Whitebark Stream been dreaming of this since a child

the borders were had been etched out, the caches dug. their numbers had swelled, where once had been four, then seven, was now fourteen. their claim was fresh, but strong, and it was time to make it official. it is dawn when she threads her way to the centermost territories; fitting. she hadn't slept, not when there was no much to do, to plan. to remember—one of her earliest memories had taken shape in the back of her mind. it had been a fight, she thinks, one her father had diffused. 

"I'll make you proud, Da. One day, I'll even have my own pack, like you."

her muzzle curves, and she pauses, peering back towards the mountains; beyond which she knows her father's bones lie buried. and she knows she has kept her promise, and it is with that overwhelming happiness, and hope, that she tilts back her muzzle and sings their claim into the winter air, the ululating sound ringing over their home. 

@Bhediya @Daylily @Artyom @Kora @Salvatore @Lavender @Xizur @Eligius @Kaori @Minnow @Sunny @Valiant

It had all happened so fast—faster than she would have thought possible: the forming of Whitebark Stream as an official pack. Their numbers had risen so quickly once Bhediya and her group had come from the mountains. Now it would be easy to hold this territory. Daylily could only hope that, come spring, there would be enough game to sustain them. 

Dawn’s call rang out suddenly in the morning air and Daylily smiled. Her leader’s howl was like a trumpet’s sound from an angel above. She added her voice to the call, as she was meant to, and couldn’t help but think that all this, her joining with Dawn and the others, was her true reason for leaving Oakstead. This is what she was meant to be doing, living among the members of Whitebark Stream, teaching its members the traditions of her homeland, perhaps aiding in their spiritual healing and overall health. She would embrace whatever she was meant to do here with a smile on her face.

The sounds of nature were always there, in the back of her mind. Always sitting there, but Kora never paid much attention to them. Alone the beautiful chorus sat there, unbeknownst of the next time they would actually be heard. Everybody always listened, but they always listened for certain things. Danger or saving, something life-threatening just around the corner. Did anyone really ever listen to the symphony of the world for peace or enjoyment? 

How could a person have a seduced enough mind to be able to listen calmly? Now, Kora knew the answer. A pack, a family was the secret. That little ingredient that few realize they have in their kitchen until the pie starts to crumble and they think about what to add. This life was her pie and she may have forgotten plenty of ingredients, but somehow, she still came out with an edible pie.

So, when Dawn's started to sing with the birds and Daylily's call began verse one, Kora joined. The vocals fusing together, then blending with the sound of nature. Their sweet harmonization flowing through the territory, bending around trees and curving over the stream. It almost sounded as if the wind joined too. There sitting, Kora listened, really listened to the sounds of nature and her new family, an unbreakable choir.

It was sad that Sunny had no memory, otherwise this moment would have been a emotional one for the man. He heard the pack begin to howl and hurried to arrive before it ended, giving his sister a bright smile before lifting his muzzle and letting his voice croon below that of the women. He could not remember the significance of forming a pack, did not realise that he had a father who had done the same thing that his sister now had. What he did know was that he had family to care for and work on building new bonds with and now he had a home that belonged to them too. The optimism came through in his howl, voice echoing brightly through the air in one even note before he paused and listened to the rest of the pack cry out their claim.

the merger with whitebark stream had been swift; swifter still the unification of their numbers and their combined claim solidified. none of them had sought to linger and continue trying to lay claim to the place where bhe's mate had attacked them and potentially spread the pale plague like the epidemic it was rumored to be. once just thought to be whispers of half-senile old men ...salvatore knows better now. wise as he thinks himself to be, he sticks to himself and puts distance between himself and those of empyrean suspecting that he wears the fool's crown of coward and suspicious that they might've brought it with them.

in his self-isolation he is working to learn the borders that the whitebarkian wolves have established; familiarizing. pause is given as the leaders' howl rang up into the air. along with other's his voice joins the chorus of victory and when it tapers off he returns to his patrol; working eye focusing on the unfamiliar terrain.

First one voice, then another and more still. From her secluded resting place, Chai's head rose, pale eyes blinking open blearily. Her russet ears swiveled back and to the sides, trying to pinpoint the owner of each voice and commit it to memory. Forcing herself up, gathering her weakened limbs beneath her, she managed a careful stretch of her still weakened body. She was silent, staring off into the far distance towards the river. Possibly to a future she could never see. She contemplated whether or not it would actually be worth her while to add her own voice to the growing chorus. Dipping her head down, eyes fluttering shut momentarily, she sighed, resigned. This was her home now. She was a part of them. Somehow, she had to make this work. When she raised her head again, she was silent no more. Her beautiful bell like melody seeping forth to mingle and mesh with the others.

On the territory outskirts he lingered, content to laze atop a hillock to observe a proud stag and his does as they dug beneath the snow to graze on what little remained beneath, Artyom regarded his leader's announcement with one fluid motion of a gilded lobe.

Each of the elk lifted their heads, startled by the proximity of a predator. The ranger watched their nervous energy spread throughout the herd for a moment before he too rose his voice in triumph to join those of his comrades, loud enough to send them fleeing among the foliage.

She watched as all the wolves around her joined each other in a harmonious chorus and the young wolf joined silently with the others.

It was strange, sometimes, the way he felt when he looked at Dawn. Part of him was just Valiant -- relieved to be with an aunt who still remembered him and who obviously knew what she was doing. Valiant who found more reasons to love her every day, just because she was one kick-ass lady; it seemed to run in the family. But there was another part of him that felt... proud. That glowed when it looked at her, as though he'd had anything to do with the founding of the pack other than up and taking off with them as soon as Dawn had given the word.

But for whatever reason, he was incredibly proud right now as he tipped back his head and howled -- and his voice seemed deeper than usual. More sonorous. And there was an echoed that could just barely be heard, but might possibly be recognized by one or two of the wolves in attendance.

Maybe.

Uncertainty lingered beneath her breast, waning with the passing of each day but there nonetheless. She wondered what her mother may think upon seeing her there, away from the lair; family abandoned for a home she treasured, only for that very same home to then be put behind her, too. She often wondered if she may have made a mistake, if her decision to follow her fellow charred woman was the right one to make. And yet—

A song was sung along with the others, her voice reaching out and intertwining with theirs; as they made their claim to the land known, she, too, let her presence there with them come to light. For now, she was there to stay, to further grow and see where next life may lead her.