Post by helaku on Jan 12, 2010 15:53:59 GMT -5
Survivor - Male Wolf.
Wanagesska - Male Adolescent Wolf.
Heath - Female Adolescent Wolf.
Skelaghe - Female Adult Wolf.
Rowtag - Male Wolf-dog Pup.
----
Survivor sits as a statue, blankly gazing out across the lawn of clover. The scar-laden wolf appears quite lost in thought, and judging by his expression, whatever he is thinking deeply on is not pleasant.
Wanageeska had eluded them, perfect. He had all reason to believe it would be pack thugs that would come at a howl, and his business wasn't with...pack thugs. It was with Alphas. The strange, mysterious wolf had found ways through the night to cross to the side opposite that of which he came the previous day, still without so much as a scent, dotted as Kezu said. This Survivor was honorable, but he had feeling those whom pursued him were not so honorable. His route had taken him to a stream which he jumped over, spread what little scent he had on the other side to lead them forward before doubling back and walking down the stream itself, leaving no scent at all. Wan was no fool, nor were his kind. Nor was his father. Now he sat, watching the statuesque Survivor. "You handle your duty well," he said softly on the wind, loud enough to be heard, but soft enough to not startle entirely. "But my protocols under assignment take priority."
Survivor snaps out of his thoughts. He shakes his head. "Are you a phantom of some sort? Am I the only one who can even see you?" he growls, irritated. The soft, playful demeanor he was in the day before is gone ... but he realizes he is now passing his own ills. "You have no idea what my duties are, young one. For that matter, for all I know ... you are merely a figment of my own doomed soul."
Wanageeska's ears raised. No doubt had his act disturbed the wolf, but it couldn't be helped. His name was for the Alpha first, pack second. Eloone protocol for this particular mission and he wasn't about to let it fail. It would stand until he met Skelaghe himself, regardless of how much it might irritate the other pack members. After all, he was only following orders and when following orders the customs of other packs took the back stream. His tone, however, remained calm and openly friendly...as friend as an aristocrat could sound. "I am as real as yourself," he said. "We of my kind also have a goddess of the moon, but we call her Lunai. I am blessed by Lunai, supreme guardian of the night. Only you see me because that is what I wish for now, until your Alpha is before me."
Survivor shakes his head. "Why are you showing to me? Why not do as I did just two days ago, howl and wait at the border? You would have had nothing to fear from Ute had you followed protocol ... but ... if you are real ... you are in danger now. Ute scouts hunt for you. Your intrusion is a grave concern to the pack. And I asked the Alphess directly about you, but she did not recognize you from the description I gave of you yourself, or your mark. She gives no indication that you are anything but a stranger."
Wanageeska murmured to himself. The common questions, according to other servants of Lunai, were why they did what they did. "It is by order and law," he answered. "My pack abides by law, their own, until a mission is complete. I do not fear Ute; danger is what I grew up in, Survivor. My personal feelings do not matter in this undertaking, for I wish to give you my name but mission dictates I cannot yet do so." Wan remained where he was, not coming any closer or parting farther. "Did you mention the name Helaku to her?" That was a question that needed answering.
Survivor answers, "No ... I did not." The wolf stands, upset and indecisive. The warrior he apparantly is, should attack the intruder or chase him off ... but given the crime he committed, he is hesitant to initiate such an attack without the presentation of a more immediate threat. "A pack that abides by its own law ... missions ... I have more experience in these things than you want to know, Nameless. I hope, for your sake, you are indulging in your own idle fantasies. Howling at the border and waiting patiently would have likely gotten you an easy meeting with the Alphess. Intruding into the territory, uninvited and sneaking around will not earn you a pleasant greeting from the most forgiving of alphas. Your mission can only be of reckless adolescent thrillseeking variety that will condemn you, as I am condemned from my own reckless adolescent thrillseeking!" he snaps.
"Waiting at a border and howling is not our way, Survivor," he said. Still, Wan sat there, staring at the other. He assumed much, this wolf did. That, however was no surprise. "Those whom you called put Ute at risk, Survivor. My leader told me of names three; Skelaghe, Ixkin, and Helaku. You are void of information and therefore need an education as to the nature of this mission. General Order 43 under Law. Should the members of a pack attack an agent of Lunai before his mission is complete in meeting the Alpha designated, a delcaration of war upon Lunai is considered. Think hard, Survivor. My pack far outnumbers the Ute and though far away, their agents could come, believing a mission of peace was rejected for the trees and plants are our whisperers as are the birds of the sky. Helaku is a packmate of Skelaghe, this name she cannot ignore. Mention this name, and more action she'll take personally to see that this mission succeeds."
Survivor howls again and suddenly lunges at the adolescent male. His muzzle is closed, his fangs not exposed; he is not going for a bite, but merely to knock the adolescent over and he aims to, in one swift move, stand over him and pin him in place.
Wanageeska sighed. Must they go through with this nonsense? Wan didn't run, he charged and charged fast as any fox into the clovers, but swerved his heading, not straight to Suvivor, but down the slope,onto a small boulder before looking back at Survivor. It was fortunate the wolf had not bore his teeth--that would have been declaration of war; General Order 43-A. "Be you in need of more information, Survivor," he said. "I am a son of Helaku, unknown to Skelaghe. How would it feel if you gave into your impulses and sought harm to a blood relative of one whom loved her?" Helaku spoke of Skelaghe before he departed, so said his Leader. However, he was not aware the two had become mates prior to his leave from Ute.
Survivor gives deadly-serious persuit. "Hold still, and I will hold you in place, but I will not harm you!" he snaps. "You've declared war against a peaceful pack, and you expect me to serve as your messenger while you intrude and sneak around the packlands!?" The wolf struggles as he revives his abandoned battle skills. "This is no game, vagrant! You've declared war! It is NOT a game!" The youth may be spry, but Survivor has been on his own for a very long time, and has a significant endurance. Knowing the youth has an unimaginable ability to cover his tracks. Survivor howls out, but unlike last time, is not going to sit and wait for packmates to show up, knowing this rascal is slippery and has an impressive ability to cover his tracks.
Wanageeska bound from the boulder onto another, and then onto the clovers once more, keeping the distance between them. "Touch me, and the mission fails," he said, him too drawing a howl. What was this? He was howling? Sure, see if it would attract the Alpha, and if not deal with the others. "I play no games, ever. If I truly wished to declare war, I would have gone over that hill up ahead, the one alluded to yesterday with your body language! You've much to learn about safeguarding a pack." This youth spoke like a seasoned vet, almost like a grizzled general. How could he be so rash, or was he being rash? No one knew.
Survivor relentlessly persues the youth, knowing if he loses sight of him, he will not be able to pick up the trail. He leaps up the nearest boulder, ignores as he slips slightly and an old scar scrapes open, coating the boulder with a swipe of his own blood and starting a trail of his own blood for any who come after his call to persue. The youth may know how to avoid leaving a scent trail, but so long as Survivor is following him, that won't help him one bit! The pledgeling-omega refuses to give up and pounds his hindlegs to drive him faster and faster. Sooner or later, the youth will tire, and the elder wolf has more muscle mass and more experience at life to give him a deeper pool of endurance than the adolescent. The mention that Survivor's wavering uncertainty, his mere glance in the direction he was forbidden to go that the Alphess had gone to be with her pups, was now a target of the youth made it all the worse. If he chased the intruder there, he would disturb the alphess, but if he didn't the sneaky adolescent could sneak up on one of the Ute pups and kill it! Given the myserious stealthy adolescent had no regard for the pack's laws or sanctity, and his threat of a declaration of war as though it were a game, Survivor could not trust the rascal to NOT have cubicide as a possibility on his mind. He howls again, hoping others will reach them before it comes to the point of chasing the rascal into an area Survivor has been forbidden to go.
Wanageeska's nose flared, his destination a group of boulders before him. It was just like basic training, this exercise! Wan jumped onto another small boulder, launching himself onto another, and then a third before looking back again. Who trained him? Was this natural? Was it even talent? "Look at you!" he said, howling once more. "You bleed yourself on the rocks. Now it will appear as if I've attacked you out of your own cognizance, Survivor! Helaku said of the Ute: never attack a wolf whom has not attack you, but you break this precept he taught my kind! I've harmed no one here, stayed clear of that hill, and you pursue!" Pack laws or not, Survivor was overstepping bounds as far as Wan was concerned, and bounds that Helaku had taught the Eloone in diplomacy, spoken of with his own pack, the Ute.
So many howls! They ring in Heath's dreams, calling her back to the realm of reality once more. Blue eyes slowly flutter awake as the copper-toned wolfess finds herself laying in the same cluster of fallen leaves that she dozed off in, despite her mind's journeys far beyond while she slept. With a wide, tongue-curling yawn, the young female stretches out her limbs as she leisurely gets around to getting up and answering the calls, feeling no rush to respond after such a refreshing nap. But she doesn't want to let her friend Skelaghe down, and so she finally rises onto all fours and begins trotting south towards the lawn that lays before the hill, on the off-chance that the alphaess needs what little help she can provide. When she finally emerges from the scant glade of trees to the north, however, she doesn't see Skelaghe at all -- or, in fact, anyone she recognizes from the few packmembers she's met so far. And what's more, they seem to be involved in some sort of conflict. As such, the flighty young female stays put, merely watching with a mildly concerned look upon her face.
Survivor snarls noisily, as much to give an audible trail in the persuit as anything: "You've brought alarm and disquiet to the pack! You have threatened war! You have threatened the pack's den! You have already brought harm! INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER IN UTE LANDS!" he howls. He leaps from boulder to boulder, his graze continuing to leave a strong scent-trail ... no wolf could lose the scent of blood itself.
Skelaghe is a way's behind Heath. Normally, she would leave such actions to her younger packmates, but if Wyanet returns to Survivor anytime soon, it will not be to help, Skelaghe knows, and that call was definitely one for help, followed by... Ah. So, the stranger returns. She is not pleased as she carries herself towards the howls at a quickened pace. She is even less pleased once she scents blood, and after smelling it, the next howl urges her into a run, though she does not return the howling, herself.
Wanageeska bolted from the boulder, this time his voice shouting loud enough for all to hear. "You're absolutely mad!" he shouted. "Was it your buddies you summoned last night to hunt me that told you to greet peace-bearing wolves with such distaste and malice?!" He howled, again! "This is non-Ute! Helaku never spoke of this atrocity!" Wan was doing all he could to avoid getting any closer to Survivor; he bled himself and that was not good. This wolf was putting his entire mission at risk! "You have assumed I threaten war, but with your antics there will be! Then you'd have to live with throwing your entire pack that you've pledged to into chaos, endangering them if you gave reason for my leaders to beleive they were met with hate! Alarm and disquiet? One of the pups was in the Foggy Path days ago; I sent him home so he'd not be harmed!"
Survivor is tightly focused on his target, and does not see Heath nor the Alphess have picked up the chase. There are rules every wolf knows about behaving on packlands, and this vagrant adolescent had broken every one. Survivor is very angry and very intent ... he could not find a paradise like Ute, only to be the instrument of its doom by being too soft on an intruder who had made such nasty menacings as war and sneaking into the denning area! Survivor hopes to hell he is in the wrong, that the Ute will show up, recognize the young wolf and punish himself ... but however badly he must struggle with his past, Survivor cannot bear to allow his inaction to bring harm to the pack. He continues to hope and chase, aiming to get closer, knock the adolescent down, pin and hold him in place.
Skelaghe continues to approach the two wolves from a different direction than Heath. Right now, she is not very pleased with either one of them, for different reasons. "That is ENOUGH!" She raises her voice loud enough to be heard over the constant howling that will be sure to draw any number of animals. So help her, if this conflict continues, she will see both of them off of her land, permanently.
Wanageeska would not howl once he heard the voice proclaiming enough, but he didn't stop keeping his distance from Survivor, lest he ignore the order. Wan remained entirely silent, infact, at this point, until his path took him closer to Skelaghe. "I do hope you are the one I've been seeking," he said, but his eyes remained on Survivor, ears alert. "Else my mission is failed." At this point, he nearly accepted it was failure. He had never seen Skelaghe before and though he knew of her and what Helaku described her as looking like, he still didn't. She had aged since then, and that factor didn't account for recognition.
Survivor immediately terminates his persuit of the unnamed adolescent at Skelaghe's command, digging his claws into the ground, skidding to a stop. He plants his butt in an erect sit, turning his head to follow Skelaghe, but does not move one further inch unless she says to. He ignores the minor wound on his paw.
Even Heath, who has nothing to fear from the alpha female, shrinks back into the trees at Skelaghe's loud command, her ears flattening against her skull as the tense scene unfolds. The timid she-wolf still remains half-concealed along the treeline, too startled and frightened to even dare stepping out into the open where the battling males stand. Even so, should either of them show any sign of violence towards her friend, she will not hesitate to leap to her defense.
Skelaghe knows Heath si here, but she focuses her attention on the two males. It doesn't matter to her one bit that either one of them, even the adolescent, could probably cause her a great deal of damage. And she continues to approach them, she holds he tail high. Mostly, she keeps her gaze on the stranger. She may not be happy with Survivor, but so far as she knows, that is for things that have happened prior to this, not for his attempts to protect the pack. "So far as I am concerned, your mission is already failed. This is twice, now, that you have caused upset in my pack, so unless you can explain to me, quickly, why you have done so, I suggest you get moving, and do not turn back around until I am /ready/ to give you an audience."
Wanageeska finally sat, but he did not turn as Skelaghe directed. "If you are Skelaghe of Ute, then I have not," he said. "I've been sent here on orders and protocols with those orders for contact with a Skelaghe, Ixkin, or Helaku. Only those names matter in the directive, which I must abide until the mission complete. I've traveled near 40 days from my own packland, and I hope it is in your understanding on why I cannot fail after so long. I've been trying to send messages to Skelaghe via her member Survivor, but he failed to mention the name Helaku and in doing do this incident today could not be avoided. I came peacefully again, but he was insistant on driving me off. I'm willing to bet his hunters he called last night were the ones that told him to act with such impulse."
Survivor gives no further regard to the unnamed youth, at least none visible ... but already his mind agonizes: was chasing him the right decision? He worries, even worse, for his ability to serve the pack. He struggles over his own indecisiveness. The youth's information is highly inaccurate, and his claim that Survivor 'has' hunters even more so. He does not speak, though; he has not been spoken to, and the Alphess knows whom needs to speak and when. He remains silent, keeping his ears perked for any attempt at aggression toward Skelaghe as he finally renders his naturally antiseptic tongue upon his minor wound, cleaning it.
"You are failing to endear yourself to me, child." Her temper is short. She wanted several hours to herself, and being forced to death with another of the many miniature crises that have taken her pack by storm did not rank high on her list, after that. "My pack does have other issues to tend to than some visitor who wants an audience and refuses to accept one from anyone but me. Now, I will repeat myself. Unless you can let me know why you ought to have that audience, right now, I suggest you leave until I have time to deal with you."
Wanageeska remained stationary, unmoving. "I've been sent here to find Helaku," he said. "Finding you is a step in doing so. He left our land on a quest to find his old packmates out of instinct, and left us with a chain of command he appointed. He was going to ensure their livelihood if he could, but he never returned. This is a personal quest for me. I must find Helaku...my father. Orders are..no one gets in the way of this, no one else matters but these three. Only when I've met one of the three do the protocols cease. I do not like these protocols, but I must hold them until when it is appropriate to drop them and cease all the sneaking."
Helaku. Of course. Skelaghe knew, at least to some degree, based on Wanageeska's description, but... Helaku's son? "Then your mission /has/ failed. I am sorry to be the one to tell you this... But your father... My former mate... Helaku is dead, child." There is some sympathy in her tone as she says this. Not as much as, perhaps, might usually be there, but then, animals with whom she might usually sympathize do not usually go so far to disrupt her pack life.
Wanageeska's ears lowered at the news, but he remained stiff in posture. It was not considered that Helaku might be dead, as Helaku didn't just 'die'. "Don't..." he said softly. "...don't be sorry. Though it is not how the mission was to have ended, these things happen. It explains why he did not return." His ears lowered even more, all the tightness he had under protocol finally wearing off. He let himself free and eased his posture. "He was assigned to a mate in our pack, the Eloone, out of law. He did not like it, as his heart was elsewhere, but he fulfilled his duty. I am Wanageeska, son of Helaku and Wuth of the Eloone. My mission had ended, and by priveledge I am no longer bound to the pack once I've found if not Helaku, then his packmates. My road has ended here, with no direction after."
Survivor's ears perk at the mention of death. His gaze finally shifts to the youth, and then a sorrowful look to the ground. The battlescarred wolf makes no audiblization, but his posture is one of deep sorrow, regret and apology. That clinched it: he had made the wrong decision to hunt and chase the youth. The disfigured male slumps to a lay, and his legs and sides begin to randomly twitch.
Skelaghe looks at Survivor as the scarred male lies down. Her own sympathy does not extend so far that she regrets that her packmates responded to a disrespectful young wolf unkindly. He brought that much on himself, and for nothing at all. Indeed... For nothing at all, others, particularly Survivor, got hurt. If it had been anyone else who got hurt, Skelaghe might be driving Wanageeska out of Ute even yet. "I /am/ sorry. But your behavior has caused much trouble in the pack, pup." It doesn't matter why he behaved that way. Just because his prior pack's laws called for him to be disrespectful doesn't mean Skelaghe intends to overlook that disrespect. "On that note... If you wish to stay near the borders of the pack... My own son with Helaku may enjoy meeting you. You two can share much, I'm sure." Her own son, who... had to have been conceived in the same season as Wanageeska. Months after the pack had already formed. Well. Perhaps she was not the only one who was, in fact, "disloyal".
Survivor is laying, silent, slumped on the ground really, near Skelaghe and Wanageeska. His legs and sides are twitching, as though from nervous problems. He seems to be lost in unpleasant thoughts ...
Wanageeska looked at the clover field. Was he being rejected? He supposed that the only thing he could do was to leave, return to the Eloone as opposed to sending word via the birds. "It won't be necessary," he said. "I only saw my father once. He always smiled, and spent time with us before his own undertaking. That is the only memory I have of him aside from what I've been told he did before I was born." He shifted a tad. Things were more peaceful here than back home. "In the Foggy Path I saw a small black pup wandering. I sent him home...told him it was dangerous to be out without an adult. He went home...as far I know," he said. "But, your words are clear to me. I've no reason to stay if I am being told to stay on the border. From where I come, that means never return." He finally turned around and looked at Skelaghe. "Either way, it was an honor to meet you, Skelaghe. Helaku changed many things for my birthpack, brought them peace they never knew." And then, Wan started walking, away from the hill, towards the borders. Apparently, Eloone were swift with their decisions when it came to such matters. His tone was not remorseful, though it had a hint of being lost yet was overtoned in acceptance of a 'sentence' or so he perceived.
After another restless night, Rowtag was awoken from a light sort of half-sleep inside of the den by the loud howls of the adults not far from his shelter. Or, prison, in his unique case. With his head lifting abrubtly, his ears piqued sharply and his eyes peered out of the den's exit for a moment or two. Standing up slowly, the young male wandered over to the entrance, and blinked a few times; no guards. Strange. Being the opportunist that he was, the young hybrid leaps out of the small hole, and begins to sprint toward where he'd heard the sounds from. It took him a while, along with many distractions along the way, having not been out on his own for quite some time. Chasing some something through the grass set him off time for a good five minutes or so, though when it had had enough and hissed at him, the pup simply took off running. Only moments ago did he finally arrive at the lawn, only two figures familiar. That strange wolf he'd met in the path, and.. mother. Keeping quiet, the pup laid himself down in the lawn, hoping to have some sort of cover.. but the grass is just a hair too short to cover his growing body. Not to mention that his pelt was very contrasting to the lawn.
"And perhaps that is why you have caused so much trouble, child. Because you are so stuck on the way things were, where you came from." If she wanted him to leave, she would have told him to leave. If, after two days of proving he cares nothing for the manners of Ute wolves, he still balks at showing any willingness, whatsoever, to play by some rules... Well, perhaps it is bettwer that he goes. She does not say anything else, immediately. Not if Wanageeska is simply going to continue leaving, anyway. For now, all that saves Rowtag from being noticed By Skelaghe is her focus on Wanageeska and Survivor.
Survivor does not notice the approaching pup either, lack of cover or no. He is now gazing off in the distance, though not at either Skelaghe nor Wanageeska.
Wanageeska stopped once and looked over his shoulder at Skelaghe. "I have no difficulty in remaining at your border, but you must understand that all packs in the region from which I come, to tell someone to stay at the border means they will never be welcome. You are right in asking this. Any leader back home would see a newcomer that stirred trouble never be welcome because of the future they may bring with them. Forgiveness is not a common word in the law. I will return to my homelands so I do not cross your borders again. General Order 91." This pack, Eloone. It was no wonder Helaku focused himself on security so much. Wan was a prime example of how they lived. "As my father told my packmates, may Tobba guide you strongly. "
Sitting there in the grass, Rowtag is suprised that he hasn't been spotted yet due to his mother's almost supernatural ability to know when he was getting himself into trouble, but he is glad at the same time. Wriggling himself down closer to the ground, the black pup's head lays flat on the lawn of clovers, watching them all, completely silent.
"I thought you may have figured out, by now, that your pack's 'laws' have no bearing on Ute life. Regardless... May Tobba guide you on your path. I hope you find whatever you were looking for in Helaku, even if you must look elsewhere for it, now." One of Skelaghe's ears flick in the direction of grass responding to wiggling, but she still does not look away from either of the larger males.
Wanageeska had to stop, again. What sort of Alpha was she to keep talking though he walked away? Helaku said she was kind and generous, and wise...was this her version of wisdom? "I have figured that out," he answered. "And no...I will not find what I was looking for in my father. Though I might have found his packmates, I cannot look for anything in my father for he is gone, as is my mother." Wan's eyes had begun to water as he couldn't hold back the emotions of hearing about Helaku's death much longer. "His story will stay with us under this ruling. Perhaps it is better that way since you seem to have moved on. I need to leave before those two males come back. They wanted to kill me and I'm not too fancy to such packmates under one like you." Again, Wan started off, though his body visibly sulked and didn't posture like it did prior to this talk.
Yes, Helaku is gone. And while Skelaghe would not say she has "moved on"... Would it be better to have Ute fail a second time, as it did the first time the male alpha died of an illness? She cannot be like Aquene, the alphaess after whom her daughter was named, and leave her packmates to deal with their own troubles while she sorrows for months on end. Skelaghe simply looks after Wanageeska, who presumes to know everything her packmates intend to do. Whatever the child thinks, Skelaghe knows that not everything Helaku had learned, over his life, was lost with him. If Wanageeska does not want to look elsewhere for the things Helaku knew... Well, Skelaghe cannot force him. Finally turning around, since she will leave Survivor to his own sorrow, Skelaghe spots her son attempting to hide in the grass.
Wanageeska kept going, but he had to stop. He knew he was walking away from those who knew Helaku before he ever came to the Redwood Barrens, but he was not exactly Ute material and the rules of the Eloone were the only ones he knew, aside from the Ute principles which Helaku had introduced into the pack. He sat in the clovers and breathed hard. He wasn't supposed to show emotion like this in front of others, but he couldn't help it. He'd return to the old mining village and be reprimanded by the pack for failure, regardless of Helaku dying before he could find him. They'd most likely strip him of his mark, cast him out. The newer pack had begun to revert to the older ways prior to Helaku with the corruption in the leadership, said the elders...who were too old to fight them. Did he really want to return to that? He was of Helaku's first litter, the one that half survived. It wouldn't be too long before he was an adult himself. In fact, he was practically adult, but still retained his adolescent qualities. He was alone here.
Rowtag hasn't paid much attention to the conversation that the adults were having, but he does know two things. First and foremost, that his mother saw him. Secondly, something was really bugging that other wolf that he'd forgot the name of. Probably because they'd never exchanged names.. but he just thought he forgot. Dipping his head lower into the clovers, the pup dared not make another sound.. but couldn't exactly move to another, more secretive spot at the moment, either.
Skelaghe does not realize Wanageeska has stopped moving. "Come on, pup. Let's go get some food." She really ought to be taking him ack to the den, as he has not, yet, agreed to the terms she laid out that would allow him to leave, but he managed to get away, and still didn't leave Ute. That deserves some reward, right?
Wanageeska panted, looking around the clover fields, his mind arguing with itself on what to do. Return home, said one. Stay, said another. Leave the Ute lands and go elsewhere, said yet another. What he said about the mission having not counted for Helaku having died was true and this was one thing the young wolf had not been prepared for. Facing the death of Wuth was bad enough, but now he had to face the death of Helaku after suffering through an intensely isolated span of travel. His goals were to see his father, who would be smiling again to see him, run with him as he promised though death broke that promise. Wan panted harder and harder until he swayed where he sat. "Failed," he said to himself. "Failed the most precious...quest...." And then it came. Wan's emotions ran so high after having to subdue them under protocols that he collapsed, fell on his side. He had fainted under the rush.
Sitting up in the grass, Rowtag's head fell to one side at the strangeness of the entire situation. His mother wasn't punishing him, she was offering a meal. He was pretty hungry.. and so he would follow her. Doing so, his large paws stumbled over one another as he made his way toward her quickly, but he couldn't help but look over at the other wolf as he passed. With a blink, he let out a soft whine on Wanageeska's behalf. "Whassa matter with him, mama?" He asked quietly, innocently, as if concerned about him though he didn't know anything regarding any detail of their story.
What's wrong with which one? Both Survivor and Wanageeska... "They're just sad, pup. Very sad." Like she was, when she first learned of Helaku's passing. Skelaghe continues heading northward, slowly, after answering he pup's question.
Wanageeska lay in the clovers, his mind fading in and out of consciousness. He felt the wind and the grass around him, but heard hardly anything. His body didn't move, wouldn't move. There was nothing he could do, at all, if someone came along and found him.
Rowtag's ears lowered at the display of defeated sadness from the younger of the other two, and het let out a tiny sigh. "'Bout what?" He wonders out loud, not being able to imagine being that sad over something. Angry, yes. Sad? No. Following after Skelaghe, a quiet rumble comes from his belly, the thought of food cheering him up a bit as well. "Maybe he's hungry too.."
"Maybe he is, pup." Let Rowtag think that. The last thing Skelaghe wants is to bring up a conversation about fathers, or, if it's Survivor that Rowtag was asking about... Well, she really has no desire to talk about why Survivor is sad, either.
"Could we bring them back something?" He ponders, suddenly taking an interest to both of them for whatever reasons. Mostly, because they were the focus of the situation, and he hadn't much else to think about. Regardless, he's acting .. more civil than usual. Even half-generous.
"We'll try, okay?" Skelaghe isn't going to sacrifice food that ought to be going to her pups, if her pups are hungry, but so long as they're all fed... Then there's no reason she really can't bring something to Survivor and Wanageeska, provided that either one of them is still around, then.
Wanageeska will be around, for certain. If certain packmembers don't find him at his disadvantage and kill him first. Though, he won't be moving anytime soon.
Wanagesska - Male Adolescent Wolf.
Heath - Female Adolescent Wolf.
Skelaghe - Female Adult Wolf.
Rowtag - Male Wolf-dog Pup.
----
Survivor sits as a statue, blankly gazing out across the lawn of clover. The scar-laden wolf appears quite lost in thought, and judging by his expression, whatever he is thinking deeply on is not pleasant.
Wanageeska had eluded them, perfect. He had all reason to believe it would be pack thugs that would come at a howl, and his business wasn't with...pack thugs. It was with Alphas. The strange, mysterious wolf had found ways through the night to cross to the side opposite that of which he came the previous day, still without so much as a scent, dotted as Kezu said. This Survivor was honorable, but he had feeling those whom pursued him were not so honorable. His route had taken him to a stream which he jumped over, spread what little scent he had on the other side to lead them forward before doubling back and walking down the stream itself, leaving no scent at all. Wan was no fool, nor were his kind. Nor was his father. Now he sat, watching the statuesque Survivor. "You handle your duty well," he said softly on the wind, loud enough to be heard, but soft enough to not startle entirely. "But my protocols under assignment take priority."
Survivor snaps out of his thoughts. He shakes his head. "Are you a phantom of some sort? Am I the only one who can even see you?" he growls, irritated. The soft, playful demeanor he was in the day before is gone ... but he realizes he is now passing his own ills. "You have no idea what my duties are, young one. For that matter, for all I know ... you are merely a figment of my own doomed soul."
Wanageeska's ears raised. No doubt had his act disturbed the wolf, but it couldn't be helped. His name was for the Alpha first, pack second. Eloone protocol for this particular mission and he wasn't about to let it fail. It would stand until he met Skelaghe himself, regardless of how much it might irritate the other pack members. After all, he was only following orders and when following orders the customs of other packs took the back stream. His tone, however, remained calm and openly friendly...as friend as an aristocrat could sound. "I am as real as yourself," he said. "We of my kind also have a goddess of the moon, but we call her Lunai. I am blessed by Lunai, supreme guardian of the night. Only you see me because that is what I wish for now, until your Alpha is before me."
Survivor shakes his head. "Why are you showing to me? Why not do as I did just two days ago, howl and wait at the border? You would have had nothing to fear from Ute had you followed protocol ... but ... if you are real ... you are in danger now. Ute scouts hunt for you. Your intrusion is a grave concern to the pack. And I asked the Alphess directly about you, but she did not recognize you from the description I gave of you yourself, or your mark. She gives no indication that you are anything but a stranger."
Wanageeska murmured to himself. The common questions, according to other servants of Lunai, were why they did what they did. "It is by order and law," he answered. "My pack abides by law, their own, until a mission is complete. I do not fear Ute; danger is what I grew up in, Survivor. My personal feelings do not matter in this undertaking, for I wish to give you my name but mission dictates I cannot yet do so." Wan remained where he was, not coming any closer or parting farther. "Did you mention the name Helaku to her?" That was a question that needed answering.
Survivor answers, "No ... I did not." The wolf stands, upset and indecisive. The warrior he apparantly is, should attack the intruder or chase him off ... but given the crime he committed, he is hesitant to initiate such an attack without the presentation of a more immediate threat. "A pack that abides by its own law ... missions ... I have more experience in these things than you want to know, Nameless. I hope, for your sake, you are indulging in your own idle fantasies. Howling at the border and waiting patiently would have likely gotten you an easy meeting with the Alphess. Intruding into the territory, uninvited and sneaking around will not earn you a pleasant greeting from the most forgiving of alphas. Your mission can only be of reckless adolescent thrillseeking variety that will condemn you, as I am condemned from my own reckless adolescent thrillseeking!" he snaps.
"Waiting at a border and howling is not our way, Survivor," he said. Still, Wan sat there, staring at the other. He assumed much, this wolf did. That, however was no surprise. "Those whom you called put Ute at risk, Survivor. My leader told me of names three; Skelaghe, Ixkin, and Helaku. You are void of information and therefore need an education as to the nature of this mission. General Order 43 under Law. Should the members of a pack attack an agent of Lunai before his mission is complete in meeting the Alpha designated, a delcaration of war upon Lunai is considered. Think hard, Survivor. My pack far outnumbers the Ute and though far away, their agents could come, believing a mission of peace was rejected for the trees and plants are our whisperers as are the birds of the sky. Helaku is a packmate of Skelaghe, this name she cannot ignore. Mention this name, and more action she'll take personally to see that this mission succeeds."
Survivor howls again and suddenly lunges at the adolescent male. His muzzle is closed, his fangs not exposed; he is not going for a bite, but merely to knock the adolescent over and he aims to, in one swift move, stand over him and pin him in place.
Wanageeska sighed. Must they go through with this nonsense? Wan didn't run, he charged and charged fast as any fox into the clovers, but swerved his heading, not straight to Suvivor, but down the slope,onto a small boulder before looking back at Survivor. It was fortunate the wolf had not bore his teeth--that would have been declaration of war; General Order 43-A. "Be you in need of more information, Survivor," he said. "I am a son of Helaku, unknown to Skelaghe. How would it feel if you gave into your impulses and sought harm to a blood relative of one whom loved her?" Helaku spoke of Skelaghe before he departed, so said his Leader. However, he was not aware the two had become mates prior to his leave from Ute.
Survivor gives deadly-serious persuit. "Hold still, and I will hold you in place, but I will not harm you!" he snaps. "You've declared war against a peaceful pack, and you expect me to serve as your messenger while you intrude and sneak around the packlands!?" The wolf struggles as he revives his abandoned battle skills. "This is no game, vagrant! You've declared war! It is NOT a game!" The youth may be spry, but Survivor has been on his own for a very long time, and has a significant endurance. Knowing the youth has an unimaginable ability to cover his tracks. Survivor howls out, but unlike last time, is not going to sit and wait for packmates to show up, knowing this rascal is slippery and has an impressive ability to cover his tracks.
Wanageeska bound from the boulder onto another, and then onto the clovers once more, keeping the distance between them. "Touch me, and the mission fails," he said, him too drawing a howl. What was this? He was howling? Sure, see if it would attract the Alpha, and if not deal with the others. "I play no games, ever. If I truly wished to declare war, I would have gone over that hill up ahead, the one alluded to yesterday with your body language! You've much to learn about safeguarding a pack." This youth spoke like a seasoned vet, almost like a grizzled general. How could he be so rash, or was he being rash? No one knew.
Survivor relentlessly persues the youth, knowing if he loses sight of him, he will not be able to pick up the trail. He leaps up the nearest boulder, ignores as he slips slightly and an old scar scrapes open, coating the boulder with a swipe of his own blood and starting a trail of his own blood for any who come after his call to persue. The youth may know how to avoid leaving a scent trail, but so long as Survivor is following him, that won't help him one bit! The pledgeling-omega refuses to give up and pounds his hindlegs to drive him faster and faster. Sooner or later, the youth will tire, and the elder wolf has more muscle mass and more experience at life to give him a deeper pool of endurance than the adolescent. The mention that Survivor's wavering uncertainty, his mere glance in the direction he was forbidden to go that the Alphess had gone to be with her pups, was now a target of the youth made it all the worse. If he chased the intruder there, he would disturb the alphess, but if he didn't the sneaky adolescent could sneak up on one of the Ute pups and kill it! Given the myserious stealthy adolescent had no regard for the pack's laws or sanctity, and his threat of a declaration of war as though it were a game, Survivor could not trust the rascal to NOT have cubicide as a possibility on his mind. He howls again, hoping others will reach them before it comes to the point of chasing the rascal into an area Survivor has been forbidden to go.
Wanageeska's nose flared, his destination a group of boulders before him. It was just like basic training, this exercise! Wan jumped onto another small boulder, launching himself onto another, and then a third before looking back again. Who trained him? Was this natural? Was it even talent? "Look at you!" he said, howling once more. "You bleed yourself on the rocks. Now it will appear as if I've attacked you out of your own cognizance, Survivor! Helaku said of the Ute: never attack a wolf whom has not attack you, but you break this precept he taught my kind! I've harmed no one here, stayed clear of that hill, and you pursue!" Pack laws or not, Survivor was overstepping bounds as far as Wan was concerned, and bounds that Helaku had taught the Eloone in diplomacy, spoken of with his own pack, the Ute.
So many howls! They ring in Heath's dreams, calling her back to the realm of reality once more. Blue eyes slowly flutter awake as the copper-toned wolfess finds herself laying in the same cluster of fallen leaves that she dozed off in, despite her mind's journeys far beyond while she slept. With a wide, tongue-curling yawn, the young female stretches out her limbs as she leisurely gets around to getting up and answering the calls, feeling no rush to respond after such a refreshing nap. But she doesn't want to let her friend Skelaghe down, and so she finally rises onto all fours and begins trotting south towards the lawn that lays before the hill, on the off-chance that the alphaess needs what little help she can provide. When she finally emerges from the scant glade of trees to the north, however, she doesn't see Skelaghe at all -- or, in fact, anyone she recognizes from the few packmembers she's met so far. And what's more, they seem to be involved in some sort of conflict. As such, the flighty young female stays put, merely watching with a mildly concerned look upon her face.
Survivor snarls noisily, as much to give an audible trail in the persuit as anything: "You've brought alarm and disquiet to the pack! You have threatened war! You have threatened the pack's den! You have already brought harm! INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER IN UTE LANDS!" he howls. He leaps from boulder to boulder, his graze continuing to leave a strong scent-trail ... no wolf could lose the scent of blood itself.
Skelaghe is a way's behind Heath. Normally, she would leave such actions to her younger packmates, but if Wyanet returns to Survivor anytime soon, it will not be to help, Skelaghe knows, and that call was definitely one for help, followed by... Ah. So, the stranger returns. She is not pleased as she carries herself towards the howls at a quickened pace. She is even less pleased once she scents blood, and after smelling it, the next howl urges her into a run, though she does not return the howling, herself.
Wanageeska bolted from the boulder, this time his voice shouting loud enough for all to hear. "You're absolutely mad!" he shouted. "Was it your buddies you summoned last night to hunt me that told you to greet peace-bearing wolves with such distaste and malice?!" He howled, again! "This is non-Ute! Helaku never spoke of this atrocity!" Wan was doing all he could to avoid getting any closer to Survivor; he bled himself and that was not good. This wolf was putting his entire mission at risk! "You have assumed I threaten war, but with your antics there will be! Then you'd have to live with throwing your entire pack that you've pledged to into chaos, endangering them if you gave reason for my leaders to beleive they were met with hate! Alarm and disquiet? One of the pups was in the Foggy Path days ago; I sent him home so he'd not be harmed!"
Survivor is tightly focused on his target, and does not see Heath nor the Alphess have picked up the chase. There are rules every wolf knows about behaving on packlands, and this vagrant adolescent had broken every one. Survivor is very angry and very intent ... he could not find a paradise like Ute, only to be the instrument of its doom by being too soft on an intruder who had made such nasty menacings as war and sneaking into the denning area! Survivor hopes to hell he is in the wrong, that the Ute will show up, recognize the young wolf and punish himself ... but however badly he must struggle with his past, Survivor cannot bear to allow his inaction to bring harm to the pack. He continues to hope and chase, aiming to get closer, knock the adolescent down, pin and hold him in place.
Skelaghe continues to approach the two wolves from a different direction than Heath. Right now, she is not very pleased with either one of them, for different reasons. "That is ENOUGH!" She raises her voice loud enough to be heard over the constant howling that will be sure to draw any number of animals. So help her, if this conflict continues, she will see both of them off of her land, permanently.
Wanageeska would not howl once he heard the voice proclaiming enough, but he didn't stop keeping his distance from Survivor, lest he ignore the order. Wan remained entirely silent, infact, at this point, until his path took him closer to Skelaghe. "I do hope you are the one I've been seeking," he said, but his eyes remained on Survivor, ears alert. "Else my mission is failed." At this point, he nearly accepted it was failure. He had never seen Skelaghe before and though he knew of her and what Helaku described her as looking like, he still didn't. She had aged since then, and that factor didn't account for recognition.
Survivor immediately terminates his persuit of the unnamed adolescent at Skelaghe's command, digging his claws into the ground, skidding to a stop. He plants his butt in an erect sit, turning his head to follow Skelaghe, but does not move one further inch unless she says to. He ignores the minor wound on his paw.
Even Heath, who has nothing to fear from the alpha female, shrinks back into the trees at Skelaghe's loud command, her ears flattening against her skull as the tense scene unfolds. The timid she-wolf still remains half-concealed along the treeline, too startled and frightened to even dare stepping out into the open where the battling males stand. Even so, should either of them show any sign of violence towards her friend, she will not hesitate to leap to her defense.
Skelaghe knows Heath si here, but she focuses her attention on the two males. It doesn't matter to her one bit that either one of them, even the adolescent, could probably cause her a great deal of damage. And she continues to approach them, she holds he tail high. Mostly, she keeps her gaze on the stranger. She may not be happy with Survivor, but so far as she knows, that is for things that have happened prior to this, not for his attempts to protect the pack. "So far as I am concerned, your mission is already failed. This is twice, now, that you have caused upset in my pack, so unless you can explain to me, quickly, why you have done so, I suggest you get moving, and do not turn back around until I am /ready/ to give you an audience."
Wanageeska finally sat, but he did not turn as Skelaghe directed. "If you are Skelaghe of Ute, then I have not," he said. "I've been sent here on orders and protocols with those orders for contact with a Skelaghe, Ixkin, or Helaku. Only those names matter in the directive, which I must abide until the mission complete. I've traveled near 40 days from my own packland, and I hope it is in your understanding on why I cannot fail after so long. I've been trying to send messages to Skelaghe via her member Survivor, but he failed to mention the name Helaku and in doing do this incident today could not be avoided. I came peacefully again, but he was insistant on driving me off. I'm willing to bet his hunters he called last night were the ones that told him to act with such impulse."
Survivor gives no further regard to the unnamed youth, at least none visible ... but already his mind agonizes: was chasing him the right decision? He worries, even worse, for his ability to serve the pack. He struggles over his own indecisiveness. The youth's information is highly inaccurate, and his claim that Survivor 'has' hunters even more so. He does not speak, though; he has not been spoken to, and the Alphess knows whom needs to speak and when. He remains silent, keeping his ears perked for any attempt at aggression toward Skelaghe as he finally renders his naturally antiseptic tongue upon his minor wound, cleaning it.
"You are failing to endear yourself to me, child." Her temper is short. She wanted several hours to herself, and being forced to death with another of the many miniature crises that have taken her pack by storm did not rank high on her list, after that. "My pack does have other issues to tend to than some visitor who wants an audience and refuses to accept one from anyone but me. Now, I will repeat myself. Unless you can let me know why you ought to have that audience, right now, I suggest you leave until I have time to deal with you."
Wanageeska remained stationary, unmoving. "I've been sent here to find Helaku," he said. "Finding you is a step in doing so. He left our land on a quest to find his old packmates out of instinct, and left us with a chain of command he appointed. He was going to ensure their livelihood if he could, but he never returned. This is a personal quest for me. I must find Helaku...my father. Orders are..no one gets in the way of this, no one else matters but these three. Only when I've met one of the three do the protocols cease. I do not like these protocols, but I must hold them until when it is appropriate to drop them and cease all the sneaking."
Helaku. Of course. Skelaghe knew, at least to some degree, based on Wanageeska's description, but... Helaku's son? "Then your mission /has/ failed. I am sorry to be the one to tell you this... But your father... My former mate... Helaku is dead, child." There is some sympathy in her tone as she says this. Not as much as, perhaps, might usually be there, but then, animals with whom she might usually sympathize do not usually go so far to disrupt her pack life.
Wanageeska's ears lowered at the news, but he remained stiff in posture. It was not considered that Helaku might be dead, as Helaku didn't just 'die'. "Don't..." he said softly. "...don't be sorry. Though it is not how the mission was to have ended, these things happen. It explains why he did not return." His ears lowered even more, all the tightness he had under protocol finally wearing off. He let himself free and eased his posture. "He was assigned to a mate in our pack, the Eloone, out of law. He did not like it, as his heart was elsewhere, but he fulfilled his duty. I am Wanageeska, son of Helaku and Wuth of the Eloone. My mission had ended, and by priveledge I am no longer bound to the pack once I've found if not Helaku, then his packmates. My road has ended here, with no direction after."
Survivor's ears perk at the mention of death. His gaze finally shifts to the youth, and then a sorrowful look to the ground. The battlescarred wolf makes no audiblization, but his posture is one of deep sorrow, regret and apology. That clinched it: he had made the wrong decision to hunt and chase the youth. The disfigured male slumps to a lay, and his legs and sides begin to randomly twitch.
Skelaghe looks at Survivor as the scarred male lies down. Her own sympathy does not extend so far that she regrets that her packmates responded to a disrespectful young wolf unkindly. He brought that much on himself, and for nothing at all. Indeed... For nothing at all, others, particularly Survivor, got hurt. If it had been anyone else who got hurt, Skelaghe might be driving Wanageeska out of Ute even yet. "I /am/ sorry. But your behavior has caused much trouble in the pack, pup." It doesn't matter why he behaved that way. Just because his prior pack's laws called for him to be disrespectful doesn't mean Skelaghe intends to overlook that disrespect. "On that note... If you wish to stay near the borders of the pack... My own son with Helaku may enjoy meeting you. You two can share much, I'm sure." Her own son, who... had to have been conceived in the same season as Wanageeska. Months after the pack had already formed. Well. Perhaps she was not the only one who was, in fact, "disloyal".
Survivor is laying, silent, slumped on the ground really, near Skelaghe and Wanageeska. His legs and sides are twitching, as though from nervous problems. He seems to be lost in unpleasant thoughts ...
Wanageeska looked at the clover field. Was he being rejected? He supposed that the only thing he could do was to leave, return to the Eloone as opposed to sending word via the birds. "It won't be necessary," he said. "I only saw my father once. He always smiled, and spent time with us before his own undertaking. That is the only memory I have of him aside from what I've been told he did before I was born." He shifted a tad. Things were more peaceful here than back home. "In the Foggy Path I saw a small black pup wandering. I sent him home...told him it was dangerous to be out without an adult. He went home...as far I know," he said. "But, your words are clear to me. I've no reason to stay if I am being told to stay on the border. From where I come, that means never return." He finally turned around and looked at Skelaghe. "Either way, it was an honor to meet you, Skelaghe. Helaku changed many things for my birthpack, brought them peace they never knew." And then, Wan started walking, away from the hill, towards the borders. Apparently, Eloone were swift with their decisions when it came to such matters. His tone was not remorseful, though it had a hint of being lost yet was overtoned in acceptance of a 'sentence' or so he perceived.
After another restless night, Rowtag was awoken from a light sort of half-sleep inside of the den by the loud howls of the adults not far from his shelter. Or, prison, in his unique case. With his head lifting abrubtly, his ears piqued sharply and his eyes peered out of the den's exit for a moment or two. Standing up slowly, the young male wandered over to the entrance, and blinked a few times; no guards. Strange. Being the opportunist that he was, the young hybrid leaps out of the small hole, and begins to sprint toward where he'd heard the sounds from. It took him a while, along with many distractions along the way, having not been out on his own for quite some time. Chasing some something through the grass set him off time for a good five minutes or so, though when it had had enough and hissed at him, the pup simply took off running. Only moments ago did he finally arrive at the lawn, only two figures familiar. That strange wolf he'd met in the path, and.. mother. Keeping quiet, the pup laid himself down in the lawn, hoping to have some sort of cover.. but the grass is just a hair too short to cover his growing body. Not to mention that his pelt was very contrasting to the lawn.
"And perhaps that is why you have caused so much trouble, child. Because you are so stuck on the way things were, where you came from." If she wanted him to leave, she would have told him to leave. If, after two days of proving he cares nothing for the manners of Ute wolves, he still balks at showing any willingness, whatsoever, to play by some rules... Well, perhaps it is bettwer that he goes. She does not say anything else, immediately. Not if Wanageeska is simply going to continue leaving, anyway. For now, all that saves Rowtag from being noticed By Skelaghe is her focus on Wanageeska and Survivor.
Survivor does not notice the approaching pup either, lack of cover or no. He is now gazing off in the distance, though not at either Skelaghe nor Wanageeska.
Wanageeska stopped once and looked over his shoulder at Skelaghe. "I have no difficulty in remaining at your border, but you must understand that all packs in the region from which I come, to tell someone to stay at the border means they will never be welcome. You are right in asking this. Any leader back home would see a newcomer that stirred trouble never be welcome because of the future they may bring with them. Forgiveness is not a common word in the law. I will return to my homelands so I do not cross your borders again. General Order 91." This pack, Eloone. It was no wonder Helaku focused himself on security so much. Wan was a prime example of how they lived. "As my father told my packmates, may Tobba guide you strongly. "
Sitting there in the grass, Rowtag is suprised that he hasn't been spotted yet due to his mother's almost supernatural ability to know when he was getting himself into trouble, but he is glad at the same time. Wriggling himself down closer to the ground, the black pup's head lays flat on the lawn of clovers, watching them all, completely silent.
"I thought you may have figured out, by now, that your pack's 'laws' have no bearing on Ute life. Regardless... May Tobba guide you on your path. I hope you find whatever you were looking for in Helaku, even if you must look elsewhere for it, now." One of Skelaghe's ears flick in the direction of grass responding to wiggling, but she still does not look away from either of the larger males.
Wanageeska had to stop, again. What sort of Alpha was she to keep talking though he walked away? Helaku said she was kind and generous, and wise...was this her version of wisdom? "I have figured that out," he answered. "And no...I will not find what I was looking for in my father. Though I might have found his packmates, I cannot look for anything in my father for he is gone, as is my mother." Wan's eyes had begun to water as he couldn't hold back the emotions of hearing about Helaku's death much longer. "His story will stay with us under this ruling. Perhaps it is better that way since you seem to have moved on. I need to leave before those two males come back. They wanted to kill me and I'm not too fancy to such packmates under one like you." Again, Wan started off, though his body visibly sulked and didn't posture like it did prior to this talk.
Yes, Helaku is gone. And while Skelaghe would not say she has "moved on"... Would it be better to have Ute fail a second time, as it did the first time the male alpha died of an illness? She cannot be like Aquene, the alphaess after whom her daughter was named, and leave her packmates to deal with their own troubles while she sorrows for months on end. Skelaghe simply looks after Wanageeska, who presumes to know everything her packmates intend to do. Whatever the child thinks, Skelaghe knows that not everything Helaku had learned, over his life, was lost with him. If Wanageeska does not want to look elsewhere for the things Helaku knew... Well, Skelaghe cannot force him. Finally turning around, since she will leave Survivor to his own sorrow, Skelaghe spots her son attempting to hide in the grass.
Wanageeska kept going, but he had to stop. He knew he was walking away from those who knew Helaku before he ever came to the Redwood Barrens, but he was not exactly Ute material and the rules of the Eloone were the only ones he knew, aside from the Ute principles which Helaku had introduced into the pack. He sat in the clovers and breathed hard. He wasn't supposed to show emotion like this in front of others, but he couldn't help it. He'd return to the old mining village and be reprimanded by the pack for failure, regardless of Helaku dying before he could find him. They'd most likely strip him of his mark, cast him out. The newer pack had begun to revert to the older ways prior to Helaku with the corruption in the leadership, said the elders...who were too old to fight them. Did he really want to return to that? He was of Helaku's first litter, the one that half survived. It wouldn't be too long before he was an adult himself. In fact, he was practically adult, but still retained his adolescent qualities. He was alone here.
Rowtag hasn't paid much attention to the conversation that the adults were having, but he does know two things. First and foremost, that his mother saw him. Secondly, something was really bugging that other wolf that he'd forgot the name of. Probably because they'd never exchanged names.. but he just thought he forgot. Dipping his head lower into the clovers, the pup dared not make another sound.. but couldn't exactly move to another, more secretive spot at the moment, either.
Skelaghe does not realize Wanageeska has stopped moving. "Come on, pup. Let's go get some food." She really ought to be taking him ack to the den, as he has not, yet, agreed to the terms she laid out that would allow him to leave, but he managed to get away, and still didn't leave Ute. That deserves some reward, right?
Wanageeska panted, looking around the clover fields, his mind arguing with itself on what to do. Return home, said one. Stay, said another. Leave the Ute lands and go elsewhere, said yet another. What he said about the mission having not counted for Helaku having died was true and this was one thing the young wolf had not been prepared for. Facing the death of Wuth was bad enough, but now he had to face the death of Helaku after suffering through an intensely isolated span of travel. His goals were to see his father, who would be smiling again to see him, run with him as he promised though death broke that promise. Wan panted harder and harder until he swayed where he sat. "Failed," he said to himself. "Failed the most precious...quest...." And then it came. Wan's emotions ran so high after having to subdue them under protocols that he collapsed, fell on his side. He had fainted under the rush.
Sitting up in the grass, Rowtag's head fell to one side at the strangeness of the entire situation. His mother wasn't punishing him, she was offering a meal. He was pretty hungry.. and so he would follow her. Doing so, his large paws stumbled over one another as he made his way toward her quickly, but he couldn't help but look over at the other wolf as he passed. With a blink, he let out a soft whine on Wanageeska's behalf. "Whassa matter with him, mama?" He asked quietly, innocently, as if concerned about him though he didn't know anything regarding any detail of their story.
What's wrong with which one? Both Survivor and Wanageeska... "They're just sad, pup. Very sad." Like she was, when she first learned of Helaku's passing. Skelaghe continues heading northward, slowly, after answering he pup's question.
Wanageeska lay in the clovers, his mind fading in and out of consciousness. He felt the wind and the grass around him, but heard hardly anything. His body didn't move, wouldn't move. There was nothing he could do, at all, if someone came along and found him.
Rowtag's ears lowered at the display of defeated sadness from the younger of the other two, and het let out a tiny sigh. "'Bout what?" He wonders out loud, not being able to imagine being that sad over something. Angry, yes. Sad? No. Following after Skelaghe, a quiet rumble comes from his belly, the thought of food cheering him up a bit as well. "Maybe he's hungry too.."
"Maybe he is, pup." Let Rowtag think that. The last thing Skelaghe wants is to bring up a conversation about fathers, or, if it's Survivor that Rowtag was asking about... Well, she really has no desire to talk about why Survivor is sad, either.
"Could we bring them back something?" He ponders, suddenly taking an interest to both of them for whatever reasons. Mostly, because they were the focus of the situation, and he hadn't much else to think about. Regardless, he's acting .. more civil than usual. Even half-generous.
"We'll try, okay?" Skelaghe isn't going to sacrifice food that ought to be going to her pups, if her pups are hungry, but so long as they're all fed... Then there's no reason she really can't bring something to Survivor and Wanageeska, provided that either one of them is still around, then.
Wanageeska will be around, for certain. If certain packmembers don't find him at his disadvantage and kill him first. Though, he won't be moving anytime soon.