Flycatcher Downs Though I am old with wandering

@Fox. I tried to pick somewhere sort of in-between, let me know if this location won't work!

The crow cackled, calling out across the valley for its brethren, but having only the wolf ranging beneath it for company. Its dark beak sometimes tipped downward and its beady eyes roved over the russet-splotched figure far below, but beyond that, it didn't acknowledge Saena. She acknowledged it, however. Her nose remained tilted slightly upward, and while her ears were trained firmly ahead, her gaze alternately darted between the bird and the snow-speckled terrain. Following crows wasn't a habit of hers when she was ruled by her emotions and pride, but with instincts fully engaged, it seemed a wise thing to do.

She'd been following it for over half an hour, knowing the habits of crows, and she was rewarded in due time. It made a beeline for a lump sticking out of the frosted grass. Saena hastened her steps until she could make out what it was: a fallen doe, mostly eaten by some animal or another, but with enough tough meat left to sate her for now. The crow hardly managed to settle before the wolf snapped at the air in warning, sending it clawing skyward, while she vigorously fell upon the abandoned carcass.

@Gannet and @Whip are hanging out in the background, out of sight, for now (lemme know if that's not cool with either of you). Fox may call them forward depending on how things go. Posts after this will be a lot shorter, but traveling/setting the scene. :)

Fox, having the horrible memory that she did, couldn't recall exactly how Wildfire had told her to get to where she currently lived. Hell, she couldn't even remember the name of the place. Thankfully, Peregrine had remembered that it was north and called Sleeping Dragon, so Fox had at least some direction of where she was supposed to be going.

With Whip and Gannet in tow, they began their journey by skirting south of Blackfeather Woods, where Fox made sure they understood that they weren't going to get anywhere close to the other pack's borders. Once they passed that, it was through a vast meadow and around the southern base of a mountain. Fox didn't know the names of any of them, though she might have in days past. She planned on taking them through her oldest stomping grounds in the area on their way north eventually.

The smell of a not-so-fresh kill caused Fox to lick her lips, and she turned to her two accompanying sons. "You two stay here," she commanded in a whisper, not wanting them to get any closer before she assessed the situation. She tiptoed forward, ears pushed forward and her single working eye attempting to discern what, if anything, was a threat. If Saena hadn't been so unique in her coloration, Fox probably would have simply gone on her way and not thought about it any longer. That wasn't the case, though.

"Saena?" she asked, wondering if perhaps this was a daughter of Saena's, just as Fox had been mistaken for her own daughter in the past.

The meat was cold, dry, and tough, but it went down all the same. It would sate and fuel her for now, until she could catch something fresh and truly dine. The crow she'd followed settled in the bristly grass nearby, and she spun her blue eyes up to watch it. She wasn't opposed to it, for it led her here, but Saena didn't want to compete with it, either. A low rumble in her throat warned it from trying to harass her. It seemed to work, for the crow took wing, and it wasn't until she looked away that she realized its true reason for leaving was the approach of a second wolf.

Saena lifted her head and hunched her shoulders. She wasn't overly possessive over the old carcass, but she was defensive, even though Fox didn't trigger any memories. Saena's old hatred of the woman was buried under the fog of amnesia, but there was still something unsettling about the tiny she-wolf, as if Saena should know her from somewhere. She got the same feeling from all wolves with that coat colour, though she didn't understand it. Her unease only grew when Fox threw out her name. Saena's muzzle crinkled with mistrust, but it was confusion that mainly comprised her expression as she asked, "what do you want?" without any hint of recognition whatsoever.

Whip had not wanted to go on this little adventure in the slightest, but after his recent antics (and his parent's insistence), the boy felt he had no other choice. So begrudgingly, Whip accompanied his mother and brother north to see his sister -- whom he had yet to meet because of his reserved and quiet nature. He didn't much care to visit distant family, sibling or otherwise, but this was the first time Whip had ever been beyond the Caldera. The outside world was a frightening, yet exciting place. For a boy who had felt little more than numb for as long as he could remember, the trip was an unlikely but welcome change of pace.

He stayed close behind his mother, speaking only to stop the party to marvel at the strange things they passed. The curiosity of childhood had not quite been spent.

They kept a consistent pace and avoided the lands claimed by other packs like the plague -- that is, until their mother bid the boys to stop. Whip made no complaints and gingerly settled into the ground with his two, scabbing forelimbs outstretched before him. The flesh was healing, yet the pain of his self-harm remained. Despite the pain of extended travel, Whip's curiosity eventually got the better of him. When their mother was no longer in Whip's frame of vision, he looked to his brother Gannet and asked, "Are we gonna follow her, or what?" as he began to rise in blatant disregard of his mother's command.

Assuming Whip/Gannet are still out of sight.

"What do you want?" was the response Fox got, but it didn't really clarify her question. Was this Saena, or some doppelgänger Fox hadn't met previously? The question that the other Saena-looking wolf had asked wasn't one Fox had really been prepared for. "Uh, nothing, I guess," she replied. "I'll tell Peregrine you said hey." It wouldn't exactly be the truth, but it was close enough.

Fox eyeballed the feast that Saena was eating, though she didn't make any move to take it from her. Perhaps she would camp out nearby with the boys and move in once Saena was gone. A past Fox would have bullied her out of it, but she was older now, and she didn't want to put either of her kids in danger.

Well, that wasn't very helpful. Saena's muzzle wrinkled further when Fox spoke next, but smoothed out again when she mentioned a completely unfamiliar name. What was up with this woman, anyway? Saena leaned back on her haunches til her rump touched the ground and, seated imperiously, fixed the tiny red wolf with a cold and confused stare.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, lady," she revealed as she panned her ears to the side, "or how you know my name, but you do whatever you want." Short of being disrespectful or aggressive, Saena had no reason to worry about what Fox did now, though she couldn't quell her unease about the whole thing. If only she could reach into her missing memory and recall what it was about red-haired wolves that made her feel naturally mistrustful of them, maybe it would make more sense. There had to be a reason. She wondered idly if it had something to do with this weirdo, who seemed to know her, somehow.

Whether or not Gannet followed him, Whip really didn't much care. Of course, he would rather have the company of his brother, especially when breaking the rules -- but Whip had already made his choice. He was going to follow his mother to see what was up no matter what. Whip did not dilly-dally, and was soon setting off in the direction of his mother's trail.

Whip soon found that his mother did not travel far. Caution was paramount, especially in unfamiliar territory. Whip kept himself downwind and his body low as Fox's scent grew stronger. Now, close as he was, Whip could smell another. A stranger. His curiosity was piqued, but he knew to keep his distance to avoid detection. 

When his mother was finally within sight, Whip dipped into the nearest bush and he turned his ears forward to listen in on their conversation.

Well then. Saena had apparently forgotten her. Fox supposed that was better than the alternative, which would have been a scathing hatred. After all, she was pretty sure Saena believed that Fox herself had murderated Junior. Wait, had she done that? Fox couldn't really remember the details anymore. She certainly hadn't stopped it. Junior was dead for a good reason. At least Saena wasn't that messed up in the head. With a shrug, Fox turned tail and headed back toward where she had left Whip and Gannet.

Fox got about ten strides in before she spotted Whip hiding in the bushes. "God dammit, Whip. Come on. Nothing to see," she scolded, giving him a mean mom stare in the process. The last thing she wanted was for him to get tangled up in some really old drama. Slightly annoyed, she nosed him back toward Gannet. "We're not going near the food. There's another wolf there, and we don't want to pick a fight." That was that.

It was almost there, like a word on the tip of her tongue. There was something unsettling about Fox and the way she spoke, but before Saena could even begin to pinpoint it (she would have failed to recall the other's unprovoked attack on her anyway), a third wolf was scared up out of the bushes by Fox's scolding tone. Although Fox seemed loathe to bring the other wolf into the conflict and there was probably nothing to worry about, the odds were stacked against her, and Saena was lulled by her instincts into a defensive posture. Her hackles prickled along her neck, and she began sidestepping away from the carcass.

She could take one of them—a half-blind wolf smaller than she and a young wolf likely untested in any sort of combat—but she wasn't about to take on both of them. Even if they were moving away, it was enough of a reason for her to head back to somewhere safer. Whatever made her feel so unsure of Fox and red wolves in general was filed away for another day as Saena turned away and stalked back into the wilderness. She could wonder who Peregrine was without other wolves around.

From his vantage point in the bushes, Whip learned absolutely nothing. He bit his lip and realized that he had made a mistake following his mother for this. This was totally boring and not worth the trouble. Unfortunately, Whip never had the time to slip away and make his silent escape. His mother narrowed in on his hiding spot and could see him eavesdropping.

He withdrew from the cover of the brush as his mother reprimanded him for his disobedience. Whip looked down at the ground, knowing that he had made a mistake. However, in his periphery, he could the stranger turning away from a free meal. "But Mom, she's leaving," he pleaded. He, and probably Gannet too, was hungry after walking for so long. How could she deny her sons such such an easy meal?

We can archive here if you'd like. :)

”But mom,” was the last thing Fox wanted to hear. She scowled at him, looked back to see Saena’s figure retreating, then turned back to Whip. ”We’ll find something else to eat,” she insisted. Nothing good would come out of scavenging what Saena had been eating. It was a horrible idea, and it made her wary in ways she couldn’t even explain. ”C’mon, let’s go.” Fox nudged him back toward Gannet, eager to leave and find food elsewhere.