The Sentinels In this burning house

Reginae walked slowly around the territory, taking in all the scents and sounds. She was new to the pack, and to the land, which made her a bit anxious. She soon sat down, wondering what a pack life will be like, wondering if she will find many friends along the way. She layed down and licked her leg, where not long ago had the jaws of a wolf from the Teekon Wilds clung to. Her pale fawn fur bristled at the thought of meeting those two wolves again, wondering if she would have to face them. While she knew she would have to put the past behind her for her new pack, though she would never forget their voices, and how they tried to kill her. Too much seemed to be in her mind, she seemed strange as she would mumble to herself, which Reginae never seemed to notice. Being isolated for so long had taken a great toll on the she-wolf and could have ruined her chace at getting into a pack at all, but finding these new wolves that would be willing to have her gave her a chance made her feel like not all of the wolves here were murderous. She then looked around at the trees, listening as someone was stirring not far from her.

@Mordecai — in case daddy's still tagging along. :D

It was well past nightfall and Larkspur had already given up for the day—they had been combing the shoreline thoroughly for days, searching for any sign of Pippin—when the wind picked up suddenly and changed direction, blowing north along the seaboard. There was a thick copse of trees further south along the coastline and from it came a myriad of scents that caused the dozing youth to open her eyes and sit up straight. "Deirdre!" she exclaimed under her breath, jumping to her feet and loping mindlessly in the direction of the distant wood.

Spur was sheltered but she was still smart and her instincts worked well enough. She knew better than to go running into another pack's territory. When the scents grew particularly strong near the edge of the tree line, she dug her heels into the earth and stood back. She considered whether it was too late to howl for her friend. But before Larkspur could even contemplate that long, she froze, listening to light footfalls coming from within the nearby forest.

She was off again well before he had hauled himself to his feet. Even with the low lighting of their evening, at least this time it wasn't hard to keep up with her, the distance between them not nearly enough to worry him. The woodland they had delved into had caught his eye towards sunset, but he would have never entirely guessed that somewhere in its depths it had housed a pack.

But there was a pack there, the strong markings and weary signs along its wandering border were distinct. In the middle of it all, he found Larkspur left to contemplate her own decisions as he sidled up alongside of her. He had been just about to nudge her to make her summons when he also heard the sound of someone approaching. At least, he assumed they were approaching them.

If this was Donnelaith they had stumbled upon, he wondered just who they would be found by.

there was another new wolf within donnelaith that deirdre yearned to seek out. she would know all of them by scent, by name, by heart, and when one new scent came to her deirdre followed it with an excited bounce in her elegant gait. in the distance she spotted a lovely looking she-wolf, and deirdre gently whuffed in greeting. another scent, one she had missed, came to her then; deirdre smiled warmly, and thought to alter her path in that direction. but this she did not yet do, first moving to catch up with the other wolf new to donnelaith.

hello, she hummed warmly, i am deirdre mayfair, you are new here, yes? she queried gently, and then, would you like to accompany me to the borders? there is a familiar smell, there--i believe one of my friends has come to visit! she was delighted by this, visibly so; her eyes were alight with her eagerness to greet the girl spun in honey-gold.

Reginae looked up as the younger wolf spoke excitedly, her hackles rose as two wolves that had a completley new scent walked inside their borders. She stood up and looked at Deirdre, "Are they allowed to have crossed our borders?" Reginae said knowing that the wolves from another pack should probably not have trespassed, but for all she knew they could be welcome. She stepped forward and listened as a pup had spoken out her pack mate's name. She growled slightly under her breathe, but tried not to seem aggresive. Her eyes narrowed as the wolves got closer to where they were standing.

Larkspur and Mordecai did not cross the borders. :)

Now she heard voices as well as footsteps. Spur's ears tipped forward and she sucked in a breath, sure she recognized one of them. "It's Deirdre!" she stage-whispered to Mordecai as he sidled up alongside her. Although her heart was now beating rapidly in her chest, she had the presence of mind to slip her nose along her sire's cheek in affectionate gratitude. She kept running off and he just patiently followed, always at her back. She appreciated it so much.

Although the thought of shouting into the darkness near another pack's borders made her nervous as hell, Spur gathered her wits and called, "Deirdre! Is that you? It's Larkspur!" She bit her lip when she finished, exchanging a glance with Mordecai. It was too dark to see much of anything aside from the shadows of the trees, yet Spur kept her big blue eyes peeled for any sign of that familiar white silhouette.

Voices rose where the footfalls went quiet. They were faint and wispy, as though they were locked tight behind the foggy vale. He did not recognize them, but Larkspur instantly burst into excited whispers at his side. It was an infectious sort of feeling no doubt, and he could not avoid the ghost of a smile that crept across his face as her courage summoned itself up to call out to her.

His solitary gaze wandered the dark wood before them and he too waited, wondering just where the flash of white against the darkness would be. And more importantly, what would accompany it to where they stood in wait.

deirdre's eyes widened at the prospect the new wolf had brought up to her. no one is permitted to trespass, deirdre informed. and so she moved toward the borders to check and see, hearing her name called. when she rounded the redwoods, she noted that larkspur had not, in fact, trespassed; neither had the man beside her, who deirdre had met before and had informed of the search that had been set out for him. she looked back to the lovely new she-wolf of donnelaith, and smiled. there is nothing to fret over--there are no trespassers here, came her warm voice, only larkspur and her father have come to visit! she could not help but move to embrace the former, moving to run her muzzle alongside the others in a fond greeting. it has been too long! she withdrew, and looked to mordecai, smiling--you are looking well, and it was true, by her standard; mordecai was certainly in better shape than she had found him in.

Reginae nodded and walked after Deirdre, she mumbled to herself as she took each step. She looked at the two wolves, before sitting down and watching as her pack mate greeted them. She felt thatshe should leave, for she didn't know these wolves and may not need to know them if they were not within the pack. Yet she stayed put and watched them, hoping she would find a friend like they had found eachother, she rembered a nice she wolf that she had come accross on her travels, but little time was spent and Reginae was afraid she may have completely forgotten her scent by now, even if it hadn't been long.

Deirdre didn't make them wait long. She materialized from the shadows like a ghost. Larkspur smiled, though it faltered a little when she saw that her friend wasn't alone. She supposed that was sensible and fair, considering the late hour and the fact that there were two wolves loitering at the borders. Still, there was nothing but friendliness and warmth in their embrace. No one outside of her family could touch and be touched by Larkspur this way. Her blue eyes closed in contentment as her slender muzzle buried itself into the peak of Deirdre's shoulder blade. She enjoyed the proximity and her best friend's familiar scent before drawing back and reopening her eyes.

Deirdre greeted her father and Larkspur smiled between them, then flashed a briefly questioning glance in the stranger's direction before remembering to mention exactly why they were here. "Deirdre," Larkspur breathed, close enough to the other young woman's ear that her warm breath tousled the pale, silky furs there. "We need your help. My brother, Pip, is missing. We've been looking for days but we still haven't found him..." Her eyes were wide and pleading in the dark as she sought her friend's reassuring gaze.

As Deirdre emerged with another in tow, Mordecai felt himself relax a touch. Though his gaze lingered on the wolf he did not recognize, he was soon taken with the display of affection that came between his daughter and her friend. He was not used to such a thing but it warmed him all the same, to know that she was not so far within her shell that she could not make a friend.

Larkspur did not waste time in telling Deirdre why they had come. It was then that he found himself drawing his gaze somewhere else, his ears folding back against his head. Mordecai kept his silence for now, instead wondering if it was possible they would find Pippin at all. Even what searching he had done along their way turned up nothing. It was clear to him that his son had not come along the coast, though he had hoped they would find him there.

one ear turned backward in the direction of reginae, wondering if she would like to interact with them in turn. not wanting to disclude her, deirdre glanced briefly to her and gestured toward her side with a smile. if deirdre had known her name, she would have introduced her to her favored friend, but reginae had not given her name when deirdre had told her own. her focus had been, appropriately, toward the situation she had been wary of... though deirdre did hope the other would introduce herself, now, to the benefit of all.

the breathy whisper on her ear caused deirdre to regard larkspur again. her heart throbbed briefly in her chest as she fret for larkspur. she knew the pain of absence, emaleth having drifted away from her for a time. missing, she breathed, worriedly. i will of course help! when was it you saw him last, and where? she looked to mordecai for a moment, so he might speak if he wished to, and then back to larkspur.

Going ahead and posting since Reginae was removed.

Larkspur couldn't answer Deirdre's question. She couldn't quite pinpoint when she'd seen her brother last. Her eyes trailed to Mordecai's face. She hadn't been present for it but Spur knew of the circumstances surrounding her brother's disappearance. There had been an altercation between Pippin and that obnoxious brat, Tambourine. Likely fearing punishment, Pippin had fled the scene. Her guileless blue eyes implored her father to explain the matter to Deirdre.

"Will you cast a spell to find him and bring him back?" she asked quietly. Not only did his loved ones want Pippin to return just on principle, they also knew he needed to be with his pack. Pippin hadn't been the same ever since leaving the hollow and facing the famine. He wouldn't last long on his own out there, a thought which made the blood in Spur's veins run cold as ice. "Please?"

my bad for holding this up!

"Several days ago, at the Keep," he said when prompted. But the reasons why he found himself reluctant to give, at least to someone that was still relatively a stranger to him. A helpful one nonetheless, a steadfast friend to his daughter, but still a stranger. The reasons why Pippin had gone missing had seemed not to apply and at that point, Mordecai was beginning to care less and less about them. He simply wanted him home—everything else could be dealt with later.

"We've all been looking for days and have found nothing. The rains have washed out his scent and some of the trails I think he may have taken." And from there, wherever Pippin had gone was anyone's guess. Mordecai had his theories of course, but so far none of them had panned out entirely. He also wasn't about to leave a stone unturned looking for him either; playing on those whims were just as likely to cost him his son than not playing them at all.

I'm gonna wrap this for us. :)

She sensed her father's hesitation. Despite it, Mordecai filled in the blanks. Spur winced, eyes closing, when he spoke of the rains that had washed away all signs of Pippin. If only the weather had cooperated, they might have found him by now. Her heart throbbed and she swallowed. But where they had failed, Deidre's spells would prevail.

And of course the young white witch would not deny Larkspur. The younger girl could not bring herself to smile, exactly, but she pressed her muzzle against Deirdre's neck and breathed her thanks. When she turned to face Mordecai again as the two prepared to depart, there was genuine hope floating in her big blue eyes. Deirdre's magic had brought him back to his family and she had faith that it would bring Pippin home too.