Sunbeam Lair An old friend on your doorstep

Dating this a bit forward, two days. OMG So many she knows! :D @Leo @Ukko @Menta , All Welcome though!

Valette continued her travels, clearly wanting to go back home, yet, she had one more thing to look for, Ryūjin. She met Menta at the beginning of her trip, and later she realized that this was also Leo's pack. Her good old friend Leo. They were now acquaintances at best, but the girl liked to think of the boy as her friend. He had lived with them. He knew about Bearclaw Valley and the horrendous Black Feather. He was a reminder that it was real.

The young female had gotten some directions, and after scoping around the mountain looking for any markings it came to the land marks she needed to know. The girl located her way up the mountain, slowly getting a few warning marks. The girl smiled and continued before she reached an actual border. As always she stayed respectful and took a few steps back before howling to the pack, asking if anyone wanted to meet her, talk to her. She hoped that she might see one of her friends again.

The man walked along Ryūjin's borders, making their scent stronger. With the thought of Asterr back in the territory, he had felt a new relief. He never through the would be that dependent on the female, which had him worry. What would happen if she were to go on a trip again? The voices were already hard to contain and with Asterr gone he almost lost control of himself. Who knew what he was able to do if that ever happened.

Leo had increased his pace when there was a howl at their border. He knew that it would be best to let the cheiftess answer if it were a recruit, but he was close by anyways.

The male noticed a dark furred female upon arrival and lit up as he realized who she was. "Desna!" He rushed over to her, a smile forming on his maw. "How have you been?"

Desna smiled Leo approached. She noticed him quickly enough. The girl stayed where she was however. She didn't want to overstep any boundaries. It was good to see Leo. Maybe Menta was out traveling again. Valette couldn't be sure. "Hi Leo!," she greeted with a smile. "I've been good, traveling a lot. On my travels I met Menta so I thought I drop by here on my way back to Silvertip," she explained. She wasn't sure if Leo knew she lived at Silvertip now, instead of the maplewood forest.

"How are you?," she asked with a smile on her lips. "It is good to see you," she hummed. The girl wanted to tell him about Bearclaw and that she visited the valley again. It had looked quite different than she remembered.

The cream had heard the howl, recognizing the voice immediately as the female who had told her she would soon be visiting. Menta had been stifling her wanderlust as of late - both a sense of obligation and guilt had been welling up in her, and this new stranger Shogun had put her a little on edge. It was time to be home and stay home, at least for now.

And so it was from a tiny dazed slumber in Sunbeam Lair that the howl had interrupted, the cream's ears fluffed up and catching the call as it shook her back to her senses. Feet responded without conscious directions, lifting her up and trotting with haste to the source. Menta recognized the cream male who had gotten to the border line before her - a smile and a nod was given to Leo, and a few tail wags to both of the wolves before her.  It was clear that they were friends - or friendly, at the very least - by the close proximity in which they had been greeting each other, and so the female stayed a few feet away so as not to rudely interrupt.

Valette, good to see you, she remarked politely. How have your travels through the Mountains been?

It is when the call crosses the borders that Ukko lifts his head, searching for Asterr nearby. She becomes alert just as quickly and he bumps her shoulder, encouraging her to stay put. If he’s to be her second, he’s going to need to pull his weight around their lands. Their. It sounds weird but he doesn’t linger on it for long. Instead, he insists that he goes to the borders—alone—to investigate the stranger.

Ukko doesn’t quite have the lay of the land memories yet so it takes longer than he anticipates. He spends most of his time by Asterr’s side that exploring doesn’t come often, so he brushes it off to face the others. It doesn’t surprise him that others had beaten him to it and he nods his head to Menta, with a slight smile, and to the other male he doesn’t recognize—he hadn’t been there when he’d arrived home with Asterr—before looking past them to see a wolf that seems vaguely family.

Dark, orange eyes narrow slightly, breaking into the crowd with a higher posture—head high, tail arched over his back—and then it registers. Desna.

Desna!

His posture softens then and he smiles, wagging his tail as he lets it all sink in.

“Look who's all grown up.”

"Well I'm happy you came," he barked, tail wagging. It was truley great to see Desna after all the time that had passed. Leo couldn't help but feel guilt for not coming to see her sooner.

"It's been pretty good," he replied. That answer would have been different if Asterr was still gone. Stress had slowed with her presence. "Nothing too exciting really." Just the same regular days with the same schedule flying past.

He smiled as Menta had come into the scene. He chuffed a quick greeting before letting her speak. Soon after her came another wolf, a stranger. His sudden presence made him jolt in surprise. Confusion overtook him when the older male spoke. Leo looked to Desna and back to the male.

Not going to have Valette react to Menta seeing that she has been inactive for more than a week already! :) @Menta feel free to always pop in if/when you return!

Before Valette could react to Leo another wolf approached. The girl looked at the black form and then instantly recognized him. "Ukko!," she let out and wanted to run towards him but the border stopped her. Her tail went back to being crazy excited though. And there was a happy smile on her face. "You are still alive! You are here!," she let out sounding so surprised. The girl looked relieved too. She never knew what happened to him in the end. "Yes, all grown up. Now working on my scout specialty actually!,' she smiled.

"I'm happy to have searched out this pack! Who knew!" she spoke to the both of them. Leo was here and Ukko was here, Menta lived here too. So many wolves she already knew. "Nothing too exciting? C'mon! Did you not find a nice girl or boy to hang out with? Have you been working on cool trades?"

Desna recognizes him and dances in excitement, causing a grin to cross his muzzle. His tail wags fervently behind him and he considers coming closer, crossing the borders to embrace the dark girl. The male standing closer keeps him planted for a moment, glancing in his direction and finds himself unsure of what to make of him. A wolf he had yet to meet within Asterr’s claim, uncertain if he even knows Ukko’s status within their home, but he brushes it off for the time being.

“I went to my birth pack for a little while,” he admits, smile fading from his features, going silent when she turns to Leo and asks a few things of him. When he’s able, he throws in his own question, unable to get the elephant in the room out of his head. “How… how is the maplewood?”

Valette smiled when Leo spoke. She really wanted to ask if there was nothing exciting happening but then the male seemed to leave and leave her with Ukko in private. She smiled at the male, her tail swaying excitedly. "Ah okay, I thought you left with Reek," she explained but it had never been confirmed.

Her face frowned a bit. "Um. Well I am not with the Maplewoods anymore. After a threat from Sleeping Dragon, Saena packed her bags and guided us away to a new location. However I lost them during our travels and joined another pack instead. I live with the Silvertip wolves now," she explained. "I never located their new location," she admitted. "However I do know where Reek lives."

From the moment Desna begins to speak again, all Ukko can do is blink and stare. Every word that comes from her mouth is new to her. He hadn’t gone back near the maplewood since his return and was never sure if he was going to, or if he would be ready, and now they were gone? And Reek isn’t with them? His ears fall back upon his head and he forces himself to look away as he tries to process the information. Everything has fallen apart and it had all began when he’d made a single mistake and now, they’re here. Saena is gone, Reek is somewhere else entirely. The wolves he knew in the maplewood could very well be divided but whether or not he will ever be ready to try and find them remained tucked away somewhere that Ukko didn’t want to address.

“I’ve never heard of Silvertip,” he manages to say, swimming through a sea of question he can’t ask all at once. Not even one in particular comes to the forefront of his mind and he isn’t sure what to do. Maybe he doesn’t want to know. He only vaguely recalls Sleeping Dragon, having met one or two when he was at the maplewood but beyond that there had been nothing else. His jaw tightens and he shifts his weight, bringing his gaze back to Desna, plainly: “I don’t… I don’t know what to say.”

Valette had always been good natured. So when Ukko spoke to her about not knowing what to say she couldn't really blame him. As a teenager she found a few things unfair, but now, seeing she was becoming more of a young adult her understanding of others was growing. "It is alright Ukko. The things that happened were out of your control, out of my control," she explained. She thought it was best to not mention the famine and how she struggled. Perhaps her overweight from before was what saved her. Ever since she was little she had a lot of puppy fat.

"You should visit me there sometime if you like! You are welcome to anyhow," she spoke with a hum on her lips. "I hope we can stay friends. I am not as bossy anymore as I was as a pup,' she tried to joke lightly. A kind smile was on her lips. She knew now that it was better to have many friends, and as it turned out she was good at making friends.

With all the information Desna has presented, Ukko feels rather overwhelmed. He has questions he wants to ask but can't seem to sort them out or find the right ones to ask first. If she'd gotten separated from the pack in their move, perhaps she won't even have the answers he wants. And what she seems to know about Reek, however, has little interest to him. So, for the moment, he keeps his silence and nods once he's given an invitation to visit her current home.

"I will. Once I'm a little more settled and learn my way around, I'd like to visit you," he says. He'd grown fond of the child and there is a little duty to make sure she does well in the wake of Scarlet's passing. Seeing Desna in front of him makes him feel a little at ease since having lost his friend but the pain remains a shadow in his mind anyway. "Where is it?"

Valette quirked up her lips and nodded. "Of course. You are always welcome to drop by. Take your time, whenever you feel comfortable," she spoke to him with a smile. "Cross the mountain side to the south and then go to the west, keep the mountain ridge to your right side. If you continue long enough you see a big lone mountain with a white tip. That is it!," she explained very graphically where their location was. She wouldn't mind a visit from the other after all.

"So I guess I will see you around then?," she asked, starting to round up the conversation. She was on her way home now, and she rather wanted to return after weeks of traveling. She was curious if Ezekiel would be there to welcome her or if he had left in the weeks that had passed. She hoped he didn't but nothing could be certain. Males did tend to leave packs.

Desna explains easily where she is located and Ukko listens intently noting down every bit of information he's offered. Once he gets a good feel for the land, the directions should be easy to navigate and his children, if any, will have grown enough that he won't have to worry for a few hours away. "Good," he tells her with a lash of his tail and a smile that doesn't feel right on his face. He goes with it. "I look forward to it."

Valette smiled at the other. "Alright, I will see you around." With that said Valette turned towards the west and started her travels back home. She was eager to tell Steady about her adventure, and her new friends! Especially to have those friends visiting her. It was a good few weeks, and even though tiring. She had learned a lot during these travels and she hoped she could prove that to Steady as well.