Northstar Vale falling close to arson

He had meant to seek out Liffey and tell her goodbye as he had said, but as soon as Screech had left Rannoch's side his paws had a mind of their own. The boy had found his way along the higher mountain slopes as a means of avoiding the valley below, and soon had spirited away from the Sunspire—he felt guilty for having stirred up so much trouble for his family, and ultimately it was his own embarrassment that kept him from facing his sister.

He found a familiar section of mountain and found his way to a ridge that overlooked the Vale below, where he stood and looked out across his once-home; this one he had left behind out of necessity instead of ego. It didn't make much difference why he left either the Vale or the Spire packs—they were in his past. But, much like a teenager investigating his childhood home after renovations, Screech was curious. He noticed some fresh markings along the path he was on and made a mental note not to piss anyone off by crossing them; rather, he followed them until the plateau evened out and he could glimpse through the trees again, and craned his neck to get a view of the Vale below, as if he would see ghosts from his past.

He would be on his way soon enough; this was too close to the Sunspire for his own comfort, but curiosity kept him rooted.

the collar was gone.
mona remembered very little of it — during one of her countless excursions, the metal bird had risen in the sky once more, its invisible bite paining her flank a second time. she had awoken not far from tindome's new claim in the vale, and stumbled home groggily, to the plush fur of nathaniel's chest and a sleep that lasted hours.
that had been yesterday, however — mona was pleased to find she had suffered no ill effects from the attack of the odd thing in the sky, but decided to stay closer to the vale in the days to come, simply for her own reassurance. after all, there was much to explore here that did not require departing the packlands.
it did not pause the girl in her climb — mona was simply too curious to let a single aspect of her world weigh at her heart for long. and so upward she found her path, until the pawholds turned to ledges, and the girl could turn her murkwater eyes out over the land delight had found for tindome. 
there was another here, above her some distance, and mona regarded the staring figure curiously. he was not one of her packmates, the mayfair determined, passing her pink tongue along the side of her mouth. "hello," she called toward the stranger, giving a friendly sweep of her plume.

He stared out over the plateau to where the water cascaded and roared, and would have missed the sound of the girl's voice had he not been wandering away from the cacophony. As he crept along a stone-scalloped edge to the water basin, he caught sight of her petite ginger figure just as she greeted him. His first response was to tense and puff like a cat, but Screech didn't feel the same warning signs from this girl in the same manner as other wolves he had seen. Had she been darkly colored he would not have spared her a glance; perhaps it was something oedipal which made him linger, looking her over with his curious single eye, but it was the friendliness of her posture that made Screech drift closer without apprehension.

The closer he got the more clues he was awarded. He murmured a brief, hello, as he closed the distance, and then idled as he took in the sight of her. beyond being small and young, she was fine-boned, wilowy, and her coat was a gorgeous mixture of shades which reminded him of autumn. more appropriately, she smelled like the pack he had discovered and evaded, so there was no point in asking where she had come from.

the figure's hackles rose, but he did not depart her company. no — mona felt his gaze on her and straightened beneath its weight. it was he who drifted closer, murmuring back to her the same greeting. he was young, thin, all granite and heather tones, but it was the scarring along his face that widened her eyes. in a vague sort of awe, the mayfair let her gaze trace the socket of his missing eye, the too-new ripping along his neck. here was a boy who had seen things mona yet had not, and she was fleetingly ashamed of her lack.
however, most pressing was that the girl must come to, and realize she was staring — again. the girl's ears cupped backward only a moment, before she had recovered and swung them toward the source of her great interest again. "i'm mona," she chirped brightly, her marvel at his ragged but not altogether unpleasant countenance still spilling openly across her sanguine features. "this is tindome." mona could not help the beam that followed, unfurling itself like a flag over her face; despite all that had gone on, her home had only gotten more beautiful.

Tindome? It had a weird ring to it, but maybe it was in a different language than the rest of the packs in the valley. He wondered what it meant for a split second, but realized it didn't matter - he wasn't staying. All the same, Screech was curious of this girl. She was so small! Maybe Tindome didn't have many critters within its borders? She seemed sprightly regardless, and was even patrolling the mountainous borders, which made him wonder all the more. She couldn't be a warrior, could she? At that size?

Screech, he introduced, cutting through his thoughts. Realizing he still carried Rannoch's scent, Screech knew he couldn't make an ass of himself at this point or he might ruin whatever diplomatic relationship the two packs had; see, he was learning! That also meant he could lie about his reason for being here - maybe find a shortcut through the territory instead of finding a perilous route around it. With a gulp he thought fast, and tried his luck: I'm from the Sunspire mountain, I was just sent out on a survey of the range. Nobody told me you guys were here, he smiled thinly, trying to put the chaos of the past twenty-four hours out of his mind so that he could sell the little lie, and I don't mean to impose - but I was looking for a route down the mountain. My alpha wants me heading north but I guess I can't do that without a guide.

small pp to get them moving <3 let me know if you want me to edit!

screech. mona had to admit, it was rather unique — her lips curved in a smile as she listened to the boy speak, and she was unable to keep the airy lilt from her voice when she answered. this was a matter of diplomacy; she must not cause delight to seem foolish. at once, however, the little mayfair was endlessly thrilled that this scouting mission should fall into her proverbial lap, and that she should be the one to guide this questing knight north.
"that's me," mona purled at screech's suggestion of a guide. a dip of her slim muzzle o'er the cliff-edge reminded the nuro how far up the young pair were, and her brow furrowed as she worried her bottom lip and traced available pathways in her mind. "well, we're pretty new here," the scarlet mayfair explained, stepping past the gunmetal-grey sunspire wolf, pausing to see that he fell into step with her before she settled off at a slow clip. "but i've been exploring all around, perhaps more than the others, and i know a path you — we — can take," she explained, correcting herself mid-sentence. she couldn't very well let screech traipse openly through the vale, now could she?
presently she let a silence follow her words, but not a very long one; mona was a little firebird of the talkative variety. "what is sunspire like?" the girl inquired rather breathlessly of her new companion, rife with curiosity about the places close to their new home. and, as it turned out, woefully unaware of the chaos that had brought screech here.