Mount Apikuni we could be immortals

still smarting after the porcupine encounter, and yet refusing to go home just yet, the girl picked her way onwards. she had spent the night in a little hollow beside a river bank, waking soaking wet, which was rather a poor way to greet the day. never the less, she had simply shaken herself, picked the mud, or most of it, from her coat, and continued on. the tiny little holes the quills had inflicted still festered, and when she came across the scent of one of the creatures around midday, she veered from its path.

early afternoon found her trotting in the shadow of some great mountain, another across the way. the earth between her paws had grown thin, and boulders spotted her path often - a glance around her had her realize that she was in the foothills of the mountain, now. she paused, the hurt in her ankle becoming more of a bother than she cared to admit, and the burn of hunger demanding to be sated.

In Rannoch's quest to assure himself that Harold the bear was long gone, the Alpha of the Vale found himself venturing away from the Vale early in the day. He wanted to explore an area that he had not yet investigated. Despite the climb, it did not take the leader all too long to reach the valley that was neatly tucked between the neighboring peaks of the Vale and the mountain. 

Once he was on solid land again, Rannoch went right to work in his searching. Inhaling deeply, the Alpha collected the scents from the shadow-covered grasslands. Mixed in the common prey odors, Rannoch scented the unfamiliar smell of a pack that he had never encountered. Curious, and not yet on guard as they were in neutral lands, Rannoch slowly rose his head and surveyed the span of foothills. Moments of silence passed as he examined the lush lands and soon enough, at a distance, he saw another at the other end of the territory. With the space between him, the young female appeared healthy and older than she actually was; it was only when he would draw closer that Rannoch would realize that all was not rainbows and butterflies for the huntress. 

But, for now, he kept his space and called out to her with a woof, figuring that reaching out to her would benefit him. If she were willing, she'd be able to let him know if she smelled a bear nearby.

it was nothing but her and the silence of the wilds, for a time, not that she minded in the least. it was good to be ranging, instead of steeped in thoughts of her new family, of Da and Morningside's future. and, though she tried to put the boy - not her brother - out of her head, she couldn't. he had gotten under her skin, o matter how much she hated the fact. 

a greeting registered, and she spun, gaze quickly picking out the figure in the distance. she paused a moment if only to attempt to figure out if she knew the individual, before returning the greeting and moving to meet him. it was quickly obvious that this was a stranger, and yet she felt no doubt nor unease, instead coming to a stop before him with an open friendly, stance. "Hey!" she said, words almost pushed out of her, the slightest out of breath. "I'm Dawn." 

Dawn was eager to heed his call. Finding himself surprised at her rapid approach, and somewhat relieved to see as she was as friendly as he was, the wide-set Alpha watched as she approached. Greeting her with a wave of his tail and a smile, the leader realized some things about her in her approach. She was much younger than he had first suspected; her youthful appearance was much more apparent in a more intimate setting. Another thing the Alpha realized were the punctures that littered body, and he wondered what exactly she had gotten into. 

But, despite his curiosity, Rannoch figured that it was only proper to return her introduction before addressing his concerns. "Hey Dawn, I'm Rannoch," he replied smoothly, his posture relaxing as he spoke. With this given, the Alpha felt that it was as good as time as any to speak his first question: "Random question for you: have you smelled any bears in the area?" As much as he wanted to address her wellbeing, the Alpha had a duty to his pack, and once this question was cleared, he would then focus on her and make sure that he could do anything to help if she needed it.

"Rannoch's a cool name. Does it mean anything?"  she asked, recovering her breath quickly. Most name's in her family were pretty straightforward; Grayday, Sunny, Sunspot, and her own, for example. There was a kind of allure to names like Rannoch's, who meant something, or just sounded unique. Aoife came to mind, briefly, but was lost to the back of her thoughts quickly enough. 

she thought a moment, muttering "bears."  as she did so, trying to remember the scent her father had showed his once. "no, I haven't. only a pycho killer, but I haven't scented her in a while, and she's further north - nearer to my pack."  she answered with a thoughtful air, not a hint of dishonesty in her words, and there was none. her gaze turned to his with interest, and her brow quirked as she asked " Are there bloodthirsty bears around here, then?" 

Dawn's panting ceased promptly, and in the wake of this, Rannoch found himself faced with a question that he didn't know the answer to. Though he was unsure of the answer, he took a moment or so to search his memories and see if there was anything he could recall his parents telling him. "You know, I'm not sure," he answered, his look of concentration subsiding as his attention settled on Dawn once more. "My mom once told me it was my grandfather's name, but, she never told be what it meant." Unfortunately, there was no way for Rannoch ever to get the answer, either. He felt a pang of sadness at this, but he did not allow this feeling to surface. Instead, he pushed it aside.

Thankfully the topic turned quickly, and the young Alpha was not allocated enough time for such feelings to attempt to wriggle their way back into his psyche. Instead, the topic of the bears arose, and Rannoch found himself entirely distracted from the issue of his late parents. "There was a bear just beyond the range behind me that attacked my pack. It forced us into our current home in the Vale—​ which was honestly a blessing in disguise—​ but, I wanted to make sure it wasn't lurking too close to where we've settled. And, thankfully, I've circled this range and haven't smelled anything yet." He felt relief then as he realized that it seemed as though Harold had moved on. 

"Where are you from?" He asked then, curious to know where the bear that Dawn's pack had encountered had lived.

his words interested her, the slightest undertone that had her guessing at a common fate that seemed to touch all the youth she knew. "is she gone? mine is, too." her tone softened a touch, but the observation was quickly deemed rather stupid, as she hardly wanted to speak about mothers with this boy she had just met. her fiery disposition flowed back as quickly as it had softened, and she fixed him with a glance. 

"can't say I've seen a bear before.  I'd like to, but I feel like the probability of being eaten is too high to actually seek one out."  she responded, wondering at the foggy, and anatomically incorrect, vision of what a bear ought to look like. perhaps, it might be worth it to seek out a bear, though she wouldn't mention it to Rannoch. "My home is to the north-east of here. a couple days journey." suddenly, the words he had uttered returned to her. "Your pack? Are you an alpha, then?"  her tone was a bit doubtful, for Rannoch was awfully young, compared to her father and Sylvas. then again, she didn't know much about other packs.

Thrown off by what had been said, Rannoch found himself mentally floundering as he attempted to reply. "Yes, she's gone," came his eventual remark, his expression not faltering despite the whirlwind of emotions that ran rampant internally. He did his best to tame the beast of a storm, but, it was only when Dawn moved on conversationally that Rannoch felt himself calm down once more. 

"Yeah, I wouldn't go out and look for one our of curiosity's sake," he replied, an edge of seriousness accompanying his lighthearted tone. "In addition to what happened with my pack, another bear killed both of my mother and father a few months ago." Never being the one to prompt the thought of his parent's untimely demise, as it still dealt him a great world of pain, Rannoch only brought it forth to add validity to her thoughts of a bear potentially eating her. 

Nodding to her description of where her pack had settled, Rannoch found himself curious to know more of the wolves that Dawn ran with. As such, he asked: "What is the name of your pack?" before nodding to the remake that she made of his status of Alpha of the Vale. "Yeah, I'm the Alpha." 

Their conversation from there was short and Rannoch did not mind this. Once the two were properly acquainted, they decided that they wanted to part ways in persuit of what they had been looking for before they had met. Though their interaction had been short, Rannoch was happy that he had been able to advise the younger wolf to steer clear of bears and, hopefully, his advice would be considered if she ever crossed paths with one.