Quaking Vale But Here I Go

When he'd had his own pack, Larkspur made a point to be in everyone's business. He had been more social then, and considerably more friendly — perhaps even to the point where his new packmates wouldn't believe it. Ever since Quaking Vale had become officially, well, official, bits of who he had been before was starting to come back. He worked hard, and soon thought that he and his rag-tag team of youngn's might have needed to take down something larger than small rabbits. He did his best to keep the cache filled, but sometimes the bond that a good hunt offered was more important than a full belly. Larkspur was also aware of more in Quaking Vale than he had been in, say, Oak Tree Bend or Whitestone Monadnock. With so few wolves to keep up with it was easier to keep tabs on everyone, and on most days he could expect Sahalie to give him enough details on everyone.

Only a few months before the pale man would have spent most of his days snoozing in his new home — which was now a large, rotted out log. But today, second in charge in Quaking Vale, Larkspur had decided to spend the day patrolling. He wasn't quite used to the idea of looking for loners and offering a home to them, but it was what Sahalie had wanted. She seemed to insist that she wasn't ready for a family, which made him doubt that this year they'd have smaller, possibly more annoying versions of the dark girl. He couldn't say he was disappointed, as the idea of being around children didn't set too well with him. The thought of Eidolon came to him and his stomach flopped over uncomfortably. He knew it was silly to think of her, and he knew that it'd be much easier to just forget the girl and the possibility of new children, but he couldn't. Lark had always been a little bit old-fashioned and the idea of not knowing didn't set well with him. He had another month or so, he supposed, and much more important things to focus on until then.

Plus, today was border patrol day. Larkspur shook some of the snow from his pelt, and marched on.


around Quaking Vale's borders, for @Niles

(This post was last modified: Apr 18, 2017, 09:57 PM by Sahalie. Edit Reason: added thread prefix, there was something wrong in the admin panel )

Since meeting with Castel, Niles started to push further away from wherever he knew her friends would be. While he craved the security of having a pack and family to stick close to, he had yet to come around to them... to feel included and, perhaps, not so... different from them. Now, if only he didn't keep casting himself out and apart from them, then maybe he wouldn't have ended up where he was: outside the territory markers of the Quaking Vale, and very susceptible to being regarded as a lone wolf.

He had just taken a seat to catch his breath in the falling snow when he heard that telltale crunch of someone approaching. His head immediately whipped about and his eyes widened upon catching that familiar white-pelted figure of Lark-something. Castel had told him about the guy once or twice and he had shied away a few times from the man's attention when they had first set out from the Fields, but now... Now, Niles was alone and he had no choice but to face the older man in hopes of gaining, well, something. Trust and fellowship might have been a good start if he wanted to feel like he belonged with Castel and Sahalie and the brothers.

With a shiver and shake in his joints, he peered over at the man, ears folded and tail held aloft in partial curiosity. He made no sound as he stared, studying that scarred pelt as he moved through the storm-whipped trees. As quietly as he dared (which wasn't actually quiet at all with his clumsy, lumbering steps), he began to follow after him, hoping he might be acknowledged.

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!

The sound of an additional set of paws crunching in the snow followed, and Larkspur didn't stop. Some days he could get away with continuing on his business and he'd be left alone. Instead the footsteps continued to follow, which was strange. He was certain that if either Sahalie or Alastor or Castel or even Draven wanted his attention, they'd make their presence known. So Lark finally stopped and turned, at first thinking the dark boy was Draven. Instead, it was that boy that Castel had often hanged with: Niles. It was hard to tell when Larkspur was alright with your company, if only because he was more or less aloof around you. Although Sahalie could get on his nerves, he more or less put up with her. He and Alastor had come to a truce and the two had managed to get along well. But Niles...

@Niles hadn't been around enough for Larkspur to consider him part of their little family. Even now, he wasn't sure that the boy had officially joined. The fact that he seemed to be close to Castel (whom he also wasn't entirely keen on) didn't help the boy's case. Larkspur's face scrunched up and his fur stood on it's ends as he approached the sooty colored boy. He growled and kept himself tall, though held back. A voice in the back of his head told him to play nice-ish, regardless as to whether or not he liked the boy. And he didn't. He didn't like a wolf that wandered around their borders, unwilling to call Quaking Vale their home.

Now was not the time for hesitation. Niles would need to choose to stay or... well, Larkspur's original thought would be to chase him off. But he wasn't entirely in charge, and so he couldn't make quick decisions like he may have wanted. "You're done slinking around the borders," he told the boy. "Choose to stay here with your little girl or leave," maybe he couldn't physically push the boy away, but Lark could always use a few threatening words and show a tooth or two to make Niles leave.

They walked for some time, but soon enough, Larkspur wheeled about, rounding on Niles with a growl. True to form, Niles immediately shrank back, tail tucking and large frame trembling as he turned his eyes submissively away. The reaction had been so startling, the boy even folded back on his hind legs and sat down with a plunk in the snow. If such fiery eyes could emit the heat of an inferno, Niles could feel his skin prickle beneath his fur.

"You're done slinking around the borders," he stated. Niles' teeth chattered. "Choose to stay here with your little girl or leave."

All the youth could offer was a nasally whine at first, blinking as he stared at the snow, tongue flickering out to drag down his nose and let the cold freeze it over. To say that Niles was not loyal was untrue, but for him to prove that he was so was slow-coming and nearly pathetic. As a cub, he had been social to a point where he could have been a menace. Now, he was a far cry from that version of himself.

"I-I..." he started, voice cracking. "I am done." He sighed, looking from one frosted tree trunk to the other before peeking over at the older man's teeth, "I wa-as waiting for someone to get me. I did-didn't know we've arrived." Apart from that tidbit, he had also been waiting on Castel to come find him, as she usually did... romping about and herding him right back to where the group of them were. He had stupidly assumed this whole marking business was something of a temporary thing and to provoke Larkspur's ire for being so lackadaisical was something he did not want to do.

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!

Even a good excuse wasn't enough to placate Larkspur. No amount of whining or stuttering would do, and if anything, the boy's words seemed to make the man angrier. His teeth clicked together, wondering who he was expecting to come get him. And, maybe more importantly, why the kid was waiting for someone to get him instead of going to find one of them. "Are you dim?" he snapped, uncaring as to whether or not the boy had feelings. Not that it was like Larkspur to go out of his way to spare someone's feelings.

Waiting for someone to get him! Larkspur snapped at the air in frustration. There was little he could do now, except maybe let his displeasure for the dark boy be known via growls and nasty looks. He didn't have to get along with anyone in Quaking Vale, but he did have to play nice. Maybe not Sahalie's sort of nice, but Larkspur had his own definition that he had followed. He took a breath and let the urge to chase the dimwitted boy off die down.

After a good chunk of silence, he finally spoke. "Sahalie's named it Quaking Vale." It was more clever than anything he could have come up with. His home pack had just been named after the wolves that lived there, which had been easy enough for all of them. It was apparently his job to fill @Niles in on what had happened during their small meeting. "She said she wants it to be a haven, whatever that means."

A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity

The young deer that Niles had heard wandering about in their midst was surely gone when Larkspur snapped at him. The boy cowered down until his elbows touched the ground. "Are you dim?" Niles' ears remained flat against his head, a wince apparent on his face. It shouldn't have mattered what the white-pelted man thought, but it was starting to get harder in keeping his breathing level without giving his misery away. He would have to stay strong; Castel would probably need him to be.

More snapping and obvious frustration on Larkspur's part and Niles' tucked his chin in as he ducked down further. Grief might not have had a grip on him anymore, but now it was time to discover for himself just who he was. That, in itself, was confusing and disheartening. At present, it was clear that he was no one without someone and, in this very moment, he was finding that: first, he would be Larkspur's underling and, secondly, more responsible and more social.

Everything grew quiet apart from the creaking of the trees above, the snow muffling all else apart from the sound of breathing. Then, "Sahalie's named it Quaking Vale. She said she wants it to be a haven, whatever that means."

The Lyall slowly lifted his head, his eyes focusing to where those ivory paws were buried in the snow. "Tell me what to do an' I'll do it," his words were hoarse, but he hoped what determination he could muster in his tone would be enough for now. He would prove the rest of his character if he was given a task or just some busywork to keep him away from skulking about beyond Quaking Vale's borders. "I need her..."

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!

Larkspur had never been fond of wolves that went belly-up too quickly. It was hard to fight something when it wouldn't fight back. He could pity them, though, and he could feel disgusted by the weak nature of the boy. Again, the older man reminded himself to behave. Sahalie or Alastor wouldn't be pleased if they found out that he'd scared off one of the wolves that had traveled south with them. His tail swished over the snow as the boy attempted to seem determined. It would take much more than that for the man to see much of anything in the boy.

His face scrunched up again as the boy asked for instruction. Not necessarily to help Quaking Vale out, but it seemed to be closer to Castel. The thought made him want to throw up, and had he not feared for his newfound security in the ranks of Quaking Vale, he would have decided to run @Niles out of Umbra Copse entirely. No one could have known, and even now no one would be around to see.

"Call for Alastor or Sahalie, let them know you haven't left," though either of them were bound to take his little excuse more easily than Larkspur had. "After that, find your place here. Because if you think you can be useless with your stupid little girlfriend, then you're wrong," this wasn't to say that Castel was useless, or that she was lazy. But Lark thought she was, and often got that impression from her. Hell, even if he had known about her condition, it wouldn't magically make his opinion any different.

"Call for Alastor or Sahalie, let them know you haven't left," Larkspur spoke. Niles let the words consume him from within. "After that, find your place here." Now, the bit about Castel being his stupid little girlfriend, made his hackles rise up and bristle. He did not dare do anything else if he wanted to find himself apart of their little pack.

Quietly pushing himself back up to a sitting position, he sighed as he raised his eyes to Larkspur's chest, where the snow clung wherever they managed to find purchase. Niles shook out his pelt as he stood up to his full height before sinking back down so that his head was well below Larkspur's. His tail remained tucked. "Yessir," he managed. Yes, this was a start. A rocky one, but still.

"But, Castel i-isn't stupid," if anything else had to be said before Niles made to dismiss himself, it was simply that. His muzzled wrinkled once, a very small spark of what was once a blazing spirit in his chest. For good measure, he backed away. His mother and father had probably given him a good nip on ear or nose before, but something told Niles that if Larkspur bit, he sank his teeth in deep.

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!

In Niles' defense, most, if not all, of things that started with Larkspur had a rocky start. He demanded too much of everyone and still failed to see it. Even with his own children, their best had not been enough. The same would be for the wolves of Quaking Vale, just this time around his word was not final. It was almost like it had been when he and his brother had lead together; his word was almost final. Somehow this didn't bother him as much as it had before. He didn't have the fire to be on top, and perhaps because he'd learned that he didn't deserve to be there. Here he was more comfortable, if at least a little frustrating. Plus he didn't have a bigger, badder brother to stamp down his voice. He could do the stamping, if the need called for it.

The boy dared to even wrinkle his face at Larkspur and the man quickly closed the space between them. He got close, his tail rising as he showed the boy his sharp, yellowy teeth. "Castel, much like you, hasn't shown me that she's been any sort of use around here," plus she was too... talky for him. He had not liked her from the start and he hadn't been too quiet about that since they'd officially made Quaking Vale their home. He was uncertain if he could trust her, as their first meeting was of her breaking the rules. Still, Alastor had liked her, and apparently Sahalie did too.

"As far as I'm aware, you're both idiots. Now go on, I've got work to do."