Nightingale Palisade no ransom to be paid

Subterritory discovery!  Giant's causeway?  Stairway to heaven?  This was once a game path, worn wide over the stretch of time by heavy summer rains and the melt of winter snow.  With most of the topsoil eroded, plants struggle to take root, leaving stones and cobble in a trail.  It is easier to navigate the palisade here, as it is clear and straight, but it may become treacherous in an instant if you are caught during a sudden downpour.  Pretty path looks like this though: here.

He would spend a lot of time traveling, it would seem, the dragon struck by an insatiable itch in his paws.  While he’d already tried to convince @Karina once to leave her birth pack and failed, the feeling of discomfort had not left the man entirely.  Where the dragon no longer screamed and roared, it still clawed angrily at the barricade set between its prison and what remained of Kjors’ lingering sanity.  He had no reason to believe the other males were out to get him, and besides some well-earned hostility from @Karpos, had no evidence other than Maksim’s general distaste for the serpent.  As much as it pained him to admit it, the fallen alpha could understand where the father was coming from in his concern for his mawkish daughter, especially that he and Kjors were not well acquainted.

This did nothing to warm him to Maksim, of course, and instead left the dragon traveling, scouting, moving as far as he dared in a day before returning to his private nest along Zephyr Rill.

It did occur to the swarthy man that he might leave without Karina, should he truly feel in danger, but…  The notion of abandoning the princess left a bitter taste in his mouth.  It felt the same as leaving Søren’s corpse for the crows, and while she was not dead, to leave a wolf so connected to the Mother would inevitably rip out a piece of his soul.  He would be left with ragged edges that could not be stitched together, not with love, not with kindness, not with violence nor war.  There was no treasure as great as the princess and her pure devotion to the world, to the Mother’s will, and it was the duty of Her Right Paw to see her will through, no matter how uncomfortable it made him.

This was his sacrifice, Kjors knew, even if he was unwilling to admit it to himself, much less out loud.  His entire life, from his father’s death, to the poisoning, even to Urotho’s disappearance, it all lead to this, to Karina, to fulfilling his duty laid out before him by the Mother’s will.  It took a bit of getting used to, perhaps, but he would succeed ultimately.

Shoulders slung low, the wolf continued his ascent of the rocky ravine, almost cresting the peak as he moved from east to west.  His recent travels had led to the discovery of an old game trail, washed out by summers of heavy rain and the spring thaw as winter’s grasp melted and flowed down into the fjord.  The trail was rocky, but it was almost as if a giant wolf and created a walkway, or steps – towards what, Kjors had little idea.  The sun?  The moon?  Perhaps a wolf would want to climb to the moon, he fancied – perhaps a giant wolf could climb to the moon.  As he finally summited the hill, the asocial animal paused there, resting his haunches upon the ground as the cool night air surrounding him, breath forming a halo in the pale moonlight as he studied the sky.  “Ah wonder wha’ it’s like.  My castle on a cloud,” he hummed to himself, a frown forming a moment later, followed shortly by a snort.  “Yer bein’ ridiculous, Kjors.  Ain’t nothin’ bu’ bullshit an’ fairy stories.”

(This post was last modified: Oct 21, 2015, 07:48 PM by Kjors.)

Kova's paw steps took him back to the place where he and his sister had been lost. It seemed like such a long time ago now, and the snow he remembered coating the palisades steep walls was totally gone. Of course winter was fast approaching the wolves of the land once again, but this time Kova was more sure of himself while traveling alone. For some reason he did not know the youth had longed to come back to the place where he'd been stranded for months in the dead of winter. The area was beautiful now, with dried grasses and wildflowers covering up the hillsides and riverbanks. Large boulders lay scattered across an area with sparse tree cover.

As Kova wandered further down the length of the palisade he found himself in a different area. The trees grew more thickly here, a mixture of maple, small spruce, and juniper. They had a hard time growing in the rocky soil, but this area seemed particularly well covered compared to the rest of the palisade. Then all of the sudden a large pathway appeared cutting its way through the trees and bushes. Kova swerved to the left to investigate and found that the trail was full of large half embedded boulders and stones. They were rounded, but not all that smooth as he swept past them. The leaves shed from the maples litter the ground where the boy walks as he gazes at the new scenery.

Then all of the sudden a particular old man wolf smell crossed the youths nose. He recognized it, and then stopped in place wondering if he really wanted a meeting with the dragon. The moon was bright, filtering down through the naked deciduous trees to the ground the boy stood upon. His claws gripped at the stone and dirt as he decided what to do next. It was clear by the smell that Kjors was very close by indeed. The snake probably lie further up the ravine if Kova followed the pathway up towards the moon. Should the silver armored prince dare confront the dragon at its castle in the sky? He certainly did want to speak with the older male about certain things. What his side of the story was for instance, the story that Gent might have not known or purposely left out. Kova wanted the truth about who killed his father, and this man probably knew.

With his mind made up the prince climbed the smooth stairs ever higher. He danced upon the steps of the castle in which Kjors had hidden himself in, and Kova wanted the treasure that the dragon hid. His information...      

No matter how ridiculous the dragon actually felt, he found little reason to actually leave his perch just yet. There was plenty of time to return to his den and the weather was sound enough for him to enjoy the stillness of the night. Pack life left him with less self reflection than he’d become accustomed to, and still he often sought to stretch his legs and find the peace required to settle one’s mind. Closing his single eye, the male inhaled the crisp night air with a low, pleased hum, content to dwell in the meditative state for a few more moments before getting back on his way towards Hearthwood River.

However, it seemed his treasure hoard would not remain undisturbed – the sound of soft feet and small rocks skittering over large ones soon alerted him to a trespasser’s presence. One ear swung in the direction of the giant’s staircase, the dragon slowly peeling his golden eye open like the sun rising behind a set of storm clouds and he rumbled, making it quite clear the prize here was not free for the taking. The other wolf would have to move on, or force the dragon from his coveted ledge.

Unfortunately, it seemed the intrepid knight had little instinct, or perhaps little to live for, because the climbing continued, and soon he could hear the steady fall of breath along with four moving paws. Ears rolled further back as the dragon hissed between his teeth, in no mood to be bothered, and in even less of a mood to be bothered by one of Gent’s lackeys. Even without the other male coming into view, he could scent the stench of Round Stone Crest and its wolves clinging to this other wolf – either this boy had heard the scuttlebutt and fancied himself enough to take on a serpent, or he simply came to see weather they were true. In either event, Kjors had little love for the Crest or her wolves and drew himself to his full height as the interlope finally summited the hill and made himself visible.

All at once, ears swept forward, recognizing the silver pelt and lapis blue eyes. They had met some time ago, during a thunderstorm when the swarthy male was still relatively new to Relic Lore and all her creatures. The encounter had been amicable – not particularly informative, but neither party had walked away wounded or with any reason to doubt one another, and the dragon felt his hackles fall, no longer promising violence as he studied the yearling. His banner remained high above his back, swaying in a lazy fashion, for Kjors Sørenson was still no creature to trifle with – he simply did not wish to engage in combat with a wolf he had no previous quarrels with. After a moment, he lifted his crown, wishing to know exactly what it was the youth sought underneath the moon’s soft glow.

“Kova? Why’re y’ here, lad? Not on one a’ Gent’s errands, Ah hope.”

The climb really was a beautiful one. As Kova trekked higher and higher up the giant's staircase he noted the glory that was the boulders which reflected the moons glow. Every plant and crack in the earth or stone left a black as night shadow while the moon light dipped the surfaces it reflected in a ghostly bluish pallor. Eventually he spotted the regal beast in the distance. Kova could only see the black silhouette of the drake as the moon settled behind Kjors and his castle. Kova narrowed his eyes against the bright white of the moon as he tried to see whether Kjors was giving him a defensive or offending posture with his body. All Kova could see from his lowly placement was that the dark wolf was holding himself high like a king. This prompted Kova to do the same, for they were on neutral grounds and he felt that no one should stand above another out here. Besides, the silver clad knight was not one to be pushed around.

When he finally made it to the top of the long staircase Kova held himself with pride before the dangerous dragon. He'd met this wolf twice before and the meetings had not been so bad. Though their most recent meeting had left a sour taste in Kova's mouth. He figured Kjors had his reasons for being so round about with his words and information. However the prince decided to try and be open minded as he settled before the dark beast.

When Kjors mentioned something about Kova doing Gent's dirty work Kova let an amused snort push past his lips. The air exhaled through his mouth and nose ending in a snarl as Kova narrowed his eyes onto the dragon.  “Gent.. pfff... Gent is tearing a part the pack... Over turning old laws and customs, making stupid new laws, and harming the children. I DO NOT work for him. I worked for Minka my mother, and for Tokino my REAL father, and now only for myself to better the pack. ” Kova let all his angst and hate fill the words about Gent. He didn't get the chance to tell anyone his true feelings about the Lieris male. Kova was angry with how happily the adults of the pack seemed to accept the dark wolf as their king despite how he had treated the pups. Even if they had been out of control who could blame them? They just saw their mothers dead corpse when she had been absolutely fine a day before.

“I'm here to ask you myself about what you know of my fathers killer. All I want is to know who it is, what happened if you can remember, and if you can't tell me that than just give me a description of the male? I would very much like to search for him in the future.” Kova gazed boldly at the drake keeping his chin proudly raised. A fire burned in his chest as he thought about the wolf who finished his father off, and it grew so hot that he almost felt that he could breath fire unto the murderer. With claws gripping at the earth, Kova waited to see if Kjors would answer or refuse to tell him anything. 

Well.

That was very interesting news. Were he a more expressive wolf, his eyebrows might have raised at Kova quickly put distance between himself and his pack’s current leader. This information was not made obvious when they’d met previously, nor would he have expected it to be, not with the shadow king himself lurking right at the prince’s side. Perhaps the knight in silver armor was looking to win back what was once his father’s – what was once his mother’s now, too? It was unfortunate that he never had the chance to meet Minka, the dragon thought wryly, for it would be curious to see what sort of woman would willingly go to bed with a snake. What were her reasons? Perhaps she saw something in Gent that he could not, but then, women had always been curious things, and he cast the thought from his mind as he allowed his thoughts to settle back on the yearling set before him.

“Ah, well, my apologies, then,” he rumbled, not wishing to breed tension between himself and the heir of Round Stone Crest. “Didn’ know. Y’play th’ game well – coulda fooled me, after meetin’ on yer borders with Kisla. Y’get tha’ from Minka, lad? She’d be proud.”

For the few moments he’d known Tokino, the wolf hadn’t shown himself to be particularly secretive, nor tactful. Admittedly, he’d not call that outburst discreet by any stretch of the imagination, but Kova was still young, and living in a time of turmoil and tension. That his education was cut short was no fault of his own, after all, and the dragon decided not to hold it against him, only to hold his own cards close to his chest. There was no telling what the boy would keep to himself, and what would slither from from his jaw in a moment of passion, be it anger or joy. It seemed he’d not yet formed the barricade between thoughts and words – perhaps that would come, with time.

“Well, lad, Ah was honest before, when Ah said Ah hadn’t a name. Didn’ introduce himself, an’ Ah’d only jes’ arrived in th’ forest.” That he himself was looking to pick a fight was not relevant information – he hadn’t, deterred when he realized there were two alpha males about to square off. Not particularly healthy or well fed at the time, Kjors knew trouble when he saw it, and took it upon himself to ensure his own safety. Unfortunately, the same could not have been said for Kova’s father.

With a huff, he tipped his head. “Bright, bright green eyes. They knew each other. Big male, mean. Yer father, he was lookin’ fer somethin’, y’know. Spoke t’ him a minute ‘er two before th’ other brute showed up. Yer sister. She’s missin’? He found her trail.”

Was this relevant information? Maybe, maybe not – if this missing sister was found, or alive, he didn’t know. If Kova cared, well, he didn’t know that either. He’d already offered all he had, and, shockingly, it was the truth. He hadn’t asked for anything in return. “…y’know, Kova, h’might be on t’ya. Gent. Ah wouldn’ trus’ tha’ wolf. He…gonna train ya? Y’know, like Tokino woulda?”

An assumption on his part about the late alpha’s character, but what son didn’t want to believe his father would have trained him to fill that role?