Grouse Thicket steel in our veins

What a whirlwind of a morning! Meerkat had gone to the caldera to have breakfast with her family, after which Towhee had taken her aside for a chat. It had been quite the fascinating conversation too. Her mother had told her all about @Kaertok and her theories about him, past and present. Towhee had then tasked Meerkat with locating him, providing four possible leads: Heron Lake Plateau (where they'd met); Grouse Thicket (where they'd conceived); Seaside Moors (last known whereabouts of Rusalka); and (most mysteriously) the name Raleska.

Meerkat didn't even really question why Towhee wanted her to find the man who'd quite likely sired her. She simply assumed that was the given reason: she just wanted Meerkat to meet her biological father. And Towhee wouldn't be wrong about that. Although she would never think of any other wolf but Phox as her dad, Meerkat most definitely wanted to meet and get to know this Kaertok, if possible.

That was why she presently stood in the thicket, after a brief foray through the copse just for old times' sake. She would head to the moors from here, after a quick nap. Per the Sovereign's directions, that was where Rusalka lived. Towhee had warned Meerkat that she might not necessarily find Kaertok there, though the wolves who lived there might know of his whereabouts, particularly this Raleska woman.

With a yawn, Meerkat curled up on the cold ground. As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered if @Bronco had managed to find @Fennec. Would he be concerned about her too, if she was gone for very long? He knew she'd gone to the caldera this morning and Meerkat hoped to hit up Rusalka and head back within the day. Hopefully neither Bronco nor anyone in the glen would miss her. She wanted to do this on her own, though she also didn't want to worry anyone.