Far and Away

Mikhail

Waiting, watching, a dark presence loomed over a hill. He stood still as stone, soft tufts of white gathering on his back as he stared forward, eyes trailing after her.

Silver was far from their territory. Farther than any high rank should be unattended. Mikhail had recognized her scent immediately while on his morning rounds, and out of curiosity had followed her steps to the border, passing by the other warriors without so much as a glance. From there he knew he had to continue on, leaving the territory behind though he hated to do so. Silver was the Anima, his superior, his packmate. They'd scarcely ever shared words before now, and yet she was family still. Not that he'd ever say as much.

He watched from his perch a moment longer, dark eyes following her path. She'd been hard to spot amongst the snow-covered hills, but was even harder to miss once found. Mikhail let out a grunt and starting covering the distance between them. Coming from behind her, he did nothing to silence the crunch of snow under his paws.

"Silver. Is everything alright?" His voice was low: gruff and unwelcoming. But he and Silver grew up in the same place, and she must’ve know he posed her no threat. So would Wynd, if he was anywhere nearby.

Bri

Mikhail

A torn ear swiveled, catching the sounds of growls and movement. Mikhail could've known it was Wynd without having to look, but he still did, catching the tafa's angry gaze and bowing his head. He turned back to Silver with every intention of silently moving out of her way, but she'd spun around to face him closer than expected. Mikhail's face was expressionless. Nonplussed, he took a step back in synchrony with the Anima.

Silver straightened up then, recovering from his arrival with grace. "Everything's fine...Mikhail, what brings you out here?" It was a level response, one he considered her though the thin haze of snow, the brow above his bad eye twitching so minutely it'd be near impossible to catch. It was difficult to not turn the question back on her, but even Mikhail knew his place.

"I caught your scent while patrolling," he settled on truthfully, words fogging up the frozen air between them. Wynd was getting closer still, and Silver paused to bark at him, to little avail. Mikhail watched the badger approach with her; tafas never did take a liking to him, with the exception of one. "You two shouldn't be out here alone. Let me join you." Typical of his reputation, it was hardly a question and more of a demand.

Mikhail then found himself interrupted by a small rustling nestled in the long fur at his nape. Huffing, he turned his head to see Ghale pop out from beneath the snow that had collected there, a small pile of it on her head. Having heard Wynd's arrival, she flicked her tongue out happily, slithering about and disturbing the snow off of Mikhail's tall back. Knowing what she wanted, the wolf stuck out a forearm so she could easily get down, gaze softening by a small margin.

Bri

Though he wasn't looking directly at her, Mikhail could feel Silver's apprehension dissipate when she caught sight of Ghale. A subtle shift and her smile was more genuine, more bright. Mikhail said nothing as his tafa approached her and Wynd, struggling through the snow towards them with her tongue flicking out happily until, without permission or warning, she tried to climb onto the badger as if to get closer to Silver. Oh, gods- "Ghale, some respect..."

His warning plea fell on deaf ears. Typical. He might have just snatched her back up, if they were in different company, but Silver wasn't someone you hid your tafa from, impolite little snake or not.

As the scene played out before him, Mikhail took a moment to consider what she'd just asked a moment before. It had almost seemed like a confession, and he wasn't expecting that for many reasons. The crease in his brow deepened as he watched her, and perhaps his expression felt more judgmental than he was meaning it to but he didn't care to correct it.

"No," he finally replied. How strange that the simple word felt dishonest on his lips, considering it was certainly the truth. He had nightmares about being separated from Au'Dar, for the gods' sake. "No, never. But clearly you do."

He meant for it to be a small, offhand comment. Mikhail could guess why she'd feel that way after all, he wasn't stupid. Everyone coped with the stresses of life in their own way, he only wished hers, as the Anima especially, wasn't so dangerous. Silver wasn't weak by any definition, but she was incredibly important. Didn't she think of that? And had she always looked so... vulnerable? Or was that just because of the slightly troubled look she was wearing, and the fact that the flurrying snow made it hard to discern her edges in it's haze? Mikhail had to stop himself from grinding his teeth before he could even settle on an answer.

"You want to join us? Or do you feel like you have to join us?" As she refocused on him she frowned, looking put down. It made him pause.

"I 'want' to do my job, Miss" he said. Squinting, Mikhail tried to decide what exactly Silver's angle was here. She didn't know him, and he didn't know her, and it never mattered what Mikhail wanted or felt; he was a servant to the pack and to his superiors, of which she was certainly both. That was why he was here. Reasoning that Silver was probably this was with everyone, the Warrior hoped that whatever possessed her to pretend to care about him would be exorcised soon, because this was strange and he never was a fan of strange. He almost wanted to come out and say that it was alright if she treated him like the rest of the pack did, he wouldn't hold it against her. This wasn't anything special.

Instead, after a few moments of brooding, he settled on something else. "Anima Silver, I understand you want to be alone. If you'd prefer it then I will follow a few paces behind you and your tafa, but I refuse to leave you out here without protection. Such is my job, isn't it?" From the corner of his eye Mikhail saw Ghale pause her antics to peek back at him and the lack of politeness in his tone. Mikhail, for what it was worth, tried to school away some of the harshness on his face. Whether it was a successful attempt or not was really not his concern.

Bri

Mikhail fell back into silence after his protests, wind whipping against his face and forcing him to squint to keep a good eye on Silver. She dismissed his concerns about their tafas, and seemed absorbed while watching them - a completely different wolf compared to the one from just moments before. Her love, or admiration, or whatever it was that she felt for them that Mikhail would not name for her, was evident even through the weather that obscured her face. He, on the other hand, felt frozen in anticipation. Tension pulled at his temples and already he had more arguments at the tip of his tongue. Disparity was just something he'd come to predict when trying to reason with others, purely just from being himself for so many years. And yet those arguments died on his tongue in the next moment... leaving their sour taste in his mouth. Silver wasn't pressing him. Instead she chuckled lightly, at which Mikhail could only slightly drop his jaw. "Follow behind me? Since you must stay with me for protection, then you might as well walk at my side." There was a pause. Mikhail's eyes flashed, and then he nodded.

Perhaps seeing Wynd and Ghale was enough to soothe the Anima into amiability, despite his company. Such was the only conclusion Mikhail could draw in that moment, feeling so out of his depth so suddenly. He raised a paw to gesture for Silver to lead them back onto whatever path she'd abandoned. He had to collect himself. Getting his way for once was a good thing. "Very well."

Mikhail cleared his throat. Something was possessing him to speak again, a freakish impulse he would be the first to admit, as it was even more freakish for him to feel. Perhaps he just couldn't leave things alone. "So... do you make this a habit? Coming out here?" He kept his head low and fixed forward as he walked, trying to ignore the foreign hum of awkwardness crawling under his skin, if awkwardness was what you could call it. A long breath clouded out in front of him, and he still didn't look at Silver, but he wondered if the same clement smile remained on her face, in the same way a deceptive indifference lingered on his. "Wynd didn't seem too on edge. Until now."

Behind the two wolves, Ghale had paused to watch Mikhail carefully, studying. She had no care for how rare it was for her current perch to even be permitting her behavior; she was still planted atop Wynd, having entwined into his fur as if they were old friends. After a beat she looked away from the wolves and refocused on him. With a minute thud her head landed at the top of his, and she slithered forward so that she may peer into the grumpy face of the other tafa, albeit upside down, her tongue poking out happily in thanks for him keeping her away from the snow. She glanced at his Silver and her Mikhail, hoping he would continue his tolerance and make sure they didn't get left far behind.

Bri