Redtail Rise I'm not dead yet.

Much of this place was the same. The scents had shifted somewhat, but Tulimaq could identify a few that remained from when the Rise first established. There were more youth among them too, he had noticed. As he built a camp for himself to sleep out in the open, he wondered to himself which of these bairn held the blood of Tartok; his thoughts wandered of course to the red-faced girl that had intercepted him on his return. He did not seek out anyone, though—if they had work for him or reason to approach, he would wait for that and spend his time doing his own thing.

They still hadn’t seen @Mulherin. Masquerade didn’t think much of it, at first, and didn’t bother searching too thoroughly. The pups were older now, almost fully independent, and some of them tended to wander away sometimes. They always came back.

But they were really beginning to miss him, so they made a conscientious effort to locate their favorite little brother today. This search started with a howl as Masque loped toward the borders. They would keep an eye out for him while patrolling. If he didn’t turn up, they might have to check next door.

They crossed paths with another male, this one much older. Masque eyed Tulimaq from a distance before deciding to approach. Their head and tail rose as they neared, though the Caru was never particularly overbearing in their dominance displays. There was no need for that, at least thus far.

Hello, they greeted. I never introduced myself the other day. My name is Masquerade. You can call me Masque.

The wolf from the borders approached while he was scraping out some of the snow and dirt from among tree roots, and he came away from his work breathing heavily, his shoulders tense. When they spoke to him it was with an introduction; Tulimaq did not recognize the name, but gave an appraising look and a tip of his head as a greeting.

He took notice of the raised tail and generally aloof affect of this Masque, who seemed to be playing at dominance without the usual aggression that Tulimaq was accustomed to seeing.

The daughter of Avicus. She looked the part; the red face, the rugged figure. Can you fight like your mother?

Masquerade concurred, Yes, I am one of Avicus’s children. I can and have fought alongside the rest of this pack, though I’m not a fighter by vocation. In fact, I’m the pack’s Caru.

They wondered if he meant to test their mettle by proposing a spar. Masque wouldn’t have minded that, although it was they who should be putting the newcomer through his paces. But there was something else on their mind today.

You mentioned a specialty in hunting. Are you a good tracker? I’m looking for someone.

He was curious of her capabilities. The rank meant little to him, but he would reacclimate himself and perhaps begin to see her as some kind of dominant force. Tulimaq considered challenging her to a spar then and there, but, he was still freshly returned and it had been with a grim look from Avicus; the last thing he wanted was to be sent out in to the cold again for offending someone, or causing harm.

Thankfully, Masque offered up a job. Tulimaq's brow raised. Who?

Then to answer the question, he explained: I have spent most of my life tracking herds and on occasion, people. If someone needs to be found I can do it. And enjoy the end result too, whether it involved dragging home a bounty or killing the target—but he left that unspoken.

His name is Mulherin, Masque explained after patiently listening to his brief curriculum vitae, another of Avicus’s offspring, from this year. I haven’t been able to locate him in a few days. I don’t believe he’s here right now. I’m sure he’s fine but I’d like to track him down to make sure he’s safe.

It would be best if Tulimaq knew the younger male’s scent, they knew. Motioning for him to follow them, Masque began to plod along the borders, looking for any sign of a marker. It only took a few moments to find a trace, fading but still strong enough that Tulimaq should be able to read it.

Masquerade stepped aside to give him room to catalog their brother’s scent, then posited, We can also keep an eye out for herds while we look for him. We’re due for a big game hunt sometime soon, especially now that Ashlar and Tulimaq had returned and the pups were approaching adulthood.

They spoke a name and gave an explanation. Tulimaq accepted all of this, and followed them to the spot which held the scent; he gathered it, thinking about timelines and births and winters, and was glad that Avicus had found more warriors to take to her bed. Her people thrived here.

The mention of the herds piqued his interest as well, and he put more emphasis upon that as a motivating factor. We. He caught that Masque included themselves in this, but that was all he said on the subject. He gave a small nod, huffing to clear his nose, and looked to the Caru. When would you like to go? And would it be only two on this hunt, or would there be others? More eyes, nose, and teeth for finding this Mulherin would be beneficial.

Now, they replied simply. Just the two of us will go for now. I don’t want to involve anyone else until we know we need backup.

Finding Mul safe and sound was worth the resources to them, though Masquerade understood that they couldn’t send out an entire search party. He’s fine anyhow, they insistently reminded themself.

Take point, they invited, preparing to disembark.

They wondered if he would want to make small talk while they worked. Masquerade preferred silence, though they were curious about Tulimaq. If he wanted to share a bit more about himself to fill the silence, the Caru would pay close attention.

The hunt was of greater importance than he thought. The Caru wanted to go immediately, and so they would. Tulimaq was given the order to go ahead and so he took one last draught of the scent and began to hike his way along the rise with Masque at his flank, at first; the scent they followed wasn't as strong as others, so it would take time to determine where exactly this person had gone—if they found the trail at all.

He did not like the feeling of being stalked from behind, although he knew that was not Masque's intention. Having spent many days alone by this point in his life Tulimaq found the added tempo of steps and the general presence of the other wolf to be a distraction, one he did not expect; so he put his focus in to the work, keeping silent as he went along.

Tulimaq remained silent, so Masquerade stayed equally mum. They thought back on his use of the word “daughter” some minutes ago. They hadn’t given their identity any thought in a long while, though Masque realized they’d corrected him, in a sense. In truth, they didn’t particularly care one way or another.

But that thought evoked another. Winter was upon them and it would be followed by spring. Avicus would surely wield her right to breed, likely with Ashlar if not others. Perhaps she would pair with Tulimaq too. Otherwise, there was only Riley, and Masquerade recollected—with an amused twitch of their lips—that he didn’t share.

Maybe he and Redd would make a good couple, the Caru thought. But would Avicus permit them to breed, if they did form a pair? Would they get preference over Augur and New Snow? Masquerade pondered all these things, just hoping the rise would be able to manage whatever pups resulted from the pack’s couplings. Well, the Caru would surely be busy!

They blinked, focusing back on the present rather than the future, but there was nothing of note for eyes or nose thus far.

As they prowled, the scent of this Mulherin grew thinner and thinner. Soon there wouldn't be a trace of it, and Tulimaq would be left to rebound to where Masque lurked; as he did this, he huffed softly and looked in another direction, implying the lack of evidence that Mulherin had come this way. It felt now like a wild goose chase.

He wondered if perhaps this was a test by the girl, and one built for failure. He could see no reason why she might try such a thing but the minds of women were tricky. He refocused and tried another path, this time finding a stronger scent—but over a few minutes this one too petered out to nothing, and he reappeared within Masque's view looking a touch annoyed at his luck.

Every scent trail led them to a dead end. While Tulimaq grew frustrated, Masquerade became increasingly concerned. They eventually motioned him to a halt, staring out at the surrounding taiga in consternation. What if something had happened to him, something like what had happened to Avicus or Redd?

Okay, I’m officially worried now, they muttered under their breath.

But there was nothing for it. They’d spent enough time trying to track him. There were so many other things that needed to be done around the rise. The Caru sighed, swallowed. Their head lowered as they accepted defeat and put all their hope into Mulherin simply turning up soon.

Thank you for trying, they said to Tulimaq, turning to look at him and noticing a few snowflakes swirling in the air.

They glanced upward at the heavy cloud cover, nostrils flaring to drink in the air’s frosty smell. The snowfall thickened before their very eyes, little grains of white soon transforming into wet snowflakes that clung to their fur and rapidly formed a blanket on the cold ground.

Let’s head back, Masque said, turning to lope back toward the rise.

When they passed Tulimaq, they briefly touched their nose to his snowy shoulder in silent thanks.