The Tangle get loose get low get low

some assumptions, please @ me if not right! @Chani @Astera

it took the better half of the day to crawl out of the tangle. peering at the other side, sobeille was swept away by the dramatic backdrop of the rise.

her gaze flickered to her traveling companions. the low whistle of a thrush to their right caused her head to snap around. what was dat? she asked in a hushed whisper, turning back to the blue ridges with an expression of wonder.

"it be your ass, sobeille," chani teased wryly, though she too had flinched and looked around at the sound. hoping that the other girl wouldn't take her ribbing harshly, she slunk forward, eager to be free of the briars twisted into the fur of her ankles.
she crouched on her belly. "do you want to just go down t'ere? or should i call for mulherin?" chani asked, excited.

hop in whenever if u were planning to, meri <3 i just had some free time and muse

chani's ribbing earned a quiet gasp and a flick of sobeille's ears in false indignation. no it's not! she whispered, bringing a paw to her mouth in a small giggle.  if she was going to 'fluff', it'd sound way less adorable!

she followed after chani as the girl slunk under the briars where the treeline opened up into a softly clad in snow valley. should we call? sobeille breathed, eyes on the ridge in anticipation. she'd never been to the rise, and so did not know of their customs. a memory of the trespasser slipped into her mind, stirring her heart.

her eyes watched the ridge, trying to ascertain movement. behind her, chani's tail swung exuberantly. 
"yeah, let's go an' call!" she exclaimed, pulling free of the tangle's clutching grasp to stand boldly in the open.
"i t'ink you be likin' dis boy, sobeille," chani said with intrigue, not knowing that @Mulherin too had been roaming from the rise as of late.

chani's tail swung behind her in excitement. sobeille's was still, but she could sense her blood was beginning to pump a little faster than normal.

she didn't need second bidding. as soon as chani encouraged it, sobeille threw her head up in a howl for those of the rise.

chani mentioned a boy -- something that earned only a light flick of her ear. she managed a scoff. best 'e not be like dem other boys, den. sobeille murmured, eyes rapt on the border for their welcome wagon to appear.

Mind if I crash this party?

The funny thing about a howl was that it was not a private two-way line.

Moon Runner heard the summons for the Rise’s Beserkr and became curious. Tall Shadow wandered more and more these days. Were these callers a part of it?

She loped through the Rise toward the Western front. There, the dense forest of the Tangle loomed. Before the trees, in a clearing, stood two wolves – young girls, like herself. She had never met outsiders her own age. The Rise tended to attract elder dispersals.

Her pale head poked out from behind a damp and mossy log, ears turned forward as if to hear the answer to the question: who are you?

not at all! woo!

chani jostled sobeille's shoulder, about to quip something else, when a decidedly not mulherin-like figure detached itself from the rise's boundaryland and came up to meet the girls.
the redwave paused, resisting the urge to tense. they were all roughly the same age, and this eased something in her.
offering a friendly wave of her tail, the saltwolf cleared her throat. "i be chani, and dis is sobeille. we be from sapphique. ah, i had wanted to introduce her to mulherin, but only because till now, he was de only one i knew."
her eyes shone with a friendly boldness, curiosity overtaking any trepidation.

party time!!

It was true he'd been flux with his residency in the Rise, roaming and ranging across the Taiga when given the chance. In the end, he tried to make his presence on the Rise known to account for this. As was his duty in a way. And thus he spent most of his time there on the borders. Until—

A call for him; he knows the voice when it reaches his ears—one he hadn't heard in quite awhile—and abandons his patrol.


The trek takes him longer than expected. After all, the land was difficult for most to traverse.

But it seems he wasn't the first on the scene. The familiar, ghost-like figure of Moon Runner stands out to him, then the ruddy coat of Chani. It had been awhile since he's seen her, but he can espy that air of confidence from miles away. She's accompanied by a partner this time, another girl, their age.

He approaches the group with a low croon, tail wagging high. The Berserkr gives Moon Runner a thoughtful nudge to the shoulder with his nose to dispel the tension. I know them. Well, one of them, at least.

Hi, strangers. He greets with a glimmer of mischief in his eye as he regards Chani, and then her companion.

sobeille stiffened as she caught the tip of an ear poking out from a moss-studded log. they were being watched.

she shouldered chani to warn her, but two seconds later a face appeared -- golden eyes framed by white. a yearling, close to their age.

chani introduced the pair, and shortly after another wolf appeared. he was swarthy-black, with shades of earthy colors in his pelt like cayetano. sobeille was not one to find redeeming qualities in men, but even she could see why chani might be warm to him.

sobeille studied the two unabashed, silent for the time being. she liked the glimmer of mischief she saw in the boy's orange gaze -- what kind of trouble did he like?

Moon Runner’s muzzle lifted to scent the air. When her nostrils flared they pulled in the smell of saltwolf which lit up a negative receiver in her brain. The last time she had encountered a coastal wolf was when a pale girl, Astera, had crossed their borders into the burned place. The memory was hazy, but Moon Runner recalled she had been chased out.

Her jaw stiffened and her ears tipped backward. One of the others became tense, too, when Moon Runner was spotted. She did not move from her place behind the log and, for a moment, it felt like a stalemate until the mahogany-hooded yearling stepped up and spoke.

It would be evident, from the vacuous, feral gaze of Moon Runner’s eyes, that she did not comprehend the common tongue or the concept of verbal names. Words bounced off of her, repelled, like water on glass.

However, the friendly, yet curious, red gaze of the diplomat softened something within Moon Runner. Yet if it were not for Tall Shadow’s arrival, Moon Runner might have retreated to Rise, outnumbered. He touched her shoulder and moved with confidence. It was enough to pull the cream-colored yearling out from behind the log and meander toward their company.

yay!

the pale girl remained shy, eliciting a cock of chani's head. the other didn't speak, but when mulherin arrived, the entire demeanour of all parties changed.
the shy hunter joined him. chani grinned brightly. "dis be sobeille, my cousin," she introduced. "an' i be chani," she said to the silent redtailer. 
a grin to sobeille, between them alone, and then; "what is t'ere to get into around here, mulherin?" she asked with an arch of cerise brow.

She doesn't speak, y'know. He informs the pair with a sympathetic smile, then looks to the pale girl in question. Mulherin leans over and offers her an apologetic nudge with his nose, a sort of sorry for speaking about you in another language, without translating, all right in front of your face. Then, he returns his attention to the two.

What sorta trouble are you two lookin' to get into? He asks with a tilt of his head.

Well, there's more mountains you haven't climbed, yet. He responds, playfully glancing to Chani, before turning to her cousin—Sobeille. There's a glacier near the Rise and a marsh down south.

sobeille did not remove her gaze from moon runner; not challenging, but rather, inquisitive. the girl did not talk — a quirk that interested sobeille further.

chani introduced her to mulherin, who then mentioned mountains, a glacier, and a marsh. it was not beneath sobeille to get dirty, but it wasn’t places that interested her. it was people.

what’s her name be? sobeille suddenly spoke, missing the conversation had changed. her gaze turned to mulherin, intense but no hostility. she found it different a male would speak on a woman’s behalf — and the way she hung back suggested a hierarchy dynamic entirely alien to sobeille.

Both of the girls were friendly and curious. Tall Shadow’s good rapport with them turned Moon Runner’s opinion of the salt wolves, and so her usual extroverted personality was permitted to shine. She wagged her tail and approached the Sapphiquians to take scent.

The diplomat shared a similar physique to Moon Runner: medium-sized and athletic. The deep sandstone color of her eyes was quite striking against her pale, dead-grass agouti pelt. It reminded Moon Runner of the sediment bands seen across the Rise.

Dry Creek, the spirit thought.

The other girl was smaller. Marginally younger. Her mottled pelt of auburn, sienna, and black reminded Moon Runner of marcescent leaves in autumn.

Oak Leaf, the spirit thought.

Simple names for their budding relationship.

Oak Leaf looked at Moon Runner inquisitively, but it was evident her unbroken gaze made the pale yearling uncomfortable. Moon Runner shook her furs and licked her nose – calming signals to deflect the intense scrutiny she felt. Moon Runner gave the masked girl a wide berth before she orbited back to Tall Shadow, who gave a supportive nudge. Her amber eyes assessed his expression but was surprised to find it soft. Apologetic.

Why? The spirit wondered.

She glanced her nose against his cheek – just close enough for her whiskers to graze him. She puffs a small breath, a friendly chuff, as if to say I am okay.

Then, Oak Leaf’s intensity redirected towards Tall Shadow. Though there is no hostility or aggression, Moon Runner couldn’t help but interpret it as a precursor to conflict. As Treow, caretaker, it was Moon Runner’s job to resolve friction and keep their well-oiled machine-of-a-pack running smoothly – just as it was Tall Shadow’s job to protect the Rise from threats.

Moon Runner stepped between Oak Leaf and Tall Shadow. She dipped into a bow, which turned into a looonngggg stretch. Then she smelled the ground in front of Oak Leaf, as if she found something interesting, to try and redirect her new cohort to help diffuse her energy.