stupid flounders

Hi diddly ho neighborinos! @Scarlett if she has time but anyone welcome of course!

He knew there was a pack southwest of the hollow, but he knew nothing of them. Since he was the only outrider in the pack save for @Mordecai, who had his den full with responsibilities as the alpha of a fledgling pack, the blue-nosed wolf took it upon himself to seek this pack out and extend a paw of greeting. He was not one to worry about attack and thus was not concerned will allies per se, but he did think it wise to meet the neighbors and was optimistic enough to hope the two packs could be friendly toward one another. He howled a short note to @Harlyn and her beau to let them know where he was going, and then set out.

It was noon before he drew near to the valley, the wind in his face letting him know he was close to their borders. He made no attempt to conceal his easy stride as he flitted around their scent markers, choosing open areas in which to walk and stand as he searched for a member of the pack to speak to. When he did not immediately see anyone, he inclined his head and howled his friendly request to speak to a leader, if one was available.

I always have time!

Scarlett was resting in the open plains of their slender valley. Her children were playing somewhere close and even though they didn't need supervision ever second of the day she liked to know where they were at. The mother did know she had to give them opportunities to explore and learn from the world, so when a howl echoed through the valley like a doorbell, the mother got up from there resting spot. The steep walls surrounding the valley made their howls even louder and echo to every corner. Scarlett felt very safe in their valley, since it had only one known entrance and exit, the steep border path. Only the bighorn sheep would try and climb those steep ridges along the rock wall.

The albino trotted forward, even having a light gallop up the slope. She jumped on one of the boulders that would give her a sneak preview of the wolf who requested her attention. The petite female jumped off again, landing gracefully before trotting and stopping before their border. Her ears perked up and directed towards the male who had a blue nose! Scarlett somehow felt comforted by that since she had unusual red eyes. Though her blood red eyes looked surprisingly warm and kind. "Hello," she greeted. "You called for me?," she asked. Naturally the female sniffed the stranger out, realizing she already met a wolf from his pack. "Oh! You are one of the Hollow wolves," she then realized. "Is there something wrong?," she asked, looking slightly worried and so innocent at the same time. Since this was the second wolf from this pack to come to them. Maybe something happened to Viggo after he came to meet them. Oh dear. As long as they didn't get the blame...

When he seen a white female headed his way, his tail started to wag in his customary affability. She greeted him warmly, with eyes that were as odd as his nose, which caused an amused smile to adorn his face even as he dipped his head below his shoulders. "Hey there," he returned. Before he could introduce himself, she deduced by his scent that he was from the hollow. Strange, he thought, before assuming that she must have crossed paths with one of his packmates before.

She worried immediately that something was wrong, and he was quick to reassure her. "No no no," he said with a shake of his head. "I'm Luke. I'm an outrider for the hollow. Since we're neighbors, I thought I'd say hello. We're totally friendly, and I was hoping you guys over here were too." He chuckled. "I don't think my hopes were misplaced." He came expecting a far more stiff greeting, perhaps even hostile, as many wolf packs were notoriously and viciously territorial. Her amiability was appreciated .

Scarlett instantly relaxed more when the male told them they weren't in trouble. The female smiled adorably for a moment, pretty relieved that Bearclaw wasn't going to be in trouble with the new packs. "I'm Scarlett, nice to meet you Luke," she spoke with the same warm voice again. She was very pleased to hear that their neighboring pack was friendly. It was good to know for when emergency happened or when a war would break out. Scarlett hoped that wouldn't happen but you would never know. "We already had a member of your pack come say hello. His name was Viggo, brother of your alpha I believe," she confirmed. "But that is very polite of your guys to do so," she hummed.

Scarlett's pure white tail swayed behind her too. See! Not all wolves where territorial. "They aren't!," she spoke but then thought about Raziel for a moment. "But maybe if you met Raziel he would be more stiffly in his response. But I'm friendly, I am the Beta of this pack. Raziel is the alpha because he is just.. more diplomatic than me," she admitted, feeling a bit flustered for a moment. "I wouldn't mind friendly neighbors, at least. Thank you for dropping by. Do you like Rising Sun so far?," she asked curiously.

Luke's ears lifted when she started to speak of another pack member that had already visited them. Had he been mistaken? Had someone else already done what he had come to do? She mentioned the name and the blue-nosed wolf shifted his mouth. He had not met the wolf, nor had he heard the male sing with the pack when they had claimed their home officially. He had been aware of him as another recruit, but it seemed that he had taken his leave as quickly as he had come to them.

"I should like to meet him sometime," he commented. He was sincere: whether this Raziel was more territorial than Scarlett mattered not. He wished for their packs to co-exist on friendly terms and so meeting the pack's alpha was part of that. In the meantime, however, he was quite content with the beta's company. "I like it a lot," he replied. "At least I haven't found anything not to like. How about you?"

Scarlett didn't know that the wolf that greeted them before was not pat of their pack anymore. Oh well, she was just pleased they had neighbors that were a bit like them! She liked to think of the idea that they could be friends, even though Raziel would probably disagree with it. "He is out now, I am taking over for him. I am the founding alpha female though, just the clarify things, but I recently had young and combining that with being alpha was though," she explained. Not that such information would mean anything to the male perhaps. Or maybe it did. Scarlett mentioned her pups because they learned where the exit was, and if they would head out then maybe a friendly neighbor would help them back home.

"I like it too, our valley is self sustaining actually but I do like Rising Sun. I was in a pack in the North before I started my own and I always liked coming down to this Valley," she smiled. Scarlett had another question because she wasn't sure if this pack was recently created or if this was a relocation. "Did you relocate? Or did you found the pack?," she asked curiously.

Luke nodded along as she explained her alpha's absence, and how she had once been in that position before stepping down. He understood her reasons, and there was not an ounce of judgement hidden in the friendly smile he wore despite it being the norm for a wolf pack's alphas to be the ones with the pups. She clearly felt that she could not handle both at one time and that was fine by him; in fact he could appreciate that she knew when to step down rather than let her pack suffer if she could not properly lead.

"I am one of the founding members," he clarified, "we're a new pack lead by my good friend Harlyn and her beau, Mordecai. It had been her dream to lead and care for those who would follow her. Which pack were you in before?"

Scarlett nodded softly when the male started talking about his position and how they founded. She would need to remember those names for later to tell Raziel about it. He had been gone for a long time and she wasn't sure if she could keep the Beta position for long. It gave her a lot of stress. The female liked to spend time with her kids. She nodded politely again to show the other that she was listening. "Oh that sounds very lovely," she returned.

"I was in Duskfire Glacier before," she spoke, she disliked to go into the details because technically she was kicked out because she wasn't ferocious enough, or disliked to fight. Well they weren't really a family. She tried to start one here but most members would leave soon after they joined, they didn't have any permanent wolves. Though Andrei was still there so that comforted her. "It was in the taiga, you might not know it, it disbanded long ago," she returned.

Duskfire Glacier; he did a quick memory check and could not recall hearing the name before. It seemed like he had been in the area for a decade, but the truth was he was still relatively new here, and adding to that he had spent little time in north. Perhaps now that he lived nearby, he could explore further that way.

He shook his head. "Yeah, doesn't ring a bell," he replied. "Sorry to hear it disbanded, but I guess that's just how things go, eh? One thing ends and another begins." He flashed a quirky grin, as often he did when he was being cheesy. "You must have lived around here for a quite a while then?"

Scarlett looked at him and then shook her head. "I was actually happy it disbanded. I disliked the alpha female and she was very mean to me," she returned, maybe that sounded bad. But hey it was the truth. "Yeah it was a few months ago," she nodded to confirm that the pack had been gone for awhile.

The light female then nodded. "Not that long, almost a year," she smiled. "I like it here, better than my old home that is for sure. How about you? How long have you been here?" Scarlett was curious now or maybe get to know where he came from. It was always nice to know chatting to other wolves. She missed that.

He had to stop and think when she asked how long he had been here, and he hummed as he recalled the moons. Tracking time had never been a strong suit of his, and he had no reason to pay much attention it as he went with the flow of life. "I think it's been about six months," he finally guessed, but there was room for plus or minus a month or two in his answer. He honestly was not that certain, but that sounded about right. "I was born far up north," he went on to share. "It was beautiful there, I was just ready to move on and find my own place, and I think I have," he grinned.

Scarlett smiled when he started recalling how long he had been here. She could remember her history well. If only she realized how soon she would write her own new history with all that was going to happen. "I'm really glad you found a pack you feel home," she smiled softly and flickered her tail in the from of a wag. Her body posture was still friendly. She was genuinely happy for the male that he found a new home and that he was friendly enough to meet them. "If you don't mind I do have to continue. I need to hunt for my babies," she excused herself.

Luke nodded. He too, needed to return home and tend to his responsibilities. The pack was but a fledgling that required attentive care to nurture it into maturity and stability. "It was nice speaking with you," he smiled. "Take care, and feel free to stop by sometime!" His tail waved as he dipped his head in farewell, before turning to start the trek back to the hollow.