Fox's Glade near the border

@Illecebra

The beauty of the glade was lost on Grezig, who was only here for something to do. She often went out on her own for a day or two and returned to the group to check in afterwards. Their travel had slowed down a bit and the exploration gave her something to keep her mind and body occupied. There were only so many times even a wolf like her could patrol the same section of land over and over again. Of course, it would be different once they had a territory of their own, with enough wolves to defend it, but right now, the idea of patrolling their little area seemed pointless. It did not belong to them, so other than a quick perimeter check before they settled in for the night, real patrolling was superfluous. 

The glade itself was not occupied by a pack, though there was the smell of foxes around. However, the more eastward she traveled, the stronger the smell of wolves became. She never got anywhere near the border of whatever pack was there for fear of ruffling feathers (so to speak), but it was good to know that there was a pack nearby. She turned around to avoid going any closer to the nearing border, and continued on back the way she had come, though she went at a slow pace, to study her surroundings a bit more.

The more she pushed herself to walk away, the worse she felt inside. She had to pause occasionally to force back tears and a wave of panic that threatened to consume her. The last time they had spoke Mawk told her she had been a good mother and wife, did that mean who she was now was worse? Did she turn into a horrible person? She walked in a fast pace until the stench of fox was all she could smell besides the underlying scent of Easthollow. 

As she walked she picked up the scent of wolf. She froze and sniffed it in, panicking before determining it was a female she had never seen or smelled around her pack. This meant it was a stranger. Wanting a distraction she followed the scent and spotted the female ahead of her, calling out with a friendly chuff.

Sorry for shortness.

Grezig turned at the sound and saw a female wolf who looked as if she was covered in a dusting of snow. She smelled of multiple wolves, so Grezig had to assume that she was part of the pack farther east. A cursory glance revealed that something seemed off about the wolf, something was wrong, but Grezig could not figure out exactly what. “Greetings,” she said, a bit cautiously, dipping her head. “I’m Grezig.” She remained quiet, then, seeing what the female had to say, if anything. It had been she, after all, who had started the conversation by chuffing.

She was pleased when the female turned but felt awkward as she was given a once over. The introduction was taken with a dip of her head "Illecebra. I noticed you were somewhat close to my pack. I thought perhaps you were looking for entry?" she asked curiously. It wouldn't hurt to attempt to recruit for Easthollow right? Other than that she honestly had no idea what to talk about, she simply wanted a distraction from the emotional torment.

Grezig took in the woman’s information, and then responded almost immediately, in her straightforward way. “No, I am not looking for entry. I have pledged myself to a pack already.” She considered saying something about how if anyone in Illecebra’s pack was looking for a new home, she would gladly take them, but that seemed like a bad idea. Liri and Kavik — and especially the boy — did not need angry pack members coming in to collect their runaways. Grezig had been good about only recruiting loners. This would help to avoid any awkward situations. They were a small group yet and would not have the numbers to protect themselves if any, say, bounty hunters came to collect. For lack of anything better to say, she added, “I will be sure to tell my Alphas that we should not settle near here. I do not want to encroach on anyone’s borders.”

She took the information in stride and nodded her head. She hadn't even bothered to take in Grezig's scent and figure out if she was alone or with a pack and just travelling like she was. That could have solved some useless conversation. When the other spoke about not settling here she flicked an ear, wondering if she thought They were unfriendly "Well...we're pretty nice. If you're looking for an area with nobody nearby then you should avoid heading south. There's a pack there called Bearclaw Valley." she provided the information trying to be helpful, her tail nub giving a little wiggle behind her.

Bearclaw Valley, to the south of here… Grezig thought back to her first attempt at joining a pack. That pack had been… south of here hadn’t it? Somewhere around here, right? Out of sheer curiosity, she asked, “The leader of Bearclaw Valley… is he a white wolf with red eyes? Is there anyone in that pack matching that description?” She only wanted to know so she could put a pack name to the face of the wolf who had not accepted her. Well. He hadn’t actually denied her entry, but he’d taken so long deciding her fate that she’d turned around and left without a word.

“I do not deny that yours may be a kind pack,” she said, responding to the woman’s comment about her pack being ‘pretty nice.’ “But it is generally better to avoid settling right next to another pack’s borders. In winter, two packs who were once friends might fight each other over scraps of food. I would rather avoid that.”

A white wolf with red eyes...She had absolutely no idea about that one. "I honestly don't know. I...lost my memories recently. Don't know much of anything" she said and shuffled her paws a bit awkwardly. The woman continued onward to speak about borders and pack settlement Cebra nodded. "That makes sense. Not to mention there is never a guarantee that two packs will get along well enough to be neighbors like that anyway." she sighed. She looked off into the woods and suddenly felt the urge to be off and on the move. "Well...I wish you luck finding a good place. I should be off. It was nice to meet you" she said politely. If the Grezig said her goodbyes then Illecebra would be off.

Grezig tried to keep the surprise off of her face when Illecebra said that she had recently lost her memories. What? How did that happen? she wondered to herself, though she said nothing. That would probably be incredibly rude, seeing as she didn’t even know this female and was not part of her pack. She put it out of her mind as Illecebra said her goodbyes. “Yes. It was nice to meet you,” she said, bowing her head for a moment. “I should be getting back to my group, as well.” With the smallest of smiles, Grezig turned and padded away through the meadow, back towards the Northstar Vale band.