Redtail Rise You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through

I know I totally just bombed into your other thread but I kinda forgot they'd wanted to do this so when you have tiiiiiiime <3 and also all welcome!

The pack felt as secure as the valley itself. Months ago they had left their home behind to participate in the hunt, and had returned stronger; now, the valley had wolves who could mind the borders and watch over the girls as Ameline and @Ancelin roved from their home, to investigate the Rise.

They travelled through the night, and arrived just as dawn broke, the tall, charred tree trunks casting long shadows in a hatched pattern across the hillside. Ameline's guard hairs lifted in anticipation, and her breaths came in short puffs. She nosed her mate and licked her lips, shaking out her coat in an attempt to relieve some of her nerves but she found herself bristling even more. 

It was not at all reassuring to arrive at their former home, and find that the border markings had vanished. If nothing else, the Rise now felt haunted- and left behind secrets that might never be answered.

no i love it! <3

"they're not here," ancelin said, more than a little redundantly. however it was immediately clear by the lack of teeth flowing to meet them that the guardians weren't present.
yet he made a show of jogging up the riseline, nape bristling as he came to the grassed lip and peered down.
nothing.
[indent[blowing out his breath, ancelin turned melonii-eyes in interest onto his mate. what did she think had happened?
he searched, admittedly, for blood, moving in a curved line just within the borders.

Memories hung about every corner of the land, though it had changed some in the year they'd been away. Hackles bristled, she too ventured into what was previously their home, hawk-eyed and wary. She sniffed for the scent of other wolves, tasting the air for any trace of remains that might lay smothered beneath the cold earth. 

Finding nothing was worse than being chased off again; there was no thrill in finding that the mighty had fallen- or at least moved on. It left room for paranoia to grow, and for grief to blossom. She growled softly. 

Unsatisfied, she raised her voice- in case any of the Redtails were still within earshot.

ancelin wove his voice in and out of her own, supporting each note with featherlight affection.
but their song did not bring a redtail, and his ears thrust forward as the song-echoes dissolved into the pluming of their hot breath.
he growled himself and slipped into a trot that became a run, carrying him headlong on a familiar charge into the heart of rise territory.
abandoned, returned to itself as if no one had lived here. 
he did not understand why his heart ached.

Silence. 

Were they being willfully ignored, or had the Rise truly fallen? It had been with such ferocity that the Redtails had defended their home, insisted that it belong to their blood, that it seemed impossible that they would relocate unless something dire had happened. Fire had once ravaged the area, and yet the forest sprang anew, strong and growing, from the ashes. 

Whatever had happened to the wolves of the Rise, they would likely do the same. If she had had the power to summon flames, she would have rekindled the flames that had destroyed the Rise long ago, hoping it might cause the Redtails to stir and fly from the crackling embers. 

She soared alongside her mate, trying to find some unhealthy delight in finding the Rise abandoned, but spite did not come to her easily. Not when she had loved so many that had lived here. 

She chuffed, and veered in the direction of where Mountain Boulder and New Snow's den had been. As the pack's last remaining pair, she thought there might be some chance they survived here the longest.

he didn't understand. where had they gone? where was the savagery which had chilled them before, made them prepare for battle? confused, ancelin lagged behind his mate in hopes of exploring every stale track over which they passed on the way to the pale pair's densite.
but that too; skimming for the telltale white of both wolves, he came up empty.
a long, heavy sigh escaped ancelin. "i guess this is why they didn't show up to the hunt," he muttered when his queen had drawn closer. turning into the warmth of her nape, ancelin studied the rise through ameline's pretty hackles and shut his eyes in the enduring uncomprension.

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If Mountain Boulder and New Snow had left the Rise, then surely the pack had failed and disbanded. Between the strength of the Ulfhedinn and the devotion of his wife, there was no reason for them to be gone, but for some mutiny that she assumed had broken out following their departure. 

She growled as she rifled through the area, as if searching a long-abandoned house for some trinkets left behind and in finding nothing she felt frustration bring heat to her cheeks. Fuckin'.....Therveth 'em right, She complained. That'th what they fuckin' get for kickin' uth out. Bet you anything Avicuth dipped on 'em, again, an' the retht of 'em jutht gave up when they realithed that blood doeth fuckall for keepin' a pack together. She fumed. Out of spite, she squatted and urinated, knowing full well that it might irk any of the Rise wolves if they returned. At this point, she didn't care what they'd think of it. The urine spread out in a small stream; she made sure she emptied everything out of her bladder. 

When she finished, she stepped aside, bristling. Well fuck you, Avicuth, an' all your thtupid Redtail bullshit.

ameline was mad and she had more than a right to be. ancelin stood by as she raged, though he happily trotted to spray his own piss over a nearby tree in staunch salute of her emotions.
too bad aventus and arielle weren't here to see him say fuck off. what hurt worse? losing your dad once or your mom twice? he hadn't been good enough for anyone to stay. a bearclaw through and through with only himself to show for it.
"they found out," the rex said soberly, nosing one of her velveteen ears in silent affection. "now they're gone and this land isn't worth us staying longer."