Moonspear Zombie nation.

The small caravan of wolves left the copse at daybreak, trekking through the mountain pass by Ghost Lion Crag and finding themselves at the southern corner of Silverlight Terrace a little before midday. Towhee signaled for the others to stop before turning to face @Fennec and inviting, "Why don't you howl for @Bronco and Meerkat, Fen?"

She hoped the sound of her elder daughter's voice wouldn't alarm them. Towhee had wanted to come a few days ahead of the new moon to save them the trip. Surprise! she thought with a small smile, milling about the grassy area as she eagerly awaited seeing Meerkat's face.

Also pinging @Phox and @Chanel since y'all expressed interest. Anyone from FB can come along and anyone from MSP is welcome to greet them! :)

Everything had progressed so fast, and the invitation to Moonspear from Towhee had come so out of the blue, that Fennec hadn't managed to talk to anyone about her and Bronco's conversation.  She figured now that this might be better, though.  If he brought it up, now only a few would decide, and if he didn't, no one's hopes got ruined.  Easy peasy.

She felt oddly nervous, but nodded and lifted her head to howl when Towhee asked her to.  She didn't call summons very often, but hopefully they'd recognize it was her and that Towhee was here as well.  Bronco would probably be in earshot since he was trying to be a border patrol or something weird like that.  

The notes faded on the air and she shifted, listening.  This was her first time ever visiting a strange pack, first time really traveling with her parents too.  It was different than sneaking out alone, or running around with Penn.  There was a while when this had been all she'd wanted, so it was a little perfect that now it felt almost boring.

Though the call was a voice of a stranger, the scent upon the wind was that of @Towhee. Coming from the Glen in pursuit of her wayward daughter, Hydra's heart was heavy to know that Mira was not there. Perhaps she had the wisdom to return to Moonspear—what had she told her children, about going far from home alone, and leaving without word? It was not Mira's way to be disobedient. With all the atrocities that had transpired and been told of, Hydra knew she must be prepared for the worst. 

Approaching from likely an area they might not anticipate en route home (wanting to cover more than one base), the bitter taste of disappointment was all there was to swallow in knowing Mira's scent was not here either. Chuffing from behind the duo, Hydra's tail swayed slowly to see her friend there.

A puff of mica dust his Bronco square in the face the moment after Fennec's call arced over the mountain, resonating softly within the den he shared with Meerkat. He'd begun a dust-fight with Meerkat and had frozen as soon as he heard his friend's voice calling out, which left him vulnerable to a well-placed pawful of dust. He coughed and cackled, trying to spit the dust out of his mouth which had fallen open in excited surprise the moment he realized that the day he'd been waiting for had finally come. Pnce he cleared his throat he fumbled over his own paws, brushing against Meerkat as he suddenly bailed on their dust-fight to go and greet Towhee and Fennec at the borders."C'mon c'mon c'mon let's go!" He urged as he loped out of the den, and down the mountainside. 

He was out of breath by the time he caught sight of their friends, with Hydra already in their midst. His glimmering gaze fell immediately upon Fennec and he felt his heart leap within his chest. She was here- and she was hopefully going to stay here, at least for a few days. It made him nervous, knowing that she could potentially bail on her plans at any point and return to the Copse, but he stoked nonetheless to know he'd at least get to have her with him for a few days. Part of him had feared that she might change her mind and not come at all- so he was flustered with glee to see she'd made good on her plans. Fortunately, he was out of breath enough that he didn't blurt out the first thing that came to mind. 

"Houf," He said, composing himself a bit. "Glad ya made it!" He said, eyes flicking from one Firebird to the next. After all, one of their latests visits had been postponed due to flooding- so it wouldn't have been totally out of the question for them to have to delay or postpone another visit should something else come up.

Fennec called, and Phox awaited the gaggle to greet them. What he hadn’t expected was Hydra. But why not? This was the home she ruled, and it wasn’t out of the ordinary for a leader to be present when outsiders were around, allies or not. He cast her a quick nod, and a moment later, Bronco burst onto the scene (with Meerkat, I presume).

They were so… sparkly, and Phox wondered what they’d gotten themselves into. They seemed otherwise in good health, which he was glad to see. His tail swished back and forth merrily, and he let the others take a lead on the conversation.

They weren't left waiting long after Fennec's call. First came Hydra, prowling up behind them like a leonine shadow. Towhee might not have noticed her stealthy approach at all, though she thought she saw Phox glancing in that direction and followed his gaze, her tail swishing at the sight of her sister-in-arms. Orange eyes bright, she smiled as they raked over Hydra's face and form. She looked well.

Not long after that, Bronco and Meerkat made their appearance. She didn't catch Bronco's greeting, her eyes fixed on her young daughter. Towhee needn't have made the come hither motion she did. Soon, Meerkat was pressed into her chest, her crown bumping the Sovereign's chin almost painfully. Mindless of this, Towhee automatically lifted her forelegs to wrap around Meerkat's slim shoulders, noting how much more grown her daughter seemed every time they met. And was she sparkling?

Crooning under her breath, Towhee fussed at the youth's ears for a moment before releasing her and nudging her toward her father and sister. While Meerkat presumably went in to greet each of them in turn, Towhee's attention shifted back to Bronco and Hydra as she queried, -"How's everything?"-

Evidently, these two words triggered Meerkat, as she suddenly pivoted on her heel and exclaimed, "Mom, dad, Fen! Guess what! Osiris is making a new pack in Firefly Glen and we're going with him!" She struck out a foreleg to point at Bronco, gaze sweeping over the group and lingering on Hydra as she added, "We just officially decided this morning!"

Fennec couldn't see the wolves who arrived, but she could hear when it was Bronco.  She gave a quick flicker of a smile, gone quick as it came, and waited.  Whoever the first to arrive was had greeted her mom, sounded like.

Fennec greeted her sister, but still didn't talk, listening as Meerkat launched right into news.  Wait, was that the pack Bronco had spoken about?  He'd made it seem like a distant thing, but it sounded like they were already moving on it.

Fennec toyed with how she might introduce the subject, but she balked.  She didn't even know if Bronco had asked and they'd agreed.  In fact, Meerkat's words made it seem a little like the opposite was true.  She directed her attention towards her sister and Bronco.  Always on the move.  With just a touch of a smile.

Hydra had not a moment to respond when Meerkat promptly did, but it was clear she was not upset by this by the amused gleam in her eye. She was pleased that both Bronco and Meerkat were so eager to be involved in the venture of Osiris (and by and by, herself); her gaze shifted to Towhee to speak more on the matter as she turned to face her but, before that, Fennec answered and her eyes landed upon the then-stranger. 

Not a stranger to her, for very long. Hydra knew by sight the look of a blind wolf, remembering the glassy gaze of her fathers blind eye that never looked at her as his seeing one did. Given she had called and was with Towhee and Phox, Hydra was able to perceive who this wolf might be. Taking some steps nearer to her (and making no mystery about it), Hydra acquainted herself with her niece with short bursts of loud, snuffling sniffs... near enough to grant the girl the same should she wish to explore with her snout as Hydra had. To her, she introduced, I am Hydra, her tail swaying behind her as she drawled, your aunt. Last I heard, you were missing—I am glad to be able to meet you, before looking to Phox and humming, it has been a while, Phox, though he looked well, which was good. 

Shifting her gaze to Towhee, she regarded her sister with her own dose of physical affection, moving closer to nip at her cheek before her gaze shifted to Meerkat. I am glad to hear that, she addressed, looking then to Towhee and humming, Moonspear has always utilized the Glen as our hunting grounds, namely throughout the Winter when prey becomes scarce. It seemed the right time to make it official, came her voice; she was proud of the ability to accomplish such, all too thankful for the wolves she led. She had all of Moonspear to thank for much of it. And, more than that, all has not been well within the Wilderness. I am sure Bronco and Meerkat have apprised you of more recent events? she inquired, gaze drifting to them for sign of recognition there, before looking back to the visiting party, waiting for confirmation on their end too in case she needed to delve into detail.

There was a fair amount of news to be shared, now that a numnber of the Moonspearians would be splitting off to found a pack in the Glen. Meerkat introduced the topic to Towhee, and Bronco nodded eagerly, though found his gaze falling to Fennec, who was probably quite surprised to hear that so soon after having been invited to visit Bronco at Moonspear, she'd now also potentially take part in the founding of a pack at the Glen, given the fact that he and Meerkat had decided to be a part of the new branch. -"Well, gotta keep life interesting, an' this one,"- He said, gesturing to Meerkat with a grin, -"Keeps me on my toes,"- He said with a chuckle. 

Hydra came forward to talk to Towhee about what was going on, so Bronco sheepishly snuck closer to Fennec, so he could whisper to her with an excited hiss to his voice, near one of her beige ears. "It's gonna be cool- a bunch of us our age, an' we're gonna be founders." He said. He opened his mouth to continue spilling the juicy details to Fennec- but he heard his name mentioned, and snapped his head up to gawk somewhat sheepishly at Hydra. She'd asked about 'recent events,' by which he assumed she was asking if he'd told the Firebirds about the Saints and Ursus. He nodded. "Uh, yup! I told Ma the last time I was there," He supplied, before he leaned back to Fennec again, to resume his whispering. "You're still gonna stay here for a bit though, yeah? I'll still take you to meet and train with Kukutux," He promised, hoping that the news hadn't served to change her mind.

Phox was content to sit back and listen, not wanting to interrupt the flow of conversation from where it was going. As always, he was happy to see everyone, and he watched as Bronco whispered something to Fennec. He wondered what it was, but he figured they could keep their secrets (frodo.gif style).

He let his gaze wander back to the older wolves, Hydra and Towhee, wondering if there was more news on the news that Hydra spoke of.

Meerkat was suddenly bursting with excitement. Towhee couldn't hear her exclamatory tone but she certainly felt the force of her daughter's energy. Her own feelings were inversely proportional, her mood sinking and her stomach twisting when she digested the fact that Meerkat was transferring to yet another pack. Her orange gaze slid sideways to Phox to see what he made of the news, though he appeared totally placid. Next her eyes bounced to Hydra, whose lips had begun to move, elaborating on the pup's announcement.

It slowly dawned on her that the glen was immediately adjacent to the mountain. It was only a little further, yet it should still afford Meerkat the protection of Moonspear's fold. Towhee let out a puff of breath, her guts unclenching a little, and she tried to fix the look on her face. Clearly the kids were thrilled to be part of this venture, plus she supposed it must be something of an honor to be included in something as important as annexing Great Bear Wilderness.

Bronco casually answered Hydra's query, which left Towhee to say, -"Congratulations on the expansion. I'll go right ahead and assume we can call Firefly Glen our ally and sister pack, although you know what they say about assuming..."-

-"What do they say?"- Meerkat wanted to know, naturally.

-"It makes an ass out of you and me,"- Towhee drawled, winking and remembering to say, -"That's super cool, kiddo. I'm proud of you. We both are."- She included Meerkat's dad with a playful throw of an elbow. -"I'm sure your sister is too, though she can speak for herself, of course,"- Towhee finished with a quip, muzzle turning to point at Fennec.

There was a lot going on at once, and Bronco's whispering cut in over Towhee's conversation with Meerkat unexpectedly.  Fennec tensed a little as the group grew overwhelming for a second, and she nearly missed what Bronco said first.  After that it was a lot of catchup, and at the end she felt she'd missed a bit of all of it.

Yeah. She responded to Towhee first, then took a minute.  Apparently it was going to fall to her to ask... at least, that's how she read Bronco's question.  It was her fault for not hitting her parents up ahead of time, but she couldn't help being a little annoyed.

Actually, since Bronco told me you have a healer here, I thought it would be cool to train here with her for a while.  See if she knows anything I could take back and show Eljay.  She paused, waiting, and hoped they wouldn't all go at once.  Fennec was a wolf who much preferred smaller gatherings than this, but she did her best to hide her discomfort.

wc:157

He was excited to get things moving, and to officially have Fennec be a part of not only Moonspear, but potentially the new pack as well so he waited, no longer hissing in Fennec's ear (which only got a lukewarm response at best anyway) while the others did their usual adult talk, welcoming and thanking and such. Meerkat was probably better behaved than he was, as he fidgeted and waited for them to finally be through with their conversations about the relationship that would extend from the Firebirds to the Glen wolves as well- three sister packs, it seemed, and they would all be allies.

So when the time for Towhee and Phox to depart, he gave Fennec and Meerkat room to say their goodbyes before he did so as well- and then set about leading Fennec up the slope, toward the place he hoped she'd soon call home, probably talking her ear off the whole time.