Ocean's Breath Plateau but in new york city, it rains

Val is currently traveling with his cousin, Dutch

The season was changing once again. Soon, he would enter his third winter — the period of time that his family called Breathe Deep. It was a thing that weighed heavily on him, and he thought that the same could be said of Dutch, his hunting partner and his cousin, but the two men did not speak of this. They had spent over a year now glorying in the freedom of travel, and the pangs that now gripped them both deep in their lungs was as natural as it was foreign to them.

Valiant flicked an ear toward the darker male as they came up on the borders, waiting for Dutch to voice some sort of opinion. That they should swing wide around this claim. That they could push through quickly enough and run if they were intercepted. That they could ask to stay a night or two.

But he remained silent.

Valiant tipped his head back to give a querying howl: We are two. Who are you? Dutch's voice rose along with his own, tacking his verbal signature onto the announcement.

“Moontide. Be still.” 

Where words failed her, the lingering sound in her call remains crystal clear. She thunders through the sand and grass, bristling at the sound as anxiety whispers to her. Act. Put away your childish things. Be brave for once.

So she comes towards them, suspicious peridots looking over their coats and faces. A chuff, a small greeting, and a demand to know what their purpose is here.

phone post, can delete if you want Dutch to respond first!

The caller came to them soon enough; Valiant let his head dip in passive submission while Dutch fell back a step to cede the floor.

"Peace," said Valiant. "I offer songs and stories, and our strength in your next hunt.  In return — "

Here, a wolfish grin invited the woman to find humor in his words —

"We ask for ears to speak to and voices to listen to. And a place to lay our heads for a time. Perhaps a long time, if our company suits."

The panther offered no argument with this proclamation, but he had other plans in mind. A visit to the beach sounded pleasant, as did getting to know this pack. But Silvertip Mountain stood just behind them, and Dutch felt the peak calling to him even with his back turned.

He gave a little wag of his tail, but ultimately allowed Valiant to take the lead in the interaction.

she listens; a cynical facet of iseul could question the use of song and dance and stories. but for a moment she thinks of adylaide, thinks back to the moment where she and her danced as if they were nothing more than blossoms on a gentle spring breeze. 

ah, there it is, the warmth in her heart as reckless hackles are smoothed down. jadeite looks from their faces, a shake of the coat to relieve some of the tension in her body. they offered strength at least, and perhaps something that moontide could benefit from. company could come from either end, iseul knew this to be the double-edged sword. but she swallows the blade and her anxiety alongside it. she could see their displays of no ill-will, and it buys perhaps just a few more moments of grace with the tiger.

"names?" she comes to ask, her tone still and calm, irises flashing from one to the next.

tagging @Heph and @Rodyn for visibility, feel free to join at any time <3

She was a woman of few words! Valiant stole a glance over his shoulder to see what Dutch thought of this, but the younger male was straight-faced gazing back. Sobering, he turned back to the woman to answer:

"Valiant Morningside. He gestured to the wolf behind him. "And my cousin, Dutch."

Dutch gave another little whisk of his tail.

"And yours?" asked Valiant, bemused by the woman's reticence. He wondered if something had happened to put the pack on edge, but supposed also that it might just take her time to warm up to strangers.

Heph was slow to answer the call, arriving from further up the coast and barely hearing it at all. But when she arrived a smile was upon her face and she greeted Iseul with a nod, glad that someone she trusted had been there at the borders. "Apologies for being late to the party, I'm Heph, beta here." She looked to each of the three questioningly, not wishing to interrupt and yet unsure what had transpired. She had not met either of these wolves but one held a scent that she had passing familiarity, like Ariadne. Perhaps family of Moonglow in some way? Or packmates? She waited to see if they would explain.

"iseul" she offers, her tone clear and growing quieter the more she looks over their faces. but before she can manage to say more, and perhaps to iseul's own relief, heph has come to her side.

the girl offers a respectful dip of her head to her as she takes a small step back, a small subtle sign of her own submission. "strangers," she says to heph, "Valiant, Dutch" a muzzle points to each gently, "they want to stay, at moontide." perhaps she would replicate what it is they offered, but some of the words remained hard on her tongue, and even the mentioning of their names had a strange stilt in her tone -- nothing but a note of her lack of fluency.

"Pleased to meet you," said Valiant, and then he hastened to repeat himself when another wolf arrived to introduce herself. Iseul introduced them, short and to the point. He felt Dutch stir at his shoulder and side-stepped to allow the other man a moment to speak:

"We are travelers," Dutch clarified. "We hope to settle soon. Perhaps here — but for the moment, we are only looking to share stories and get to know the packs here. In exchange for the company, we offer our strength in your next hunt."

"Then Moontide welcomes you. And you have come at a good time for stories, wolves from Moonglow and Moonspear visit too and there are plenty I am sure who would be happy to listen and benefit from your aid in the hunt. Come we can show you some of the territory." Said Heph, and then twisted slightly allowing the four of them to head deeper into the territory. Though Moontide did not have many story tellers she knew that they were welcomed within the Moon packs. And they could use another pair of wolves on the hunt.

last from me! <3

it would be done by the word of heph. so iseul comes to step aside as she would allow herself to fall into the position of a guide. when she is spoken to, she answers, perhaps she comes off curt, when in reality she truly lacks the words to make herself sound flowery. she prefers to remain quiet, humming and grunting when socially acceptable. and when the group would finally meet the ends of the territory, iseul would split off to continue her patrol of the area.

We can probably close up soon if you'd like!

Valiant's ears pricked as two other moon-somethings were named. Packs, it seemed. He read between the lines to assume that this was a conglomerate, and the idea of that intrigued him. Round Valley was a large pack, but the wolves that lives there lived right on top of each other; there was no visiting. And White Spine had been a sister pack to them, but the distance was far, and the pack was much smaller.

"It sounds as if you have stories to tell as well," he replied. "To have visitors from so many places."

"I had a feeling about this place," Dutch said sagely, hoping to get a laugh out of the woman.

Heph's laughter came easily and in a short burst. "Hopefully a good one? Or perhaps it is only our lovely faces that is making your heart beat faster." She walked companionably beside Iseul a broad grin on her face but did not depart from the party quite yet.

She would show them much of Moontide, but did not make the tour as long as it could have so that they could still approach the party when it was underway.

good with me :D

Dutch barked out a delighted laugh behind him while Valiant huffed out a more reserved, "Ha!" that did not seem to disagree with the woman. When he'd schooled the smile off his face, Valiant assured the woman, "It's probably that."

The brothers followed Heph on a brief tour of the territory, on their best behavior for the duration.