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Surprisingly, he had yet to travel here. Since he had first come to Bleeding Souls, Pilot had tried to explore much of the expansive area as possible. There were still a few places he had yet to come across, but he was bound to come up on all of them sooner or later. Today, though, had been his first adventure up to Acheron Peak.
He had just come across a familiar face only a few minutes ago, and now the temporary alpha of Storm wore a smile plastered across his lips. It was a meeting that happened by chance, and Pilot was glad he had decided to wander outside of Storm today.
Aiden, Pilot’s sort of surrogate brother, had gone out in search for the wolf about a month or so ago. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he left home, but he had the hopes of somehow coming across his brother. It seemed that today had been his lucky day. The two walked (well, Aiden sat perched on Pilot’s head) further up towards the peak, chatting with one another about things passed.
Pilot learned that his mother had grown much older (females lived only an average of 4-6 years) and already she was five. Aiden had already grown to be two years old. Even he, who was still considered to be a young adult, probably didn’t have a guarantee of much longer. It was a sad thing, the lives of squirrels, but Pilot was older now and understood what his brother was telling him. “She wanted me to tell you that she loves you, and she was proud of you for going out on your own like you did. She was worried at first when you didn’t come back, but then she realized that it was probably a good sign that you were making it on your own.” Pilot, completely amazed that he had run into his brother, could only smile with thoughts of his mother, as he continued their ascent towards the peak.
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Border patrol, along with his new duties as a hunter, were taking a toll on him. He hadn't stepped outside of Shadows territory since he met the dark lady in the human city, nearly a month ago. Had that been a dream? Endymion still wasn't sure, but had decided that if it was a dream, he wanted to dream it again. She had ignited something in him that he had never felt before, and that something now stirred as he crossed through the Haunted Woods, pale eyes trained upon the Peak. He doubted he would see her now, and he was almost positive they would never meet again, but the red wolf always hoped, even when he wasn't aware of hoping.
Trotting along at an even, almost eager pace, Endymion felt the earth begin to incline. The mountain wasn't nearly as impressive as the one on which he lived, but it had its own endearing qualities. He rather liked the warmth that it seemed to always possess, like a living creature that had been sleeping so long the grass and trees grew over it. What if all mountains had giant, sleeping creatures under them? It was a silly thought to entertain, but perhaps he would develop it into a story and tell it to Deuce's children. Ah, but that opened an entire floodgate for worry in the two-year-old. He was taking this break to get away from the stress, at least for only a moment. The wolf, flattening his ears, quickened his pace.
After a few minutes of climbing the peak, his eyes found the form of another a bit further up the mountain. Endymion was traveling at a quicker pace than the other, so the gap between them was growing steadily smaller. Only when the wolf was within a few yards of the white wolf did he notice his passenger, and gawked. It was probably the oddest thing the pirate-son had ever seen, and though he silently wondered to himself what the deal was, he couldn't bring himself to speak.
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Aiden turned glancing over his shoulder and out over the tailing end of his brother. Another wolf was coming up behind him, though he was entirely different than Pilot. This wolf was colored an auburn brown, unlike the seemingly clean slate of white that covered his brother. Raising a small hand, Aiden waved to the new comer, before turning his face down towards Pilot’s ear. “There’s someone behind us,” he informed him.
Pilot turned to lay his grey eyes on the Jaded Shadows wolf, one whom he hadn’t met before. Either way, he offered a thin smile and stopped walking, at least for the moment. "Good morning!", he called, though it was clearly already the afternoon. In meeting his brother, Pilot had lost track of the time of day or even of where he was going. He was just too excited to see a familiar face from his past life to care about the other small details.
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Endymion's eyebrows quirked at the squirrel's action, curiousity more than sparked now. The strange sound that came out of it's mouth resembled speech, and he could even make some of it out, though the actual meaning was lost to the wolf. When he lived in Awenasa he learned a modicum of the language, Low Speech as some called it, but his knowledge of it was quite limited. He knew some key phrases and nouns, but for the rest he was clueless.
Returning the other's smile with a little more enthusiasm, the two-year-old kept walking until he was side by side with the white Storm wolf. "Good... morning," he replied uncertainly, eyes wandering between Pilot's face and the tiny face of the squirrel's. He was polite enough not to ask what was going on, so he simply resolved to keep the conversation as normal as possible. I'm Endymion Russo," he offered, waving his russet tail a few times in an amiable fashion.
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The squirrel on top of Pilot’s head smiled as genuinely as his brother often did. He didn’t understand what this strange wolf was saying, so he waited for Pilot’s interpretation. Until then, the critter scooted a bit closer towards one ear and waved his fluffy tail eagerly behind him. This world of wolves and mountains was much different than home.
Pilot smiled, before introducing himself. "I’m Pilot Haddon of Storm, and this here is my brother, Aiden." The squirrel recognized his name and beckoned the stranger’s attention towards him with a jerk of one small hand. Pilot grinned with the movement on his head. "This is Endymion", he informed his brother. He returned his gaze back towards the Jaded Shadows wolf, asking then," Do you know any low speech?"
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Endymion grinned up at the tiny creature, Aiden, giving a nod of his head in return. A wolf with a squirrel brother certainly wasn't something one saw everyday. The two-year-old was slightly confused, but overall comfortable with the situation. He hadn't been raised to be critical of other people's affairs, and now that he was an adult he continued to be open-minded. Besides, this was quite harmless. There were worse things out there.
He didn't know many people in Storm—perhaps not at all—so he was sincere in his next statement. "Nice to meet you both," said the red wolf with a small smile. The white wolf used the same strange-sounding language as Aiden had in his brief aside to his squirrelly brother, and Endymion's eyebrows furrowed moderately in polite interest. At Pilot's question, the pirate-son began to put two-and-two together. "Is that what it's called?" he asked, leaning his head slightly to the side. "I can speak a few phrases like..." he paused here, eyes wandering up to the tiny creature on Pilot's head. "Hello, how are you?" he asked uncertainly in the speech, hoping it was the correct word.
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Pilot’s own eyebrows raised as a look of unexpected satisfaction crossed his face. The words Endymion spoke were clearly understandable, and Pilot was so impressed that he hoped they might even be able to carry out the rest of their conversation in this language. Aiden swayed on the top of Pilot’s head as he scuttled a little towards the red colored wolf. "Oh, I’m just fine!" It was obvious the creature wasn’t expecting this stranger to understand his words, let alone speak them for himself.
"So, are you just out on a stroll, or have somewhere in particular you’re headed?" It was just an innocent question in order to keep the conversation rolling. Pilot had almost forget where he and his brother were headed, until he realized just where they were. "Oh wait, did you understand?" He asked, realizing after a moment that he had used the speech native to his furry brother.
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