Moonspear stay a thousand years

@Atlas or @Antares ?!

 

By next week, her young would be joining the pack in observing the hunt. It excited Hydra a great deal, but it reminded her of how fast time came and went. Her young were growing older... all of them. She thought of those among her first litter, and wondered when they might wish to interact further with their siblings. They were small things... Hydra's own desire to work with her own younger siblings had truly only come when they could do something. And how could her first ones know when that was, without guidance themselves? She was mother to eight, not four... and she would never think to neglect a single one of them. 

It was with that in mind that Hydra meandered after the trail of her young none too idly. She hoped to come across any one of the four, though she had not seen Atlas in some time. No doubt he was keeping to the borders to ensure the safety of their family... since the cougar had come, it was her preference that they be manned more to be certain that any threats could be met with swiftly. 

Another scent came on the wind then, which also garnered her interest. Hydra paused on the one trail she followed to inspect another, leathery nostrils flaring as she drank it in.

Antares was on the tail end of a round of patrol spent refreshing what he could on this swatch of the mountainside. All was quiet, though, and his interest in the task was growing difficult to hold onto. He was looking to turn inward, as he had done more of lately since the pups had begun to have more access to the mountain. The dark Ostrega was pointedly ignoring the urge to roam and rove beyond their claim that came and went, sometimes fiercely, but he outweighed it.. most days. It simply seemed more worthwhile to, after all.

On his way, while he was weaving a route through the woods, his wild nape prickled with suspicion. Antares didn't think he was alone, or he wouldn't be for much longer.. although nothing on the winds raised outright alarms, he did find true caution to be excessive here. He gradually slowed down his walk, ears turning back with a keen angle as he did to really, wholly, listen to the woods--though he kept his sights forward, and options very open for what may await.

With all of his marking about here and there earlier along this very path, he was feeling more obvious himself than usual; no point in trying for the sneak himself. His cover was likely already blown.

Honed in on it now, she determined to follow through on this more solid lead. She would find Atlas later, but this trail was more promising. And so she moved after it, quietly as she could. A thin sheet of mist began to fall, but Hydra was unbothered—the rain, now, had become background noise... at least from where she stood then and there. Their elevation granted them the good fortune to not worry about washing away themselves for the flooding. 

He was just up ahead, and Hydra paused to see him investigating himself. Hydra plod toward him, making no mystery of her arrival, and chuffed in greeting; while normally she would seek to roughhouse, she thought it prudent to speak on business first. Her children were adults now, but they still had plenty of lessons to learn. This rain is unusual, even for this time of year, she informed her son, sidling alongside him and seeking to groom his shoulder to remove a spot of mud she saw with teeth that were none too gentle about it (though not rough by any means). Though she knew it a fruitless task, Hydra herself still kept to her own grooming—though anyone that knew her own mother would notice that the consistent rains caused the longer furs around her nape to look as wild as her mothers own once had. 

Looking to him, Hydra informed, the children ought not to go to the lower reaches. I anticipate the water will rise, so if you see them, tempt them toward the inner territories, her tail swayed as she looked toward her right, to the horizon beyond. There was much on her own mind other than this, but she supposed that took precedence to start.

Antares swung his tail with a low rumble for a greeting when she closed in fully. His steps had slowed already and with a deep inhale, he listened about the rain soon as she came to him, and his mud. Noted, he thought. He had thought it strange too.. even in his inexperience, he got that sense from the older wolves, and with a keen enough sense of it for himself. Wonder why now? he supposed, casting an eye upwards before back to her. Gray, gray, gray. Everywhere was soaked.

Then, his mother drew his focus towards the little ones. I will, he assured her. It wasn't hard to do and he liked to guard their areas anyway when he wasn't tempted beyond, or upward to range where he'd never been before. Anyway, he did think highly enough his younger siblings--and cousins--so far to keep an eye out for him in all this nonsense weather. It gave him something better to do. Anything else to look out for? the yearling asked while his sights skirted over his dam's expression, infinitely curious despite his casual, quiet delivery.