The howls had gone up, one after another and Amekaze had the details she needed from her dark daughter soon enough. It set her onto a fresh course to the borderlands where she did not pause any on her way, and instead moved upon the first scent laid by a former comrade, then peed all over it. The first of many. 

A piece of her had begun to anticipate this—from before, her loyalty is not to us rung clear in her head as the alpha scanned around her, looking towards where she would head next. If only she had known enough to act when the notion had first come to them. But, so much for the benefit of the doubt when everything was so unclear. Now, not only had the original two turncoats left, but two siblings she had grown very fond of vacated the mountain just like that at a time when she did not want to deal with any of it. For the mated pair, it was probably an inevitable outcome, should they have wanted to breed upon maturity; she had never been compelled to be overly generous on that and on an instinctive level, maybe they sensed it too when it was obvious only those born here came from her so far—then the no-less forgiving Cerberus set to follow in her place in her absence. But the siblings came as an unexpected addition, and not one she could easily justify in any pleasant way, especially when thinking of Rannoch and Liffey's role in it.

But so be it. Amekaze found the execution of it all juvenile, messy, and ruled by matters not bound in sound logic so she (very set in her ways) carried on much the same as she did with or without those who would disrupt her. Now she would have to vet the remainders to ensure they were even worth traipsing on her mountain's dirt at all. Starting now, with her mercy for a chance to leave freely with the defectors timing out, she'd weed out the rest if she had to. She had no patience, no interest, and nothing but a wicked hunger for everything she could sink her teeth into. She roved on, half on guard, half on the hunt as she sniffed out what else she needed to know.

From a steadily decreasing distance, he trailed after Hydra, who was leading him to mama too. This realization, once he had caught on, had him really curious then. Things had been changing lately.. he could feel it in the fibers of almost every interaction around here, but never had the inexperienced boy been able to place the sentiment to something actually tangible. But he had heard the howls. He wasn't completely unaware of what had gone on, although he did not understand why.

Since he did not know how to react, he would take to observing the others in the meantime. Right now, it was what had him tracking along the borderlands, where he had grown more confident by the day, but he sensed it quickly that this was different. Scents were thick, heavier.. firm in what they were here to convey. He was even a little set on edge by the message, and he lived here. In fact, he could scarcely imagine otherwise.  Yet through this all, he was trying to interpret it--from his stance, to what it meant going forward for him. He was sad about no longer having Rannoch and Terance to patrol with, or even Wraen to critter-patrol alongside. He was going to miss that sorely and maybe the magnitude of it all hadn't fully set in on him, either..

After picking up his pace, he managed to catch up to Hydra first and hung back at a comfortable jog a few lengths from her. He didn't say anything, although flashed her a look with his ears fanned out while he showed her that he was here to join in on her marking (and hopefully finding out what mama was up to, too).

She moved on. Simple as that, and marked the next spot she found that she didn't like with the loud message of my mountain and caution: moody bitch because anyone with a nose was going to catch on by now. What worked with her and her needs was all she wanted to care about right now. When she spotted Dune, she paused to give him a knowing (secretly pleased) nod, and was quickly on her way.

So far, no traitors had dared to show themselves where she could find them.. only those who would be staying. She was too sour about all of this to be properly grateful right this instant, but it would be seen in due time.

Her tail stayed risen to an arc and she finally slowed up at the next invisible mark that irritated her. Instead of instantly going on, she went to stalling along to mark some more (because she may as well put an overactive bladder to good use) around the area when she knew her family was closing in on her. This time she would let them.. she needed to know they were taking this well. They were all far closer to the deserters than she ever would have been.

Jarilo greeted his father with some low, happy growls and fell quickly back into step trying to keep pace with Hydra. Now together, he felt pretty assured about this, and anything they'd want to accomplish as a little family unit like this.

They trailed along and soon, very distinct darkness appeared ahead. Warily, some of his hackles wanted to rise at the sight, but with the company of his sister and dad near, he was a bit more bolstered to face her than he might be otherwise. Unease filtered fast into excitement to see their dam, and he pranced along lightly to join her side as well, opposite Hydra and further back until he darted in to lick at her chin. Things were different, he'd sensed, and he was sure to be extra mindful and sweet lest he wanted to test the range of her bite today. His tail swept faster and faster while he eagerly awaited any of her attentions returned to him.

When she moved away, he nip-licked fondly at Hydra's chin some too.. then, he danced lightly back towards Charon to listen to everything going on between, and around too.

She welcomed them, even Jarilo, although much of her attentions did settle upon Hydra over him first. Ame's ears swung outwards for a moment, and she curved herself against her daughter enough to run her muzzle through her fur. She kept it brief, keeping to motion as well as she slid around to now regard the son. Less so, she bumped her snout against his, then his shoulder, before setting her sights fondly onto Charon.

Plenty of times before, it had been a little like this. In the face of everything that didn't adhere to their logic, it always seemed to boil down to the three of them--alphas and their dark daughter. The addition of the spry son, while not unnoticed, was not what she was used to.. but he was growing, and wanting to show them that he could rally too. For now, feeling protective of the whole lot, she embraced it. She chuffed lowly again, tapering to a rumble, and just wanted them all here with her.

Most of all, and since Charon didn't come with immediate reach of her attentions, she turned to take this out on Hydra with more rough nuzzles against her neck. Before she tipped towards a hint of a heavier subject, she flashed Jarilo a pointed look. He wasn't as dull as his attitude could suggest but this could be his first real taste of this.. any of it. "No new deserters, right?" she drawled, wanting to steer it towards a snarl almost as she directed it towards her fellow leaders. Her tone was clear.. expectations were awfully low and she was not as close to the pack lately as others. "I suppose we got a lot of spring cleaning done early this year," she sneered, derisive in the next lick of her lips. Wherever she'd picked up the phrase, she couldn't say. The coming spring certainly felt like a good time to welcome in the new, the fresh, and move on forward with the flow.

To her belief, they were better off. Strong, adaptable, and by now, very keen, she hoped this spring would be a great one for her family of Ostregas--especially without cloudiness to impede them now.

It was easy for him to find the simple route and beam thankfully in the company of his family, if only for a second. More exposure kept steady got him listening better than ever before. His mother's attentions were cherished, then Hydra's followed, even if hers were punctuated with some heavy looks his way that seemed to be sizing him up, or appraising him. Not knowing the fullest extent of it, he blinked and stayed quiet, after trying to reciprocate what affections he could, when he could.

But his ears tilted forward then back. His mother spoke cryptically, which although that was nothing new, it slowed the wave to his tail and Hydra seemed to echo the sentiment. With her words echoing over and over in his head, Jarilo watched her circle. He started to puff up a little ridge of his hackles, with a new, mischievous look threatening his edges just barely.. but he kept it measured thanks to the heaviness he felt for the subject. Still uncertain, though, he stayed mindful. The boy tried to channel this into standing proud among them too, although his presence paled compared to his older company. Still, he was here, and determined to understand all that he could.

He still did not understand the full motives of those who left and he might never. To him, they had been good wolves. Friends "It doesn't make sense that they would even care about some coward, especially more than their pack. Why bother?" he asked, not needing a real answer. Family was emphasized to him once more.. to which he nodded deeply. That made perfect sense, unlike the rest.

Hydra echoed her sentiments, validating every venomous thought. Her hackles bladed up further, and more and more by the instance, that feeling of good riddance settled as she passed a glance around to prized wolves of her life. "Sickening cowards, the whole lot of them," she hissed, from Titmouse's beginnings to her whole lot of fresh deserters, she had nothing but disappointment. "It was probably only a matter of time, but still.." she scoffed and rolled her eyes, showing her unspoken distaste then that way. Once she had wanted to think better of them, especially Terance and Wraen, but low and behold.. so Amekaze was quick to turn her nose up to all of them, and hope nature culled the weak like it ought to--and let them see how it is when a daughter of theirs dies suddenly, and when a whole family and pack is there to protect when matters go awry. She had her faith that their weak-willed hearts would do them in somewhere down the line.

As for family, she rumbled in agreement. It was paramount, now more than ever. She eyed Charon standing guard the longest.. as he would know, then fondly back to their sharp offspring. "We are better off." she concluded with a deep nod. She waved her lifted tail, and let some of the weightiness of the conversation sway away; right now, it was really time to move on without them and get back to how things were here. Happily they would rally, and more scheming could come later. For now, she wanted to just shake the weight of despair.

Spring ought to be a time of renewal for them, she believed. They stood poised for something more, together, and Ame had her faith in her own here. Although their numbers thinned, she wasn't all too bothered--because of these trusted few she had surrounded herself with, and even raised up herself by now. She knew they would all have a busy spring no matter what and among it all, she intended to have their strength absolutely unquestioned here.