Northstar Vale she's gotta be sure it's gotta be soon

For @Rannoch!

”They had that babykiller look about them, you know? Woulda haunted me forever.”

Borsca would repeat that exact phrase several times over the coming days, carefully chosen to make light of her efforts without underplaying the seriousness of what had happened. She hadn’t been badly hurt - her adversaries were not of mountain stock - and when poor footing had sent the first to his death, the second did not see much point in fighting on. Borsca was bigger, and clearly not at her first rodeo.

First light was stretching over Northstar Vale when Borsca crossed the line between rock and greenery - a clear border even without scent markings. She squinted into the gloom, hoping to find a sentry on duty before she was forced to rouse the whole pack with a howl.

The one thing that Rannoch had yet to grow accustomed to was the occasional fog that settled over the Vale. Whenever he woke to it, it made it all the harder for him to rise, as he was so used to rising with the sun. The sensation of watching through clouds was odd to him, but, with time, he was growing all the more customary to it. 

Even with the gloom, the first light of dawn woke him that morning. Completely unaware of the lingering presence, he stirred slowly. Unlike the other fogless days, Rannoch took his time in uncurling himself and rising. When he finally got to his paws, the burly male dropped his forelimbs and chest towards the ground and stretched and breathed in the fog as he slowly woke.

Oh shoot, is this private?  You can delete this if need be. :x  Sorry!

Seabreeze had risen early that morning, much as she always had.  Her sleep had been so fitful as of late with thoughts and dreams wracking her mind both awake and asleep, she figured she might as well be doing something useful instead.  She tidied up her living-space, reorganized the cache, and by this time the sun had just started to rise!  So she went out to mark borders, to scout them out and make sure of her family's safety.

It was not terribly long before a wayward scent landed in her nose, lingering there in her nostrils she took in all that she could.  And then she followed it to its owner, surprised to find it waiting there for her.

Greetings.  She carried herself tall, the leggy sylph's tail raised though not in hostility. What brings you to our borders?

A voice broke the silence - young, friendly. Borsa drew a number of conclusions from that and turned to face her greeter with a wolfish smile, tail hanging slack. "Heyup! Meant to pass right on by, but you all got a case of the early mornin' raiders." She indicated west, back the way she had come. "Two of 'em. Opportunists I reckon. Now you've got a bit of a body situation, so - y'wanna leave him up there as a warning or what? I'll fish 'im out on m'way out if you can spare me a day's rest. Took a bit of a beating."

The stranger's voice was thick and difficult to discern, but Aerlinn's questioning gaze masked her confusion.  To be fair, she was uncertain of what she should do — she had never come across a stranger during her border-marking, and had never had a discussion with Rannoch over what was appropriate.

Her first instinct was to run and get Rannoch in a desperate desire to do no wrong, but she felt as if perhaps she could handle this one.  This stranger had protected their land, so a day's rest seemed fair.

Thank you for letting us know.  A day's refuge seems more than fair to me, but I will lead you to our alpha and let him decide what to do with the body.

The siren would wait for the female to follow and then the pair would amble their way towards Rannoch.