Eight billion billion kami

As it turned out, there wasn't anything more compelling about the Spine than the mountain. Rather, it was a matter of neighbours. Itsuki could respect the thinking that the Silvertip wolves had, for although they seemed to him to be a fierce bunch of wolves, nobody wanted to fight for everything. Even the most renowned warriors in the land, he reckoned, were likely to choose the easier route, and fighting others was never it.

“I see,” mused the Keizo gently, looking out over the flatlands below as though seeing them for the first time. He had thought of the land as untouched and untamed, but knowing there was a plethora of packs out there made it seem much more claustrophobic, even though he didn't know where those packs were. Already, he agreed that a move was in order.

“It will be good for me, too,” he revealed, “for it is easier to lorekeep when a pack is beginning than when it is established.” Silvertip Mountain wasn't going to be a new pack when it left the mountain, of course... But nevertheless it was a new beginning that Itsuki could document.