A Gulfstream jet to fly you door to door

It certainly seemed to get dark fast now. Mostly because Mal had planned to do other things today and somehow time had gotten away from him. Though the sun hadn't dipped beneath the horizon yet, the clouds had done a good job at doing the work for it, blocking much of the sun. It was better than wind, though. He'd been traveling along marking territory for much of the day.

Mal had yet again ended up where the creek wandered its way out to the cove in the darkened distance. It had flattened and widened here, and it was an ideal spot to stop and rest. He could get off his feet for a bit, make sure it was marked, and examine the little rocky pools in the area to see if there were any fish he could (attempt to) catch and bring back to Hua. He still wanted to impress her on that front, he'd more than proven his ability to catch rabbits and the like but fish were basically still aliens to him. He was just Not Good at fishing. He'd never really needed to fish until they'd decided to stay here.

The whole reason the border wiggled a little bit at this area was because it was also home to a little patch of forest -- if it was summer it'd be an even more idyllic as it hid from the sun, but the same could be said for any other foul or annoying weather -- it was a little rest stop. A rest stop that belonged to Mal. Strangers better ask for entry, y'see! So after visually skimming this little patch of paradise for anyone, he lowered his head for a drink, planning to sit down and relax a bit before continuing his way home.
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He had set out from Empyrean a little later than he wanted to, not that it could have been helped. The daylight simply didn't last long enough to make considerably headway and Altair knew without having to question that winter was swiftly approaching. The mountains were already dusted with bouts of snow along its higher elevations and frost had come creeping down from one week to the next. It had been the sort of prompt that if he wanted to head out to the coast and venture, now was the time.

From the northwestern edge of Empyrean he had departed, following a coursing stream that snaked through foothill, valley, and gully alike. It had been one source that his father had imparted to him to follow, though the boy's sense of direction was hardly anything to laugh at. The weeks he had spent traveling south and out to the east had been beneficial, so going to the west wouldn't have been too difficult either, relatively speaking. Altair knew he could only go so far in that direction before the sea would greet him.

Except it wasn't the sea that greeted him initially—it was the faint beginnings of a border.

A frown creased his features for a moment, not quite certain how to handle that he was along a path that was bringing him so close. Truth be told, he hadn't even known there was a pack there, though he could certainly see the advantage of the locale. Fresh water, woods rife with wildlife; it was ideal and appealing in its own way. Even with the sky darkening into a bruised purple, it contrasted with the mixed foliage in varying states of wither and decay.

And ahead of him, he spied out a figure silhouetted in the faint vestiges of remaining light.

He called out, not thinking: "Hey!"
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After he'd lapped up a nice amount for a drink, he'd paused, staring into the water. It looked like the water was a little deeper a bit farther away. It was gonna be harder to see the border from there, but Mal wasn't seeing anything beyond bite sized right here. Then again, maybe he wasn't being patient enough. That was also an option. It was going to take a while for him to learn the full ins and outs of the creek, he was still just guessing what might be best. He craned his neck. Hm. He watched some shadows move in the water at a distance. He was pretty sure they were small fish, but it could still be rippling water or shadows from the trees.

Mal stayed still, watching one shadow move down the stream towards him. Yes, that could be something he could catch! Okay, not big enough to make it worth carrying home but he could scarf it down and bring something better for Hua and let her have whatever it was in its entirety. He held one foot up, debating moving forward. Or so was the plan, a voice called out to him.

Mal's head whipped around to the source of the call, ears pricked forward. It was a young man roughly his own size. Unfamiliar. But he was outside the border and didn't seem to be super angry or anything, so Mal gave a single wag of his tail, returning with, “Hello!” before moving down the shore and hopping to cross it so he could get a bit closer and not have to yell. “I'm Mal. This is Seeker's Bluffs. Looking for something?” It was his normal sort of cheer as he looked the other wolf over, trying to get a sense of him. Didn't smell like a possible recruit for a very obvious reason: he wasn't sure if he should pipe up with the fact he was pretty sure this wolf was in Dirge's pack because he was moderately sure he could smell the guy. Dirge hadn't shared a name of it, so that didn't help either. He'd hold off for a minute on that, maybe it'd be clarified anyway.
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A waving tail seemed to bring good tidings and so Altair found himself mirroring it with an easy sway, watching as the other made his way along and across the coursing stream. It may have been a bit of a winding path all in all, but he couldn't help but take stock of how the other wolf managed it, thinking back on the few lessons he had with Desdemona and her boulder hopping lessons. A gentle smile lit upon Altair's features and for a moment, he was unable to take his gaze off of the bi-colored eyes of his newfound company, though he managed to find some focal point past him in a polite sign. Wasn't much point in aggravating the neighbors at this rate, or so he figured.

The wolf's name, however, rang a distant bell that the boy could not immediately place. Whether by way of eavesdropping on his parent's conversations from time to time or some callback to the increasingly distant past, the name Mal rang loud; his features furrowed in thought for the briefest of moments but were ushered by with ease[mdadh]there was the matter of why he was out there in the first place and evidently, solid evidence that Mal was taking up residence in that particular patch of land.

"I'm Altair, from Empyrean," he said, giving a brief gesture backto the mountains that loomed over the timberline. Distant still, yet close enough that he wondered if Mal was familiar with them at all. His gaze wheeled back around, and he pressed on with confidence: "I didn't know anyone was living out here, and I was wondering if you know a safe path out to the coast."
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Empyrean. So, that was a name at least. “Oh -- is that the name of Dirge and Hydra's pack? He didn't say when I ran into him.” Slight tilt of his head, seeking confirmation. “But yeah, we've started to set up our home here fairly recently. I think we were going to head on over to say hi at some point, but wanted to have things a bit more solid here first. We've pretty much just been staying to ourselves.” He was happy about the new start, even if the old one had had good parts too -- right? Wasn't like he could remember most of it, but he was happy now.

He looked briefly in towards the territory while he organized his mental map, then back to Altair, “For a path.. Well, beyond here, the shore is within what we're claiming. This creek runs parallel  to the shore pretty much, but it's inside my territory the majority of the way too. It does have some east forks as you go north that might try to fake you out, but it's branching in to this main creek rather than away. Once it does bust out of the territory line for real to the north, that's the northern border, it's clear to go to the beach from there. I'm not sure but I think the next pack up then claimed a patch of shore too... It's at least pretty close. Not as familiar with how their territory goes -- it's a weird forest, hard to miss.” He still didn't like the Nosey guy.

But Mal wasn't totally dismissive or anything, “Is there something you need by the coast? Like herbs or something? Or just to make it easier to travel?” He was generally a helpful guy, and if they'd been friends with whatever Empyrean was in the past, he'd continue to be the same. In general if Altair needed something that wasn't going to somehow hurt Mal's family, he'd help out. That was just the way he was.
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His smile beamed a little bit more when Mal mentioned his parents, an eager nod to follow his query. Though he couldn't have placed it right then and there, he was certain now that they had a connection of some sort in the past in whatever existence they had belonged to. A part of him wanted to probe that avenue a bit further, but he was instead taken with the information that Mal was kind enough to offer for the meantime, and merely listened.

"I was looking for an easier path to get to the coast, to be honest," he said, still wearing his smile, still waving his tail. "Though, I'm wondering if the pack you're talking about is where another friend of our pack is—they call their territory Event Horizon, I think. Crux is their leader," he went on, his brow furrowing in thought. It was brief and Altair picked up from where he left off without much hesitation.

"And I'm sure my parents will be glad to know that you're doing well too—it's always nice to meet another friend from wherever we were before here. I'm sure they'd appreciate a visit whenever you decide to come by... and I thought your name sounded familiar, too," and it certainly didn't have anything to do with him eavesdropping somewhere in the background of his parent's conversations, oh no not at all. He wouldn't do things like that, would he.
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Ok, cool, he wasn't off base then. It was good to have a name for the pack. Heck, it wasn't the only name he got. Nosey got a name -- well, probably, he didn't know if there was another leader but he made some assumptions. He still wasn't gonna call the guy Crux or whatever. Nosey was just too perfect of a nom de plume. Either way, he nodded. “Yeah, that's them I guess. If you're planning to go north past their territory, can't say what's beyond it though. Haven't been there myself.” His adventures only went so far -- especially now, because he wanted to make sure their home -- and thus Hua -- was protected.

Slight wag of his tail then, as it was good that they were (still?) on good terms. He did wish he could remember things, but he just had to trust what others told him for the most part if it didn't instantly ring a bell. “Hua is here with me. I think she wanted to talk to Hydra, so she might be the one to show up to say hi, but we'll see how it all goes. She remembers more about what all went on before than me too, so if anyone wanted to reminisce, they'll have a much better time chatting with her.” It was said kind of bemused -- he tried to make fun of this sorry hand he'd been dealt. It was basically all he could do to survive. Take what little positives there were that he could remember and cling to those.
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Hua...

The name rang another distant bell, though he couldn't place her any more than he could place the familiarity about Mal. It was fragmented in its cohesion; he felt like he should have known. But at least this time, in this encounter, he was able to withhold confusion coming across his features and instead offered Mal nod of his head. It would have to do, though it would give him something to think about later.

"I'm sure my mom would like to see Hua again," he rejoined. "Have you both been here long so far? I think it was winter still when we all came to... and actually I've been trying to keep an eye out for my siblings too. Not all of us turned up here. I think I'm missing an aunt or two, too..." Off on a tangent, his voice trailed off with a distant gaze past Mal; Altair truly couldn't put a total to who was with them and who wasn't.

He shook his head dismissively.

"It seems like it was a real long time ago now though."
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At least it didn't seem like he was off the mark there. Hopefully it would all go well whenever that meeting would be. “I guess I've been here since... Spring? I don't know. Hua came later, and then we arrived at the bluffs after that.” That was the rough timeline at least. The whole thing felt kind of like a mess in his head still, even if he could remember it. The world was just kind of a disaster. It was foreign but he didn't want to think about it too hard because it'd probably just break what little normalcy he had.

“I know there's people missing but I can't remember all the names and faces. I just know some of them are also important.” Which was kind of sad. But... What could he do? At least it seemed like he'd remember them if he saw them, but he couldn't go searching all the land for people he couldn't describe. He just had to trust himself and Hua.
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feel free to fade this or continue it since i've taken forever :(

---

An agreeable note lodged itself in his throat—Altair could all too well relate to the fact that it felt like some of those names and faces were lost along the way. It would no doubt become that way with time behind it, as there was unspoken truth in the simple fact that they could only spend so much time searching. Survival would always take the wheel one way or another and it would steer them even if they didn’t think of it.

“It’s not fun,” he went on, “but I guess there’s only so much we can do.” He could have scoured the world from one side to another if he had wanted to more than anything, but would those results yield? If there was but one thing he was learning quickly, it was that this place was vast, and if any of his family was out there then it was just as likely to find them as it was to unknowingly pass them by with a mountain’s span between them.

It did make him sad, of course, and the feeling of such tainted his features.

He shook his head, dismissing the thought as best he could.

“So, uh, what’re the bluffs like? Must be pretty good if you and Hua are staying here, right?”
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It's no prob! We can probably wrap it up here in a round or so anyway.

---

Was forgetting better or worse than remembering things that might have gone bad? It was something that was totally up for debate. Good and bad aspects and all that. For now, at least, he was ok not remembering the things that hurt him excessively -- again, he trusted Hua's judgement on what were things that he didn't have to know. Right now things were pretty happy... Even he didn't want to ruin that yet.

The land, at least, wasn't a memory. It was fact. So, he went through and gave a bit of a description: “It's peaceful. I think it's a nice combination of what we both like. We have prey, water, and security. We have a bit of beach beyond the cliffs, but enough grass and trees that we get deer and aren't just trying to live on what's in tidepools. It'd be perfect... Just.. Starting over without family, I think we relied a lot on them.” How do you start over with nothing? But despite that still being gloomy, he tried to turn it around, but it was still subdued, “I don't think I was ever that amazing at finding new people to start either -- I think the pack took ages to get going before. Will see how it goes this time.” Vague memories. Stress. He didn't want to go down that particular road again.
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Altair had to admit, it sounded like they had everything they could need to settle. Safety, sanctuary, sustenance—what more did a pack need? Well, maybe that was a bit of a loaded question but in his mind, they were already well on their way.

“Maybe they’ll show up still,” he said. It was the same thing he kept saying, kept thinking—maybe they’ll show up still. Something he had wavering belief in, but he still had his jaws clamped around something positive. It would only get easier to shoulder the burden from upheavals with time.

He offered Mal a smile, trying to bolster the mood.

“I mean it seems like you’ve got yourself a nice place, I bet lots of wolves like coming out to shore. You never know, maybe you or Hua will find familiar faces… and you’ve got each other too. I think even a couple of wolves make a pack.”
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A slight nod, “It's the hope. We'll see how it goes. It doesn't sound like much has gone the way you'd think or the way I'd want in my life, so we'll see if it continues. I've never asked for much.” Or at least he didn't think so. He was a pretty reasonable guy, wasn't he? “I'd say if you knew anyone else who'd rather live a life at the beach you could send them our way, but I'm sure you recruit for your pack, and it'd be impolite to try to swipe from that, huh?” Awkward smirk there, and maybe not the cleanest delivery for a joke, but it was something. He was trying to be normal, to avoid the weird. It was hard to avoid the weird.

“I probably need to finish up this patrol and head back, though. Anything else I could help with? I mean.. If you're wanting to head up the coast, keeping this creek to your left will take you most of the way.” Otherwise they were going to just talk in circles forever, and both of them had their respective families to get back to eventually too.
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Awkward joke or not, Altair's smile broadened for a moment.

"Nah, I think I'm good," he answered, "but if I happen to come across someone who doesn't like the mountains, I'll be sure to tell them to head this way." Seemed like the easiest thing he could do, at least. It wasn't like he saw too many strangers come around Empyrean's claim; he had encountered far more out along the forests and valleys that rimmed and led to the coast. He didn't believe they were actively seeking to add to their own, but then again those were matters left far out of his hands. So to speak.

"I appreciate the chat and the information though. I'll have to come back by sometime and see how things are." Following up with a wave of his tail, he wasn't going to hold Mal up any longer than he already had. All he had to do was keep the creek to his left and follow it around and so that's what he simply did, one foot in front of the other. With a parting look to Mal over his shoulder, the yearling Ostrega ventured on.
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