Dragoncrest Cliffs I'm letting you go like a hot horseshoe

Backdated to March 6th!

Hey! Alyx called out to @Fennec, found it!
Having been pointed in the general direction of Sapphique, the two she-wolves spent a couple days looking for the precise location of the pack. Somewhere through the colossal sequoias, Alyx picked up a scent she thought was familiar, but she couldn't be sure until she finally found the one scent she would never forget.
Valravn was here, she was certain of it.
Standing up straighter, Alyx fidgeted. She knew Fennec wouldn't be able to see her nerves on display, but she still swept her tongue over the fur on her chest and tried to compose herself to ward off any unwanted observations on her sister's part. Fennec would be able to smell it, anyway. Wolves just couldn't hide their emotions from one another effectively when it wafted from their scent glands. It didn't stop her from trying.
How do I look? she almost asked, then mentally smacked herself in the forehead. I'm gonna call, she said, cursing the waver in her voice that confirmed her jitters, then sucked in a deep breath and howled.

smack me if there was a posting order hshshssj

erzulie sat up as the howl sounded overtop the sea-pine. nostrils twitched, bits of new grass falling from her coat. she strode at once from the beachfront where she spent the majority of her time, and eventually lengthened her stride into a languid trot.
"alyx," erzulie purled in warm surprise. like her own brood, the girl had grown into a willowy and magnificent beauty. it was the curse of the redhawks, she joked to herself, thinking of shimmering, tense niamh.
eyes tipped toward the other wolf. older, but still little more than a girl to the seasoned obsidian. a relative perhaps. her healer's gaze saw the pale-swathed eyes and noted, but made no rude hint of recognition. "what can i do for de two of you?"

no worries!! <3

She definitely sensed Alyx's unease, and while Fennec didn't share it for the same reasons, her ears were up and alert for anything.  Her sister apparently knew these wolves but they were still approaching a strange pack, just the two of them.  If it came down to a fight they both had to be ready to run.  Like we could, she thought a little cynically, and a small smirk lifted the corners of her mouth thinking it.  Dark.

She just nodded and waited while Alyx called, mentally noting right, that works here.. She was so used to greeting her mom on borders.  

Apparently she didn't need to worry because the woman who showed up (promptly) met Alyx with an amount of warmth that was... weird?  Wait... her sister had been with them a while, hadn't she?  So maybe not weird.  There was actually.... another scent here.  One that, when she caught it, turned Fennec's ears instinctually backwards, but she likely couldn't hide all of the surprise of recognition.  So that bitch is here too.  Lucky them that this one was the one who met them.  

Fennec kept quiet for now since this was Alyx's meet and greet.  She figured from their previous conversations that she was here to stay; Fennec, on the other hand, would be heading pretty quickly back after seeing her settled.  She had jumped at the chance for a trip but that didn't mean she'd forgotten the promises she'd made, or the dangers that lurked around their home.

Often, she forgot about the injury to her pharynx, but the way her throat seared when she called and the wavering, raspy sound of it were brutal reminders. She cut off abruptly, partly from the unwelcome pain and partly out of embarrassment.
She licked her lips and cleared her throat, wincing. I keep forgetting, she admitted. That seemed unbelievable. How could she just forget the strain on her voice when she spoke, the softer tone she was forced to use ever since the attack? Alyx doubted that Towhee forgot she was deaf, or Fennec forgot she was blind, and while she knew it absolutely was not the same, she berated herself for forgetting again and hurting it again.
Nevermind all that, she thought, as Erzulie arrived. She swept her head and tail lower in something like a wolfish curtsy and said, hi, Miss Erzulie.
This is my sister, Fennec, she said first, nudging her muzzle in the blind wolf's direction. We came to visit, but I also came to, ah... To ask something.
When speaking with Towhee and Phox and Niamh, Alyx chose to be deliberately vague about the purpose of her trip. She framed it as wanting to get away for a while to visit her friends, and they seemed to take that at face value. There were plenty of reasons she might need space: the attack, her disagreements with Niamh, the loss of her brother, her twin's departure. She thought, somewhat guiltily, they would be less inclined to decline if they didn't know she had other plans.
But she'd been fairly forthcoming with Fennec when they spoke before, when her sister was recovering from her collapsed lung, that she needed to get out of the Caldera. Not just for a visit, but permanently. Alyx knew Firefly Glen and Moonspear were both options her parents would approve of, but she felt strongly that she would still be under their thumbs there, just in a different way. She needed more freedom than that.
And so she came here, to wolves she thought she knew, even if she really did not. I was wondering if... If I could stay. Fennec was welcome, too, of course, but Alyx had a feeling her sister wouldn't be looking to join the seaside pack with her.

alyx, always so polite. the girl garnered all of the obsidian's warm attention. she notched the name fennec away, nodding gently toward the older girl. something had happened to the young redhawk's voice, though erzulie could not know the truth of it. she sensed only an artifice to the soft voice. setting it aside to consider later, the harlot found herself beaming all the same.
"of course. you were a frien' to rusalka. you are a frien' now to sapphique." the seawife forgot nothing about the faces of which she had grown fond; she had tucked alyx into an affectionate position following her stay with them as a child. and it had softened niamh and herself toward one another, a greatly welcome thing in her mind.
secretly she found it amusing that so many young ones had come to them in the past months. vex had gone to find his own footing, but haunt remained, and now here a youthful two at their borders again. "fennec," and erzulie looked at the other now. "will you be joinin' alyx here?" so far she had not spoken directly to the second, and here she waited, warmed through and through at this thought.

Fennec showed no signs of surprise at Alyx's reveal.  She'd come here under that very assumption and, honestly, would have been more surprised if her sister had changed her mind.  She knew the drive to get away (and still felt it, a little more than occasionally).  She'd assumed she would make the journey home alone and prepared for it, mentally mapping (most) of the route and the directions in her mind.  Landmarks in sound, scent, and direction that she could follow.  Luckily the coast and rivers made it pretty damn clear.

She was surprised, however, at Erzulie's offer.  As excitedly as she'd jumped on the chance at a trip, she herself staying hadn't even crossed her mind.  She was more than a little surprised they'd offer.  No, just along for the ride.  I promised I'd be around back home.  It was a long way home.  The thought of crossing that distance completely solo was as exhilarating as it was terrifying.  I'll stick around for a day or two though?  If you don't mind?  She could grab a sleep or two before heading out, then, and see how Alyx settled in.  Something about just dumping her hear and turning straight around felt wrong.  She was going to miss her.

Only when Erzulie agreed to let her stay did Alyx released the breath she was holding, unable to contain the wide grin that broke across her face or the wag that picked up in her tail. Oh, thank you, thank you! I won't let you down!

Which, of course, begged the question of what she meant to do here. Oh! I've been practicing hunting with my dad. I can only really do small stuff now, but if I can get a group together, I bet we could get something bigger. She thought about mentioning that she was a bit of a naturalist, too, but decided to keep it to herself. Truth be told, she wasn't a good one. She didn't have the slightest notion how to keep plants alive or what they were useful for. She thought the stars were pretty, but couldn't read them the way her dad did. She didn't know the stories. Really, she wasn't very good at anything natural given her general aversion to getting down and dirty with it.

So, instead, she said, I'd like to learn to be a scout, like she believed Fennec was, and also like she knew Meerkat was, though thinking about that particular sibling made her feel weird and guilty.

erzulie shook her head. "not at all." fennec was trustworthy as the sister of alyx, who erzulie would now think of as family. spiced ears listened; it sounded as though the young woman had been putting her redhawk skills to greater honing.
"chacal is learning to hunt larger t'ings, as is haunt," the obsidian breezed, providing the names of a potential hunting party for their newest joiner. "an' i would be happy to teach you how to hunt de beasts of de sea." a quick smile, a glance toward fennec. "rosalyn is a fine scout. she has known de lan' like de back of her paw. you will not be wit'out support for your aims here, alyx."
already her mind was filled with the pleasantness of having another hunter; this time erzulie meant to seize this budding time of first-years and make of herself a true instructor.

feel free to skip again!

She could stay. Fennec smiled slightly, appreciatively, and then fell silent as Alyx and Erzulie conversed more.

She was glad she could take back news that her sister was learning and happy here. She withheld a snort at the other woman's name, but kept her thoughts to herself. Alyx would likely have little issue; she wasn't "useless", after all.

There were two other young hunters here, Chacal and Haunt. That was great! With Quetzal usually preoccupied with other pursuits and Primrose... Well, anyway, Alyx spent most of her time hunting alone, which made it hard to go after larger game. She'd spent some time at it with her dad here and there, but nothing too impressive. She hoped she could integrate into their existing duo and form an effective trio.

Better yet, Rosalyn was an accomplished scout under whom Alyx could train. Her tail beat at her hocks with the excitement building in her. That all sounds awesome! she exclaimed, then sheepishly added, thanks so much, Miss Erzulie!

She wanted to wait for dismissal, but she cast a glance at Fennec, clearly bursting with the desire to go find her friends and introduce them to her big sister.

erzulie motioned with her muzzle. "please." she would watch them fall into step with one another, and course on in the opposite direction, thinking of how pleasant it was to have another traveller here, and how she must one day go to greet the redhawks formally.
perhaps.