Friends In High Places

@Ira @Amaranth

[narrow width=700]No, really. They were pretty far up. She could smell them, and they lived all the way at the top of the mountains she had just spent the last half of a day skirting around, and their scent was undeniable - a freshly-forming pack. Not too great in number, but enough to mark their scent borders with dedication toward keeping them fresh. Valeska had just been scouting the area with Amaranth, the latter of which seeming visibly excited by her latest and greatest discovery. At the base of this strange pack's home, she had found a veritable oasis - a lake, the surface as still as a glass mirror, ringed about with abundant greenery and crisp, cool air flowing from the nearby tundra, backed by high rocky slopes to help provide cover against hostile wolves.

It was perfect. It was beautiful.

But they were going to have neighbors, and if they didn't want to create any unnecessary tension, they would have to make the first move and offer a gesture of goodwill.

So it was that they laboriously dragged an elk carcass they had hunted all the way up to the newest scent marker (with no small effort; the thing was fully grown, and quite heavy), a bloody smear left staining the grass behind them, and deposited it with some degree of ceremony next to a large pine tree. It looked official enough to be a meeting-place, anyway.

Valeska paused. "Amara, if they bite, we run very fast. Very  fast. Do not wait for me. I will slow them down with my tiny carcass," she whispered in a low voice, all seriousness despite the amusing implication. "Okay. Here we go. Moment of prayer, first, to bless meeting and hope they do not bite."
Bowing her head, she spoke quickly, muttering so fast that the words were barely audible. "Houtu, all-mother, let us be humble and kind. Let ground we stand on be blessed with happiness, and please let them like the elk, amen, or else let us run very fast, amen."

Lifting her gaze once more toward the high mountain peak, she took a deep breath, puffed out her chest, and summoned the Alpha with a confident, but unmistakably friendly howl.[/narrow]
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Silence gripped the mountains or at least the ranges to the north. Few passed by and those that did went on their way peacefully or with little to offer in return. In recent days, the High Queen's thoughts drifted to Hydra and her own claim to the south. How had her settlement gone? Was she often disturbed or were these lands simply barren with packs stretched few and far between? From the distances she had covered only Empyrean's name rang clear, though she wouldn't complain.

Less packs only benefited Vanderfell. There was less competition over resources, less time spent worrying over bloodied fangs, and best of all, no disappointments or empty promises. Admittedly, she wouldn't mind the occasional traveler seeking acceptance, their ranks could use some bolstering, but for now it was all just simply quiet. Tranquil. But of course, once you acknowledge something good, the Gods had a way of taking it lest you not truly appreciate their work. It was early morning when the call rang out somewhere from the lower reaches. Luckily, morning patrol had already led the roan woman closer to the wooded area.

She traveled the slopes, savoring as the rock beneath her paws changed to gravel and dirt. The mountains would always be her home, they had been since birth, but there was simply something about these woods that gripped her. An odd sense of belonging pulled her to the forest, more specifically the river that cut through it from the mountains. It's not like there was anything in particular that made it special, but it too sang like home. Ira would do anything to protect it, so it was almost begrudgingly that she moved to meet the one that called her. 

Two pelts would catch her eye soon enough, a woman around her own size coated in creams and swirling gold, then another much smaller woman whose coat paled like that of the moon. Her chin tipped back, eyeing the two carefully before the scent of the offering caught her nose, to which her gaze shifted. “You have called, and I answer. What might be the reason for this meeting?” There was no need to give out needless information, not when she knew little about them or what their true intentions might be.

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The ways of Valeska's gods were strange, still, to the golden woman. Kill this, sacrifice this, carry that. It was exhausting, really, and a verifiable waste of mental energies. But alas, Valeska was her friend, and truly one of the only wolves for whom she would pursue this ridiculous endeavor. Carrying a full-grown elk up the side of the mountain? Amaranth could vomit; but instead of doing so, her mouth tugged and her body trekked and she used every inch of her sinewy frame to assist her Valeska in this seemingly menial task.

Is this how normal wolves made friends?

The forest around them breathed gently with the coming day, yawning orange light touching the edges of the pine needles. The world glowed. It would have been beautiful, something she would have loved to stare at for potentially hours ... but again, her mouth was filled with the taste and stench of decaying elk - a prize that she could not even venture to test. Her discontent was not obvious, however, for she hid it well beneath an apathetic veil. But perhaps Valeska would see the emptiness there and read it as what it was: annoyance.

But finally, they slowed. Amaranth spat her end of the elk onto the earth, flattening her ears toward it for but a moment before lifting her head to glance at Valeska (or perhaps, she seemed to glance through her). "Amara, if they bite, we run very fast. Very fast. Do not wait for me. I will slow them down with my tiny carcass." The woman offered an ironically grave smile, a sly grin that lit the edges of her gilded cheeks. Her teeth clicked on the air, ivory fangs clacking at the empty breeze. "I'll come back to collect your remains," she purred, lifting her eyebrows. It may have sounded like a joke, but it wasn't. If Valeska died, Amaranth would collect her and keep her safe in the afterlife. Well ... if this was purgatory ... then, she supposed it would be the after-afterlife.

Valeska muttered a prayer and shot her howl into the sky, and it was not long before the sleek, blue-tinted wolf responded to the summon. She was svelte, much like Amaranth; a dagger that was both beautiful and dangerous. Her eyes summoned the warmest summer day, radiating with a heated gold that beheld them with tentative curiosity. The scent of others lingered heavily on her coat ... their potential neighbors. Amaranth stood steady, yet was hovering oddly over the elk as she hadn't quite moved after dropping it. Purple eyes remained transitioned from apathetic to curious, yet she bit her tongue - for now. She remained but a golden shadow, an elk-carrying assistant to the woman who had called for the meeting. And she would let Valeska speak first.

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[narrow width=700]'I'll come back to collect your remains'.

From any other wolf, it would have sounded like a threat; from Amaranth, it was a soothing promise. She knew well of her collector's mindset, and Valeska briefly had a vision of being one of her proudest skeletons on display at the base of a large shrine - whether it a fanciful delusion or a vision of what might occur after this fateful meeting, she did not know, but she hoped they wouldn't have to find out. She was fine with the idea of passing away before her friend, but she preferred it to be in the distant future; and if she was honest, she'd really rather not be an art piece on display.

Oh well. There was nothing for it. Amaranth would do what she pleased, and if it was the price the little wolf must pay for her generous assistance, it was the least she could do.

The brush parted seemingly in respect as a tall, elegant figure stepped forth, her expression stern, but not cruel. Valeska had never seen a coat like hers before - it shimmered a cool blue in the light, rather than the warm reds and browns she had grown accustomed to in her travels. Admiration flickered across her expression for a moment, but she wouldn't say anything so as not to be rude - she had to focus.

Dipping her head slowly and with a startling amount of decorum for her usual vibrant disposition, she addressed the figure. “I am Valeska. We are family trying to start again; broken in transition from the Land Before, through strange means, but awoken here. We gather now to find resting-place for peaceful life; have found beautiful home at base of great mountain, but knew through scent border up high that you lived near,” she began carefully in her thickly-accented tone, trying to focus on each word so as not to slip into more broken English. She had been diligent in her practicing of the common tongue, but she didn't want to bungle things with a misplaced descriptive now.
“We bring carcass as offering of goodwill. We wish to know name of this mountain and your pack, so that we may be neighbors. We not... ah, excuse... we will not push boundary, nor take prey outside border. Simply wish to live in quiet happiness nearby.”

Valeska paused, the silver wolf meeting Ira's golden gaze with her own, and suddenly felt the scratches on her flanks start to sting again. “Have also noticed very nasty wolves down south. Had run-in with one that smell very much of larger pack, and frankly do not want to meet again. Could be beneficial for to have good neighbors. Experienced... ugliness, in Other World outside this.”

[/narrow]
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She waited for one to speak, the larger of the two remaining by their kill, silent and watching, while the smaller bowed with respect. It wasn't until she spoke that she gathered the pale one to be their leader. Her words were broken, carried with a thick accent she was unaccustomed to, but the message rang clear enough. As Valeska mentioned the beauty at the base of her spires she could feel her own jaw lock. They had come with the intention of taking land. Potentially her land.

But she did not speak out. Instead, she would wait, listening to everything they had to offer before jumping to action. The other continued quickly, her words just barely saving her ass as she suggested their kill had in fact been an offering. One of peace or perhaps acceptance. Ira inhaled slowly, her eyes shifting back to the elk and silent woman that seemed to guard it. To deny such would be stupid when she still knew little of this woman or her people. Nor would it be smart to do so when she knew not how their numbers faired.

And then Valeska continued. She brought word of trouble to the south, hopefully far enough that it would become no concern of her own, but if she spoke the truth then they absolutely could not afford to have trouble at their own doorstep as well. It was a failsafe for the other, one to ensure that she would likely not be turned away. A push in just a way that with a sane mind she could not deny them...and it pissed her off. She would not be pushed around, but such agreements could be worked out. 

“ Very well. I am Ira, High Queen of Vanderfell Woods. You seek peace for your people, as do I. I accept your offering on the condition that you stick to your boundaries. You are not to step foot where the mountain reaches, nor may you hunt here. This land is to be our hunting grounds and though our borders do not stretch through the woods we will be protective of them.” After all, there was plenty of prey elsewhere and she had already agreed to hunt within her own claim. An alliance, however, would have to wait. “I do not make pacts with those I do not know. We will stay on friendly terms until a higher understanding has been reached. Then and only then might we speak further on our terms.”

The roan woman paused, watching for any signs in the other's bodies to gauge how they might take her words. It was a lot to demand from the start, but enough so that she might strike her point. If she was soft, the next thing she knew they might start spreading up the mountain. A show of strength would display her true colors, something she was not willing to hide for the sake of pleasantries only to become an issue down the line. Perhaps time would prove her wrong and a fruitful alliance could form, but all good came with time.

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[narrow width=700]With a sinking heart, she could see the tall woman's brow darken at her words of neighborly intent. It was too good to be true; their experience with Halcyon was the only one they had with another pack since their inception, and she remembered well enough how poorly that had gone. They had proven cruel and unyielding, prone to rages and everlasting grudges.

It was too much to hope that this might not be the same. Perhaps all packs were like this, and Elysium was an anomaly - the odd band of misfit loners held together by an unusual kind of glue, happy-go-lucky as they were. She prepared herself to end the conversation and return to the mountain oasis to reconvene, but to her surprise, Ira spoke at last.

Valeska listened intently, lest she mishear anything important. Nodding to convey her assent, she sensed the roan woman was a touch on the prickly side - her defensiveness felt unnecessary to the pale wolf, hardly being the war-mongering, territory-thieving visage of civil unrest, but Valeska recalled her former experience and couldn't blame her. There were plenty of Devil Wolves about the world, and one couldn't be too careful.

“That is good. Do not worry, we are not the kind to create problems,” she replied with complete sincerity, benign innocence bared for all to see across her open, smiling face. She meant it. She really did. From the bottom of her heart did she believe her pack to be a cluster of loving, good-willed souls.

Her eyes glazed for just a moment.

In the back of her mind, she saw Harper and Amaranth caterwauling hallucinatory merriment into the dawn after consuming Very Bad Herbs. Flames flickered behind her eyes as she witnessed Buckeye waterboarding a wayward stranger in the waterfall of their new home, with Gwyn laughing diabolically as he smeared crude muddy symbols across the stone walls that lined the basin of their beautiful paradise. Lightning crackled, thunder rumbled. Fiery meteors fell from the sky, obliterating all hope of a peaceful life.

She blinked, and the vision was gone.

Nevertheless, she held onto the tenuous strand of hope that perhaps she might be mistaken. They were good, all of them.

Just... excitable.

Clearing her throat, she glanced at Amaranth, and motioned for her to move away from their offering of peace so that Ira might formally claim it. “We will, of course, do all of the things. Those things. We are peaceful folk, and do not wish for your claim - Amara does not like the cold anyway, high mountain peak would bring much suffering. Made promise would not make home in tundra for same reason, even though I like tundra,” she said ruefully, though her eyes twinkled teasingly. “Would say same for your wolves, but we do not mind visitors if they call over with wish for friendly talk. Always eager for learning and new faces - and if you someday wish for higher-understanding-talk, am happy to pray with Ira and meditate!”

She may have slightly misunderstood the implication behind 'higher understanding', assuming Ira had wished to communicate with the gods over their arrangement, but the holy intent was genuine and she let it trail away with a pleased smile. “But yes. It is good to meet you, Ira of Vanderfell. You may call us Elysium.”[/narrow]
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Amaranth was a quiet ward, a ghost hanging over their gift as the two leaders exchanged words. One, as firm and stoic as the edges of the mountains on which they lived ... and the other, a jubilant life-source of people-pleasing energy. It was quite obvious that Valeska only wanted the best for Elysium, as well as for their new neighbors. The other tensed, an unreadable face again mirroring the stern nature of the snowy mountains from which she had descended. She introduced herself, her pack, and her conditions ... cautious but, at least, receptive.

Valeska lit up at the prospect of keeping this level of peace with their neighbors, a flood of words escaping her lips as she made (very bold) claims about the peaceful nature of their pack. "Amara does not like the cold anyway, high mountain peak would bring much suffering." Face turned toward Valeska, noting the flicker of teasing that glimmered in those familiar eyes. "She's not wrong," the woman purred lowly, softness touching the edges of her vocals as her eyes gently flickered. “But yes. It is good to meet you, Ira of Vanderfell. You may call us Elysium.” Amaranth finally stepped over the edges of the elk, nearly floating over the earth as she came to stand by Valeska's side.

It was not her place to fully participate in the politics of these leaders, nor would she be as eloquent or as convincing as she needed to be in order to gain alliances. These things were not her forte- but she would support her leader in these endeavors. She would support creating a peaceful environment for the ragtag band of misfits that she now considered her friends.

And as she moved forward, coat glittering like the waves of the morning sun, she continued to admire the way in which Ira's purple-blue coat shimmered in the light ... the way her eyes glowed like warm embers. She noted the scars that trailed deep across her muzzle - but these embellishments did not deter from her strength and beauty. No, they simply added to her mysterious allure. Strength grew behind those veiled, flaming eyes ... and Amaranth could only blink, silently curious and yearning to learn more.

"I'm sure you guessed by now, but I am Amaranth. It is a pleasure, Ira," she said finally, dipping her head in a more formal greeting. She supposed simply staring would have been ... a bit too offputting of a greeting. 

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It was almost hard to read Valeska's impression or understanding of the situation. It was clear from her accent that they did not speak the same tongue naturally, though whatever her mother tongue was it was a language she was not familiar with. She seemed to study her words, careful as she picked her own, but one thing was certain.

"Do not worry, we are not the kind to create problems,"

Words of comfort that even she felt she could trust. They could be whatever wolves they wished to be so long as it did not interfere with her or her own. The roan queen's eyes trailed to Amaranth who seemed to agree with her leader's words, going as far as confirming the claims herself. “Then I look forward to this...meditation.” She knew not what that might entail within their own culture, but she was one to pray to the gods. If they were to smile upon their union then she had no ground to deny such an offer.

“It has been my pleasure to meet with you both. I will share this news with my people, and perhaps we may speak again soon.” After all, there was still much to learn about one another, especially with varying cultures, but that could wait for another day. For now, they could settle, and she would take their gift to share with the pack. “Might you have more questions before I depart, or will they last until our next?”

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[narrow width=700]Almost imperceptibly, some of the tension seemed to ease out of Ira’s demeanor - it appeared that they had chosen their verbiage correctly, and Valeska felt just a little proud of herself for the great strides she had made in her English over the last few seasons. It was much easier to make friends when they actually understood what you were trying to say, rather than wildly gesticulating and hoping they were good at charades.

Amaranth, all grace and sinuous dignity, dipped her head in introduction and was the perfect image of solemn, proper behavior. For such a mystical creature so invested in bones and symbols and spirits, Valeska was grateful she was able to temporarily set it aside for more... diplomatic endeavors, and gave her a pleased look.

The silver wolf was satisfied - excited, even - and it was written all across her face for the roan woman to see. She did not mind. Valeska was not the typical vision of graceful leadership, but she was genuine to a fault, and that alone had gotten her this far. “Blessings upon Ira and Vanderfell,” she replied cheerfully. “Am satisfied until we next meet! We shall meditate and consume the Mystic Herbs!”

She did not look to see the expression on Ira’s face.

“Thank you for time - your time - and if ever need us, we are happy to assist!”

Nodding to her golden-furred friend, she made as if to leave, and began their short journey back to what would be Fate’s Respite - their new home, where they might find peace and a more permanent happiness.


[Exit Valeska][/narrow]
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The meeting seemed to exhale into a close, friendly gestures and words of loose alliance littering the air. There was a softness that gathered over them now, despite the stern and uncertain initiation to the meeting. The little wolves of Elysium had seemed to shine on Ira's good side (at least for now). Valeska seemed overjoyed that her negotiation skills were on par, and Amaranth prided herself on perhaps being 'just-normal-enough' at this time of introduction and peace-making. And just as the group seemed ready to disperse, Valeska shouted out: "We shall meditate and consume the Mystic Herbs!”

Raised brows peered toward the stocky woman, but the rest of her face remained blissfully apathetic. But internally, the cogs of her mind whirred. Valeska, such an innocent little bean, willing to poison the leader of their neighboring pack out of the sheer ignorance of her good faith. But perhaps, just perhaps, Ira was less stoic and business than she'd imagined ...

... but she firmly doubted it.

A gentle smile crossed her lips, unrevealing in intention. And with another soft dip of her head toward the beautiful, stony woman, Amaranth danced forward with every once of eerie grace she could muster to follow in Valeska's paw steps. And together, the two women would return to their newfound home, high on the idea that perhaps ... just perhaps ... they had found some protection in their neighbors.

---

Amaranth Exits

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This time the others seemed pleased with her words and for the meantime, satisfied. Valeska was the first to confirm such as she wished herself and Vanderfell good blessings, though she wasn't entirely sure what the other meant by "mystic herbs". Perhaps they were sacred in her culture, though her own teachings mentioned no such thing. The extent of her knowledge in medicine would only suffice long enough to get her to an actual medic, but thus far that's all she had ever needed.

Nevertheless, she'd avoid showing her confusion in case she might offend or disrespect them.

Ira returned the bow, a slight smile on her lips trusting their word. Genuinely, Valeska seemed too innocent to lie to her, and even if she wanted to she believed she would see such intentions in their broken language barrier. “May the gods smile upon Elysium as well.” Amaranth did not speak once more, turning instead to follow her friend but not without her own smile and nod. She seemed quite in comparison, but she also seemed to be the muscle of this endeavor.

Ira would wait until both had left her sight, ensuring they would not lose their way before turning to the gift left behind. Taking hold of the large kill, she would drag it as far as the mountain slopes before calling for the rest of her pack to help carry and feast on the offering.

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@Orlaith @Quicksilver @Hieronymous for visibility. From here on out it would be common knowledge of their new neighbors shared while they feast.

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