Whitefish River waypoint on noclip

Referencing Moonglow's drama lol, figured since the territories are quite close Arrax might have heard their howls! Also he wants more treaties

Arrax moved quickly and quietly, belly slung low to the ground as he reached the borders of their home and, instead of turning around as he usually did, pressed onwards with hurried steps.

Whatever trepidation he had about leaving the safety of pack territory melted away as he crossed the threshold of Raventhorpe's land, replaced with a nervous sort of excitement. Blue-gold eyes flashed as he threw another cautious look over his shoulder. He did briefly think of his siblings and wondered if he should drag one along but quickly decided against it. They would only draw more attention.

Had they even heard what he had? He had been on the edges of the Plateau when the howls went up – they were faint, but he had heard them. He thought of the woman and man who had visited from other packs and offered gifts; were there others out there like them? There was the trespassing man, too. He had done a bad thing, but the smells all so wildly mixed together upon his coat that Arrax couldn't make sense of them had still intrigued him.

The young Cairn travelled with speedy, long-legged strides until he reached the banks of a slow moving river, the very river he could see if he stood right at the edge of their home. He glanced back at the Plateau now, towering in the near distance, before turning back to dip his nose curiously into the cold shallows.

hope you don't mind me!

Tulugak had left in a hurry, instructing her to watch out for a woman and a little girl, though she had never given any detailed physical description of the two. Truthfully, she did not understand nor relate to her sister's hero complex, and had turned her back on the forest as soon as the ravenwoman's pale figure had disappeared beyond the treeline.

Intending to double back towards the river they had crossed on their way here, Taqtara paused quickly at the sight of a small figure drinking. Was this one of the wayward women? As she drew closer, it became clear the smoke-touched youngster was a little boy; Tulugak hadn't mentioned anything about a boy going missing, but she roved closer to investigate nonetheless.

"I would not stare for too long, boy," she pulled up beside him with a wave of her tail. "There are tales of wolves drowned by their reflections." An exaggeration, of course, but perhaps it would scare the little guy home.

Not at all! Thanks for joining :D

Truthfully, Arrax did not know what he was aiming to accomplish once he had gotten outside Raventhorpe's borders. That had been his main objective and, now that he had achieved it, he was a little lost on what should come next. He had fully intended to explore further but seeing the sprawling flatlands up close had tempered his ego. The lands went on and on, if he wanted to return before anyone realised he was missing, he had no hope of going any further than this river.

The boy frowned into his reflection, before suddenly a ghostly visage appeared beside him with a word of warning. He backed up slightly, gaze whipping from the waters to beside him where a woman had materialised. She was large and coated in colours of snow, reminding him of his own mother. Arrax blinked, puzzled by her ominous advice.

"How?" he said flatly in return.

The boy hadn't seemed to notice her approach, too busy engrossed in his study of waterworks it seemed. While she had expected him to turn tail in fear, the look of confusion on his face drew a hearty chuckle from the glacierwoman.

He asked how, and Taqtara dutifully explained how one could easily overbalance and fall prey to the rushing water. "And then the rivermonsters will get you."

At this, her lips peeled back in a malformed grin. His curiosity was endearing, though she wondered still if he had anything to do with the commotion to the west.

Adding an ending to this! (and also to appease the activity checker, haha)

She explained, and her ominous warning became more of a teaching moment, ending with a river monster remark that had Arrax look back at the water, perplexed. The shallows didn't seem so dangerous, but further out the waters grew dark; was that where the monsters lived? He wasn't sure if he believed her – Solveig often mentioned Old Gods and creatures of legend in the stories she told her children, but never ones that came from rivers.

Despite Arrax's scepticism, the stranger took the chance to explain more, humouring the child while she led him away from the waters. Unintentionally they had headed back to the base of the Plateau and the Cairn realised too late his excursion had been cut short. He was a little annoyed but, more than that, grateful. His legs hurt, anyway – though he would never admit that.

They parted then at the borders, the woman staying well clear of the territory as Arrax gave a nod of goodbye and disappeared into the trees, ruminating on all she had told him.