Redtail Rise honey and sulphur

he had caught word of saena's pack, and so decided he would set off and visit. with a word to dante and blue willow that he would return in a few days' time, the beta set a steady pace through the peaked plains that separated him from the taiga wherein the pale wolfess had made her home. 

after a leisurely nap just before dawn, lasher emerged at the breathtakingly lovely borders of the former plateau wolf's claimed lands. his eyes drank in the sight; saena certainly had an eye for beauty, as well as practicality. he called for her then; he would keep his visit brief, for surely she had many duties to attend.

the scent of junior was strong here as well, and this buoyed his heart, that the wayward daughter had found her way home. perhaps upon the return journey he would detour and step to the sunspire and visit tytonidae there. the wound across his muzzle ached and itched, but lasher held his ground.

Saena was on another endless patrol, easily the thirtieth since Junior's departure six days ago, when Lasher called out across the ridge for her. Her heart leapt into her throat at the sound of his voice, unmistakable even in the time apart, and she went to him without any hesitation. She was practically galloping down the slope by the time she spotted him, the same Lasher as always, gentle and kind even in his stance.

Her dominance was not overstated. Once, this very man told her that he did not demand respect. Saena took that lesson to heart and did the same, as best she could. She demanded it from none of her followers, though she always kept her ears proudly forward and what remained of her tail cocked just a little bit. Only if necessary would she ever show it to them in any great measure. Lasher was an outsider, but also family; she relaxed herself more than usual for him, but still slightly less than when around her pack mates.

"Lasher," Saena breathed, closing the distance between them to nudge him fondly if he permitted. Without giving him time to even state why he was there, she quickly asked with concern bright in her eyes, "you haven't seen Junior lately, have you?"

saena was prompt, an attractive characteristic for a leader, and lasher watched her descent fondly. she had blossomed fully into womanhood, and he was pleased to see that no hardness had befallen her form. stepping forward to accept her friendly gesture and return one of his own, lasher met her worried eyes with a frown. "i have not, no."

he had not known that junior was in the teekons prior to arriving at saena's borders, but the pale girl's trepidation was palpable. "when did you see her last?" he asked gently, searching her face.

She supposed it was too much to hope for. Surely if Junior had been to the plateau, she would've informed Saena about it. It was unlikely that any of the Blacktail wolves had even see her, though Saena herself had told Dante she was back. Still, there was a fleeting hope that Saena retained up until the moment that Lasher denied having seen Junior. Everything about the Alpha female seemed to deflate when he confirmed it.

"Shit," she muttered, casting back her ears in pure consternation. "We haven't seen her for six days. She said she was going to go explore to the east, but she hasn't come back." I'm worried about her, was something she didn't need to say. It was evident enough in her nervous demeanor. She thought about telling Lasher of their discussion about Peregrine, but refrained. Junior had promised not to go to Redhawk Caldera and anyway, it made no sense. Junior hated them, she wouldn't willingly go to them, not even to exact revenge. Her sister was brazen, but not suicidal.

she tangibly fell, her countenance worried. six days. it would be a great length of time to another wolf -- but perhaps not for the lovely, flighty junior. "when i depart you, i shall visit the sunspire and seek tytonidae out. i wonder if she may have visited there." saena was elegant in her worry, and lasher ached to comfort her as he had when she was a child, but she refrained; the pale girl was a pup no longer.

"it is a beautiful place you have chosen for your reign, saena," taltos murmured after a moment, hoping to distract her somewhat, though he doubted she would far remove herself from the topic of junior and her disappearance.

Normally, Saena would sigh with relief at the suggestion that Junior may have gone to the Sunspire, but now it only caused her heart to constrict with further worry as she remembered her visit with Summer. "That's another thing," she said, wilting back her ears at how this news must pain him as well. "I went there not long ago and Summer, her boyfriend or whatever he is, said she went out and hadn't returned." She doubted the two events were connected, given how vehemently Tytonidae had screamed words of hatred at her two sisters, but she would be lying if she said it didn't suddenly niggle in the back of her mind.

"But maybe she's back now," Saena suggested hopefully. She didn't need to be great friends with Tytonidae to hope for her sister's well-being. Whatever had happened to Junior didn't need to happen to Ty, too, or else Saena might begin worrying for her own life as well. She wanted to thank him on his compliment and agree that Redtail Rise was exceptionally lovely, but she was too busy gnawing on the tip of her tongue as concern licked at her heart to say anything much.

his lips formed a frown -- he did not know what had happened to the daughters of peregrine, but understood why they had become so scattered. they were not to blame; he held the panther solely in thrall for that. murkwater eyes settled on the girl whom he had watched grow since her very small years -- on impulse he reached out, seeking to press his muzzle briefly against her cheek, if she so chose.

"i am sure they are all right. junior is a fierce sort and tytonidae is resourceful. you are the logician." he smiled, even as his mind flitted to the feral pura, the scent of whom he had caught very rarely as of late. lasher was silent then, watching the pale girl with a gentle expression.

Lasher's reassurance did a world of good. If Taltos believed they were okay, then surely he was right. The gentle man had rarely been wrong about anything in Saena's living memory, and of anyone who offered advice to her, it was his she trusted most readily. "They are," she agreed with his descriptions of them both. Of herself, she didn't think much of "logician", but perhaps he was right. She did tend to think things through, although moreso now than she ever had before. Her days of drama were behind her.

"Can I get you anything to eat?" she offered. It was an offer she would only ever make to a wolf from the plateau. Other strangers could come and visit at their borders, so long as they respected the Rise's claim, but Saena would not offer them food unless they were someone close to her. That was just her way, hypocritical or not. "Or show you around? I don't think anyone would mind."

this post is slightly drunk

his tail waved gently at his hips. "i would enjoy very much seeing your new dominion, saena. and i did eat before i came to see you." he grinned at her then; proud that she had overcome death and abandonment to arrive upon the threshold of power and leadership. he was unsure of what would become of pura -- he had wondered if the boy would rejoin the plateau as a functioning member, but so far that remained to be seen.

quietly, he waited for the redtail queen to allow him into the sanctum she had claimed for herself and for her wolves.

Saena wasted no time stepping aside when Lasher accepted her offer. With a sweeping gesture of her snout, the yearling began padding deeper into her territory, leading the plateau Beta for as long as he was willing to follow her. For a long time, she didn't say anything. Her thoughts were scattered lately with worry eating at her belly, so it took her longer than usual to gather them together and come up with something halfway eloquent.

"I took all you said to heart," she told him with a sidelong glance. "About respect. I'm careful not to demand it too much here." Had the members of Blacktail Deer Plateau shown Saena some natural respect for her accomplishments rather than disdain, she might've grown up to be more subtle there as well. Out of perceived necessity, the young female had been heavy-handed in her natal home, but she wasn't the same here at all. "Most of them are silly and gentle," she said as they passed by a recent scent trail. It was either Reek or Wynter, but she didn't investigate to know who.

saena was quite silent but then again she had never been a talkative creature. she was eloquent when indeed she did speak, and lasher decided she was mulling over the news as her logical self was wont to do. he looked attentively at the young woman when she spoke, and smiled. "i am glad my lesson could be of aid to you." he had regretted the emotions surrounding her departure; he would have liked to see her rule after dante, but perhaps this land suited her better.

nares flared at the scent of one of her wolves; lasher marked it but did not pry. "oh but they share wisdom, in that they follow you. this will continue to be a strong pack with you at its helm, for your pursuit is that of knowledge."

"how are you feeling these days?" he asked after a moment, his tone turning rather paternal in nature, though he could not help it. fox had hurt saena badly; she seemed recovered but he could not truly know unless she confirmed it.

"Thanks!" was all Saena could think to say in response to Lasher's praise. She wasn't a stranger to being praised, per se, but she was much more used to being held accountable for misbehaviour than anything else. That she could be a strong leader was something she believed in, but it was good to know that others believed in her, too, even without seeing how she handled delicate situations as a leader. It was hard to even describe; if asked, she couldn't give an example of a time she'd handled something "appropriately" or with any amount of leaderly skill, if only because she didn't know how to measure that.

Lasher asked how she was feeling and Saena shrugged lightly. "I dunno, better, I guess. I went and talked to dad and sort of smoothed things over. He introduced me to his new kids, my... half-siblings, I guess." With Fox's blood in their veins, it was unlikely that Saena would ever really consider them family, but the title was easier to say than, "my dad's other kids with his bimbo wife". They passed by a burbling stream then, close to where Junior had first freaked out, and Saena remembered and told Lasher, "Junior was really unhappy when she heard about them. One of our pack mates helped one of them—he's a healer—and I guess dad repaid him by treating him like crap, so he came back and was talking about it, and Junior totally lost it." That was a huge clue as to why she hadn't returned, but Saena was just too trusting of Junior to connect it to her disappearance.

"That's why she left, actually. She said she needed some space, she went out east somewhere to explore but never came back."

he nodded, an affable light in his eyes as saena spoke of going to visit her father, but as the scent of water filled his senses, the pale sylph's words turned more somber. the smile faded from his lips as he listened to what had sparked junior's ire -- he shook his head quietly, lightly. peregrine had always been a stern and forbidding beast, but under fox's tutelage he had let go of his thin rein, it seemed.

lasher bore peregrine's brood no ill will, but he was hard-pressed to think of them as members of the family. perhaps one day, perhaps, perhaps. shaking out his ruff, lasher regarded saena fondly. "perhaps she went to speak with him herself and wandered about after that. wanderlust grips her," he said softly. his tail waved gently at his hips.

"shall i carry any messages back to the plateau for you, saena?" lasher inquired softly, one ruler unto another, as her stance now warranted.

"Maybe," Saena mused, sincerely hoping that that wasn't the case. She didn't believe that Junior could approach Peregrine rationally. Her outburst proved that. Still, it wasn't the alpha female's place to judge her sibling or to make assumptions for her, so she let the thought drift away and focused instead on the present.

"How are the pups?" she asked softly as they went deeper into the Rise's forest. She hadn't had an opportunity to say goodbye to Constantine, Casmir or Eilidh, and she supposed they had probably forgotten her by now. She would never forget them, but already she wondered how big they must be and what their personalities must be like now. When Lasher offered to carry a message, Saena bobbed her head and said, "just tell Aunt Willow and Dante that we're doing well, and that we—Junior and I—both miss them a lot. We miss you too."

Leaving the plateau was probably the hardest thing she'd ever done, but Saena didn't regret it for a second, and unlike her father, she intended to maintain a bond with them. It was a long-distance bond, one with probably infrequent visits, but nevertheless, she would never let them feel forgotten.

wrap up soon? <3

"the pups are very well. eilidh has turned into a prodigy of a tracker, constantine is our strong, muscular son, and casmir is loud and explorative." he smiled. saena seemed to be alone at her helm; he had scented no alpha male upon entry, and he wondered if she preferred such. dante also was alone, and were it not for their opposite opinions, and their different residences, and their ages -- he laughed to himself -- he might had pondered a mateship between them. but there were too many difficult factors; he gave up the ghost of the idea.

"i miss you also, saena," he said gently, waving his plume. "perhaps we could arrange a visit, and a feast," he added with a smile.

Saena was glad to hear that his children were taking to their own lives like fish to water. She wasn't surprised to know that Constantine was strong and Casmir was an adventurer, though she was a little surprised to know that the shyer Eilidh had become an excellent tracker. Perhaps it was because she'd spent little time with the girl, and in fact with any of them aside from their burliest son. She hardly knew them, though she cared for them like little siblings in a way.

"They sound like they're doing amazing," Saena said, grinning widely. She only wished the plateau could've held more for her so she could've seen them grow up, but she wouldn't have been happy there. She'd found life here and she loved it. "That would be wonderful, Lasher, I would love to see more of you and Aunt Willow and the kids. I'm not sure when it could happen, I really want Junior to come home before we plan that, but I think she'd like to come as well." Junior could meet Blue Willow's children, and put behind her torturous thoughts of Peregrine's replacement kids.

"you are always welcome at our doorstep, saena," he said gently. and it was true, and he knew it of dante and blue willow also. the pale girl would be welcome forever and a day. perhaps in the coming year she would take a mate -- but he did not wish to think of that, for when he looked upon saena he saw the shy little girl he had first met at the plateau. the children -- mayhap they would help to soothe bitterness over peregrine's betrayal.

"i would love to see junior again," he mused with a smile, a glance overhead at the position of the sun confirmed that he must depart now, and taltos dipped his head graciously to the alpha of the rise. "i must return home now, unfortunately."

"i will see you soon," the beta intoned, before he turned, heading quietly back in the direction of home.

Saena beamed. She'd always known she was welcome at Blacktail Deer Plateau, as they were welcome to call upon her here, but having it confirmed by the beta male was a comfort nonetheless. She need never fear the wrath of her family there, and she knew in times of need they could rely on one another. Her relationship with the plateau would hopefully never falter because of that.

When Lasher announced he needed to leave, she whined softly but didn't verbally protest. She wished she could have more time with him, know more about how the plateau was doing without her, but his children needed him. Blue Willow needed him. Dante probably did too. So she stepped up to him to give him a gentle nudge as he turned and headed away. Saena didn't tail him like she would any other wolf in her territory; she knew Lasher would be leaving as he said, and she had no reason not to trust him.

Licking her chops, she waited for the dark-haired druid to disappear out of sight before continuing on toward the heart of her home.