Blacktail Deer Plateau give me one last kiss while we're far too young to die

tagging the three highest ranking members since there isnt a forum here ❤ @Aningan @Erzulie @Raleska

She hadn't expected to find Rusalka again, lacking any desire to return to the coast where only memories of Derg linger, yet the scents on this border are distinctly familiar. The pack has changed, grown smaller, and Derg's scent is mixed only faintly with the others now. As if he'd left recently. For some reason, the thought slows her retreat, then halts it entirely.
She turns, suddenly wondering if perhaps the pack that had scared her so much is the best place for her now. After all, the world is falling apart — perhaps ending entirely — and there is no longer any place for a scared, soft thing like her. Maybe it means she should be dead, but she doesn't care. She doesn't want to be dead, even if the rest of the world wants her that way — so maybe instead she can learn to be less afraid. Here, if they'll have her. She hides Stanley behind a tree, moves a bit closer to the border, and calls for an audience.

Drawn to their makeshift borders by a call she does not recognize, Raleska is on guard. Immediately she thinks of Mal and her expression soured — a grimace that did not lift until she came upon Keen. 

It took the young wolf a few seconds to recognize the yearling — she had grown just as Raleska had, and her mocha pelt was striking enough that Raleska recalled her from before — a youth that had come alongside Derg. Hi, Raleska ventured, wondering if this was happy accident or deliberate — she wondered if she should call for Derg given he had been the one to bring Keen to Rusalka in the first place.

The call is answered quickly by the girl she remembers as Raleska, the feral-looking girl with the yellow eyes of a predator. She envies those eyes as she had when they'd met, wondering what the girl might see in her own yet finding herself afraid of the answer. Hi, She returns with a dip of her head, pausing a beat before she decides it's probably best to just get to the point. I'd like to join Rusalka again, and stay this time, if I'm welcome. She tries not to let herself question her own choice of words; she'll get in, or she won't, and she knows worrying about it won't help, no matter how much she wishes it did.

While examining Keen, Raleska can’t help but look over the yearling’s frame and wonder who had it worse — her, or Rusalka. They’d been displaced from their home, they lost half their pack (Raleska buried quickly that ugly thought of her mother and brother being dead - it was not allowed to come to life ever), and half the world seemed intent on killing them. Yet through all of this they’d come out broken but not dead — and maybe, it would always be that way as long as Raleska was lucky enough to draw breath. 

Keen seemed to be here deliberately; Raleska’s tense shoulders fell upon hearing that. She hadn’t been ready to turn the girl away, and dreaded doing so if coming here was all an accident. She thought of Erzulie and Rosalyn, who both might have had their own opinions on the matter. How was she to measure up to their expectations? Oh. Yeah — sure. Raleska answered somewhat awkwardly, wanting to be happy to see a Rusalkan return and somehow only feeling bitter instead — not at Keen directly, but just at how everyone else always found their friends and family that disappeared.. but not her. Never her. Do you want me to get Derg?

henlo popping in—and also sharing that i had a woolly bear friend at work the other day named stanley. 12/10 best caterpillar

Lured away from his post by a call, Aningan made quick work of the plateau as he sought the source; he was further off than he had originally thought himself to be and was glad to see, upon his arrival on the scene, that Raleska was already there. With her was another female, dressed in a unique coat of chocolate and toffee. He observed her from a gradually decreasing distance, wondering if he had seen her before, only to decide that he had not. But there was a noticeable lack of tension in the air, an at ease type of feeling, even, that made him consider the possibility of the two knowing one another. Had the two girls met before? He hadn’t the slightest of clues.

Aningan was relatively quiet as he approached, still struggling to sort through his memories, desperate to find something—anything—that may indicate that he had met Keen in the past but there was nothing. Zilch. Zero memories whatsoever. Maybe he was reading too much into it. Maybe he was just too on edge.

“Who is this?” he finally asked once he was well within speaking distance, directed at Raleska. Should I know her? his gaze seemed to portray, pleading with her to give him some insight. She was probably just some visitor, unknown like the dark woman that had appeared after the discovery of the usurper’s carcass. Yeah, that had to be it. He glanced at Keen then and asked, “Why are you here?”, having not heard their exchange (listening is hard when your brain is being a drama queen).

Raleska's question drops on her like a cold, heavy stone, and for a moment she can't answer. Thankfully, the arrival of another saves her for a moment, even if she can't help disliking the way he addresses her. She hides it well, at least, and offers him the same deference she'd given Raleska. My name is Keen, I used to be a member of Rusalka. I'm here to join again, if you'll have me, And then, to Raleska: I can um, find Derg later, but thank you.

Quick Cameo <3

There was a call for leadership. He was watching the world pass by, readying himself to go out and find the lost child of the medic woman. His ears tilted towards the sound that vibrated through the trees.

Keen.
A smile graced his features and his tail stirred. For once in a long time, his heart warmed.

It was good company came quickly; Raleska was a poor conversationalist, and she could see the way her question sunk like a stone across Keen's face. She hadn't intended it that way - but that's the way it came across.

Grappling with something to say to offset that sunken expression (and how she had hated spying it) Raleska was about to open her mouth, and then shut it promptly, when Aningan arrived. Giving him the flat of her crown dipped in reverence to his station, Raleska stood back to answer -- only to have Keen do it for her.

She supposed that was right, and it spared her the wagging of her tongue -- she saw nothing of Derg, though nearby he had caught Keen's howl on the wind. "She used to be part of Rusalka, when we were by the sea." By the sea -- but they no longer were, were they? Raleska's gaze glanced away, abstract and distant -- as if she was here, but her mind was miles and miles away.

we can wrap this up, since it’s older, if you guys are game ^^

Keen. A former member of the pack, back when they still lived on the shore. Although he could not recall any memories of her, he did not doubt there to be truth to her words; Raleska wouldn’t lie, after all, he was certain of it. Besides, she was on the coast longer than him, so it only made sense that she would be more familiar with old members.

“You can stay,” he said, glancing at Raleska, then back to Keen again. “If it was your home before, it wouldn’t be right to not let you come back.” Would Caiaphas be glad to see her, when she returned? He hoped so—he hoped he was making the right choice.

With the female welcomed back into the fold, Aningan dismissed himself. He was not familiar with her, whereas others appeared to know her—so, the boy decided it would be best to let them all catch up.