Otter Creek Uncloudy day

was supposed to have a meeting but they didn't show. Yay posting XD

@Falwasi !

Dante was on the move, trying to track down the herd of deer he had been observing the previous week. It had vanished before he could rally a hunt and he cursed his bad luck. A few of them had been prime targets. He was hopeful that if he found them again a few would have flagged behind the group, perhaps to be picked off, but so far he had no luck. He did not want to stray too far in his search.

Having spent the morning searching for any sign and coming up empty, he was currently putting more focus on enjoying the day, though he still kept a sharp eye out for edible tidbits. No use letting a chance slip by.

She had meandered over the snow-capped mountain from the open plains of Rising Sun Valley, finally reaching her desired destination. With careful steps, Falwasi descended the face of the mountain, the marginal sized creek compared to Swiftcurrent Creek quietly trickling down the rocks and eventually giving way to a slightly louder rumble as it reached flat ground.

The grizzled golden wolf leapt off of the last niche in the rocky cascade, landing in the straw-like grass stealthily. She looked up, and her copper eyes saw a greyscale wolf standing ahead. He smelled of the Plateau, an amiable enough pack as far as she was concerned. Lasher, Saena... they'd both been pleasant wolves to be around, nothing about them discouraging. Maybe they were too nice. Instead of speaking, she gave the male a low chuff to acknowledge his presence, but nothing more.

As he once more hit upon the scent of prey, a low sound alerted him to the fact that he was not alone. Those intending to do harm did not normally announce their presence, so he remained as he was a moment, long enough to determine that the trail was old and not really worth following, before raising his head to look at her.

She was tall and lithe, but the wind was not with him so he could not tell from where she came. It didn't really matter overly much. The only pack he need be wary of was the Caldera and they were far from there. The Plateau had neutral standing with pretty much everyone else, though he may have pissed off that woman from the coast. He had yet to see another of their kind, though, so figured it was little to worry on.

"Greetings," came his intoned response, and he looked at her curiously. "Can I help you with something?" It was asked in a friendly manner, no impatience within his tone. He wasn't sure what her reasons were for approaching. Perhaps just conversation, which was well enough with him, but some needed more reason than that to pause their own responsibilities and approach a stranger.

Falwasi's almond eyes met those of the male's. "Greetings," he said, "Can I help you with something?" The charcoal tinged wolf spoke in a friendly and relaxed tone, and soon the Creek wolf began to muse that her theory may be possible; however she would have to meet more of the local pack's wolves to prove it.

"And you," Falwasi replied, dipping her pale golden grown to the male. "No. I just didn't want to startle you," she said, answering the question of his offer. The deer moved delicately forward, halting just a few yards before the male, a respectable distance in terms of strangership. She looked around with slightly furrowed brows, examining her surroundings with careful attention. Falwasi had noticed that the waterway started at some point high up the mountain. Her eyes trailed the creek's path down to its denouement, which appeared to be Greatwater Lake. "Are all the Plateau wolves so cordial?," Falwasi asked while returning her gaze to the male with a serene expression and a hint of a smile playing across her features.

Falwasi had been here once before, but she hadn't stayed long. The two wolves standing at the water's edge had created an air of tension, and she didn't want to get in the way. So she left as quick as she had arrived, leaving one small, yet memorable moment to spare.

Ah, so a social visit. Just as well, Dante was not having much luck in his current endeavors anyway. "I like to think so. Outside of borders that is. Though I may be a bit biased in that opinion, being that I am one." He smiled back easily, assuming that she meant nothing by the comment. Her expression did not tell of disdain or judgement, and even if it had, he couldn't be bothered by how others saw their pack. So long as they didn't enter Plateau lands, they could think as they chose.

Finally her steps closer had allowed Dante to get a small read on her scent, and he recognized it as the same one Fox had worn when she first approached the Plateau, all those months ago. "Are all creek wolves so curious?" He asked in response, quirking a brow in a somewhat teasing manner.

Falwasi stared for a few seconds before giving in to his teasing demeanour and granting him her response with a brief smile. "We all have a little curiosity in us," she said, one brow barely raised in not a teasing manner, but a somewhat demanding, somewhat questioning one. She wondered whether he would agree with what she said, however it was not in her intentions to persuade him to do so. "Though I guess that could be debated," she said seconds later.

She for one, was curious sometimes, spontaneous in her own way. She had never thought of labelling the Creek wolves as one, but more so as individuals. Curiosity belonged to Star, perhaps even Scimitar, however his curiosity was likened to Falwasi's; it lived in their minds, and not in their mouths.

"What makes you think I'm curious?," the lissome she-wolf asked, contradicting her personality on a whim, expression placid and unrevealing of her ambiguous thoughts. Surely something about her struck out to him that she was curious, otherwise he would not have used the cited adjective. Perhaps it was the same 'travel-worn sense' Mordecai had seen in her, and suddenly, Falwasi began to wonder whether she more lucid than she thought she was.

"Fair enough." She didn't much respond to his teasing, but Dante didn't let it bother him. Some had different senses of humor, and Dante himself didn't joke particularly well of often.

His moment had been more of a stab at her upfront manner of asking him questions, but he felt the explanation would fall even flatter than the delivery. So instead he just shrugged. "Intuition I guess."

"Name's Dante, by the way. Alpha of the plateau." He paused a moment, then looked at her curiously. "You a recent creek member, or were you there when Fox was?"

It might be a strange question, but truth be told he was curious. He'd like to know what her leadership was like before the plateau.

Hey there, I'm extremely sorry for this delay. If you don't want to continue, lmk and I will edit and archive.

His next question likewise piqued her curiosity, and Falwasi looked at the Alpha with a slight tilt of her head, "Unfortunately not. I joined when Bazi was in leadership," she said, remembering her and the white wolfess' first encounter. Scimitar had been her first meet, however Bazi had been her first friend. And honestly, she didn't know if they were anymore after their tolerant-but-pissed meeting but the day before. Falwasi had been devoid of compassion for the former Alphess' leave, likewise for the desert-borne's arrival.

"You know her?," Falwasi asked, cutting her thoughts short. She had heard many, many things about the fiery leader, but only regarding her story. She was told she was hot-tempered and quick to decide in her reign, and that she left without a word, and that Bazi picked up the pieces.. but Falwasi didn't know her. And should she ever, her view would be morphed into a completely different shape.

no worries! We can finish it out

So she couldn't offer much, just as well. It hardly mattered anyway. "I do, well did. She came to our pack after leaving yours, though she's since moved on. I was curious to know what she'd been like there." He doubted much different really but it might have been common ground on which to talk if she had known.

"Actually, I believe she is the only individual I have ever met from your pack. I don't leave the plateau much and I doubt you make it this far often." Or came close enough to the borders, he should hope. They seemed a smart lot and trespassing without reason was something intelligent beings did, not in his opinion at least. "Wait... No. She and Galileo." He had almost forgotten that the older man was from the creek pack, as it hadn't come up much in their conversation.

"You have met some of my own packmates though?" He could assume, from her previous words, that this was the case.

"I have," she replied, pausing in reminiscence before elaborating: "Lasher and Saena.. Perhaps another who's scent I wasn't sure of." Falwasi paused again, her thoughtful expression remaining upon her features. She had meant to come across the swarthy male once more, though he had always been out of her range when she explored the flatlands.

Her expression was replaced with a short smile as she prodded through her memoir. "How is Lasher?" she asked, genuinely interested in the man's well-being. He had been one of the few that had taken to Falwasi's liking, and trust.

Sorry dear!  This is further down so it got overlooked x.x  we can wrap whenever you would like :)

She named two who were intent upon wandering, though Dante didn't have much of a guess as to who the third may have been.  Perhaps Finn or Kesuk, the other two outriders?  "Lasher is doing well.  Looking to be a father soon."  Dante smiled at the thought of the pups that would come soon.  His excitement couldn't rival the parents, but it was high all the same.

He hesitated to ask the next question, but he didn't think it to be too forward.  "If you don't mind me asking, who leads your pack now?  I should like to know a name at least."  Just in case.  It would be wise to know the neighboring leaders, and her phrasing of 'was' when she mentioned Bazi had been telling.  Seems there had been a few alphas in the creek recently, though he hoped they fared well with the changes.  They weren't exactly within rival distance to the Plateau, and even if they had been, he hated to wish ill on others when his own pack was doing so well.

It's okay, thanks for the thread <3

This news surprised Falwasi in the slightest form; she'd imagined him more of a bachelor type. "That's.. great," she said with customary politeness. She had no doubt the Plateau wolves would be encouraging and supportive of Taltos and his partner, and she was secretly reassured by this idea.

Dante's request of a name did not startle her and she continued with her cool manner. "Scimitar." The she-wolf was not sure of the Alphas' relationship — if they even had one, as the Creek was isolated beyond the mountains and only common to the Sunspire and the Bypass, who'd both proved a threat to their pack. 

"I should go," Falwasi said, preparing to move away. She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing across the valley, but she could dawdle for a little while longer before she had to make her skirt back over the mountains, and she wanted to spend her mere hours exploring or of the sort. The tawny girl dipped her pale golden crown to the male: "Please tell Lasher I wish him and his family the best." 

And with that she moved quietly away from the creek with a docile mood, to which she owed thanks to Dante for.