Hushed Willows [YULE] What's this? What's this? There's something very wrong

@Ira @Aerasha if either of you wants your gals to follow Merrit to the celebration! :D Also @Greyback @Valette for reference, or for joining/cameo! All others who are attending Yule are also most welcome to join! (: Right now, Merrit's just outside the willows trying to be discreet, but we'll see how long that lasts.

The night is young and punctuated by song, a sound of merriment carried by the lungs of a woman he cannot see, with a voice he neither recognizes nor knows. He has followed mother's scent to this place, and her trail cuts straight through the willows that sway in the midnight breeze. Greyback is clearly with her - this much he knew from the start, and from what he can discern, he's the only one. Sure, there are plenty of others here, but they are different - not of Easthollow, and the tone of the evening, the jovial murmurs which rise from the gathering... Merrit concludes that this is something different than a diplomatic venture.

He slinks forward yet sticks to the shadows, teetering on the divide of what he wants to do, and what he knows is safe. There are enough breaks between the low hanging branches of the willows that if he turns his head at just the right angles, he can glimpse the silhouettes of the wolves on the other side. The fullness of the moon spills a generous light through the gaps in the canopy above, but not nearly enough to obscure the shadows, and Merrit narrows his eyes with a squint. A shame, that his mother is just as dark as he. Calculated and slow, he turns his watch from one to another as he seeks out the familiar form of Valette amongst the crowd - though he wonders if he'll catch the towering mammoth of Greyback's sooner.