Whitestone Monadnock I'd Call On My Lord

That night he had napped under the stars. It should have been relaxing with nothing but the stars accompanying him. Instead, Larkspur thought on his first time as a loner. He thought on the things he had done, which left him with a restless, not-much-of-a-sleep sort of sleep. In the morning he felt particularly awful, though not wanting to hang around doing nothing, begrudgingly got up and continued on his half-assed exploration of his new pack's lands.


Lark had done well enough to stay as a background character within the Monadnock, keeping any meetings short as he could possibly get away with. He wasn't in the mood to socialize, especially so with that anxious, restless feeling keeping him from sleep. He hadn't felt well enough to eat, much less hunt, and so tried to find some other meaningless task to keep himself occupied. This wouldn't last long, and eventually someone would probably point out his lazy ways. Until then, he was on the search for a new den. Even though Lark doubted he'd find a place as good as his tree and doubted he'd ever feel welcome enough to sleep with the rest of his pack. Finding a place near wherever Sahalie meant both that he'd be more susceptible to her chatter (though he hadn't seen much of the girl lately) and that he'd probably have to deal with a jealous blue eyed boy.

The lack of sleep had Lark half-snoozing as he walked, practically dragging himself as he mindlessly walked in no particular direction at all. Then without warning, the man got his paw caught in a rock and was jolted awake as he stumbled into the freezing shallow lake. Now wide awake and thoroughly embarrassed, he dared not to look around to see if anyone had seen his graceful fall.



@Piety

The pale woman had been lounging about with nothing better to do. Well, actually, she probably had a handful of things she could be doing. Sparring, tracking, scouting around for the ever-growing pack. She felt a certain kind of stress with so many females below her. She assumed Morganna had noticed and that's why she was being trained more often. Piety knew she was soft but she also knew she needed to be able to defend better.

With her head in a flurry she trudged along the monadnock, the lake in sight and something moving along the horizon. She figured it to just be one of the other members. Without much interest, she to socialize she merely watched from her elevated spot. The wolf dragged themselves along like someone who had just been raised from the dead. It was strange, to say the least. Sure everyone was working hard and food was scarce but there was no need to trudge.

Her eyes watched as they tripped and fell into the lake. She was set into action immediately. Her paws working quickly to arrive on the scene. This wasn't someone she had met formally. She barked out to let the other know she was here. "You alright? Noticed you from up there." Her head turned and nose pointed towards one of the large rocks. It was cold and this somewhat stranger had just fallen into the water. Perhaps she could convince him to go find warmth.

Art/Code by Becuffin

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With no appearance of anyone, Lark had felt like he was in the clear. That moment was ruined by the appearance of a white woman with one less ear than he'd expected. He didn't bother looking away from the girl, unable to tell if she was being sincere or not (but then again, did he care?). Now actually paying attention to where he went, Lark exited the lake and shook himself off, then shivered a bit. "I'm fine. Morning swim and all," he said dismissively as he went to inspect the rock she'd come from. He sniffed it, then gave Piety a good look-over "Kind of weird to be spying on others, though," said the man who was sleep walking.


Despite having nothing to be afraid of -- scars or no scars -- Lark kept a watchful eye on the girl. Pack or no pack, he still needed to take his time and learn how things went in the Whitestone Monadnock before letting his guard down.

He got up on the rock then, and sat down on it to check it out. He could sort of see why she was on top of the rock. He felt... bigger, and sort of at an advantage up there. It was more comfortable than the ground, which was littered with much smaller and much pointier types of rocks. With a huff, Larkspur approved of her weird rock-watching and lay down to claim her spot for himself. The sun felt nice, and the rock was warm enough to offer a little bit of comfort. Deciding to forego the introductions, but also acknowledging that he probably needed to learn more about his packmates, he went straight for the first obvious topic of discussion: "What happened to your face?"

Morning swim? Normal. In the winter? Not so much. He was a strange one, to say the least. Then he accused her of spying. "I think if I had been spying I did a bad job by staying somewhere so open." She chuffed and watched him inspect the rock she had been lounging upon. He seemed to like it and she nodded her head in approval as he took her spot with ease. There was more than enough rock for the both of them. She took a spot by him but not right next to him. While wolves in Whitestone Monadnock might be touchy feely, Piety understood that each had their own boundaries.

She noted how he skipped introductions and went straight into asking questions. "Just a nasty rank challenge." She stated neutrally and shrugged her shoulders. Her brown eyes glanced over and noticed he had his own set of nicks here and there. "You?" Her eyes returned to looking out over the lake. She thought it only fair to ask about it if he was going to be so blunt. Her body slowly lowered to meet the ground below where the sun had warmed it. It was one of her favorite parts about the monadnock and its surrounding rocks.

Art/Code by Becuffin

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"You don't have to be good spy to call yourself one," Lark pointed out. He had known many wolves who claimed to be something while also not being too good at it. Not to mention that he doubted anyone was a pro at something they'd just started. Though he did doubt that the girl was trying to spy, it had been a good way to quickly change the subject from his embarrassing tumble into the cold lake. For a second, Larkspur froze as the girl got up to sit beside him. When he saw that she gave him a little space, he visibly relaxed some. Had he been a different sort of man, he would have thanked her. But he wasn't, so he didn't.


"Are rank challenges here usually so..." he looked at her face, and noted how close one of the gashes came to her eyes. "Brutal?" it seemed like a heavy word, but he had experienced few rank challenges where someone was hurt so badly. Usually it was a quick scuffle, someone either kept their place or they didn't, and it was all good in the end.

He followed her gaze to the lake. "Some asshole didn't let me pass through his pack, wouldn't take no for an answer," he had struggled for months after that. He'd been a loner then, and half out of his mind for a good chunk of time there. For some reason, Sahalie had seen past that. Sometimes he wished she hadn't.

She didn't see the point in calling yourself something if you weren't good at it. Wasn't that the reason you had to earn roles? It would be silly to call yourself a hunter if you could only catch a weasel every now and then. Same went for being a spy.

Piety chuckled softly. "I don't believe so but with a sudden increase in size and lack of food I think everyone has been more aggressive than usual." It was the truth in case he hadn't witnessed it first hand. Both the female and male ranks were rather cramped. Not to mention the extra children that had appeared on top of Morganna's two hellions. She wondered how long it would be until things either started getting overly nasty or others started to disappear with the realization the tundra wasn't forgiving with large numbers.

"Do you make a habit of doing that?" Her tail flicked behind her resting form. She knew there were packs around and the last thing she wanted was this male to saunter through everywhere and causing trouble for the wolves of Whitestone Monadnock. Besides, who in their right mind would want to pass through a pack's territory? He didn't think it might be easier to just go around?

Art/Code by Becuffin

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"I feel like it might make more sense for everyone to get together and go on a hunt than to pour frustration onto someone else's face," then he gave the girl a big ole' grin. "But who am I, but a newbie in these parts," this said a lot about the Whitestone Monadnock's leaders, and he wondered if his fellow deserters knew what the pack had in store for them. And, perhaps more importantly, he wanted to know how much longer they were staying. He doubted he could convince Sahalie (who in turn with that charm of her's, would convince everyone else) to pick up and leave just yet.


But if tensions were high, it'd only be a matter of time before things turned back on them. It was easy to blame newcomers, and although his first formal meeting with one of his packmates was turning out to be alright, the same couldn't be said for the rest of them.

"I don't like to make a habit of things that mar my face. It makes me look unapproachable," it was a joke, coming from the wolf who barely looked approachable on a good day. And with today being a bad day, the half-soaked wolf was on the lower end of presentable today. "I won't be any trouble for you, or any of your packmates. You've got my word," something that meant very little to Larkspur nowadays.

He had a partial point. "Wish it was that easy, but herds seem to be scarce around here. Might partially be because of our company south of here." Her nose light gestured out into the great tundra. Wild Rye Fields. Piety hadn't heard too much about them but what she had heard hadn't been as sunshines and rainbows as one might like. "Being new is the best way to learn." Her head turned to look at the older male and offer a kind smile.

She couldn't help but chuckle at his little joke. "Marring the face must not have the same effect on me." Her tail beat happily behind her. The sun coming down helped her stay warm. Of course, while it might have been warm all curled up in the den with one of the others she figured this was just as well. Besides, she knew Morg might drag her out if she came back to the den before nightfall. His comment about having his word made her smirk. "Words don't matter to the wolves here. They want your actions." It should have been obvious. If Piety was willing to have her face ripped open to protect her rank that should have been some signs that words wouldn't get you that far. "I appreciate the sentiment, though."

Her eyes watched the lake for any movement. Maybe someone else would come around it or something might rise from the water's depths. "You must be one of the newcomers. Don't think I've caught wind of your name, yet. Mind sharing?" Even if he didn't she was sure she could get it from Morganna or Craw.

# C W T

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

Lark felt a little bit out of the loop. "What company?" he had meant to do some exploring, and now apparently needed to step up his hunting game. It was less than likely that he'd find a den that could compare to his old one, so it made the most sense to abandon the idea of finding one. He could get back to his hunting and stay occupied while he waited for their little group to eventually leave. And if not... well, maybe he'd just need to make the decision to leave himself. He didn't like the Monadnock, and he was about to the point of saying he disliked it.


At least his company was good.

"Maybe it's not my face, then," because her's looked sort of awful. Especially with the lack of an ear. His own ear flicked, which he suddenly felt thankful for. "Sometimes no action is a good action," he offered, but somehow doubted the same concept might apply in his new pack. He'd figure everything out, sooner or later. Or maybe he'd get a nice new gash on his face, and him and Piety could compare scars.

The girl stared out at the lake, and he did too. He tried to see why she was staring at it, but couldn't find anything interesting. It wasn't particularly pretty, and certainly no one was going to suddenly appear from it. Maybe it was sentimental. "That's because I didn't tell you. But it's Larkspur." A fish breached the surface of the lake, leaving a ripple on the smooth surface. "Do you often stare into space like that? Or is it just the lake?"