Big Salmon Lake always enjoyed and never returned

Please allow @Wildfire to post first, then I'd love for somebody else to hop in (esp. if you're a loner looking for a pack)! ;)

When Fox had returned from her recruiting mission, Wifi had expressed interest in tagging along on the next outing. Being that little Dhole was nearly four months old, Fox thought it would be acceptable. Provided they didn't go far, of course! And so, she'd tapped the girl on the shoulder and marched north to Big Salmon Lake. Maybe, just maybe, they'd come across a loner (or even a pack wolf from elsewhere). If that happened, Fox could also give her daughter a taste of how those kinds of interactions were handled.

The lake was still a ways off, though Fox could see it in the distance. "You tired yet?" she asked. They'd been walking since just before sunrise, and the sun was now directly overhead. Fox had been taking it slow, not wanting to overwhelm her mini-me right out of the gate. They still had the walk back, after all!

"No!" Wildfire replied hastily, not wanting her mother to think for a second she was anything other than awake, alive and enthusiastic. This was her first time setting foot outside of the caldera and it was thrilling and nerve-wracking all at once. She stuck close to Fox, often gently bumping against her, while she swept their unfamiliar surroundings with her senses.

Not long after answering Fox's question, Wildfire glanced over her shoulder, looking backward for the first time. "Look!" she said, stopping in her tracks. The caldera was nothing but a tiny, topless cone in the distance. Fox had likely seen this sight a thousand times, yet that did not occur to the child. "It's so far! We're so far," Wildfire exclaimed wonderingly, swinging back around to face her mother.

Up ahead, she could see a lake shimmering, reflecting the clear cerulean sky. "Is that Lake Rodney...?" she asked uncertainly. Something didn't add up about that, which her mother quickly corrected. Wildfire nodded, adding the name Big Salmon Lake to a mental catalog of territories which was currently quite short.

But soon it would grow. Something about the strange wilderness surrounding her made her spirit sing. A human might have referred to it as the call of the wild. It was the DeMonte wanderlust in her bloodline, unrecognized but very much there. She didn't know it yet but soon Wildfire would learn the true depth of her migrant heritage, via her own eagerness to trot the globe.

Malachi had little understanding of the Plateau's dynamics with the other packs of the region, but his ignorance became apparent only after the incident with the young woman who dragged herself to their borders for help. The others all seemed to agree her wounds were the work of the Caldera - an enemy pack, Malachi feared, and since he had never heard nor seen the wolves of that place, they quickly assumed the faces of the Sound in his mind. Not daring to leave Duskfire had been the ignorance which had led to his mindless trust of Caiaphas, and though Dante had instructed they not seek out the Caldera, almost a month had passed, and Malachi was keen to avoid the mistakes he had made while leading the Glacier. He needed to know more than just their territory: he needed to know those who could affect them in return. His time at the Glacier had taught him they did not live in a bubble, and that peace was a term he could no longer assume for granted.

His journey South had been slow, his senses on high alert. So far he had encountered no packs, nor had he caught any sign he was with company. Yet the knowledge there were others here was enough to remain vigilant. Even when he dropped his head to lap up the cool water of the lake his eyes remained fixed on the horizon, and when a party of two met his line of sight he paused and lifted his head. Water dribbled from his chin and he flared his nostrils to catch their scent.

Thanks for joining! I don't think I've threaded with you since Fox was in BDP and you had Kaihra. :)

At last, they arrived at the edge of the lake, and Fox made a quick visual sweep of the shore. To the north was a wolf she did not know, but also one she could not smell. The wind went from Fox and her daughter across the lake, which gave the stranger the advantage. "That wolf is downwind from us," Fox explained to Wildfire, "That means he or she will be able to gather a lot more information from us before we gather information about them." From here, Fox could tell very little aside from a few things.

"That wolf is slight of build," Fox quietly observed, just loud enough for little Dhole to hear. "We aren’t in any immediate danger, but let’s see if he or she decides to approach us." Instructions and plan clearly laid out, Fox caught the other wolf's eyes for a moment, flicking her tail to invite the stranger closer. Not too close, mind you, but at least within earshot.

As they walked closer to the lake, Wildfire was too caught up staring at the sparkling waters to notice the wolf across the way. But when Fox said the words, "That wolf..." Wildfire's head snapped upward. Her yellow eyes scoured the shoreline until they fixed on the stranger. Her red fur prickled instinctively, her ears tilting toward her mother as Fox spoke to her. She bobbed her head to acknowledge her dam's words, her amber gaze never leaving the unfamiliar wolf.

"Will we try to recruit her?" Wildfire queried. Squinting slightly, the child added, "She's pretty." Since they couldn't pick up the stranger's scent, she had no idea she was actually looking at a male.

Oh wow! It's definitely been long :o

The wind favoured him and soon his nostrils filled with the vivid scent of the two across the way. Females, and belonging to each other, both by pack and relation. One of their scents came stronger to him, but struck no recognition in him. Though he had been around Saena when she'd come to the Plateau, her fur had been ripe with the scent of many, and thicker still with the reek of her own blood. His thoughts had been on everything but committing her scent to memory, and so the smell of the Caldera was lost on him now.

For good measure he assumed the two to be a mother and her pup, and though he watched them from afar, he had no desire to come between the pair. He had witnessed the wrath of more than one mother in his lifetime, and he could think of countless ways he'd rather spend the day then at the jaws of a woman protecting her child. But the older caught his eye, and after a moment of connection welcomed him closer. Malachi studied the two in a moment of surprise before he shook himself and started his way toward them. He hadn't seen a wolf all day, and he sensed no danger from these. What harm could they bring? Still he stopped a respectable distance away, and not only for their sake. "Afternoon," he said with a polite nod of his head to both mother and daughter. "A fair day for travel."

"Maybe," Fox replied quietly, not bothering to comment on the stranger's appearance. That meant little in the grand scheme of things, and Fox had never been a particularly "pretty" wolf herself. The Alpha had always been more homely than her siblings, but she'd also been quite a bit tougher. The wolf approached the mother-daughter-duo then, and Fox stepped forward so that Wildfire was shielded from any harm the other might be inclined to deal. Once she was able to sniff out the other wolf, Fox would know how to proceed.

He moved closer, now within a comfortable conversation distance, and that was enough for Fox to get a whiff of him. The scent of Blacktail Deer Plateau was all over him. Blue Willow, Lasher, and Dante were likely out for her blood, which instantly made Fox rather anxious to have Wildfire here at all. It did not seem as though they would be attempting to recruit this one.

"Don't tell him our names or where we are from," Fox whispered to Wildfire, inaudible to the other party. With that out of the way. "It is. Do you live nearby?" she asked of the plateau wolf. Of course, she already knew the answer, but it was a reasonable enough question.

The wolf closed the distance slightly and called out to them, his deep timbre taking the pup by surprise. He offered a cordial greeting, though that didn't stop Fox from stepping protectively in front of her offspring. Wildfire felt a little relieved; talking to strangers wasn't her favorite. On that note, she was out here to practice being an Outrider, so she made a point to peek around her mother's shoulder. She remained silent, especially as Fox whispered in her ear.

She would never question her mother's command, though as she stood there, she wondered why they wanted to withhold their identities. They were supposed to be the caldera's ambassadors and the stranger seemed friendly enough. But then again... for the first time since her half-sister had tried to kill her, Wildfire felt a chill shudder through her. The words, "Hi, guys!" suddenly echoed in her head. Wildfire swallowed thickly, her eyes narrowing mistrustfully as she continued peering at the fetching stranger.

The mother stepped to cover her child, a reasonable gesture and one Malachi had grown to understand. While he knew he approached the duo with no intent of harm, all they could see was a stranger. Of course they would question his motives - though Malachi felt a characteristic ebb of sorrow mistrust needed to reign so strong. The mother whispered something to her daughter, but even with his ears forward Malachi could not catch their words. Whatever she had uttered was meant for their ears only, and he was left to settle with the greeting the older offered in return.

He itched to know what they had said, for he couldn't shake the feeling their whispers had been about him. Yet despite his curiosity, he left them to their secrecy: there was little gain in prying. "About two days North," he said and turned his head to point in the direction from which he came, "With the Plateau." Though Malachi could tell these two belonged to more than just each other, he still had no idea they were of the Caldera. He attributed their wariness to their position, two she-wolves against a strange and wandering male, and he didn't question the deep-rooted mistrust that sparked the air. "I wanted to acquaint myself with the land and the other packs who share it with us," he explained, "Do you belong to one nearby?"

"We do," Fox replied with all the curtness in the world. Before meeting Peregrine, she had been much shorter with others. It was only with family and pack that she was now wordy. Strangers still got the same treatment she had always given them. The mother had no intentions of revealing their home, especially after the male revealed that he was indeed part of the plateau. She was even more wary when he explained his reasoning for being so far away from home. In all likelihood, he was here to scout out the caldera and bring back a report to his leaders.

"And we should be getting back there," she added. If they went directly back home, it was possible this stranger would follow them, discover their allegiance, and attack. None of which Fox desired. "Tell the nice wolf 'goodbye,' little Dhole," Fox suggested to her daughter before nudging her to head west. They could make a large loop and come back to the caldera at its southern edge.

Despite his congenial attitude and pretty face, Wildfire's skeptical gaze neither changed nor wavered. She took in his words in studious silence, then tipped her head ever so slightly toward her mother, awaiting further instruction. Fox promptly answered the stranger's question, albeit without mentioning the caldera's name or location, or any other details for that matter. In fact, she began to usher Wildfire toward the west, away from the other wolf.

"But—" she began to protest. That wasn't the way home! But a single glance at Fox's face caused Wildfire's mouth to clap shut. She swallowed, then obediently said, "Bye, uh..." Just like they hadn't given names, neither had he. Her small voice trailed off a bit awkwardly.

Her answer was brief, and he waited for more. She gave him nothing but a goodbye. The sudden end to their encounter startled him, but he did not seek to question what had made her turn him away, no matter how much he wished to query them of this. "It's Malachi," he offered instead when the little one - Dhole? - sought to bid him farewell, "Safe travels to you both." They may have been reluctant to offer names, but he couldn't mistrust them all. These two were nothing like Caiaphas, and he had to learn to trust himself on this. 

He turned from them, but his brows knit and he struggled not to take their abrupt dismissal personally. It seemed his words cost him again. Maybe he was better off saying nothing at all. Talking only seemed to pile odds against him - though that seemed true of everything he did these days. Upon his first arrival in the Wilds, Malachi had thought the natives were an anomaly in their clear cut borders and tense way of life, but by the day he was growing more convinced that what his family had in the Vale was the deviation from the norm. Curtness and skepticism, that was life here. The chances he would see the mother and daughter pair again were slim, and instead of brooding on his slip up, Malachi shrugged off the strange encounter and returned his focus to the lake. Perhaps he could find something of use in its depths, and Malachi slipped his way into the cool water.