The Sentinels i wandered ancient lands to hold just you.

she is a polite distance beyond the borders :) halp her plz

Her search of Deepwood Weald had failed to get her any further in her search for Lucy. It had gotten her ankle sprained, which was little more than a minor annoyance for the rest of the day. It had gotten her a nice coating of mud down her legs and upon her paws - also useless, except for reminding her of the first time she'd had a full conversation with Peregrine and making her smile a little.  It had not gotten her any closer to finding her Little Spot, and so she abandoned the search there muddy, hurt, and frowning beneath the dark cloud of anxiety that followed her everywhere she went.

The one good thing to say about her search was that she had at least come across the recent scent of wolves. It was this that drew her out and back to the North where she didn't have to search too hard before finding the heavily marked borders of pack territory. Like before, she had taken her time getting to know the scents of the wolves that existed beneath the looming forms of the sequoias that appeared to cover the land they claimed.

Eventually, Finley decided to make her presence known. She approached at daybreak while the morning mist was just beginning to fade into the clear, Autumn day. She tilted her head back to let out a short howl, requesting the attendance of whatever wolf they had to spare at that moment. Finley was not picky. She had determined already that this would be another short stop where all she would do was leave them with their eyes on the lookout if anything eventually did come up. She sighed, wishing she could muster a little more optimism while her heart twisted with guilt.

deirdre was swift in her arrival having been nearby, diligently marking the lands she had so recently inherited. as she emerged from the wood that had been shrouded in the mist that rolled from the ocean it would seem she had materialized from thin air--she had moved as quiet as she did quick. what met her eye was a disheveled looking woman who truly looked exhausted; deirdre was tempted, then, to take her in and nurture her back to health in that very moment! how may i help you, the woman breathed, the question surely a loaded one.

Castiel was roused from his spot by a call but it wasn't the usual uncertain clamor of wolves approaching for the sake of joining a pack. This sounded different, this felt different, but he wasn't sure how exactly. There was a note of desperation, a weariness along the notes, that called to him. The guardian lifted himself up and was on his way with only a moment spared to shake his coat out before he made his way to the borders and towards the source of the call. "Ma'am," Castiel offered, gravely voice low but polite as ever, attending to business first and foremost as it was presented to him. 

"How can I assist you?" He asked, brilliant blue eyes drifted across her features to try and garner any clues about what was troubling her as he could. It wasn't spelled out, but there was a note to her body, a sort of dogged tiredness of someone who had been on a driven mission. He was not familiar with the scents that hung loosely to her coat, though he did not crowd her body. He waited, hopeful that there might be something he could actually do to aide the woman. 

It didn't take long to get a response out of this pack. Fin was grateful for it. She wasted too much time lingering on borders, waiting for attention when she could be actively searching for her kid. The wolves that answered were also wonderfully to the point with their greetings, and Fin found herself feeling the smallest shred of relief.

"I'm looking for my daughter," Fin replied without hesitation, "She's about three months old. She was kidnapped by a stranger that crossed our borders in Redhawk Caldera about two months ago. My infant son described him as a 'monster', black fur and red eyes." Fin paused to catch her breath, and to consider what she'd said. Had it truly been two months already that her little one had been gone?

"I have scoured the hinterlands to the West and there's no sign of her. Any information you might be able to provide, even if it seems barely relevant, would be huge to me," she finished, looking earnestly at their faces. For as little hope as she'd had when she began her commentary, it hadn't stopped her heart from ending up in her throat by the end of it.

her attentions seemed to belong solely to finley, though she smiled both fondly and briefly toward castiel when he arrived. deirdre listened to the other woman, her heart hurting for the others words as soon as they came. deirdre had not seen any wolves with red eyes and inky fur, and the word 'monster' did not bring skellige to mind for her, though perhaps others might find it synonymous to his name.

she tried desperately to conjure something for the woman that might aid her. larkspur had been taken due to trespassing, and she knew such a crime would not be committed by skellige. were there any in his ranks that fit such a description? she did not think so, and due to this did not think to name the bay.

i have not seen any that fit such a description, deirdre admitted, frowning, what is it your daughter looks like? we will aid you in your search--perhaps we might have seen her... deirdre was not truly sure how a three month old appeared, but a young face she had seen in passing within donnelaith did come to mind. lotte had cared for her for a time, before the girl, of her own volition, departed donnelaith. deirdre had presumed that her situation might have been similar to her own--a mother that had departed, taken by death or by wanderlust, and a father that had left this plane, both gone too soon. it was why she could not bring herself to question it; such things brought a tempest of emotions to the fore, and she did not wish this misery upon any. there was once a girl here for a short time. i did not think to question it as she did not seem unhappy, and i have had my own fair share of losses that wound me to speak of, she admitted. i know she was dark-furred, but i cannot remember the shade of her eyes... i had little opportunity to speak with her, before she left our ranks, she peered to castiel, her head tilting. she was in the charge of lotte--let me call to her, she at least will be able to tell you how it was she looked, and on that note, deirdre bid @Lotte to meet them where they stood.

I wrote replies to all of Lotte and Coelacanth’s threads this morning and my computer ate every single one of them.
Hence, this will suck and I have no will to make it better. I am sorry. ♥

Lotte emerged from a tangle of tree roots with loam dappling the bridge of her nose and leaflitter strewn through her smoke-and-soot fur, tipping back her head to respond to Deirdre’s summons with a low howl of acquiescence. As she loped in the direction of the cry, she plucked what twigs and stems she could from the ashen cowl of pale fur that ringed her throat, large, surefooted paws carrying her promptly to where her alpha stood. She gave a mighty shake just before arriving on the scene, her moonriver eyes catching sight of the grayscale female whose willow musculature bore the marks of battle and toil. For once in her life, Lotte was utterly silent; it was evident that this was not a visit for pleasure but one of business instead. She swept the pale sovereign and her chocolate-furred guardian a deep, graceful bow and made to rub the bridge of her nose against the underside of Deirdre’s chin, mindless of the moss that yet dappled her muzzle. Even if she had remembered it, she did not think Deirdre would mind — the girl loved flowers and plants more than Lotte ever could — and it was important, in Lotte’s opinion, to be overt in her fealty to the girl. Not every visitor would respect Deirdre, for her youth, beauty, and blessed innocence did not always command respect. Keeping her head and tail in a neutral position, Lotte turned then to the strikingly marked female. “Rakeet, comrade,” she said simply, her rich, warm alto accompanying a polite dip of her head.

@Cas sorry to skip but wanna keep this moving...!

Fin paid close attention when the youngest of the pair responded. It threw her for a moment. She was ridiculously well spoken for her age. But she couldn't spare the attention to care, for the pale girl was sharing something that was far more than Fin had been given thus far, though still quite far off the mark of what she needed to hear. The Blackthorn sucked in a breath and let it go slowly. There was a girl with dark fur there at one time. Hers was a girl with dark fur. The connection was barely existent, but it was enough to make the mother's heart pound with desperation.

"My Lucy is all black with blue eyes," she informed the pale girl and her counterpart after the call had sounded for this wolf - Lotte, "At least, they were blue then..." A knife wrenched into her heart when she realized that her daughter might not have blue eyes at all anymore. She was old enough for them to have transitioned, wasn't she? What color were Liffey's eyes now? Lagan? Finley felt herself reeling, but she bit hard on her lip and shoved the thought away. To realize all that she was missing out on by being away, searching for Lucy was a terrible moment to be experienced another time. She had to focus on the present, which came soon enough to her in the form of another young girl, but not as young as the first. Fin looked between the two of them, fighting back her emotion.

Sorry, had totally missed the response here.

 

As Deirdre spoke Castiel turned his attention to her, giving a minute shake of his head. "The girl who was here was much older than three months." Her eyes had transitioned already, if he remembered correctly, and she had a height to her. "Unfortunately I do not believe that she was your missing girl, ma'am." He said as respectfully as ever. He turned his eyes toward Lotte. "Your companion - where was she from?" Castiel asked curiously, as there had been more of a connection between the two females than anything. 

It had been suggested that Castiel would teach the girl - however, she had been gone, and gone she remained. He had not seen her since that day and it left more questions than anything as to the whereabouts of the young female who was so quickly gone from them.