Whitewater Gorge New neighbors? Great...

Hihi, Malice was following the river again and wishes to meet the new neighbors :) So, tagging the alpha Frostfur's and some members of MH that want to jump in maybe? : @Scimitar @Eshe @Esteban @Issun @Mitanni @Renn

Spring was upon them, the weather clearly warmer than before. Though signs of winter were not yet totally gone, the queen felt like it was mid-spring. She had made it through her first winter, started a pack and lost her mate all in the span of a few months. Wow, what an achievement. Someone should give this girl an Oscar. When she woke up this morning, she knew she needed to do something other than patrolling the borders. Perhaps she should follow the river once more, this time to the Northwest. Sure, she could go back to the place where she had met someone of another pack, but something pulled her toward this particular river. 

She trotted happily next to the river, enjoying her time exploring. Though, something was wrong. It was the smell around here that made her anxious. It smelled an awful lot like another pack, more wolves. Great, they already had 2 neighboring packs and she wasn't looking forward to find another one so close to Moonlit Hills. Were Moonlit Hills' scents not enough to stop these wolves from settling so near? Oh well, the queen didn't want to fight over it. Perhaps their neighbors were nice. If not, she still didn't want to begin a war. If war was to break out however, she would not go out without a fight.

She stopped walking and sent up a cloud of dust as she sat down. Should she howl or something? She definitely wanted to meet the new individuals, but she had no experience with this. So, she did what she thought was best. She put her muzzle up into the air and howled, short but powerful, as if to say: Who is near?

Before he'd disappeared, Cogitemus had planted an idea in Mitanni's head. He'd mentioned how she might be well suited for ranging, for wandering and gathering information, and the idea had instantly appealed to her. She wasn't entirely sure how to go about it, but it was definitely something she wanted to pursue.

But with her pack so newly formed, she didn't feel right going far. The lithe little wolf stuck close, beginning to investigate neighboring territories during her free time, and during this particular outing she realized she wasn't the only Moonlit Hills wolf in the vicinity. Malice?

With ears perked, the howl resounding in her ears, the amber-eyed female trotted hurriedly to answer, held in her customary relaxed posture with her head and tail low. These were unclaimed lands, and she always tried to look as inconspicuous as possible when beyond her pack's borders. She chuffed softly to let Malice know she was there as she approached, her expression curious. "Hello, Malice," Mitanni greeted as she strolled to a stop, detecting on the air the very same thing that had stopped her alpha but she made no comment.

The tweet of a sparrow brought the youngster back to the present as she awoke from her doze in the fern glade. She stretched, parting her maw in a straining yawn, before beginning to trot across the thin crust of snow which, by now, was slowly beginning to thaw. Spring had finally come to relieve the chilled land from the winters clutches. And with it came the first signs of the drastic changes that would soon start to unravel as time went on.

With a slight tail wag, she broke out into an easy lope, enjoying the feeling of a light breeze ripple through her charcoal pelt. She was still in shock when Malice had announced that the dark king was absent... he was a fine character to look up to, one of the only pack members that had really helped Renn to express her skills and, for that, she guessed his legacy would always be remembered by her. But life moved on.

Now, as she wound her way through the forest, she was once again shadowing a trail. Not of prey, which still nagged at the back of her mind, but of her pack mate Mitanni. The young female had never really engaged properly with the other but she had certainly seen her around. Her direction intrigued her as the scent seemed to be leading out of the borders into no-mans land. Strange. Ears pricked, the distant calls of a howl rose to meet her as she continued along the ridge to arrive just behind Mitanni. She too slowed to a stop as an unfamiliar odour filled her glands. Giving a nod to Malice, she wondered why on earth the alphess would travel outside the borders.