Heron Lake Plateau you can't cross the same river twice

Anyone looking for a Naturalist thread?
WINTER STORM WARNING!

She was thankful she'd arrived at the Plateau when she had.  What started as a light dusting of snow that wasn't strong enough to stick had turned overnight into almost a full twelve inches.  She had dug herself a rudimentary dirt den on the Thicket side of the Plateau.  Bedding down here allowed her ease of access to the borders.

She crawled out from her hole and stretched.  As afternoon rolled in the snow began to melt — it was still too early in the year for the snow to truly take hold.  She rolled back, half inside her den and half outside, and watched as the snow turned into a soggy snow-rain.

It was going to be a miserable winter.

not looking for a naturalist thread, but i can help!

He had awoken with a start that night as snowflakes drifted down. His tree protected him insufficiently and Eljay hadn't expected this at all, so he was caught unawares by the heavy fall of snow. When he awoke Eljay was already stiff and cold; his guard hairs had protected him from the brunt of the snow but then it had started to melt against his body heat. He shivered and murmured, "Snow?" and then got to his feet to find a better place to sleep. Eljay eventually found an old den that was shallow, but provided at least some of his body some heat; at least his back was no longer being covered in snow as he slept.

When he awoke later, Eljay was still cold and the fur underneath his guard hairs hadn't yet dried entirely. As he came out of his den, Eljay was relieved to see that the snow was starting to melt. He glanced around to see someone else poke from a den -- one that looked more proper than the one he had been using -- and then disappear again.

Curious, Eljay approached carefully. Meeting new wolves was always a daunting thing for him. On his way there, the weather took a turn for the blegh and the snow started to get soggy again. Whatever part of his fur had dried would be wet again in an instant if he stayed out here too much longer, he realised glumly. "Hello?" Eljay called out awkwardly while he tried to find the wolf he'd seen through the soggy snow-blegh.

She couldn't pinpoint whose voice was calling for her.  Her ears swiveled, her gaze searched, and eventually she found Eljay.  Then she recognized him.  Hey, you were the one who showed up to the star... thing.  Thank you.  Probably not the best introduction.  Oh, um, I'm Ceara.

She cast her glance down to the snow-dusted ground and cleared her throat.  There was much more she could say, but she'd already rambled on enough for now.

As he heard the 'hey' Eljay finally was able to pinpoint where the other wolf was -- right next to him, as a matter of fact, oops. He huddled a bit closer to her hiding place but didn't actually get in there; it didn't seem that spacious and he didn't want to be a bother either. "Yeah," Eljay said. He had actually hoped to be able to say, once he recognised her, 'hey, you were the one who organised the star rain watching', but that seemed a little silly to say now that she had already recognised him from there. "That was nice, uhm, thanks."

Upon her introduction Eljay smiled softly and said: "Nice to meet you, Ceara. I'm Eljay. I'm the puppysitter here." He wished he had a bit more impressive title to share, but Eljay had since long accepted that watching pups was the only thing -- well, useful thing -- he was mediocre at and that, him being him, he should take being semi-good at any skill with wide open arms.

She was glad someone had liked it.  Since she'd ducked out nobody had made a mention of it.  She had been worrying that everyone thought it was stupid, and she had no plans to go and do something like that again.  But this guy — Eljay, apparently — had liked it, and, well, that was good enough for her.

Eljay. The name reminded her of something or maybe someone, but she couldn't place her finger on it.  She hadn't heard much about Elwood and had only seen him once, the same time she had met Eljay.  Puppies, huh?  It wasn't her thing, but someone had to do it.  How is little Kite doing?  Is her wobble getting better?

She repeated his name and Eljay smiled and nodded in silent confirmation. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he added: "Finley and Elwood are my parents." He wasn't too sure if she knew them very well, since they had not been the pack's Alphas for some time now, but maybe. "Eljay's short for Elwood Junior." Eljay was getting to the point where he thought he was babbling and he was glad that she went on to mention his puppysitting occupation so that he could focus on that instead rather than his own incessant rambling about his name and who his family was.

Anyway — He was glad that Ceara showed interest in the pups and he grabbed the subject of Kite like a life raft when lost at sea. "Oh, yeah — It's amazing how fast they are developing right now. It always feels like they're these tiny blobs of puppy and then suddenly they get big and start walking and have these feelings and talk." Realising he was quickly getting back to rambling, Eljay decided to leave it at that for now and smiled sheepishly. It was clear that he was a little uncomfortable, but Eljay hoped that Ceara didn't mind overly much.

Oh, she says, eyebrows raising, Huh.  She probably should've made more of an effort to spend time with the Redhawks' former alphas, but to be fair they were both... old.  And intimidating in their own right.  She preferred not to make a fool out of herself where they could.  But they'd raised Eljay (presumably), and he seemed nice enough...?  Anyway.

Puppies!  Yay.  Actually, she wasn't interested in puppies.  They kind of creeped her out.  He was right, it was interesting to see them grow up from barely-functioning blobs of fur and milk to actual real live people, but... the whole process scared her.  She'd never had a single mothering instinct in her body.  It kind of made her feel like a failure next to the other Blackthorn women.

I'm glad someone's there to take the heat off of Raven and Quixote, give them some time to do something other than spend time with the kids when they need some time.. just.. out, you know?  Was that dumb?  Are they really old enough to be walking and talking now?  She supposed she hadn't seen much of them lately.. maybe she should change that.

Eljay hoped that he wasn't boring the crap out of Ceara with all of his babbling about his parents -- she didn't seem to know them very well, judging by her reaction -- and puppies. The puppy subject seemed to have the highest result, and Ceara went into that by mentioning it was good someone was able to help Quixote and Raven out. Eljay had never felt all too useful to any pack, but it was good to know that he was helping out the Alpha couple in their time of need by helping take care of their pups. Maybe he was at least a little bit useful here, then.

When Ceara mentioned the walking-and-talking, Eljay chuckled. He supposed she didn't see as much of them as he did. "Yeah! They seem to be growing every day right now." Then, after a short silence Eljay asked: "How did you get to the pack..? I mean — how'd you join?" He had no idea that Ceara was related to him at all and figured she had just wandered by or met one of the pack members and had gotten close to them before deciding to join.

Sorry to keep you waiting!  Been a weird month.

Huh, she says, unsure of how to continue this conversation about Raven's kids.  They still made her feel weird — some awful part of her wishes that they were hers, which is weird because she doesn't have the necessary capabilities to provide Raven with children, and besides, she's never wanted kids at all.  Ever.  Raven would make her re-think that.  Of course she would.

Eljay changes the subject and she's thankful, but the words don't come any easier.  Raven, she says.  I was in the thicket.  I was curious about the apples there, and she found me.  Told her I was looking for my brother, and then she found out that I'm related to, well, pretty much everyone here.  Things had been easier then, but maybe they'd be easier for her again.  Some day, and she hoped soon.

no problem :)

She didn't seem all too interested in furthering the conversation about Raven's adorable pups, or maybe that part of the conversation just reached its natural conclusion. Eljay was glad they had the subject of how Ceara joined the pack to fall back on so at least there weren't any awkward silences. He was surprised to find out that Ceara was related to many of the Redhawks. "Oh, you are? Are you related to me, too?" he wondered out loud, only to realise that maybe she didn't know what family he meant. "The Blackthorn part of the family, I mean." Eljay didn't often use his family name. He waited patiently to find out if Ceara was a Blackthorn or a Redhawk in origin -- not that it mattered super much, he supposed, as whatever case made her family enough.