Two Rivers Isle I hate monkeys

The sun slid beyond the horizon, seeming to speed up as it went. First, the light was only dimmer, then the sky was awash with colours, then the light was dim and grey, and all too suddenly, it disappeared. Tonight was one of near complete darkness, the moon being a mere sliver in the inky blackness of the sky.The pale femme moved among the trees with the bold walk she favoured. It was rare, very rare, that she carried her form close to the ground or "slunk" anywhere, believing herself to be much better than that.

Her paws carried her past her den, toward the perpetual roar of the northern river. She stood along the bank, paws settled in the current, silver eyes fixed on the forest beyond. Shadewood. They others, the group that had passed through here, had claimed that they wished to settle there, and this made Aeronwyn wary. The large group so close to their borders made her uncertain, wary, and she decided that she would examine the woods tomorrow, of the day after. She wanted no trouble brewing between the two groups...not yet. 

She had been rather absent, she realized, these past days. She stopped in to play with the pups on occasion, but had spent much of her time explore, journeying as she sought to gather some info of the packs and wolves of the area. Never did she dare tread too close to the mangled woods of the Brotherhood, but she had explored the coast and most of the Hinterlands. 

Now, she had information. Much of it, and she needed to share it with her lord and lady. Aeronwyn harbored a fierce desire to prove herself; she was ambitious and desired her friend and ruler's trust in the new pack. She felt she was lacking, ever since the incident with Vassago, though she had come to terms with herself, she still felt guilty. If only she had acted faster, perhaps the pup would not come to the same fate as his father.

She tilted back her muzzle and called for her lord and lady, @Malice and @Burke. She would share her information, whatever she could do to help them, and perhaps ask of the new scent she had noticed around the territory. She had not sought out the owner of the scent, instead hoping to chance upon him, but this had not come to be. Perhaps she would search for the male later.

The lady had spent her day with her family, though when the sun was at its highest point in the sky, she had went toward the river to mark the borders. It would not be her thing, but someone had to do it regularly if they wished to settle here. Every day brought a new threat, and they had to be prepared for anything that Satan might throw at them. She returned shortly though, even though the borders were longer than the ones of Phantom Hollow and she had went on the outside of the river to mark. She shook her wet pelt when she arrived at their den, hopefully sprinkling water on both the pups and Burke, before hearing the call of Aeronwyn. 

She looked at Burke, as this seemed to be urgent, but did not wish to leave the den as they had no one to look after the pups. Plus, she had only just returned, and was fairly tired of her small trip over the borders. So instead of her going to the "aunt" of Pyro and Vassago, she let out her own howl calling her toward them- unless Burke wanted to go to her, which would be a little unpractical.

Burke looked up at the howl and wondered why the female wanted them to come to her. Maybe she wanted to show them something. Burke looked at Malice who howled. "I can go?," he offered. Though maybe Malice wanted to be there too. She had just as much right to be there. "Maybe she wants to show us something," he offered.

Burke was curious what the pale female would tell them. Aeronwyn had proven herself to be a great help so far. She was close to being an Aunt for their pups. Which was good in Burke's eyes. He was even allowing Shink to help. He wanted both boys to be socialized and part of having pups was having the pack help babysitting and guiding them. Usually it was a group effort to raise pups not just by their parents, at least in Burke's eyes. He waited till Malice approval before heading off to Aeronwyn. Maybe she could come to them first, explain what was happening. And if she wanted to show them something Burke could always come with her.

Another howl, this one requesting that she come. Naturally, the woman complied and arrived at the den of the Lord and Lady within a few minutes. She settled herself before the two, settling back on her haunches and greeting both first with a nod, then with words, before launching into her explanation.

"Greeting. As you might know, I've been travelling, gaining knowledge of the area and of nearby packs. I have a significant amount of knowledge, after all this time scouting, and I'de like to share this with you." She paused, glancing at both for the affirmative before launching into her tail, of landforms and packs, loners and leaders, and more. Her knowledge, through careful chit chat and even faking the role of a loner seeking to join a pack, was in depth, and would be of use to the Lord and Lady especially.

Then we will follow when she's here. Malice responded. She wanted-no needed to be there when there was a problem. She felt it her duty as the somewhat lover of Burke and the only female with children. And it soon proved to be no problem for Aeronwyn to come to them.

She listened carefully to the other woman. Please, do share then. She encourages her to go on. She kept an eye at Burke with an "I told you so" look on her face but quickly grinned.

It didn't take long for the pale female to arrive at their den site. Burke sat back next to Malice and just ignored her look for now, he had been rather interested in what Aero had to say to them. He was curious what she found out. It also explained where she had been the last few weeks. He had seen her around but she was mostly busy.

He liked that because it meant that the other was only helping them out more. The lord and lady couldn't leave their lands too often after all. Burke greeted her with a nod. "Yes, do tell us."

They both expressed interest in her information, so the wraith settled down comfortably before beginning, voice even and without flaw. Speaking smoothly and formally was a skill that she certainly did not lack, and she used it often in her favour. 

"I woman named Eshamun belongs to the Malkaria, a pack forming in the region. They seem heavily religious, and claim their land was given to them by their god. I believe that they are settling to the east of here." The woman had been vague, there was little information she could give about her. "I posed as a loner, and learned of the pack "Royal Fire Court" that are settling in Golden Glade, a region not far to the south-east of here. The leaders seem infatuated with themselves, claiming that they are royals and the rest peasants. They names are Aspen, and Charley. I have learned some of their rank structure from a meeting with some of their subordinates. They claim themselves to be commoners, and the whole land they claim is royal." she paused, before adding "I may have insulted them. They are poor warriors."

"There is a firmly established pack to the south of here, however, I do not know much of them" She paused, turning to her information about the river. "I have followed the river north; it leads to the sea after a few days travel. Travelling east along the shore, I encountered a few firmly established packs, and another that seemed to be forming" She stopped, waiting for the alpha's response. That was the bulk of her information, delivered all at once she realized it might overwhelm them, though she doubted it.

Malice sat back and listened to Aeronwyn, who almost looked well-raised at this point. She did keep a lingering eye on the pups so they could not waddle away, or at least not too far. When she was done talking, Malice soaking up as much info as possible, she sighed.

I knew we would not be alone here for long... She mumbled. Let's stay out of the hackles of the Royal Fire Court. If they do not plan to attack us, we will seek no business with them. She looked at Burke to see if he was okay with that. Although, if you say is true, we could easily win in war. She said, thinking of how that would go. Let's leave the religious wolves alone for now too. I'd like you to focus on the well-developed packs and learn about those. See if they are okay with us being here and so. She explained, again waiting for Burke to agree or disagree. 

Burke listened with interested to the scout, or well, he assumed she wanted to be a scout next to her mercenary trade. She had gained great knowledge and Burke had definitely some interest in all of them. Lost of new packs seemed to be settling here. How curious. However these lands had been mostly unclaimed.

Burke nodded thoughtfully. "I agree with Malice. We keep to our own. Only if they attack we attack. We do not want to have too much attention drawn to us seeing that I do not want the Brotherhood on our doorstep," he explained to Areo, meaning that he didn't want her to pick too much fights. If the Brotherhood would hear they had a rivaling pack that also liked to fight they might seek them out.

"You did a wonderful job though. Try to find out which packs are just forming and which ones are actually claimed. Maybe some don't make it through forming," Burke spoke thoughtfully.

She listened to both respectfully, nodding in agreement at both their words. "I will seek out this established packs, learn what I can of them without giving away our information. I shall seek out the pack south of us first, then those along the coast." Her plan having been established she glanced at both leaders for their input. She would take her leave after they had spoke, rest for her journey. Perhaps she could take Shink along to the coast, if he wanted to earn his scout trade.

Splendid! Malice exclaimed, softer than the exclamation mark indicates. Though do you think it will be safe for you to go alone? I mean, we don't know these wolves. They could very well be... Unfriendly. She had wanted to use a ruder word, but seeing as they were so close to the pups, she refrained from doing so. They would be well-raised, the opposite of her upbringing. Of course she knew they could not escape the filthy language, the disgrace to the English language, but she could protect for as long as need be.

Burke nodded in agreement, actually in sink with Malice her 'splendid'. The male looked at his mate. "Of course she will be fine. If she stays respectful that is," he pointed out to Malice and then looked at Aeronwyn. "We don't to get on other pack's nerves. We just want to be secretive, like the morning mists that come from the rivers," he added.

The male looked at Aeronwyn. He knew she wanted her trade, but picking up so many fights was not something he wanted Arthendal to be known for, even though if they didn't know their pack name they would associate Aeronwyn with him if they would see them together at the borders. "I'd rather have Shink and Issun here, Malice. We are too small right now to send out pairs I think," Burke spoke thoughtfully. Otherwise they were only with Malice, Shink or Issun and him protecting the lands, and he rather had Issun and Shink both here until they gathered some more members.

The wraith dipped her head in acceptance of the words, feeling the meeting drawing to a close. She dipped her head to each of the pair respectively, adding to her actions a few words. “Very well. I hope to bring Shink with me one day, perhaps when our ranks swell. He seeks the scout trade, I have no interest in claiming that trade at the moment.” She glanced at each of them, rising and rolling her shoulders once. “Thank you both for your audience.” She added, expression stoic but a small smile playing at her muzzle.

She turned on her heel, slipping back into the woods with a new goal in mind. Tomorrow, perhaps, she would depart for the south. Alone.