retrograde

RE: There is no middle ground post prompt
Short, vague intro post... @Chulyin @Naira @Mapplethorpe

How far had they traveled? How long had they walked? Quick could not judge anything accurately, but she knew that - careful step by careful step - they were getting somewhere. Eventually the weight of the goat, shared between the two of them, had become habituated. Same had the cold, winter air, whose sting she no longer actively felt though her eyes continued to water every time the breeze picked up. The trees began to coil, ice-coated branches extending up and down, catching her fur on one end and weaving together over head on the other. Her pale ears twitched on occasion to the sound of something else, but the truth was they had been largely alone on their journey there. If one sought solace regarding this violent winter they would be happy to know its cruelty was spared for none. It seemed even the birds were dead - the ones that hadn't flown out when they had the chance, anyway. The silence would be deafening if it weren't for those angry winds that rattled the branches from time to time, raining icy snow on the achromatic pair.

Then all at once the air began to change, denying that the winter wasteland was as empty as she thought. A scent began to rise out of the icy landscape, one that she was able to place in the dark wolf's fur after a deep inhale. A chill crept into her bones out of instinct. Loners did not do well by the borders of a pack, especially not when resources were so scarce. Worse than puppy season, Quick imagined. Out of the corner of her eyes she shot her companion a half-nervous glance, searching for some sort of direction though she didn't dare voice a concern. She had trusted him during the hunt, and trusted him for the journey there, and she would just have to continue to trust him now. And if anything else, she trusted her feet to carry her far away from danger. For now she would continue to follow his lead, both eyes wide open.

[[I think I read on the chat that the companion she speaks of is Chuylin <3 PM me if I'm wrong!]]

everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Karpos was tense and on edge as he silently patrolled the borders of his home. He was thankful for so much that had been given to him that he felt like he needed to work non-stop to make up for it. This included hunting, scavenging and marking the borders whenever he saw it fit. Today was patrol day for him; his physical capabilities improving so he could run three patrols a day. She caught a scent on the borders; rather two scents that one and curiosity struck him. His chocolate brown eyes scanned over the terrain as he sought them out. He arrived to see a pure white loner whom he did not know and a black man he did know. It was the Queen's brother.

Karpos gave a dip of his head in respect to the man and let his tail lower slightly. "Mr. Chuylin, who is this?" He asked the man who had consoled him when he needed it most. His head was tilted slightly to the side as he eyed her. She seemed young and fit; still older than him by a lot. She was an adult and Karp wondered why Chuylin had brought her here. Perhaps it was to help carry back the food they hauled on their backs. A small smile had formed on his muzzle when he saw the food and hunger gnawed at his belly. He knew that the majority of it would be for those who proved they would work hard in the dead of winter. He only hoped that Mrs. Naira and Sir Mapplethorpe noticed his work and approved of what he was doing.

(This post was last modified: Jan 15, 2014, 03:21 AM by Karpos.)

The man was glad that the pale woman was at his side. He was glad that she trusted him, despite not knowing his name, not even knowing where they were going. Not only had she proved essential in the catching of the goat, but there was a good chance that he might not've even made it home without her assistance in carrying it. The further they traveled, the lighter the load seemed to become, at least to him, and he moved with purpose, oddly excited to get this back to his home. The snow seemed to deepen as they traveled east and though his legs picked up a bit higher, perhaps there was too much adrenaline running through his system to be bothered. As the mountain began to rise before him only to eventually be closed out by trees, his nose began to twitch. They were close. A few yards were consumed before he stopped, very quickly feeling the weight of the goat, though he still wasn't too eager to drop it quite yet.

He huffed quietly for a second, catching the breath that had suddenly caught up with him. With a careful shift of his shoulders then, he prepared to howl, summon his sister, her consort, but before that could be done, a familiar black figure appeared. It seemed as though Karpos had been patrolling the borders, and Chulyin offered him a smile, glad that he was pulling his weight in the Keep. His golden eyes turned towards his pale companion and he opened his mouth to answer before realizing that he did not yet have her name. Though now she had his. Perhaps his jaw hung open for a little longer than was natural, but he answered in time, "She helped me in killing this goat." Was all he could really say, for he knew little else about her. He could only hope that she would answer the question herself to enlighten them all. "Have you see Naira or Mapplethorpe about?"

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention

The odd one out in this scent-marked land, Quick remained alert as she could be. At the first sign of another's approach the arctic female snapped her gaze, tail remaining low as she prepared to receive someone of better status than her. She was surprised to see, however, it was a youth that had intercepted her and her dark companion at the border. A youth of better status than you, she reminded herself, lowering her ears politely. Given that it was a child, she could only assume he was prince to this pack, child of the king and queen. There were young here. It was winter. She would have to be impressive, she assumed, to expect entry here. The pressure was on, but the snow-coated female would not balk beneath it. With a casual blink she swallowed the expectation, calmly returning to the situation.

As expected, the dark-furred youth questioned her identity, addressing Chulyin, hm? She shot the dark wolf a side-glance, meeting his molten gaze in recognition as he addressed her in a short but honest introduction. "I'm Quicksilver," she tacked on to the end, "But you can call me Quick." Her ghostly gaze had returned to the young wolf before her, but her name served both of them. She had an itch to follow her words with a gentle smile, as if to seem more harmless, but Quick retained a stone facade. She was still to be judged, but by whom? Naira, and Mapplethorpe. Outwardly she remained indifferent, but her attention was on the boy's words that were to come. Any hint of what to expect she would heed, quietly.

everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Karp's eyes left Chuylin and went to the girl with him. The older than him but young to most girl was a white arctic fae and he offered her a smile. Her name was Quick and he would respect her until she gave him a reason to not do so. Chuylin asked him if he had seen Naira or Mapplethorpe around and he offered a frown with a shake of his head. "I'm sorry Mr. Chuylin; I haven't seen Mrs. Naira since the hunt and I haven't seen Sir Mapplethorpe since he helped me work on my fight moves about a week ago. I mean... their scents are around but I haven't seen them." He told the older man who had given him some very helpful advice earlier back.

Karp had a budding respect for the man that would only continue to grow. He gave another lick to his lips when he eyed the goat. He hadn't really eaten a decent meal since he had found that moose.... or was it a deer? He couldn't remember what it was but he figured the less he ate the longer the food would last. They all needed food to be stored to brave the winter that was very harsh according to the others. He looked again at the girl and he tilted his head to the side. "So she's here to join right?" He asked curiously. It should have been obvious to him that she wanted to join. He had overlooked the fact that Chuylin had brought her to the borders for a reason.

Quietly, the man noted her posture buckling slightly, as Karpos appeared. Though they hadn't shared hardly two words on the way here, it seemed she would be joining him here. Although he had been somewhat bosky by taking the goat and therefore forcing her to follow him, he had only done so because of honor and order. It was not he that could eat first. There were children that needed food first, and @Naira, @Mapplethorpe . Showing up with a carcass that was less than whole, in the case that he might've torn a leg off for her, would not be honorable in the least. But the woman did not put up a fight and for that, he was thankful. The leg of a goat might fill her belly for a week, but the security of a pack could feed her and then some for life.

Golden eyes looked over at her, finally glad to hear her name, and of course, she had gotten his from Karpos, who had just informed him that he had not, in fact, seen hide nor hair of his sister or her mate. Chulyin exhaled evenly and his tail gave a single lash. Eyes back upon Karpos, he noticed the boy's rather eager gaze upon the prey they carried. Chulyin couldn't blame him. He'd had to carry it here, and every step made his stomach grumble louder and louder. He resisted the urge to tell the boy to be patient, knowing that it truly wasn't his place. They were all starving. He ought to have been happy that Karpos hadn't jumped him. He gave a single nod in answer to the boy's question, then gave his shoulders an odd little shift so that he could cant his head and howl into the sky. Tendrils of heated air twirled from his open jaws as he made a faintly weak attempt to summon those that held the power. He could not maintain the sound for long and had to withhold a cough when he let his head fall again. It had been a long trip and with the weight of their kill still on his back, he was beginning to feel the effects of the winter after so long resisting them.

(This post was last modified: Jan 19, 2014, 02:52 PM by Chulyin.)

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention

A young pronghorn has fallen behind its herd and starved in the snow. +5 Health

While maintaining the borders was essential when the pack was finally starting to settle down, Mapplethorpe had other plans in mind. In deciding to leave the patrolling to the others - namely the Keep Scout and the two Guardians - the Leader of Hollowheart Keep had an agenda devoted to seeking out other things that might share the darkness of the shadows beneath the wispy branches. He had found nothing in the path he had chosen, some frost-covered trench that snaked through the dense forest, navigating through the parts of the Ghastly Woods where the tree branches above were so entangled that very little snow fell through. He snorted; there no rabbit warrens here, nor traces of deer, just death and decay along with hints of the subordinates under his and Naira's command and disposal. He turned somewhere to creep beneath some low-hanging branches, careful to mind the pain that was presently making his back and shoulders ache. At one point he was crawling along on his elbows, shuffling forward on both the ball and heel of his feet, but once he was free, he emerged into a tiny clearing. A muffled groan escaped his sealed lips as he straightened, trembling for a time when a howl sounded out to his left.

He took a moment to stretch his forelimbs forward, bowing down in attempt to relieve the throbbing pain between his shoulder blades. Standing up straight once more, he made his way towards where Chulyin was located, only momentarily surprised when he noticed the dark knight was accompanied by a lean, winter-white woman and, lo and behold, the young Slayer, who was quite possibly honing his skill set as a future Guardian.

The masked man stepped out from behind two trees that had sprouted up within inches of one another, the fur along his shoulders and spine warily raised. Though the scent of young pronghorn drifted to him with the winter chill, he paid no attention to it or the portion of goat that had been brought home, focusing instead on the company who had beckoned for his attention. "Chulyin," he addressed his Second first, then turned to the youth with what could have been both an approving, yet reprimanding, sort of stare. "Search for the corpse," he ordered to Karpos, hoping that he would be allowed the space to properly conduct an interrogation. "Pronghorn. There." He gestured with his nose towards the bosky stretch of forest just over his shoulder, "Go... and don't get lost."

As he waited for the cub to leave, he continued to look the young lady over, and when he had gone, Mapplethorpe's gaze narrowed. "And... you are?"

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

You'd better ransom your heart and baby

• NAIRA •

don't look back - because we've got nobody else

All around was silent, with the exception of the gentle crunch of snow beneath the feet of the deer. The tawny wolf watched them, her stomach tightening and mouth watering at the thought of her next meal, concealed by the tangled hawthorn. She knew it would be foolish to try and bring one down alone, but the night was long and meals had been few and far between, but even as spellbound by the sight of the small herd she could not miss the scent of her kin on the wind.

The deer had caught it too and the buck raised his head cautiously, large ears turning this way, and that before deciding that all was well... For now.

Slowly the large woman manoeuvred herself to chase the deer towards @Chulyin and whoever it was that kept his company. She tipped her head back to sing the song of a hunt for any who were near enough to hear, and broke her cover - hoping to startle the animals towards the small gathering on the borders and hoping those that were waiting would hear her call and be ready.

Winter wasn't over yet.

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