Scene #8155: Wolves Meet

Owner	Pose
Remee Halcyon	Off we go. In search of an Archwolf. Remee, lacking other options, opts to seize the opportunity after Hiromi's appearance at the off-brand onsen, sniffing around there for her scent and then trying to follow whatever trail she can find. Ideally, a trail that's above the ground, and based on this plane - she's not entirely sure of what Hiromi's capabilities are, so Remee isn't going to discount anything. But whatever trail she finds, she'll follow. She has her duffel bag with her - full of supplies and tools, including a day's worth of food and water. If this attempt lasts longer than that, she can forage or grab something. Her rifle isn't openly wielded or worn, but it's packed away in there too - she's not intending to use it, but it's foolish to go without it even on a nonviolent trip. Off we go, in search of an Archwolf... half hoping we don't find her, but needing to search for her all the same.
Hiromi	Compared to the previous exit from Mostat, Hiromi's trail is, this time, easy to follow. She'd just walked out, and made her way to a warp gate, without bothering or being bothered by anyone -- at least to any obvious degree. Figuring out where she'd gone from there requires asking around, to find what the gate had been keyed to when she'd walked through it, but it had happened in full view of a number of onlookers, and anyone asked about an exceptionally tall humanoid with lupine ears remembers her instantly. Hiromi leaves distinct impressions. Things get more difficult after that. This is in the Tapestry, but the exit destination isn't one with heavy traffic. It opens out onto a shoreline by a primeval forest, and no witnesses about, but a scent trail that can just barely be followed, for someone with the senses for it. It leads to a worn path, then parallels it. The path comes beside a river, and becomes a road. The forest opens into farmland, the road reaches a city, and old, stone walls and spearmen with bright livery guard its entrance. The trail terminates, and the guards haven't seen a monstrous wolf, but persistence is a virtue. It takes time to pick it up again in the city, whether by scent or questioning, but eventually, she can be found. Some glimpsed her in passing, some heard unsettling sounds in the dark, some had a sense of being hunted but had seen nothing. Those are the sorts of stories people share easily, warnings to travelers and townspeople alike. Trails lead finally to a cave, natural in its appearance but unnatural in its formation, leading down from a hidden entrance, and below the castle that dominates the center of the city. It's entirely dark, but some humans have passed this way, and not only are humans not particularly stealthy, scent-wise, but most of them need light to avoid stumbling. Hiromi is in the den she'd just made for herself, a day or two earlier, waiting in-between visits from others. Sneaking up on her, given that there's only the one discoverable entrance, is likely to be difficult. Finding what the deal is with the humans cooperating with her would also be likely to tip someone off, if not done carefully. But openly approaching her would be easy enough, if that's all one wanted to do.
Remee Halcyon	This is nostalgic, really. Tracking things across all sorts of terrain, sniffing around on hunches when the trail goes cold, stopping to ask villagers and travelers - and intuiting clues from vague descriptions. Remee stops, briefly, to eat and rest. She's not dawdling, out of concern for the trail fading eventually, but rushing here is antithetical to her purposes. Plus she might end up catching up if she goes too fast. Hiromi potentially dealing with humans is noted, but not investigated yet. Remee should look into it, probably before she goes to face down the archwolf herself. She should, but - she's not going to. Something more than good sense has guided her here, and it's still directing her steps. There's things she needs to do, first and foremost. Deep breaths. Here we go. She reaches into her bag, pulls out an electric camping lantern, and clicks it on. She holds it out in front of her and heads into the cave. It's entirely unecessary for her seeing where she's going, but it's a sign that makes her presence hard to miss.
Hiromi	The path winds on and down, the motion of air just faintly detectable, indicating that there is some other opening, even if there'd been no easy trail to find it. It keeps the air from being deathly stale, though it's still not especially pleasant. The stone takes turns and rounded steps as if water-formed, making that light fully necessary not to go and take a long, long tumble down. Electric lanterns aren't common in this area, with oil being the usual alternative. Bright, steady light immediately marks one as being from somewhere else. That, if nothing else, would make Hiromi's lack of surprise unsurprising. But more than that, she's so still she could be a statue. Almost. She breathes, sitting cross-legged on a pile of furs in a stone cave, satchels of unknown contents near at hand, but it's far too shallowly, nearly like some advanced form of hibernation. One could even imagine that her eyes focusing on the room's exit was coincidence, and that she hadn't turned toward it after hearing Remee's approach. One could imagine that for a few seconds, after which her presence fills the room, and she delivers that specific, short growling noise that is immediately and clearly understood as a command. If it was a word, it would be, Speak.
Remee Halcyon	> Speak. There's been some thought, not much but some, given to how to approach this topic. Shows of prowess, of which making the trek out here was one, or other ways of proving herself before making her ask. Demands, or flattery paired with begging, as a prelude. Things offered in trade or as threats. But... Hiromi is. That isn't a sentence without an incomplete predicate. Hiromi is. What she is is... Hiromi, and praising or lessening that would be... inaccurate? Untruthful? Something? So instead, there's just two parts here - the unspoken and the spoken parts. Remee holds up the lantern. Hiromi can see her a lot more easily than she can see Hiromi, given the relative position of the light. That's part of the message, the unsaid part. I am not here as a threat, or as an unseen intruder - but I did get here, and the first of you knowing that I was pursuing was stepping into your cave. The spoken part is, by necessity, a lot longer - but also a lot simpler. Remee waits one careful second, and speaks. "I'm here to learn from you," she says, her eyes looking at a spot on the wall behind Hiromi.
Hiromi	Hiromi's body appears to wake up by degrees, coming out of that statue stillness. The reason is not entirely clear. Amusement? Not hostility, at least. She shows no indication of having registered a threat. The actual motions are small, but noticeable. A shifting of her weight, a rolling forward in her shoulders. "I teach, many things. What is your wish?" Her eyes are focused and clear.
Remee Halcyon	Remee remains where she is, as Hiromi starts moving. ... She tries to remain where she is. Her own small motions betray her. A flicker of her eye back towards the cave exit. A tightening of the grip on her lantern. "My wish is strength," she says. "Power."
Hiromi	"Power." Hiromi repeats. "All wish for it. All with sense. Strength, growing, without limits. Stronger, stronger, stronger." She curls the fingers of one hand as she speaks, one at a time, muscles shifting in her forearm. "Or... do you? Do you see 'an end'? Is it 'the strongest'? Or, is it 'endless'? Is it when one is defeated, beneath you, or many?" Her eyes are searching, judging, but no more implicitly threatening than a moment ago. It's only that her passive level of being an instinctive danger is that high.
Remee Halcyon	Remee has an answer. She hesitates just a moment, not to refine it but to make sure of it. "Six," she says. "When six are defeated. My brothers, and my sisters." She hesitates a moment again. Is 'responsibility' something Hiromi would understand? She can't think of a ready alternative. "It's my responsibility, since they're my family," she says.
Hiromi	"'Six.'" Hiromi considers, then pronounces this, "Low. Humble." "'Family.' Your pack." A half-moment's pause. "No. Separated? You don't seek to lead. Why?" She leans in. Even seated, she looms. "Don't they follow?"
Remee Halcyon	This does put Remee genuinely on the left foot. "Lead?" she says. Her composure falters a bit. "I hadn't... thought of it that way." "... No, they don't follow. I'm not the pack's leader." It'd be... really nice. She wouldn't have to destroy House Halcyon (figurative) or Halcyon House (literal). She could get everyone on her side, instead of having to probably kill them, and get everyone actually helping people. "... I'd like to lead them. I'd settle for stopping them." The lantern lowers. She's still terrified, and expecting Hiromi to at any moment reach out a finger and turn her back into dust, but maybe she's got the archwolf's curiosity now at least.
Hiromi	'I'm not the pack's leader.' "No," Hiromi says, in a tone that means 'obviously.' "Not yet." But the issue is... '...they don't follow.' "'Sisters.' 'Brothers.' Not 'parents.' Why? Are there none?" There is some interest there, definitely. Some curiosity, though that's not the main emotion in evidence. "I'll teach you this. The wise follow the strong. The one, that leads. That cares for the pack. That raises them. If they are foolish, they'll follow none. Even with strength. The foolish must be taught, each, one... after... another. The wise look to the strongest. Do you see?" She does give a moment to process that, before continuing, "Fight your strongest sibling. Prove yourself better. Take this proof, to others. 'Responsibility.' Show, yourself, the one they'd be wise to follow." She settles back. "If cannot, you cannot, yet. Grow further. Faster, than they." That has the air of an end to her lesson.
Remee Halcyon	"We do have parents. One isn't a leader, the other is... not interested in leading," she says. "Our aunt is really the head of the family." "You asked who I needed to be stronger than. I can deal with our parents, and our aunt," she adds, forcing herself to not add 'I think' to the end of that. "It's a question of... who would take over, if and when something happens." She can't deny what Hiromi is saying, in any case. She nods. "Fight my strongest sibling... that'd be Tidon," she adds to herself. "Right." She gathers herself together, looks directly at Hiromi for the first time since entering the cave, and bows. "Thank you."
Hiromi	"You understand." Hiromi states, settled almost fully back into that state so much like sleeping with her eyes open. "I, or... another, will watch. One of my pack. Whether you will show wisdom, I'll learn." And that's all there is to say on it. Remee knows the way out. She won't have to run into anyone is she leaves now, either.