Big Salmon Lake the queens justice

Nyra noticed a gray male circling, then stopping, she noticed some others looking her way. They seemed suspicious, and rightly so, she supposed. Though she was confused when she mentioned Greyback and Easthollow. Greyback isn't known here? They don't know of his test? that's- 
Suddenly the abnormally large she-wolf was being crowded and, simply put, dominated. The black alphess snarled something fierce, to which Nyra yelped and whimpered, looking away and cowering into the earth, inching back a couple paces before tucking her tail completely and showing her stomach to the abyss-colored wolfess.  
"I'm sorry! I didn't intend any challenge!" Nyra cried out, her flame-gold eyes wide with fear. 
The beat of her heart at this time could rival that of a sprinting hare.

Responding to keep this one going!

 

The thunderclap of her clicking teeth was the last of Hydra's warning, but Nyra was quick to realize her error. Appeased by this, Hydra no longer crowded her and gave her a sharp and wary look. Not yet trusting her entirely, and thinking along the same line as her brother, Hydra was not so keen to let this one go without knowing she was not at all involved in the mess of everything that had unfolded. There was one way she could be certain of it, and it would mean a longer journey for Nyra... if she was innocent, she would not mind Hydra suspected. 

And if she was guilty? Hydra would find out. 

I was not aware Easthollow had any tests, she spoke, taking a step back, how did you come to pass it, and then be denied admittance? Hydra did not forget that she and Dacio had spoken of Easthollow moments ago... she would need to hear something else utterly nonrelated for this turn of events to make any sense to her at all. Coincidence? Hydra thought not. She sought the input of Arcturus and Dirge both with the backturn of one ear. What did they make of this?

Nyra hesitantly stood up, shaking out her fur before she responded "I ended up at their border looking for refuge, same as I have approached you. I, too, was not aware of any test, until Greyback, the alpha male, had said I passed. By his words, he couldn't grant me a place, for their prey is scarce in their lands, and they cannot afford to spare what little they have to any mouths but those they already have among them."  
The massive female swiveled her ears a bit, taking a slow breath before she continued "I couldn't smell much if any game around the Easthollow territory, and it smelled heavily of ash and dust more so than anything else." 
Nyra glanced briefly at Dacio, the grey male, before she gave each other wolf there the same brief, genuine glance, and rested her flame-gold eyes on Hydra, but not on her eyes like she had before.

He continued to listen, captured by the talk that he could have let go why they had come out there had it not been so grim. It was brief before he returned to a study of their surroundings, only to catch the ear of Hydra's ear in a glimpse. What did he think?

His gaze drifted skyward for a moment.

"So you were turned away and you just approach the next band you find? That's brazen," and he thought it a waste of their time. He didn't think her being turned away was unreasonable by any means; a pack would care for itself long before late dispersals at their door. The current conditions only compounded that—it may as well have felt like the height of winter in all but temperature.

As he brought his gaze around to Nyra, he wondered aloud: "Other than poor judgment on your part, why us? We've other pressing matters to attend to—you coming up on us in this place of death is a bit more than poor taste." He wondered what set her apart that was reason to overlook the obvious faux pas, and what would outrule an otherwise nefarious involvement. Was she a sacrifical pawn, or worse?

Nyra glanced to Dirge, her lip twitching slightly as he spoke 

you were turned away and you just approach the next band you find? That's brazen  

She twitched her ears as the male's eyes landed on her and he spoke again:  Other than poor judgment on your part, why us? We've other pressing matters to attend to—you coming up on us in this place of death is a bit more than poor taste

Nyra flicked her tail a little, taking a slow breath before she answered "I don't have an answer to why you. But, I'm just looking for a pack to belong to. The pack I was born in is long gone, dead to the fangs of illness and bloodshed. The pack I'm from is Direfang. Once located somewhere far to the south. The general scent of them is old roses and rain. Though it's faint, if you sniff my pelt, there may still be some traces of my old home on me." 

The mammoth she-wolf looked back to Hydra briefly before she continued "If you and your packmates wish for me to leave, I will do so, and unless invited, I won't approach any of you or anyone who smells like your pack again." Her voice was even and gentle, her stance ever still one of honesty and lack of aggression. 

I'm so tired of being alone... Nyra thought inwardly, flattening her ears again.

"To give clarity, the only reason I'm not dead with the rest of my former pack is because my grandmother was a well-respected elder down in the far south of here. The invading pack gave me the choice to run and live, or stay and die like everyone else had. It's been little over half a year since then." Nyra's eyes saddened as she remembered that dawn, when the neighboring pack had crashed into their territory, demanded the land, killed anyone who retaliated, including her parents. 
Nyra had been with her grandmother in the elder's den at the time, and the age-old alphess died at her paws. The general of that pack seemed to have taken mercy with Nyra having witnessed Gaia's death first hand. Maybe that was why he even gave her the choice instead of killing her without a second thought?

Lyra stood by Hydra's side silently for the entirety of the conversation with Dacio, her gaze only once leaving his form to acknowledge both Dirge and Arcturus when they interjected. She did not question him like her brother, nor warn him like her sister, she simply listened, taking in every word that fell from his lips. She pieced everything together, but some things made little sense. Her thoughts echoed Arc's own — why had she shared information with her apparent enemy? What had Easthollow done to deserve the sea witch's wrath? Why was Titmouse (who she assumed was Verx's one-eyed killer) even with this Blackhead?

Keeping these children of Andraste and Vercingetorix seemed to be far more hassle than they were worth. With no parents, no family, and many hunting for them, it would be far simpler if Moonspear were to simply cast them out to the Wilds, no?

Lyra held her opinion close to her chest, content to continue observing the proceedings before suddenly a sneeze caught the attention of all who were assembled. At once, she and Hydra spun on their heel and galloped to where the interloper hid, Lyra allowing her sister to interrogate the pale stranger while she and Dacio began circling her in case she were some sort of spy sent by Blackhead. Though it seemed no-one was familiar with her, she was simply a loner seeking...refuge?

Now of all times?

Hydra was right in forcing the stranger into submission. She rolled onto her back with a fearful cry, and Lyra bared her teeth in a malicious grin. The girl was far from being able to just walk away from this, however. She was still regarded with suspicion from all parties, and what she said made no sense. Why would a leader say a potential member passed a test only to then deny them entrance? This Nyra — Lyra scowled at the similarities in name she shared with this snivelling coward — should only hope she had an exceptional reason for her being here. It was all too convenient.

As she spoke of her pack's history, the Ostrega finally emerged from the shadows to stand beside her sister and glare daggers in the stranger's direction. "You chose to flee your birth pack, how are we to believe you won't abandon us, too?" she said quietly, before her notched ear flicked in Hydra's direction. Throw her to the Wilds, she doesn't deserve to call our mountain home.

whatever nyra was selling, arcturus wasn’t buying it. his gaze was leaden with distrust, his eyes narrowed — yet he stood his post and kept vigil to their surroundings. the notion it was a trap was still encircling his mind — for all he knew nyra could be the distraction and this fabled “blackhead” would ambush from the bushes at any moment.

his discomfort — or specifically, his lack of trust in the situation was blatantly apparent to any that knew him. with lyra standing alongside hydra, and dirge not too far off, arcturus started to take count of the wolves he didn’t know. his gaze swept each present with a sense of cold scrutiny — meanwhile his heart hammered onwards in his heart.

Given the circumstances, Hydra was far from trusting. The timing was not Nyra's favor, and though Hydra listened she was far from accepting. With a stiff shake of her head, Hydra rumbled: you will not be joining us. Hydra did not trust her. Not entirely, anyway. Perhaps Nyra had not been involved in the nefarious plot of Caiaphas and Merrick, but she had loitered in the shadows and listened... only revealing herself, Hydra figured, when she had made the error of sneezing. Really, she could not be certain... but she erred on the side of caution here. Hydra did sniff when invited to; she would find out the truth of Nyra's involvement sooner or later. Surely the other might understand Hydra's decision in some capacity. Wrong place, wrong time.

Hydra took a step back, glancing briefly to @Dacio. He was a leader-to-be of his own pack, and so Hydra would permit him his own questions prior to Nyra departing. Though Hydra wanted her gone, and now, she understood the mere mention of Easthollow might have him curious... and perhaps he had other things to ask that Hydra had not considered in her desire to get on with searching the scene for wolves she knew to be murderers. Answer any questions he might have, and then you may go, she drawled, having given Nyra some room to breathe at the very least.