he marvelled at the scope of the caldera before them, which had risen slowly over the horizon as they traveled south from moonspear, dark and forboding in the sky. he had traveled by such mountains before, blasted apart at the top, trees near its base still ashen and leafless from some cataclysmic event many seasons prior.
redhawk was an intimidating place at first glance, and the scent markers surrounding the place were strong and frequent: another powerful pack to be reckoned with. aditya was more curious than nervous to meet the denizens of this place, as he had been on his last visit.
he saw dawn cast her eyes toward him, and felt as though her mind turned inward toward some struggle. he didn't know her well enough to figure out what exactly she was thinking, or whether it was just trepidation over meeting this new pack. the journey had gone on without incident so far, though, and this looked to be just another successful visit.
They were outsiders, Elwood observed as he approached, but they all shared the same scent, indicating that they came from a pack. They smelled nothing like the odor the kidnappers were rumored to possess, but he still exercised caution as he neared the trio. He kept his head and tail elevated and his senses were alert; he hoped that Towhee, perhaps, would be patrolling nearby, simply because he didn't like the idea of being outnumbered three to one on his own turf.
"Can I help you?" he asked, stopping a few yards from the group of wolves. His voice lacked its usual friendly intonation; in fact, his flat, businesslike timbre probably sounded a little like Towhee's. His gaze swept over each of them as he awaited an explanation.
a gray male soon appeared, poised as if some sort of leader or alpha of this pack. he spoke, and adi thought his tone did not match his eyes; he sounded quite flat, but his eyes seemed kind, nonetheless. he gave him a small smile as dawn introduced their group and their purpose for visiting.
throughout her speech, aditya remained quiet. when silence fell over the wolves assembled, he blurted, "how did you come to settle this place? it is quite a sight." he regretted speaking almost immediately, and looked down, abashed, though curiosity still burned within him.
The three wolves spoke in turn, and Elwood had to admit that their manners were impeccable. He still didn't let down his guard yet, though. He believed them, and took note of their names as well as the location of their pack. One of the trio asked a non sequitor which normally might have incited a smile from the Alpha male, but this time only earned a brief response.
"The founders of the pack settled here some time ago," he explained. "I think they just happened on it while exploring." It was true, but very much condensed -- in fact, Fox had been injured here and been unable to travel further while she and Peregrine were searching for a place to call home. Glancing between the two wolves that had spoken of medics, he asked, "Are you looking for lessons right now? Or would you go home to Morningside and return at a later time?" He suspected that Raven would be more than willing to mentor an aspiring medic, but that she would also appreciate being given a little more notice.
he nodded as the alpha explained their origins, satisfied with the answer, truncated as it may have been--the gray man clearly had a lot on his mind. aditya fell silent as dawn spoke once more.
in truth, this conversation belonged to the three others gathered. he had tagged along both to explore the land and spend time with dawn. each of these had been achieved, and now, with the talk of mentorship for pema, he was no longer really needed in the dialogue.
aditya instead watched them talk it out, golden gaze fixed on dawn nearly the entire time, only flitting to the others when they spoke.
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Houkie, the tag is just for reference, and Elwood would tell Raven about this behind the scenes!
They were agreeable, and offered to arrange a meetup between the medics at a later date. Elwood decided that he would leave it up to
@Raven, and would go to inform her as soon as he departed from the company of the Morningside wolves.
"I'll let our healer, Raven, know about this, and let her reach out to you," he said with a definitive nod of his head.
"Thank you for the offer," he added earnestly, expecting that they would be on their way before too long. There wasn't much else to discuss without Raven present.