round, and that didn't seem appealing to him. "I don't know, I've never been there before," he told him, leaving out the fact that he's never even heard of Duskfire Glacier before. "It has to be it, though. It's the only glacier I see, unless one is hiding..." He made it obvious that the second part was nothing more than a joke by grinning childishly. Alastor was still a child, if you thought about it. He was only a yearling, and hadn't had many life experiences before being taken and then escaping to the Wilds. His young life had seen much due to that, but he didn't regret anything. Not yet, anyways.

"Have you ever been there before?" the Greek wolf inquired, despite believing he already knew the answer. The other boy wouldn't ask about it for reassurance if he'd been there before. The realization made him feel a bit dumb for asking the question, but it was too late to go back on it now. "I'm Alastor, by the way. What's your name?" Maybe an introduction would cover his mistake, but he doubted it.

no problem :)

Charon was very focussed on whether or not this glacier was the correct one. He figured it was, for the same reason that the other wolf joked; there weren't any other glaciers around, and Charon was pretty sure that they didn't go hiding anywhere just like that. Charon kept his focus on the glacier, as he didn't really have time for a casual chat.

However, he was also tired and so he decided to take a quick stop. Charon plopped down on the ground just as the other asked if he'd been here before, and he shook his head to confirm the other's suspicions. Charon didn't notice the mistake, and neither did he notice the introduction was a cover-up for it. "I'm —" He paused a moment, his tongue lolling from the side of his mouth because he was tired from running for so long. Charon decided against saying his real name, just in case this Alastor turned out to not to be trusted. You never knew. "— Uhm, Starchaser." He'd wanted to think of a name less associative to himself, because it wasn't very hard to guess for anyone who knew Charon that it was him (and Osprey would definitely know), but oh well.

"Are you from a pack nearby?" asked Charon, suddenly growing curious to know more about this Alastor figure.

The Greek boy smiled when he was given a name, having always liked being able to call others by them. If only he knew that the name was a false one. He thought it was an odd name, though, but many names seemed odd to him here. They were hardly ever anything like those he'd grown up hearing, so he didn't know to question the younger boy. "Nice to meet you, Starchaser," he said, tail having slowly started to sway. If there was anything Alastor enjoyed more than flower hunting, it was meeting new beings--whether they be wolf or something other. Lucky for him, though, his new acquaintance seemed as much of a wolf as the others he'd met. He assumed he would be just as kind as the others, and that caused his guard to be down, but his spirits and joy high. The argent wolf was definitely someone who loved the company of someone else, rather than just his own.

His smile widened a bit when the other asked a question, one he felt proud to answer. "Yes, I am," Alastor answered, raising his snout to point off in the direction of the Bypass. "Sort of. It's a bit of a journey away, but not too far." It had taken him a bit to reach the brightly lit forest, but he'd traveled longer lengths before. It seemed like nothing more than a short adventure in his mind, but that might be because the map in his head always makes distances appear smaller. It helped him better memorize the lay of the land that way. He lowered his muzzle back down to look back at the other male, a slight tilt to his head. "How far are you from home?" he inquired, curious. "Why are you heading to a glacier?" He wouldn't hold it against him if he didn't want to answer, as he understood some weren't as open about their intentions as he was. Still, he couldn't help but ask.

Alastor's friendliness made Charon feel rather guilty that he had come up with a fake name. He almost wanted to blurt out that he'd lied and that he actually was named Charon, but Alastor would probably just be upset about him lying. It seemed safer to keep the lie to himself and pretend that his name really was Starchaser. Well, in his spare time he liked to pretend to be Sir Knight Starchaser, so in a way, it wasn't a total lie. He just needed to see this as an adventure, where he actually was the knight he liked to pretend to be.

Alastor didn't say what the pack was named that he was from. Just that it was a bit of a journey, but not too far, which didn't really mean much. The only thing that was for sure was, unless Alastor was lying, that he wasn't from the Glacier pack. "What's your pack's name?" Charon asked, half-curious, half-suspicious. In answer to Alastor's questions, he said, "My pack's pretty far, but this is really important. I'm here to get my brother, which was taken by..." What if Alastor knew the Glacier wolves and would warn them if he told the truth? He couldn't have that happen. ".. someone." Real smooth, Charon.

Had the younger boy decided to come clean about his lie, Alastor would not have been mad; after hearing an explanation, of course. He could understand the cautions one might have of strangers, especially when they are wandering in an area unfamiliar to them. Not long ago, he had been that wolf, and everyone was a stranger and everything unknown. Luckily he'd found himself a home, though, and was now even working to learn more about the areas around his home. Still, he would be able to understand, as the time had not been so long ago for him to have forgotten just how it felt to be that boy. To be the lone Greek, and to know hardly anyone who spoke his native tongue, was difficult on him, still, even if he was quick to hide it.

The yearling allowed his chest to puff out with pride when he was asked the name of his pack before answering. "Noctisardor Bypass," he answered, grinning cheekily. His childish grin stayed plastered across his face as he was told of the other boy's pack, but dropped the second he learned that his brother had been taken. His sister had been taken and killed when they were still tiny, but he could remember what happened, as well as how he felt. Sure, his brother was still alive (and presumably well), but the two boys never got along in the same was as they each did with their sister. "How could someone do that?" The question was more to himself than 'Starchaser', as he was unable to wrap his head around it. "I can't believe someone would do that... I hope you can get your brother back, Starchaser. Losing a sibling is a terrible thing to go through."

Charon had never heard of Noctarsidor Bypass, and it was interesting to hear about it. It sounded like a pretty cool name, so Charon immediately praised, "Wow, that's a pretty cool name!", momentarily forgetting why he was here and that he was angry at Duskfire Glacier for taking his brother, rather than happily chitchatting with this stranger.

Alastor seemed very empathic about the loss of his sibling, which pleased Charon. Not everyone understood just how dramatic his childhood was — like Aesop, who had just sort of blinked and looked uncomfortable when Charon had told him the full tragic story of his family — but this Alastor fellow sure did. Charon looked at Alastor with sad watery eyes when Alastor asked, outraged, how someone could do something like that. "I know, right?" he sadly said. "I should probably get going 'cause I gotta find him before it's too late. Is your pack really far from here? I mean, maybe I could visit you sometime when I got my brother back." Alastor didn't seem unfriendly, after all, so Charon thought it would be safe enough to go and visit him in Noctarsidor Bypass (which had already transmogrified into 'Noctum Siddy Bilepass' in Charon's mind, because the name was so cool that it was too hard to properly remember).

Last post from me so Charon can go try and find his bro. Thanks for the thread. c:

Alastor momentarily forgot what the other had just told him and allowed his tail to wag. He might not have been there when the pack was founded, and was still pretty new to it, but he couldn't help but feel some pride when the other boy praised the pack's name. “It is, isn't it,” he agreed, a smile spreading across his maw for a moment. He deemed 'Starchaser' a really nice guy, and was glad to have met him. He wished he would be able to assist him in retrieving his brother, but knew it was not his place to do so. It was a brother's quest, in a way, and he was sure the younger boy would be successful with it. After all, no one could keep two brothers apart forever. They always found a way to find one another, no matter what tried to stand in their way.

It was difficult for Alastor to not be outraged, or at least in a state of disbelief. He had lost his sister, but she hadn't been taken, not entirely, anyways. She'd simply been killed and left for them to find her, so they knew for sure she wasn't alive any longer. He couldn't imagine how the other boy might feel, as there was no way to know if his brother was still alive, or if those who stole him had ended him. He hoped that latter wasn't the case, and, for only a millisecond, wondered if his own brother was feeling the same way. He wondered if Naos searched for him, as 'Starchaser' did for his own. “It's close to the Wetlands,” the boy informed him. “Keep walking East and you will reach it. I wish you the best of luck in getting you brother back. I am sure he will be glad to see you, and even happier to know that you were looking for him.” Alastor offered him a small smile, silently praying to every Greek god whose name he could remember to assist his new friend in being reunited with his brother.

thanks for the thread! :)

"Okay, I'll visit!" Charon said, though he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep his promise; travelling all the way here was already quite far, and it sounded like Alastor's pack was even further.

After Alastor wished him luck at finding back his brother, Charon said, with a smile on his face, "Thanks! I'll get 'em." And by that he didn't mean his brother, of course, but the mean Duskfire wolves that had taken him. With those words, he started towards Duskfire Glacier, just as the last rays of the sun fell onto the glacier, illuminating it and furthering his belief he was on the right path — the glacier looked on fire. This had to be it.