Big Salmon Lake descended from the rift

The heights of the Spear dropped off to the valley below, leaving her with a vacant expanse of meadow spread so plainly ahead of her and at her fullest disposal for the afternoon. She had an itch to move, stretch her legs, and whatever else that could entail so would do just that.

On her way here to beyond the thick scent of her claim, she'd brushed past pathways of at least two of the three — Hydra, Alya, and Lyra. Not taking the time to identify which ones, exactly, she had moved on without a second glance.. which she knew just might rouse their interest or suspicions at the very least. She used to skirt their detection entirely when she pressed towards the mountain's boundaries, but that was no longer necessary. They were well on their way, so she could invite them to scout alongside her without major concern finally.

Now immersed fully in the flat terrain, she had to adjust with a different sensation underfoot and in the air itself. Still, the muggy warmth of springtime soothed her with time, and she kept moving on an almost-straight path to the lake she knew to usually be a worthwhile venture. It felt like the most logical pathway here. Any further south and she'd start to steer into Redhawk territory, and she was not in the mood for smelling them today either.

When the lake was finally in sight, she sped up and closed in purposefully. Without hesitation, and while scanning all she could see so far, she approached the shoreline for a long drink. Once the thirst was slacked, she was off in the very next instant, skimming the edge of the waters in search.

Earlier this year, when Birk had visited the Southern areas for the first time, he had come accross remnants of a large kill with plenty of meat left on the bones. After having his fill, having shooed away some hungry foxes and coyotes, as well as exchanged quite a few strong words with the crows, he had taken the juiciest bit of the hind foot and taken it to the Bramblepoint. At that time the Earth had not yet been frozen, therefore it had been easy for him to dig a hallow and hide the treasure.

Now - many months later he remembered one day about the secret stash and decided to look for it. An idea that had seemed very good at first, but after two hours had passed in a fruitless search, Birk concluded that he had no idea of, where he had hidden that food. The second conclusion was - that the Bramblepoint forest was wa-a-a-ay bigger than he remembered it to be.

Right around the same time, when the dark she-wolf from the Moonspear had taken a short break at the lake, Birk emerged from the forest, heading in the same direction. However, once having taken notice of the stranger, the man stopped in his tracks to observe, where the unknown wolf intended to go next and perhaps guess, what it's plans might be.

It was a bit early in the season for the fishing to be good and juicy as she preferred it to be, so she tried to get that out of her head before her hopes could catch up only to be let back down again. The body of water itself kept luring her attention back anyway. No matter how she subtly started to steer away on her scope of it, she kept finding the pathway to pull herself back. Always just enough to stay in sight of the edge, and be just a short little lunge to its banks, there she found her solace--even if it was not quite enough to sate an appetite yet, or anything. All she smelled was a lot of activity, but nothing that was recent enough to even think twice about.

Until it was only the winds that said otherwise, and with them came the prickly sensation of being watched soon after. That finally made her act on the feeling. Gradually she slowed up and cast a look over her shoulder.

Mistrustful by nature, there was scrutiny in the glare she sent his way when she found his direction at least. With distance still good between them though, she wondered if it may be obscured entirely, so arced her tail a few degrees to emphasize her point. Why was he bored enough to watch her prowl? Or had it just been his and her timing that made it seem so? To test it, she swung broadside to face him better (mainly to keep an eye on him of course), all while wondering if he would chose to engage her back in any way, or mosey onward himself.

Surely soon enough the stranger realized that he or she was being watched. It stopped and stared back, which made Birk uncomfortable for a bit and he averted his gaze, preferring to stare at a nearby spruce tree. He had two choices now - the wise one, which meant that he turned on his heel now and returned home, or the reckless one - he would approach the loner and start a conversation. When having a dilemma between, what was right, and what promised an adventure, he almost always chose the latter. 

Birk straightened himself up, put on a bold expression (had he been a man and had a mirror, he would have checked his hair too) and approached the black wolf in a friendly manner. "Hey!" he called out. "Where are you heading today?"

In these days, she did not often come across neutral turf wolves away from her mountain and even when she did, their approaches were not often like his--not quite so forward, and friendly. This shade of unpredictability noted with a flick of her ears, she began to draw up her own height better. Although she was wary, judging by the squint of her eyes, she had her quiet confidence about her too in the rest of her posture meant to say, albeit subtly: not someone to mess with.

But his boldness would have her give him any time at all. For now, she was staying still. She was curious enough in return to offer that much. "Around the lake," she answered, swinging her muzzle at the body of water. A convenient enough answer that she might even see herself adhering to, she supposed, although was loathe to tell him too much too soon--and freely. "And you?" Redhawk, or so she believed as she sniffed pointedly in his direction. A lot had changed for the Caldera pack since she had personally smelled them last.

"The same direction or the opposite," Birk replied, realizing that he had sounded utterly stupid, but not caring one bit about it. When it came to random strangers, he had learned that it rarely mattered, what first impression you made. In 9 cases out of 10 he either never met them again or, if he did there was a 50/50 chance that he would have forgotten their names and the circumstances under which they had met. 

"I might be wrong, but I think I have met someone, who smelled just like you," he then continued, having caught a whiff of the other wolf's particular scent and much to his amusement finding that, while he recalled the smell, he was almost 100% sure that he had never met this wolf before in his life. "I assume that there is more of you residing nearby?"

To his words, she felt her eyes narrow more as she processed what he asked, exactly. "The same," she answered, mostly certain that was right, his perspective considered properly. Then, on having met someone with a smell like hers, she nodded knowingly. In this swatch of the Teekon, it would not surprise her. "There is," she confirmed for him and waved her tail with a slow beat. "My pack," matched a gesture in its direction. But of course, maybe he had met one of her own daughters--and had encountered a similarity to her that had run deeper than just the same back, but same blood as well. "Who did you meet?" she had to ask.

"I recognize your scent as a Redhawk, although it seems a little different than last time. Not that I go sniffing around for your comrades often, though.." she smirked. This did not mention that she'd heard Peregrine and Fox no longer led, good riddance, which would surely shift the pack enough from what she was familiar with several months ago. She just didn't keep close tabs on her neighbors personally anymore, not when it didn't need to concern her. She also knew Charon and the girls had already terrorized one Redhawk who had come creeping too close to their Spear, but not what sort of influence that may have ever, if any..

"I am bad with names, but the wolf was black with blue eyes and rather young, I think," Birk replied, raking through his memory for a name, but finding nothing but cobwebs and dust in that department of his mind. Oh well... it was not like he was going to meet that person again anytime soon. No need to bother...

"I am a Redhawk," he agreed, noticing how easy it was to admit that he belonged to his new family now that he had spent few months with them. Not everyone (with a certain grumpy cub in mind), but most of them treated him both like a friend and a relative. Distant, but still related. "Which family do you belong to?" he asked, when the lady did not ask any questions to keep the conversation going.

When his description matched one of her trio of dark-fur, blue-eyed girls, she nodded knowingly. "Ah," she noted sagely. "One of mine, indeed, although that only narrows it down to one of three," she smirked. Although it certainly did not clarify which one, it was a good enough indicator for her who knew how the trio worked; they ranged out more and more, and had begun to cover ground--enough so to meet some of the neighbors, evidently.

He did his own confirming and she slid forward, striding into motion again towards her intended destination to help mask her vague discontent with a notion of Redhawk. He did not seem bad, and truthfully, some of them were not. Having known Fox and Peregrine, and being the sort to not forget something like them, still just made it difficult to respect the family outright. However, in regard to what he asked of her, her affiliations could be summarized best even with her pack--despite her being a Rikudou first as a relic, then Ostrega next most relevant to this valley (the only she would ever share), and above all, a Moonspear wolf. The name of her spire had simply become representative of both for her. "Ostrega. Of Moonspear," matched a point in its general direction, yet she was curious to see if that surname would be familiar to him because she liked to try to peer into the family ties and history behind her mate. "My family's claim, because I like the heights.." Amekaze clarified. "So what do you do for your Redhawks? A hunter? Scout?" she queried of him, basing her guesses just on the fact that he was out here in the neutral lands.

Surnames had never been important, when Birk had grown up (he did not have one either) and he had no idea that they were of any weight and importance out here. Therefore at the mention of Ostregas he simply nodded with indifferent expression. It was very likely that by their next encounter he would have forgotten about it. 

"Me? I am repaying a debt," he replied, understanding her question a little differently. "They helped me out during the winter and I promised to stay and be useful to make it up for them."

An ear perked to his answer. Repaying a debt? Sounded heavy, just a bit more so than she had anticipated from the male, and like the Redhawks were lucky to have him honor it as he seemingly did. She knew well how wolves did not always stick around to packs, especially ones that drop by out of the vast wilds unannounced and without any ties whatsoever. But, some were more than worthwhile and highly valuable to the pack's structure, if they could integrate and stay true to their words enough to make a lasting impression.

Ame nodded, though didn't hide her contemplative look at the notion, like she was considering whether or not to inquire deeper. "I see," she breathed, ultimately accepting that as an answer suiting her question. But: "And you are satisfied with that?" she posed, though gave a little lightness to the words to let him decide how deep the depths went. Even with an ear still tipped his way to hear him out, with another answer or not, she kept on the way which she'd intended originally.

feel free to fade to an end as needed if you would like, since i made you wait far too long for this <3

"It's been fine, thank you," Birk replied, sensing that the stranger was all too eager to be on her way again and therefore not particularly interested in the subject. Frankly speaking, he would not give a damn about other person's life choices if the situation had been reversed, therefore he did not feel insulted. After all - he had been the one to start talking. 

"Well, I see that you are in a hurry," he said, getting to his feet himself and shaking his coat. "Good luck with your endeavours," he told her, not knowing for sure, what the last word meant exactly, but it was nothing rude at least. With that said, he turned in the direction of his home.