a boy with a coin he found in the weeds

@Hydra

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He'd managed to keep himself busy the last few days, but it was about time he stopped hesitating and tried to take his next steps. He'd been reluctant to seek out Hydra, although he'd heard her various calls upon the wind and had come across her scent fresh upon multiple locations across the mountain with no name. She'd been busy staking a claim, and he was ready to to try to play his part. Anxiety still wrought havoc upon his mind as he considered the implications of these next steps - the sheer commitment he'd be signing himself up for. The things he may be giving up. Heaving a sigh and following it up with an attempt to swallow down the lump in his throat, Element ventured from his little nook on the mountain and began making the rounds. He'd been trying to map out the area in his head a little bit more every day, and it was growing easier to do the more scents and boundaries he came across from wolves he had yet to meet, but who signaled they too had set themselves as belonging here.

Did he belong, though?

Sniffing one of the recent markers he'd come across at the base of a rather haggard looking tree, he realized it was mingled with a more familiar scent - Hydra. He felt himself grow reluctant to call for her, worried about bothering her. But thus far she'd offered him nothing but kindness and patience, and he had no reason to expect anything else from her. Unwilling to let his own doubts control his actions, Element raised his head and offered a short howl, seeking the attention of the matriarch of the mountain.

+2 Formation Points

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Diligently marking the borders, Hydra paused now and then to look beyond The Dragonsteeth; there was a hope to see her son out there, returning with more of her children in tow. To see the daughter of Nyx, too. Most of all, Alya; her heart longed fiercely for her, and when she herself had contemplating raising her voice in a summons the voice of one of her own was heard. Element, she recognized with a wave of her tail. 

She was close, and she paused in her journey to let him know I am here!, inviting him to meet her in the same note, come find me! though it would not be difficult, thanks to her songs and scent trail alike. She had made sure of that; the Ostrega would make no mystery of her presence here.

+2 Formation Points

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He'd not had to wait long until an answer to his call climbed to the skies and made it's way to his ears. He listened intently, cautious for any sense of impatience or displeasure in her reply, but he found none. Instead there was invitation, and Element took but a moment to savor that welcoming feeling before following the last fragments of sound as they faded. She was closer than he'd expected so instead of ringing out again he offered a affirmative bark and rose onto all four black-spackled limbs to move in her direction. It was not difficult, given that it seemed she had been busy cementing her claims on the borders. The urge to add his own struck him again, but once more he abstained. Not until he had spoken with her directly.

Only a few quiet minutes passed before he saw a dark figure passing ahead, the Dragonsteeth framing the sky high above her. He barked again, lower this time, dipping his head briefly as he approached in recognition of the matriarch's status. "Hydra," greeted pleasantly, offering her what had become one of his signature looks - a faint smile that didn't quite meet the eyes and remained tinged with sadness. "You've been..." he looked away to scan the area, registering the scuffled ground that smelled of her claws and the way she held herself as one with an important task at hand "...Busy".

+1 Formation Points

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Hearing him approach, and finishing leaving her mark upon some stone, Hydra turned to regard him with a wave of her own tail. “Element,” she drawled, voice not absent of warmth. “Yes, well, one of the better ways to be found is to make your presence obvious,” she supposed aloud. For once, her marking was not solely about keeping others away... but there was that, too. Those unwelcome would surely come to know it with no uncertainty remaining afterward. Again she looked to the horizon, her own gaze distant as she imagined those she longed for simply taking form and approaching at her will. When they did not, she looked back toward him. She did not know him well enough (yet) to know his smile did not reach his eyes in full (or at all), and gestured to her side once more in invitation. 

“How do you fare?” she drawled, taking one step forward but not yet moving along before he joined her. He had quickly become important to her, but she knew several of those within her ranks were unsettled by the mystery of... well, everything. Hydra could not deny she felt it too, but none (except perhaps for Lyra and Dirge) knew the truth of that. She would not put the weight of her worries upon those she intended on supporting... and for the most part, one by one, they resolved themselves. She remembered Elke awaking right alongside her; she hoped for her own daughters return, too. It was, for the most part, why she kept so busy.

+1 Formation Points

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The way she regarded him offered another measure of relief as he was able to see for himself that there was no disinterest or annoyance in her gaze. Letting himself relax to know he was not intruding on her time, he mused quietly upon her response as he fell in to step beside her. The question she threw at him may have been simple enough in mere words, but was a loaded one. Part of him wished to lie and tell her he'd been doing just fine, so as not to further tarnish whatever image of him she had started to build. She'd met him at his worst and most frantic, and while he'd managed to display some outer stoicism it was far from his actual inner experience. He signed heavily at her words, taking a second to see if he'd give himself the chance to lie... and then opting for truth anyway, manliness be damned. "I'm getting by," he admitted, throwing a timid smirk in her direction. "I've been trying to settle in. Just to find a little spot for myself I can keep coming back to. That's been good." He'd been growing slowly fond of his little nook. It was a safe and quiet space; warm and dry. His ventures had even rewarded him with some decor, even if for now it was just moss and stone.

Letting a pause fall at the end of the words, he regarded Hydra again. "Yourself? You seem like you've been everywhere. I hope you've been able to find some rest too, " he offered genuinely, a creak of concern entering his tone. Just as she wasn't yet familiar with him, he too didn't know much about her, and what level of busy was normal or merely a way to escape ones own inner turmoil. (That at least was something he knew about himself).

+1 Formation Points

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That he was creating something for himself here warmed her, and she wondered what it might look like within her mind. Unsatisfied with the result her unimaginative mind conjured, she drawled, “I will have to come and see it,” with a grin of her own. Hydra herself had not yet found one solid rendezvous point for the pack yet to sleep all together, but more likely than not would come to invade Element's own space by dozing off at his doorstep in time up until then. Hydra enjoyed the open elements (no pun intended). 

As they walked, she paused intermittently to mark the earth with her scent. She would offer room for Element to do the same, if he so pleased, and to his question, she herself was hesitant to answer it in full. But it felt wrong not to, and when asked at least... she would not pretend. “It is a difficult transition,” Hydra drawled, again looking to the horizon, “when I feel as though much is missing. It is why I wander now and then, hoping to find what... who, really... that is. But if there is one thing I have learned,” she drawled, “two lost things have more difficulty finding one another than one. And so I hope with what I do here,” she drawled, “what I am looking for is also looking for me. Perhaps it is my scent here that brings them home... perhaps it is my... or our... song,” she hoped aloud. “It is hard to rest,” she admitted, looking back to him, “but it would be a disservice to all if I did not manage that much for myself, at least,” she drawled. Even with the yearning for the old, Hydra would not forget the new... and those here, who she would do anything for. 

She would live for them, she would die for them—either way, what bliss!

name that final ref L M A O

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A warm spark of embarrassment lit in his belly as she mentioned stopping by his meager hovel, but the feeling was paired with a hint of eagerness. The fact that she'd showed interest in him at all was still sinking in, but for her to speak to actively seeking him out caused his tail to give a few quick wags. "Right now I've got a lot of moss," he responded quickly - too quickly - realizing in hindsight that maybe moss wasn't as much of an upsell to others as it was to him. "I, uh, I like it. To line the corners of the cave. The place is a little cave. " he added soon afterwards. Keeping up with her as they moved, he paused when Hydra did when she determined a place needed marking. Still hesitant, he didn't join, but rallied himself again to bring up some of the questions he'd intended to ask her when he'd sought her out.

First though, she answered his last question, and he regarded he curiously as he tried to make out the tone in her voice. She was not an easy one to read, but he appreciated that she seemed to speak openly to him. There was not a heavy guard between him, and for that he could be thankful and relax just a little more. Element nodded, following her gaze towards the horizon as she spoke. "I can relate to that - wandering because of the missing feeling. I feel like I've been doing some of the same". Her way of trying to fix the situation was different from his own though. Where he'd been contemplating how out of his control it all was, Hydra had been trying to dominate the unknown, one rock and territory mark at a time. What she explained made sense to him - making a claim such as she (they?) were doing served as a beacon to others. That settled it. "I'd... like to help," he started, slowing his steps and coming to a halt as he considered the dark woman. Unsure what exactly to say, he shuffled his paws for a moment before continuing in a halting voice "I'd like to be a part of what you're building. To help build it. I owe you for helping me, but more than that I admire what seems to be happening here." All of this was true. Falling into more of a rhythm as he found confidence in his words, Element continued: "I was hesitant - am hesitant - because I don't know yet what I may be leaving behind. I don't want to abandon what I've lost, even if I don't remember it right now... but I don't want to sit in limbo either." He paused here, turning his peppered maw towards her to quickly scan her face, looking for what emotion may lay upon it. "I'd like to learn what you're creating. What your goals are. Would you share them with me?"

+2 Formation Points

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He seemed proud of that, his contribution of moss within his space... and she would not take that away from him. Hydra had no idea on the merits of it for comfort... she had slept on stone, and dirt, and though others had tried to gift her with comfortable things to rest upon she had always preferred the feel of the earth beneath her. Moss... moss did not sound bad, though. Earthy... it could be nice. No doubt softer than stone. “I look forward to seeing it,” she hummed. Moss and all. 

It was nice to know he could understand, but it also pained her. Feeling this way was far from enjoyable, after all. But in keeping herself busy, it at least was tolerable. Hydra did believe that her work was not for naught; they would find her, those she sought, or she them. As she moved along, he stopped; she paused, too, to look over her shoulder at him as he seemed to come to a decision she was unaware he had yet to make. In fact, she had thought he had already made it... but she supposed hearing it solidly now, more than from a moments desperation, was preferred in any event. Hydra wanted him to want to be there, and it felt as though now more than ever before, he truly did. It was not for fear of the unknown, or for panic... it was for her, and as he said, more than that; what she sought to build. 

What she would build. 

She nodded in understanding, though corrected him in one area: “we do not abandon what we have lost. We never will. You search as surely was I do; within yourself, and surely beyond. When what we seek is found,” she drawled, “we will bring them home to us, should they so desire that for themselves as well. They will have a place to call home again,” her voice was filled with passion; Hydra was vehement in her belief of this. She would not abandon any, given the choice... but they had none. Loyal to a fault, the matriarch knew one thing: she would not abandon her own. The lost, when found, would be lost no more. 

What was she creating? How to begin? 

“Before I was born,” she drawled, “my mother and father came together to build something new, something strong, for their family. I seek to do that, and more. A safe place for my future children, and the children that I have...  and a safe place for my family, you among them,” she hummed, taking a step closer to them. “And beyond that, a safe place for those that we have lost to return home to. Where I came from, things... were not safe. Not in recent years. There were wolves who would steal children, and harm them simply because they could. I do not want that near my mountain,” she spoke lowly, and with conviction. A protected place, a place where one could rest their head without fear of what lay beyond. While semantics could not be recalled, her disgust toward the sort of wolves who did so was evidenced in the darkness in her tone. Hydra would see to it that none of her family would be harmed, tooth and claw if she must. 

+2 Formation Points

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A sheepish smile lit on his maw as she expressed interest in his mossy nest - such a small thing, but small delights were what he was living for right now. While he'd made plenty of homes for himself upon rock and stone and hard earth, he'd grown an appreciation for these small comforts in his... later years? That thought tickled him but he shoved it aside - the discrepancy too much to contemplate right now. He remembered days where the aches in his joints had caused him to seek softer beds, but those same joints didn't complain to him now. They were spry and young and had no history to them - no scars, no accumulated lifetime of aches and pains.

Either way, if Hydra didn't yet know how nice it was to sleep on a bed of moss, pulled fresh from the earth, green and plush beneath your paws... he'd be happy to introduce her to it.

Before that though, they had other matters to address. He did not mind her correction, and in fact it was exactly the type of response he was looking for. Element released a held breath, unaware until that moment how anxious he had been to hear what would follow his questions. But Hydra had offered more than just an answer - she'd offered just the thing he needed. The exact right words to ease his worries, and to give him the permission he needed to commit. To settle. Giving himself to this goal - this thing she (they?) were creating... it would not write him out of his past. It wouldn't overwrite his chance to pursue his memories, his lost life. It would give him a base from which to do so, with others who were trying to do the same. Who were supportive in the endeavor of recollection and reclaiming. She had just given him such a gift.

Element was lost for words with this revelation, so simply stated in her familiar drawl but so, so meaningful to him. It was the moment things really clicked - the dedication, the mission, the desire to figure out what this new life would bring. There was so much churning inside him, he could only smile at her, his tail swaying side to side happily to match the expression on his maw. "A worthy goal if I ever could think of one," he responded, his voice just above a whisper, still taking in what it would all mean. He could build himself here, and it would not steal from him his desire to unearth what he had lost, should it come back to him.

The rest of it though... the background she offered - there was less joy there. Element's peppered brow furrowed as Hydra spoke, his expression changing only for a moment as she included him in her description of family, his tail once again thumping against the stone briefly to match his timid, pleased face. The past she spoke of, the place she spoke of, was not something he envied. "Safety... I value it," he offered slowly, trying to configure his words after she finished her explanation. "I'm sorry, for times you and yours didn't have that," he continued. "I don't want to see that here. Anything like it." Had he, in any life, encountered anything such as that? Not that he could recall right now. He cast Hydra a steady gaze, focusing again on her face. "What can I do? To make it so. To make it safe. To make it something?"

+1 Formation Points

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For perhaps the first time, Hydra saw what true happiness looked like upon Element as things seemed to fall into place. Its spread like wildfire, the warmth of it reaching the matriarch who most (those who did not know her) might think to be unfeeling. It was not so; Hydra felt things, and deeply... though few might ever learn it, as she had overtime become as adept in concealing such things as she had the craft of fighting and defending. None but her family would know she was no heartless thing, and Element had found himself among them by happenstance. Her own tail began to sway along with his own, and her eyes warmed. 

His next words, too, added to her opinion of him. “What you can,” she drawled. “I could teach you to defend, if you wished,” she offered, “though I know not all appreciate fighting. Still, I think it is important to learn,” she drawled, “so none can take advantage of you, should you ever be caught unawares. But beyond that,” she hummed, “what would you like to pursue, do you think?” She asked, interested in what he might have remembered of himself, if anything. What made him happy? Was it the hunt? Was it sharing stories? Whatever he had to offer, no matter how simple he might think it was, would only serve to better the place they built... together.

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Hydra's previous sentiments were still echoing in his head - we do not abandon what we have lost. We never will. He could feel the way those sentiments, they way she had described what she wanted to build, how those words had begun to wrap around him, soothing and strong, warming dark corners of his aching chest. He suddenly felt himself able to inhale deeper, fuller into his belly, without the tight band of anxiety restricting his diaphragm. He cherished those breaths, closing his gray eyes for but a moment on his next inhale - breathing deeply - before he exhaled both the air in his lungs and some of the burden he'd been carrying in his heart. He could settle here, with Hydra and her kin, because he could believe in what she was building. She was not building to exclude, but to search for those in need, those who wanted a home, those who had lost and wished to be found.

What was he, but a lost thing, now found?

Element finished savoring his deep breath and reopened his eyes, sterling gaze sweeping across the contours of Hydra's face. He felt a rush of affection for her, a warmth swell of appreciation, for this dark woman who had taken him under her raven wings and offered him such a gift. It was in that moment an allegiance, already seeded, took root and began to expand.

She had a good question for him - one he had not yet thought on. What did he wish to pursue? What was it he could offer her, to begin to pay these debts he had accrued to the matriarch of the mountain? A puzzled expression crossed his face while he considered it, a few moments of silence passing between the two of them while he sifted through fragmented memories and came up, once again, short. He felt distracted by her offer to teach him to defend, because his mind kept flashing him the image of a white wolf with red eyes throwing him a dashing smile, teasing him about just the same thing. Faint words echoed in his head, "Come on, Ele, you're a leader now- show me your angry face". The sound of a loud groan and a rebuttal made of teeth aimed at his shoulder when in response to that, he'd merely stuck out his tongue.

Oooh - that memory hurt.
What was it?

An inky ear twitched as he tried to draw himself out of his head and back to the conversation. "I've been told before I could work on my... er, assertiveness," he answered, flashing Hydra one of his many timid looks, accompanied by a forgiving thump of his tail. "A few courses in defense would probably do me well." That, and he'd want to hold his weight if it was ever needed of him. "As far as what I want to pursue... somehow that feels even harder to figure out. I can catch glimpses sometimes, if I don't try to hard to focus on them directly. But they don't make sense yet. I know... I led. But even that, it wasn't my task, or my goal. I can't remember how it came to be. It wasn't my purpose, and I don't..." He was going to say he didn't miss it, but something about that would have been a lie, and so he swallowed the words, glancing away from her again and gazing sidelong over his shoulder. "I miss it -" he corrected, allowing himself some trust that Hydra would not take his words the wrong way. "-not the title itself, but the way... the way it meant something to others. To rally around. To provide a center." He shuffled his paws nervously, unsure exactly where he was going with his train of thought. "I don't know what exactly I can offer there, or how to use that. But it feels like it has some kind of potential."
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She listened to him, quiet as she worked through her own thoughts. Once he had led, he said—but that had not been his purpose. He explained his feelings on the matter, and vague though they were given the haziness of it all... she understood, to a degree. “Since the moment I could lead,” Hydra drawled, remembering as she looked to him, “I did. Firstly alongside my parents... and when they passed, with my husband, and my brother. But leading... it is no purpose,” she believed, “not something one should take on for a whim. My purpose,” she drawled, “is keeping my family, all of you, safe from harm. It is keeping you fed. It is to ensure that we not just simply survive, but thrive. When death comes for me, I will rest easy then to know that we have done that and more.” She was a protector; a guardian; a hunter. She was deathbringer and lifegiver. She did not have one purpose, but many...

And so could he. “Perhaps it is the hunt that warms your blood,” she imagined, “or maybe it is sharing the stories of generations past. Since once you were a leader, perhaps advising might be more to your liking... but, whatever it is that is best for you to pursue, we will find it,” she knew. Sooner or later, they would discover it... this she believed. Element spoke of needing to work on his assertiveness, and she drawled, “assertiveness has its place. But lack of it at all times does not distinguish a good leader from a bad one,” she informed. One needed to know when to apply it... but she imagined that could perhaps be what he meant. She could teach him that, too, she knew, if he wanted to learn.

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She'd included him when she'd spoken of keeping her family safe. There it was again, the strange ache in his chest, an amalgam of warmth and pressure that he could not quite tease apart. Hydra had included him among her own so quickly, so readily, and with such conviction it left him dizzy to even contemplate. He gazed at her fondly, a small and thankful smile curling across one side of his peppered maw. He'd find a way to pay her back for her kindness. His purposes in life right now were hazy, but being a part of this thing Hydra was creating, this... family... it was a good mission. It wasn't just that, but Element also knew he needed it. They would carve out a safety net into the rugged mountain, and maybe within it he'd find a little peace among so much chaos.

When it came to making sure his place among them was a worthy one, he had a lot to consider. Element heaved a sigh as Hydra listed options, letting the thoughts of them tumble through his head as he considered each one in passing. His hunts thus far had been meager - in fact, it was something he should probably see to soon. His coat did not hold the same glossy sheen it should have, and he'd merely caught small game that he'd stumbled across by fortune. His appetite had been stunted (nothing like emotional trauma to mess with ones sense of routine and self-preservation), and even as he considered a meal while they spoke he did not feel much other than a hollow feeling in his belly, that could have been either hunger or nerves. "It's hard to recall still," he offered, sounding apologetic. "I wish I knew what I'd felt called to before." He hoped he'd remember one day. He hoped he'd be able to find more of himself period. "Your patience while I figure it out is... is more than I know how to thank you for, on top of everything else you've already given". As far as anything that had stood out to him among the options, he felt himself toying with the idea of being one those could come to for advice. "Advising," he started, a chuckle escaping him as he shook his head side to side in a bemused sort of way. "I like the idea of being able to do so - although it feels funny to think of myself as being in the position to do so right now, while I feel like a pup who just left the whelping den". Where others having such a hard time as he was? Hydra seemed so composed, so mission-oriented... but maybe that was her secret?

Element rose to all four feet, shuffling his paws quickly and savoring the limber feeling that rose up them as he did so. He'd done a lot of spewing hazy words, but felt he owed her some language with a little more commitment. "Whatever it may be," the dark male started, fixing Hydra with his gaze, though keeping his appropriately averted. "I'll figure it out. I'll try it all at least once if I have to, or try to fill any role that's needed. It's probably good for me to do right now anyway. And while I do so, I'll try to learn whatever it is you have to teach".
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fader <3

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Element was at the ready, even despite all his worries. He was prepared, at least, to build anew... build with her. And for that, Hydra felt already that he had repaid her kindness; all she desired was for him to try his best, to be his best. Hydra would help him become it. Walking slowly, she paused to mark another spot before looking to him. “Get yourself some rest, tonight. I will train you in the arts of defense tomorrow,” she drawled, tail waving slowly behind her. 

It was essential he learn that much to be able to defend their homestead, and himself. They had plenty of time to discover the heart of him, and what it wanted too. Drawing around him in a loose circle, she nipped lightly at his shoulder. “For now, though, tell me how your den building goes... have you added more moss?” She inquired, ear twitching as she picked her way along. For a while longer the matriarch would keep at this task in making known their claim.

+1 Formation Points

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