Blacktail Deer Plateau You know I've always seen it that way

It took some time after the altercation for Nieve to sort out how she should feel. Naturally, she sided with her mothers in the end. Family came before absolutely everything for her, and there was no love lost between her and the triplets. Things might've been different if Ying treated her with the same friendly respect she showed everyone else, but that wasn't the case. Nieve found it hard to be sad about the aggressive turn of events for that reason, though she believed that Huā was right: it was wrong to punish them all for the actions of one.

She remembered seeing a mostly unfamiliar face in the crowd that day. She'd heard of @Harps through Erzulie, but hadn't had a chance to be acquainted with her before all hell broke loose. So that morning when she awoke, she strode out in the snowfall to seek the yearling out. She didn't have much of a game plan, only the vague sound of her mother's voice in her head urging her to try to make a friend, and if Harps' aghast expression at the gathering meant anything, it was possible they felt similarly about what happened.

Not long after her encounter with Reyes, Harps left her den to search for something to eat. She didn't feel particularly hungry, not with her anxiety filling her stomach with lead, but she knew she should keep up her strength. It was a habit from a life lived on the road, one she didn't even think to break.

Hopefully some food would help her feel less emotionally drained too. Harps sniffed around for any sign of small game, hoping she could snatch up something quickly and return to the burrow to eat on her own. When she found herself crossing paths with another young she-wolf, she paused uncertainly. Just like with Reyes, she wasn't sure she wanted to engage, though at least this stranger appeared a lot less agitated.

While Nieve was looking for Harps, she also kept an eye out for signs of fresh prey passing through. Being an amateur hunter at best, she passed by at least 3 distinct signs that a beaver had recently come through this neck of the woods. She likely would've walked past a few more, but Nieve was lucky enough to find Harps pretty quickly after that.

She was perceptive enough to pick up on the grey wolf's hesitation even from a distance. It made Nieve pause as well. Was it rude to press her company on a less-than-willing partner? But maybe Harps wasn't hesitant about her, specifically, and more just about everything else. Well, only one way to find out. Nieve fixed her face into a warm smile and wove her way over to Harps.

Splashes of russet red broke the variegated grey of Harps' fur, catching Nieve's attention and rendering her momentarily speechless. She composed herself quickly before saying, with the careful voice one might use when soothing a frightened pet, Hi there. You're Harps, right?

In fact, the stranger's face broke into a smile right before she began walking toward Harps. Swallowing, the yearling kept her body language submissive and waved her tail slowly. Her nerves were rubbed raw from the events of the past day or so, though Harps still yearned for the companionship she'd joined a pack to find.

It surprised her a little when the she-wolf knew her name. "I am," she replied, letting her downcast eyes flicker up momentarily to brush across the other's face before she dropped her gaze again. "Who are you?" she asked, recognizing her only as one of the onlookers at the recent confrontation.

My name's Nieve, she responded, waving an amiable greeting with her tail. Erzulie and Rosalyn are my moms, if you know them. Not that it was relevant, she realized after the fact, and felt a little dumb for mentioning it. She was her own wolf. She didn't have to mention who her moms were in order to introduce herself. I heard you were new here. Thought I'd say hi.

But not only that. She couldn't help herself from shooting a quick glance over her shoulder, then dropping her voice a little to say, that was something else the other day, huh? Her tone lacked the conspiratorial excitement that a usual gossiper might utilize, but instead carried an edge that was much more akin to anxiety.

Since Harps is dead now, if you're looking to wrap up threads, we could fade this one with them talking about the incident? I'm good with continuing too if you're rather that.

I'm fine with continuing for a few more rounds (especially if you need this for any trades or anything) but if you're trying to pare down, you're more than welcome to push toward a fade! :)

She introduced herself and saved Harps from wondering by mentioning her mothers. A few days earlier, the yearling would've smiled at the comment about Erzulie and Rosalyn. As it stood, her lips twitched into more of a nervous grimace, which she belatedly caught and forced into a thin smile. This was the Betas' daughter, she didn't want to make a bad impression or seem as if she took issue with the leadership. She bobbed her head, then stilled when Nieve's voice dropped to a more conspiratorial level.

She blinked her copper eyes, remaining silent for a beat or two as she tried to gauge Nieve's demeanor. She didn't seem gossipy but, rather, quite nervous. Harps hadn't missed the way she'd looked over her shoulder before speaking. Nothing about her mannerisms lent itself to subterfuge, so Harps drew in a quiet breath and nodded slowly in agreement, taking another moment to decide what to say.

"I wasn't expecting it at all," Harps admitted, "and I really don't understand what happened. I thought Ying was..." Companionable, polite, sweet. "I didn't know the others," she continued in the next breath, "and I'm still not clear what they did?" Reyes—Nieve's brother, Harps realized—hadn't answered that question for her, either, and the contention coupled with the mysteriousness of it all didn't sit well with her.

There was an instant, a beat between the moment the words left Nieve's lips and Harps' rejoinder, that she thought she'd made a horrible mistake. Oh my god don't talk about it you moron, was what her inner voice was screaming at her while the blood rushing to her ears warmed them considerably. Thankfully, Harps wasn't as bloodthirsty as Reyes nor brutally cold as her mothers apparently were and was quick to share her own misgivings. Or, at least that's how Nieve took them.

Releasing a slow sigh of relief that she wasn't alone in this, the golden juvenile gestured that they should walk. No good staying in one place too long in case someone happened upon them just hanging around. Ying wasn't very nice to me, Nieve revealed, but she did a lot of work for the pack. Her sisters, too, Huā seemed pretty nice. I honestly have no idea why it happened or why they were acting like that...

She'd never known Rusalka's turbulent chaos. She hadn't been born when things with Drageda came to a head and she'd been too young and thankfully ignorant to the tension following thereafter. She knew Rusalka primarily under Aningan's leadership, and in that time the pack had always been reclusive and small, but stable. This turn of events had shaken her almost as deeply as it had Harps. It was scary seeing them like that, she shared, feeling a stab of guilt that this was her family she was talking about... to a total stranger, no less, who was likely dealing with her own anxiety and didn't need Nieve unloading hers, too.

Harps began to walk in tandem with Nieve when cued to do so, her face tilted slightly toward her fellow yearling. It was surprising to hear Ying described as not very nice, since that was exactly the opposite of her own experience. She supposed some wolves wore different faces, depending on their audience, though nothing about Nieve seemed to invite poor treatment. She didn't seem to share her mothers' or brother's tempers at all, so far. So why would Ying be mean to her? It was a mystery.

"Your mothers, you mean?" Harps pressed quietly. She could imagine. She hardly knew Erzulie but she had been a bit shell-shocked to see the way she dealt with Ying et al. "They're not usually like that, are they?" Harps ventured a guess, looking carefully sideways at Nieve's face. Who would know Erzulie and Rosalyn better than their own offspring? "Tell me about them. What are they usually like?"

Yeah, Nieve confirmed. I've never seen them like that. I mean, mamá Rosalyn was always kind of scary, but she was never violent. Of the two, Nieve always would've expected Rosalyn to be the one to pick a fight. Maybe it was an unfair assessment based largely on her outward appearance, but she was roughed up enough to give that impression. Erzulie, on the other hand...

Mamán Erzulie was always kind. She was sad for a while, she wistfully shared. I have some brothers and sisters but they're always leaving. Mamá was missing for a while, too. But even when she was happy she never struck me as aggressive. Harps had actually seen more of that side of Erzulie than Nieve ever had. She'd always believed her own gentle demeanour came largely from her mother, but it seemed that wasn't the case. Rather, she was the black sheep of Rusalka who wanted no part of conflict.

It shocked me, she admitted softly, eyes downcast as she walked. And Reyes, he was so... She didn't have the word for it, but she hadn't liked seeing her brother so eager to jump on an opportunity to bully another wolf like that.

Hope it's cool if this is my last (ever!). :'D

Harps listened in astute silence as Nieve spoke. Mama Rosalyn, she thought, Maman Erzulie. She didn't react outwardly to anything Nieve said until she mentioned the latter's sadness. Her copper eyes flicked to her companion's face, then dropped away. She licked her lips, wondering about this, though Nieve quickly explained that it had to do with the comings and goings of her siblings.

She mentioned one of them: Reyes. Harps nodded, remembering their terse exchange just hours previous. "I just met him. Your brother, I mean," the yearling divulged. "He didn't seem to know what caused it either. At least, he didn't answer when I asked..." She trailed off there, not sure what else to say. She didn't want to badmouth Reyes in front of his sister any more than she did her mothers.

"We could try to get our minds off it," she suggested a beat later, feeling a pang of nostalgia for Lele, who had always said similar words to her after a particularly vicious spat with Spur. "I was going to hunt. I figured food would make everything a little better," she quipped softly before looking to Nieve, brows raised a little as if to ask, You game?

Nieve's eyes widened when Harps mentioned meeting Reyes, and even moreso when the yearling revealed that her brother didn't know the cause of the scuffle, either. Really? she dubiously replied. He was awfully quick to throw himself into the midst of a conflict he knew nothing about, which reminded her of the dark look that passed over his face when she met up with him the other day. She pressed her lips together, conflicted.

Whatever happened to Reyes while he was abroad certainly changed him, and not for the better, in her opinion. Thank god for Harps, for without her quick suggestion, Nieve likely would've brooded over this information for the rest of the day. The only good it did was feeding the buzzing anxiety sealed behind her breastbone. Releasing a breath she hadn't known she was holding, the golden she-wolf nodded quickly. Yeah, that sounds great. I'm not the best hunter but I'll try. A thin smile and a warm chuckle later, and Nieve was following Harps on the trail of some prey or other.

Those thoughts never left her head, though.