Great Bear Wilderness Nice to meet you, where you been?

Quick (ideally daily) posts would be awesome!

Saena went south, perhaps more south than she had ever been, though she reminded herself that Redhawk Caldera was even further than this. She could see it in the far distance, with its characteristic flat peak. She had no interest in going any nearer, but she did not allow its presence out there to deter her from travelling. She'd done precious little of it lately, and Swordfish's reminder that she was also an Outrider had stuck with her.

If she wanted to be an asset to her pack, she needed to practice her existing skills as well as develop new ones.

So she'd left early in the morning with a howled note that she would be gone a few days. Night was already falling; the temptation to turn back home was great, but Saena was too far from the Plateau to make it there tonight. She'd passed the Heartwood nearly two hours ago, and was now surrounded by distant mountains and open snow drifts.

The juvenile bowed to stretch her legs after her long and tiresome walk, then flopped down in the snow, sending loose flakes flying around her. With a content sigh she slung her muzzle over her forearm and rested with ears alertly aloft.

Hope you don't mind me or Lazar! :-)

Lazar had traveled a great deal in the past few days, departing from the safety of Duskfire Glacier's borders in the search of what lay beyond the claimed lands of his new found home. On perhaps shelter was a more adequate word. It was not home. Not yet, anyway. Not knowing much of the fast and great family he had been born into Lazar failed to realize that his desire to discover and explore was born of natural and perhaps, inherited wanderlust. It was born of such that made the Outrider trade appeal the most to the DeMonte. The excuse could be made easily enough: that was why he was out and about, so far away from the Glacier. Considering it was the only excuse that he had, it was the one that Lazar planned to run with should he be approached about his absence from the pack at a later date. Namely, whenever he decide to return.

The Alpha, Malachi, seemed friendly enough, around his age, give or take, if Lazar had to make a rounded, impressionable guess, but from what little Lazar had to go off of from the rest of the pack to the DeMonte male they appeared ...aloof. Or perhaps that was simply his first impression of his Packmates, hypocritical as it was given he had not necessarily strained himself to seek any of them out. Instead, he had headed out almost as soon as he had a den semi-claimed, eager to explore what he had not allowed himself to do before joining a pack. Surely, someday his tendency to rush head first would get him into trouble.

Lazar, nevertheless, was determined to make the most of his diversion of a trip, wondering if he shouldn't glean what he could in the interest of earning that Outrider trade, after all. His steps slowed as the snow seemed to thicken and deepen in it's lay of the earth, giving a soft snort at the irony. Rolling his eyes at the jeers his peers would have come up with, would they have been present about how he was the Snow King. All because of his appearance, because he was the only white wolf in the whole pack and in that Lazar had been an oddity. Still, he pressed on, though something curious caught his crystalline, glacier gaze and his steps slowed to a cease. Had it not been for the copper of the girl's ears (which he only realized was ears seconds before) he might not have seen her. In the case that she had not already noticed him he gave a soft chuff, listening to it echo slightly, carrying in the other wise hushed territory.

As a matter of fact, Saena did spot Lazar. He cut an obvious figure against the inky darkness of the sky with his white pelt illuminated by the partial moon overhead. Surely she was illuminated in a similar fashion, though her eyes were hidden by copper splotches, and her ears would be dark against her nape. They fell slowly back as she warily watched the other wolf, uncertain what his intentions were, but she relaxed slightly when he woofed into the space between them.

She rose slowly, shook herself to be rid of any chill or stiffness, and padded the last couple feet to stand before him. Her tail swayed at half mast as she craned her head forward and sniffed, but she was unable to catch his scent. "Hi. Are you from the Caldera?" she asked, immediately worried that Peregrine and Fox would send a scout to be rid of her. She certainly didn't care what her father or his whore thought of her and would have tromped all over their lands if she didn't fear being caught and flayed, but she was nowhere near their borders and wouldn't appreciate being treated like an intruder all the way out here.

For now, Saena was wary but not aggressive or stand-offish. There was the chance he was from one of the other packs in this area. As far as she knew, Blacktail Deer Plateau—and the Blacktail family, or more specifically, herself—weren't at odds with any of them yet.

The girl rose; Lazar watched as she shook herself, presumably to free her fur of debris or collected snow, or perhaps simply because it did feel good at times. Regardless, he did not spend much time analyzing it for it truly didn't matter. Now that she stood, with the moon illuminating more of her face Lazar could see the copper markings beneath her eyes that matched the copper tone of her ears, uniquely marked, making his own presumed uniqueness seem like a joke. It was she that was a unique specimen with her intriguing and facination markings that worked to make her truly distinct. Now that he had her attention, Lazar stood still, having no interest in retreating and not wishing to invade on her personal space. It was his companion whom first broke the silence between them, greeting him and followin up with a question. Lazar took to the assumption that the "Caldera" she mentioned was a pack, likely one of many in the Wilds, and found it curious that she asked that particular question first. "No," Lazar spoke, fixing her in his crystalline gaze, white girls of steam writhing forth from his lips as he spoke, caressing the cold night air with his warm breath before it dissipated into the velveteen darkness between them.

"I belong to a pack called Duskfire Glacier, far North of here," Lazar corrected her. For a moment the DeMonte was quiet, contemplative even; before his curiousity won out and got the better of him. "Why? Are you in trouble with this... Caldera or something?" It wasn't any of his business, granted, but he wasn't going to stand by and let wolves from this Caldera hassle her — providing they were hunting for her, which her automatic question left with it the impression that they very well might have been. "I'm Lazar. Lazar DeMonte, by the way." He offered by the way of an introduction.

"No," she responded quickly, relaxing and flicking her snout to the south, where the Caldera stood barely visible in the darkness. "It's over there. Thought my deadbeat dad was trying to claim the entire Wilds or something by sending a scout to get rid of me. He's super greedy, you see." She might've balked to know that the Caldera wolves really did consider these prairies theirs in a sense, but thankfully, none of their ilk walked in the night. Lazar and she were entirely alone.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Saena Blacktail, from Blacktail Deer Plateau." The name left little to the imagination in terms of her position there, though she felt she was more of a princess than she really was, since their time had come and gone with Peregrine. Nobody had ever treated her like royalty anyway. She didn't expect Lazar to, either, but the way it sounded made her smile faintly.

"I haven't heard of Duskfire Glacier," she said conversationally, unconsciously turning her head to the north. It must have been very far north indeed, far beyond the Plateau. She reckoned it took him several days or even a week to get this far, and wondered what might compel anyone to take such a long trip from their pack. Another question for another time, she thought as she asked, "is it new?"

Pallid velveteen covered ears cupped forth when the girl responded quickly with a resounding negative in regards, Lazat assumed, to his question regarding her being in trouble with the Caldera pack she had mentioned. It eased the tension that he had felt building, the tightening of muscles at the junction of his shoulders knowing that was not in trouble with them. He might not have known his companion but he wasn't the kind of man that would have sit by and let another pack trouble her, not in his presence at the least. Crystalline gaze followed the motion of her muzzle, studying the darkened territory in the distance, assuming that it was the Caldera she spoke of. His gaze moved back to her when she admitted that she thought her father, whom she refered to as 'deadbeat', had sent someone after her and intended on claiming the entire wilds. From what Lazar had seen of it so far it was extremely vast and the DeMonte did not think that it was possible for a single wolf to claim every single territory it had to offer. There was obviously some family issues going on here, issues that Lazar was not too eager to touch — not even with a ten foot pole. He offered her a soft, contemplative "Hmm," but little else.

Ears roved atop his skull with mild interest when she introduced herself in turn as Saena Blacktail from Blacktail Deer Plateau. The fact that her last name was in the pack's name left little to Lazar's own imagination, and he took from it what he could. "Charmed," Lazar offered he with a warm smile, pausing for a few seconds before his lips parted to inquire, "So you're the Princess, huh?" It was the most logical conclusion that he could come up with and Lazar had no issue inquiring about it. Oblivious as he was, not knowing anything about the Plateau it was an easy assumption to make.

The topic changed once more when she admitted that she hadn't heard of Duskfire Glacier, sparking withing Lazar the inspiration that perhaps this trip could be educational to the both of them. "I'd be willing to tell you what I know about it in exchange for some info about your Plateau," He offered smoothly. "I'm going for the Outrider trade so I might as well make the most out of this trip," Hopefully, Saena was willing to take him up in his offer. "It's been around for a couple months," This much Lazar had deduced from his inquiries upon his acceptance, at least. "I suppose you could say it's new though, yes."

"Something like that," she said, managing to sound more confident than arrogant for once. In truth, she was not the heir of the pack nor even close to it. Her parents had been low ranking wolves who'd only been accepted into the group because of their ties with the leader. Her status as heir was imagined, but was as good as real to her since the only parents she'd ever known were the Alphas of the pack. Junior and Tytonidae were the true heirs, but neither of them were there anymore.

"I can tell you things," said Saena, fully aware that telling too much was nearly treasonous. Lazar would be withholding information as well, she imagined, so it was probably fair for both of them. "Blacktail Deer Plateau is one of the oldest packs in the Wilds. It was claimed by Hawkeye, my mom, and ruled by her and her mate, Peregrine for a long time. Only Peregrine recently abandoned the pack to found a new one, the Caldera." All this was said objectively, lacking her usual hint of bitterness, which was almost miraculous for the copper-marked female. "It's outlived every other pack, according to the Chroniclers."

There were no Chroniclers in truth. It had been Hawkeye and Peregrine that told her that, but Saena preferred to pretend they hadn't had anything to do with her upbringing. Besides, pretending the pack had dedicated historians made it seem more impressive, and Blue Willow was probably a Chronicler now that Saena thought of it. The next oldest pack was Swiftcurrent Creek, and she preferred not to think of that place. Though she'd never been to the Creek, she could only imagine what sort of wolves lived there. Fox had come from there, after all, and she was a right little bitch in Saena's imagination.

Lazar has never put much stock towards a pack leadership being hereditary simply because that was not the way things had worked in his birth pack. The leadership position was not inherited simply vexause one www the kid is the Alpha pair. To Lazar this made the most sense. After all, he reasoned, just because a parent was a good leader did not automatically mean that the child was going to be as well. Leadership shouldn't have been about birthright. Lazar felt that it was for those who were qualified for the job, who had the affection of the pack and those who proved they could handle the power that came with the position. Frostbitten Glade had had its fair share of shitty leaders, Lazar's own father Ivan included in that list. It was only when his mother, Poe, took over usurping her own mate did things start to look hopeful for the future of the Glade. Still, he wasn't going to rain on her parade with his unasked for opinions.

Lazar's ears cupped forth when she began to speak, a twitch of his lips given in an appreciative manner when she informed him that Blacktail Deer Plateau was one of the oldest packs in the Teekon Wilds. The pallid wraith was silent as she spoke, contemplative as he took in the information she provided him with. "That's quite an accomplishment," Lazar murmured in a tone that conveyed the fact that he was impressed. "Most packs form and disband without anyone knowing they were there in the first place,"

"Duskfire Glacier was founded by Tuwawi and Njal Sveijarn a couple of months after their children were born," Not that Lazar knew anything about them more than names. He heard tell that Njal still resides within the pack but Lazar had yet I meet him — though in all fairness Lazar had yet to meet anyone past Malachi."A young man named Malachi leads us now, though." The details had been known by the pallid male due to his own inquisitiveness but in the interest of keeping the Glacier's secrets he was been extreme vague when speaking to her.

It seemed that all packs were destined, at one point or another, to fall out of the family they belonged to. Blacktail Deer Plateau no longer belonged to the Redleaf-DiSarinno family, Duskfire Glacier no longer belonged to the Sveijarn family. Perhaps someday, their closest friends in Stavanger Bay would be led by a new family, or those wolves of the Caldera would be free of Fox the witch and Saena's balls-for-brains father. Perhaps all packs were meant to pass out of their founders' hands for growth.

"Is it really a glacier?" asked Saena, then clarified with, "y'know, it moves?" She'd dreamt once of glaciers creeping along the landscape until they encountered the ocean, and then creeping some more, leaving bare rock in their wake. Duskfire Glacier would become an everlasting pack at sea, if that was the case, in hundreds of thousands of years, led by the great great great great great descendants of its current leaders, perhaps.

Lazar didn't really answer, though. Taken by a sudden fascination, the male parted from her, leaving Saena both confused and offended as he trotted off toward the horizon.