Wild Rye Fields Consume or be Consumed

Aleksei’s face hurt. The cuts—well, they were more like minor lacerations—had scabbed over well enough, but he still had to squint through his left eye. He’d tried hunting, but with his depth perception thrown off, he was more successful in face planting and dragging his face across the floor than trotting home with plump prey in his mouth. He counted his lucky stars, though; at least it wasn’t permanent blindness. The cougar’s claws hadn’t caught his eye (a damn miracle), but he’d be left with some rather prominent scars to remind him to not be such an idiot in the future.

Really, what had he been thinking, throwing himself head first at the beast?

He didn’t feel too sorry for himself, because they’d dealt with the bloody thing. Besides, he could still patrol and he could still eat. Maybe wolves would think twice before starting something with him if he had battle wounds like this. When that train of thought had initially crossed his mind, deliriously tired and unable to sleep thanks to the shooting pains causing his nerves to burn, he’d had a good chuckle over it. Things could definitely be worse.

Aleksei wouldn’t mope over it. He’d made himself useful, spent most of his time tending to the borders, but currently there were other things on his mind. Like food! Half way through his patrol, his stomach had audibly protested to a lack of food, causing him to abandon his route and search for the nearest cache. With his nose to the ground, he snuffled along, pinpointing the smell of meat beneath the ground. After kicking up dirt and guzzling down the rather unimpressive hare tucked away inside, he’d flopped to his backside with a grunt.

Of course, the large male was still hungry. Unsatisfied with his measly meal, he’d begun the walk further into Wild Rye Fields—he knew there were caches with great big hunks of flesh buried within. The thought made his mouth water and his feet move a little quicker.

“What’re y’doin’, scarface?”

Not that Reyes was really much one to talk. At all. Despite Alek’s fresh injuries, there was a fair chance that the older male wore more badges of honor across his snout and underneath his eyes. There was a less obvious ones across his brow, but it was what it was-- And it wasn’t a contest, anyways. (Obviously.)

But it was pretty obvious, as the dark wolf moved to brush up against the younger wolf in passing, that the silly nickname was not meant as an insult. (It was not much different than the times he’d called Askan ‘cabrón’ or something equally as unkind.) But given the upturned cache not far from where he’d found the epsilon, it did leave the guy a bit curious. Heading into Wild Rye Fields did not indicate any sort of hunting effort – nothing beyond moles and voles and tiny underground rodents lived within a wolf’s territory and had any hope of surviving. And if he were hunting, than Reyes might have tagged along.

But he wasn’t.

So he was curious. He might still tag along, if Aleksei was up to something interesting, and, well-- They had something to talk about, anyways. Even if it was almost the fall now.

Having caught Reyes’ scent on the wind, it came as no surprise when the older male drew up alongside Aleksei. Shooting him a crooked grin at the lovely nickname, the agouti male huffed a deep sigh. “Lamenting my newly ruined features,” he pouted, “how will I ever adjust to looking like a monster?! How did you do it?” He couldn’t help but chuckle. It was all said in good humour.

“Really though, I’m looking for a cache with something bigger in it.” He shrugged as he walked, a tight frown pulling at his lips. “I’ve tried hunting for myself but, uh. All I’ve been eating is dirt.” Was it embarrassing to admit? Yes, but why should it be a problem? The pack had plenty of capable hunters, and once, given the all clear with his eye, Aleksei would absolutely make up for the meals he had scoffed. “I never realised how much I took being able to see clearly with two eyes for granted.”

Momentarily, he thought of Kjors, the one eyed dragon. The first time they had spoken, they had taken down prey with ease. Aleksei supposed that you simply learned how to deal with your disabilities over time, and Kjors had done so. He knew his weakness. Knew how to protect himself despite them. Now that his anger over losing Karina had dulled with time, Aleksei couldn’t help but admit that he still held respect towards the fallen wolf. He was just doing what he had to in order to survive. He wasn’t a villain, wasn’t scheming some grand dismantling of the Baranski family (they’d managed to do that perfectly fine on their own). Alek had just been too stupid at the time to realise it.

(This post was last modified: Sep 10, 2017, 03:28 PM by Aleksei.)

Let the roots & soil drink of me
Whispering leaves & pointing branches will tell them where I'm lying

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

“Yeah, well. We can’t all be lady slayers, Aleksei,” he grunted, one brow lifting up. A moment later, the mask cracked and he couldn’t help the short snicker that escaped. This was not the same wolf he’d met back in Hearthwood River – that wolf was angry, strung out. Had no sense of humor to be found within a fifty length radius. Not that Reyes could blame him, knowing what he knew now. But it was still a nice change, and not one the wolf could say he expected.

Maybe the guy needed to cut his teeth. Or get cut by teeth.

Heh. He was fucking hilarious.

“You need me t’hunt for ya, ‘leksei-becksei?” he cooed, his tail spinning behind him. Two could play this game. He liked this game. Reyes bumped his shoulder into the younger wolf’s with a small hum before a thought struck him, and he wondered if it was worth sharing. The only reason he’d pursued it at all was to share with Alek – it didn’t matter much to him otherwise. But this was a nice change, and the gamma didn’t want to ruin it with something so sour.

“Hey, so – I made a friend up on the monadnock. And found out who Inna’s baby daddy is. If it even still matters.”

The Baranski raised a brow, but he grinned nonetheless. Lady slayer, huh? Well, that was the closest thing he was going to get to a compliment from Reyes, even if Aleksei thought it far from true. In fact, he thought himself incredibly awkward with women. Too rambly, easily stunned by a pretty face. He could be a little absent-minded with his words, too. Not exactly ‘lady slayer’ material.

“Oh, Reyes,” Aleksei swooned, faux-staggering into the darker male’s side. “Whatever would I do without you?” Starve, surely. He laughed, toothy grin and all. It felt good to joke around, to let his guard down. Get the stick out of his arse, so to speak. It was a long time coming. Aleksei was tired of being miserable, of feeling guilty. He was tired of feeling as though everything was his fault.

And then, the subject changed.

Aleksei’s curiosity was immediately piqued. His head tilted and he hummed thoughtfully. Did it matter? No, not really. But did he want to know? Yes. Absolutely. “I’d like to know. Just so I can know whether or not I was right.” So his frustration felt justified. After all, if it was he he thought it was … well, then that just proved Inna was a liar through and through.

Let the roots & soil drink of me
Whispering leaves & pointing branches will tell them where I'm lying

“Starve, for one thing.”

And that likely wasn’t true – Askan helped fill the caches too, as far as he knew, but it was a bit limited there. All the same, Aleksei wouldn’t totally starve. It was a nice picture though, the idea of being the savior. Enough to make him rumble and laugh, tail still swishing behind him even as they ventured into somewhat darker territory. At least the younger wolf seemed more curious than anything else; Reyes wasn’t a fan of Inna, but the girl was still Alek’s sister. He wasn’t sure how deeply Baranski ties ran.

So he rolled his shoulders and considered his wording, a very rare moment of tact, indeed. “Made friends with the lady alpha up on the monadnock. Said her subordinate, Lorcan, was the only other wolf to breed this year, ‘sides her and her mate. And she assures me her mate wouldn’t or he wouldn’t be alive still.”

Piety didn’t say it quite like that, but Reyes could read between the lines. The white woman would not have taken disloyalty lightly.