Til I Collapse;; open

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Cloudy skies blanketed the mountains, Castien lifted his head and took in a deep breath. There was a faint trace of wolf. But, it was overpowered by the life of the forest. Squirrels, rabbits, fox, even. These lands were claimed by a pack, of what size was hard to tell. They obviously didn't come around these parts often. But this was a good thing, right? That meant he was near other wolves. But if they were aggressive than they did not come here often, he was safe... Somewhat. His senses were on high alert, scoping out any movement, any scent, any sound. He wouldn't let them get to him before he found them.

That happened only once in his life, and his life was changed forever. He could still taste the blood in his mouth, feel the pain of their bite, see the bodies... Everywhere. He fought his way through the mess. Looking for her. He left her side. Stupid, dumb, bad. He was supposed to protect her. Idiot, moron. He'd pay for that. Mistake. He paid for that; look where he was. In some unknown pack's territory, alone, in pain, and confused. How had his life turned around so quickly? He would give anything to have it back the way it was. He felt his stomach twist with anger as he thought of his former alpha. He growled and lifted his muzzle and howled, "Do you believe me now, Tuor? Now that your daughter is dead, do you believe me now?!"

It took him only a second after to realize what had just happened. What was wrong with him? Was he out of his mind? 'Yes.' He snarled at this thought, he was temporarily damaged, was more like it. He would build himself back up to his old self. He had to forget about his past, first. He had to forget his old pack, his family, her. Focus on the future. Someone for the unknown pack must've heard his howl, and if they were any kind of good pack they'd be on their way right this moment.

He wouldn't run. He wouldn't hide. He was done running. It was time to put his life back on track. Time to say goodbye to Tari. He wouldn't give up on himself like Tuor did. He gave up hope, cowered as his pack was hunted, Castien should have taken over, forced him to fight back before they were forced to fight for their lives. His iggest regret. But, not again. He would keep fighting until he collapsed. Whatever it took.

[Vorilye]

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[atrb=background,http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/corpes2/vorilyemid.png] As the near inaudible sound of Vorilye's golden socks drew further into Airila's territory, the brute emitted a soft sigh. The alpha had yet to approach him, and he had grown impatient with his wait. He could not be considered a trespasser, after all, if the alpha had bothered to approach him by now, he might possibly have been a member of the pack. And so he wandered the mountainous region, his breath deep and even as he hummed softly to himself. It was quite beautiful out here; he could get used to this rather easily. "Do you believe me now, Tuor? Now that your daughter is dead, do you believe me now?!" The bizarre howl cut through the air, and Vorilye quickened his pace toward the strange voice, curious to see what was going on to warrant such an outcry. Perhaps it was his curiosity had been peaked, or maybe he was concerned that this wolf was a murderer on the resident pack's lands that would need to be handled swiftly. Either way, Vorilye was prepared for whatever situation may present itself to him. His golden paws danced across the rocky terrain as he drew closer to the stranger's voice. Vorilye spied the offending wolf as a dot that gradually grew larger with each stride. As he drew close, he noted that, like himself, this brute was a Mackenzie Valley, though size-wise there was no comparison. He stood a hefty half a foot taller than the stranger, and he likely dominated him in weight as well. With such a disadvantage physically, it would be foolish for the brute to try anything violent. This was meant to comfort Vorilye, but he found himself considering the various fighting options available; he shook his head to clear it. It should not have to come to that, he reminded himself. There was no scent of fresh blood in the area, and so his notion that the wolf was a murderer was temporarily set aside. He knew that the other brute would spot him. He seated himself some distance away, observing the wolf's mannerisms with piqued curiosity. Vorilye was intent to determine this brute's motive for patrolling occupied territory. Like Crow before him, Vorilye did not speak a greeting to the wolf; some may have believed him to be mute had it not been for the rare conditions under which he would speak. It had been quite some time since his last verbal conversation, as he typically left all interactions to physical manifestations of his intentions. He dipped his crown lightly in greeting to the brute, his golden orbs twinkling with an intrigued gaze. It may be unnerving for the other brute; it was not unlike a stranger to feel scrutinized between the monstrosity's watchful eye. He was an oddity, and he played the part well. Oh, dear stranger. Perhaps you will be some fun for my tired soul, he thought, a laugh trickling through his eyes before settling down once more. As was usual, no sound left the brute's maw; he simply watched.

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His sudden outburst was so unlike him, so different, so foreign coming from his body, from his mouth. He could hardly believe that everything that was built up inside of him for the ambush, decided to explode while he was in possibly hostile territory.He never would have done that in his right mind. But, again, he wasn't in his right mind, now was he? He was tired of kicking himself, tired of taking the blame for every wrong thing that happened in his life, tired of missing her. Another mental kick. It was time to forget about her, remember? He blocked out her memory again, tried to forget that day.

It didn't take much to break Cas's thinking train, his peripherals caught sight of a dark figure coming toward him, bigger than Cas, but silent on it's paws. But the other wolf did not finish it's journey to Castien, in fact the figure stopped some distance away and watched Castien, as if to analyze each and every move. At first, Castien did the same. He was just close enough to make out the more apparent features, he was big. Obviously a brute, but size didn't scare Cas. Hardly anything did. Height and weight did not change the fact that the brute had fatal points, just like every other wolf. It just meant he could put up more of a fight to go down. And if his life taught him nothing else, it was that every dog had his day. And Cas could be the sunset if he wanted to. This was not the thing that caught Castien off guard.

This wolf had golden fur, not all golden, actually he was mostly black, but his paws and his lower jaw was gold. Castien had never seen anything like it. He finally started toward the stranger wolf, possibly the alpha? There was no way of telling. The other male dipped his head in greeting, dimming Castien's suspicions of aggressiveness. Dimmed, not dismissed. He stopped about six feet away from him, lowering his own head to return the brute's silent greeting. But, the golden wolf stayed quiet, a test? Ha. Well, Cas had more respect than the average loner, he knew the pack codes, spoken or not. He would not speak to the alpha of a pack he does not belong to unless spoken to first. These were not his lands, he would not disrespect the alpha within the first ten seconds.

He simply kept his ears laid back, all signs of aggression gone. He wondered how long the silence would last until words were spoken.

[Vorilye]

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[atrb=background,http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/corpes2/vorilyemid.png] It took a lot to impress Vorilye, and so far, the brute was not impressed. In fact, while he was not necessarily disappointed by the stranger's actions, he found nothing noteworthy or important in his behavior. The aggression had quickly left the unfamiliar wolf, and the multi-hued wolf had closed the gap between himself and Vorilye to a mere couple yards. He was ever watching, his golden orbs probing the brute, the questions he wanted to ask obvious in his eyes. What was this wolf doing here? Why would he confront another loner with a somewhat reverent approach? And most of all, what the hell were they doing? Vorilye was beyond confused by their ancounter. He was an outsider, however confident he may act, and always had been. His own family had not wanted him, and neither had his birth family. In fact, the brute should have been burdened beyond belief with the curse of his past, yet he trudged on. His eyes scanned the wolf with a bemused expression; he would not speak, and this wolf did not seem to be making any attempts to start a conversation. There was no need for verbalization between them. They were both strangers in this land, but at least Vorilye had attempted to alert the alpha. If said alpha were to approach them, then Vorilye would find it in himself to speak with him or her, but a sound would not come from his mouth until that point. This brute did not deserve his voice. He had done nothing to earn it. I wonder how the family is doing. I hope Arwen is faring well, he thought, his mind wandering away from his physical body, yet he stayed alert to his surroundings. Ithilwen must be enjoying herself as well, he thought sourly. The femme was forever going to be a sore subject from him. Maybe Vorilye would find love again, but it would take time to trust again. He had been betrayed his entire life, and he would never fully trust someone he had not spent sufficient amounts of time around these days. Vorilye's gaze swept across the mountains, and he took in the lovely scenery. Hopefully the alpha would be able to find them here, as his scent trail was quite fresh and distinct. The scent markers on the territory however... They were not extraordinarily fresh. Maybe the pack had moved along? He would be quite disappointed if he was not given the opportunity to at least greet the alpha and consider his options. There was plenty of territory here, but he would take the time to meet and weigh the choices before he stormed off the territory. He would wait, but not much longer. ((OOC: If Castien feels ignored, that's just Vorilye's behavior. He won't speak until told to, and even then he may not.))

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Silence. He didn't think his first encounter with the alpha of these lands would be so quiet. He didn't know of any kind of alpha that was so quiet, in fact, most alphas stormed through their lands until they were face to face with their intruder, spouting questions that made it hard for Castien to keep his short temper under control. But, this wolf was so quiet, his eyes asking what his mouth would not speak. This frustrated the brute, how could you lead a pack if you can not question an foreign wolf's motives for being on your lands? Then it hit him. Maybe this wasn't the alpha of these lands he stumbled across. Maybe, in fact, these other wolf was merely playing mind games with him. He didn't like head games, it was not that he couldn't keep up, Cas was very intelligent and more than capable of keeping up. He wasn't much for games to begin with. He held back a growl, and cleared his throat to speak instead.

"Since you can not scavenge the courage to speak to the one you approached, I suppose I will do the honors for you," He was no longer the respectful wolf he had intended to be when the black and gold male first arrived, his patience had run thin quickly since then. "Now, any alpha would demand to know what I was doing here. yet, you sit here and watch me instead. This can only lead me to believe you do not protect these lands, and you are not the alpha nor a member of the reigning pack at all." He looked the male in the eye, his annoyance displayed in his features.

"Now, that said. I am still at wonder why you would approach me at all, being that I am a loner, and you are one as well." He third expected silence from the brute, third a lunge, third to watch him stalk away as if nothing happened. In his earlier years, Cas had a rather well-trained mouth, but in recent times, his patience had grown thin and he was less capable at controlling his tongue, but he hardly found himself in too much trouble with it. He knew how to back himself up if this other loner were to act out on his words. 'I suppose this will be a real test on his tolerance and self-control.' He words were not much of anything to really become offended by, he had heard worse and withstood worse in the past. But he knew nothing of this other wolf, other than he looked like he hated the world. That he didn't have much compassion for anyone, let alone a loner that, like most large brutes, thought he could snap Castien in half.

He was smaller, not dumber.

Something most wolves did not understand and are completely caught off guard by how much that truly mattered. Not size; skill. He was wasting time being here, but really, where did he need to be?

((OOC: yeeah, I wanted to break the ice. haha (: ))

[Vorilye]

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[atrb=background,http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/corpes2/vorilyemid.png] Vorilye's golden orbs flashed to the strange brute's muzzle, and he knew seconds before the other mackenzie valley wolf spoke that he was prepping himself to do so. He cocked his head expectantly, waiting for what he was sure to be a berating string of words directed toward him. He was not foreign to the treatment, as he had more than once been in a similar situation. Other wolves were not comfortable with silence. Vorilye found it inviting, comforting, and mostly a safe area. If he did not speak, the wolf could not twist his words. He would be judged on actions, not on words; there was a smaller margin for error available. As the stranger prattled on, Vorilye's eyes still twinkled with amusement. The wolf was finally done with his rampage when a slicing howl of an alpha cut across the territory. And so the alpha was not even here. Foolish leadership, he thought, his brow furrowed in frustration. How could he bring himself to live under an alpha that could not even maintain the scent markers on his own territory? Vorilye was not disrespectful openly, but there was no doubting the brute's irritation at this situation. He had come in search of a pack, and instead had stumbled across two separate loners with no regards for the sanctity that was a pack's homeland. He would not put up with wolves like this living around him. He was better than that. "Go find the alpha of this territory." The words were spoken softly, yet with much conviction behind them. He was not content to stay here. Vorilye would find somewhere that suited him better, and then he would settle there. There was no place for him to live in a pack with an inexperienced alpha and no support to watch over the pack lands. He was not going to settle for second rate. If anything, Vorilye was more turned off at the idea of an established pack at this point than he was after his home pack had disowned him. There was nothing good coming from these "friendly" pack wolves. A pack needed to be run with an iron fist, and it did not seem like anyone around here was capable of doing it. He would show them. Without any further explanation to his presence, the brute turned on his heel and trotted toward the south. He would make his own way, away from these pack wolves. Vorilye was his own being, with a future and dreams in tow. I will not let these foolish, boorish wolves drag me down, he thought sourly. He was not going to settle somewhere that could not command his attention. He needed to be in charge, or he needed someone who could put him in his place. This area offered him neither of the options. So be it. ((OOC: Sorry to have him storm off. He is easily frustrated with others lol.))

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Several moments went by without the brute saying a word. He couldn't read the emotions that may have been running through his mind. And the longer he waited the more he cared less about what the wolf thought, he was showing no effort in getting along with Cas, so why should Cas put forth the effort to get along with him? He was not worth his time. And he could tell that he felt the same way, if he felt anything at all. It wasn't fair, how could Cas being feeling so much while this other brute is feeling nothing at all? It brewed frustration in him and he wanted to yell out, 'Say something!' But, the words remained in his head instead.

A howl sliced the tension between the two, and finally he spoke."Go find the alpha of this territory." Seven words. That was all he offered before he stalked off. Castien merely stood there and watched as he grew smaller with distance. This day was going smoothly. He came here to find the pack who runs these territories and maybe join with them. But, instead he found this wolf who woke up on the wrong side of the thorn bush and found a dead bird in his drinking water. He almost wished he hadn't showed up, but he also wanted to see and interact with as many faces as he could if he was going to live here.

And... he was gone. The wolf was out of sight, and with that Castien decided to take his advice and he started toward the origin of the howl. It was time to do what he was originally trying to do the second he came here. Find the alpha and find a pacl. Find a new life. Forget about her. And he left the view of the mountains behind.