Sex: MaleB o r d e n are you watching closely
 |
The wordless command, a glare and an intimidating snarl, had Angier Lyall put in his place as his brother discovered him awake, resting in the nook between an ancient cedar's misshapen roots. How the tawny brute had lasted this long in Borden's pack - nearly two long, nerve-wracking months - was well beyond him, and the fact that he hadn't been cast out against the elements had him obediently trailing his sibling's footsteps. He crept along at Borden's back, his large ears folded back and his tail lingering slightly between legs. At first, they traveled silently in the quiet of the fog-blanketed forest and it was with wary, concerned eyes that he tried to keep the Hollow leader in his sight. Their pace was erratic; when Angier's pace might have slowed down because of something shuffling behind the thick white veil, Borden seemed to have sped up. For a time, the masked man had thought he had accidentally lost his guide. A snappy shout of his name was quick to make him catch up.
"I didn't bring you along to pup-sit you." Angier flinched, averting his gaze as he continued to blindly amble along, using his nose instead to keep him heading in the right direction. When his eyes returned forward, he focused on the side of Borden's head, waiting for his sibling to cast even the slightest glare in his direction. It never came.
It wasn't until they came across the River that the gold-eyed man stopped, observing as the patriarch effortlessly braved the icy stream, eventually breaking through the thin patches of ice that had formed on the shallows opposite him. Angier whined and shuffled to one side. "C'mon. Just a bit further. If we haven't found anything on our way here, there just has to be something here," Borden surprisingly encouraged. A tawny paw stretched out and plunged into the bitterly cold water as his sibling continued to relay a partial reason as to why they had traveled this far. Lengthy limbs hurriedly brought him to his brother's side and with a shake of his tan pelt, he eyed the trees at the edge of the forest.
He doubted Borden would find what he was searching for. By departing the safe haven of his territory, it made Grizzly Hollow susceptible to other lurking threats. Though, Angier wouldn't dare to convince him to turn back. He assumed it would have only belittled him, ridiculed his tracking skills. If Borden had thought the threat originated from this part of Relic Lore, he might as well see to it that his brother did not come to any harm while he conducted his search. As he saw it, Grizzly Hollow at this time, was his only lifeline.
Are you watching closely?
Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)
you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the ICE breaks. These were disturbing times, and the storm was coming closer. First it had come to them in the disguise of wolves, snatching the love from their hearts and leaving them cold and confused, and now it came like a wave of terrible death, of animals lying frozen and contorted and shimmering with frost in the pale morning lights. A deep, anxious throb had begun in the very earth itself, a sense of worry he couldn't shake and saw mirrored in the tired faces of everyone, predator and prey alike. The birds' songs were hushed, the gleam of a cougar's eye tinged with wariness beyond the norm, and everyone seemed to wonder, who will we find dead tomorrow? And the source of evil, lay to the east, into the sunrise — beyond the mountains. It had come with the fleetfooted strangers, and it did not seem as if it was about to let go of them anytime soon. Worry can break your mind. Finding answers postponed the inevitable, but sometimes when you found them, they broke your mind even more than not knowing did. But if he remained still, in the Grove, he grew restless and mad, a beast pacing the perimeter with no joy in his face, no soul in his eyes. Ice was a ticking time bomb at the mercy of the unmerciful, and he was helpless in the face of this unknown threat. And that was why he was out in the forest, moving from tree to tree, nose to the ground and eyes alert. He'd not found anything particularly out of the ordinary, as a few dead beasts frozen in twisted positions was ordinary in these dark times, but something made him stay away from their corpses, unwilling to touch their deeply frozen bodies. He made a face at a dead raccoon, before moving on, swift and silent, nearly invisible, in the snow-clad Wildwood. Slowly he drew closer to the Lyall brothers, yet unaware, mind and eyes working at a frantic pace at odds with the caution of his gait. He missed no detail, no overturned clod of frozen earth or the prints of a hare. The weight of darkness lay across his shoulders, across his heart, across his mind — but then a voice, the voice of a wolf, drifted through the trees. Ice's head snapped up and he rounded a few trees, trying to see through the blasted fog. It was thick in places, the winds not strong enough to blow it aside. Inhaling the cold droplets as he picked the air for their scents, Ice cautiously went closer and closer. Distance had muffled the voice, obscuring the words, but suddenly he caught sight of them, two ghosts in the forest. He suddenly realized that he knew — or had known — one of them. "Angier," he said, a disembodied wraith in the fog. .ice aesir |
Even though he was healthy enough to travel the elder was having trouble catching up to the two pack wolves. His ankles throbbed as the mid sized thin male plodded along catching the scents of his former pack mates. Honestly Follko wasn't sure if Borden even considered him pack anymore, but Follko wasn't about to be forgotten by his alpha. Follko was going to apologize for his absence and try to help out more like he should have been. There was no time in the wolf world for sick leave.
Padding forward the dark man caught sight of a dark shape ahead of him. The unknown males scent strong in his nose Follko heaved a sigh glad that he'd finally caught up. However he was cautious in approaching them while they were obviously busy with something. "Hello there..." Follko gave a low barking greeting to the two so they knew he was approaching. The old man, sides heaving to catch his breath, lowered his body some, laid his ears back, and avoided his gaze expecting to see Borden stare him down angry at his sudden appearance. Follko did not hear the name sounded by the wolf in front of Borden and the stranger.
--Edgar Allan Poe
For a split second, his eyes went to his subordinate, "Who's that?" When a large, silver-furred man emerged from the mist, Borden was quick to cast another query, "What do you want?" He inhaled the air, sampling it as he stared. He was a pack wolf, no doubt, but he couldn't be sure if his assumptions were correct. Tangles in his memory were trying to sort themselves out, but the Leader had a feeling he knew the scent somehow... or some time long ago.
His hackles rose, his body tensing as he poised himself to protect his sibling, regardless of whether or not the stranger knew Angier, Borden would not let his brother come to harm. "Show yourself!" he barked, his hackles raised warily. It wasn't until a familiar scent tugged at his attention and he rounded on the man he knew he could pluck from memory. His teeth ground together and his ears drew forward with a terrible snap of his voice, "What are you doing here?!"
He stared at his superior's face, the gap between them nearly closng as Borden moved to protect him. "I-Ice," he addressed the male, managing to muster up some nerve. Then, the most surprising of 'hello's' was uttered and before Angier could even react, the Leader was staring into the side of Follko's face. Angier barely had time to react and perceive Follko's attendance. A low growl of his own thundered as Angier stepped in front of the Hollow patriarch, pushing Borden slightly to the side using the encouragement of his shoulder and the weakest of nudges. "Borden, stop. This... He's... He's from Swift River."
As if it were a second nature to him, the younger Lyall immediately shied away, turning his head to avert his gaze and look at the River Guard from the corner of his eye. The words that fled from his mouth were hurriedly uttered for the sake of hopefully sparing the two males an unnecessary hostile encounter (of which he was almost certain Borden would provoke if he was given even the smallest chance to interrogate Ice any further), "Forgive him for being protective, w-we're quite a way from home, you see... We're here because... 'Cause we're investigating. Creatures are fleeing to the west. We-want-to-know-why." He clenched his teeth, trembling as he anticipated a proper scolding to merely taking initiative, "The d-d-dead, there are bones... Corpses. Raccoons. Frozen. Dead."
He took a the breath that he had been holding and took a glimpse at the dark man, silent words forming on his jowls, "You shouldn't have come."
Are you watching closely?
Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)
you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the ICE breaks. Well look at that. The wolf which wasn't Angier pressed himself against the one whose name Ice had called out, his muted growl ripping through the fog. It wasn't a particularly nice way to greet a stranger, but could he blame the gray male? The recent events had Ice on edge too, tension coiled tight around his body. The flagging of a tail had his own rising, something grumpy inside of him wondering why on earth he should submit to someone else out here in the middle of nowhere. There was no reason, and with a rather cross expression he took up a dominant pose of his own. Gone were the days when he skulked in caves and babbled gibberish at the first wolf who came across him. More demands came, and if Ice hadn't been curious as to what Angier was up to, he probably would've stopped walking when Borden asked him to 'show himself'. It wasn't like he could go and paint himself black just to not be masked in a foggy winter forest, was it? No. Muttering under his breath he made his way even closer, hearing the muted voice of Angier. "Borden, stop. This... He's... He's from Swift River." His former pack-mate had stepped in in front of the protective male, as if to shield Ice. Rather surprised, the near-white wolf slowly drifted to a halt, staring at them with wary curiosity. He didn't trust the temper of this other male. A third wolf came out of the fog, and as if entirely forgetting about Ice in the first place, the one named Borden spun to snap at him, too. Unimpressed with these shows of rage, Ice's muzzle took on a wrinkled scowl of sorts. If it wasn't for the fact that Angier, who seemed as skittish as a rabbit around the male, had begun talking to him, he probably would've left them alone and gone on to find his answers. "..w-we're quite a way from home, you see..." So that's where you are now, Angier. With someone else's pack. Drawing in their scents, he matched them to the ones buried in his memory. A forest of cedars, a bear, damn it. He racked his brain for the memory, knowing that he'd been told a few times, but came up with nothing. Cedars. Well. Cedarpack would do for now. And, perhaps the discovery that Borden and Angier were looking for what he was should've gladdened him, but as it was, all it did was make his heart sink like a rock in a river. For a few moments Ice was silent, just looking at the tawny male with his darker protector, and the poor dark sod who had come up behind them. He didn't seem particularly wanted right now, and even though Borden's attitude made Ice want to eat his face, he tried to rein in his temper. For Rissa. "Borden," he called, hoping that was actually his name he'd caught from Angier. If it wasn't, tough shit, and Ice would look like a fool. "Relax." And hopefully, that wouldn't blow up in his face, as he gave the Lyall a level, firm stare. If he didn't unwind, they'd get nothing done, but they didn't need more tension right now anyway. It was grating at his nerves and his resolve, and part of him just wanted to fly at the darker wolf and pin him until he stopped fussing around. They were safe, here, for now, and if the Cedarpack had pups... he narrowed his eyes slightly. "I'm looking for the same thing.. but I know more." It was always useful to have information, and in this case, the bargaining price was simple: for Borden to take a deep breath, and stop acting like he expected to be pounced on, because Ice wasn't about to do it, and Angier seemed incapable of anger around him. Taking a deep breath himself, he tried to smooth out the crinkles in his lips, but didn't lower his tail. "But this, is unpleasant. So calm down or I'll just leave you in the dark." But he knew, deep down, that it was a bluff. He could not leave more children to suffer Rissa's fate. .ice aesir |
"Well its only one male and he's got a body guard with him. I suppose I can leave him alone for a while and wait. " It pained the wolf to think that he'd have to wait longer but right now Borden did not seem to want to have anything to do with the dark wolf.
"It's me Follko, you should know I'm no danger to you sir..." Follko backed himself away to the side and sat down waiting for Borden to finish up whatever was happening here. Were they tracking the white wolf? Or were they hunting? The old man did not know. He wisely waited in the corner keeping himself away from the three wolves.
OOC: You can skip him until whenever. :)
--Edgar Allan Poe
It might not have looked like he was listening but Borden, while unwilling to tear his gaze away from Follko, was quietly allowing his words sink in. "Relax," he instructed. A brief growl broke from the Lyall's throat at first, and eventually the wrinkles in his muzzle smoothed out and he turned to acknowledge him. His eyes flickered briefly to Angier's averted gaze, his brows furrowing. It was somewhat pathetic, but Angier's attempt in making him listen had been successful.
Disregarding Follko's presence altogether for the sake of gathering what information this silvery man held, Borden composed himself again. An inkling of desperation, a genuine hint of his worry and concern, glinted in his eyes. Aside from his stony, solemn exterior, within him, behind his pale irises and abyssal pupils, it seemed as though every emotion could burst from him in several waves. "I am calm," his voice rumbled, his stance growing quite still after he slightly relaxed his shoulders and lowered his tail. "If you know more about this, this sickness, then you know very well how dire circumstances in the west must be." He gave the River man a hard gaze, "There are strangers along our borders and my youngest cubs are pressing my limits and patience. I've lost all but one of my first litter, both blood and ward; I will not, cannot stand by and wait for death, trickery, or estrangement to wrest them from me. Whatever dangers lurk here, I've come to learn of it from its source." He took a breath, the next words heavy as they fell from his lips, "I need to know what my family and I are up against."
With slightly parted jaws and bated breath, he waited, his head lifting as the Hollow Leader uttered that he was calm. A few seconds later, Borden's defenses had crumbled and the man that emerged was not a leader but the father and patriarch who was frantic for answers. Angier began to nod to concur with what Ice was being told. The larger Lyall might not have seen the threats directly but he knew from patrolling that the peril that dared to loiter about their doorstep was not about to go away anytime soon unless something was done about it. Grizzly Hollow didn't particularly need help, but any information was gratefully accepted.
Vlarindara had told him about how the pack had lost a few of their cubs, but he did not realize until now that all except one - Trisden - had remained with her parents. Only now did he understand why her need to be there for Jaysyek and Borden was so great... Why she could not tear herself from the Hollow except for the need for and the temptation of wanderlust. "I need to know what my family and I are up against," Borden finally stated and Angier merely turned his gaze back to Ice, eagerness reflected in his eyes. A breath of a whisper slipped past his lips as his tail tip swayed anxiously, "Please, help us."
Are you watching closely?
Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)