Kintla Flatlands spiraling supernova

there's a lot of junky narrative happening here but ~~~

She had gone south, looped a meandering path down there, then set a course back towards the northwest. Nothing nearby had inspired her to look deeper for a new home in the area. She steeled herself anew, and got back to work on putting miles beneath her paws.

In doing so, she had found the edges of what she presumed to be the Caldera's buffer zones and did not loiter there. It was useful information to know exactly where they were, at least, but she traveled north. Her path toed the invisible boundary between the Great Bear Wilderness and the flatlands for a good while, and she noticed that the scent of the mountain was already faint on her. She let the hours pass behind her all the same.
 
When fatigue and hunger began to remind her of their company, she realized just how far north into the flatlands she had gone. Tracking, (and wondering how it was faring at the Bay too) had kept her mind busy. Still, she hadn't encountered any trace of Rain, and it was beginning to trouble her even more. But now was not the time. She zeroed in on a rabbit, chased it towards the riverside, and ate quickly. Afterward, she napped in a small thicket. By the time she awoke, she was feeling renewed, so shook out her fur before setting out at a casual jog meant to cover more ground while conserving stamina.

She'd been preparing to veer towards the west again when the subtitles of a scent caught her nose. Sniffing, she struggled for a good grasp of the scattered trail. It was only a suspicion, for now, but one she had to act on while she had it -- she thought she smelled @Nishu Inte, effectively one half of the whole of who she was looking for.

Days seem to be just flying by, He hasn't been paying much attention to them anymore. He covered so much ground that he felt like he's been going in circles. Putting a little thought into it maybe he has been going in circles. In any case Rain was likely no where near here. Perhaps she was on the other side of the mountains. The situation he was in was terrible. Nishu didn't rest much and couldn't even rest well when he did. His effectiveness at everything drop significantly.

Pass the mountains he needed to go. He was walking slow without really realising it. He wasn't alert or focused on anything but finding Rain. His exhaustion was holding him back completely. How far did he go? Why is he unable to find her? As a Knight it was pride breaking, He hated it. Being apart from Rain was destroying him, even more knowing that she was injured. How much longer until he finds her? He can't stop until he does find her.

She could swear she was getting closer, to something, at least. The scent was leading her somewhere and this was the best lead she'd gotten a hold of in weeks. But so much aimless searching kept her hopes low, though, as she alternated between jogging and walking fast with her nose low to the ground.

She rounded out her path around some scenery and cut to a straight trip when things really seemed distinct. While it had been a long time since Nishu and Rain had been near the mountainside, and she'd anticipated their scents to reflect it, memory still served her well enough -- she knew she had to be smelling Nishu at least. After what seemed like several long, tedious moments, she finally caught sight of gray fur ahead and relief came like a wave... but a slew of questions soon followed. Her pace quickened, and to his back, she couldn't help but bark a quick "Nishu..!" to get his attention while her approach zeroed in on him. She closed distance with a series of long strides.

Up close, she swiftly confirmed her suspicions in that Rain's scent was nowhere involved in this, but sight of him inspired concern for more reasons than that alone. Torn between confusion, relief, and a creeping worry, she would start with the most obvious. "What has happened?"

Sorry, was busy. I should be a little more active now :D @Amekaze 

Nishu's mind settled back to normal the moment he hear someone call him. He wasn't too alarmed at first. That is until he realised who it was that showed up. She was approaching fast. Nishu panicked, he didn't find Rain yet. This wasn't the time to come across the Alpha of Rain's home pack. His mind scattered in search of some kind of excuse for not being with Rain. Lie? Why would he do that? Before he could even find out what to do Amekaze was already in front of him. By reflex he turned to the side and stood tall in salute as if Amekaze was some high ranking general. "Yes Si.. Ma'am?!"

Now the question that came forth and Nishu lowered his head as if in fault already. "It's all due to the chaoic storm.." He said quietly but then rose his head and turned back to continue on his way. "Rain is injured, she was in a cave.. I must find her before it's too late!" He said as if full of energy to do so. Quickly afterwards fatique cought up and slowed his fast walk to a slow unbalanced walk. How long as it been since he last saw Rain? A week? He lost track of time long ago.

:D! i feel like i'm a slow/crummy replier this week bc work has been like ugh.. but a few days off is coming up and i can't wait to sleeeeep in lmao

He squared up and she studied him carefully. Without a doubt, she found herself glad he was alive and not impossibly far from the mountain.. but she knew she didn't need to even say it: there was worry in the way her ears angled back and her eyes narrowed when he bowed his head. Where was Rain? And had something dire happened to her?

Without her, he seemed more.. unsettled than she had ever seen him. He explained, her brow furrowed, and she trailed alongside him with a tense jog. Her fears were confirmed when he revealed the storm was the root cause of this. While bad news, it was far from a surprise. "Where did you see her last?" A cave could mean many places, or maybe he didn't know where... Naturally, Amekaze hoped near the mountains somewhere. "And injured how?" Incapacitated, surely.. but again, the options for details were vast. Bleeding wounds? Broken bones? Something worse? "I had searched for the two of you further north in the flatlands almost to Ravensblood after the storm thinking something had possibly happened.." When it had been so long since she had heard back from them, and the storm's timing, it had almost made perfect sense for that to be the holdup -- as much as she had hated to think about such a fate for one of her few comrades.

But that had been a handful of days ago and even more since the storm event. She tried to put a timeline on this.. wondering how long Rain had been misplaced and injured (or both) and she found she didn't like the looks of it. He was noticeably fatigued as well, which was worrisome on top of all things when he was, without a doubt, her best chance of finding her again the fastest. How long had he run ragged trying to find her already...?

Ahh sleep, can never get enough

Nishu didn't know much about any of the territories. He thought that by remembering landmarks he could easily locate Rain afterwards but the storm had changed everything once it was finished. It was like he was teleported into another world that was in ruins. Still even during the storm there was no way to tell where they were at the time. Hearing how Amekaze was searching for them made him stop. Did she search the caves at the base of the mountains?

"I can say for certain that we were heading towards Blacktail Deer Plateau from Stravenger bay, after that it felt like we got pulled into another world. Something is clearly wrong with her leg, She can't put any weight on it... It is likely broken." He said calmly. Suddenly he felt like it was his fault that Rain got injured. Everything that happens to her now would be his fault. Surely no Knight before him had this much of a failure. He wasn't worthy of the title. But losing that was like losing his life.

He turned to face Amekaze. "I don't understand how I can't find her. I've been in the west of here and searched every cave I could find at the mountain base. If you were searching in the north and didn't come across her then.. Where is Rain?" 

Suddenly he decided to move again but in a different direction, Northwest. Then spoke in a weary tone. "I should go back to those mountains, maybe I missed a cave. I have to find her.. now"

Her ears stayed back, and her frown hardened. It seemed Rain had been an elusive one, somehow, if neither of them had turned up anything in their searches. Worst part was, Amekaze felt she had not been far from the right area if she was supposedly somewhere between the Plateau and the Bay. How a wolf with a possibly broken leg managed to do so was beyond her.

So, his frustration was understandable. She'd felt it too, albeit to a lesser extent obviously -- he was troubled by this and she knew it. "I would not think that with a broken leg, she could go far.." she grumbled. Rain was savvy, though, and if she had learned some useful basics in her search of medic training, perhaps she could do more than the average. Amekaze knew she had to be somewhere. "When I was searching in the north, I was mainly in the woods and fields," she said. So having missed her trail was not impossible. Now she knew what she did about the cave, though, so that was somewhat helpful. Only it did not really narrow it down majorly enough to give her m "I remember caves north of Silvertip.. but there are many throughout the entire rest of mountain range too." Practically everywhere. When she was north, there were two packs in some of the areas more likely to have caves so it had never occurred to her to go near them before. She was wary of going sniffing around too thoroughly on their doorsteps. Amekaze then hoped Rain had not happened across hostile wolves near this cave wherever she was.. That could certainly complicate things further.

"I have just come from southeast of here and I followed the mountains for a time. I smelled no trails there either. I will keep looking since I have more scouting to do, too, as I am strongly considering moving the pack -- and I want Rain to know this," she explained. While it felt cruel to burden him with more, she licked the backs of her teeth as her mouth was feeling dry suddenly. The timing of all this was certainly not ideal, but she couldn't keep waiting with things in pending limbo. She had to proceed if she intended to settle before winter. However, knowing Rain's loyalty to the mountain ran deep, Amekaze had to know how this would be taken by her.

Being tired made it quite slow for him to put the pieces together in his mind. Rain really couldn't have gone far yet Nishu search so far and wide. The only reason for that is that he didn't know where he was. This one fact caused him to be apart from Rain for too long. As a knight this was a total failure, his only hope of recovering a little bit of his title is the return to her before it was too late. But, so much time has gone by. Was it already too late?

He refused to believe such thing. Either way Rain is lost and is yet to be located. There is no way she could have disappeared. "We must search until we find her no matter how many times it takes." He said tirely. Exhaustion was catching up again making him walk weakly but he didn't stop. A few seconds after Amekaze said something about moving the pack he stopped. This was something important.

"Even more reason to find her now. Rain loves the mountains but if everyone left Sunspire when she returns.. I rather not let that happen." This situation was getting worse by the minute.But there was one way Amekaze could help him. He turned and bowed down to her. "Alphess of Sunspire, do you by chance know which direction I could find Stravenger Bay at?" He thought maybe by going to where it all started he could find Rain along to way.

There was a mixed message she was taking from this. In part, she was more hopeful in knowing Rain was out here somewhere. But, knowing she was injured brought the threat of risk into it all even greater than before. Nishu seemed absolutely resolved to finding her, so she was not going to argue with that or attempt to derail him at all. He may have been exhausted, but it would only waste her energy to hold him back. He could handle himself.

They would search, though, and she nodded somberly to his tired words. She'd do all she could in the midst of all other things. Amekaze valued Rain far too much to simply let it go.

He seemed to take the mention of moving the pack in the best way she could have hoped. His bow was a touch unexpected, though, as he asked of Stavanger Bay. "Ah, that way, roughly.. on the coast on the other side of Silvertip Mountain. Well south of where the Totoka river hits the sea," Ame gestured with her muzzle to the west best she could from here, squinting off into the horizon where the mountain peaks made her identifying landmarks. She might have been a bit too far south or north as to the Bay's exact location, but she knew it was a good ways south of where the biggest river met the sea. "I actually have business there myself, so I am headed in that direction soon. I also did plan to scout the mountains south of there afterward."

Getting a point in a right direction rose his spirits up. Finally he had an idea of where something is. He did have a general idea of where some places are but he still lacked alot of the region knowledges. The storm that passed by made him realise that what he knew was not enough after the lands itself was changed. Amekaze said she had something to do over at Stavanger Bay which meant if he goes there too they won't cover as much ground as they would if they split search. Time was against him on this he needed to do whatever gave him the best chance.

Nishu nodded but decided to change his plan. "If you are heading that way then I should look some place else. I'll go straight north instead." He said already on the move again. He actually took off in the north-east direction instead of north but not by much.

He then stopped realising something important. "It may be too early to ask this but when and where do you count on gathering everyone?" If the pack was moving he needed to know where to find it later. Hopefully it won't be too complicated for him to find the place. Thing would be ever better if he could get there with Rain.

While her time with him had been short, she was getting the itch to be on her way herself. She didn't doubt he'd agree, since already it was clear he could scarcely hold still. So, she wouldn't slow him unnecessarily. She only hoped he would not push himself too hard.

"Sounds good," she said with a nod. North would send him further than she had looked so far. Between the two of them, they could cover some significant ground. "I do not have an exact timeline yet, but until we have settled on a territory, I will be making trips back to the Sunspire periodically at least. I have given everyone the option to scout with me, or stay behind a while longer until it is more certain." What with stockpiles to clear and scattered members to rally. Part of this was also because of Rain's absence. Amekaze did not want her to return to a completely forgotten mountainside. She wasn't looking forward to making too many rounds, though, and would rest easier when everyone was far more settled. "I do hope it is sooner rather than later." So much banked on what they could find. She wasn't in a major rush, but it would certainly ease her mind to have it happen quickly and easily.

"Travel safe," she offered in way of farewell after loitering just a moment longer, not even knowing if he would stick around long enough to hear it himself. She turned her heading towards the west, and was gone from sight of him not long after.