Sierra Hills I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea

Sub territory discovery: Red Rock Falls
Concealed in the far east, amongst the sandy red slopes of Sierra Hills lies an oasis in hiding. The easy flow of water, originating from a spring outside the Lore, has worn down some of the stones and in turn formed a waterfall. Rather than plummeting down in one mighty rush, the water branches off into smaller offshoots that trickle off the sides, like rain dripping off the mouth of a cave. In the centre of the tiered falls is a cerulean pool - a perfect reprieve from arid land surrounding the area. That is if one can find it first.
All welcome! (though maybe someone Askan hasn't met before? Or an SE wolf, you know I'm ready to RP with the fam <3)

Askan hadn't intended to go this far east. These days he tended to stick to the Falls,or even the Ferns, but with the harsh winter weather driving potential prey away he had to extend his search to lands unknown. At first the hills didn't seem anything out of the ordinary,  white covered all traces of red and the strange, dry shubbery was also buried beneath several feet of snow. The wide open spaces reminded him of the Lowlands.  In fact, for a moment- a very brief, short moment- he wondered if he'd somehow made a wrong turn and ended up far too north.

But as similar as this place was-with all the snow about at least- there was one startling difference that came to his attention. The rocks in the Lowlands were just that, grey or brown and otherwise uninspiring. But this place...here, the rocks were red.

The cliff face that stood before him was made of some sort of crimson stone, unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was as if the cliff face was bleeding, that the earth was wounded and it's injury hadn't yet scabbed over. He pushed on through the snow, drawing closer and- he paused as his ears twitched at the lazy sound of flowing water. No doubt partly frozen over by the cold.

It seemed as though Askan had a penchant for discovering lakes, or at the very least bodies of water. Whilst this certainly wasn't as homely as the Shallows, it was impressive in it's own right. Or at least it would have been in the warmer seasons when the water flowed freely, dropping from tier to tier before the river continued to snake on through the land.

Either way, it wasn't what he was looking for. It was time to move on.

(This post was last modified: Apr 28, 2018, 02:26 PM by Askan.)

Winter still held them in its icy grip and showed no signs of lessening up the fist anytime soon. Many of the wolves of the Lore, including Aponi had long begun dreaming of summer days lounging in the sunshine and nights where you didn't have to sleep in a pile just to keep warm. But, as of now these were unfortunately just dreams and as always there was work to be done to keep them alive during the winter. The mother had every intention of marking the borders only to find that @Serach had already done this recently and wanting to avoid any further confrontation with him she had slipped away to the east. Across the river and into the part of the territory where forest gave away into red rock.

She should have stopped there. But, the next thing she knew it was the following morning and she was waking up deep within the Sierra Hills and the pack was far behind her. She should go back now, but subconsciously her paws led her deeper to the east, following the trail of another that she recognized. Askan had been curt and a little rough around the edges but Aponi had liked his leading style, and if she want to talk to him she could delay her trip back home even longer, something she wasn't able to admit to herself.

Coming closer her blue eyes cast over the frozen rocks of what would probably be a nice looking water fall in the summer, but as it were it was mostly still. When her gaze turned upon the man who she had followed her Aponi let out a low chuff of greeting. She wasn't even sure why she was doing this.

Askan hadn't expected to run into Aponi at all, let alone in these parts and yet there she was... all grey and blue. Maybe even figuratively. For a moment, Askan wasn't sure what to say, let alone done. She greeted him, so the polite thing to do was to huff back in response. But beyond that? This wasn't really pack business, he didn't have that thinking cap on at the time, so he just sort of did what Askan did best.

"Hey. Wasn't looking for company." That much was obvious, but she wasn't unwelcome per se. Aponi certainly wasn't the worst and he had no intentions of pissing her off. On purpose anyway. "You familiar with these parts?" He asked, gesturing with a flick of his tail. It was as clear as day that he was not.

Her territory crossed over into the hills, right? At least on their eastern border. From the brief time he had been there he had noted that the area was notably absent of the scent of wolves. Loners and pack wolves alike.Did people avoid these parts because it was so barren, empty, or was there something Askan didn't know?

(This post was last modified: Mar 07, 2018, 06:01 PM by Askan.)

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

oh wow, I'm so sorry this took so long

I don't mean to frustrate

Askan chuffed back at her and for a moment there was just silence between them, Aponi certainly wasn’t sure what to say. It wasn’t as if he was her friend or even more than a business acquaintance and she had never been good or fond of making friendships. Thankfully, the man seemed to have more tact than her and broke out what could only be described as small talk. He hadn’t been looking for company. The female leader smirked at the words, suddenly wondering if he was ever really looking for company. Sure, he had come to their door but that had been out of necessity and he had been alone then too.

Still, that wasn’t the kind of comment that you said out loud to a business acquaintance and Aponi had enough composure to know that. The second sentence though, that she knew what to say. ”Part of our territory overlaps with the Hills, but I’ve never travelled so deep in them.” There was no point, prey were scarce and water was even worse. But, the small amount in their lands was enough to stifle the occasional itch her paws felt for feeling stone beneath them. She supposed to might be pretty in the summer, maybe she should spend more time out here.

But, I always make the same mistakes

Askan's ear flicked in acknowledgement of her words. Even if he lived closer to the Hills he wouldn't venture into them, unless it was imperative. There just wasn't much to see, or eat. Sure, he'd happened to stumbled upon these falls but the Selwyn wouldn't have been surprised if it dried up in the water months. Became nothing more than a bone dry set of stairs. Askan liked solitude as much as any other grumpy-git, but this place felt dead, lifeless. Boring.

No wonder no one had settled in these parts, but if someone tried to colonise it then power to them. As long as they stayed the hell away from his pack and it's hunting grounds he didn't give a shit. Competition would not be tolerated, it was as simple as that. Rolling his shoulders, he threw that line of thought to the wind and turned his pointed gaze back to Aponi once more. The falls were more interesting to look at, but even he realised it was rude not to look at someone when they spoke. He remembered the manners his parents had drilled into him...sometimes, once in a blue moon.

Even now, during their second meeting he didn't know quite what to make of her. She wasn't giving him much to work with, she was holding her cards so close to her chest. Revealing nothing but cold apathy in her befitting, grey-blue eyes.

"Can't blame you. It's shit." He commented, unable to stop the grumble of frustration that followed. This was hard, the whole socialising thing was not Askan's cup of tea..

Reyes-no matter what he might think or say- was so much better at this.

"So tell me, your mate said other wolves had settled in the Falls before me. What were they like? Why did they disband?"

I don't mean to frustrate

Perhaps there was a reason that Aponi did not have many friends, she clearly was not very good at making small talk. Thankfully for her she also did not feel awkward very easily and when the silence stretched out for maybe slightly longer than was acceptable she barely noticed. Of course, she barely noticed much these days. She had been operating under a deep fog of unshakeable indifference mostly, mixed in with short bouts of severe annoyance or even rage.

However, something that Askan said cut straight through this fog and before she could stop herself Aponi let out a sarcastic snort. The Sierra Hills were in fact, shit. The blue eyes looked a little sharper now, a little less guarded when the she-wolf looked at their surroundings before landing back on her company. At this Aponi smirked, settling her silver rump upon the red stone, ”There was a pack called Broken Pines or something or another, they used to belong south of us.” Shrugging her shoulders the judgement was clear in her tone, ”It’s my understanding they were a band of pregnant loners who created a pack and then took turns abandoning their children and the pack until no one was left.” That was more or less what Nalda had told her after all, she had lived there and even she had disdain for the place.

And then there was another, ”The only other I know of was Quaking Vale but they were led by wolves that were practically children themselves, a cousin of Serach and her, well I don’t know what Alastor was, but that failed too. They said they had to help somebody and left the pack and the new leader moved it somewhere else.” That was all the information she had and frankly she didn’t care enough to ask anymore questions. Good riddance.

But, I always make the same mistakes

Broken Pines? Askan pursed his lips, that sounded familiar. His mind conjured images of fallen trees, ferns growing in between them and the hushed murmur of a nearby stream. That little plot of land was to the north-west of the Shallows. He'd only been there once but the Edge Lord had always suspected a pack that had once called it home. The fact that Aponi proved him right made him feel more than a little smug, proved in his mind that he knew what his doing, that his senses hadn't dulled in the slightest.

Apparently Aponi wasn't done, she had more gossip to serve. His ears cupped forward as she continued, her tone heavy with judgement. Wasn't that always the way of things? Those sorts of wolves always had a plethora of excuses at their disposal. I didn't know I'd get pregnant! I've always wanted to lead a pack! He sneered at the thought. If Aponi was telling the truth- he was inclined to believe that she was, after all what would she gain from lying- then the world was a better place with the Broken Pine pack's passing.

The Oak Queen went onto speak about Quaking Vale- now that was a pack he was familiar with. Not because he'd seen their borders with his own two eyes but...he had history, bad blood. Old resentments that hadn't quite faded.

"I know of the Vale. When I was back in Wild Rye Fields Sahalie Tainn turned up at our borders one day, said she'd come to collect a couple of friends. They joined up, lied to our faces, knowing full well that they had no intentions of staying. Not for the long run anyway, not even a season." He gritted his teeth as his lips peeled back a little in a pointed grimace. "And of course, when I got angry I was being unreasonable. As fucking always." Whatever it was old news. He didn't care anymore, even if his smouldering frustration remained he could ignore it, shove it down and out of sight.

"Someone or other came all the way north and told me they were going to move, that one of the lying fucks died. Like I was supposed to care? Tccht." He sneered, and waved the issue away with a sharp flick of his tail.

(This post was last modified: May 19, 2018, 02:58 PM by Askan.)

Tag for @Serach just for information/knowledge sake

Was she photoshopped

Aponi decided that she most definitely liked Askan. When he arrived at their borders he had been courteous and that was it but it was this smug aura around him that the silver wolf appreciated. The way his ears cupped forward for more gossip brought a smirk to the woman’s face, which hardened as he gave some information of his own. It seemed that Sahalie had made more than a little bit of a mess when she had left the Bend, typical.

Sighing the Donata shook her head, ”Sahalie is Serach’s cousin, when I challenged the old leader for my rank the woman didn’t take it well and left. Sahalie followed her and took damn near half the pack with her, it’s not surprising that she continued that pattern of behaviour.” It had worked out so well for her the first time afterall, why wouldn't she keep doing it? Aponi was more than a little smug that the Vale had fallen and while Serach had found it in him to forgive the girl his mate didn’t think she ever would. It was more personal when you were the one she was running from.

Aponi knew that they had moved the pack but she would still have to report this meeting to her mate, in case there was any new information here that he might gleam. He was the one more invested in his cousin’s wellbeing.

Or are her eyes really that lonely

Askan sneered. He knew that there had been an exodus from the Bend after the change in leadership but he hadn't known that Sahalie had spearheaded the movement. In all honesty he couldn't say he was surprised, he was just glad Sahalie's legacy had soon collapsed after her disappearance. After all she'd done she could hardly expect other's to continue her good work. With Castel on the helm he was hardly surprised things had had degenerated the way they did, after all she'd been anything but leader material.

"One of the pups under my care was originally from that pack. He said it was disorganised, his own parents paid little attention to him. No one noticed when he left." He shrugged. Not that it mattered anymore, Sachiel was where he was meant to be, he'd found his calling.

"Seems to be a habit of mine, cleaning up everyone'e messes." Askan rumbled, as his brows drew together."Hope that won't be an issue with the Bend." He said his tone as dry as the scorched Sierra earth. His lips twitching up into a smirk, he was joking, mostly.

(This post was last modified: May 31, 2018, 05:44 PM by Askan.)