Blackfoot Forest the woods are lonely, dark, and deep

From the get go, Mordecai misunderstands the question that she asks. Perhaps it was the flat tone that she had used in their conversation all along that does it, or perhaps it was merely his inability to catch entirely what she was suggesting. Though he was intelligent, perhaps over that of his father, Mordecai had his moments. Instead he took her question as a comment, and the implications that she was not alone remained of interest. He thought it good that she did not travel alone, though it went without saying that he felt she could handle trouble if it came. Her flash of teeth, a Cheshire grin across a shadowy face; he took that as a humorous remark from her if nothing else.

"Well," he stated, "I'm sure you'll find something if your trip there doesn't work out." Though the inclination to offer her to come by the Plateau was lingering, Mordecai felt it wasn't his place to be extending any offers to anyone. He hardly had a feel for what the pack could sustain and perhaps more importantly, who or what Dante himself would take in.

Tonravik blinks at him, knowing he had misunderstood her, but not knowing how to explain further to him what she meant beyond what she said. Tonravik was never one to spell things out; people understood her or they didn't. She was not wordy, and was inept at expressing what she wanted past what she had already said.

She went another route. Do you think, pause, as she finds the proper words, You will lead again? Somehow, she finds a way to make the question sound something like a statement, but the comical tilt of her head with the pointed look would surely tell him otherwise. This was a Tonravik that could only come around once in a season.

Her question brought things suddenly into focus. It brought them so into focus that Mordecai found himself amused with the premise of her interest. But the comical tilt of her head and that urging look of interest made it difficult for him to grapple with responses. He wanted to laugh a bit, not so much at her question, but at the way she had brought it to him. Mordecai had met his fair share of wolves very similar to Tonravik, but she was perhaps the most insistent of them. Perhaps even the last of them to resort to tearing after him for not grasping the bigger picture.

But Mordecai was never one for the bigger picture, or the finer details. He sat somewhere in between instead.

"I doubt it," he answered her with a roll of his furry shoulders. Mordecai did not see himself willingly branching out even with the spring upon them. He had entertained the thought before, but found his interests were more in repaying the debt he felt owe Dante for the time being. After all, he had been something of a ghost at the Plateau, or at least that was how he felt. Instead of his words hanging in the air, he played devil's advocate to himself for a moment. "Why do you ask? Are you suggesting that you'd follow me?" It was a sterling pearl of arrogance on his part, but he did not betray that he was humored by her question.

His words were a disappointment to her. There was potential in him, but it was no matter. If he did not have the passion or the conviction (or perhaps something else), then she would focus her attentions elsewhere. At his question, it was Tonravik's turn to become amused, and the bear of a woman shook her head, not betraying the tinge of humor she had found in his response.

I will be in season soon. There. For an instant, he had been considered; Spring was the time to detach, to start anew. No suggestion. I wondered if you might fight for a right to some claim this season. Leading beside her, for example, given the scenario she had mention. It was her turn to shrug, now. Tonravik was a powerful woman who was very difficult to offend when it came to these matters. She sought someone based on genetics. Mordecai looked like a proper specimen with a great conformation and a good history of leading, which could easily dictate his future (that he might lead again).

Her proposal struck him off guard for a moment. Mostly in part that Mordecai did not see what it was that she could ascertain of him in a moment, or how simplified things really were for her to just willingly throw that out there. He balked at it for fleeting seconds with only a bemused smile to thinly plant itself. He didn't seem himself as that kind of material and hastily avoided it barring just a handful of times when he had literally thrown caution to the wind. Whatever potential she saw may have been there, but he was not one to apply himself.

"Spring is a long season," he said absently in poor gesture to stall. "I guess time will tell what it is that I'll do." And to suggest that he wasn't interested was untrue as well; he was interested, but it was minute and masked. Truth be told, Mordecai had never put a lot of thought into what the future would hold, what it was that he intended to do. all boiled down to it, Mordecai hadn't considered whether or not he would have ever wanted to lead again, given that the Spine had proved to be more stress than it was worth.

Her proposal struck him off guard for a moment. Mostly in part that Mordecai did not see what it was that she could ascertain of him in a moment, or how simplified things really were for her to just willingly throw that out there. He balked at it for fleeting seconds with only a bemused smile to thinly plant itself. He didn't seem himself as that kind of material and hastily avoided it barring just a handful of times when he had literally thrown caution to the wind. Whatever potential she saw may have been there, but he was not one to apply himself.

"Spring is a long season," he said absently in poor gesture to stall. "I guess time will tell what it is that I'll do." And to suggest that he wasn't interested was untrue as well; he was interested, but it was minute and masked. Truth be told, Mordecai had never put a lot of thought into what the future would hold, what it was that he intended to do. all boiled down to it, Mordecai hadn't considered whether or not he would have ever wanted to lead again, given that the Spine had proved to be more stress than it was worth.

Tonravik was a wolf who believed instinct would cause a wolf to lead or not to lead. She was not so nonchalant about these matters. He was either a leader, or he was not. For the moment, he was not. But perhaps Spring would bring about the true beast in him, as it did for many men that dispersed from their packs. So Tonravik nodded to him, not thinking him to be disinterested. The instinct was not there. Yet. Women reminded men of their place many times; it took a great queen to make a good king.

That was the way she thought and believed. Of course, some men were great on their own. Others needed inspiration. She could agree that Spring was long; she wondered what it would bring the both of them. I will go to the glacier. If things did not go as planned, there, then she could see, too. But she would not deviate from her initial plan.

She did not draw closer to him like he would have anticipated, lacing her own tone with some buried sultry song. And so, he did not press it. If anything, her nonchalance was a reminder of other things he would not think on or of. Instead he would think on her stipulations, wonder if she would come seek him out again in the future. Perhaps not, Mordecai deemed, if only for the fact that he held himself to a more complex code than her own.

So when she mentioned going to the glacier again, he took it was a farewell of sorts and nodded his head. "Good luck," he offered once more, though it may have been lost on her. He did not know what the future would hold for Tonravik, but it seemed that she had the means to make it successful for herself.

His luck was not what she needed. While others appreciated silly sentimentality, Tonravik did not understand it. What would luck get her? So she turned on her heel and began to march off, thinking that was her cue to go. Echelon and Njal needed to be found before her inevitable departure to the Glacier. Perhaps one day she might find Mordecai again.

The dark woman howled lowly to call to Njal and Echelon, ears perking and listening for them. One more nights of rest, then they would go. Tonravik continued to walk, and not once did she look back.