Heron Lake Plateau Let's give this bad boy a test run.

Set April 20. I'll leave the first round open until the actual 20th so everyone's timelines can catch up!

Edited to include reference to @Screech's scent markings.

Although she was—they all were—exhausted, filthy and footsore, Towhee couldn't help but perk up immediately when they crossed what would become their borders and climbed, X drifting just ahead of the careworn caravan. She gasped audibly when they crested the plateau and found herself staring across the largest lake she'd ever seen, teeming with herons and other waterfowl. The hawk circled once and then returned to alight on Towhee's shoulder blade as the she-wolf continued to gape.

All she wanted to do was eat (maybe one of those overgrown ducks) and sleep after their week-long trek through the uncharted wilderness. Instead, Towhee turned toward @Elwood and @Finley, dipping her snout to sniff at @Tywyll's and @Cinder's heads to make sure all was well. She then faced @Quixote, @Colt, @Eljay, @Nevouku, @Orca, @Tegan, @Fiadh, @Lucca, @Clover and @Raven, offering them a weary smile.

"Everyone should get some rest," she said. "Stay close together until we can start marking and patrolling the borders properly. Speaking of which," Towhee continued, striding over to Tegan, "you're coming with me. No rest for the wicked." She clucked her tongue. X swooped up and off her shoulder blade. "We're going to get started on the borders. Before we head out, go over to the lake and take a big, long drink. We're gonna need a lot of pee."

On that note, a pleasant breeze blustered across the nearby lake, ruffling its surface and tousling Towhee's matted nape. She closed her eyes and tipped her face into it, fully trying to enjoy the slight brininess of it (the ocean, perhaps?), when instead she got a nose full of someone else's piss. Had they come all this way just to find themselves in the middle of another turf war? Towhee's eyes narrowed to slits, every aching muscle in her body suddenly tensing. They'd just lost their old home, then come all this way, and now that they were here—in paradise, by the looks of it—Towhee wasn't going to budge.

"Tegan!" she called, quite possibly disrupting his compulsory potty break. "Colt! Quixote!" By the smell of it, there weren't many claimants, so perhaps it would be easy enough to oust the unwelcome squatters. "Come with me."