An onyx fae plodded through the snow, venturing towards the mountain. As usual, her steps held no set destination, wandering. Her mind was coiled around her thoughts, only her subconscious leading her. She thought about Teren, the new leader of Erenyx. She had submitted to him, yes, but that did not mean he had her full loyalty yet. That had to be earned, as did meaningful respect from her. The thought about all the responses to his arrival, it seemed  almost even, greater even the amount that were neutral or wanted Steele dead, and the once who threatened his life for ending the one of their Alpha. While she had indeed secretly enjoyed Steele's suffering, she merely congratulated Teren on his accomplishment. Yes, that was how she viewed it, an accomplishment of defeating the great and powerful Steele. As she reached the base of the mountain, she tilted her head up, pausing. Narrowing her eyes, she looked down,  moving to climb up the steep slope. Her eyes traced along the ground, landing on the pawprints that led up the path she was prepared to take, looking quite fresh as well. Taking a bounding step, she dug her claws into the icy surface, trying to keep her balance. After a second she successfully recovered her footing. Twisting, she navigated the various obstacles cautiously but quickly, committing it to memory. She wanted to know it by heart when she returned to climb it again.

Flexing her claws to dig into the ground as much as they could and flicking her tail, she made a springing leap to land quickly on a small boulder, jumping to the next, noticably larger one. 'Focus, concentrate...' She thought to herself as her paws moved out from under her, threatening to cause her to fall. She wasted no time in leaping to the next icy rock, glancing down at thr ground far below. 'Be fearless, keep calm, challenge your limitations...' She didn't fear falling, not in the slightest simply because she didn't fear death, but she feared failing, failing herself and failing to reach her goals. 'I will fight to be the best wolf I can be, and then some.' She talked to herself in her mind, propelling herself on, springing onto each boulder until she reached the next ledge. Ducking by an overhanging ledge and quickly pushing herself closer to the rock wall with her hind legs to avoid sliding off the icy path, she dared to increase her pace slightly despite the carelessness of it. She was lithe, so she had hardly enough weight to keep her from sliding right off the mountain. But she also had agility, the ability to quickly change direction and speed, which aided her attempts greatly.

Jumping, she landed upon another icy plate, another ledge to climb up, the last before she reached the top. She once again glanced down, the footprints were still there, and very recent, though somewhat covered by falling snow. She was obviously going to find another wolf atop the mountain, when she reached it. 'So much for solitude.' She thought, paws leaving prints in the snow as she moved up the frozen incline. Her eyes fell upon the 'ladder' to the last jump, the top of the mountain, a boulder. Narrowing her eyes and digging in her hind claws, she twisted and loped towards it, half sliding and crouching at the last moment. Twisting and coiling in the air, she landed on her mark, the fairly large boulder. One paw slipped off, and for a moment everything froze, other paws beginning to follow. Stiffening, she threw all her weight to her back paws, making the last leap to the top ledge, barely but finally reaching semi-even ground. Breathing harder than normal, she stood for a second, planting her paws on the firm, cold ground. Finally raising her eyes, she stiffened as usual, defensive as her golden silver orbs fell upon the male who had also climbed to the top. His coat was a mix of whites silvers and greys, and tipped with onyx. Odd. It was not a coat she happened to see every day, rather odd she mused. "Who are you, Brute?" She asked immediately, the first words to him coming out in a calm, yet cold tone. Her words were fringed  with ice as cold as the mountain they stood on, like the icy, warning the wolf to tread carefully. However, in Erenyx, she didn't believe anywolf would heed that warning. Perhaps they would if - no, when she completed her goal of becoming someone great in the pack. Her resolve was set, she would do everything she could to get a rank other than Warrior, the most basic rank there was. Her emotionless eyes stared at the wolf she hadn't met, long fur shifting as the wind ruffled it. She remained in her stiffened position, not purposely per se, it was her natural position, she was always defensive, no matter if the wolf was a threat or not. It was her natural. Seldom was she relaxed, and never in the presence of another, not yet. Not without crucial trust, something no one had attempted to earn from her so far.

(Short? You put my 'short' to shame. And this will most certainly be.... interesting... with Ariste)



Ariste watched as the Warrior acted as if she were a mere gust of wind, nothing worth paying attention to for more than a few seconds at a time. She did not disagree with this. But she planned on making it untrue soon, utterly, completely untrue. He soon seemed to drift into a dream state, leaving himself open to attack. But something about him made the obsidian she-beast think of herself. Though she couldn't place a paw on it, perhaps it was his general attitude, perhaps it was the way he acted... no, of course, it was the emotionless, blank look in his eyes that mirrored her own.

Nothing left to live for.

Nothing wanted to live for.

But pity him she did not spare the courtesy, were not all the beasts and demons of Erenyx the same? Each had their own secret, something that made them love the thrill of killing and set them apart from those stupid, useless Helidos. Sometimes she wondered if they would try to coax a kill into their mouth with words if it were possible. Mindless, peaceful, something that made her completely and utterly hate them, not simply her loyalty to Erenyx. 'Pay no heed to him, dear sister, for he is nothing more than a loner, outcast in a pack of born Warriors.' Came her sister's voice in her ear, one which often and constantly haunted her. No matter what, she would not go away, and Ariste had learned to accept that, and come to some semblance of peace with it. But she hardly, if ever heeded the voice, unless it was coaxing, convincing her to return to training. Figment of her imagination or not, Adrienna often kept her on track, push - no, shoved the darkling fae towards her goals. Dragged her by the scruff and refused to let go.

Thinking about her sister, who acted the same in real life, she couldn't help it as a small, quiet chuckle escaped her lips, followed by a breath of a sigh. While the emotions of sadness, hurt, and anger fought for dominance, her eyes remained a blank slate, blocking out her true feelings, a wall that allowed no one inside to see how dark, dangerous, and emotional she really was. 'Feelings, emotions do nothing but ruin everything. They form friendships, they cause fights, they break you when you lose someone dear to you. Nothing but trouble.' She thought to herself, a tiny, sadistic smile twitching upon her lips, the very corners curving upwards only in a fleeting glance before returning to her usual, solemn look. She was not unaware of the other's questions, she just chose to refuse to answer them, until those soft words were spoken. "I, am Warrior Ariste. And when I am not training, I go where my paws take me. They are often correct, with the right Idea." With that she twisted, gazing over the edge of the mountain, looking at it's beauty, the snow even in the middle of spring, the formed icicles the higher you went, that refused to melt. It intrigued her, and she promised herself she would come up next winter, when it was already freezing, and dangerous.

"Something so beautiful in the home of monsters." Her voice was a mere sigh on the wind, and she wondered of this Raymond had caught the quiet, deftly spoken words. She said nothing about his apology - she knew it was untruthful. She knew he was not sorry. She said nothing of his laughter - emotionless, almost mocking - she had no interest in finding out what he was laughing about. Though he did hold her interest more than anyone she had met, aside from the former Delta and now Elite, Katyusha. He didn't seem to fear attack, which was no wonder given her size, but she could make one regret that foolish assumtion rather quickly. Whether she won in a spar or not, she would go for injury. Pain. Blood. A ghost, a phantom and illusion of a smirk danced elegantly across her lips, appearing and disappearing in the same instant. "And so, Brute, what brings you up these fine mountains? You seem like the type to be wandering alone." Yes, that was what she saw him as, a loner, and she spoke her mind of it. Straightening from her tensed position she had been in for far too long, she shook out her onyx coat, water droplets flying off the damp, silky strands. Somehow she found herself standing behind him, a hackle-raising distance apart. She often found herself places without knowing how, paws simply guiding her where ever they pleased, as if controlling her. She breathed in a frosty breath, cold hair biting and stinging her lungs in a pleasant way. Pleasant to her, at least. Sitting tensely, she remained ready for attack at any time, quietly observing the male half the time, and the unmatched scenery the other half, though her ears were trained on Raymond, listening for any movements. The times she was focused solely on him her eyes stared into him intensely, without feeling, steely gaze watching for any subtle give away. Muscle twitch, fur movement, eyes searching for where to attack - she learned most every sign, if not every, and wasn't about to be jumped. Though she knew not why, it wasn't as if she were any higher ranking than him. That could only remain a mystery.

These mountains were all to familiar to the brute. His large paws each landed perfectly amongst the rock uneven surface of the mountain as he trotted along. Some mountain trails had already even been ingrained in his mind, and when he closed his eyes he could still envision exactly where he had to go, where to step.

Endless weeks of training here among other places was the cause of this. The number of times he had run up and down these mountains, been thrown down them when he failed in his task, was innumerable.

So, as he continued up the trail he was quite surprised some others were present. For the most part wolves did not stay in these areas too long, or else risk freezing. This was of no concern to Pain however and any wolf who had the blood of the north running through them. Pain's impressive winter coat, which covered an even more impressive frame of a warrior, would for the most part protect him from the conditions.

As he deftly made his way over to the wolves, jumping across onto the ledge without missing a beat he would rise to his full height, mostly out of habit at this point. He viewed others in his pack as competition for the most part, obstacles with false ambitions that he had to overcome.

"Hello there, fellow pack-mates, my name is Pain." he stated this fact simple and to the point, and unlike most wolves he had encountered thus far he did not bother trying to hide the barely detectable contempt in his words.

(it's perfectly fine)

Ariste sat patiently, stiffening as he moved, but not budging from her seat behind and beside him. Her eyes seemed to get even colder as he turned to face her, making eye contact. Her lips twisted into a warning snarl, magnified bu the scar running across her muzzle, coming further into view. As he spoke, she paused, reflecting on what he said. "I agree... Darkness... isn't from how many wolves you've killed, how strong you are... Darkness is a kind of insanity, that you cannot escape, not alone, and most don't ever. Darkness is when the light has gone out. And being evil and deadly is when you have learned to embrace that darkness.. But where's the fun in being completely sane?" She paused, clenching her jaw shut. She had spoken to much, revealed to much. She closed one eye, one ear flopping slightly down. She was confused, yet oddly... pleased he had called her by her full title. Warrior Ariste. Whether or not it would soon be Lead Warrior Ariste, which was her goal, something about hearing Warrior in front of Ariste pleased her. Her head twisted around behind her at the voice of a new wolf. The snarl that had gradually fallen from her expression returned slightly, though not too threatening, simply appearing annoyed. Quite annoyed.

'Great, another brute of this pack. Another wolf to beat. She thought, almost tired of all the males in the pack. Since she knew at least the names of all the higher ranks, if not met them personally, she had to assuming Pain was either a Warrior or a Hunter. He definitely did not act as an Omega. Twisted around to face Pain, she narrowed her gold gaze, before standing. Her eyes moved upwards, then down, looking at everything that surrounded her, all the beauty ignored or overlooked. Whether it be by someone trying to act all tough, and that beauty had "no effect on them", or simply a wolf who never stopped to actually look into the sunset, watch the wind blow the leaves off the trees in autumn, to listen to the way the wind and trees whispered hello and goodbye to you on a windy day. Turning back, she flexed her claws and dug them into the ice, moving dangerously close to the edge. Hooking her claws in once again, bracing herself with her hind legs, and listening to make sure neither of the males were daring to make their way over to her, her head tilted down as she peered over the edge. Hanging over as far as she could, as far as she dared without falling, her eyes followed the twists and turns of the path that led up the mountain. Her gaze shifted over all the obstacles she had managed to jump, climb, or dodge, she felt her feeling of accomplishment grow slightly more. But it wasn't all that hard, and definitely not enough to earn a higher rank, mere pups' play.

'Stop being so proud. You are not an Apprentice, this shouldn't have even been difficult for you!' Her sister hissed angrily in her ear. 'You must stop wasting your time with wanna-be's, and start looking for more spars. There must be someone as bent on improving rank as you. Preferably male, so there's no chance of them taking the rank instead of you. Though if that happened you'd most definitely deserve it.' Ariste huffed to herself, shutting out the whispers. Backing away from the edge, she straightened and turned to face the two males. Paws slighting out in front of her, slipping on the ice, she arched her back inwards and stretched, rewarded by two satisfying pops in her spine. Standing to her full height once again, she finally acknowledged this Warrior Pain, expression unreadable. "I am the one called Ariste, a Warrior." She said, eyes returning to their blank slate as she sat down again. She opted to remain silent, more tense now than before with the presence of the two. Seemingly watching the air, she breathed in deeply, the airborne frost burning her lungs, cold biting them. She huffed out, the warm air hitting the cold and created a foggy, smokey cloud, before she closed on eye again, chuckling quitely at Raymond's words. Hell indeed. "So, Pain, brute of the pack of Erenyx," Her words were spoken frostily, hostility vauge but still there, along with the stealthy undertones of irritation. "What brings you up this forbidden mountain, watching over the members of the pack?" She asked tail sweeping around to brush against her side and rest daintily on her paws.

Pain regarded them with a guarded gaze, listening to their words, he grew more and more disinterested. The brute sat down now, his ears flicking in response to their greeting. Warrior Raymond, and Warrior Ariste, he would be lying if he said he had ever heard of them. Their words were cold as the chilling air that surrounded them, a cold mountain gust blew threw the area as he nodded to each of them in turn, not even the slightest shiver from underneath his thick matted fur.

Raymond's next words caught Pain's attention however, welcome to hell... His amber eyes regarded the brute then, their dark piercing gaze held his for a few moments. "I believe hell is something you carry with you, not somewhere you go."

Looking to the fae now, he smirked now, "As for why am I here, I was passing by and I noticed others here, and I would like to familiarize myself with more of the pack, for various reasons." He spoke matter-of-factly, not bothering to match their cold tones, lest he become more irritated by it. It would not do to let his temper flare up at the slightest things.