Moonspear fires

@Tatsuya , backdated to ros-thread day~ pre move... moonstone quarry! or, the edges of it, to observe os.

The large duo moved. Tonravik had to pause a great amount of the time, her bladder weakened with the weight it supported. The things in there were quiet, and she wondered if they had made it. Her stress was great. There was a lot to worry about. She had no doubt they would find somewhere else, given she had heard it would be necessary after her mate and aokkatti had scouted the Spine some... but the timing was certainly troubling. Given she had no idea when the cubs within her would be born, the alpha female kept close to the pack at all times. Even now she was not far, drifting around the quarry. Tonravik could not enter the spine in her condition, having no desire to make anything premature. No; she would scout the outskirts, and call for the lost ones.

They traveled toward the place in silence. The incident that had occurred moments ago was all but forgotten. The alpha female did not know that Kapvik might have gone through with doing what he would with the lone wolf, and if she had, perhaps their journey would not have been so quiet... and then, perhaps it would have been. Tonravik lumbered forward, the wreckage of their once home now in her sights.

To look upon her now musters discomposure. Day by passing day, Tonravik's midriff sagged and her motions slowed. Kapvik did not need to speak to tell all this trekking around was taking a toll on her. Not to mention the strain she must be enduring...The wolverine felt like snapping at her. You should be resting. Let us take over for now. Instead, she was adamant to involve herself. This exacerbated the wolverine. Why the hell wasn't Iqniq hounding her? If she doesn't listen to me, why would she listen to him? Because those are his children in her belly. Because he had just as much a right to worry for them. Because Tonravik continued to defy the healer's instructions given to her back at Kotsiktok Pond. But so much has happened. He could not blame her for her motility. They had much to do; to be absent now at such a crucial time...
INDENTThat does not mean he had to like it.
INDENTMuteness accompanied them in their travel. Awkwardness trailed behind. Rosalyn's company had been squandered. Kapvik felt like he had tried to do something Very Bad™. This tied in with Iqniq's assault left him feeling undesired. Like his place was not with Tonravik but elsewhere. Then again, it was Tonravik that sought him out in this endeavor, so maybe he was not a complete waste of space. Although this brought up more questions than answers.
INDENTKapvik had left for some time alone. Feeling frustrated, bushed, and generally in a bad way brought him to the threshold of snapping. It would be best to get away from those he loved before he unleashed his burdens upon him. It had not been a matter of if, but when. So he took to the wilds and he found that foxy maiden, Rosalyn. Sex had not been at the top of his list today, but when the temptress showed interest...all reservations flew out the window. Before he could even get down to business, Tonravik showed up. I'm nobody, though. Why aren't you asking Weirdie, or Arverk? They had the rank, they can take the wolverine's place for an hour or two.
INDENTKapvik bolstered nothing impressive and yet he seemed to be doing an awful lot of work for...what, exactly? A place within the pack? Feels like I don't even belong here. Oh, the perplexity.
INDENT“We did not get everybody,” he monotonously informed. She already knew this, but he felt the need to speak up. Why else would they be here? “I assume you want me to search for those missing.” What would they find? Charred remains or a wolf intact? How grim.

Tonravik despised the stupid. She wondered, now, if this brief jaunt was just that... but decided it was not, that it was necessary. Tonravik would scout briefly the outside perimeter and not do anything to bring herself into a state of discomfort. The pack were as much as her children as the cubs in her stomach; genetics meant little when it came to family her mother had taught her. The truth of it was the only biological relatives still living of hers happened to be her mother and siblings. She had a slew of the latter, the most recent of different fathers; they were her family so long as they grew to become Tartok, otherwise they were not. That had not yet happened, unbeknownst to her, but had it would make little difference.

Kapvik had become her family, as well. The moment he entered the pack he had become that; she would have searched for him, had he gone missing, as surely as she now searched for the red one. As for what she had squandered, she thought of that moment not at all. It would seem she had in fact forgotten the incident, if only because she had a greater stress than that—her missing subordinates. Were there nothing else going on she surely would not have forgotten to teach him of this detail she did not allow. The man she moved with now was not nothing or nobody to her; he was a son, a comrade, a brother-in-arms as well as simply a brother; he was family to her in nearly every way. Kapvik threw himself into all of his work and Tonravik had not missed a moment of it; she saw in him permanence, as she had suspected in Iqniq and Nanuk when she had first found them. There had never been a question of Echelon, who had been by her side and had never left it (aside from the time she was commanded to, in order to complete a mission). Of course she had no doubt that had Ivitaruk not been compromised, perhaps he might have stayed, too.

The rest she had desired to keep with them, of course. Their strength surely not to be doubted or questioned. Arverk she felt strongly of, too; the man had much promise, perhaps his potential as great as Kapvik's own. Aariak had been quiet, but not inactive... and now, he too had disappeared in the storm. She sought his body or evidence of his survival, too.

His words were met with a dismissive flick of an ear, a grunt of I know. She displayed her own discomfiture at that, but disappointment replaced the agitation. One could not fight nature and hope to win. The weather was one thing Tonravik would adjust herself and her life for. That could not be controlled. In her youth, she had snapped at the wind, bayed at the thunder to try and force it into quiet. Her mother and her father forced the habit out of her without a word, but she understood after a time. His next words were equally monotonous, and her head turned, muzzle pointed toward him. "Yes. Once more, before we move on. No wolf left behind," came the words heavy with the weight of her understanding, the unsaid words carried by the whipping wind that knotted the fur at her cheek: if it can be helped. And it was then she begun her investigation, loping nearer to the base but minding the unpredictable state of the Spine. She did not climb atop it, as trees hung precariously and threatened to fall and crush them as did boulders anchored by those very trees. Instead she looked for a clear path... and found one. The very trail the storm had carved onto their home.

Wait a moment. He remembered Iqniq's words back at Moonspear. “Echelon and I will scout after the storm has passed.” But then, does that mean...neither of them found anything? No stragglers, no corpses? Packs could scarce subsist slashes against their numbers. Even so, they may have to move on...with or without any verification or evidence. Having remembered Iqniq's words, shame filled him. So caught up in their lost home, Kapvik struck out on his own. To relinquish the pent up hostility that had amounted within him, to sort out his own feelings...Today, duty was shirked. And he was ashamed of it.
INDENTFlattening his ears against his skull, the Epsilon chewed over his place with Tonravik and her crew. The familiar pang of exclusivity fueled his search for other activities. As if his attendance was nothing more than a fly hoping to join in on some surreptitious clique he knew nothing of. This created corrosion. Iqniq has somehow gotten the idea that he – a driven newbie – was a scourge worthy of his ire; a wrongdoer come to take his place and his spouse. This, on top of two separate groups somehow coexisting within one pack, made matters worse. Was he a son, a comrade, a brother-in-arms?
INDENTIt did not feel like it.
INDENTBut this rancor in being omitted from something far greater than himself did not tie in with his allegiance and veneration for the she-bear beside him. Rather, he felt drawn to her now more than ever. Like leaving her side would be an atrocity all its own (despite her advocacy to set off and find a new dwelling or any haphazard deviates). Kapvik would rather defy her mate's scorn than abandon her now, of all times. Those unborn within her...how could he live on knowing he abandoned them? Whether they died or lived through this bump in the road would make them stronger. I believe in you guys. Just hold on, okay? This too shall pass.
INDENTHer head turned and she addressed him, his ears erecting. Sullenness tinctured her verses. The wolverine did nothing to assuage her. Any comfort he could offer her would be redundant. It would be best to just throw themselves into the task at hand then to sit here and worry. Sometimes things have to go wrong in order to go right...Besides, Tonravik was not a wolf of comfort. Her subordinate followed in her paw steps, tense and painfully alert. Ouroboros Spine has seen better days; wooden limbs and splinters were scattered precariously about. The weaker rock faces of the spine have crumbled, sending boulders every which way. Some sat insecure on ledges, others were wedged deep into the mountain. The Epsilon, at present, was more preoccupied with his surroundings than finding evidence of his pack mate's whereabouts. Still, he tested the air occasionally. Tonravik would have to be the nose in this operation. He...everything else.

Tonravik had been raised to follow in her mothers footsteps as a Tracker, Warden, and Warrior before anything else. Her ability to lead was natural, perhaps genetic. Her nose was as keen as Siku's had been, and her mother was the most esteemed tracker of Seahawk Valley, and then any other Valley she came upon. Tonravik sniffed hungrily at the earth, having no idea about the inner turmoil Kapvik endured. Even if she were aware of it, her ability to console was nonexistent. Her way was violent and aggressive... it always had been.

She kept to the outer area of her home, not trusting the place to not give beneath any sudden shift in any thing. The place was unstable, and Tonravik would not risk her brood in ascending it. Nor would she risk the life of the wolverine when Iqniq and Echelon had already perused the lands inner reaches. No, Tonravik had come to investigate the perimeter for any sign or scent that would give her cause to believe that those not with them had not perished after all.

With him, Tonravik sniffed at the earth. The scents of all things dead and alive permeated the soaked earth, but she sifted through them to find one in particular. Even the tracks of her subordinates would be familiar to her observant eye were she to catch sight of one... her muzzle swept aside remnants of a pine-tree, easy to do with little left of it where they stood. But no pawprint of wolf lingered beneath, nor scent or hint of any missing wolf of the Spine.

To his relief, the she-bear did not fully enter the spine, encircling the bounds of the kingdom she once ruled. Mounds of muscle grew lax and he, less prickly. Fluidly he followed her for the first few minutes before breaking away to widen their search. They were at a relatively safe distance from the spine, but the wolverine was not willing to test the precariousness of the situation. Tonravik was not the most dexterous of wolves, given her pregnancy. If she required assistance, all she need do is call. Kapvik was never far off.
INDENTStriding away, the Epsilon put his nose to work. He visually searched for perturbations in the soot. Picking apart these disturbances was a lost cause. The sun was not in the position to cast long shadows. Kapvik sniffed in no set pattern, letting his mind wander. Nothing noteworthy popped out at him. No prey, no predator has step foot in their home since the fire. Was there nothing left? Nothing of value to the wildlife here? The Epsilon wished to inspect with his own eyes but he knew better. The churned-up flow of his existence was worth more than remnants of a cadaverous imperium.
INDENTIt hit him. So meteoric, so hot – it made him burn how quick information was processed. Inhaling deep the clue, he moved his nozzle elsewhere to let it back out. Yes. Yes, this was it! He has smelled this scent prior to the spine's destruction, hence it must be what Tonravik was looking for. Raising his head, he scanned the horizon for the she-bear. Whoops. He has wandered quite a ways from her location. He tried to bark but ash lined the inside of his nostrils. A terrible fit of coughing and hacking ensued before he was able to call for Tonravik. Over here. The Epsilon waited, jittery.

short bc train

 

The alpha female continued to sniff around. She moved slowly given her condition and intent. No rock or branch would go unturned. But it was The wolverine who sounded off first. Tonravik sniffed the area she stood heavily and then moved toward him, ears leaning ever-so-slightly forward. 

Tonravik was expectant. He would not summon her for nothing–she believed–and waste precious time in their search. She plodded toward him, mud wedging itself between her paw-pads and soon he was again in sight. His fit of coughing had been heard by her keen ears, but she thought nothing of it as she looked to him now.

She answered soon enough. Kapvik stared at her with watery eyes and a leaky nose. Did she not smell the clue he found? In reality, it was a faint scent though Kapvik did not realize this, his nose momentarily impaired. Swiping his tongue over his nose he showed her the exact location of the evidence. Then he sharply withdrew to sneeze somewhere else, snot expelling from his nasal passage. He turned back to the she-bear, anticipative. Is that what we're looking for?

sHRIEKS I SUCK

Tonravik moved in his direction, nose to the ground. She sniffed heartily and thought she might have smelled something familiar, but could not depict who it belonged to as it mingled with ash, upturned earth, and then some. Her nose was something she prided herself on; she could pick apart the scent of anything, differentiate one thing from the next. But this had become what the scent was, now, to form something new and disastrous. There was no telling or picking this apart to the degree she desired... his sneeze brought her to, and she lifted her head abruptly. Her own nose twitched and she snorted, expelling soot from it and shaking out her ruff. She shifted to nudge him. He had done well with the find... but it was not enough to come to a concrete conclusion that those lost had survived this.

Fading here!

It was a clue but it was an old one, spoiled by the maelstrom that swept through the wilds. Ears swept back with a wide eyed stare. He thought that the paw print might bolster her hope of finding their lost but he could see that was a lost cause. Crooning solemnly at her touch, they began to the hunt again in earnest. They circled round the deserted spine several times in the course of a few hours, turning up empty handed each time. If there was any survivors, the tumult has covered their tracks. Or their body, thought he grimly. Tonravik barked, her voice carrying through their once-home. “We've searched enough. Head back.” was what she conveyed. Indeed. It was fast approaching nightfall. It would be pitch black out by the time they arrived to Moonspear. Kapvik accompanied his Alpha back to the porous mountain. A forlorn air hovered over the wolverine. The bear remained ever indifferent.