The distinct scent of the seaside haunts had begun to fade from her presence during her time spent further inland. There, the wetlands had been a proper substitute and reacquainting with those stretches of land had soothed her somewhat for the time. But they were only that: a temporary distraction from the greater picture.

Now, her travels angled a path back towards the coast... but progress was slow as motivation waned. Hunting had been thin for her, with scavenging much the same, so she was feeling pushed towards an unwanted crossroad. Life alone may not last much longer. It was either join a cause, or return to the one she had been born to while she felt no pull towards either. The weight of this consideration was heavy on her shoulders.

The dark loner had begun to approach the mountain, albeit not the smaller gyrfalcon one she usually did frequent. Instead she moved towards its elder sibling, prepared to meditate upon its slopes to focus her thoughts. Of all the mountains in this region, it was the one to most remind her of home.

However plans changed swiftly as her senses quivered in realization. A marked boundary..? she wondered, turning her verdant gaze towards the silver spire overhead. They were very fresh and not Tartok returning to renew their claim from months back, or even the wolves formerly of the nearby Neverwinter. Amekaze did note something familiar about it, although the full implications did not dawn on her yet.

She lurked contemplatively at the very base, roughly a stone's throw from the strongest of the scented spots, and looked to see what else she could learn here or what she would find.

She did not travel far before the sight of white-fur caught her eye. Amekaze's guards were quick to rise as she stopped and fanned her ears back. She kept her head level with her withers and tail relaxed; her intentions here were not ill but it was only reasonable for wolves to chase others away if the mood struck. Amekaze would test her luck in this.

However, this was a familiar face and she knew not what to make of this information exactly. They had crossed paths only once before and as fate would have it, it had been here further up the slopes -- where she might have liked to have gone, had it not been Jinx's new boundaries keeping her at bay.

You have chosen well for your claim, she complimented with a dip of her muzzle, then glimpsed briefly over the snow-furred female's face. There was a small ache of being displaced and no longer able to visit these spaces but she kept it minimal for now. As was only natural, the lone wolf would always lose to the united cause and this was a feeling she grew to reluctantly understand. I was unprepared to smell boundaries here once more, and ones tended to as keenly as you did.. she added, only just beginning to admit her fledgling interest.

In this place, she aimed to be the enemy of no one. Alone there was little she amounted too. Just a single presence of no particular threat. The worst she could do was scavenge too close to their places and even then, she had long since learned to keep away whenever she was able. It was only the nature of her once having thought she'd have business here on these slopes that turned into learning more of something that kept her rooted.

She stayed as she was when Jinx drew closer but tension rose inwardly. Amekaze held fast and would not cower, though she was keenly watching the other's posture -- down to its finest of details. Her ears steadied. I do, she replied in an exhale. Her greater picture and purpose remained uncleared still but even speaking of today alone, it had been in her duty to come to this mountain. The solitude has been necessary, albeit self-imposed, for when I doubt most leaders to be worth serving for any true length of time, and since she had not wished to join a pack only to feel inspired to raise trouble in the uppermost ranks once she regained her own strength enough, she kept out. Amekaze could not tip her head to weakness. But the lifestyle loses its luster.. She yearned for a cause deep down, one more real than her own unclear goals, yet could not find any worth the price of her freedom.

There had been a brief appeal in the Ridge that had faded in face of its (former Alpha's) unsteadiness, and then a vague interest in the Vale after finding Xi'nuata there that was of her more fresh opinions. The Creek left a strange taste in her mouth after hearing two wolves speak of it while despite its interesting members the Plateau had never been among her interests at all, for Ariston had put her off them.

As for what to make of this new mountainside claim, she did not know yet. Jinx appeared to have similar thinking in some aspects, for Amekaze remembered agreeing with her before. I see, she hummed back. She liked Jinx's approach -- what of it she could understand, at least. I do not know pack relations in the region, but best to take care of it before it exacerbates, her ears fanned back. Too many were unworthy of this mountain's presence at all. Now that it was claimed, all the more reason to keep away.

Circumstances had never led her to feel anyone was truly that kind of leader for her. She had come close a few times, but consistently, something happened. While her luck had been relatively good when it came to survival, the pack matter remained the opposite. Amekaze wasn't always looking outright for a pack, true, but she was keen to their presences and despite intense introversion, the instinct of the wolf could prevail at times. She missed camaraderie, although wanted nothing to do with company not worth her time.

She shook her head subtly, still listening. It only seemed natural that a division like that should arise. While she thought the pack relations here to be largely peaceful, that may not always be the case. Especially if more single entities of packs stayed around for decent spans of times. I am not surprised to hear it, she exhaled. Conflict was inevitable, to some degree. The wisest belief. I would expect more to feel the same, she agreed. Although she was removed from pack life, she realized how it should flow.. even her beliefs were not the most compassionate to all. Amekaze prioritized herself and her immediate company first and foremost; aspects she had picked up growing up in a familial (despite them not all quite being blood bonds) kind of pack.

I think you will do this mountain justice, she chuffed back then, after having decided she liked the way Jinx seemed to think about neighbors. Tartok had been unable and in recent months, Amekaze had grown to understand the mountain better than she ever had before. Had an unworthy, weak leader come to try to lay claim here, she would have only hoped they crumbled quickly so that she might resume her time among the slopes. Yet, she would respect Jinx's new claim until given any kind of reason not to.