Paradise Falls i wanted to be a spaceman

Ryder is challenging @Miriam for her rank. Spectators allowed, but may be skipped by Tasha and I.

Ryder had taken a quite a lot of time to think. Whether @Indigo was with him or not, he was often lost in all that thought. It had finally come to something actionable. He had made a decision, and while he wasn't fully confident in it, he knew better than to expect certainty from anything. This, at least, was not about himself for once. It was about his daughter, and the ways in which he wanted her life to be better, both than what it currently was, and than what his had been.

His casual steps were just a touch faster than usual as he made his way to the pack's main den site, determination behind his steely eyes. There was a point in making this obvious. It wasn't about Miriam personally: it was the first step to something bigger.

Hopefully.

Ryder tossed back his head and howled, requesting the pack's presently highest-ranked subordinate's presence.

(This post was last modified: Nov 14, 2024, 07:21 PM by Eros.)

WELCOME TO MIDNIGHT MASS.

---

Ryder’s call had come at a fortunate time, her ears perking to hear the man calling for her. She did not often interact with him, and so her curiosity piqued and she moved quickly to investigate. Her limbs ached slightly from the traveling she had done the past couple days, but she moved towards what had sounded important. When the tawny wolf arrived, a smile would grace her features, her head tilting to the side as her greeting was warm. He was a packmate, and that made him a friend even if she didn’t know him all that well.

“Ryder!” Her voice was just as cheery to match. “What can I help you with?” She figured it had to be something scouting related for her to be summoned. She wasn’t someone who’d ever been challenged for her rank before, so the thought that it was what the man might want never crossed her mind at all.

She arrived happily, as though she had not a care in the world. Ryder should have known better, but that didn't stop him from assuming that Miriam was just as blithe as she appeared. Like most things, it kind of pissed him off. He didn't show it, though; instead he was just his usual amount of surly. He didn't smile back or wag his tail, his oceanic eyes only observed, muzzle tipping briefly in his typical style of greeting those he didn't know very well.

How could she help him? Ryder shifted on his paws, nerves starting to come in to play. Even he understood that it would be best if he just laid it all out bare for Mir, but that didn't make his selective mutism dissipate. No matter how important it was, Ryder struggled with words. He always had, and he'd come to accept that he always would.

He'd make this work anyway. He'd make leading work anyway. Indigo, Atara, his mother... they deserved this. Ryder had to do something to keep what was left of his family together.

"I need to lead. How important is staying above me to you?"

WELCOME TO MIDNIGHT MASS.

---

His demeanor was more cold, and it caused a gentle frown to cross her features, her eyes narrowing for a moment as he spoke. He made his intentions clear. There was a deep seeded feeling in her gut, like she had gotten when Nadine had found Jethro and returned him home instead of her, even if the man had not stuck around. How important is staying above me to you? She had an instinct of an answers: extremely. And yet, she bit her tongue for a moment, and considered her words carefully.

The green monster she fought to keep buried inside of her… the part of her that had been cultivated by the cult… greedy backstabbers the lot of them under the cool guise of religion. Sweet as honey and poison in the food when they were plotted against. Perhaps Paradise wasn’t so common after all.

“It’s the principle of it. If you want it, you’re going to have to earn it.” She challenged back to him to make her answer clear, watching him carefully. She knew realistically, there were two ways of handling it: he’d want to fight her, or they would posture and it would be a battle of wills again. “So do you have it in you?” Unlike her scouting mission with Nadine, Miriam felt confident that she would not fail this time.

Her expression told him that she wasn't happy about this, and his innards squirmed a little. What if he couldn't do it? Worse yet, what if he did and they still wouldn't take him seriously? Ryder did his best to kept the doubts at bay. They'd only just started, he couldn't jump ship already.

'It’s the principle of it.'

Wow. Did everyone take more after his mother than he did? The young wolf's own frown made its appearance. Not quite because she was telling him no, but more so because she had to be so uppity about it. Whatever. If that's what she wanted from him.

Ryder's tail lifted high along with his posture, spine stretching to raise from his shoulders. Even his ears stood tall. Lips pulled back to show his teeth, he pressed into her space, aiming to loom over her. A deep, rumbling growl emphasized this response of his; yes, he absolutely did.

WELCOME TO MIDNIGHT MASS.

---

She would be incredibly disappointed in herself if she could not keep her cool, and if she could not earn his submission. Though he was the challenger, Miriam had just as much to prove as he did. She needed to defend her place, the time she had committed to the pack. As he moved forward, a rumbled growl and his posturing rising, her eyes narrowed.

Miriam stood her ground, her hackles bristling as her tail flicked upward in response, a defiant curve signaling she wouldn’t be cowed so easily. Her shoulders squared as her posture grew more rigid and unyielding. Her ears twisted back, angled in a wary warning as her lip curled enough to reveal the glint of her fangs. The normally (at least perceptively) kind woman allowed her gaze to lock with his unwavering. I will not yield.

Ryder had a clear advantage in height, even as she also stood her tallest in defiance of him. It should have been only a strength, but there was a drawback to her smaller frame as well. He couldn't help but feel his mother would already be disappointed in him, choosing to pick a fight with a petite young woman of all wolves.

Ryder gave a snort, and let his own head lower. Not to submit in any way, but to bring his face closer and closer to Miriam's. Goading her into making a bigger move. It would be worth her getting in the first physical shot, if it helped to soothe his conscience (also known as Finley's memory).

WELCOME TO MIDNIGHT MASS.

---

Miriam knew there was no outsizing Ryder, but that did not deter her either. With her canines flashing, his own head lowering closer to hers, she snapped her jaws in warning, allowing the fur along her spine to bristle as her tail curled above her, completing the motion she’d started to make earlier as she puffed out her chest. She would not make the first move physically, and would stick to posturing unless he decided that physicality would be the best way to prove his point.

She was adaptable, but also in her role as a scout she preferred to avoid physicality if at all possible, thus would not be provoked into it. Snapping and warning, along with a deepened growl in her chest, would be enough to prove her point she felt.

He couldn't help that all of his muscles did a little hop when Miriam's jaws abruptly parted. His lips pulled all the way back in a low-toned snarl in response, and he did not pull back. Ryder continued, and would even press his muzzle against hers if she did not make space or actually bite at him. It would be the last warning that he would grab her snout and force her head down if she did not concede.

His will was still ironclad at this point, despite the nerves. What if this did escalate into an all out brawl? What if she refused to back down no matter what? Ryder had some kind of moral compass. He could not win at any cost, especially not with @Indigo looking up to him.