Gyrfalcon's Keep So let the river run.

With the recent heavy snowfall, Durnehviir had opted to stay close to home. Ravensblood's numbers had fallen by more than half to a mere trio and while she was eager to get out and recruiting once again, the fiery Frostfur was loathe to leave her beau's side. Fleetingly, she wondered if perhaps their woods were cursed: spiriting the wolves away without a trace, one by one. It was a foolish thought and she was prompt to dismiss it, certain that the departure of her former comrades had simply been poor luck. Wherever they wound up, she hoped they were happy.

Constantine was still very much an enigma to her, though she was significantly more confident in where their relationship was heading. She supposed he was much like her uncle Viinturuth with his quiet confidence and, despite his hulking frame, admirable gentleness. Durnehviir could love him, she knew. She'd known that since the beginning, and it both excited and terrified her.

Durnehviir took her leave that morning, crossing Ravensblood borders to make her way into the neighbouring keep to scout for loners. While she, Constantine and Samothes could hunt together, their territory was at risk; they could not defend it should a larger group attempt to claim it. They needed numbers to fill their ranks, and she was eager to fulfil the role of interviewer.

The young she-wolf was lingering around the carcass of a dead dear as she tried to see if any meat was left on the creature. It had been her lucky day it would seem, the was a few chunks left and she decided to seize the oppurtunity. Hunger overcame her as she sliced through it with her powerful jaws and savored each bit, unknowing that another wolf was walking in her same direction.

When the scent of a kill caught the wolfess' attention, she naturally went to it. Durnehviir growled through the trees, surefooted across the frozen snow, champagne eyes scanning the forest around her for any sign of the carcass she'd sniffed out purely by chance. 

Upon her arrival to the scene, she did not fix her gaze to what was left of the felled deer. Instead she noticed the unfamiliar form of another female, and Durnehviir paused to quietly observe her hover curiously over the scraps before helping herself. It was then that the russet beauty stepped from the foliage, announcing her presence with a low chuff.

She kept her distance, however, unsure as to how this hungry wolf might react to the unexpected arrival of another. Durnehviir had no intention of seeking to claim her find, however, for she had been hunting for a very different reason.

Whisper's ears perked forward as she raised her head to look at the female who had made herself known. The she-wolf looked back at her prey and then back at the female, she knew not whether the stranger would advance towards it so she began to speak. "Hello." She said softly in a friendly greeting.

Durnehviir's posture remains entirely neutral, though her eyes stay fixed to the other wolfess blonde features. It occurred to her then, as she hovered quietly around this young stranger, just how much she has changed in the few short months since she his her uncle farewell at the edge of the Teekon. Previously a quiet, submissive and perhaps even mousey girl who travelled from pack to pack, she has grown considerably into a far more confident, dominant woman. She did not hide her eagerness to ascend the hierarchy, which had truly come to life in her display over the now absent Sunspot.

When the loner points her bloodied muzzle in her direction and their eyes finally meet, the russet Frostfur bristles somewhat. Fleetingly, her upper lip twitches; a flash of white teeth beneath to show her that while Durnehviir may be little, she could be fierce if she had to be. Her newest acquaintance does not move to defend the carcass she'd found though she does seem to hesitate, and thankfully went with the polite option of offering a greeting.

"Hello," the dragoness says in return, pricking an oversized ginger ear. "Be careful of the meat; it does not smell fresh." Perhaps there was a reason why the gyrfalcons had left the remains to rot.

The tawny gold female licks the blood from her muzzle as she looks at the other female who had spoken. "Thank you." Whisper's mother had always taught her that any food was a blessing especially for a lone wolf in winter, where food is very scarce.

This one was a girl of very few words. The duo watched one another, curious but cautious, seemingly unsure how to address the situation they'd found themselves in. Following the golden wolfess' casual "thank you", the pale-eyed Frostfur dipped her muzzle in acknowledgement.

Silence hung over them once more and the stranger continued to hover over her carcass. Durnehviir inhaled, torn between leaving her to continue picking at the deer remains or to continue tip-toeing around assessing her as a potential comrade. She decided to attempt the latter option: "my name is Durnehviir. Do you travel alone?".

The female addressed herself and the tawn gold female decided to do the same before answering the question she had. "My name is Whisper and yes I do." Whisper had tried to join a pack, but that didn't work out so well, so the young wolf decided to stop looking for the longest time.

Again the golden wolfess spoke, and again she was blunt and to the point. Durnehviir twitched her nose, unsure if this irked or impressed her. Her ginger ears pressed forward and her champagne eyes narrowed somewhat, scrutinizing the loner before her who introduced herself as simply, "Whisper".

"Did you live as a loner through the previous cold season?" The russet beauty asked, tail curling upward at her rear as she tried to gauge a reaction - a natural submission or any hint of challenge. This one was perhaps ages with Durnehviir, at the beginning of her prime, and the last thing she wanted within Ravensblood was another female who might see fit to try and steal an opportunity at leadership or worse! - at Constantine. "Ravensblood Forest is just across the border to the East." She continued to observe, eager to see more of a response this time around before considering extending the offer further. 

The young wolf sat down as she looked at the wolf in front of her. "Yes I did. I've never heard of that forest before." She had been traveling most of her life and she liked to think that she had been almost everywhere but perhaps she hasn't. "And you? Have you lived on your own or is there a pack you are in?" Whisper waited for a response, perhaps she could join.

Sorry for delay! Been busy over the holiday season.

She watched quietly as the golden wolfess took a seat before her, and pricked her oversized rusty ears in surprise when the other announced that she'd spent the previous Winter on her own. Durnehviir blinked, curious as to how she managed to survive the biting temperature and harsh weather that came with the time of year, without a pack or at least a companion to support her.

"Well," She said, canting her russet-tipped crown, "there are three of us that call Ravensblood Forest our home. Might our ranks be of interest to you?" So far, Whisper seemed rather slow, but if she could live through the cold season as a yearling loner, then she had Durnehviir genuinely interested.

The wolf thought for a moment and it didn't seem like a bad idea to join a pack especially now that it was colder. "Well if you guys will have me, I'd be glad to join your growing pack." She knew that it was time to be in a pack instead of being by herself, it was more logical than trying to survive on her own each day.

wanna finish up with your next post? Also feel free to change your user group to 'pledged' for Ravensblood Forest now.  :)

When the golden she-wolf piped up in response, seemingly on board with the idea of fleshing out Ravensblood's ranks, Durnehviir mustered a smile. She made to turn away then, lifting her proud head to look over a crimson shoulder. "Consider yourself on a trial period," She chirped playfully, beckoning her newest recruit to follow with a cant of her slim muzzle. 

Briefly, she looked down at the sorry remains of the carcass that Whisper had been picking at. "We can try and catch something fresh on the way back to the forest," the dragoness offered, and looked ahead once more, "or you can finish up here and catch up with me, if you'd rather." Durnehviir strode forward then, leaving Whisper the opportunity to either accompany her on the way home or to stay and consume her scraps.

Whisper looked down at the carcass that she had picked clean, already swarming with flies. The thought of a fresh kill intrigued her and made her follow the female. "Thank you." She says in her natural soft tone.