Swiftcurrent Creek it was not the thorn bending to the honeysuckles

@Rannoch - set after first thread. Backdated a short time just like the previous one. 

 

Once out of the wood, the sun had risen overhead, and the two males were near to each other, if not a few yards away. Bronte watched as the male Rannoch trailed ahead; he knew they were related somewhere along the line, but he was far more pleased that he might have accidentally stumbled upon a familiar figure than he was worried. The swarthy young man only wished Coelho would have hurried herself along. Casting a glance over his shoulder for signs of her, Bronte heaved a soft sigh that caused his broad shoulders to lax. Turning back to face the west, the young bear drew in the air and thought on the scents around them. It was a strange new world. He was far away from home, yet something told him he had found a good substitute.
 
Once more, he glanced over his shoulder in search of the coywolf female and her lithe frame. Bronte had expected to see her trouncing along after them with a salmon-colored tongue lolling from the side of her mouth. Coelho was still nowhere to be found. Opting not to worry about her, Bronte glanced to the sky to see thick grey clouds and the promise of another cold storm.

Proceeding the minatory loom of an upcoming coldfront, a silent and dreadful harpy moved in a clipped, browbeaten saunter. She-Ra led the storm. Even with it still miles off, she appeared to drag the overcast sky with her—the impending heaviness of a frigid torrent tethered about the crook of her high waist like a leash. She beckoned the day's drear with her own very embittered expression, and her power crackled like static at the ends of her fur as she began to rashly bristle.

She had realized in that moment that she had walked onto the path of an oncoming duo: two quite large males, one stag-grey like winter, and the other deep and dark, like a forest at night. She-Ra blinked at them, owlish at first, but her surprise (maybe attraction) waned quickly with a severe narrowing of her yolk-yellow eyes. They would find no menial conversation from this one. Without a word, the storm-carrier prowled away in a tightly-wound slink.  

*a wild She-Ra passes by!*

Although Rannoch and Bronte traveled at a distance from each other, he had realized that the other male's gaze often stole towards the territory that stood behind them. "Are you okay?" Rannoch asked with obvious concern. He was unaware of the fact that Bronte was expecting another. 

Movement from beyond where they tread caught Rannoch's attention, and he spotted She-ra's retreating silhouette. His hackles spurred as he watched the woman disappear; he wouldn't relax until he was sure that she was gon.e

The question struck him and the dark young wolf splayed his ears atop his crown for a moment before offering Rannoch a busy, “mhmm.” It was not that he wasn’t grateful for the interest shown by the young Alpha, but that he caught wind of another. Bronte wanted to know if it was her, but the form that puttered into view was not the slight shape of Coelho. The dark young man bristled at the appearance of the strange woman before she seemed to take less interest in them and found a way to exit. The scent of other wolves was stronger there; he wanted to make his way through and keep moving on the other side before they were met with anyone else.
 
“Looking for someone,” Bronte elaborated to the slate-cloaked male. He offered a gruff smile before shrugging and pushing them forward. All the while, the umber in his eyes did not leave where She-Ra had disappeared from; the young DeMonte did not want to find her at his rear.

Rannoch was intrigued by Bronte's reply. He pulled his focus away from where he had last seen She-Ra and turned to study Bronte. "A friend, I hope?" Rannoch asked; he hoped that his traveling companion wasn't keeping an eye out for the contrary.

“Yes.”
 
Then, Bronte turned his head to fix the young Alpha with his dark gaze. There was no questioning the expression on his face. “She comes with me – so if you accept me into your ranks, you will be accepting her, I’d imagine,” he offered the leader with a soft shrug. It wasn’t a poor thing to have two wolves for the price of one, but he wasn’t sure how Rannoch would take the package deal without knowing Coelho and her ways. Either way, if the Sunspire leader did not wish to allow her into his ranks, Bronte would not be remaining in the mountain pack and they would seek a home elsewhere.

Rannoch nodded; he understood the terms and conditions of the other wolf's allegiance. "What is she like?" Rannoch asked, and fixed Bronte with a curious stare.

The question struck him and, at first, Bronte didn’t know just how to describe the joy that was Coelho. A small smile curled his dark muzzle upward and he breathed a sigh that held tones of his reminiscent nature regarding the young girl. “She is… like a warm spring day after all the snow has gone and the days have grown longer,” he described as best as he could. Of course, the little coywolf had her faults and her strange quirks, but Bronte had never found a more pleasant companion in all of his short years of life.

"She sounds lovely," Rannoch remarked with a smile; he knew that personality wasn't the only factor that needed to be considered in his decision. Rannoch had been guilty of recruiting some less-than-ideal members, and he was working on being more thorough in his assessment of potential members. 

"Do you think she would be able and willing to contribute to the pack?" There were many underlying questions but, for now, Rannoch began with the basics.

Lovely, he thought with a small smile. It was accurate, for all that he could tell. Coelho was a peculiar and fairy-like creature. Bronte had never met another like her. Instead of agreeing with Rannoch until they spiraled themselves into an endless circle, the dark bear continued on their trek to move through the river as quickly as they could. His nose was fixed on the mountain that Rannoch had claimed, but they had a short way to travel yet. The next question struck him as being peculiar, but he supposed it was necessary to know what kind of rabble would be allowed in the ranks of his pack. Bronte nodded his head with a confident curling of his lip. “She will do great things for your pack, I’m certain of it,” he confirmed. Of course, he could never truly tell how Coelho would behave herself, but she had only ever been a good friend to him, so he didn’t imagine she could cause much trouble for the Sunspire wolves.

Upon hearing that Coelho would do great things for Sunspire, Rannoch decided that Bronte's account satisfied his curiosity. "She will be welcomed," he concluded with a glance at the grizzled recruit, "I'm excited to meet her." 

Rannoch's stare then turned towards the destination, and he regarded the jagged slopes fondly for a moment. "Have you ever lived on a mountain?" he wondered out loud as the thought transpired. Rannoch thought of Iovan then, and the conversation that they had had in regards to acclimating to residing on a ridge.

“I’m sure Coelho will be eager to meet you too,” Bronte returned with a small smile. He had no question that the young girl would share a sweet optimism with all of his pack, so long as they offered her a chance. She was different – like no one he had ever met – but she had a way about her that was contagious. The dark DeMonte was grateful that he had found her and that she had endured his stubborn nature and prickly days. If Rannoch was seeking good company for his ranks, Bronte had no doubt that he would find that in Coelho.
 
The question fell and the dark bear turned to the young Alpha with a questioning look. “No, but I’ve been quick to adjust. You like it, I’d wager?” he responded and then returned with his own inquiry. Knowing that if the Frostfur had opted to build his life on the side of the bluff, there had to have been a compelling reason. Bronte had always been fond of the wood and the lush trees that provided shade on warm summer days. He was adaptable, though, and would take what he could get.

"I love it," Rannoch replied without reflection, "There's just something about it that I can't really place my paw on— I dunno, almost like I was made for it. Or something." He shrugged then, as he realized how garbled his self-evaluation had sounded. 

He cleared his throat suddenly and glanced away; this wasn't awkward. Not at all. 

"Anyways, would you be up for picking up the pace?" Talking about Sunspire made Rannoch suddenly anxious to get home, and She-Ra seemed to have vanished into thin air. When Bronte agreed, the two men fell into silence and broke into a light jog; they would arrive at Sunspire late that same night.