one on one with MyLostShadow

[nyctorin.]

V I V E K A //

Unphased. Granted, he had jumped and squeezed his eyes shut when she blasted him with flames, and definitely hadn’t taken too kindly to her aggressively snarling in his ear, but aside from those natural reactions, the prisoner was unphased by her attempts at intimidation. Not that she’d expected him to cooperate willingly (the Beta had finally given up on that fallacy), but she’d at least expected him to blurt out something in hopes of saving himself the pain of another fiery facial scar. Even if it was just admitting that yes, he had been lying about being Chronos (which she obviously already knew by now, but having the liar confirm it for himself would’ve been nice). Instead, the male simply scoffed, rolled his eyes as if she were no more than a tantrum-throwing child, and nonchalantly replied,

"You're going to make me give answers? I doubt it, Fire Mutt, you don't have it in you."

A harsh laugh forced its way out of her throat. Was he SERIOUS? He said that as if she hadn’t attacked him the night prior, as if she’d never once proven to be someone worth taking seriously, as if sparks weren’t literally flying from her pelt as they spoke.

“Do you HONESTLY think you’re in any position to DOUBT me?” the she-wolf hissed, dangerously close to losing it.

Her severe temper issues aside, Viv didn’t feel like she had the time for these games. She really needed answers on the whole situation… What if who he really was changed everything? What if something really horrible was lurking under the surface of all of this…? Something worse than taking the risk of holding an Ice Wolf hostage? What if someone else in Fire Pack figured it out first and told the whole pack, potentially causing a panic, or extreme protest against her? So many horrible ‘what if’s were possible here-! She NEEDED to know, and his refusal to obey was leaving her with anxiety, fury, and few options on how to productively get it out of him.

Staring him directly in the eyes, she snarled low, lips peeled back and body tensing, sparks flying. Having had it with this nonsense, she swiftly darted forward and took a good snap at him, aiming to - if nothing else - bite his scar and maybe reopen it, but the prisoner turned away and moved on, his back to her and well out of reach by the time her jaws clamped shut. She huffed angrily and frustratedly, her head swinging down to the ground with a dark, angered look on her face. Her gaze darted back up and she instantly started prowling forward, head rising, mouth slightly agape, pace picking up to a trot, ready to lunge at him again, maybe topple him; that’d give her a good advantage, right? However, when the male stopped, so did she... and rather abruptly at that.

The frost on the large male's fur was steadily growing, looking more and more like a warning sign than an involuntary defense, and he slowly turned to glare at her with a look colder than his species' namesake. She was suddenly reminded, once again, of her severe disadvantage over him, of how easy it would be for him to impale her with an ice spear like a measly rabbit, and that image was enough to sober her anger a bit. Furthermore, this sobering brought her back to reality, to her earlier mindset. She said she wasn’t going to do this… she said she wasn’t going to lose her temper and do something stupid, and she’d done it anyway… She had to get it back under control so she could act rationally, not impulsively, which in this situation could quite possibly get her killed...

Though she, of course, very much like him, didn’t back down or show her sudden wariness, the sudden drop from her aggressive mannerisms was pretty obvious. She merely stood, firmly rooted in place, head held high and eyes narrowed to amber orange slits as she glared daggers at him, only the faintest remnants of a snarl on her face. The sparks also visibly died down, now faint and far and few between, looking vaguely like glowing fleas hopping off of her and less like something that could start a forest fire.

In response to him mocking her duty as his captor and claiming he didn’t need to tell her ‘mediocre’ pack anything, she merely curled her lip and huffed, a low rumble starting in her throat, though she managed to keep her temper reigned in this time. Relax. Rational. Take a step back and think rationally. Ignore his taunts.

Head forcibly cleared, now she remembered the herd - y’know, the reason they were out here in the first place - so maybe it was time to get back to that. She figured if he wasn't willing to cooperate before, he definitely wouldn't now, being on the defensive and such, and, quite frankly, now that she was uncertain of his true place in the Ice Pack, she felt even less comfortable with getting so close to their borders. They’d just have to report back what they found to Delia, and really, it should be enough to let the hunters finish the job… so long as the duo was quick about getting back before the trail faded. As for the whole thing with the patrol and "Chronos"'s little lie... she'd just have to drop it for now. She knew she wasn't getting any answers from him... but who knows. Maybe she'd figure it out later; wake up in the middle of the night with everything clear and obvious. Maybe there'd be more slip ups in the future and more would be revealed. Either way, it was time to move on. Welp, that settled it.

She didn’t like giving him what he wanted, but it was either that or flat out killing him, and she (unfortunately) couldn’t do that (yet). Sighing exasperatedly, she tilted her nose up and attempted to sound cool and unbothered as she addressed him. “Fine. Don’t tell me anything." She paused for a moment to think, gears turning in her head. "In fact, I think your unwillingness to cooperate just proves I’m right. I’m sure Saraf will find this whole ordeal quite interesting.” Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, and a cruel smile tempted her lips, though the smugness only showed in her eyes. “Actually, I’m sure he’ll love hearing about your little charade after all of your accusations last night. Perhaps it takes a liar to know a liar, hm?”

Whether or not she’d actually tell Saraf had yet to be seen. As aforementioned, it made sense to assume the Rat must be someone pretty important if he felt the need to lie about his identity… and this could either be a good, ‘wow-you-did-a-good-job-capturing him-Viveka’ important or a bad, ‘oh-dear-Azar-Viveka-what-curse-have-you-brought-upon-us’ important. Yeah... she’d rather try to figure it out for herself before letting Saraf know, just in case.

Smug moment having now passed, her face once more fell into an unamused expression as she turned away from him. “Anyway… We’re heading back. We’ve tracked the herd far enough for the hunters to take care of the rest, and we wouldn’t want you getting too close and causing the herd to trample our children again, would we?” The last statement was delivered darkly, intentionally meant to give him a verbal smack, since she chose not to give him a physical one. Maybe that stab of guilt would shut him up for the journey home - she could really use the peace an quiet - though, knowing him, she hardly expected his annoying nonsense to stop…

Without another word, she took a moment to get her bearings, then started to walk back towards camp.


***


When traveling directly back towards the heart of the Fire Pack territory from where the two had stopped, they would end up passing through the area where Azar’s sacred temple was. Not even just through it’s area, but directly past it’s entrance.

The shrine itself was located inside a cave dug beneath the hollowed out roots of a large tree, and was marked by a crude flaming wolf carving in the tree’s trunk, made through the bark being carefully and intricately burned to weaken it, then clawed/gnawed. Viveka knew this because one of the Fire Pack’s customs was for a newly selected Alpha to approach the tree and recarve the markings in front of the entire pack. Supposedly, the idea was to prove one’s faith to Azar and the pack by being careful not to burn the whole tree and/or forest down. Saraf was the only Alpha she knew of whom had to do it twice due to those lowlife Ice Wolves breaking their agreement and desecrating the shrine.

Thinking of that event actually sent a faint chill down her spine, reminding her of the Ice Wolf she had in toe and of his lies. So… if he wasn’t Chronos, who was he? The question bothered her still, and oddly enough, as they began to pass the shrine’s entrance and she noticed the carved tree out of the corner of her eye, being reminded of that event, she did wonder if there was a connection. It’d explain why he lied - insulting the Fire Pack’s god was a crime even to the Ice Wolves. However, there could still be hundreds of war crimes he could be just as guilty of, so she had no real reason to think the theory was any more plausible than anything else... Just a thought...

[MyLostShadow]

A Q U I L O

A harsh laugh split the air as the Fire Wolf reacted to his comment about her not being able to force answers out of him. Truthfully, he didn't fancy another face full of flames (or worse) if she did decided to give it a go and try and unravel what had just happened; it wouldn't have surprised him if, given her rising temper, the Beta did give it a go. He'd turned away though before she had lashed out at him, hearing the clang of her teeth as her jaw snapped shut. Another second and Aquilo might have found himself with another injury to add to the growing collection granted to him by the Beta.

Had his brother really just looked him in the eyes, seen that he had been captured by the Fire Pack, and walked off? They hadn't left on bad terms, though maybe they'd been given a hard time after he'd been chased out by the Beta that fateful night. It would make sense; Chronos and Dakota were his siblings, perhaps the Alpha and Beta thought they might've know something about the plot. He hadn't told them, of course he hadn't. He hadn't told them because he didn't want them to have to choose between loyalty to the pack and loyalty to him. If they didn't know anything, the Alpha couldn't punish them for his actions, right?

"Where's Aquilo?" a worried voice belonging to a dark grey she-wolf asked. The Ice Wolf was on her feet in seconds as her eyes darted around the small alcove dug in to the side of a great cliff. Thin vines hung down to cover the entrance slightly, while piles of leaves, grass, fur, and feathers formed five nests, big enough for a wolf to curl up comfortably and shelter from the raging storm outside.

Two of the nests were stone cold, as though they hadn't been used for moons. Two were occupied, though both of the wolves in them were now wide awake and searching the alcove in vain, both confusion and worry present in their green eyes. The last nest was empty, though upon placing a paw into the bedding material the female discovered it to still be radiating some warmth. "He was here not long ago...I never heard him leave!" the female yelped, the shock of finding her brother gone now turning in to worry as she glanced through the vines to look at the rain shooting down from the sky and ricocheting off the ground, the occasional crack of thunder bouncing off the walls of all the caves in the Ice Pack camp. "He won't have gone far, Dakota. He's probably just checking the territory to make sure no Fire Mutts take advantage of this storm and try to sneak into our borders" a male voice responded, his usual calm tone nearly drowned out by the storm. They both knew, however, that Aquilo wasn't scheduled for tonight's guard duties, and even if he had gone to check on the guards he would've stirred his siblings and let them know.

The male, Chronos, gave one last look around the alcove before motioning with his head for Dakota to follow him, "Come on, let's see if we can find him". The two wolves used their noses to push the vines out of the way as they exited the comfort of their beds, being met with the razor sharp wind blowing oceans of droplets of rain into their faces. The weather was the least of their concerns as they trotted briskly to the centre of the camp. Nobody stirred. Everything was still. Squinting their eyes they could see the outlines of two wolves sat by the main entrance to camp, but no sign of their brother. "He's not here!" Dakota shouted over the rain, lowering her head as a particularly strong gust of wind threatened to push her over. "I'll go and ask the guards if they've seen him. You go and see if he's by the food storage or in the healer's den" Chronos said, turning and galloping towards the guards. Dakota could faintly see them look around, their fur bristled at first before they realised who it was.

Dakota first checked the food storage, a cave that lay deep within the cliff so as to protect it from both the elements and to hide it should any invaders come to try and steal their food. It didn't take Dakota long to reach it, she'd nearly slipped over several times she was in such a rush to check the storage and hopefully be greeted by the familiar face of her brother. He wasn't there.

The young she-wolf was just heading back in to the centre of camp when a chorus of snarls and yells sounded above the storm. Eyes wide with fear and panic thinking that the Fire Wolves had launched an attack on the camp, she broke out in to a full sprint, paws sliding everywhere on the slippery rock as she burst into the camp. Losing her footing as she tried to skid to a halt, Dakota fell and landed awkwardly on her side. Winded she gasped for breathe, scrambling to her paws as two figures locked in a vicious scuffle tumbled out of the Alpha's den. "Aquilo!" Dakota wailed as she ran forward only to lose her footing once again as her front left leg gave way beneath her.

Aquilo roared as a set of jaw locked on to his shoulder, sinking deep in to the flesh as he aimed a paw at the other wolf's eye. His attacker yelped in pain as Aquilo's claws skidded across his open eye, causing him to release his hold on the Lead Fighter. The rest of the Ice Pack (most of whom were already awake due to the storm) rushed out of their dens fearing the same thing as Dakota as Aquilo got to his paws, his coat covered with frost as he prepared to launch sharp, arrow like ice shards at the other large, white furred male. He never got that far however, as the Alpha stumbled out of her den and was much swifter in sending a jet of water in his direction, preventing him momentarily from summoning the ice as the jet battered his side. It was enough time for the male to recover, now blind in one eye, and charge at Aquilo once again.

Chronos had left the company of the guards as soon as he heard the fight break out. Now he was helping Dakota up (who was still trying to walk on her twisted leg to try and get to Aquilo). "What's going on?" she yelped, eyes fearful as the rest of the pack formed a semi-circle around the fighting wolves, some letting out angry barks and bristling. "I...I don't know" her brother replied, helping his sister along as they rushed towards the crowd, desperate to help their brother.

"Traitor!" the white wolf, the Beta of the Ice Pack, barked at Aquilo. Both were panting heavily, various cuts and bruises scattered across their bodies as blood stained their fur. Aquilo snarled, hackles raised as he took a step back, aware of the growing crowd which began to cut off any escape routes. Their faces were a mix of confusion, shock, and anger: Aquilo had always been a respected member of the pack, valued for his ability as a Lead Fighter and his leader-like attitude. "This scum tried to kill Alpha Zyra! The traitor!" Seething with rage the Beta advanced forward, Zyra still half in shock as she watched from the edge of the crowd. Whispers from the crowd quickly turned into barks and growls, though as Aquilo's eyes scanned the wall created by the pack for escape route, Chronos and Dakota pushed through and stared at him, Dakota with worry, and Chronos with disbelief. "Aquilo?" was the only word that managed to escape Chronos' throat before Aquilo blinked at his siblings and turned and fled. The Beta was hot on his heels, though soon was sent skidding to the ground as Aquilo used a great deal of his energy to turn the water on the rock to ice; it hindered most of the pack, enough to allow him to flee from the one place he had called home, though he was left with many cuts and bruises as a wave of ice shards and water were fired at him by his packmates.

The rain continued to pour down that night as Dakota and Chronos sat in the healer's den, staring out of the entrance as the healer tended to Dakota's injured leg. They tried to search for Aquilo, but his scent had been washed away by the rain, and he seemed to leave no trace of where he'd gone.

Wherever he was headed, he didn't want to be followed.


“Fine. Don’t tell me anything."

Aquilo looked around at the Beta, having previously been looking in the direction of the Ice Pack border, "I wasn't planning to" he replied, turning his gaze away from the border to look around absentmindedly at his surroundings. The shock of seeing his brother (and the uncertainty of what the Beta would do) beginning to disappear.

"In fact, I think your unwillingness to cooperate just proves I’m right. I’m sure Saraf will find this whole ordeal quite interesting. Actually, I’m sure he’ll love hearing about your little charade after all of your accusations last night. Perhaps it takes a liar to know a liar, hm?”

Nope, it was back. His eyes narrowed as he turned in her direction, opening his mouth to snap something back in response but finding no words left his throat as the Beta turned to leave. Fur bristling, he had no choice but to follow quietly behind, mind racing as he tried to think of a way out of his current situation.

*******

It wasn't until they were practically at the shrine's entrance that Aquilo snapped out of his trance and stopped abruptly. "Why are we at your sacred temple?" he suddenly asked, suspicion laced in his voice. He didn't think that any normal Ice Wolf would have no clue where they were, as entering the rival pack's territory and going anywhere near their sacred grounds was strictly forbidden. The events that had unfolded not long before had clearly clouded his mind, and caused the normally cautious wolf to speak without thinking what else he might reveal to the Beta (as if enough hadn't been revealed already).

His blue eyes went straight to the entrance of the shrine, memories of him and a handful of fighters leaving it in ruins still clear in is mind. They'd done a good job in covering the Ice Wolves' work up; any outsider wouldn't know that the shrine and surrounding area had been vandalised all those moons ago. Upon closer inspection Aquilo noted the engraving above the shrine had been re-carved. Whatever it was, he figured there must be some significance behind it. He himself hadn't actually ventured in to the shrine, he'd been too busy tearing down anything and everything he saw along with the rest of the group, though he had at one point seen an Ice Wolf emerge from the shrine before running off and joining the rest of the group in destroying the area. He'd never thought to ask the wolf what was down there, and so curiously he glanced down into the cave below the roots of the tree, but found his vision was obscured by the dark shadows below. He turned away.

[nyctorin.]

V I V E K A //

“Why are we at your sacred temple?”

Two dark, russet brown ears immediately swiveled back to catch the prisoner’s words, halting Viveka in her tracks so suddenly that he might have bumped into her if he wasn’t careful. The seeds of truth, which had been planted in her brain by his odd behavior, the actions of his pack mates, and all the facts and figures that simply didn’t add up, were finally starting to blossom into true realization at that one, singular question.

The bitter conflict that stretched on between the packs was only a mere declaration short of a full on war, meaning it was merciless and costly for both sides, their fighting having no limits. However, even in war (or this state of ‘almost-war’), there were still rules, boundaries set to show just how far was too far, even for a such a deep rooted rivalry as this. One such rule was that neither party was allowed to go anywhere near each others’ sacred grounds, let alone trespass on and desecrate said grounds. These sacred grounds belonged to the gods, and it would not be right to bring them into this mortal conflict, or, at least, since many considered the rivalry to be the will of the gods, anymore than they had to be. They could raid each others’ camps, steal each others’ prey, and kill each others’ people, but the gods were untouchable. Therefore, an average Ice Wolf should have no idea what the Fire Pack temple looked like, not even from inference, since, to an outsider, the temple should just look like a regular tree with a symbol carved into it (which could mean anything from herb storage to patrolling boundaries). How could he possibly know this was the pack’s sacred temple?

Well, it was quite simple. A band of Ice Wolves had, in fact, been so bold as to violate their one law of war, as everyone knew. Viveka herself had not been around at the time, but it was one of the hot topics most discussed when she had arrived, since the entire pack had been put on edge to protect their temple. One of her first jobs as a Fighter was to guard said temple, since they hadn’t known if the Ice Wolves would attack it again. And, was it just a coincidence, that the leader of said band… was the previous Lead Fighter known as Aquilo? A wolf, from what she knew via the word of Fire Wolf patrollers and spies, had been banished some time after for attempting to kill his leader?

In the split second it took for her to draw all of these conclusions, her guard hairs slowly rising and her chest heaving with shortened breaths, Viveka felt both the immensely smug satisfaction of having figured him out, and the horrible dread that came with knowing these truths. For, if she was right, then that meant… he wasn’t even a member of Ice Pack anymore. He had no real weight… keeping him captive as leverage meant nothing to the Ice Wolves… if anything, for his heinous crimes, they might even enjoy the idea of him being held prisoner by the enemy. That would explain the behavior of that patrol… Their smug, knowing smirks as they watched him from his well-deserved prison…

How could she possibly approach her pack about this? Well.. she couldn’t! They’d already resented her for daring to bring him here in the first place! Now how would they react, knowing it was all for naught? That their camp had been destroyed, one of their children killed, and many others injured, for a useless rogue?! Oh, and don’t even get her started on Saraf! As her Alpha, she felt he had a right to know these things… Hide all she wanted from the pack, but hiding such knowledge from Saraf, her leader, the wolf whom took her in and saw such potential in her, was horrible, especially when he already had one paw in the grave and wasn’t expected to be around much longer… but what else could she do…? He’d certainly tell the pack, or at least show them by executing the fool that’d dared to insult him. To tell Saraf was to tell the pack… To tell any of them any of this would be the final nail in the coffin that was the respect Fire Pack held for her… they’d never trust her with anything ever again, let alone with the leadership of their people...

Armed with all of this information… the Beta began to feel very sick.

Are you really so selfish, so concerned with your own life, that you’d risk harboring a wolf in their midst that didn’t even obey the laws of his own pack? Think of what he’s already done, and what else he’ll do, if you keep him here-!

She closed her eyes and mentally shook her head, trying not to listen that critical voice inside her. No… Saraf himself thought it a sign of Azar that she serve as the next Alpha. and though she really wasn’t religious enough to completely believe that, she wanted to make him proud… She wanted to live up to the great things he claimed to see in her...

Everything would be fine. She could hide it… hide it until she became Alpha, then have him formally executed once his “leverage” was no longer needed, as was the original plan. No on needed to know… and if the Ice Wolves still stormed their camp and the truth was out in the open, she could just claim she didn’t know… Oh Azar… what on Earth had she gotten herself- no, all of them, into…?but… maybe… maybe she was wrong? Maybe she assumed too much…?

She doubted the Ice Rat would clear any of this up for her (from his perspective, he probably thought she wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if she knew the truth, and how much she wished that could be the case), but regardless, she needed confirmation. Or, to at least bounce this off of SOMEONE else, so she wouldn’t keep it all to herself… so it wouldn’t all be in her head.

After an uncomfortable pause of silence, she finally turned to gaze at him over her shoulder with a single intense and scrutinizing amber eye. “How, in the name of Azar, do you know this is our sacred temple?” she questioned, slowly and coolly, her gaze narrowing. “As far as I am aware, there is only a very specific handful of you Rats that has ever seen it… Care to explain, whatever-your-REAL-name-is?” The she wolf spoke with knowing malice, a sort of “got you now” edge to her voice, but he didn’t know how much she wished to be wrong… how intensely her heart was beating as she waited for his dreaded answer.

[MyLostShadow]

A Q U I L O

Aquilo's eyes shot to the Beta as she suddenly stopped, her ears perked and alert to catch his voice as he spoke. What was the problem now? A small impatient grumble escaped his mouth as he meandered a few steps away from her, his back to the shrine. He wasn't paying much attention to her till, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her guards hairs raising like she'd just spotted another Ice Pack patrol; they were too far from the border for that though. So what? What had caused the sudden wave of hostility in her body language. A quick glance around confirmed there were no other wolves here apart from the two of them, not even a rabbit or bird was visible in the clearing. Perhaps she'd caught an unfamiliar scent? He checked the air with a deep intake of breath through his nose, but once again found nothing out of the ordinary. Slightly confused, the male stood in silence staring at the Beta, who seemed to have frozen and now be staring into space. Another grumble, slightly louder this time, left his mouth as he waited for some sort of explanation as to why they had stopped again. With all the interruptions they'd had, he doubted they'd even get back to the Fire Camp back before sundown!

Eventually, after what seemed like an eon to Aquilo, the Beta looked over her shoulder at him with a particularly cold and intense stare:

“How, in the name of Azar, do you know this is our sacred temple?”

Oh. So that was what she'd picked up on. Of course, why was he being so stupid! He should've kept his jaw shut and marched quietly passed the temple without saying a word; the only reason they were going through the sacred site was that this was likely a shortcut to their camp. But no, he had to go and ask why they were here, revealing that he knew exactly what their sacred grounds looked like, even if his 'visit' had been many moons ago. What was wrong with him? He was normally so collected and careful, and yet here he was, giving away hint after hint that he wasn't who he said he was.

“As far as I am aware, there is only a very specific handful of you Rats that has ever seen it… Care to explain, whatever-your-REAL-name-is?”

Aquilo growled lowly at her, annoyed that he'd let that vital piece of information slip off his tongue like it was nothing. He didn't pause though, not for long, as he lifted his head and turned his gaze away from her. "Maybe I have been here before. What is it to you, Fire Mutt?" he said coolly, lifting his head to look at the canopy above, "I don't need to explain anything to you, mutt, even if I am you're prisoner for now". The Ice Wolf finally met the Fire Wolf's hard stare once again, challengingly staring into her fire-like eyes. Already he was becoming tired of having to spend so much time with the Fire Wolf, and it had only been a day. Given the current situation, however, he doubted that he could hope to be leaving any time soon; they hadn't, at least not fully, worked out who he was yet, and so didn't know that he was of no value to the Ice Pack. Still, he assumed Saraf would want to keep his capture a secret from the Ice Pack for a little longer yet, to give the Fire Pack time to strengthen and recover from the recent stampede that had ruined parts of their camp. He'd just have to learn to put up with the Beta and the rest of her pack for a bit longer.

What would the Beta even say to the rest of the pack when they returned? They'd been out for awhile, and yet hadn't found the herd they were meant to be tracking. Would she tell the rest of the pack about their encounter with the other Ice Wolves? Would they figure out who he was? As much as he wanted to be stubborn about it, be as difficult as he could with the Beta and make her life as difficult as possible while he was being kept prisoner, he began to realise that, if he annoyed her too much, she could easily turn and tell the rest of her pack all about his slip-ups (that is, if she wasn't planning on doing that already) and, as a result, they might make him reveal who he was and all he knew, using whatever means that deemed necessary.

Upon realising this, Aquilo huffed and broke eye contact with the Beta, frustration growing as he realised he was going to have to try and be at least a little bit more...reserved and less confrontational with her. "Are we heading back to your camp then?" he mumbled, barely audible, it taking a great deal of effort for him to keep a growl out of his voice. It seemed his time he was going to be even more difficult than he had first imagined.

[nyctorin.]

V I V E K A //

Though a cool and intense facade about was kept about the Beta, one that appeared unphased and completely in control of what was happening, her quickly beating heart instantly dropped to the pit of her stomach when the prisoner’s nonchalant response met her ears, confirming her dreadful suspicions: “Maybe I have been here before.” That was it. That was all she needed to hear. He didn’t even bother trying to deny or hide it; at best, he only attempted to appear unbothered by this extremely detrimental revelation, wishing to keep his cool as she did her’s. It seemed the hole he’d dug himself into was too deep for even a skilled liar such as he to climb out of… so he merely attempted compliance to try and make things easier. She heaved a long, mental sigh, silently asking Azar what she was do to now, though she was certain he’d turned away from her a long time ago.

“What’s it to you, Fire Mutt?”

After an intense staring match between the two, Viveka broke his gaze and could not help the harsh and amused “huh” that emitted from her throat. What’s it to her? It was EVERYTHING to her; she was staking her whole career on his imprisonment! Did he not understand that, should this whole plan fall through, the blame would be placed on her head? Did it not occur to him how furious her pack would be to discover this was all for naught? Maybe not… maybe he was too concerned with his own situation… or maybe her expectations were unrealistic and merely projected from her own panicky subconscious. Maybe none of those things were obvious at all… She wasn’t sure, but she was too stressed to consider. Perhaps, given the circumstances then, it was best to keep her mouth shut, to not speak of what she assumed they both knew to be true and to just continue on with this unspoken secret like all was normal, to doup her pack mates until she could properly dispose of him herself, but once again, the Beta found herself WANTING to talk about it, WANTING to get some of this off her chest and into the air so the weight of it all wasn’t crushing her. Besides, he didn’t honestly expect a comment that stupid to go without response, did he? How could he even begin to ask what it meant to her?

“What is it to me - the wolf who set this whole arrangement in motion - that you are not who you say you are? Who I said you are? That you not only happen to be one of the wolves that desecrated our sacred shrine all those seasons ago, therefore breaking your own pack’s laws (so never mind our’s!),” she quickly took a breath, “but were also regarded indifferently by your own kind just now? That all of this could possibly mean you weren’t even in the Ice Pack when I found you, therefore you are of NO USE to us as a prisoner and all of your transgressions were for NOTHING?”

Well, so much for staying silent on the matter. What was meant to just be a simple rhetorical response for his foolish comment had turned into a stress-induced verbal spiel about her thoughts, the words just flowing nonstop from her chest as if being forced out by some higher power and unintentionally exposing the concerns and frustrations that currently plagued her mind. Though she’d grown a tad shaky from losing control of her worries, her amber gaze was sharp and unyielding as she fiercely glared back at him, betraying none of her innermost thoughts, but now she feared her words just had... It seemed they both were growing a little loose in the tongue…

Mind racing with ways to handle this new situation, she abruptly turning away from him, setting her anxious sights dead ahead and wanting nothing more than to just get back to camp and let this day be over with. As with yesterday, she was growing too stressed and tired to continue putting up with his nonsense, and was desperate to get some sleep… to let her mind rest before she had to wake up and deal with him again tomorrow. As she went over what needed to happen before this could be accomplished, she recalled that she still needed to go tell Delia what they’d discovered about the herd, and preferably before the scent grew any weaker… Now a new anxiety grew in her stomach as she realized the other might not take so kindly to how long they’d been gone and how little they’d actually found… Would she have to tell her about the incident with the patrol to justify their findings...? She couldn’t think of any other excuse for what had happened… surely she could put it in such a way that wouldn’t reveal anything… Heck, maybe she could even lie, say the patol stopped them from advancing any further… Though, she’d have to come up with a clever reason as to why they hadn’t tried to take the prisoner back… Still, that would be best. Of course she didn’t want the Ice Rat there for that, lest he might tease her for being a “hypocrite”. So, before she could get to Delia, she’d need to settle “Chronos” in his little cave and fetch the night guards, then go talk to the Lead Huntress. A tired slight slipped past her lips as she went over her plans, the presence of the prisoner behind her all but forgotten.

“Are we going to go back to your camp or what?” He suddenly mumbled in a low, barely audible voice, the snark and arrogance gone from his tone. She silently agreed, flicking her ears back to show she heard then proceeding to move forward again. Not another word on the matter was spoken, as she needed to think of how exactly she was going to talk to Delia, and hopefully it would stay that way for the rest of their journey.


***


Their return to the camp went without commotion, as it was late and most were either turning in or getting ready for night shift duties. The world was awash with the deep violet hues of dusk, the sun having sunk beneath the horizon and the dark blanket of the night slowly falling over them. A small fire was set in the midst of camp; not the large, impressive pire it had been during the feast, but large enough to provide a source of light for those still awake. A few clumps of softly chatting wolves littered the camp as well as individuals calmly moving from place to place, merely going about their regular duties, and it was worth observing that in their natural habitat (i.e. without an Ice Wolf in their presence), the Fire Wolves seemed lot more mellow… or perhaps that was just the blissful haze of sleep overtaking them.

As Viveka emerged from the forest and surveyed the Fire Pack camp with stern yet wary eyes, she noticed the kill pile was much larger than it had been before, suggesting the hunters had definitely kept themselves busy during her absence, and the camp in general seemed a bit more tidy than before, some reparations having clearly been made to the damages of the stampede. The calm sight was almost enough to convince Viveka all would be alright… until she saw Delia looking on from afar, seated stiffly near the hunters’ portion of camp with her ears pricked and eyes boring into the arriving pair, having clearly been awaiting their return. The Beta inhaled deeply and slowly as she stared right back, silently communicating to the huntress that they would talk after she got the prisoner situated.

Speaking of, Aden came over then, having also been waiting for the two to come back. She turned her gaze to the dark furred fighter, watching him as he half-trotted half-slunk over to their position, pointedly not making eye contact with the Ice Rat and looking to her as he waited for instruction. A single brow was arched at this, the Beta looking over his shoulder in search of Orion… but the Lead Fighter was nowhere to be seen. Aden recognized this at once (having probably expected it) and somewhat hesitantly informed, “It’s just me tonight. Orion wants to see how I can handle it by myself.” It took a great of the Beta’s self control to not make a face at this news.

That was always the plan of course, for Aden to one day not need supervision, but now, after just one night of guarding… it was a little soon… and the obviousness of this fact made her wonder if Orion had other reasons for not attending… but what those might be, Viv couldn’t begin to fathom, not at this time. She glanced over his shoulder again, hoping he might be misinformed or that Orion might change his mind and come after all, but the russet male was nowhere to be seen, so she sighed and looked back to the subordinate before her.

“Alright, you know where to take him then.” She glanced back at the prisoner with a faint warning lurking in her amber gaze. “Howl if there’s any incident.” Just a precaution, and one he didn’t need to be reminded of. Plus, after what had recently transpired, she doubted not-Chronos even would dare to try anything tonight…

Aden nodded to her command then, sensing it was finally time to do his job, he raised his head and attempted to look more like the fighter he was, puffing out his chest and fixing the Ice Rat with an intense, red stare, though his body language was still immensely uncertain, his ears flicking indecisively between erect and pinned back. “Move along!” He barked, stepping around Viv and nodding his head in the cave’s direction.

Though she knew she should probably help caral the prisoner into his sleeping place, Viveka noted Delia still staring at her from the corner of her eyes, clearly waiting for that report on the herd. Aden could handle himself, she figured, as she turned away and began moving in the Lead Hunter’s direction, and if he couldn’t, then perhaps he belonged with the Omegas. Either way, she would not concern herself with those two anymore until she came by later to check in… for now, Delia.


***