It's Time to Hunt

[☼ Sunstorm]

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[atrb=background,http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk107/puddinxpiexB/CrouseMIDDLE.png] I hadn't visited this area, which is rather strange considering it directly borders the Crystal Stream. I had always eyed the large mountains with a curious eye, though, so it was no wonder that I'd finally made my way here. I was just barely out of the Revolt's main territory, though, so I had a long way to go before I reached the high peaks. The terrain had started to alter, though, and I was glad that my paw paws were already rough, or else they wouldn't be able to stand how rocky the landscape was. So what exactly was I doing here? Well, just wandering around. Nothing had been occurring as far as the war went, though things had bee quite hectic in my personal life. I'd gotten Joaquin pregnant, so here I was, about to be a father. Whenever the pups came, anyway, and I had no idea how long she would have those things inside her. I'd never experienced this before, and there was no one to ask, really. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, either. Take care of Joaquin, I guess, though I was long used to meeting up with her every now and then and that was it. I was used to taking care of myself and her taking care of herself. But now she had some extra baggage to tend to. I suppose I should hunt for her, and I'd heard that this mountain range was plentiful in prey. There was a thick layer of snow covering the ground, and it was enough to walk on without falling through. I found satisfaction in this; I'm half Arctic, so these conditions were embraced by my temprament alone. If I was able to walk on the snow, I was hoping the big game would fall through. But I'd only bring something down by myself if it was exceptionally weak. I was cocky, but I wasn't stupid. What I needed was a partner, preferably Alejandro or Ineluki, both of which were either the same size as I or larger. I hadn't precisely compared, but I knew that they were large. We all had good genes. The problem with that, though, was I had no idea where either of them were at. We were free to roam wherever the hell we wanted, and that was great as far as a personal agenda went, but when we actually needed to cooperate, it was a problem. So that left me wandering through this unfamiliar territory, just trying to figure out what I was going to do. I didn't feel like settling for tiny things like rabbits, because I knew it wouldn't fill her up. She needed something decent, and it was bugging me that I couldn't get it for her. Hey, a man can't fix everything. ooc:// Mainly for Ineluki (Thistle), though it's open to any other Revolt member, as always.

[Stardust]

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The snow was gathered in thick rises and clumps on the otherwise sleekly barren ground, and Ineluki drifted over it on silent paws and long shanks, which scissored back and forth in a steady lope. His narrow body bounced with each step, but it was a smooth bounce, a motion that seemed simply a continuation of everything else in his body, carrying him forward inexorably.

Then he stopped, a mildly curious look on his face. The tall, rangy brute had been making his way back from a brief exploration, heading towards his "home away from home" in the craggy, frigid mountains. He had established this forbidding lair--and the trail leading up to it, at least on the Order side--to bring him some excitement, but he had largely planned on it bringing him more creatures like Xeta. Small, fragile, fully charged females.

What he saw before him was the slowly ambling rump of Crouse. Not what he usually hoped for in his private alpine retreat, but, on second thought, always a source of entertainment and excitement. Silky banners fluttering off his legs, Ineluki increased his pace, now moving lower to the ground and with a more even motion, almost as if he was stalking.

Empty silver eyes took in details quickly, sucking them up as if to fill their vacancy. Crouse was far from his usual self. If Ineluki wasn't mistaken, there was a sense of...surely not...responsibility on him, some weighty matter getting in the way of a senseless good time. Not like Crouse at all. He suspected faes were somewhere at the heart of this. When you had a heart, they did become a problem.
Ineluki wrinkled his nose, forming a neat ridge above the pointed tip before letting it drop.

"You smell like old fogey, mi hermano," he said. Ineluki's pack had never spoken such a language, but he had always been a sharp learner, picking such things up in his travels, and the sound of the words appealed to him. He enjoyed their casual sophistication, and, as with all things he enjoyed, he had taken them in for his own purposes.
"It's imperative we do something about that."

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[☼ Sunstorm]

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[atrb=background,http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk107/puddinxpiexB/CrouseMIDDLE.png] I noticed my new companion right before he spoke. I had the sense that someone else was near; the sense of intuition more than anything else. It was just a prickling along my hackles, and when I turned to see whether or not I was being followed, I found that I was right. Ineluki was padding up to my side. I slowed my pace just a tad so he could catch up. 'You smell like old fogey, mi hermano.' Ahh, great. So evidence of my problems were evident to the whole fucking world. I just drew in a deep breath of the cold, crisp, mountain air before exhaling in a sigh. "Aye, it's women, man." I had no idea if he knew of what happened. I was certain that Twi had spread the word, because she was just a snake like that. I wasn't sure who had noticed the rounding of Joaquin's belly; I didn't know if she was keeping it on the downlow. Of course, she couldn't keep it away forever. It was only a matter of time.... I regarded Ineluki, wondering whether or not I should let him in the know. I hadn't gotten the chance to talk about it with any other guy; I'd been dealing with women shit this whole time. This was probably one of the first times I'd come across one of my male comrades. Hm. I thought it over while he said, 'It's imperative we do something about that.' "Hm, I guess it is, then." I glanced around, though there wasn't much to see in this wintery wonderland. Everything seemed bleak, but that was because we were in a great swath of barren land. There were trees ahead, a brief portion of trees before you reached the higher altitudes. "Well, you're never gonna guess this one. Or maybe you will, I dunno." I looked back to Ineluki, a smirk twisting my mouth. When in these shitty situations, it helps to find humor in whatever you could. "I knocked Joaquin up." I wondered if Ineluki had a lover of his own. We didn't know each other too well as far as backgrounds went, but from the first day, I'd known that I'd like him enough. He was quite ideal for the Revolt lifestyle, which was why I'd wasted no time in accepting him. I just had no idea if he had any experience in this before. I felt as if I were the only soul floundering about in this situation, and sometimes I liked to think that way. Yeah, it was enormously self-centered, but that was the way I was.

[Stardust]

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Crouse pricked up his ears and paused as Ineluki drew nearer, well before he had opened his mouth for his first droll, dry words. Ineluki approved. It wouldn't do to have a friend--or at least trouble-making companion and pack mate--who let the little things in life distract him from the outside world. That was the kind of wolf who would get you in trouble, and not the fun kind, or always need saving. Ineluki didn't go in for rescues, except on the off-chance that the life he saved was that of a young female who'd choose to reward him in a suitable way. Or be cowed and impressed enough that she'd give in eventually.

The big, cream-colored wolf, nearly as tall as the Stormking, if bulkier, stopped to let his companion catch up, an expression of wry resignation on his features. He let out a big, misty, gusting sigh, somehow exuding a bit of devil-may-care attitude still.

"Aye, it's women, man."

Ineluki chuckled then, and paused as he drew even on the powdered trail. Though his height and the length of his bones still made him about as heavy as an average fae, the narrow build of his ribcage and the sinewy, lean muscles on his body made him lighter than most males. Combined with his youth in the frozen northlands, the lands of the Kalaallit, this gave him the ability to walk lightly on snow. He stood beside Crouse, paws sinking only slightly into the crisply frozen top layer, giving him a look out of the corners of his eyes of sly familiarity.

"When isn't it?"

The Arctic mix regarded him thoughtfully, seeming to weigh his words carefully, even as he responded with a vague affirmation.

"Well, you're never gonna guess this one. Or maybe you will, I dunno."

Ineluki simply turned his head to one side, ears forward, waiting patiently for the truth to drop. Gossip and dangerous truths were like fruit that way: you could shake the tree, but it was better to let it ripen and fall on its own, splatting directly at your lazy feet. Crouse smirked, and the black and white male knew the information was coming.

"I knocked Joaquin up."

A long, low whistle of surprise exited Ineluki's muzzle, and his eyebrows raised, dapper white against the pitch black of the rest of his body.

"My. Papa Crouse. Hmm." Following the cue to push a little humor into the situation, he grinned back, altering his first expression. "Well, can't say I'd complain with a few more of you in the world. Makes things more interesting, eh?"

With a little internal shiver of pleasure, Ineluki recalled his one brush with fatherhood. That was the trouble of being in a traditional pack. They tended to discipline their members for infractions; if one silly young fae got it into her head that she couldn't bear the shame of the fruit of her own indiscretion and took a quick dive into cold water, all of a sudden you were out on your own in the middle of an early northern spring.

Yes, he'd messed up a little there. But in terms of grand finales, it had been one of his best exploits.

"Normally I'd suggest going somewhere a bit more populated and finding some pretty young things," he began, "but you do have that strain of personal decency I never managed, so I suppose that's off the menu. You need to get some of that stress out, though; you've been dealing with ladies' ways too much."

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[☼ Sunstorm]

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[atrb=background,http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk107/puddinxpiexB/CrouseMIDDLE.png] Not even Ineluki could surpress his initial surprise. I watched with an amused expression--part of that expression was faked, but it was becoming more natural the longer I wore it--as his browline rose and a low whistle left his muzzle. 'My. Papa Crouse. Hmm.' "Mm, yup, that's apparently my new name." He was quick at changing his expression. He did it so smoothly that I almost missed it. He was following my indication that I was just blowing it off as something funny. In a way, it was kind of funny that I was a father, even after all this. I was surprised that Joaquin had been loving that day, after I'd...Well, I was going to get to that part in just a minute. 'Well, can't say I'd complain with a few more of you in the world. Makes things more interesting, eh?' Oh boy, I hadn't really thought about that. I mean, I knew I was going to have babies, but it had yet to hit me that they were mine. I'd just been so shocked when Joaquin told me--after she threw up all over my feet--that I hadn't properly absorbed it. But now it was beginning to hit me. I hadn't been able to erase that strange, sick-feeling emotion away before Ineluki surely caught a glimpse of it. "Ah yeah, I know right? This world just needs a few more fuck-ups." So much for keeping up the humor. I was having a hard time with keeping it in the air. Shit, what was wrong with me?! Suddenly I hated myself. 'Normally I'd suggest going somewhere a bit more populated and finding some pretty young things.' Oh, but I already had. Now I was sure that he hadn't caught word of this juicy slice of gossip. It was that thought that kept the smirk on my face, just a twist of my lips to keep up the strained amused expression. 'But you do have that strain of personal decency I never managed, so I suppose that's off the menu. You need to get some of that stress out, though; you've been dealing with ladies' ways too much.' He was right. I needed to do something to make myself forget, if only for a moment. But before we went off and did manly things, I had one little thing to include. "You're right. I need to do something else other than deal with this shit, for right now. But...Well, there's something more." The smirk broadened as I glanced at him. "The day I knocked my pretty little Mexican up, well, she wasn't the only one I was with." I paused, thinking of how exactly to describe Twilight Heaven. "Our Ally's daughter wondered into the Crystal Stream. And I greeted her in more ways than one." Well...That was surely one way to put it. ooc:// For some reason, I just wanted to laugh while I wrote the last paragraph. xD I found it funny. :P

[Stardust]

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"Ah yeah, I know right? This world just needs a few more fuck-ups." Crouse's tone was losing its bantering edge, and Ineluki sidled alongside him, one eyebrow cautiously inching its way back up his face. "Mm, I'd wager so," he said smoothly. "Unless you feel it needs more Enchanted pansies?" He swished his tail, once, partly in humor, partly as a sign of mild irritation. The long, slim, delicately curved extension of his spine drifted into stillness.

A sudden shift in Crouse's expression alerted the ever-aware Ineluki to a new thought process. Something he'd said had triggered amusement, wry self-negation, a hint of bitterness. He perked up at that, ears swiveling forward to attention from their normal, casual, half-back droop.

"The day I knocked my pretty little Mexican up, well, she wasn't the only one I was with."

Ah, so this was how the game was played. A tiny smirk began ticking its way into being on Ineluki's maw. He sat himself down on his elegant rump, quite at his ease on the barren, frigid mountaintop. The snow cover was soft as any king's pillow to him, and he remained quite still on it, tail neatly tucked around his paws.

"Our Ally's daughter wondered into the Crystal Stream. And I greeted her in more ways than one."

Ineluki burst into a whooping gale of laughter. Trust Crouse to find such a lewd yet delicate way of referring to a mindless, hormone-driven fuck. His unruffled demeanor was somewhat spoiled of course; he rocked back on his hindquarters, forelegs lifting slightly off the ground before returning.

"Ohh ha ha ha ha ha ha! That's rich! Well put! The old one-eyed salute, eh? No better greeting, if I dare say so myself!" The tuxedo-coated wolf cackled more quietly for a while longer, reigning in his additional, and probably offensive, wit. He cleared his throat, eyes disturbingly cool and blank beneath their sheen of mirth-induced tears. The gears in his head turned as quickly as his seeming emotions, if not more swiftly.

"Well then. I have just the solution. You get violence, bloodshed, stress relief, the chance to give our enemies a nasty message, no real danger to speak of, AND something to take home to the missus." He looked quite pleased with himself. In fact, he always was, but more pleased than usual. "Sound like your alley?"

((OOC: HEhehehehe! Me too. As indicated by Ineluki's reaction.))

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[☼ Sunstorm]

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[atrb=background,http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk107/puddinxpiexB/CrouseMIDDLE.png] 'Mm, I'd wager so. Unless you feel it needs more Enchanted pansies?' I don't know. Did I want them to turn out that way? Not really. But I didn't really know if I wanted them to be like me, either. And that led to the question of did I want to be associated with wolves like those flower frolickers. I'd say no to that, too. But this wasn't the time to figure shit like that out. I needed to think about these things later, when I was alone, and when I had time to worry over philosophy. So I just grunted, "No, I guess not." Then our conversation shifted, moving from one topic to another, though the two were very much related. In a way, one caused the other; because of my infidelity, Joaquin had first screeched at me before forgiving me in the best way that a woman could. So, yes, one thing led to another. And when I told him what I'd done, I hadn't exactly expected the reaction that he gaze. He was practically dying from laughter, reeling back so much that his forepaws briefly left the ground. I just stared at him, not really sure how to react. Did I want to laugh with him? Did I want to snap and snarl? Well, I wasn't quite sure, so I settled with a few chuckles as my haunches fell back, to match him. I felt more comfortable that way, too. 'Ohh ha ha ha ha ha ha! That's rich! Well put! The old one-eyed salute, eh? No better greeting, if I dare say so myself!' "Yeah, at the time, it was a damn good greeting." And there was nothing regretful about the half-smile curling at my lips; here was the real humor. That was the bad thing about me; I couldn't suppress my lust for....Well, just about anything, really. I was going to have to work on that. But in the meantime... 'Well then. I have just the solution. You get violence, bloodshed, stress relief, the chance to give our enemies a nasty message, no real danger to speak of, AND something to take home to the missus.' Oh, not a bad solution, if I may say! There was no denying that I was all for it; my expression perked up slightly, my tan ears shifting forward. I had the feeling he was referring to a good old hunt, something that seemed long overdue. It had been a while that I'd extended my muscles to take down large prey, and there was no doubt that it would be an overwhelming stress reliever. I needed something to sink my teeth into. 'Sound like your alley?' "Completely," Was my one-worded response, and I easily got to my feet, flexing the muscles in my shoulders and hindquarters, ready to use them. My nose twitched as I began picking through the scents, trying to find something worth tracking. "Totally and completely my alley. It's been a while." As an afterthought, and in an effort to divert the conversation away from me, I tacked on, "So, Ineluki, what's been up with you?"

[Stardust]

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Crouse might've gotten a bit starched up in finding out he was a father-to-be, but evidently he still had enough gumption in him to follow the flow, sitting back on his haunches as Ineluki laughed and giving an attempt at a chuckle himself. The domino tinted male gave his partner in crime his signature cool, evaluating gaze from above his still frozen mask of wicked mirth. The effect was somewhat disconcerting--expressionless eyes, a cheerful grimace of many sharp teeth.

Well, he'd make sure he shook some of that starch out, that was certain. If he was lucky and the blood run got Crouse sufficiently riled up, maybe he'd even get him in trouble.

"Yeah, at the time, it was a damn good greeting."

The smirk that played across those insouciant features was one of genuine pleasure in remembrance.

"That's more like it," the so-styled Stormking quipped smoothly, rising to his feet. He stretched, making an elegant, languid figure on the snow. His long shanks made stark, clean lines up to his body, where the points of his shoulders, ears, and slightly curving tail all conjoined. The overall effect was one of foreign calligraphy, a mysterious and illegible sign signifying something ominous in a dark language. He yawned broadly, black tongue snaking out of his mouth, then snapped it shut, standing upright.
"No regrets; life is for the alive."

"Completely," was Crouse's emphatic response to his suggestion, and the off-white brute also rose, though with less fanfare and more efficiency. "Totally and completely my alley. It's been a while."

"Good." Ineluki put his head to the wind, pointed nose carving through the air, though he knew he wouldn't be able to detect anything. The wind was against them, which was perfect for ambushing their prey, but not as good for finding it.
"I located some elk spoor down the side of this trail, leading across it. They'd be upwind of us right now." He sauntered in the direction he'd come from, pausing with his front paws on a large, black rock jutting out of the snow to look back over his shoulder at Crouse. And just in time.

"So, Ineluki, what's been up with you?"

His smile this time was a thin one, but it stretched to his eyes like an open wound across a throat, inches of stained whiteness exposing itself slowly in black gums.
"Making new friends, of course."
He thought of Xeta, following his trail of crumbs so doggedly, and finally arriving with the perfect combination of innocent fragility and perverse submission. He wondered, absently, how long she would last. The end was part of the pleasure, of course, the climax, if you will, but it would be a pity to lose such a convenient find too soon.

"You might say I have a private retreat up here," he crooned. "I do my best to attract ladies of the...appropriate mindset."

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[☼ Sunstorm]

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[atrb=background,http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk107/puddinxpiexB/CrouseMIDDLE.png] That's more like it,' said my companion with an approving air, rising to his paws and stretching his snake-like body out. Briefly distracted, I wondered if I myself ever appeared in such a way; so fluid, so snake-like. I doubted that, though. Ineluki was menacing in his own elegant, fluid way, while I had a completely different air. I didn't know precisely what that air might be, but I knew it was different. 'No regrets; life is for the alive.' It was easy to say that one shouldn't have regrets, but to actually live by that philosophy? It's all easier said than done--I knew that my regrets would again appear at a later time. But I was resolute to think about something other than my problems, and that was the whole reason for this upcoming expedition. My instincts were stirring, coursing through my body with a wild anticipation of the hunt. No wolf could deny this feeling, for it was born in us all. 'Good. I located some elk spoor down the side of this trail, leading across it. They'd be upwind of us right now.' Our noses lifted into the air, quite nearly at the same time, though the attempt to locate prey was in vain. In this particular perspective, the wind was placing a handicap on us, for we could scent nothing other than the crisp mountain air. On the flipside, however, the deer would be unable to scent our approach. "Lead the way," was my only response, and I set my pace into a light trot as he turned and headed in the direction from which he came. My muzzle continued to carry a slight angle of elevation, the wet flesh quivering in case the wind decided to alter its course. 'Making new friends, of course.' His smile seemed sly to me as it slithered its way onto his lips, and without him having to say anything more than that, I knew there had to be a backstory to that smile. I wanted to know more, and that effectively provided one of the first distractions; with this upcoming hunt, there were sure to be plenty more. 'You might say I have a private retreat up here. I do my best to attract ladies of the...appropriate mindset.' Without my having to think too much about it, a wicked twist appeared on my mouth, a curious edge playing along with the humor I found in his way of phrasing things. "What a way to word it," I said, a snort incorporating its way into the tail-end of the sentence. "Tell me, who have you been tempting into this retreat of yours?" My brow quirked, the twist of my lips sustaining as we continued our way down the slope. My stomach rumbled vaguely, reminding me that I was indeed hungry, though I made a mental note that I was on my way to food at the moment. ooc:// Woah, I accidentally switched to third person without even realizing it. xD I fixed it though. :3 Oh, and you have such a beautiful, wide vocabulary....I love love love it! I hope that one day I'll have one like yours. (:

[Stardust]

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Crouse had hardly gotten the words "Lead on" out of his mouth before Ineluki was swiftly loping down the track, glancing over his shoulder every now and then to ensure the white male was still with him, but not pausing his smooth side-to-side strut.

Of course, Crouse picked up on Ineluki's true meaning when he so vaguely and euphemistically referred to Xeta.

"What a way to word it," he chuckled as he began loping himself, soon catching up to Ineluki. The two were trotting side by side, a strange but wholly natural configuration, their wry, experienced expressions making their otherwise ill-suited forms match.

"Sorry." Ineluki's tone was not actually sorry at all, and he grinned again. "Would you have preferred 'casual partner for fuckery?'"

"Tell me, who have you been tempting into this retreat of yours?"

He let the question rest for a while as they traveled over the landscape, savoring the disharmonious janglings of tension and curiosity. Uncharacteristically, his pitch black nose twitched as he thought, perhaps just an extension of his suppressed smile.

"It seems you're not the only one with a taste for Order lays," he said, finally, pace evening out even more as the snow they walked on thinned, becoming a more manageable few inches as they trailed into the valleys. "I may have left some signs for any wolf on that side of the mountains with enough brains and curiosity to find. And I may have been lucky in that the only one to pick up the other end was a petite lady who doesn't mind being bitten more than occasionally."

His wicked grin flashed out again, but it wasn't the happy trilling grin of a male newly in love, or even besotted. It was a sardonic display of madness-inducing teeth, fangs that grew at strange angles and overlapped with each other uncomfortably. Every time he smiled that way, those fangs suddenly became the focus of his face, the only positive space in a cloud of darkness.

"The affair may have run its..." He trailed off and stopped abruptly, then just as quickly turned his motion into a low, stalking crawl. The scent of elk had finally come out of hiding, wreathing through the air around the rocks on the left side of the trail. It was a sour smell at this time of year; many of the elk were sickly, some hungry, others just old.

Slipping his body in a line along the ground so that just his head peeked around the rock, he took in a good look. The herd had moved little since he'd been on his way up; if anything, they were closer to the mountainside now, on the far side of a broad but shallow stream. There were no stags to be seen, as the rut had already passed, and, with a sentiment Ineluki could echo, they'd made themselves scarce as soon as the opportunities were over. All that remained now was the core harem, does of assorted ages, some showing the first signs of pregnancy, others old and withered, others simply not fertile. Another gust of wind blew the scent over to them, then started blowing it away, and 'Luki's salivating musings were cut short by the realization that the wind was changing. They'd be upwind soon enough.

He turned around to catch Crouse's eye.

((OOC: Awwwww, yay!! Thank you so much! ^.^))

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