Riddle Heights rose pearls

For @Iyes. kind of a bad starter, sorry :c

He wondered just how much further he had to go to get back to normal lands. While the snow helped with his paws some he was still tired of the places where the ground was uneven and extremely rocky. He took breaks rather often which likely didn't help with his travel time. This was a learning experience he never wanted to experience ever again.

The large yearling fumbled along his way. He was a blotchy spot against the landscape, a rather open target for anyone passing by. Mathuin was never truly worried about anyone that might be around. He hadn't met anyone bad yet. So far everyone had been so kind or at least neutral. He could continue his adventures with the mindset that everyone here was good natured.

He shuffled through the snow. His pace was rather slow and his body wasn't held in its usual energetic way. Mathuin looked more like a slouched giant. He never was a truly sad boy but he wasn't certainly feeling as upbeat as usual. The yearling needed something to take his mind off of this awful trip or else he was going to go crazy.

Without much concern for where he was, he plopped down onto the snowy ground. He quickly licked at his paws before sticking them into the snow. It was cold but he discovered it helped out some.

Astrid & Mathuin
The Adventuring Peanuts

The inky yearling's coat wasn't much good for camouflage in the winter either, but the advantage she did have was a gathering knowledge of the foothills where they were staying. She's gotten a whiff of the male when he came within sniffing range and instantly wandered away from the den to find him. Wolves were rare up here, and if it wasn't Kyna or her friend, it warranted investigating. When she spotted him she kept her distance, letting the white-dusted trees conceal her. 

Iyes watched the male move through the territory at a practical waddle, seemingly losing motivation with each step of his giant paws. On some level she did empathize. She'd spent a considerable amount of time on her own, relentlessly pushing forward, before Kyna had watched her dump herself into a river and given her a break. Since then she was a much happier yearling, finding herself with things akin to a purpose and or friends. That was the reason she didn't exactly pity the stranger roaming near their turf. Iyes was on to bigger and better things - and sure he'd be, too. If he got up.

He didn't seem to want to, though - content with licking at his paws with his belly in the snow. Curiosity drove the black wolf forward, slinking past the trunks of trees toward the wolf. She didn't loudly announce herself, nor did she try to remain in the shadows. Circling to face the wolf head-on, Iyes let her muzzle rise slightly. "State your name and business, stranger."

adopt thea?

He was happily minding his business when a voice rung out. His brows furrowed some as he rose to his full height. While he wasn't about to attack, he certainly wasn't about to roll over and give in to some stranger. "Excuse me?" Mathuin asked with obvious distaste. She was acting like she owned this damn place and while Mathuin wasn't positive where he was he knew he hadn't waltzed into pack lands. Nor had he smelt any borders. He was starting to wonder if everyone on this mountain had some kind of issue.

"Mathuin, and I don't have any business." He scoffed slightly. This whole dumb trip wasn't supposed to be about business. The large yearling was merely out here to try and have an adventure, experience fun. He suddenly felt like he had made an awful decision by leaving those snowy meadows. Granted now that he was this far there was no real point in turning around. Hopefully, he could get away from these mountain wolves soon.

He stood his ground as he looked at her. "What's your name and what's your business? Huh?" If she was going to prod at his business then Mathuin only saw it as fair to prod at her business as well.

Astrid & Mathuin
The Adventuring Peanuts

The boy stood up, towering over her as he did so. That alone didn't concern the inky yearling, but his demeanor surely did. Excuse me, he practically sneered at her, the two words causing the dark fur along her spine to raise in question. She hadn't intended to offend Mathuin but somehow he found her question to be a transgression. He went on to answer her (sort of) in what could easily be described as an unkind way - and Iyes didn't vibe with it at all. The wolf stopped and stared at her with a pair of bright green eyes and would find a fire raging within her own amber set.

Curling her dark lip she flashed her canines, a warning that she had the balls to match a wolf of his size. When she spoke her voice was more than unappreciative of his reaction - it was hard and venomous. "I'm Iyes and I was coming to see if you were okay, asshole. Because I live here, and you clearly don't, so you looked like a candidate for local help." Maybe they weren't a pack, but she and Kyna and Greer did take up residence. It was their home, not his. Though she was slowly becoming more socialized to that way of life, the lone wolf in her was still not that great at sharing.

With a growl she turned away from the wolf, stalking off several paces while keeping him under her glowering observation. She didn't want to be too close to him with the aggression currently coursing in her veins. Her dark tail lashed behind her like a flag of war. She had really intended to offer him some help of some kind, the way he flopped to the ground like that - but this was why being nice didn't get you anything.

adopt thea?

Maybe he shouldn't have been surprised that she had reacted to negative to his own negative reaction but his eyes still widened in disbelief. Not to mention she called him an asshole. Who did that?! He had every right to get defensive when he was alone and someone demanded his business. That in no way made him an asshole! Besides, if she really had cared so much why would she sit here and call him such nasty things before walking away? Mathuin wasn't sure if he should be furious, apologize, or leave while he still could.

"Well for starters it'd be peachy keen if you could call me Mathuin or even Mat and not that other gross word you used." He stood where he was and called out to her. "What do you mean by canidate for local help? Are there just like groups of you to watch for who to give help and who to let perish?" It made his skin crawl in a strange way. To think that hiding eyes might be watching him to decide if he was a canidate for help didn't settle right. Not to mention it had been only dark wolves he had ran into on the mountains. Maybe there was some strange cult nearby. Which meant that it was near time for him to flee this god awful mountain.

"speech"

mathuin whitebark

TEMPLATE © NDA OF RCR & RPG-D

Astrid & Mathuin
The Adventuring Peanuts

Gross word. Still steaming with anger she could only manage to snort, sending her eyes to the grey sky like she was asking the ancestors for help dealing with this guy. It wasn't like she really meant it. She'd heard her mother call her father an asshole plenty of times. Of course, he hadn't exactly been around to defend himself for it, but sincere malice had always been lacking from her voice. Mat could be an asshole and not be all that bad anyway.

Her silver-saddled guard hairs were beginning to fall as she let her amber eyes wander back toward the larger yearling as he questioned her allegiances. Groups of watchful helpers in the mountain... she snorted at the very idea. "No, Mat," Iyes retorted with a pointed voice, though the flames she'd been spewing at him earlier were little more than smoke at this point. "Things like that don't exist." Only in la-la land. See, the girl had graduated from the school of hard knocks a long time ago and could only help by passing on the knowledge she'd gained while earning her degree.

But her rage had vanished by now, leaving her with a heavy dose of guilt under her skin. Man she really had snapped at this guy. And even if he had kind of deserved it by being mean first, she still didn't relish the feeling of being the bigger jerk. Heaving a sigh, she tried again, "What I meant was that you seemed like you were having trouble getting around... I could point you in the right direction. If you'd like." There, that was polite.

Iyes was too embarrassed to bridge the distance she had created. She simply settled to her haunches, removing herself as a threat at least with body language. Bright eyes surveyed the sooty wolf again. "Where are you going?"

adopt thea?

Mathuin

The trouble with the storm inside us grew
But I still had so much to give

Had they not already been off to a bad start he might have offered the idea that such things could exist just not here. He might have even snorted and laughed but instead, he just nodded his head. A soft agree. The last thing the giant yearling was interested in doing was wrecking any sort of progress they might make.

"That'd be nice." His voice was gentle as a soft smile pulled on his lips and his tail submissively wagged between his legs. The large Whitebark should count himself lucky that he wasn't ran off or even shoved off this damn mountain. Yet when he thought they were making progress she asked him something he didn't have an answer for. "I, uh, I don't know." He admitted as ears briefly pressed against his skull. "I left home in search of adventure I guess. It was just too hard to stick around when things were always so serious, ya know?" He wondered if she would know. Felix had understood him and practically done the same thing. Oh, how Mathuin wished his silver friend was here now. He'd know how to fix this and make this fun.

"I started in a field that way," His muzzle pointed towards the west before he looked back to Iyes. "I don't wanna go back just yet, though." Maybe in a while once he felt like settling down again he would take up Enoki's offer of living in the willows.

Astrid & Mathuin
The Adventuring Peanuts

Relief blossomed from her chest when he grasped the olive branch she had extended to him, her tail wagging a few beats against the mountain floor where she sat. She wasn't exactly surprised when he went on to confirm that he actually didn't have a specific place in mind for his travels. Tilting one dark ear toward the ground she fixed him with a curious stare. Iyes could not extend her understanding into his reasoning as he continued on, her fire bright eyes steeling over while a dry smile took up residence on her face.

"Hmm, I guess so." she lied, turning her muzzle away from her wolf to hide her perplexion. Iyes probably would have never left her mother's side if she hadn't died so violently. She was willing to bet that a boring and strict home life would have been better to have than the life of squalor she'd lived with her mom and sister. Unable to figure out why she suddenly wondered what Mathuin's dad was like. Did he have any brothers? What exactly was he talking about? With a sidelong glance she slowly prodded, "What do you mean, so serious?"

Iyes followed the point of his muzzle in the direction of the setting sun, nodding slowly. "I traveled for a really long time before I was ready to slow down," the inky youth sympathized. "My friend is settling a pack down here some time soon. We aren't very serious." She paused, and flashed him a crooked grin. "I mean, only sometimes, but sorry about that - okay?"

adopt thea?

The large Whitebark hadn't really talked about his leaving with anyone. He was open that he left home in search of adventure but that's usually where he left it. It had been good enough so far so he was unsure what compelled Iyes to ask him what he meant after she had just told him she guessed so. What did he do? Did he lie and make up some reason or did he go ahead and tell her the truth? The more he thought about it the longer timed dragged on until he came up with his answer. He didn't have anything to lose by telling her and nor did he have anything to gain.

"A bit after my first birthday I had heard news that trouble was brewing with a group south of my home. Like not just some dispute over hunting grounds but like something serious." He explained with a rather serious look as he stared at the ground between them. "My dad approached me with the news that I'd fight...I guess panic just kind of set in. I had been trained to do that but that didn't neccasarily mean I wanted to do that." He swallowed the small lump forming in his throat. "I had to act pretty quick to plan and escape from home in order to avoid the conflict. I'm sure my parents aren't too proud but that doesn't matter now." Mathuin shrugged his shoulders in a pathetic manner. If they weren't here to scold him or even see him then it really didn't matter.

He was glad the subject changed to the talk of a pack some ways from here. Mathuin seemed to have some luck with running into pack wolves. Felix (even though he had left home he still gave knowledge about it), Enoki from the Ridge and now Iyes from the forming mountain pack. His head shook softly. "No need to apologize. I was kind of an asshole." He didn't like the word but he laughed anyway.

Astrid & Mathuin
The Adventuring Peanuts

(shall we wrap this one up?)

The smile remained upon her face even as her question gave the larger yearling pause, persistent as the silent seconds added up into an uncomfortable space. His bright eyes found the stone floor beneath his paws as he finally began to divulge a truth. What had previously been a boisterous facade was replaced with something far more somber, drawing her lips over her teeth as she adopted a neutral expression. Iyes had been wrong to assume he had chosen to galavant through the countryside willy-nilly. The threat of war had driven him to run off on a self-described "adventure". "I'm sorry to hear that," was all she could murmur. Conflict was scary. She could not definitively say she would have done anything different, and so she looked upon the wolf with more sympathy than before.

The subject came to a rest and out of respect for her companion she did not pick it back up, even as her mind whirled a dozen or so invasive thoughts, all which would ask of Mat to divulge more personal information. What was the fight about? What did he think happened to the pack he abandoned? Would he ever go back to find out? Of course, those cruelties were too severe to inflict upon the age-mate wolf. Not after she had already called him something crass. Though he insisted he forgived her in his next sentence. She accepted his forgiveness with a laugh which lilted from her parted jaws and the smile returned to her expression.

"If your feet ever get tired, you could come back here, y'know," the inky yearling suggested, her amber eyes shining with sincerity. She liked their small group, but there was always room for more. "You could come check it out? I should be getting back, anyway."

adopt thea?