Nomads Pass de monte alto

mapplethorpe

Mors Certa, Vita Incerta

January 9th; Late Afternoon; Partly Cloudy; 0° F/-18° C

Since he had been discovered by Rhysis, there was no doubting that the shadow of a man had become a sort of savior to Mapplethorpe. Protected, or at least watched over, by seven other souls, was beneficial. His battles with insomnia were no longer drawn out until an hour before daybreak; his craving for food had seemingly been curbed. With his small hollow at the base of a tree established not far from Naira's den, his paws were itching for purpose. The hunt had provided the newfound pack with several filled caches, and while a few more hiding places for stored foods could be sought out, his mind longed to just stretch his legs.

Mapplethorpe was quick to pick his way through the snow, his nose kept down at first to follow a seemingly established pack highway to find his way to the rocky ledges that led up to the Pass. Tail wagging to and fro, he navigated with calculated, utterly cautious steps, constantly testing his paws against stone and gravel before ultimately moving forward. Going up a narrow pathway and down a small incline readily tested his endurance but to reward his curiosity and need for adventure, he came to plant all four of his paws on a sizable shelf, suitable for two or three large wolves. He smiled to himself as he allowed his eyes to feast upon the sight below. Treetops, towering ancient cedars and firs and pines laden with crisp white snow, stood tall in thick groves, and a blanket of fog stretched out over the land as far as the eye could see.

His body reclined with a hefty thump against the cold stone, a good sign that the grizzled male had started to regain the weight that he had lost during his nomadic travels. Once settled, he stretched his left paw forward and folded the right close to his chest, his head lifting proudly to continue taking in the scenery. The tail at his back swept across the shelf before curling close to his hind leg. Comfortable, he closed his eyes, attempting to soak up what little sun peeked through the cloud cover.

template base by GINNYSAURUS | image by DAWNTHIEVES.DE

“Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.”

Ever since the pack hunt, everything had gone well. The pack had been exploring and wandering as they pleased for nor Rhysis or Naira had really laid down rules. He liked it, but he knew that they would do so sooner or later; his fun would be ruined. His constant hunger that he experienced as a loner vanished in practically thin air. His paws were slowly getting used to the gravelly landscape that they made a home on. The mountain was becoming a nice place to be because they were all secluded from everyone else. One thing irked him, though: his brother wasn't far away. And his brother knew he was around.
As he moved, he would scent the air quite a bit to see where everyone else was. This time the fresh smell of an unknown pack member was inhaled. He followed it up the pathway and found himself watching a black and brown man force his way up the snowy ledges and onto an overlook that was seemingly over the trees. Immediately, he had the urge to follow. So, there he went- heaving his immense body mass up the ledges and towards the man. He slowly made his way up, pawstep by pawstep in case something bad happened.

He felt for the rocks a lot before he put down his complete weight. As he reached the top, Ten saw the man comfortably laying there and looking at the territory. "Trying to sunbathe on the rocks, huh? I don't blame ya." His voice was as rough as driving a car on a ground sandpaper, much like that of a...viking or something. He spoke in a neutral tone. Not too friendly, but not meaning any harm.

He felt shivers run down his spine. It was cold here, and It was a bit harder to breathe. His lungs pushed out and vacuumed the air. He sat down next to the man to watch the trees shake and the fog steadily move in a sloth-like manner. He shook his pelt and stifled a yawn. It was sleepy up here, but no warmer than it was down there on the ground.

mapplethorpe

Mors Certa, Vita Incerta

The casual chirps of a couple of sparrows, the occasional shifting of the clouds, the chill of the breeze. Nothing made him open his eyes until the scraping of claws against rock met his ears. The rounded triangles atop his skull twitched. A deep voice addressed him and he turned to come face-to-face with one of the young men Naira had recruited. "Ohhh, there's life in these ol' bones yet," he smile slightly, glancing back up to the clouds.

He filled his lungs with a deep breath, letting out an equally large sigh. Life had never been this good since... well... He leveled his head. Today might as well have been the best day of his life so far. Sure, he might have relished his first hunt, treasured every bit of praise lavished upon him by his father, but the sense accomplishment that had defined him as the man he was today overshadowed it all. He had found a place to stay, started reaping the up rewards and benefits of being his leaders' upholder, begun to pick up the pieces of himself he thought he had lost over the years. What was once chaotic and disorderly was now becoming settled to reveal the maturity that he cultivated and honed from experience.

Mapplethorpe turned his head just enough to see the youth just within his field of vision. A flick of his tail against the side of tawny limb hinted at his sudden interest in his companion. "So," he mused. "Why'd you do it? What made you follow them up here?"

template base by GINNYSAURUS | image by DAWNTHIEVES.DE

"De Monte Alto."

Tenzin went silent for a few moments. He sat beside the older man, directing his attention to their territory. He tracked in his head where he had been, and then marveled on how that area looked from above. The trees seemed to cover the ground well, but they did become scarce as the altitude of the mountain increased. That was why there was absolutely no natural tree shelter around Nomad's Pass itself whatsoever. He felt no need to continue speaking with this temporary companion. He remained vigil. The moments that passed were quite priceless to him, and he intended to make the best of them while he could.

Serenity was never easy to come by for the tawny brute. Every time he went somewhere, there just had to be a fight. His eyes averted to the clouds again. They were drifting idly; nothing to do. He was glad that they showed no signs of rain because he wasn't sure how he could take any more water. Disgust prickled at his paws. Ugh. Water, and especially big amounts of it, always struck a feeling of dislike in his core. He often wondered if it was a peeve that he equipped as a pup, or it if was a physiologic thing he simply picked up somewhere..Even if it was one of those, he couldn't remember a day when he woke up thinking: "I hate water." After all, Tenzin did really need water to survive, so this thing he developed about water made no sense at all. It was ALL an obvious blur in his head.

"So. Why'd you do it? What made you follow them up here?" The man mused, making Ten flicker his thick-skinned ears in acknowledgement. He had to think about it, since he really didn't know. "Sympathy." He answered gruffly. Ten had no idea, yet that's what came to mind. It was the kind of sympathy that you get when you see pups, or you watch a wolf die. Those kinds of sympathy were the worst. For a moment, Tenzin had to remind himself who he was. He was not soft in any way, yet why did he feel sympathy for anyone? Naira was different from most wolves. It made him uncomfortable to think about her being mates with Rhysis. He had never been a big fan of the lanky, steel-eyed man.

mapplethorpe

Mors Certa, Vita Incerta

Glad that his newfound companion settled at his side, he turned his attention back to the scenery. The word that was Tenzin's response tugged at Mapplethorpe's eardrums. A brow dropped as the other lifted curiously. "S-Sympathy?" he echoed in question. He nearly scoffed, but he effectively stifled it upon remembering that he had met Rhysis in such a pitiful, almost needy state of mind.

A silent nod was given as if to show that he understood and his lips twitched upward as if to smile, but the expression did not hold. The more he thought about it, the more Tenzin's answer did not make sense to him. He recalled how the Nomadic wolves had come together, how he had followed and led Rhysis to meet up with Naira and her band, and considered for a moment how peculiar it was for Tenzin to use compassion as a means to join to her. "Why sympathy?" he queried again, unable to momentarily picture Naira as some sort of helpless soul.

"Surely the Leaders exude every possible definition of able rulers? What was there to sympathize about?" A sly grin managed to form on his face and he cast a rather wily look at the man. "Naira can hold her own, I'm certain... but, if you'd rather not share the real reason, I guess I can respect that..." He rolled his yellow eyes casually in jest and looked back out to the horizon, not wanting to reveal that he was truly anticipating a different reply.

template base by GINNYSAURUS | image by DAWNTHIEVES.DE

He could tell that the man was surprised at his answer. He pondered to the reason why he would feel burdened to help Naira in the first place himself. The answer could not be explained. His gaze dropped to his left, where he saw his acquaintance nod his head as if understanding the reason. It wasn't long that his understanding stood. It evaporated in mere moments. His eyes steadily drifted towards the peaks of the mountains as he waited for his packmate to inquire his reasoning. "Why sympathy?" The other wolf sounded curious. He kept going, but smugly this time, "Surely the Leaders exude every possible definition of able rulers? What was there to sympathize about? Naira can hold her own, I'm certain... but, if you'd rather not share the real reason, I guess I can respect that..." Tenzin found himself searching for words. His expression turned cocky. "Just how well do you know Naira? Her past? Her reason for this pack?" He questioned, craving to know just how much information the pack leaders had shared with this odd creature of a "wolf." His gray-and-red fur billowed in the soft breeze, carrying the fog and clouds along. He doubted that this guy was in this pack for any good reason. He couldn't judge this wolf yet. After all, he had no trouble staying here for a while to chat. code by SWITCH | graphic by GREY | photo by DAWNTHIEVES.DE

mapplethorpe

Mors Certa, Vita Incerta

Mapplethorpe's eyes kept fixed on the skyline, the ear facing Tenzin rotating just enough to fully hear every syllable and sound of his voice. "Just how well do you know Naira? Her past? Her reason for this pack?" "Hmm," his amused vocalization was clipped by a snort. "Well enough." The statement he had just given might have been considered shallow from a social perspective but the more he observed her from a distance, the more he understood on an instinctive, more personal level why she had her tics and quirks... why she returned to the Pass each night to retire in a den of her own. He made a mental note to catch up to her sometime soon but did not let the thought pull him from Tenzin's company.

"I did not realize she had children to collect until the day we marched on another pack's grounds," he then revealed. "I'm assuming that is the reason why, aside from her reuniting with Rhysis." His lips sealed together, he glanced over at Tenzin again from the corner of his eye, his brows both raised in question, as if expecting him to tell why exactly his Naira Regine had rebuilt her pack. It was only commonplace, he figured, that she would seek out the means to reclaim what is or was hers - most natural Leaders found their calling one way or another. His eldest sisters, for instance, bullied their younger sisters and even he, the only boy in the family, was subject to their temper when they were not waging war against one another.

He blinked, scowling for a second. "Why, what're you trying to get at?"

template base by GINNYSAURUS | image by DAWNTHIEVES.DE