Stone Circle Galentine's Day

@Clary and maybe @Steph? All other tags for reference, but it is an All Welcome, if you wanted to jump in.

Daddy had gone off somewhere, leaving @Engel in charge of watching her and @Dauntless until he got back. Although she was accustomed to having minimal supervision for much of the day, she was also usually safe within the borders of Morningside. It was different to be out and about not only away from home, but without the warm blanket of her father's protection over her shoulders. Instead, she was on her own, pressing close to Easthollow's borders for the simple comfort of being near a pack.

Plus, she was hoping she'd see that girl again. It was so exciting to finally meet another girl her age. They'd gotten Burr, and he was cool, but boys were just so dumb. Clary seemed cool, though, and Easy was eager to cement their bond in the fiery cauldron of female friendship.

Clary had known of the great beyond ever since mama had first pointed out the borders from the safety of the Stone Circle. A far-reaching expanse, an unsolvable unknown - holding a mystery that drew the girl closer and closer to the cusp between Easthollow and the world her family protected her against. Her world had never been more than her parents and siblings and the wolves of Easthollow, and she'd known nothing more.

But the arrival of the strangers turned her world around and filled Clary with intrigue. They were the same - and yet, they were different, and the young girl headed to where they'd left them before. Her paws struck the snow with a certain haste. She knew she wasn't supposed to be out here alone, and she pressed a scan of across the stark horizon. It didn't take her long to spot the dark smudge of a wolf looming just beyond, and she perked her ears. "Hey!" She called, her voice a low hiss, and her tail a waving circle. From her vantage, she couldn't tell if this was the girl, Easy, from the day before or Steph having the same idea as her. Clary would welcome either, but she couldn't help but hope for the stranger.

Easy, on the other hand, recognized the other girl straight away. "Clary!" she hailed, crossing over the border in her excitement and prancing over to the younger cub. Easy was a robust girl, so she would have been bigger either way, but the girl was accustomed to Lavender's small size, and did not think that Clary's age was any different from her own. "Do you wanna play?"

She slapped the ground with her paws, tail wriggling like a stabbed worm. She'd been cautioned not to be too rough with Valette's pups, but Easy didn't see the point. Lavender was the same size as Clary, and Lavender could give as good as she got. But, to appease the adults, Easy would behave herself.

Clary's eyes lit up at the sound of her name. "Easy!" she gushed in return. Any uncertainty to the girl's identity whisked away in the voice that reached her, and she danced forward to help cover the distance between them. Easy was bigger than her - but so was Ezra, and this made the difference between them something she didn't think to worry about.

At the mention of play, Clary bounced a step and struck her paws against the ground, in mirror of the other girl. "Yeah!" she chirped, "Whady'a wanna do? Wrestle? Explore? I know a lot of cool places!" She didn't think twice about inviting Easy further into Easthollow - surely mama wouldn't mind. She brought new wolves in all the time (though those usually came to join the pack), but anyway, Easy was safe - a friend.

Steph had been out exploring when she came upon her sister's trail. Except, it went towards the borders instead of into the heart of the territory. Steph knew the dangers of going too close to the edge of Stone Circle, and she hadn't been near them since her attack. She paused, considering her options. She could go find an adult, let them know where Clary was. But, what if something happened to her in the meantime? Steph would never forgive herself.

With that in mind, she tracked her sister, just like Valette had taught her. She knew Clary's scent well, and the snow kept the imprint of her paws well. Soon, she heard her sister's voice, but it didn't sound like she was in trouble. Steph's ears perked as she slowed, coming up on the pair quietly. She noticed another female, dark like herself. Clary seemed to know her, and was giving out options for play. Not to be left behind, Steph began to trot up to them, chuffing at her sister in greeting. She eyed the other female with uncertainty, not sure of who she was, or if she was supposed to be here.

Easy was about to answer, but paused when she noticed someone else coming toward them. Her mouth popped open in delight as she saw that it was another young girl. "There are two of you?" she asked, tail wagging even harder than before. "This is amazing." She bounded toward the other girl, now, slapping her paws into the snow once more. "I"m Easy!" she chirped. "My daddy's friends with your mama and we're here to visit!"

Giggling madly to herself, she dropped down and rolled around in the snow for a moment, overjoyed at having found another friend to play with. A moment later, she popped back up with a wide grin on her face.

"Can we explore? What cool places are there?" she asked.

Clary turned at the familiar chuff, her face bright and alert. "Steph!" Her voice bounced along with the step she took toward her, and touched her nose to her sister's cheek. Then, with a quick shuffle, Clary edged aside to make room for her in their growing circle. The only things that could make this morning better would be to have Ezra and the other pup, Dauntless, join them for play, and she looked around to see if she could spot either of them along the horizon. She saw nothing much but snow and trees

"Three of us, but I dunno where Ezra's at." She wondered if he'd met Dauntless, and was hanging out with him now. As unlikely the thought, the idea warmed her heart - Ezra probably needed some friends who were, you know, not sisters, but Easy's bounding display distracted her from any further thought. Clary couldn't stop the quickened rhythm of her tail, and she crouched low in a play bow.

"Ooh, so many!" She had hoped Easy would be the kind of girl like them - the ones who liked to see cool places and poke around in places they probably shouldn't be. Clary turned to her sister then, eyes bright and inviting. "Where d'you think we should take her?"

Adjusting to the new territory was taking more time than Dauntless had initially anticipated. The stench of Easthollow was overbearing; he wasn't sure of how to not focus solely on the strange scent that lingered; the evidence of Easthollow's near-by presence. For some time, Dauntless sought anything with a stronger scent. When that search proved unsuccessful, he attempted to find an alternative to solve this problem.

Dauntless was laying a distance from the border with his forepaws clamped around his nose when he saw Easy move towards the claimed territory. Intrigued, he slowly unveiled his nose and got to his feet so that he could follow his sister. Though he didn't know her intentions, Dauntless assumed that she was searching for something to do; whatever she was doing was much more fun than laying on the ground and holding his nose.

In time, Dauntless paused a distance from where Easy and her company stood. Though he recognized Clary, he was unsure of who the darker puppy was. He hesitated to advance any further and instead watched from a distance with his tail hanging at his hindquarters; Dauntless was finding it hard to socialize with anybody that wasn't a member of Morningside.

As soon as she approached, the stranger saw fit to run up to her, which caused Steph to retreat back a few steps. But, it seemed the other female was only playfully introducing herself. Steph gave a cautious wag of her tail, and listened to the explanation that Easy's Dad was a friend of their mother's. Well, if that was so, and they were visiting, then Steph saw no reason why they couldn't play together. 

She returned the nose-bump to Clary, her body language fully relaxing into playfulness as they tried to think of a place to explore. Steph piped up, What about Pando Clone forest? Steph thought it was interesting that all the trees looked almost exactly alike. Maybe their guest would, too?

Her ever-watchful eyes caught movement behind the other two, and Steph motioned them to look. Who is that? she asked. Maybe another friend of Clary's? 

"What's a Pando?" Easy asked breathlessly, enamored with the very thought of a clone forest, but not quite sure what to make of it all. But as long as it was new, Easy wanted in on it. 

The silver-speckled girl turned her head at Steph's question and was delighted to see Dauntless there. Uncle E had probably fallen asleep or something. "Mir!" she shouted, beckoning him over. "That's my brother, Dauntless. But sometimes we call him Mir, cos that's easier than Dauntless," she said to the sisters, tail still whipping excitedly. "We have another sister named Lavender Arushi, but she's at home cos she's sick and her fur doesn't keep her warm enough."

Easy was a bit sad about that, especially since she thought Lav and Clary would get along splendidly, but there was no reason to dwell on it right then. They had exploring to do.

"Mir, this is Steph, Clary's sister," she said to her brother. "We're going on a panda clone adventure! Isn't that awesome!"

Clary brightened at the visible shift in Steph's demeanour - there was the sister she knew! Her tail wagged as fast as the nod of her head, and as quick as her firm agreement, "Yeah!" She turned to Easy then, taken off-guard by her question. "Oh. I don't actually know..." to be honest, she'd never given much thought to the forest's name. The forest had simply always been the Pando Clone Forest, and the idea the title might mean something flew right over her head, "... but it's so much fun, especially to play hide-and-seek in!"

Her attention drew elsewhere with Steph's question and the turn of Easy's head, and her tail whipped ever quicker at the looming sight of the boy from the day before. Dauntless! Her head tipped at the other name given, along with the host of information Easy divulged. So there were three of them, too! The pale girl wriggled with the want to meet this other girl, Lavender, and hoped she'd be well enough to come along on the next visit. "Lavender can have some of my fur!" Clary turned her head and nibbled at an itchy place on her back. "It's pretty warm - I think I have enough to share."

Turning back, Clary thrummed the ground again at Easy's beckon to her brother and jumped a small circle to try and wear off her extra energy. To Dauntless, she called, "You're coming, right Mir?" though she expected nothing less than a yes. They only needed @Ezra now to make the day complete - maybe they'd find him in the forest. She bounced a few steps away from the group in the direction of their destination, urging them to follow, but her gaze fell to Steph with the expectation she would take the lead.