Mountain of Dire oh, sister of mine

Clear, sunny skies - 54° F/12° C
Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains
@Naira <3

Ava was not immune to waterfront property, a sucker for the way the surface glimmered regardless of sun or moon and reflected the wild colors of the sky. The rise of earth that overlooked the wild rapids gave her a perfect view - she imagined once she found her new sunning rock (and she would find one) she would never get bored of the sights that surrounded her in her new home. While she was grateful for the water and the thick greenery that kept them safe, and almost devilishly delighted to think of herself as a wolf of the shadows, she was secretly incredibly pleased that they'd situated themselves so close to the base of the mountain.

Though she had long left her Poisoned brethren behind - and it had been ultimately the best thing to do - Ava felt in her blood that she would always be, in at least some way, a mountain wolf at heart. Whenever she could spot the rises of Serpent's Pass climbing into the sky in the distance she felt a quiet, sobering wave of nostalgia wash over her. It had not been so strong when the wolves of Grizzly Hollow made their quest through the rocky passage. Their trip over the mountain had been anything but easy. Weary hearts made paws heavy and pregnancy didn't help whatsoever. But now that she was home, with family and friends and a pack of her very own, she could not help but feel guilty when the sea came lapping at the shores of her heart with every glimpse back.

True, there was nothing left for her up there. Why, then, did she feel the stone beneath her leathery pads and beg for more, when she stood there looking up the mountainside?

Was Naira still there? Rhysis? Athena? Well she'd seen those two, but it was quite some time ago - and so was her encounter with the adviser, Thorpe. Ava hesitated, letting her eyes rove over the crumbling boulders and spiky protrusions that showcased the Mountain of Dire's true nature. At one time she had been excellent at maneuvering through the narrow passes, her paws calloused and accustomed to the rocks beneath them. Now it was dangerous to go. Too much bad blood for an unsteady navigator to risk, she knew.

But the black she-wolf couldn't help herself. With the sun on her back and the smooth stone underneath her she could not help but feel alive. Perhaps there are some parts of ourselves we just cannot bury, she reasoned, and without further ado began to climb.

♥ Allie

(This post was last modified: Jun 03, 2013, 09:36 PM by Ava.)

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Being happy isn't having everything in your life be perfect

• NAIRA AQUILA •

Maybe it's about stringing together all the little things

A sort of hush had fallen over the Pass with the absence of Rhysis and Crowe. No more reverberating growls as the lead pair snarled at each other and tried to figure out exactly where they stood with each other - no tension. It was refreshing, and she was able to focus not just on her children, but on the pack as a whole with much more clarity than before. Things were settling down. It was a nice change. It was almost like before, minus the additional warmth of another body at night.

But still her feet itched. She had been stuck so close to home for far too long. Calling up Sagacity to look after the young could hardly be seen as a chore, the scout had become rather attached to her charge and Naira had to appreciate that allowing her to spend time with her own children was good for the pups as a well. They were beginning to learn to interact correctly with each other and while they tumbled and scrapped, Aponi perhaps more than the others, it was essential that they be left to sort out their own pecking order.

As she left the shelter of her home, the cliffs that sheltered them from the wind, falling away she was surprised to find herself headed east, but something was tugging her in that direction and she had never thought to discount it before. The air was still brisk and the scent of snow still drifted down from the heights of the mountain proper, the edge taken off slightly by the sun that beat down on her back. With an absent minded smile she continued on her journey downwards, not particularly caring what the universe might decide to throw at her today, knowing herself more than capable of taking whatever was to come.

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It didn't take long for her to find a rhythm for mountain-traipsing, something Ava realized with a shadow of a smile hanging on her jaw. Perhaps she'd lost a bit of the muscle she'd one had in her shoulders and flanks - a lot less climbing to be done in the forest, to be honest - but her muscles remembered indefinitely the right way to move. Her paws gripped at the smooth surface, knowing there was no dirt for traction, and her legs braced for the toughness of the surface, just like they always had. How many times had she run routes similar, looking for others, looking for trouble, looking for nothing at all? It used to be a staple in her day - the border patrol gone wild, looking down on the rest of the Lore when she could, just a girl and her thoughts.

Ava quickly realized she was not alone - not today. Up and across, some odd number of yards away, she could spot a tawny figure meandering down one of the many passes carved into the mountainside. There was a grace to her steps Ava could see even so far away, a manner of walking that suggested she had never been anything less than the ruler of the mountain, and rightfully so. The dark she-wolf furrowed her brow. While she was too far away to smell the truth, somehow she knew who it was taking a stroll. She couldn't possibly mistake the female for her adviser now. So many months had passed - first slow, then quickly - since she'd seen Naira last, but she had no difficulty imagining the warm gold of her once Leader's stare, recalling the laughs, smiles, and smirks that the trio had shared when they were a force united.

Naira had had reasons for leaving - Ava had hers, too. Athena was, she realized with a guilty grimace, the only one who had never strayed from the nightshade-marked piece of the valley where their roots had taken. Despite that she felt an unlocked understanding, no longer angry or confused at the mottled female on the horizon. Besides, things were different now, and she had to wonder what the nature of their terms were in the new age. Her gait slowed, and eventually stopped, though she kept her amber gaze steady on the other. Slowly, but not hesitantly, she tilted her black muzzle toward the sky and narrowly parted her jaws to sing the invitation - it's been some time, hasn't it, friend?

♥ Allie

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Sorry this took so long!!! <3

Being happy isn't having everything in your life be perfect

• NAIRA AQUILA •

Maybe it's about stringing together all the little things

It was a ghostly familiar, and entirely unexpected call that came to her on the breeze. She froze, almost convincing herself it had all been in her head as her golden eyes warm like liquid copper in the late spring sun, scanned the ridges and contours of the mountain trying to pick out the dark shape to which the disembodied voice belonged. When her eyes finally fell on Ava her tail gave a disbelieving wag and she called back in response, cautiously picking her way to where the other woman stood.

Her approach was cautious but far from aggressive, Ava had not been the one to scorn her, to discount her presence or cast her down for achieving the only goal that had kept her going all that time in the wild, and in her own time, Ava had left as well. Athena, while she had the best intentions at heart, didn’t seem to be able to pull the same loyalties from her pack mates that Naira had managed. Every time she had returned to the Lake, to claim her children and to cheekily steal from the still unmoved caches, the scents on the border had been altered, weakened. Poison Path it seemed had become little more than a half-way house on the mountain.

As she drew closer she allowed herself to stop, a small smile pulling at the corners of her lips as she took in her old friend. She was in good shape and her scent was altered, it reflected her own in standing, although the scents were not quite so numerous, they were thick. Slightly more permanent. They smelled like they belonged. “I came looking for you. Although it seems you didn’t need it.” There was a gentle tease to her voice, testing the distance between. If her stature was anything to go by, Ava had children of her own now, and it warmed her heart to know it. If anyone was deserving it was her.




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She did not hesitate, it seemed, to respond to her call - something which caused the corners of her dark lips to twitch upward in response. The descent was taken slowly, a certain care in her posture to suggest Naira was as smart as ever to take caution. As the mottled lady came to stand before her Ava was surprised with the familiarity of her image. Funny how she'd always felt like after something big happened and two wolves were forever changed, you'd be able to tell. But their battle scars lay below the surface, grooves only in their hearts, and outwardly she looked more or less rather the exact same as Ava remembered. Whatever she'd been through was her secret to keep; her confidence could betray nothing.

Ava raised her brows with a lopsided grin, considering Naira's words for a moment. "No," she agreed, "but I'm glad you came." It was a joke, said her jovial expression, but not really. Though the dark she-wolf wanted for nothing some part of her heart would always cling to that Lake, and besides, no one liked to lose friends. Just as Naira could assume the coal-pelted female's standing, Ava could pick out the important bits of hers. Her scent was familiar, of motherhood and the stony paths of the Mountain, and she could even pick out another - that riddle-tongued male she'd encountered in the Ghastly Woods. She recalled their conversation with interest, but deemed it best not to bring up yet. After all, they needed to be reacquainted first.

Gently she motioned toward the path she'd been on, her small smile asking, walk with me? Once they'd bonded over a border patrol, but now their stroll would be renounced of duty. "Have you ever been down this way? It's really pretty weird. A lot different than the other end of the Lore, that's for sure." She started off slowly, trying to see what the other was reluctant to share. Really, Ava wanted to gush about the hubby and the kids and the new house with the picket fence, but she told herself to relax. Perhaps the tradition of secrecy had continued in her new pack. Ava believed herself to be trusted, but it wasn't her opinion that mattered. For now she tested the pond with a bait of small talk, waiting to see what sort of fish she caught.

♥ Allie

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Being happy isn't having everything in your life be perfect

• NAIRA AQUILA •

Maybe it's about stringing together all the little things

Have you ever been down this way?

Her answering grin was strained at best, she had spent months wandering back and forth looking for a way back over the mountain, and she had returned when @Datura was stolen away. “More than I had any care to at one stage, yet now the paths seem to be stable and I’m not here against my will looking for lost children, I couldn’t help but wander this way again.” she finally admitted. When she had been lost with @Adonis she could only allow herself to focus on finding enough to get the two of them by and searching, always searching for that illusive path home - spending most of her time half scared out of her wits. When she had come this way seeking Datura, the place had seemed as desolate and macabre as her memory had painted it, but now spring was finally upon them and things were calming down at home, it didn’t seem nearly so bad...

“So do you live this side now or are you on your way home?” she dared to question with a sly smile. Clearly much had changed in the life of the dark woman before her and she was keen to throw off the cares of the world for a time and simply trade light-hearted stories like a pair of housewives over tea and cake. There was much that still had her confused back at the Pass and perhaps a light chat with an old friend would help to shed some light on her current predicament, least of which included her overly confused emotions regarding her absent mate, the dark paramour that always seemed to belong to another and her ever faithful advisor...

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Ah, of course. They'd always assumed Naira had gone down the mountain when she'd disappeared, but no one had really known for sure. Between the tawny she-wolf's reappearance and her own disappearance she hadn't left enough time to gather the straight facts. Ava at least had the decency to grimace, her ears flicking back against her skull in a wordless apology at her poor choice of question. Ever since Maksim had pointed it out to her she'd wondered if it was true; perhaps she was a bit too careless, at times. Just as she knew it to be true Naira had the grace to speak truthfully of the matter, though Ava only mused a thoughtful (perhaps underlyingly shameful) "I see..."

Grateful for a subject change she grinned a bit more warmly, her eyes briefly running down the stone path that had brought her from the base of the mountain and beyond, into the thick foliage among which her family was hidden. "Yes, my mate Kade had inherited Grizzly Hollow but, we chose to try our hand somewhere with less... history. We've settled nearby Secret Falls as Darkwater Rapids," Ava replied, warmth reflected in her eyes and tone. The wild rapids and its gentle after flow, the shadows of the canopy, the fog that set in every morning... it all suited her quite well. "I take it you've remained on the Mountain?" She was hesitant to mention that the only reason she believed so was from the scents in Thorpe's pelt and the encounter with Rhysis and Athena. It felt a little too soon to bring up six degrees of separation here; that might seem... creepy? Maybe?

Either way she itched to mention something else. From blushing bride to glowing mother Ava was not fond of concealing her joy. A humble grin came to adorn her maw and she mentioned none too bashfully, "We had four. Two boys, two girls. Healthy, thus far." For a moment she glanced around as though warding off any evil spirits come to prey on her good fortune. She'd knock on wood, if she could, although the mountain had never provided an abundance of that. Either way, the smile remained, clearly curious to see if her four would have any little friends nearby.

♥ Allie

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