Second Oath // It shall not end until my death...

[direwolfbastard]

[So, though far from comfortable with his surroundings, Jon is starting to get used to being in the castle. Ghost, on the other hand, is getting stir crazy, not having anything to hunt.]

Can anyone tell me why there are no animals of any sort around the castle? Every time I've stepped outside, Ghost has gone off into the woods looking for prey, and I've yet to see him come back with anything. He's never gone this long without hunting, such that I've had to resort to feeding him from the castle's stores.

I'm also wondering about the seasons here. Do they always change this quickly?

[In an attempt to get Ghost some exercise, Jon is walking outside, with Ghost chasing after every tiny bit of movement he sees among the trees. Obviously, this calls for some in-person bothering, though Jon has his journal with him, waiting for responses to his questions.]

Comments

dictated!

[ino]

The environment around here is run by magic, I think, instead of it being natural. That's why there's hardly any wild animals, and why it suddenly became spring and all that.

Ditto!

[direwolfbastard]

The same magic that allows for wishing and the like? That makes sense, insofar as anything does here, at least.

Ghost isn't used to being in a place where there's no hunting to be had. He keeps darting after every little noise, thinking he's going to find a rabbit or something he missed.

[ino]

Yeah, things around here tend to confuse you like that. But yeah, I'm willing to say it's the same magic.

Ghost is your dog? [at least that's how it sounds from what he's saying ... she's now hoping Ghost isn't a person and she was just unintentionally rude LMAO]

[direwolfbastard]

It's taking some getting used to, but I think that "winter clean-up" we did helped. At least that had a proper reasoning behind it.

He's a direwolf, but yes. I found him separated from his littermates a bit over two years ago, after we found his mother dead, and he's scarcely left my side since.

[Ghost will sniff at the page, as is his custom when Jon starts talking about him to the journal, his wolfy snuffles making the page ripple a bit. He's a fairly big wolf.]

[ino]

Yeah, that's the first time it's ever pulled that one. Usually we just wake up and all the snow's gone.

"Direwolf"? ... But that's sweet of you to take him in like that. [aww :) notices the snuffles and lets out a little laugh]

[direwolfbastard]

I don't know if I could ever get used to that. Where I came from, there's snow year-round, so even not having it now is taking some getting used to. I've stripped off at least three layers since I arrived here. I think the castle's ghosts don't now what to do with my furs.

They're a species of wolf that was thought to be extinct, and is exclusively found in the far north. They're about three times the size of a normal wolf, so by the time Ghost is fully grown, I'll be at even height with him. There were six in the litter, so each of my brothers and sisters got one as well. I've not heard what's happened to any of them since I left for the Wall.

[Where there might be a happy bark, instead there's just doggy panting. Ghost is not the most vocal of oversized killer pets.]

[ino]

Year round snow?! You're kidding, right?? I'd seriously die ...

Whoa .... so they're huge, then ... that's kind of cool, actually. So can you ride him around and stuff?

[direwolfbastard]

Not at all. Though it's only like that as far south as Mole's Town, on the Wall the snow is a constant. Winter is coming, and no place knows it better than the Wall.

Oh no, Ghost is only 2 years old. He'll not be fully grown for at least a decade. They're very long-lived animals, direwolves. Right now he comes to my waist, and seems happy enough at my side.

[ino]

It's the total opposite in the village I come from .... it's always warm there, so when it starts to snow here, I freeze! Haha.

Oh! ... He sounds cute though.

[sexyhitchhiker]

[huh. You're back. Unless you don't actually remember any of this. Which sounds extremely likely.]

There are always the ducks in the pond.

[direwolfbastard]

[Yup, sorry Natsuki. This Jon doesn't remember you.]

Is that so? Ghost will be delighted...unless there's some hidden cost to them, being the only wild animals here. Knowing how things are here, it wouldn't come as a surprise.

[sexyhitchhiker]

[trying to recall something]

I think somebody ate them once, but they were also a shark at the time, so - try at your own risk?

[direwolfbastard]

Someone on a loss, I gather?

I just might. Ghost isn't picky, when the prey is this scarce. I'll have to make sure to take him out when there are no children present.

[sexyhitchhiker]

That'd be a good idea. They like feeding the ducks.

[direwolfbastard]

As they should. My only hope is that they come back, like we do after death. Otherwise Ghost might exhaust his only source of hunting. A wolf like him isn't meant to be fed like a dog.

[sexyhitchhiker]

Wild or not, I doubt most animals would care where their food is coming from if they're hungry.

[direwolfbastard]

True enough. He hasn't complained thus far, but I think he's still adjusting to life here, as I am.

[dictated]

[songofthefoolish]

There were certainly plenty of birds about during that whole winter clean-up business. [ sniff! ] Perhaps you could ask one of them.

[dictated]

[direwolfbastard]

Had I the ability to speak with the birds, I just might. Ghost prefers prey he can hunt on the ground, if possible. Rabbits, squirrels, and other small game like that.

[dictated]

[songofthefoolish]

[ ... ]

I should hope he doesn't hunt birds. That would be nothing short of barbaric.

Can't you just wish up some squirrels? There. Problem solved.

[dictated]

[direwolfbastard]

He's a direwolf, so decorum as we know it doesn't matter so much.

[He thinks about this. Why hadn't he thought of this sooner?]

I didn't know that was possible. From what I know of "wishing", it seems like wishing for a living thing might be asking too much.

[dictated]

[songofthefoolish]

Wish for the meat itself, then! It's not really so difficult-- [ wait ]

A wolf? Don't exaggerate. Unless you're stealing animals from zoos, a mongrel's pet will never be more than a dog.

[dictated]

[direwolfbastard]

I've been. Ghost eats it readily enough, but I can tell he'd rather be hunting.

[Ghost, being the intelligent animal he is, begins to growl rather menacingly. How dare you insult him?]

Mind what you say. Ghost is a very intelligent, and very large animal. I've raised him since he was a pup, and he doesn't usually make a sound, unless he means to be heard. Consider yourself warned.

[dictated]

[songofthefoolish]

So. You have an overgrown mutt instead of a regular one. Is that supposed to scare me?

Keep your beast on a leash. You're still responsible for anything that dog of yours does, whether you try to excuse it with claims of danger or not.

[dictated]

[direwolfbastard]

Ghost will not act unless I give him leave to do so, but I will not have you insulting him. He's saved my life on more occasions than one. The direwolf is the sigil of my father's house, and Ghost as his kin are the last of their kind. He deserves respect.

[Ghost, though far from happy about being so harshly insulted, is holding himself back from running off and finding the owner of this voice. Instead, he'll just give the journal a snarl, and run ahead so he doesn't have to listen to the impolite human.]