Wild Rye Fields Oh sympathy, where have you gone?

For @Icicle 
Backdated to 5th October. Lemme know if you want anything changing Brian!!

Askan knew that it wasn't his job, that he had no business in keeping the others in line, but this had been bothering him for weeks. And rather than ignore a problem in the hopes that it would sort itself out, Askan was the sort that preferred direct confrontation. By no means was he hankering for a fight- it would be pointless anyway, Askan would kick his ass- but if this issue wasn't sorted out here and now he'd lose it. And the last thing he wanted to do was be the source of tension in the pack. If anything, his aim was to keep the peace.

So with his mind firmly set, Askan sought out the cause of his strife and abandoned his patrol of the field.

With his nose to the ground, it didn't take long to find him. His scent wasn't nearly as unpleasant as it had once been- he once reeked of sickness, enough to make shrink back as though he was contagious- but it was still easy to follow and Askan soon found the source. Unsurprisingly, the white wolf had not strayed too far from the den and was taking shelter beneath a tree in an attempt to hide from the morning sun. It wasn't even that bright out, the suns rays barely managed to squeeze through the gaps in the clouds. If he was like this now then Askan dreaded to think of what he'd be like during summer, of how much of a dead weight he'd be.

"Icicle." Askan said in greeting, though there was nothing amiable about his tone. Nor his posture, but that was nothing new, he always tended to hold himself as though there was a stick up his ass. "You got time to talk?" 

It certainly looked as though he did, lounging about like that, but the very least Askan could do was ask. Even if it was an empty question, they'd be having this talk whether the white wolf wanted it or not.

The albino wolf had felt better than he ever had in his entire life. The pack was small but stable, the wolf found himself able to contribute more now, his body had lost the ghastly look of sickness that had plagued him. Though there would always be a hint of a skeletal appearance, his bones jutting out slightly beyond his fur. Icicle was no longer starving nor looked like he was. Really, for him now, the only issues were his sensitivity to light, the burns from the sun and the occasional aching in his joints when the weather got too cold.


The white wolf had been taking a break after chasing down a hare when Assken had found him, maybe not the best of situations to walk across but Icicle wasn't aware of the dark wolf’s current attitude, he always had one after all. Pink eyes slid open as he was greeted. Nodding in return {b} “I do, was out trying to fill a cache before it got too bright out, what’s up?” he asked, his head tilting slightly, curiosity burning now, Asken wasn’t a wolf who usually sought out the colorless wolf’s company. He had a small smile on his pink tinted lips, it was possible even Asken couldn’t ruin his good mood.

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

At the pale wolf's explanation, Askan's expression softened some. His gaze lost it's usual glare and instead there was a slight tint of softness to it- such a faint trace it was near impossible to notice. It seemed as though he was wrong, that he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion. There was nothing wrong with stopping for a rest, it wasn't uncommon to see the Yukon wolf napping beneath one of the many tall pine trees that surrounded the den. So he could hardly chew Icicle out for doing the same thing, now could he?

Askan was stubborn for sure, nothing brought him greater satisfaction than being right, but for now- for the sake of the pack- he was willing to let it go. To brush his former ill will aside.

"Yeah? And you managed to stop Percy from gobbling them? Good job." 

Askan knew she was a growing girl and all that, but did she really have to be so... Nah, it didn't matter not for now anyway. Either way, Askan was pleased with the albino's efforts, after all filling the larder before winter was imperative for their survival. Still, the more Askan thought about it, the more his lingering bitterness bubbled to the surface. Doing something was of course better than doing nothing, but no one could deny the fact that Askan had been busting his ass for this pack, from the very start. So maybe, just maybe he was feeling a little resentful that Icicle wasn't doing the same. He was doing enough- for sure- but not the same.  Rather than bring that up now, Askan opted to smother it down. At least for now, and so instead he changed the topic.

"Wanna walk with me, check the borders?" Askan motioned with his head, beckoning his pack mate to follow.

He'd already checked them once today, but it wouldn't hurt to do it again. Especially with a big wolf like Icicle. If others noticed how well guarded the fields borders were maybe they'd take them more seriously.  Maybe it would help Craw pull his head outta his ass.

(This post was last modified: Nov 30, 2016, 09:38 PM by Askan.)

Pinks eyes watched his dark furred counterpart seem to relax almost instantly after he had spoken. It seemed that Askan had come out this way maybe looking for trouble, but he wouldn’t find it in Icicle. The wolf was simply too happy with the way things were turning out for WIld Rye Fields to care too much about the outside world at the moment. A nervous sort of snort escaped the albino at the mention of the pack’s only pup. A bit of regret filled Icicle as he realized he hadn’t tried to spend any quality time with the young wolf, she was growing so quickly too, it’d be a sad regret not to be apart of that development, maybe he could help her learn not to judge by looks. A lesson he hoped many could learn.

“Sure.” he replied, hiding his slight bewilderment, Askan hardly ever sought him out to chat with, let alone to spend or invest a lot of time in the colorless wolf’s company. He wasn't going to let the seemingly odd change in the Second’s attitude toward him. Icicle was all for making friends within his own pack, a habit though that he had yet to grow into. A lifetime of being alone and quiet in the presences of others had severely hampered his social skills to an extent of seemingly aloofness.

The white wolf stood slowly, stretching out his muscled bulk and giving his thick coat a good shake, a slight grimace at the bright light, his eyes closing reflexively. “Lead on.”

Askan led the white wolf to the edge of the field and began trudging along his usual path. His pace was slow but deliberate, with Icicle by his side he didn't need to pay such close attention to the sights and smells around them. Besides, he'd brought him to the edge of the field to talk more than anything else. He knew what he wanted to say, but he wasn't sure how to say it. By no means was the Rye wolf any good at reading others, but even he noticed that Icicle was not his greatest fan. By far. And Askan was aware that it- partly, he would never claim whole responsibility- was his fault. He was rather crass and he lacked any form of tact. He often rubbed others the wrong way, but he wasn't entirely intolerable because otherwise Percy would surely hate him.

"How do you think our winter preparations are going?"Askan asked after a few moments or so of silence. "I worry about our numbers. There's so few of us. I thought with winter coming along we'd have loners begging to be let in. Not a peep so far though."

Surely Askan wasn't to blame for this. There were probably a whole list of reasons, but for the life of him Askan couldn't think of why. He squinted in thought and cast his gaze over the fog covered field. With how tricky things were with the Whitestone wolves they needed to bulk up, in case things came to a head. In case things got violent. They hadn't settled here for long, but this was their home and Askan assumed that Icicle felt the same way. That he too was willing to bleed to defend it.

"What do you think Icicle? I know we don't always see eye to eye but whether we like it or not we're going to have to work together this winter. Might as well start now." Askan shrugged. He'd accepted his fate some time ago.

(This post was last modified: Dec 23, 2016, 07:33 PM by Askan. Edit Reason: cause my internet is dumb af. Again. )

The colorless wolf’s pink gaze roamed side to side as they meandered along the edges of the field, his attention fully on Askan as the black and tan wolf spoke his concerns for the pack, from keeping them alive to their low numbers to extending al olive branch toward Icicle, a sif any animosity had existed between them that had needed fixing. Though he had to pause for a moment, getting used to the fact that Askan had sought him out, even asking his opinion on the matters, he wasn’t going to let that get wasted.

“Well first off, Winter’s going to be harsh, I have no doubt of that, and the preparations we’ve been making, i think those will hold us through to warmer months, we don’t want to over hunt and spend all of our energy chasing down useless prey, I think, what we need is another good pack hunt or two, bring down something big that can last us long periods of time between hunts.” he paused for a moment, organizing his thoughts “On the other paw though, if we caught a lot of small prey, we could use the snow to preserve it, things like rodents and such that can be pact under the cold snow to last a bit longer.”

He took a few steps forward, turning toward Askan, a slight smile on the wolf’s pink tinged lips. “Now, I do think we should be on the same page about one thing Asken. There’s never been anything negative between you and me, I don’t want you to feel like there was, we’ve just been..quiet around each other, if you want to change that, i’ll happily help, the pack’s survival does depend on the cohesion between its pack mates. You're a little rash sometimes, but in the end, you do what you think is best for the pack.”

Askan listened intently to his pack mate as he gave his opinion on their situation. It seemed as though they were more or less on the same page. Things weren't looking great, but it wasn't so bad that it was time to start panicking either. They had food reserves and as long as they were careful they would last. They had already proved that they were capable of hunting as a pack when they had taken down that bull elk, so he wasn't worried about that. He was simply... Was he worrying too much? Maybe. He would have to think on this a little more before he truly came to a conclusion.

As for Icicle's next words, well Askan was honestly shocked. He'd assumed that the white wolf didn't like him because.... Well he just did. Most wolves didn't like him, it was a fact. It couldn't be helped, but this revelation truly took Askan by surprise. He was silent for a long while, the only sounds between them were the crunch of their footfalls and their slow and steady breaths.

"You're right."Askan eventually said."We need to work together,no matter what."

Ever since he had been a young pup, the importance of working together had been drilled into him. And whilst Askan disagreed with many of his parents teachings, the same could not be said for this one. If they hoped to survive then they needed to work for it, there was no such thing as easy living. Success wasn't given to those who did nothing to earn it, it had to be fought for with tooth and nail. And damn it, Askan would fight. It made him feel better knowing that Icicle would too, even if they didn't have a particularly close relationship.

"I'm not against the idea of working with you. As long as I'm not busy with the borders or Percy, I'd be happy to help out with hunts." 

Icicle nodded in response “It looks like you’re doing a good job helping to teach her.” he said idly as they moved, a hint of regret breaking briefly through the colorless wolf’s usual distant persona. He had been neglecting to hang out with the pup of the pack for far too long. Of course though, if asked, his reasons were sound, he didn't want to hurt or damage the girl’s development, he didn’t want to instill some kind of hatred toward unusual things upon Percy, simply put, he was scared of screwing up irreversibly around the young girl.

“Hey Askan?” he paused reluctantly for a moment, did he really want to confide so much into his dark furred companion? Was it it really worth showing a bit of the side he always hid around others? All of Icicle’s instincts screamed no, that it wasn’t alright, that somehow it would come back to hurt him, it always did. Pink eyes blinked for a moment as a look of revelation overcame the albino. It always did, in the past tense, He had been too scared to ever revel more than a sliver of himself to anyone other than Drestig and the one time he had, well it had landed him here, within a new pack. Taking a deep sigh, the wolf that was usually good with words struggled to find the right words to describe his question. “Asken….do you know a lot about females..like how to act around them?”

Askan wasn't so sure about that, but he wasn't going to reject a compliment anytime soon. He tried his best with Percy, but even then how did he know that his best was enough? What if it wasn't, not even by a long stretch? It was a depressing though, not one he really wanted to dwell on for too long. So he didn't, that was the easiest thing for him to do. They walked in silence for a moment and rather than staring at his companion, Askan gazed out at the lowlands, at the lands that were beyond their borders. He'd spent days exploring the expansive tundra and yet he couldn't help but feel as though he had barely scratched the surface. He supposed now he would never fully explore it, not now that the north was practically owned by the Whitestone pack. Those arrogant shits.

He was dragged from his thoughts by a quiet, soft spoken voice. Askan frowned and turned to look at him, confusion clear on his face. What sort of question was that? What the hell? THE HELL? What was he supposed to say to that sort of question? Females? Who even- Askan shook his head, chasing away his long meandering chain of thoughts. As to why Icicle thought he was the guy to talk to about this sort of thing... Did Icicle even know him? Had he ever taken a good hard look? It was baffling, Askan was truly and utterly lost. What a question, did he know a lot about females? Askan came to a stop and cast a bewildered look Icicle's way.

"First of all don't call them that. It sounds weird. Females." He shuddered. "And second, no not really. I mean I have three sisters, but that didn't help. Like at all. They're weird, they smile a lot, sometimes have nice voices and I don't understand. And honestly I'm fine with it that way, I don't like them, they don't like me. It's easier that way." Askan squinted, suddenly suspicious. "Why? You sniffing round or something? Better not be anything weird."

(This post was last modified: Jan 07, 2017, 10:43 PM by Askan.)