Whitebark Stream I clearly looked happy

@Salvatore

Gone from the lair once more, home to her back. She was still adjusting; Kaori left her mother and family behind in order to return to the lair, to seek out the one place that always called to her. But a beast landed on their doorstep, a visitor she refused any meetings with, for a fighter, she was not—and a fighter she would not be, nor would the others fall to injury, the decision to move on made instead. She found herself wondering if the right decision was made: should she have followed them? It was far too late to turn back now, however, as they had all since arrived and been welcomed in. But still, she couldn’t help but wonder…

Kaori quieted her wandering thoughts and stole away to the stream; a distraction might prove beneficial to her mental health, she decided. And so she found herself weaving through the wintry trees, following the sound of tails as they beat the water’s surface; a warning to those that invaded the waters, predators introduced to prey.

empyrean was no more, thoroughly destroyed singlehandedly by the bhe's (ex?)mate; carrier of the pale plague. his death chased them — rightfully so — from the lair and now salvatore finds himself worrying about if any of them that had gotten close enough to have gotten injured by him or injure him themselves have begun incubating it. salvatore keeps his distance all the same, wondering if the leader of the wolves that have taken them in knows. it puts the blackbird on edge and he keeps himself busy learning the layout of this new territory and it's borders and figures that, at some point, he should familiarize himself with the stream's guardians.

it's snowing; again. the white-barked aspens and birches offer ample shelter from the worst of it all the way up to the stream's banks. singular coalglow gaze scans upstream and then downstream where movement locks his gaze. he recognizes the dark furred woman vaguely as empyrean from their group trek to the stream though her name is an unknown, having not been formally introduced to her.

salvatore doesn't call out to her immediately, instead pausing to take a small drink of the stream water before finally letting out a chuff to garner her attention — if she has not noticed him already.

The nearer she got to the water’s edge, the quieter the beavers’ beatings seemed to become; perhaps the threat of wolves was greater than any they could muster themselves. No matter, she continued—she sought to lay her gaze upon them, to see the stream’s guardians for herself. Someday, perhaps she may even make a meal out of them when their numbers grew great enough to support her plucking one from the water. But despite her desire to see them, it was another wolf that she spied instead—a vaguely familiar male, seen during their departure from the lair and the travel that followed.

Kaori slowed, her trot turning into a steady walk, whilst her eyes remained trained on him as he drank. She wondered if approaching might disturb him and considered taking an alternative path, only to be stilled by his chuff. Taking it as a welcome to approach, the dragoness continued towards him, greeting him by way of words as the distance was lost between them: “You came from the lair as well, yes?” She felt sure he had—and then wondered if he, too, missed it just as she did.

❝yeah,❞ salvatore replies in response to her question regarding the lair. for a moment, salvatore is conflicted: thinking that it sucks their time there was cut short, a fledgling pack pushed too early from their nest and unable to survive by some crazy, obsessive, pale plague suffering mate. if bhe's mate hadn't found them they could've had a chance to flourish as empyrean ...instead he brought death and the pale plague to their doorstep. even now, salvatore's lips twist sourly, a chill trembling down his spine as he thinks of it and the wolves that had attacked him, that had gotten attacked by him.

❝i'm worried that the wolves that fought bhe's ex-mate that day —❞ including their ( once? ) leader herself. ❝might be incubating the pale plague.❞ he admits grimly, flinching from his words. his decision to turn tail still kind of haunts him but the truth was he was more interested in his own self preservation than fighting an extremely sick and contagious wolf that was at death's doorstep anyway.

The assumption made was correct, which came as little surprise; Kaori was not one to forget a face, even if seen only in passing—and to forget a face such as his was no easy feat, anyway. Before she could ask more, he was sharing his worries, thus silencing her. The word for the disease that he spoke of was one of many but no less recognisable; a maddening plague, driving wolves to commit atrocious acts before claiming their lives. Even the mere thought of it and a chill was running down her spine, a small tremor shaking her as the girl shivered.

“Does the woman who welcomed us here know why we left?” she asked, equally curious as she was suspicious. Were those foolish enough to engage in battle seeking to ruin them? “Is she aware of the illness?” And if she was, what did she plan to do, should one of their own be overtaken by it?

❝i don't know,❞ salvatore admits. ❝i haven't spoken to her and i don't know how close her and bhe are...❞ he trails off here but thinks that the two women had to have been pretty close for dawn to just let bhe's entire recruited clan into her ranks. ...especially if she did know about the pale plague. ❝but if she's not aware of the pale plague ...she should be made aware.❞ salvatore knows that he would want to know if he was potentially letting an incubating pandemic into his ranks if the tables were turned.

...was it his place though?

❝kinda feels weird to just dump that information bomb on her without even a proper introduction.❞ he thinks aloud, ears fluttering back to rest at half mast atop his skull.

He knew no better than she did whether the leader was aware. And as he continued to speak, she could not help but frown. “Even if they are close, she should be told,” she responded, finding that they were in agreement on the matter. When it came to how the information should reach her, however… well, he made a good point. It was bound to be awkward—and who knows if she would even believe them—but the alternative, to let it go on without them being made aware, seemed wrong.

“It does,” she agreed. “But if no one makes her aware, and someone here is carrying it, would we not be at fault?” Withholding such valuable information—doing so could lead to events far worse than any emotions or confusion that may stem from being hit with the news.