Hearthwood River sterling silver, natural pearl

open for anyone!

She woke in the late morning, startled awake by what ended up being nothing at all.  Presumably a dream forgotten on impact with reality, Mojave had righted herself at the foot of a heavy tree she couldn't have named easily.  Groggy and seemingly unaware, for several long seconds she could not help but survey her surroundings as though she did not fully recall how she had ended up there, and in truth she didn't quite remember settling in there for the cold night that had passed.  The day before had been pleasant and she had a good romp through what had ended up being a weak snowfall.  Clots of the precipitation lingered in the shadows and clung to the sunless sides of trees as she rose and gave her coat a rough shake.  It did little to chase away the cold that she felt set in her bones.

With a yawn and a lengthy stretch to follow the first of her movements, the yearling ventured off to weave through what were becoming more familiar trails.  The old wood greeted her just as the sun broke through the tangled canopy and she squinted sourly, regretting the decision to break towards the southeastern flank of the treeline.  Already to her it was as though the sun didn't quite make it high enough to clear some of the towering parts of the wood, but nevertheless she continued, dipping in and out of dappled beams of light.  To her, the day was just beginning though no doubt for some of the occupants of Hearthwood, the day had been in full swing for some time.

And from what she could gather, there was plenty she could find to do, plenty of warmer bodies to find and mingle with.  But first things first, she decided as she hovered near to a cache she recalled, a little bit of sustenance would do her good.  She sussed out where the earth had been recently turned from someone's hunt and began to turn and sift through it herself, wondering if anything was truly within it.  Even in spite of the snowmelt of winter, the ground was solid and her actions took effort; they were not quiet as she began to dig more steadily.

Much like Mojave, Aleksei awoke in the morning with a startle, gasping as he flailed momentarily in the snow. Dreams of being cast away from his home for abandoning them shook him wildly in the night-- the phantom figure of his mother wielded words like a knife that cut him deep, and his ghostly father roared with the intensity of rolling thunder that violently assaulted the tall trees of Kingsfall. Chartreuse eyes were wide with confusion as he glanced around, trying to pinpoint where exactly he was. Home. That seemed to be the answer and he sucked in a deep, shaky breath with the single purpose of steadying himself; he needed to stay grounded.

Aleksei rolled onto his stomach. As a pup, the idea of loyalty was drilled into him by his father, the idea of needing to be the shining example to his siblings never forced down his throat by his parents, but adopted by his own young and impressionable (at the time) mentality -- I must be there for @Karina, must guide @Orren to find himself and stop being so damn lost. How could he do that when he felt as lost as he did now? Hoisting himself up to his feet, Aleksei began a slow trot. Best get into the swing of the day, he had a lot of lost time to make up for. He sifted through a make-shift schedule in his mind: eat, patrol, scent mark, hunt, baby sit.

So his first stop would be a cache, where he would undoubtedly be able to check off the first task of the day. With a few sniffs of the air, he knew exactly where to start. Loping off, he rounded thick tree trunks and pushed through scruffy underbrush to find what he sought. He was mildly surprised, then, to find someone else who shared the same idea. She seemed to be struggling somewhat with the cold, stiff earth beneath her paws, scooping up slithers of muck with each shovel-like drag of her paw. Aleksei gave a bark of greeting as he drew closer, tail wagging behind him. "Hey there. Need some help with that?"

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

Scarcely a minute or two into her chosen task, Mojave heard the distinct approach of another. Her progress came to a slow halt to draw in the figure that came near, and she found that she wasn't entirely sure if she knew him or not. There were some similarities in his features that led her to believe that she may have met him in passing, or at least someone who resembled him. Of course, little did she knew the true parentage of the yearling, but at least he was a lot closer to her age than Inna. A wan smile crept across her features as he offered some help, and Mojave stepped aside to make way, tail wagging.

"That'd be great, actually," she said, her gaze dropping to look over what little impact she had on the hard top of the cache. With no idea what was entirely buried down in that cache, she couldn't have claimed that there would even be enough for them to split. But it was also a chance she was willing to take, knowing that two wolves would surely get the job done faster than just one. Beginning her dig again, she picked up the conversation. "Have we met before? I'm Mojave," and on some inner level, she really hoped they hadn't formerly met and she had just failed to recall his name.

For a moment, he expected scorn -- a "no, I don't take help from the likes of you" thrown in his face --, but, thankfully, the girl welcomed Aleksei's help with open arms. He nodded and beamed a smile at her, tail wagging behind him still as he trotted closer. Getting stuck right into the task of clawing at the cold dirt, the prince found himself glancing up at her in what he hoped was a casual look. She had a nice smile, he noted, though he was quick to scold himself. Still, the company of another wolf his age who wasn't related to him was certainly welcome ... not that he held anything against his blood!

"Ah, no, we don't know each other. At least, I hope not! I just got back from being away for a while, you see," he explained a little sheepishly, with a smile to match -- no need to make the whole story known, right? "But, that's not really important. Uh, Mojave? That's a nice name; it's pretty. Mine's Aleksei. Al, if you want." He offered a more confident smile this time, instead of the somewhat embarrassed smudge of an expression he had given only a few moments earlier.

Four paws certainly worked better than two, and the duo were finally breaking through the frosty, frozen layer of dirt that lay between them and the meal. Would he even be able to get a bite from this cache? Was it big enough for two? He'd let Mojave have it if not -- he wanted to make a good impression, after all, and he wasn't terribly hungry. "How long have you been with my family?," he mused casually, letting slip his princely heritage, "If it's alright to ask, I mean."

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

Luckily for her, he wasn't just some face she had seen in passing and had totally forgotten about somehow. He was quick to launch into an introduction of sorts and while her curiosity piqued briefly as to what adventures he may have had, she also took note of his verbal sweep to push it under a rug as well. He was swift to turn the conversation around to her and fairly, she supposed that was a necessary evil of sorts. Still, whatever little morsels he left lingering filled in some of the blanks that she may have had about him, though she did not know whether or not he meant family in the sense of the pack or something more.

With a sidelong look at him as she tore away the cool earth, she hummed thoughtfully. Trying to piece together how long she had been with the wolves at Hearthwood was a tricky thing for her. She hadn't filtered in how much time had truly passed, but it had been long enough that there were some established events lurking. "Since before it snowed, but not too long." Maksim had been well the last time she had laid eyes on him, though the murmurs that something had happened to him had reached her all the same. She hadn't tried to suss him out to see how he was only out of respect, and the notion that perhaps he would not tolerate her presence completely in his state of healing. It didn't seem her place, at least not entirely.

"A few weeks, maybe? I don't know really, I've just been so busy trying to pitch in where I can, to, y'know, earn my keep and all." A haphazard shrug followed her trailing statements, coming briefly to her when she paused to adjust her stance and resume digging. "What about you? I mean, obviously you've been here longer than me but were you always from here? Or were you born here, like Inna?" She assumed he knew Inna, though perhaps his own answers would reveal a bit more about his prior familial comment. It was a not so indirect pry, but her good intended attempt all the same.

Sorry it's so small ;;

Before it snowed, Mojave said. Aleksei nodded slowly as he worked at scooping layers of dirt away from the "feast" hidden beneath. She picked a good time to join a pack -- wolves struggled to be alone in winters, his father had said, and he never had reason to doubt such words. Living alone was hard even when the weather was pleasant he reflected bitterly. He could understand why the snows and the chilly air would make it so much worse.

"Mmh, I think that's all we can do. Right now, at least. Little bits here and there." He fell quiet as he wiggled his toes into the moist dirt that was now growing much easy to sculpt and mush up between his pads as the heat both wolves were generating penetrated the icy ground. Seemed like they were getting closer to the final stretch -- the smell of not quite stale blood and meat left his mouth watering. He gave an unconscious lick of his chops. Maybe he was hungrier than he initially thought?

He stopped, lifting his gaze to Mojave with a tilt of his head. Seconds ticked by as he tried to conjure up some response to the question ... perhaps, really, honesty was the best answer to give. The memories of him and his siblings stung his heart; how they used to gambol about and laugh. Leaving it behind had been ... difficult. "I wasn't born here, no, but my sisters were. Across the mountain is where I was born. We had to leave though. My parents found this place, and it's ... well, strikingly familiar to my home -- er, old home." He was tempted to add on his uncertainty about whether he liked it here or there more, but found himself holding his tongue.  Not quite the best way to keep up a conversation. Instead, he simply continued digging into the loamy turf.

"What about you? Where do you come from, Mojave?"

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

Aw, don't apologize! I actually prefer shorter posts in fairness -- too much narrative (or internal monologue) tends to detract from what could sometimes be easily summed up in a few sentences and continue the flow of the thread. ;)

And shed light on some of her unspoken curiosities, he certainly did. Her previous thoughts into the rich history of the place ran a little deeper than just the territory that the wolves claimed; she had been curious of whether or not the merry band had always dwelled along the river and its encompassing timber. Her silence held fast as he continued speaking, and the heady scent of the cache's contents came to her as well. Mojave's stomach knotted with anticipation, though excitement lurked beneath it as well. Her days of scavenging such caches left out in the wilderness were for the most part behind her, but they usually did not contain decent goods. Far too many times she had encountered caches long forgotten and left for rot, and hungrier mornings and nights had greeted her.

That had not been the case in the confines of Hearthwood, however. For that she was grateful, much in the same that she was appreciative of the aid Aleksei provided. Leaf litter greeted her feet as his words ebbed towards a natural query, and she pulled them aside with ease. They were close now. "I come from nowhere in particular," she stated, shaking a paw to flick some of the clinging mud aside. "Not that I'm trying to avoid the subject, I just really don't know. My folks always kind of wandered around, I don't remember us settling anywhere for very long." Again, her shoulders rolled into a shrug as she tousled more of the same matter out of the hole they had dug. Her tone was very nonchalant, as though to suggest it is what it is. To her, there really wasn't a different life she had considered and in turn, she had done her share of wandering.

Her tongue lashed out to cross her muzzle, unquestionably hungry.

"I think we're just about done here, do you want to do the honors?"

Aw, hopefully I'm doing an okay job. Haven't written Aleksei since he was a little bab! Also, Mojave is such a cutie ♥.

Aleksei blinked as she explained she came from nowhere in particular. He readied himself to ask what she meant -- you always came from somewhere, right? -- but Mojave was quicker on the draw and gave a little more clarity on what was an odd response. A wandering family, huh? The yearling found himself surprised at the idea of a pack never really settling into a territory. Did they follow herds? Did they simply go where the wind led them? He wasn't too sure of how much of a life that offered, but the excitement of something new must have filled the void left by not having a home. Maybe they were all just too carefree to mind. Honestly, it sounded like the kind of thing Orren would have dreamed about when they were all younger.

"Sounds interesting," his voice shook with quiet laughter, far from mocking, "I'm glad you found my parents, though; it'll, uh, be nice to have a friend, y'know?" Aleksei stole a moment to offer her a sincere wolfish smile before lowering his nose to the ground to give a few good sniffs. They were definitely just about done, if the smell was anything to go by. Mixed with the heady scent of wet earth and decaying leaves, food was more evident than ever.

Glancing to Mojave, he gave an exaggerated pout. "What, you lumping off the rest of the hard work on me?" It was clear from the faux whimper that he was simply teasing -- he was more than happy to unearth the cache. "Alright, I'm going to make your next meal appear like magic. Ready?" With a deft flurry of scraping, their fleshy prize revealed itself to the world and the two wolves who stood hungrily over it. "Ta-dah! Hey, so, you found it first ... and you know the rule, right? Finders keepers?" For a moment he paused, and hastily corrected himself as his stomach quietly rumbled in protest. "Uh, maybe finders first instead?"

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

You're doing great! I'm really enjoying this thread actually!

She backed off with a laugh as Aleksei worked his "magic" on the tousled earth. Dirt and other debris sent flying out behind him, she felt a certain mirth that had not been noticed as absent in recent weeks. When was the last time she had good banter like this? To have at least a modicum of ease? It had been too long, but the thoughts were shoved aside when his feet struck breakfast gold and halted. She stepped back in to overlook what they had uncovered, and found that she couldn't make heads or tails of what it once been. At least it wasn't rotten, and a little dirt never had hurt them to eat either.

And as Aleksei's words came to her again, she felt a smile unfurl on her features. "Mmm, I'm pretty sure friends would split it fifty-fifty," came her sly rejoinder as she stole a glance to him. "Besides, I bet you're hungry too since I just dumped all the work on you." She stuck her tongue out to drive his joke home, though in a flash it was gone as she moved to reach for the meaty morsel and pull it up between them. Sharing seemed to be the easiest thing that they could do anyway, and while it would sate their hunger for a while she knew that she would find herself on the prowl come dinner time.

I'm so sorry @Mojave, I didn't get a notification for this.

He gave a nod in agreement at Mojave's words. Yes, friends certainly did share. The prospect of breakfast -- or, was it lunch? -- caused him to give his dark lips a quick lick, pink tongue darting out and back in. Alek wasn't a particularly greedy wolf, but he did enjoy a good meal. Perhaps too much so, something that had the potential to shine through in time. He inherited his love of food from his paternal grandfather, who had some chunk to his waist, definitely.

"Yeah, it was back breaking work." He peered at the meat that Mojave pulled up and gave a deep sniff. It had that slightly musky, sweet scent of a deer and, the adolescent inspected it closer, he deciphered what it was; ribcage. "You know, we could probably play with this." Aleksei hadn't quite meant to say that out loud, ears pricking at his own musing. Perhaps he could save face and not seem like a wholly immature lad (which, really, he was; he absolutely was). "I mean, you take one end and I take the other and we pull. Hard as we can!" He tilted his head as he gave his tail a wag -- it was all in the name of good fun, right?

And so, he lowered his head, charcoal nose twitching and sniffing before he took his end in his mouth. His teeth sunk into the fleshy bites and grasped at the bones. Chartreuse eyes darted up to Mojave as his wagging tail continued it's swaying from side-to-side. 'What do you say,' his body language seemed to ask. 'Up for it?'

(This post was last modified: Dec 10, 2015, 11:27 PM by Aleksei.)

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