Another rabbit had fallen prey to the brown huntress. She carried it gingerly up the slopes that she had grown accustomed to, fully unaware that her friends, @Meerkat and @Bronco were thinking about leaving their mountain home. Rabbits were a small meal for her. She had tried earlier to surprise a young mountain goat, but to no avail as it sped down cliffsides that she simply did not have the grace and aptitude for.

Toad carried the rabbit to the rendezvous. The pack had recently become tense due to the sudden absence of Mira, as well as other interpack dramas that the storyteller knew little of. The puppies from the spring were fast growing into adolescents. They were too old to be fussed over and groomed as she had hoped to do in their youth. Thus, she was feeling on this day rather useless and strange.

She knew that the Moonspears thought of her as a loyal packmate. She would never abandon those she had pledged herself to. There was something missing, though, and she was having trouble placing it. She didn't like not knowing what it was. Toad exhaled in a deep, harsh sigh. She began digging so as to bury her catch, though she knew not who might be interested in it.

As Toad dug the hole, Meerkat greeted her. She quickly stopped what she was doing and smiled rather weakly, replying with, Morning. Her tail waved a hello, though there didn't seem to be much wind in her sails. Toad's expression changed to one of confusion when Meerkat asked if she had heard. Mira's absence was well-known and Toad assumed that had she been found, another howl would have been sounded.

It was Hydra that answered. Toad's lips parted briefly as though to speak, but she instead listened, concerned. She frowned at the mention of Mira. She knew that there were search parties hunting for her. She had helped to find a trail, but nothing had come of it, and now she was feeling very stupid burying a damned rabbit.

What's this all about then? She asked, a small curve coming to her lips on one side as she caught the spark in Hydra's eye. Looking at Meerkat, she waited with bated breath, hoping with all her might that it be good news for a change.

Immediately, Toad's eyes dazzled with joy. She opened her mouth in a goofy smile as Meerkat shared the news. Though it technically meant that her friends would be leaving her, they wouldn't really be leaving. A sister pack meant that the Ostregas were spreading. They were becoming quite the empire, and that meant they would need good people to both hold the fort at Moonspear and make a new one in the Glen. That's great!!

An image of Kukutux came to her fondly. The evening she had met the moonbeam of a woman had been why she had come to Moonspear in the first place. She remembered wading into the pool with the new mother, the firefly-lit air warm and beautiful.

As a side benefit, the Glen was also closer to the historic Redhawk Caldera. It was the place that she planned to bring an offering to her sister to as to ask for her wisdom. The entire area was one that made Toad feel closer to her family in a strange way.

The brown huntress paused, her smile fading somewhat. She had only recently established herself as a proper member of the Moonspears. She felt somewhat guilty that her gut reaction was to leave for the new and shiny thing.
As though Hydra had read her mind, the leader welcomed her to help in the formation. Toad adjusted herself, standing proudly before her friend and leader. Her smile had faded as the seriousness of Mira's absence was noted again. We'll make a stronger pack by claiming the glen, and we'll find Mira, she affirmed.

As she spoke next, Toad looked from Meerkat to Hydra, addressing the both of them. Firefly Glen is why I came to Moonspear to begin with and it is a place that is close to my heart. I'd love to take part in helping Osiris establish at the very least, and... joining him and you and Bronco, that would be amazing, she explained. She couldn't help but wiggle a little, tip of her tail wagging in excitement.
What news!

To have a leader express such positivity toward her aspirations was refreshing and good. Toad felt invigorated. She felt a grander purpose had called to her when Meerkat relayed the news. Things felt as though they were in motion and moving toward the better. Soon, they would have a superpack that would be more formidable than perhaps anything the Wilds had ever seen before. Toad wanted to be a part of something like that. She wanted to protect the Ostrega sons and daughters. She wanted to protect Kukutux's brood and the rest of the family that Toad had chosen to now be hers.

This pull toward strength was almost overwhelming. That Hydra encouraged her to be part of it fuelled her anticipation. Meerkat wanted to tell Bronco. Toad nodded with a grand smile, very pleased with the event.

To Hydra, the huntress listened closely. She imagined the famine. Herds must have cleared out. Pregnant mothers could have been threatened, or yearlings from the previous season. The pack must have struggled, but Hydra and her family had found solace in the Glen and its richness. She wished to close it off for the time being to only Moonspears and new recruits.

Knowing the territory, this gave Toad some anxiety, but she kept quiet for the time being. She knew why. Mira needed to be found.

Yes, Osiris should know, she said. They didn't know each other particularly well, but Toad was sure of herself. She was a strong and worthy huntress. She could help. She wanted to help. Me? Oh, Toad answered, racking her brain for any recent happenings in her own life. To be honest things had been frightfully dull after her weird little date with Bronco, but Toad realized that her leader might not have heard about that.

Well, she said, following alongside Hydra, I don't know if you heard, but my little blind date with Bronco was interesting. She smirked.

As Meerkat left, the pair continued on to find Osiris. Excitement fluttered in her heart. Toad felt very lucky to have such an opportunity to expand the empire of such a noble and strong family. She wondered, briefly, if she might ever find her own in the Wilds.

Hydra hadn't heard from Meerkat or Bronco how the little date fiasco went, and Toad always loved a good story, even if it was merely a simple retelling of events past. I don't blame you! Toad glimmered with joy, laughing in a short breath as she recalled the day. Meerkat called us out to the Pale the first day the sun was finally out, after the rains finally went away, she began, looking ahead of her as they walked, a dreamy expression on her face. We uh, we sort of pretended to be monsters and ran around for a while, and it was fun. And I fell kind of under and on him and we were just messes of mud. Those rains just decimated the ground and we were just a disaster. She giggled.

It really had been a fun time though, however awkward. Probably when he realized what a mess I was, that was maybe the moment he knew I wasn't exactly a match for him, she acknowledged, knowing well that Bronco didn't... think of her that way. In all fairness she had known from the beginning it wasn't going to be a thing. Of course, to seal the deal, we went hunting for some musk deer that weren't far from us, and he got roughed up really good. I'm not even sure how it happened, she explained, recalling the disaster of a hunt. Luckily, Bronco hadn't been seriously injured, but the hole in his side had looked pretty gross when it was fresh.