Blacktail Deer Plateau First thing's first — I'm the illest.

Backdated a bit! Who wants some yuck?

Grayday knee things were bad when he woke that morning with aching joints and slugs in his throat. At least, it felt like slugs coming up. It was actually gross, foamy yellow stuff, and Grayday guessed as much, having endured the cough before, but could he really say for certain what anything was, these days?

Grumpily, the male disentangled himself from his wife and assorted packmembers (children, mostly) to go and relieve himself. His legs shook as he lifted his leg, so the leader ended up in an awkward squat, hoping no one would see him in such an undignified state.

He returned to his sleeping spot to find that the bowl he'd been nestled in so warmly before had already filled with snow. He began to dig out his bed once more, muttering to himself all the while.

whump time!

the sound of coughing woke him. he wasn't sleeping too far off from grayday, nestled in the hollow of an old tree. his golden eyes opened to slits, slightly perturbed by the intrusion into his dreams. he got up, shivering, shaking away the snowflakes that had gathered on his tail, which had rested just outside his bed into the snow.

winter was a bother. he was cold all the time, and it snowed. . .all the time. his body yearned, ached, for spring's first touches, for the snow and ice to melt away and the songbirds to return. the northern wolves--dawn, grayday, and all their relatives--thrived on this, but him? not so much.

aditya was mildly alarmed to find the coughing was coming from the alpha male himself, who was currently engaged in digging a new bed for himself. he noticed the older male's joints shaking, though he wasn't sure whether it was just from exhaustion or if he really was coming down with something.

"hey," he murmured gently, just loud enough to be heard over the icy wind. "are you ill? shall i find pema for you?"

Grayday was glad to have a distraction from his digging. He wasn't in the mood for manual labor, and misery loved company almost as much as suffering loved and audience. "It's just a cold," Grayday sniffled, swiping a paw at his nose. He had a fair idea on where he'd picked it up, but he didn't want to make the girl feel bad. He'd leave Sorrel out of this. "Shouldn't get too close. I'm sure Cat and Easy already have it since I've been wiping my nose on them all night, but you're probably still safe."

Little did he know, the cold was working its way through many agents - Grayday was simply the first to notice his symptoms, aside from Sorrel.

He sat down in the snow with a little huff, fending off the chills with an uncomfortable shiver. He didn't want to wake his wife and daughter and make them all situate themselves again, but there was no way he'd be getting back into the warm sleep pile without their cooperation. It looked like his own, natural alarm clock had rung early. "Might as well start the day," he sighed. "I'm not gettin' anymore sleep tonight."

aditya bravely held back from recoiling at grayday's runny nose, instead giving him an expression somewhere between a soft smile and a grimace. "poor cat and easy," he remarked awkwardly, raising his eyebrows.

he'd only been sick the one time. a couple winters ago, he had picked up something from a band of wolves he was hunting with, and while it hadn't been the worst thing ever, the constant coughing was something he didn't want to relive. he hung back, standing a few paces away from grayday.

"want to walk around a bit?" aditya offered, glancing toward the edge of the rendezvous. "a bit of exercise might warm you up, do you good."

Aditya may as well have recoiled - Grayday's senses were almost entirely shot. His nose was useless, his eyes were useless, and even his ears seemed less sensetive than usual. "We could walk the borders," he suggested half-heartedly. Grayday wouldn't be able to do much on his own, but perhaps with Aditya to accompany him, they'd accomplish something.

But the borders seemed too far away, and Grayday didn't think he'd make it back to the rendezvous if he went all that way. "Or... maybe just to the pond. I could use a drink to get this taste out of my mouth." Phlegm always made him vomit, and the vomit made him vomit. He'd normally eat said vomit, but it seemed as though he'd not been eating well, lately, as only bile had come up this time. Perhaps he'd been sick longer than he'd known, if his appetite was anything to go by.

he was shaking his head the moment grayday said borders, knowing that even that short trip would exhaust the alpha. the movement almost comically turned to a nod at his next suggestion. a foray to the pond was a lot more manageable.

"let's go to the pond," he confirmed, walking alongside the leader as they began to make their way--slowly but surely--to morningside's favorite watering hole.

they padded along in silence for a moment before adi opened his mouth to speak. "hey, there's something you should know," he said, not letting a single suspenseful beat go by before continuing. "on a short scouting trip, i ran into a girl from moonspear. she led me to believe that the dark woods are not as bad as tales say--or at least their leader isn't--but that redhawk caldera is a serious threat."

he cast a glance at grayday. "one of the caldera wolves killed a member of moonspear's pack. a young girl. seemingly for no reason at all, save there's bad blood between the two groups." the story had been floating around in his head for days, and this was the first opportunity he had had to talk to grayday solo since then. he would not waste the moment.

Grayday was quiet for a moment, but soon let out a tired sigh. There had been so much going on, lately. Blacktail Deer Plateau had not turned out to be the sanctuary he'd thought it at first. The valley was war-torn, and they were constantly repelling tresspassers from their borders. Even the local fauna had been dealing damage to his wolves. There seemed to be danger at every turn, and Grayday was done with it.

"I think we're going to leave before winter's end," he said to his son-in-law, a pensive look on his face. "Either back to the cuesta, or to some new, quiet place. Far from the valley - perhaps near to Easthollow, where we can help protect each other."

It would be good to be close to Valette once more. Grayday didn't like having to cross the mountains to visit family, and it would be good to have someone for the kids to play with. Even if they wouldn't be kids for very much longer. "Perhaps you and Dawn can scout ahead and find some place for us to settle, even if it's only temporarily. It's getting too dangerous around here."

he dipped his muzzle in quiet agreement to grayday's suggestion to move, especially closer to easthollow. "it would be good to be close to them," aditya concurred. "everyone has their alliances in this region except us. i used to think neutrality kept us safe, but now i just think it leaves us exposed."

happiness flowed like blood through his veins at the leader's next remark. his short scouting trips had kept him sharp and satisfied, but they had held no real purpose except to map the lands and meet their neighbors. now, as before the last mission, he had a chance to embark on something important, vital for the pack's survival.

"i'd be pleased to go, and i think she will, too," he murmured, smiling. "i'd love to find a place where my family can sleep peacefully." little did he know that the already tense air on the plateau would shatter in the next few days, leading to the cessation of all discussion and the necessity of action.

Grayday let out a little laugh. "There are just so many packs around here," he said, thinking longingly of the cuesta and it's sprawling emptiness. "We had two packs nearby at our old territory, but we never had trouble with each other. Everyone was friends."

He sort of missed having the bypass at their backs, honestly. No one had ever tresspassed back then.

"As soon as you can, I'd like you and Dawn to head out," he said with a firm nod. "Take whoever you want with you, and head out toward the taiga. Somewhere near the ocean would be preferable, but anywhere is better than here, at this point." He bumped his shoulder against Aditya's. "And take some time for yourselves, too. The pair of you have been wound up tighter than filaree - don't think I haven't noticed."

"too many," aditya agreed. as a budding ambassador, he had liked that about the plateau--but as a member of this family, he'd rather tuck his mate and future children away somewhere more isolated. somewhere where wars borne of bad feelings generations old didn't break out.

his smile grew broader at grayday's orders, and though he didn't know what filaree was, he could appreciate the general sentiment. "we'll do our best," adi chuckled, golden eyes twinkling. "we've both been so busy."

a thought came to him, then, as he remembered a conversation with one of the leader's youngest daughters. "maybe we could take easy?" he suggested, tilting his head slightly to one side in inquiry. "she's very interested in exploring--practically jumping out of her skin, i think--and i did promise i'd show her the sea when it got warmer."

he knew it could be a hard sell to have grayday relinquish not one but two of his daughters on an extended scouting trip, but who knew? perhaps the father was more than ready for the chicks to leave the nest.

Grayday tuned out whatever Aditya said about his and Dawn's relationship. Advice given, he chose to go on pretending to have no idea what a mated pair might get up to on their own. Something about thinking about Dawn and Aditya that way made him feel strangely possessive over his daughter, and that was not an emotion he felt compelled to explore.

"That sounds like a good idea," he said in regards to Easy - contrary to Aditya's thoughts, Grayday was eager for any plan that got his youngest three out of the area. He'd send them all along with the pair, except that Lavender's coat was too thin for travel, and Dauntless was currently out on his own mission. "She takes after her mother that way. Always wanting to get up and go," he commented, expression far away. "It'll be good for her to stretch her legs."

he was thrilled to hear grayday was amenable to his plan, and he was sure easy would be, too. the girl was a budding scout; her place was out in the wild, in the fresh air, nose lifted and feet churning constantly ahead. he would tell her soon as he saw her.

"then it's settled," aditya murmured, nodding his head in silent gratitude. "we'll take easy and go find us a new home. any preferences on territory?" he himself would like something with a bit more cover than the open plains, but he knew the hunting wolves of morningside would more appreciate wide space.

the wolves of morningside, which included him. he had a say in all of this; a big one, largely in part to the man standing in front of him. gazing reverently at grayday, aditya added, "thank you, pitaaji," in solemn tones, a small smile etched onto his muzzle.

Grayday gave a little shrug, not thinking overmuch on the topic. If he'd thought a little more and remembered how Aditya struggled with the cold, he might've answered a bit differently. "Maybe something with less trees to run into. It's just gotta have food and water, other than that."

He shot Aditya a smile at his thanks, not understanding the word he used but choosing not to comment, on the theory that Aditya wouldn't be insulting him to his face. "I'll see you off. Call for me before you leave."

as expected, grayday and aditya wanted completely different things, as far as territory went. he smiled ruefully in response. then again, he couldn't really blame the man; he had run into quite a few trees since losing his eye. aditya imagined he would do the same, if thrust into a similar predicament.

they reached the pond, and he lowered his muzzle in reflex to take a long drink, forgetting it was frozen over. shaking his head in faint dismay, he snapped up a mouthful of snow instead, wincing slightly as the frozen liquid trickled down his throat--which burned a little; he hoped he wasn't getting sick himself.

"i'll miss this place, despite what's all happened," aditya remarked, looking over at grayday, then shrugged. "then again, i've never stayed in one place for very long. i'm used to a change of scenery."

Grayday nodded in agreement. "I'll miss it, too," he admitted, turning his head as if he could really see the woods around him, and the pretty scene that the pond made all glittering and silver. Easy loved it here, and it'd been a good home to his family even through the bad times. The sicknesses, the intruders, the attacks... through it all, no one from his family had been harmed. No deep ties had been severed. No dear friends had departed. As far as Grayday was concerned, at least.

"But if wolves were meant to stay in one place, we'd have roots like trees," Grayday pointed out. "Instead, we have legs. And there's no one to tell us we can't come back here one day. We'll keep our ears up, and if we hear that things are settled in the area, perhaps we can winter here again."

He nudged Aditya fondly, tail wagging. "Maybe one day, our children will play together under these boughs."

aditya smiled, giving grayday a playful look. "well, they'll play together, regardless, which is all i really care about," he murmured warmly. "but yes. . .it would be nice to return here, if everything calms down."

the wind stirred his pelt as he turned to face the mountains. "north, then," he mused, the wheels of his mind already churning as he formulated a game plan. "near the sea. that sounds nice," he added, grinning. "i know it tried to drown me, but the ocean did bring me here, after all."

aditya sat on his haunches with a small sigh of contentment, looking over the pretty scene before them. he would stay with grayday for however long the alpha wanted him today. after that, it was time for another adventure.

fading out here