Morningside Cuesta I won't forget the good times
I once saw the end of my life.
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Joining 
@Grayday Thought it might be good to get the thread set up now :)

Her time as Empress was over. Her time with the wolves of the Bypass was over. She hated that - she hated saying goodbye. To her friends, to her home, to the memories. So many good things had happened there. Sure, there had been rough times and occasionally she had just felt like giving up, but she had been supported by those wolves she cared so strongly for. Gwen had promised that she would see them again soon. She had to see them again - they were the only family she had, even if they weren't blood-related. And the sweet, innocent newborns that Mawk and Cebra had... they were so young. So pure - the former snow queen felt guilty that she had been unable to continue. But, alas, Ganador was gone. After all, they had only originally banded together to survive the last, harsh winter, but that was over now too. She just wished she could have kept the pack together, for as long as possible, though it seemed that her efforts were in vain. 

She walked alone now. As usual - that's always how she ended up, wasn't it? No real family - they'd all died. No friends, other than the ones she had back at Ganador, though none of them were with her right now, and she knew that they were parting ways. Knew was gone. Killed, she assumed, by Storm. Ex-mate, murderer... he had brought a skull, a wolf skull, and stated that it was Knew, her previous love who had gone missing. Storm had been there, watching, for so long. But heck, even Storm had gone somewhere now, though she couldn't say she was complaining. So here she was, alone, depressed, unsure of how to continue. Perhaps that was why she strayed so close to the Morningside borders. Maybe that was why she lifted her head and called out to Grayday, who she knew resided here.

Maybe she just wanted a home. A family. Friends. Wolves who she could stay beside, and trust. That was all she wanted.
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Sorry for the lame phone post, Belle. Morningsiders - feel free to jump in!
After the birth of his children, Grayday found himself scent-marking with renewed vigor. He still spent plenty of time with his family, but his scent - constant and joyful - could be found a long every stretch of the borders.

Today, he was renewing his scent along the edge of the river, as it's proximity to the water had it constantly fading. He was grumbling good-naturedly under his breath when he heard the call. At first, the male's hackles began to rise, but a moment later, he realized that he recognized the voice. Gwen? he thought, his tail wagging in bemusement as he made his way toward her.

"Hey!" he called as soon as he spotted her. "Is everything alright?"

A bad feeling began to rise in his chest. She looked mournful, and with Kelina on the loose, that didn't bode well...
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What's Mine is Ours
I once saw the end of my life.
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It's all good!

She wasn't waiting long. Footsteps approached, and she glanced up from where she stood, eyes searching for whoever was near. The scent, at first, she did not recognise - but she could not distinguish Grayday's scent from the Morningside wolves anyway, for she had not known him long enough. Though, as he came closer, Gwen managed to make out the somewhat familiar grey fur and then, his face as he reached her. The ivory wolfess gave a small smile and wagged her tail in greeting, nodding her head respectfully and settling into a submissive pose. This was his land and she understood that. "Hello Grayday! Yes... I mean, things are okay..." She hesitated for a moment, considering whether or not she should go through with what she was doing. Would he let her in, or would he turn her away? Did she really want to join another pack so soon? But then again, did she want to stay alone?

"You see... Ganador has disbanded... we were only mean to last the winter - honestly I'm rather surprised we stayed together for as long as we did." Was it her fault they split up? Was Kelina still on the prowl? And for that matter, was Circe still with her? So many questions, so few answers. "I was wondering if perhaps... perhaps you might have a place for me here?" She wasn't the lone type - she'd figured that out long ago, but she'd still have to adjust to being around so many strangers. She'd gotten used to being around friends all the time. The dove gave another wag of her tail, waiting for what the Morningside alpha would do.
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Grayday closed the distance between himself and Gwen, nose twitching curiously as it brushed the feathery fur of her shoulder. She didn't smell panicked or undernourished, so he took her words at face value - the pack had simply disbanded.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Gwen," he said sincerely, privately wondering where the rest of her pack had gone. He hadn't seen Sylvas in several days, and when he'd heard Gwen's voice, he'd worried she'd brought news of his friend's untimely demise. As far as the male knew, Sylvas was even younger than he was. "You can stay with us - we've got plenty of space, and we could always use an extra set of teeth."

He peered at her intently for a moment. "You sure you're alright, hon?" he asked gently. "Is there anythin' you wanna talk about?"
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What's Mine is Ours
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"Thank you." She smiled gratefully, glad that he was giving her a place among the wolves of Morningside. Though with that comfort brough a few fears - she'd never been the most confident wolf, mostly because of her childhood, but she supposed she had improved somewhat after her time as the Empress. She'd had to grow less shy, and be more confident, for the sake of those following her. Gwen had toughened out, even if she was still a little anxious of meeting who would now be her packmates. How would she cope, settling in with strangers, no longer being Empress? It felt like she'd been leader of Ganador forever, though perhaps it just felt like that because she had enjoyed it so much. It was the longest she had gone with the least amount of grief (excluding when Storm had turned up with the skull - he was probably still watching her sometimes. She doubted he had gone). The former ice queen glanced at Grayday - her new leader, hmm? "I will contribute to the best of my ability, I can assure you - I'm actually trying to earn the hunter trade, but I guess with all the issues we had at Ganador I never had time to put aside for learning more about hunting."

The ivory wolfess hesitated for a moment at his words, silent as she peered at him. Should she talk now? But what about? There had been so many issues with her life she wouldn't even know where to start. Death, pain, heartbreak, betrayal, and more. She'd suffered so much, how to put that into words? Storm was her main problem right now, she was certain. He had gotten to her through her family - killed her sister, killed her love, and now was prowling around in the Teekons, searching for ways to make her fall for him once more, like she had been foolish enough to do so long ago. Gwen shivered and pinned her ears to her skull at the very thought of the dark man, whom she feared would not give up. It wasn't even the Bypass that was on her mind at the moment. It was him.

Breaking out of her thoughts, she gave a small flick of her tail, realising she had been silent for a while. "Sorry... uhm, I just...." She cringed slightly at her own jumbled words. "I just need some time to get over things... I... I've had to deal with a lot recently, but... I'd love to talk sometime..." She gave him an apologetic, faint smile. "I just don't know if I'm ready to talk about it yet."
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The hurt and worry was written plainly across her pale features - even with one eye currently out of commission, Grayday could tell that something was wrong. But he wasn't going to force her to talk about it. They hardly knew each other, though the male had been left with good impressions of the shewolf, even if he found the idea of and 'Empress' somewhat laughable. All wolves are servants, his father would say. That didn't matter, though. Gwen was here, now, humbling herself before him, and she'd been perfectly respectable when they'd met before.

"Well, if there's one thing I know about, it's hunting," Grayday said wryly, changing the subject back to something he was more comfortable with. "Most of us are pretty good hunters, here. If you're ever looking for a lesson, you can come to me or anyone in the hunting party."

He smiled at her, then, and nudged her shoulder as he stepped aside, intending for her to walk beside him as he turned back toward the cuesta. "For now, why don't you eat and rest, and try to relax for a bit? I think it'd do you some good."
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What's Mine is Ours
I once saw the end of my life.
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She could see that he had noticed that she was troubled, but was grateful he didn't press. Instead, he moved on to talk about hunting. Gwen smiled lightly, nodding. "I will, thank you." She gave another wag of her tail, briefly pondering what she'd like to learn more about. Taking down large prey might be good, as she could hunt smaller prey perfectly fine. It wasn't that she didn't know how to hunt elk or something of similar size, but she had always been the one leading her pack through those hunts, so learning how a different leader did it might bring her more useful knowledge. And she had no doubts that there might be different techniques for hunting that she could learn.

The former ice queen moved so she was standing beside Grayday, and then began to walk as he did, further toward the Cuesta. "Again, thank you. I wasn't sure what to do after the pack disbanded... I know where some of them went, but I wasn't sure where to go myself. I'm not the loner type, really." She'd always prefered pack life - less lonely, she supposed. Though, if she had been with Knew, it would have been fine... she had never felt lonely with him. But he was gone, and she had to move on. For a while, she thought she was over him and was fine, but clearly after the incident with Storm, everything came back. She missed him so much. And it hurt.
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"You're welcome," said Day. He wasn't quite sure what else he could say - the woman's face conveyed much more than her words did, and poor as his eyesight was, Grayday could tell that there was something more at play, here. But Gwen had already expressed her wishes not to speak on the matter, and he wasn't sure he wanted to open that can of worms, either.

"I know what you mean," he said after a moment, deciding that the topic at hand was safe enough, while also allowing him to show a bit of empathy. "I was on my own for a long time. It wasn't a very nice feeling, and... well, it changes you. Wolves aren't meant to be alone, I think."

They came to the Copse, where Day and several others often took their rest. The shade of the trees and proximity of the nearby stream made it a popular hub for the Morningsiders. "If you follow that stream, the girls downed a doe a few days ago. That'll take you to it."

He offered her one last smile. "I need to get back to my wife and kids - when you're ready, I have a job for you. Nothin' too difficult. Come and see me, okay?"

Grayday out! Belle, you can start another thread whenever you're ready or jump into one of Day's AW threads. Up to you :)
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