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Post by Gyllbane on Jun 18, 2015 3:23:10 GMT -5
Slate gray paws padded over the damp peat of the redwood forest, carrying their owner through the sparse underbrush and into the gathering clearing. With the midday patrol done there was little to do save for sit around and wait for something interesting to come Vanitas' way - lonely he is not, though company certainly wouldn't have bothered him as much as it had years ago.
He almost cursed himself, sometimes, at how reliant he'd become on the safety in numbers that came with a pack such as the Plague; long ago he'd prided himself in his ability to survive on his own. All he had to do, though, was remind himself that he hadn't become complacent - far from it, in fact. Though he had initially been loathe to admit it, the pack had done nothing but good for him, allowing him to pack even more muscle onto his frame and maintaining his strength even in the sparsest of winter months. Ascending to the rank of beta had, as Perjury had convinced him, simply been a logical step, and he'd flourished in the role under the rule of the alphess.
It left him in a predicament, though, on slow days such as these. Previous successful hunts had allowed the pack to cache food for the coming weeks as the chill of autumn set in, and another hunt was not planned for some time. Vanitas wasn't quite one for midday naps, either, and so he'd deemed the fallen redwood a suitable place to wait for something more interesting to come along - or to simply bide his time until the next patrol. Only time would tell.
Powerful hind legs propelled him from the dirt up onto the back of the redwood, what was left of its its roots stretching out above him. He ambled to the edge, finding a dip between two of the larger roots, and settled himself onto his hindquarters between them.
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Post by Cascade on Aug 17, 2015 0:37:42 GMT -5
It was funny. The recent months had been a flurry of new faces as Perjury had met more wolves than ever at her border and accepted them into the ranks, but she felt strangely alone. She knew better than to broadcast this. Such a feeling seemed almost childish to her, as though she were a pup looking for a playmate, and her inclination was to keep these foolish thoughts to herself lest her rock solid facade of cool competence crack. Actually, to call it a facade was not completely accurate. She had taken the throne young, and more suddenly than she could have ever anticipated. What she displayed at her coronation in front of all her expectant subordinates was a facade. But, as time passed, leadership came more naturally to her. It was second nature now to reserve her anger, give orders, and negotiate diplomatically with the other denizens of the valley. She had grown into a fine adult, which was why this nagging lonesomeness was especially irritating to her now.
She found her paws taking her someplace she felt she could be alone—perhaps to subconsciously punish herself—but she was surprised to find a familiar face at the empty meeting spot. Vanitas was sitting among the roots of the fallen tree with no apparent purpose any more urgent than her own. Two wolves, wandering to the point of meeting. "It's been too long," she said as she approached, her tone always a little more informal in his presence, whether she meant it to be or not, "I must admit, I've been playing the role of alphess so much lately that I have been missing the role of friend. How are you?" She sat across from him her white tail curling around black toes, always candid when they were alone together, formalities forgotten.
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Post by Gyllbane on Aug 17, 2015 2:54:23 GMT -5
The familiar sound of paws on damp earth alerted him to Perjury's presence before her voice reached him; it was some comfort to him, almost, knowing she had not dropped dead of boredom or some other such unfortunate ailment that came with the longer spring days. He turned his head toward her, acknowledging her greeting with a formal dip of his head - though he'd known her long enough to be the closest thing to 'casual' Vanitas could manage, he still believed in respect where respect was due above all else. Old-fashioned, stiff perhaps; Vanitas was not a wolf who cared much what others thought of him.
"I am well, Perjury. I see you are too, though on occasion I do wonder if the role of alpha provides any more... excitement than mine own does." He gave a quirk of a lip at the end of the phrase, his own way of indicating a joke; it had taken months for her to coax him into his rank at all, and she above all others knew he posed no threat to her reign. "Though I suppose it is better to be safe and bored with mundanity than half-starved and lonely." He settles himself a bit more comfortably, tail flicking about his haunches. "Have you any more stories of insubordinate pups on our borders? I've not heard of anyone disgracing the Alphess of Frigid Plague in some time. Perhaps they've finally learned."
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Post by Cascade on Aug 17, 2015 3:17:59 GMT -5
Perjury exhaled sharply with a slight smile on her face when he mentioned insubordinate visitors. "I didn't tear out anyone's tongue this time, if that's what you're asking." she said with as genuine a laugh as anyone would ever hear from her, "But there was one who needed to be dealt with severely. You know I don't don't like to do it..." Her mood turned more somber as she paused, remembering the wolf at the border and contemplating the truthfulness of her own words. "Actually, I took pleasure in this one." She wouldn't have said it to anyone else. Treason maybe, but no one else on Earth. From the tone of her voice it was clear that she was not making a boastful statement. In fact, she sounded almost ashamed. "He said I had no honor, so I killed him in the most dishonorable way I could think of, just to show him how much I didn't care."
She looked down at the ground, focusing on the scattered pine needles as though they held the secret to her vindication. "It wasn't the way of the Frigid Plague," she said bluntly, "I am not going to lose sleep over it. Nothing can be done about it now. But it wasn't what I should have done; it was for the wrong reasons." The alphess shrugged, letting herself settle down a bit more into the soft bed of needles and moss. The forest floor in early spring had a perpetual dampness that she actually found enjoyable. It was a cool, fresh feeling like dew clinging to her fur. She wanted to change the subject, but it would be rude to pour her soul out like that and not even give Vanitas the chance to respond. Besides, it was cathartic. She was happy not to have to travel all the way to the scrublands just to get something off her chest.
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Post by Gyllbane on Aug 17, 2015 3:47:02 GMT -5
The shift in Perjury's tone didn't go unnoticed by Vanitas, and mossy eyes found her form as she spoke, watching her. Even to him, it was unusual for Perjury to show any sort of empathy, even to him, and he had to wonder at it. She'd proved herself an invaluable leader to be sure, but Vanitas wasn't sure quite yet if he liked the chord that such words struck within him.
Still, there was something to be said for being the Alphess' confidante, and so he nodded, giving a hum from deep within his chest at her final words. "Your reputation precedes you in all but the remotest parts of the Valley, Perjury. If he challenged you, surely he knew what he was up against."
Long ashen legs stretched before him, growing more comfortable on the soil they called their home. "We do not play this elaborate game to make friends or hold ourselves virtuously, my Alphess. We play it to survive. If you had not disposed of him what would he have done?" He let the question hang in the air for a long moment, regarding her without so much as a quirked brow. It wasn't a statement meant to be comforting, nor did Vanitas mean for it to be particularly insubordinate - it seemed merely an ingrained thought, a relic of his long-lost days as a loner, and likely one Perjury had heard before.
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Post by Cascade on Aug 17, 2015 4:15:17 GMT -5
Perjury nodded, soaking in her beta's words and thinking them over carefully. He was right, the wolf did 'have it coming' in a sense. He was certainly a threat who was better eliminated than not, and she had been patient enough with him. What bothered her was the pleasure. The smug sense of superiority she felt as she pushed him into the ground, as if she had so little to feel good about that she had to take her good feelings from such a thing. She had taken complete control of the intruder's body and his fate, but she had lost control of herself and turned what should have been a matter of business into a game.
I hear what you are saying," she said, knocking his words around her brain, "But survival is a strange thing. I haven't fought for my life in years. I hardly even remember what real danger feels like. Either I have become too powerful, or the conflicts of our daily lives have become too mundane. Our territory is too big to siege, our combined forces with the Honovi too mighty to challenge. Only fools come knocking to stir up trouble now, and fools can be squashed like bugs." She searched for words, unsure if she could even convey what she was feeling, "The problem here is stagnation. We are so comfortable and protected that there are no crescendos in our lives. Squashing bugs turns into entertainment. I don't mind eliminating an intruder, but I don't like that it has become what I most look forward to."
The alphess cast a glance up at the fallen tree. The massive spectacle had served as a meeting place for generations, even for the Honovi before them. It brought her back into line, somewhat. She had to stop complaining about her problems and start looking for a solution.
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Post by Gyllbane on Aug 17, 2015 18:08:23 GMT -5
Vanitas regarded her carefully as she spoke, wondering how she'd respond; he was yet unused to such... discussions, but persevered despite the slight discomfort niggling at the back of his mind. Feelings were not something he dealt often in, and he preferred to keep it that way.
Her next words, though, resonate deeply enough to flush out what small doubt had surfaced in his mind. He would not suffer whatever moral compass he thought Perjury might have suddenly ascribed to, but boredom was something he could understand - moreso now than ever, and he gave a firm nod at her words.
"I believe I understand, now. You wish a reprieve from monotony as much as I." He met her gaze, wherever he might find it. "I admit I had been so long without a pack that I forgot what boredom felt like, until recently. It's a... strange feeling. Not an enjoyable one, to be sure." He huffed out a breath. "But I also know you are smarter than to start a war simply for want of entertainment. Which brings us to the question of how we will alleviate this... monotony."
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Post by Cascade on Aug 17, 2015 19:13:45 GMT -5
Perjury nodded, comfortable enough to meet his gaze for a moment before turning her attention to the forest that surrounded them. It was not a snub, she liked to visualize her ideas when she had them. Sadly, she was coming up blank and her brow furrowed from the mild frustration of not having a quick answer for everything.
"It feels like a slow tumble into a void." she observed, pawing lightly at the soil, "You're right, I would never start a war for my own entertainment, and I don't think a war is on the horizon. I have heard whispers of wolves trying to form new packs. Some evil, some good. Only one has any real organization as of yet, but even they are half our size or less. Unless they have a death wish, our lands will be uncontested for quite some time to come." A slight smile forced her way to the corners of her lips, unable to resist the irony that she had grown bored of the comfort and safety that her ancestors had shed blood to attain for her.
"Legacy," she murmured, not fully aware that she had even said it. "It feels empty because there is no legacy. I am the only blood of the founders that remains here. Treason is a Honovi, and there are no other descendants of my mother or my uncle that claim the Frigid Plague as their own. I myself have no pups, and I've taken no steps towards ensuring that my bloodline lives on." Truly, she hadn't thought a moment of it. She was still young, but she wouldn't be young forever. Had she thought herself so powerful that she was above death?
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Post by Gyllbane on Aug 27, 2015 22:51:41 GMT -5
"Hmm?" He flicked an ear in her direction, mildly curious about the rumors; Vanitas hardly considered himself a drama-monger, but it did him well as the Beta to stay up on possible insurgencies within the Valley. Perjury seemed to be on her own thought track, though, and what she spoke next came as a genuine surprise to him.
"You make a fair point." He nodded sagely, looking away for a moment. "I have no such ties to the land other than my own oath, but you... I can respect your predicament." He wasn't quite sure what to make of the statement, nor how he should adequately respond; in matters of war and politics, he excelled; matters of family were an entirely different story, and truthfully one he'd never even begun to think about.
"You must have a heir, yes? A successor, to follow in your footsteps. Truthfully, you don't seem the doting parent type to me. Then again, I suppose few alphas -do- seem that way. Treason, maybe." He gave a wry half-smile. "Nor do you seem the lovestruck type."
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