How easy it would be if he could just go up to her and tell her how he felt. Lubomir knew that he didn't have the courage to do so. After all, why would he be speaking to Bane if he could so easily walk up to Mew and explain everything about how he felt? It seemed as though the philosopher Lubomir had studied about could simply have stopped asking themselves questions about gods, love, death and the meaning of existence and believed. Oh, yes, hope. A fragile and strange thing, like belief, only one could go through live without belief. For Lubomir, belief was far too important to just pass up.

"You speak of it as a waste, Bane. To me it isn't. I am not entirely sure she feels the same about me and if she doesn't..." Lubomir shook his head. How could he explain? Sure, he was a coward, but that much was obvious. Taking the meat offered, he bit into it, lavishing in the taste of cooked food. While he certainly enjoyed raw meat, still dripping with blood, he could easily enjoy a more human-like meal. Besides, Bane was offering it, so never look the gift horse in the mouth. Free food was free good and amazing as well. "Thank you. For the food and the company. I am not sure what I will do once I return to Dahlia. Talk to her, perhaps. What about you? Where do you go from here?"

OOC: Don't worry! Okay, two more threads to go. I feel like on a sugar high posting spree or something o_O

Lost nothing? Well, in theory there was nothing to lose. A rejection for mateship was hardly a reason to be thrown out of a pack. The relationship between them might be strained for a while, true, but he would simply move out of her den and avoid confrontation. The land was big enough for everyone, so why struggle so much? No, the true loss would be on the emotional side, where he would certainly lose a piece of his heart. Ember had been kind in her rejection, Mew would presumably be the same, but the pain would be there nonetheless. Lubomir knew he might not be amazing, but he did consider himself good enough. "Nothing gained if nothing lost, of course. The pain would be there, but then is life not an endless struggle against pain?"
He was unsure where the philosophy had started leaking into their discussion. Perhaps because this wolf was intelligent and clearly well-spoken. So much so that Lubomir could identify with him and exchange such dialogue. It was a pleasant way to pass the time, all things considered. "The question is, how much time do we have left?" Had Skoll not died, would they still exchange stories in the shadows of Halcyon Mountain? Would they hunt together and protect the borders? Presumably so. Skoll had not gone into battle with the knowledge of death upon him. If he had, would he have turned back? A coward's way? "How can a wolf say for sure if life has been worth living? Do we not all of us fear that we have not lived enough?"

OOC: Sorry for the delay, work ate me up and chewed me out D:

It had been a long time since Lubomir had been able to talk to someone about life and death so freely. He had obviously missed the wolf he'd met a long time ago, in that abandoned bookshop. For all he cherished Skoll, their friendship had been about learning more than debating. To find Bane and be able to share not only a meal but also a startling amount of information was something Lubomir had not thought possible ever again. He listened to the other and tried to think of his response while he chewed. His hunger was slowly ebbing away, while his thirst for knowledge grew steadily stronger. It is not only that, though. If we talked merely survival of the fittest, half the wolves in these lands would be dead. The truth, sad as it was, pained Lubomir. But he knew. The wolves had grown idle, preferring to keep the habits of man, from clothing to drink to dwelling. So few still understood the things that made them what they were: sentient wolves.


The thought of destiny had ever occurred to Lubomir. He had read about it, certainly, but above and beyond that there was nothing. He could understand the need to feel that everything happened for a reason, but was that not a refuse for fools? Surely a wolf of your mental capacity would prefer a scientific approach to life! Why would you accept something as fickle as destiny? It feels so... anticlimactic, I suppose. To many destiny is a way out. A simple one at that. It means you can explain all the pain and mistakes in your life by saying it was meant to be. It shuffles the responsibility from your shoulders unto those of a higher being, whatever it may be. It seemed so strange. Lubomir himself believed in accountability. Everyone was responsible for their own choices and mistakes. No sins of the father, nothing like that. Everyone could do as they pleased, so long as they could be held responsible for the consequences. He was, perhaps, a bit of a radical. You might not regret anything at the end, but why would you not rather accept that you can err and learn from such mistakes? Lubomir liked this sort of discussion. He could understand a lot from such high ideas and grow closer to the one beside him, in camaraderie and mutual intellectual pursuit.

Luck? That invalidated Skoll's death entirely. Lubomir did not realise it himself, but he had elevated his friend to the rang of some deity. He could not believe that mere luck had led to Skoll's demise. In his head, the grey male had turned the fight into a battle of the wills, like gods clashing across a barren wasteland. As hypocritical as it sounded, his own survival had been luck. He never should have survived the Great Frozen Plains, because he was not worth it. Why he had been left alive was a mystery best not solved. He wondered, once again, exactly what Bane had gone through. He tossed the clean bone aside, slowly licking his fingers clean.

I dare say that it depends on how you define this higher being. If it is impartial, then perhaps I should believe in it. But if it not, then I cannot do anything but abhor it. The humans had their own system of belief and they defined gods according to their morals. Some gods were fair, others were bloodthirsty monsters. Lubomir shook his head. I watched my friend die. I watched my family die, in the Old Country. They all died for no reason. I lost a sister I loved, and every day I miss her. Was her death predestined? Was she meant to die like that? If what you are saying is true, then I should have learned something from it. I do not think I have. It turned me away from my home and I was left alone in this world. What kind of teacher would do that? Lubomir had had to learn how to fend for himself, how to hunt on his own, choose a safe den, trust and be trusted, and Frigg had never been there to help him, to guide him along the way. If destiny is meant to be a teacher, then it is a poor one indeed. Tell me, Bane, what do you think created us? A human god, like the ones the humans themselves believed in? A wolf god, like Fenrir of the Norse peoples? Lubomir didn't think there was any straight answer there. A number of different things could have happened. But he felt, nonetheless, inclined to ask, because it was a question of understanding. Understanding what Bane believed in and what he himself was ready to accept from life.