Ocean's Breath Plateau Amaranth pink

Sunlight broke through the clouds and spilled across the plateau. The sea could be heard over the sounds of wind, of birds, of all things. It soothed the girl who trotted along the edge of their claim. 

Peachy and bright and beautiful, Samani seemed to have come alive. So close to the ocean and it’s lapping waters, the girl felt that her spirit was in the place it was meant to be. From where she stood, she could see the proud stone of Moonglow and beyond it, Moonspear. Now she was of Moontide - a place beside her family. 

Samani called out in a low howl for anyone who might be near to join her on a walk.

Heph heard the call and diverted her own patrol of the borders to change directions and meet Samani. She had not had much of a chance to catch the other wolf alone much, but she remembered their journey to the ocean fondly and was excited at the prospect of being able to speak with her new alpha. It felt as though there was much change, but it was good and Heph welcomed it.

She settled into pace alongside Samani, tipping her nose downward briefly in a friendly greeting accompanied with a swish of her tail. "Hail to the new alpha of Moontide." There was a quirk at her lips, the rather formal speech tinged with humor, but she was glad to greet the other she-wolf that way. While working on building caches, marking borders, and exploring their new territory Heph had fallen more in love with the idea of the pack and a place to return to when she inevitably spirited away to hopefully forge new alliances for the pack and explore new lands, and she was glad to see them settled.

A familiar voice pulled the sea girl’s ears back upon her head. A skip of her heart and Samani drew her gaze to the beautiful woman who hailed her as new alpha of Moontide. The smile on Heph’s lips was not lost on the girl. She watched her friend with a curious gleam in her seaglass gaze before her features cracked and she let loose a laugh. 

Careful, Heph, or Rodyn and I will make you Beta of Moontide, she teased. 

In truth, it would have been an obvious choice. Heph was admired and loved by Samani and Rodyn. It was a special honor that the wandering woman had agreed to call Moontide home. The sea girl had no intention of squandering this. 

I have been meaning to thank you, her soft voice spoke only for Heph. You helped us create this.

Heph laughed at the teasing, glad to have someone to trade words with. "A wanderer like me? I fear I'd only be around half the time - honor though it would be helping you wrangle all of us into a village." A village, she had always thought of it like a pack, but she had heard Kukutux, Aiolos, and Sakhmet speak when they visited and she remembered what Callyope had said. Perhaps a village would offer a different, better word for what they hoped t build. A part of her swelled with even the implication of Samani's trust in her and her abilities, she was loyal to them and the pack and the idea of having a position to play that kind of role in helping build it made her want to ask if she was serious. But she also knew she was an explorer, that she would itch to go and strengthen the pack by doing her best to forge alliances and trade, and she did not wish to be shown lacking as a right hand to her new leaders or her new pack.

Her head shifted, and she found herself smiling more gently, light glimmering in her eyes. "It was a joy to help build this, so thank you and Rodyn too for seeing something here and in me and all the rest of us. I didn't think I would miss having a pack again, but now...." Now Heph did not think she would give it up. Even the wolves she had not met yet she wished to get to know, and felt a kinship with them. But she was not sure how to encapsulate that all into words so her mouth quirked up and she added joking "now I'm turning into a sap." Her paws sunk evenly into the sand she was at ease despite it all. She had spent the last month at least exploring the territory and mapping it out, becoming familiar. And though a part of her that had traveled for quite awhile on her own would likely always be on guard, she felt that it was beginning to feel more like home, a safe place.

Even as a wanderer, Samani assured the other woman. Heph’s penchant for venturing into the unknown was not a reason to keep her from the leadership ranks. Some were meant to travel the earth and to return with stories of faraway places. The sea girl did not believe that she could hold this against Heph. It was merely who she was and how she was meant to be. Her spirit was called by the unknown.

At the mention of turning into a sap, Samani laughed.

Her heart had been heavy with relief, with gratitude, with love! She had felt these things since they had decided on the plateau for their home. Without a way to measure her emotions, Samani had put herself to work in order to bring Moontide to fruition. With Rodyn’s help, they had claimed a beautiful home. And they were surrounded by the good hearts of those who had joined them.

What do you think of a large hunt? For Moontide, Moonspear, and Moonglow.

A cause for celebration.

Heph grinned, the somewhat unexpected reply making the sand and the air feel warm and comforting against her fur. But the moment passed easily into laughter that she was glad to share in and her eyes sharpened into something closer to anticipation at the mention of a hunt. While she had hunted alongside a few other wolves since being on her own large-scale hunts were something she had not experienced since before leaving her old pack. It was an exciting prospect and her tail wagged a bit at the thought. "It sounds exciting, and a good way for wolves among the three packs to meet one another, especially since we are allowed within each other's borders." It was a concern. While she was hardly the type to attack first and ask questions later she could not say that she would immediately accept a strange wolf within their lands on only their word that they were from Moonglow or Moontide - and if she ever ventured to the territories to the south she did not know if any among those packs would recognize her.

Her shoulders moved with her into her next words and she added "Besides, I'm always friendlier with food, and once the hunt is done I'll enjoy the chance to see who's running circles around whom." She did not know what kind of games these wolves played if any but after sleeping off whatever they ate she knew that she relished the chance to run around and size up other hunters and show off whatever skill she had in turn even if it was more for the challenge than any sort of ambition.