Shadewood We are in the war.

Her eyes glimmered when Riley mentioned the waterfall could make for a good vacation destination. She liked the thought of annual getaways, though Masque wondered if they might take their children with them. It was kind of delightful, musing about such futures plans and possibilities.

That reminds me, she said after a few moments of happy pondering, I visited the pack living on the plateau east of here and spoke to its leader, Rodyn. He said quite a few interesting things, including inviting us to join him on a traders’ trip in the fall. I thanked him for the offer but told him I wasn’t sure we could commit to something like that so far in advance.

She tipped her head to regard Riley’s expression as she disseminated this information. Masquerade had gleaned quite a lot from her various talks of alliances, though she still wasn’t sure quite what would suit their up-and-coming pack. She was still sorting out her personal preferences on how she wanted to run this place. She knew she would carry over some practices from the rise, for instance, but shirk many others.

Her long tail switched as her stomach interrupted the conversation with a loud, comical string of burbles and squeaks.