Great Bear Wilderness from an antediluvian bane

For @Verrine because Houkie says it's about time these two met. Set somewhere to the north of Ouroboros and south of Stavanger Bay. IN THE GRAY AREA~

When morning had dawned, Mordecai had risen from a damp clump of soft cover in the depths of the Spine. He had decided on that particular day that he would head back out from the territory, if only to do a little bit of exploration of the grounds beyond their marked borders. He had seen Jinx patrol outside of what they had marked the heaviest and had decided that he would do the same. But only so much; the itch of adventure was ever biting at his heels. They had all settled in well, and the pack worked to keep their new found territory safe and sound and their caches full. His venturing was multifaceted anyway; Mordecai also hoped to catch sight or wind of any large game lingering in what would make decent hunting grounds for them.

By the time afternoon had come to, he had a partial wish that he had stayed in the depths of the Spine versus the forests that made the casing around their home. Rain came down fast and cold and the heavy boughs overhead creeked ominiously with the wind. He was tense, but only because of the vibrant flash of lightning, and the earthshaking rumble of thunder. The rain, well, Mordecai was indifferent about rain as long as it didn't sting him in the eyes. His senses dampened and the storm having carried on for the better part of an hour, he hadn't realized how his wandering had taken him well out of the reach and safety of his own home. He hadn't realized the emptiness (or appearance thereof) the woods beyond Ouroboros held. If not for the thunderstorm rumbling overhead, the silence from lack of traffic would have perturbed him slightly.

Yet there was a ring of familiarity in the forests — were these the ones he had come through when he had passed on from the coast? His angle was all wrong and while he could not see too far into the surrounding grounds, he felt a certain comfort in them. Maybe they were. Perhaps these were in fact the woods that he had delved into when the damp coast had become too much, and these woods were what brought him to the overgrowth of the forest that lied beneath their once noble home on the mountain. As his pace slowed beneath a thick conifer, he entertained the thought of having come full circle in the needled cover.