Luneshale Pass bread and butter pinot noir

It was the hour of blackest night under a herd of slow-moving clouds, dense as carded wool, and still the bazaar of creatures attending to business on the bleached rocks was visible to the naked eye. Disa watched them buzz and skitter and rattle from her seat next to a patch of freshly applied urine. It smelled heavenly, and after almost a month in the company of no-one but herself, Disa very much wanted to meet the producer. Sharp, grey eyes scanned the flat landscapes for signs of a night patrol. Someone had to be out here.

Kemal was a committed worker bee as of late, walking the borders of the pass with such consistency that you would think he was watching for someone coming to rip it from him. For those living in Verapaz, it was easy to deduce that he was watching for his brother. Leandros had been gone for some time now. Too long.

He had renewed one of the many scent markings not so long ago, it would still be fresh; and yet something in his gut made him want to look back.

It was dark and the wind was not on his side, something could have slipped past. Kemal paused entirely, turning his head to look back.

Disa watched the beast. He had precipitated out of the dark very suddenly, larger than any wolf she had ever seen before. It occurred to Disa that sitting creepily on his doorstep in the dead of night as she was might be misconstrued as... did it matter? This hulking creature didn't look like he would give her a chance to explain. And she couldn't, really. It smells good here, and I was lonely?

It was a line she would have to try, because the second she decided to begin her silent retreat, Kemal turned his head very suddenly in her direction. Orange met grey. Disa's breath hitched in her throat, and a sudden jolt of fear tossed her words into a garbled salad. "I... I'm sorry. It was lonely and I smell good here."

He had been right that someone was there, but it was just a little thing. She seemed too nervous to be a threat. He remained still for a moment after she spoke before returning to the scent post where she stood.

Are you Verapaz? He asked with the raise of an eyebrow. He hadn't seen her before, she didn't smell like them, but he never imagined urine would smell pleasant to anyone outside of the pack - it barely smelled good to the wolves within the borders. What he did understand was the feeling of being lonely, it could be overwhelming. You aren't in trouble.

It was just too hard to be upset with a girl so apologetic.

She hadn't expected a wolf of his stature to be kind, given the circumstances, but he was – going so far as to reassure her that she wasn't in any trouble. Disa had never met a wolf that didn't defend its borders with violence first and questions never; her own family included.

"Verapaz?" she repeated, and felt emboldened enough by the giant's gentleness to look up at his face.  "Oh, is that your family? .. I'm not a cousin, or anything." She shot a glance past him and into the dark. "But I don't suppose you take stragglers? I'm healthy!" Her turn to reassure. "Just tired. And sort of curious to know how a pack makes a living in a place like this. " It was true - she could have walked on, but the unusual choice of territory warranted investigation. Disa smiled crookedly. "You hiding elk underground? Or do you trade scorpions for meat?"

skippable <3

quiet voices lure him from his night patrol, bringing him within the vicinity of kemal and a she-wolf.

it is too dark to discern her true colors, but even in the muted light he notes her body language is affording, and kemal's relaxed. not one to begrudge a man his moonlit pleasures, soto moves past.

he trusts kemal's sensibilities, and knows if the woman is still here come morning, kemal will make her known to verapaz.

Pack, family, they're the same. He responded. At her following request, Kemal took a moment to properly look her over; she did look healthy, muscular too. Come, I will finish my patrol and then we decide if you stay. A fair price, he thought. It would give him more time to decide if she should be chased off or not.

He begins to walk once more when her blabbering continues, one of his ears pointed back to her. No elk here, but we have sheep. Other prey, but mostly sheep. So many sheep. Not that he was complaining, especially when the lambs came around. You like sheep? She was out of luck if not, because that was what they had. There were other ungulates, but they were big and Verapaz was small. Maybe they would give it a try now that Leto's litter was not so dependent.

Kemal was not one for small-talk, Disa noted. He would not kill her for loitering at his door, but he would not hold it open with a smile, either. She followed when he walked away, the tips of her ears barely visible over his shoulder.

Disa did not like sheep, but she wasn't stupid. This was an interview. "I could eat sheep," she said, mentally cursing her luck, then asked hopefully, "Bison?" Disa's father was reckless, and bison had been her first meal as a fledgling hunter. It had cost her a brother and injury to every limb, but the feast had been worth it. She sighed at the pleasure of the memory, breathing cool night air.

She could eat sheep, so she wasn't all that much of a fan of them then. There are bison, but the pack would need to be rallied to take one down. It wasn't a bad idea at all though, in fact he quite liked the sound of bison meat.

Reaching the end of his scent markers, Kemal lifted a leg and refreshed it. You did not tell me your name. He realised, looking to her after a moment. Once I know, you can stay in Verapaz. I am Kemal.

"I could rally," she replied with a little grin, which faltered somewhat when Kemal raised his leg without warning and let loose on a faded marker. Disa stared at the stream, fascinated, until he lowered it again.

"Um – Disa," she said, and cleared the last image from her head with a couple of shakes. "Just Disa."

Disa. He would remember that.

Come find me when you want to hunt then. A courteous nod, meant as a silent promise that he would help. In the morning I will introduce you. Bumping his shoulder to hers, he brushed their fur together as a method of leaving his scent; not as strong as urine, but enough that pack members would ask questions before they bit. Saying nothing more, Kemal trotted off to choose a place to sleep.

And just like that, Disa was Verapaz - stamped and ready for processing. She liked the simplicity of it.

Kemal returned to the darkness - to sleep, to patrol, Disa wasn't sure. She spent a little time walking the border by herself in the pitch dark, following her nose from rock to cactus and on until sleep tapped her on the shoulder and asked what the hell.

Disa fell asleep on a stone slab and dreamt of bison.