Follow your stomach

Fate's Respite was, by all accounts, a shockingly large territory. It may have been one of the largest single spaces claimed by a pack in the entirety of the mountains, going off sheer square mileage alone, so the thought that one of its inhabitants might accidentally wander somewhere outside of it seemed a ridiculous notion.

Unless you were Valeska on the trail of a sprightly young buck.

Somehow, someway, she had found herself in the small, unmarked pocket of land sandwiched between Fate's Respite and their neighbors in the mountains to their southern border, Fate's Summit - not that she realized it. She was focused entirely on the task at hand, eyeballing the buck's delightful little splay of antlers. There were two reasons for her to track him; first, she was hungry and he had led her this far, meaning sunk cost fallacy dictated she see it through; and secondly, if she did manage to take him down, his skull would dry marvelously in the sun and make a lovely gift for her mate.

Morbid to some, perhaps, but a sweet gesture to them.

The evening fog grew thicker as the minutes ticked by, her pale, silvery form disappearing almost ghost-like into its hazy depths. Her paws carefully picked their way around noisy leaves and underbrush, body held low to the ground as she crept forward with murderous intent.

A twig snapped nearby. The buck turned for just a moment, and Valeska saw her chance, springing forward in a flurry of detritus and swirling mist at her heels; her short, sturdy build gave her the advantage, and she leveraged her weight against his throat until he at last buckled to the ground in a quivering, twitching heap. She licked her mouth and withdrew from his neck, crouching possessively over his lifeless form. She would at least have his skull, gods damn it, even if she had to give up the meat.

“I know am being watched,” she called into the fog, wary but not aggressive. “At least introduce self; it is good manners!”

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 Blackfoot found herself wandering far away from her "packlands" and into the northern mountain ranges. She was a curious wolf, perhaps it would be the death of her one day. Hopefully that day wouldn't be today. Her paws carried her far but with a certainty that was perhaps too confident. Sue her, she was in a good mood today, one of her rare ones. The woman wasn't on the trail of anything in particular and just wanted to explore. As such, she was not paying attention to how loud her paws were being. So, when a twig snapped underfoot, she didn't think much about it, not until she heard the sounds of a quick scuffle. 

 She lowered herself into the undergrowth and stalked forward just in time to see a silvery wolf bring down a young buck through the fog. Impressive. The woman was certainly very impressed despite herself. She said nothing though, not until it was clear that she had been noticed. The other wolf called out in an accented voice and she stepped out of the undergrowth. Her seafoam eyes peered downwards as she was standing on a slight incline. "Good hunt." She complimented. 

 "Didn't know you were there." She said simply and then, "Apologies." An introduction, eh, she supposed she could give that much. She could have ruined the other wolf's hunt, after all. "Blackfoot." And then she fell silent, eyes staring impassively down at the other she-wolf.

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Slate grey and swaths of black emerged from the mist that surrounded the little wolf, taking shape into a young female - perhaps only slightly younger than she - with a pair of some of the most serious eyes she had ever seen. Grateful for the lack of hostility, but cautious of such a stern face, she gradually stepped off from her kill and took a seat next to it. No fangs, no hackles raised; it seemed safe enough to get a little comfortable after heaving herself all over the Five's domain chasing the thing.

“Oh! Well thank you,” she said, blushing beneath her fur. Valeska hadn't always been a prime hunter since leaving the snow-laden mountains of her childhood - her coat was too pale, too bright for hunting amid the lush greenery of these lands, but she was gradually learning how to use the weather for her benefit. Storms, fog and the off-hours of twilight helped conceal her approach, allowing her to become more confident in her abilities and putting her solid little frame to use so that she might help provide for what remained of Elysium, all while providing her the enjoyable challenge of taking on ever more difficult prey.

A small buck was hardly top-tier, and she technically had help by way of the stranger's distraction, but it was something.

“I am still learning ways of hiding in green-space, so it was a good night for trying,” she continued heartily, “And since you are not all teeth and angry, am happy to share if you hunger. Come, have snack. Is too awkward and heavy to carry all of it back to Fate's Respite anyway,” Valeska finished, beckoning the woman come closer.

Still, those dead sea-green eyes gave her pause.

“You seem most somber. Is something the matter?”

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 To the woman's thanks she simply nodded her head in acknowledgement with not a single other word to pass her lips. Talk was to serve a purpose and there was no more purpose to be given there. Still, the darkened woman remained where she stood as she studied the pale stranger. She searched for signs of hostility but there were none, she was all smiles and kindness. Not quite what she was used to but not unwelcome. Smiles and kindness meant that it was unlikely that she would be met with any violence... unless this was a ruse... 

 No. This one didn't seem like the type of faux-kindness like her mother had been. 

 What's more, she offered her kill to share. That took the blue stranger by surprise as her gaze shifted from the wolf to the carcass. She didn't know what "Fate's Respite" was but assumed it was some sort of pack or a name for some part of the mountains. The woman considered sharing for a moment, contemplating if it were possible that this one would try to snap her neck while she was distracted. 

 "You seem somber. Is something the matter?" Huh? Her gaze shifted back to the she-wolf and she blinked, letting the words wash over her for a moment before shaking her head. "Am content." She said simply, hoping to assure the woman. Still though, no smile would show and her expression would not change. After a moment more of hesitation she came fully from her spot and walked down to where the other wolf was. 

 She paused when she made it to the kill and gestured with her head that she would let the other go first. It was only fair, after all. "Name?" Since she'd already given her own, that was also only fair to ask. And then because she was curious, "Fate's Respite?" It was always good to know what was around. 

 Assuming the other would eat, Blackfoot would also take a spot and eat as well though she would keep one wary eye on the pale one.

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The woman's stoicism mystified her. Rarely had she ever met someone so stern, so unyielding to common courtesy, she couldn't understand why or how the dark she-wolf barely managed anything other than a gruff few words of acknowledgement. Her eyes betrayed her; she looked at the corpse, then looked at Valeska, waiting, seemingly wanting, almost, for something to go wrong, for blood to be shed. Yet the pale wolf had nothing but genuine smiles and absurd hospitality to offer, beaming sincerity and goodness all the way through.

It was probably infuriating, waiting for disaster to strike.

“Content or not, eat. Is too heavy for me to bring back to Elysium, and am only wanting the skull-bones, anyway,” she added by way of clarification, grinning good-naturedly.

Yet she caught the odd look.

“Oh... skull is for mate. She collects things, you see, many oddities; she likes skulls, trinkets, unusual feathers. It is nice to bring something back that is, how to say, впечатляющий — impressive,” she finished awkwardly in her own tongue, clearly at a loss for words in the common language. It was important - deeply important - to her that she provide Amaranth with adequate gifts and showings of her affection, and she strove to greater heights each time on her forays out to impress her mate.

“I am Valeska, High Priestess of Elysium - though I do not think it matters much,” she said wryly, smiling just a little. “It is nice to meet you, Blackfoot. Come; share in the deer-kill, for truly I cannot move him much further. You will be doing me great service.”

Stepping back in a show of non-aggressiveness, she bowed her head in respect to the strange woman and granted her passage toward the buck, doing her best to portray an image of goodwill and peace as she moved.

“Have you been long for this world? This purgatory, of a kind?”

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 Skull bones? Now, that was an interesting thing. She was glad when the other expounded on it. That wasn't the only thing interesting, there was also that strange word that the woman had used. She couldn't even begin to try to replicate it. Instead, she would focus on the collecting with a simple, "Why?" Why collect those things? What purpose did they serve? Did they do something? Have a use? Surely, they must because why else have them? 

 This strange woman was becoming more and more strange by the minute! High Priestess? Elysium? It was so much! Of course, Blackfoot's face didn't change very much to reflect this. It didn't change at all, really. She simply just blinked. Once, twice. The only indication that she was just barely following all of these new things that the woman was telling her. She felt like she had a thousand questions and only very few words to tell them in. 

 She would come closer and place a paw upon the carcass so that she could begin ripping pieces of meat off to eat. "High Priestess... Alpha?" Was the second question she would broach and then she would answer the question. "About a season... what do you mean 'purgatory'?" She thought it had been that long, anyway. It felt like it. Although such connotations she'd never heard before. "You?" Who was this strange woman? Was she a native? She seemed quite comfortable, after all. If she were truly the alpha of a pack and had settled down with a mate. Then, because she realized her manners were scant when she should likely be nicer to the effervescent stranger who was providing lots of new information she said, Pleasure, Valeska." Because she actually meant it this time. It was a pleasure to meet this interesting person.  

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The 'why' threw her off. It was something she had never considered asking before - the question generally had no place in her vocabulary, choosing instead to focus on the when and where of things since she felt strongly that the inner workings of the universe had already been figured out and the Five remained solidly in control. Why did Amaranth collect all of her odds and ends? She closed her eyes and could see the dim shape of her mate's messy den, skeletal silhouettes dancing macabre in the shadows. Aesthetic, perhaps? Or was she like her mother Viscaria, making them out to be her own silent friends that whispered secrets in her mind?

“I do not know,” she began carefully, not wanting to assume anything, “But maybe is for company. She talks to herself sometimes anyway, so maybe they give her something to talk to when I am gone.”

It was as good a guess as any.

“Alpha of sorts, but more like spiritual head of family?” The small wolf furrowed her brow, trying to find a way to describe what they had to the stranger. “Do not have traditional ranks, nor are we very nasty over borders. We welcome everyone - our home is a place of teaching, of peace. To also consume the herbs that open our Mind's Eye to the great spirits. Have you ever consumed? It is soul-freeing. You fly through the stars, you speak to the gods - and if you are lucky, they speak back.”

Blackfoot remained stoic before her, and she had little idea of the effect that her words might be having. Perhaps she might be frightened away, but Valeska remained valiant and confident as ever.

“Purgatory, like... waiting-room for afterlife. Though now am not so sure, and think maybe this is second chance at living as we had before, though elsewhere. I woke after falling into great chasm during earthquake many months ago, so naturally assumed I was dead, yet here I still feel pain, which should not be so in true afterlife,” she continued, parsing her own thoughts together as she went.

“Did you leave family from... before?”

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 The answer that Valeska gave was no less puzzling to the blue woman. Why collect things to talk to? That made absolutely no sense at all. "Is she well?" Was what she asked next for Blackfoot could think of no other reason to talk to oneself or objects without having some sort of illness of the mind. Granted, it was a rather blunt and possibly rude question but she didn't think about such a thing. Only that she couldn't understand this strangeness. 

 It wasn't helped either, by the fact that Valeska went on to talk more and more things that confused her. In fact, she was so confused that she stopped ripping from the carcass and stood with a piece of flesh hanging from her mouth. The woman succeeded in pulling something more than an impassive look from the blue wolf, instead of aloofness, the woman now looked at the paler wolf like she'd grown two heads. Then, quite unladylike with her mouth still holding onto a strip of flesh, she said, "The fuck?" It was clear that she'd never heard of such herbs or freeing ones soul and flying through the sky. To Blackfoot, she sounded quite mad. Perhaps that was why she didn't find much wrong with talking to inanimate objects. 

 The only thing that made a lick of sense was her waking up here... though the implied "after death" was a little unsettling. The blue woman managed to snap up the flesh that had been hanging from her jaws and she frowned, clearly considering the other's words. "Would think dead just means dead." And not some weird fucking afterlife, purgatory deal. What strangeness was this? And what strangeness was this wolf? It unsettled her deeply, all of it. She shook her head, trying to dissipate some of this unease as she took another bite.  

 She almost didn't hear the other question as it fell from the other wolf's mouth. Huh? She blinked and looked up at her, then with a snort said, "Bitch mother." Because fuck that bitch, she was glad that she woke up here away from her. Although, her way of waking up paled in comparison to what this Valeska was talking about. For some reason though, it didn't scare her off. She figured if she was dealing with some crazy wolf, at least it was some crazy drunk one or something.

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"Is she well?"

In all fairness, this was a question Valeska herself had asked concerning the golden woman more than a few times until they had gotten to know one another. Amaranth was... some might say unhinged, but 'untethered' sounded better. A little less crazy. There was a method to her madness (she was certain), and though she often spoke in riddles, they were sage words whose ultimate meaning came from the mouths of the gods themselves.

A little voice in her head very quietly tried to suggest otherwise, but she beat it back with a spiked club.

“She is well. Perhaps cursed with great knowledge from beyond, but well,” she replied placidly, entirely missing the suggestion of absolutely psycho from the stranger's dispassionate tone. Likely for the best, anyway.

Valeska coughed and tried to ignore the piece of meat hanging from Blackfoot's open maw, who was no doubt undergoing some spiritual awakening with the sacred knowledge of the gods being imparted to her at last. Ah, the look of a new believer. It was a beautiful sight - full of innocent wonder - and the pale wolf was quite willing to overlook the lack of table manners on behalf of such a revelation. She smiled warmly, and possibly looked a little more cuckoo for cocoa puffs than she already had.

"Would think dead just means dead."

“Oh, but there is so much more to life! What is purpose of all this greatness - the air you breathe, the meat in your mouth, the feasting of your eyes at sunset - smells, sounds, love, pain - to be here for only one instant? Then пуф — poof!” she paused dramatically for effect, “Gone. No, I believe we are more than mortal. Besides...”

She hesitated, glancing down at her paws uncomfortably. Valeska had never feared death, but she had to admit that the experience hadn't been pleasant.

“I did fall in great chasm. Felt every bone in my body break, shatter like dry autumn leaf, but then awoke in a sunny field right after. I know I died.”

Or this was perhaps the greatest root-induced trip of her life, but she doubted such a vision could be sustained for so long - time flowed differently when under the influence, yes, but this would have been a hell of a hallucination. Too vivid. Also too mundane, as no one had turned into water yet, nor had they become purple.

Although her new acquaintance was a woman of little speech, that last statement held a barely-restrained punch behind two terse words. Bitch mother. Well, Valeska was no stranger to bad parentage, as her father hadn't been a gem of a wolf in his time - he had died on their mountain home, stubborn and alone and friendless in the end. Dimas hadn't always been that way, but time had worked its cruel ways against him and etched a seething bitterness in his heart that ultimately killed him. His soul died the day he drove his own mate away under a false accusation.

“дерьмо — Shit father,” she replied, offering a sardonic smile. “It is good for you, then. I worried I would see my father here, but maybe he is in the other place. Some here believe they have memory of being other things in past life - it is very strange. I was a wolf, however, and have remained a wolf, though was hoping to be wolf with wings.”

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 Cursed with knowledge from the "great beyond". Hmph, well, that didn't inspire a lot of confidence in the blue woman. She wasn't exactly a firm believer in the occult or the gods above. Then again, what exactly could explain what was going on here? The woman before her certainly believed in "great beyond" and spirits and all that sort of madness. Blackfoot... was still not so convinced. There was a part of her that felt like something not necessarily supernatural, was amiss because they were here for no reason at all... but the more sensible part of her argued against it. So, she wasn't sure how she felt beyond confused. 

 "That is what I believed." The woman confirmed with the musings of the pale she-wolf. They lived here, they had their woes and their joys and their love and all the things that made them mortal and then, they died. After that, well, she figured that was just it. You were gone and your life was insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Although, clearly, her view of life and Valeska's view of life were vastly different. She didn't scoff, didn't laugh, didn't do anything disrespectful. The blue woman listened to her side of things and considered. 

 "Sure it wasn't fermented berries?" The blue woman asked wryly, the first time her tone deviated --slightly-- from her impassive demeanor. With all this talk of the supernatural and flying high in the sky, she had to believe that this one and her mate partook in those fruits. Or something of that sort. Perhaps that was what she meant by herbs that opened the mind's eye or whatever it was that she had said. 

 She ripped into the carcass against, tearing off chunks of flesh and swallowing. She couldn't understand that word spoken before "father" but could assume that it wasn't anything nice. So, they could commiserate over bad parentage then, yeah? Although she dumped more knowledge on her and, again, Blackfoot was raising her head to look at Valeska with a subtle frown of confusion. "Other things?" Impossible! And yet... "As in... not wolves before?" If that was the case. 

 Her frown morphed into something deeper, something more concerned. She couldn't write this off as the mad ravings of a strange she-wolf and her mate. Blackfoot had talked to other's herself, that they'd poofed here as well which was weird but whatever. However, being other things... some wolves having came here after dying. It was too strange. To abnormal to be just a coincidence or amnesia. All of these thoughts flashed in her mind but she spoke none of them yet.

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It was lucky that Valeska either could not, or would not register the rampant skepticism behind the stranger's sea-green eyes, and continued to be more than happy to prattle on about her thoughts concerning life at large. It felt indescribably good to have someone new to talk with again; things had been quiet around their little mountain range of late, and she felt confident that this meeting was more than chance, given her (assumed) willingness to listen.

"That is what I believed."

Past tense - so at one point she had truly shared in her faith of a life greater than fleeting mortality. What might have turned her away from that path? How could she not look around her and see, now, the proof that sprawled before their very eyes? This was not the world they left behind.

In her memory, she felt her bones crack.

At the suggestion of fermented berries, Valeska took on an expression of shock that then gradually melted into an embarrassed half-smile. So it would seem that the dark woman had a little humor after all. Valeska wasn't completely oblivious to her own usage of mind-altering substances, though she still maintained they strengthened her connection to the gods through the visions they bestowed - but, yes, admittedly they could also just make her behave strangely and see things that may or may not be... accurate. The little wolf suppressed a delicate cough, choosing to gloss over the implication rather than argue it.

“It... not in this instance, it was not fermented anything,” she returned pensively. “I only do fermented things on the week-ends, as too much makes me sick. In fact, have not done any for almost two months!”

While Blackfoot set to work on the deer yet again, she did pause long enough to inquire further about the strange wolves who insisted they had been other creatures once before. It puzzled her - she wondered, but had never thought to ask, if being trapped in wolf form was considered a blessing or a curse by the affected individuals. Perhaps a scrambled memory posthumous, or early onset psychosis from the shock? Everyone knew that most intelligent life came from the first wolves.

Absurd.

“Yes, they think they were... say... bird, or deer, or something not-canine in the Land Before. Seem to suffer great dysphoria with own image, and are very unhappy, and wish to return to their old shape. I do not know more than this, but I have wondered if it is more like a punishment or reward to them.”

She hesitated, then drew up the courage to ask.

“Would be willing to consume seeing-root with you, if you are interested. It is experience unlike any other - ah, I still have so many questions about this life, and there never seems to be time.”

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 Riiiighhhtt... nothing fermented for two months and only on "weekends". If she took the strange wolf at face value, which she would for the sake of argument, if someone was using fermented berries that often then surely it would affect their brain. So, in Blackfoot's eyes, her opinion might be a little skewed. Still, that didn't account for everyone else. Including those that the blue maiden had spoken to herself. In any case, she was not one-hundred percent certain in her convictions so she chose not to speak her judgements out loud. Simply allowed things to pass while she pondered on the implications of them all herself. 

 "Too weird..." The woman said and she meant it quite literally. This was all too weird and too strange. Why was all of this shit happening? Why couldn't she just be in a normal woodland with normal company? Mal was normal. What about all the other weirdos around here? She couldn't help the world-weary sigh that escaped from her mouth as everything just sunk in to her. 

 Honestly, she didn't know what to make of it all anymore. 

 She certainly didn't predict Valeska's next question. 

 She looked over at the woman and as it left her lips, the blue wolf's mouth formed a straight line and her brows furrowed into an expression of "are you kidding me?"  It looked something like this. "Not interested." Yeah, that seemed like a recipe for disaster. "Would rather find answers logically." And not illogically with her mind completely shot from some sort of altering substances. That seemed like a recipe for disaster. 

 "If this is an afterlife... will figure it out. Without ferm-- mind-herbs." And then she dipped her head to continue to eat, brow furrowing as she tried to figure out this conundrum that Valeska had placed in front of her. It seemed simple to her that questions should be answered without an addled-brain because that seemed to be what Valeska was selling. It hadn't been clear at first but now, she could guess as to the other things she did on her "weekends". 

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Perhaps, in the churning algorithm of Blackfoot's mind, she touched close to the truth. Everyone here was a little bit odd - wolves who thought they were once bipedal warriors, dragons, different animals living different lives. Still, the common denominator for Valeska was that she, too, had possessed a life before this place; a life previously shared with others here who even agreed and remembered her for who she was then as much as now. There was definitely some mystic voodoo bullshit going on, and it wasn't really a secret that she had been all but driven to distraction trying to understand exactly how, and what kind.

She saw the herbs as an avenue to learning the truth. Glimpses, here and there - a sliver of a vision - Houtu's eyes - death. There were no clear answers whether this was Purgatory or Heaven or even a strange, disappointing Hell (though she felt herself too devout to have ended up in such a place; perish the thought!), but so far the only great moment of revelation was during a quiet evening looking up at the stars, only to glimpse Houtu manifest herself in a brief, glittering display above her. She had been moved to tears.

And then they had been gifted Aulis, the celestial child who had fallen from the sky.

Puzzles were not meant to spawn new pieces, but Valeska understood that the challenges she would be given would not be more than the Five thought she could handle.

Blackfoot seemed unimpressed, to say the least. Her expression flickered from confusion to distaste, and she grunted out a terse response before briskly shoving her maw back into the carcass. Valeska did not easily feel shame, but she felt compelled - moved - to explain at least a little.

“Would think I am crazy, too,” she said with an awkward smile. “But... and mind, was sober when this happened... I saw something in the stars. It was so fast, but - I saw a sign. And suddenly, a young child fell from the sky - Amara was also there - and now we have been given great task. We do not know the meaning of it, but now we have Aulis, a star-child with no memory.”

She glanced toward the hazy mountains of Fate's Respite, wondering what he might be up to even now. “He is shy, and uncertain, but a willing student. I just...”

Valeska hesitated, biting her lower lip. “I keep hoping for more. Direction, purpose, meaning. I find I am empty vessel without such things. I wonder, do the gods play with us, or is there some greater vision? Blackfoot - how is it to be so calm, to accept as things are?” She did not ask to be rude - it was merely curiosity, wonderment at how a stranger could find such peace without the Five. For a moment, Valeska felt a pang of envy.

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