all equally shallow

His mind turned with prospects and ideas. The man found himself taking frequent journeys, back and forth between the Everfrost and the Ripperwood. Something pulling him to both places, tearing him which way and that- threatening to rip him right in half. There were benefits to both.

The Ripperwood: His mate, his betrothed- Acheri. Whom of which he loved dearly, they understood one another completely and agreed on so many things. They would rule there together, in their rightful place on the top.

The Everfrost: The queen of black ice. Like an elusive ghost that he constantly felt the need to pursue. He could barely stand to be within her air without feeling the primal need to breath it all in.

The man sighed a frustrated sigh. He felt vulnerable and he hated that vulnerability. Under his breath he cursed himself and his primal desires- they always seemed to ruin good things.

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Viviene had made a rather fine, mhm, home of the mountains though in one place she did not stay for long, wandering from packlands to unclaimed territory, back and forth, it was all very simple to her; though she did not prefer it, really, having spent all her life amongst wolves she could call her own. None here were hers, a reason she reminded herself of liberally. The heights were a place she crossed often, passing through flowers and wide rocks that made up the hills, hunting the pikas and the stray hare that rarely thought a wolf would make easy work of catching them. The star blessed, however, hadn't come across others among these lands, relatively absent of most creatures one could communicate with.

 

When she noticed the ebony wolf stark amongst the swathes of green and stone, it should have been known something was... different.

 

If she were anyone else, she would have known to steer clear, to step away and let him traverse. Viviene missed company. A fault, really. Never bred for the lonely life of wandering. So her ears pricked high, she came to a stop, and said to him, a soft smile on her maw, "You  huntin' too I reckon?"

---

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The man's head swung on a swivel in the direction of a female voice. He hoped that more members, flushing under the wing of him and Shadowcast would further solidify not only his claim, but his loyalty. With so many wolves needing direction and leadership, he would be less likely to flee to the Everfrost and play in the mess he had created.

Yet this was no worthy rogue or recruit. No, before him was the scourge of his eye. The once surprise and eagerness of his expression contorted into something evil. He stared for a second too long, orange eyes fiery with contempt.

Then he had an idea.

And the look washed away.

Something of deceit and a cruel lie. Instead, his face was pleasant and inviting. A smile that, on the surface was welcoming and genuine, yet beneath it was merely forced.

"In fact, I am." He had a way with his speaking that could easily suggest an ulterior motive. The man's paws turned on a dime and started moving closer, subtly enough as they only moved when he spoke. "Are you from around here?" His head leaned forward and he eyeballed her in a charming way, still smiling. "Got any tips?"

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Viviene had never been the one to pass judgment, especially not so quickly, but there was something in the way the man moved that brought a chill to her spine; it all lay in his voice, the way his words didn't match the lilt, the way he advanced as he spoke—it left her feeling none unlike a doe at the focus of a starving pack. She didn't recede. Not bred to but made to see the sapling throes of something ill and moving to subvert them, ease them. Stamp the fire out before it spread. Yet... Yet...

 

She let her smile fade slowly but not falter. "Not from here, no, but I've - uh - been around, learned the best huntin' grounds and whatnot," she said, offering a wag of her tail, ears flicking back. Appeasement. "If I wasn't so busy I'd show you. If we cross paths again... maybe then?" Viviene proposed, voice soft, never one to leave so soon but unwelcomed. Or maybe she no longer welcomed him, slight regret for being so eager. "'Cause it seems we're both goin' our own ways."

 

She hoped.

---

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"Oh noo..!" He threw his head in a dramatic and dismissive way. "I've got plenty of time! I don't mind the diversion." The man had come even closer, now within a few feet. He took the opportunity to sniff at her. Trying to kill two birds with one stone. Where was she from? Who did she belong to? Are there more of... them?

"I usually hunt more north so, I'm not familiar with the prey here." A lie. He had hunt her many-a-time. In fact, it was easy to say, it was among his favorite places to hunt. Yet as he continued to speak, he only grew closer. The friendly smile on his face was uneasy. He didn't smile with his eyes.

And just when one would think he would keep going, to get so dangerously close that one would have to run, he turned. The beginnings of a circling. Like a shark or an orca whale, the same way wolves surround an elk.
He bit his tongue before opening his mouth to speak again. "Couldn't a pretty gal like you spare just a few moments to help out a silly wanderer?" Erebus loathed the idea of calling her pretty or dishing out any sort of compliment, let alone calling himself silly as if he didn't know exactly what he was doing.

It was all worth the effort.

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