darkly, darkly

@Mordecai

dante had not returned, and nor had osprey. the news of junior's murder sickened the man; he had very little appetite, and what energy he did muster was spent in guard upon the borders. the rich ecru of his coat had dulled, and his demeanour was lackluster.

pausing in the dawnlight for a drink at the stream running though the heart of their land, lasher gazed steadily in the direction of the burnt land, his heart swelling with raw grief.

He had seen forest fires and their aftermath before, but it was perhaps an entirely different story when it happened to a place he called home. The destruction was immense on scales that Mordecai had not considered. The grounds felt hallowed down, even more so placed in the light that two of their wolves had not been found. Neither bodies nor bones, not even a pile of ash or blackened earth that could have resembled that of a canine.

And though he stepped up to mingle along the borders to ward away those that may have been curious, Mordecai seldom cast his gaze away from the bare canopies that seemingly held the skies in their charred arms. It made him weary. It made them all weary. Yet the visible turn along those borders revealed Lasher to him and he approached with a noticeable sag in his frame; not one of submission, but rather of the weariness that had come along to consume them all.

And where he would have found words to greet his friends, he found no reserve to search for them. What was there to say?

he was greeted by the agouti male who had remained scarce as of late, but lasher could not muster a comment on that front. indeed, he had very little to say, fighting off the grief that threatened to rise and overwhelm him. with dante departed, and though he hoped that the man would return, the pack was in the hands of himself and the willow. they were capable enough, but taltos had come to doubt his capabilities.

slowly he turned a dulled gaze to his companion. "they say that death comes in threes," he muttered, unable to keep the grim words locked away. while he did not believe their leader dead, osprey's trail had faded into ash and oblivion, and he saw no reason to hope that she would return. junior was dead, dante gone, and osprey seemed to have succumbed to the fire. would a luckier hand never touch them again?

Lasher's voice broke the tense silence that enveloped them all, drawing Mordecai's attention to the charred remnants of forestry to the beta male. For a moment he took the statement at face value, at first thinking that perhaps Lasher thought that Dante and Osprey were dead and gone for good. But there was a third unaccounted for in that equation; whether or not that spoke for someone else or someone else yet to be, Mordecai did not know. Yet he waved away the idea altogether in spite of knowing it was a very real reality. Yet there were signs that could have always suggested otherwise.

But the grimness was not at all lost on him, who before had known Lasher to be of a much lighter heart than that. "They also say never to give up hope, either," he answered, canting his head at the thought. "Life is a very surprising thing, I've discovered. And, I suppose it is also very destructive as well." If not for life, there would be no fire of any sort to exist. He sighed heavily. "What do you think we should do?" Perhaps it was not the best of times to make such an inquiry but truly, Mordecai found himself amiss as to what they could have done. Their searches were fruitless in their endeavor, at least as far as the fire had ranged.

the ostrega's question caught him off-guard -- it would have been better posed to dante. but then lasher remembered himself with a sinking heart, and glanced past mordecai's shoulder. junior's death still tormented him; he could only imagine her last thoughts before the black pain took her. at peregrine's hand, his mind added.

taltos' jaw tensed momentarily, but he released the tension along with breath he did not realize that he had been holding. "increased patrols; large hunts will have to be ceased for the time being, until it is clear he is not returning." lasher would not be accused of giving up the search until he and his pack had exhausted all possibilities. he trusted mordecai would understand.

"peregrine is to be killed on sight," he added quietly, murderously.

The response he received was no different than what he imagined he would have done in the same position. They needed to patrol now more than ever, if only for the possibility of finding one of theirs gone astray, but also to keep prying eyes away. Curious eyes, at that. And so in brief he did understand, the nod that came naturally to come did more than express the look that had come to his eye. He would see to it, one way or another, that things were taken care of in Dante's absence. Just as he anticipated they would be from Lasher's side as well.

But it was the note that quietly trailed after it that disrupted the plans coming together in his head. A look of confusion dared to cross the stoicism that had set on his countenance, and if it did then it was brief. He found such a statement concerning, but only in regards to the fact that he and Harlyn had only been dispatched the Caldera's borders some few weeks ago with good tidings. The drastic change outside his realm of knowledge put him off, and he could not help but indirectly inquire: "Are we expecting trouble from the Caldera as well?"

Admittedly, he knew he had not been as involved with the Plateau as he could have been. And in truth he had never anticipated lingering there for as long as he had. But like many plans come into fruition, they either went to flower or to rot; there was no in-between. If something had brewed between his visit to the Caldera and now, he was oblivious about its nature.

though mordecai had been scarce of late, taltos knew he had no lack of love for the plateau. the man's glance invigorated lasher somehow; their pack was small but well protected. the mention of the caldera caused his lip to curl involuntarily, but he shook his head. "i do not believe that they will come here. it is only his blood that must be shed, after all. and fox, if she arrives. kill her. i have tired of their dealings."

locked away in their xenophobic corner of the wild world, lasher entertained no ideas that the ruby bitch or her monstrous slave of a mate would attend his borders. he was not a violent creature by nature, but the murder of junior had hardened them against whatever lingering affection he had for the devil.

giving a long sigh, he sidled forward to nudge his shoulder against that of mordecai. "tell me, what have you been doing these past months? i have not seen much of you."

Though somewhat satisfied that they would not have to deal with the Caldera coming to their doorstep, Mordecai did hold onto that curiosity of what had happened. But he would not pry, not when a particular side he had not seen of Lasher was certainly rearing its face openly. They were all capable of that anger, that utter digust towards another. Mordecai had seen it enough over the years to know better than to put his nose where it simply did not belong.

And it would have seemed that Lasher was interested in stowing it away for the time being as well; the offered nudge was far more friendlier than the emotion brewing in the low tones of his voice moments ago.

"Keeping myself busy, really," Mordecai said, not able to really name any one or particular thing that had bested his attention. "Watching the herds out in the flatlands, keeping the borders maintained. I've tried to help Harlyn a time or two with gathering some herbs as well, so we have a few more stocks of those around as well." He smiled vaguely at that mentioning, as he was not much help in that area. He had done his share of quiet wanderings as well, though he didn't imagine that fell outside of what was expected of him. His tenure there had lasted longer than he had anticipated, though little thought about it had come to mind.

"It's not hard to take advantage of how quaint it is here," he went on to murmur, though things were hardly quaint any more. Their idyllic paradise seemed to be pulling apart at either end; the reality of where he stood in it all was hard for him to discern. "Or was, I suppose. Perhaps will be once again." He held out for the hope of it, and not just for himself.

"herbs are always needed," he murmured softly, smiling at mordecai's mention of harlyn. "i take it she is well?" he asked, remembering how the ostrega had departed that evening after the fire to find his companion. whether harlyn was merely a friend or something deeper remained to be seen.

taltos did not like to show his disgust toward the caldera so openly, but following junior's murder, the latent hatred he had borne for some time toward their genesis had enraged him. he would strive for better control in those manners.

"perhaps. quaintness hardly seems to last," lasher answered, unbeknownst in the same vein as mordecai's silent thoughts. "but we will prevail. we are a strong lot. i must gather together a hunt for the children," he went on. "it is time they attended a pursuit among the pack."

That may have been true, that quaintness never did last. Like happiness, it may have simply been a fleeting state of mind nine times out of ten. Perhaps what they sought most of all was the return to a familiar cadence of contentness. It would come again, of that he was certain, if only for the experiences he had been through in his life.

"She's all right," he stated at first, "still having headaches here and there. Maybe not as frequently now, like the weather had something to do with it." A plausible theory, one no doubt presented to him through Harlyn at some point in their hushed conversations. Their relationship (or lack thereof) was far more complicated to him than it really was and he felt the urge to shrug, and didn't. Didn't seem right. Either way the fire had unsettled her as it had the rest of them.

So when the topic shifted to that of hunting, he was also grateful of that. There was little sense in dwelling on what had happened for too long; life went on, loudly and constant. They were all fine and rightly so, life continued onward. "It's hard to believe those kids are old enough for it," he said with a forming smile. "I guess they really do grow up fast, yet it seemed when I was a kid it just couldn't happen fast enough." Before too long he could easily have seen those children providing good contributions to the overall pack.

"headaches? are they the sort that are incapacitating? i know she is interested in healing, and skilled, but perhaps she would benefit from blue willow's consultation," the man suggested gently. the talk of his children warmed his heart; he smiled at mordecai, with more genuine delight upon his face than he had felt in quite some time. "eilidh has the heart and eyes for tracking; she is skilled for her small age. constantine is the brute strength, but his cunning tempers his power. casmir is smaller, but nimble and quick. they complement one another well. i think they will do well in a hunt if they communicate their intentions."

"do you intend to have children, mordecai?" lasher asked after a moment; it was an extended feather, made to play at the edges of the question he was too polite to ask outright.

"At times I suppose they are," he commented, though he was far from any sort of healer. Mordecai had enough smarts to know what not to eat when it came to the wild edibles scattered about, but he couldn't have attested to how severely affected Harlyn was. "But I'll be sure to pass that along all the same. She's given me the impression that this isn't the first time they've come around." And since she hadn't sent him on some weird mission to go find Blue Willow or some medicinal plant in the wilderness, he was inclined to believe she was able to handle it. If anything, he felt she was more annoyed by their presence than truly in pain. What did he know, though?

So when their conversation shifted gears, he found himself entertained ever so slightly by Lasher's observations and gentle inquiry. Though Mordecai had not spent a large amount of time in the company of the beta pair's children, he found their assessments fair. And likewise, he suspected they would work well together in a hunt as well. Siblings often did, though it had been long since he had found himself having to work together with any of his.

But as for the inquiry, he could not help but tilt his head thoughtfully.

"I haven't given it consideration," he said, almost leaving it at that. "The life I've lead does not favor children. I've thought about settling before, but have never gone through with it." It had been a reoccurring opportunity, time and time again. Several times now he had passed that up without so much of a second thought. The implication behind such a question, however, did occur to him. He left it alone for now.

dante and mordecai were one and the same when it came to such things, and lasher understood. he had not wished for children, nor a family, but had surfaced with both, and loved them dearly. however his desire not to maintain a traditional life had stemmed from his witches' upbringing; he could not puzzle what led the ostrega and the silver man into middle age without the blessing of children.

and yet, it was not his place to wonder, nor to judge -- he dipped his muzzle at the other's words. "perhaps the next years will bring a new situation about for you." he glanced to the treeline then. "the leader of ouroboros spine told me not long ago that there is a new pack of rogues in the flatlands. savages. have you heard of them? they do not speak our tongue."

man, i kind of hate that we may not thread again for a while... i really enjoy these two for some reason. >_>

"Perhaps," he said, but thought no more on it. The opportunities were endless and truly, there were no guarantees what would become of them all in time. Naturally their conversation shifted to a new topic, one that drew an uncomfortable sense to Mordecai. Maybe it was just his note of savages, or maybe it was simply just the concept that there were wolves living loosely on the plains. Another pack to contend with, another pack that would take from the herds as the season wore on.

"I've heard of them, in a sense. One of them was poking around our borders not that long ago." He thought of Andalusia then. "I didn't care for his attitude, so I sent him on his way." That wolf had been distinctly foreign to them all, so it did not seem coincidence to Mordecai to assume his origins now. All the more reason for them to up their patrols, though, especially if the unsavory sort were bound to poke around. As it were, there were seemingly a fair number of them.

me too! ;__; wrap up here? maybe they will run into one another again :)

"good," lasher answered firmly. eilidh had told him of her encounter with them; he did not care for their ilk at all, and was apprehensive of their return. taltos did not wish for conflict upon their borders. his eyes moved to the heavens, noting the sun's position, and a heavy sigh wreathed forth from him, affected as he was by the recent events of the week.

"come, mordecai. let us swim in the stream and make poor attempts at fishing," he invited, shaking out his ruff and casting the ostrega a wry grin. better to keep oneself busy than remain in a brooding air.