Bearclaw Valley not lightly do the leaves of Lothlórien fall {J}

the sun rose in a peculiar fashion, the soft muted glow of it's ray blocked by the rising fog of the warming ground.  head lowered to the ground, she sniffed and huffed gently at the strong scent of an established pack, deep in the valley beyond she assumed but... the rock path seemed impassable for the debris and rough rock forms that barred the way. she sniffed around for a few more minutes, inspecting the rough walls for ways into the valley but finding none.

it was strange, after all this time, to actually be tempted to join a pack for a significant amount of time. the spring was beautiful and this seemed as good a place to spend some time as any other. maybe... just maybe she'd stay for a while.

but she'd never get anywhere if she just sat on her behind and so she climbed to her feet, shaking loose clutter from her coat and letting out a howl of inquiry, listening as the reverberations echoed across the valley. surely, that would attract some attention and perhaps she'd have someone turn up. at least, she hoped so. otherwise, she'd move on once again.

@Kove
@Scarlett

Scarlett yawned loudly when she woke up after dawn. This usually never happened to her. She always rose with the sun but today she wasn't, apparently. She noticed that she was sleeping longer. It might have something to do with the pups growing in her belly. Every time she thought of it she felt warm and fuzzy inside. She wanted to have babies so badly ever since she was a teenager and now finally she was becoming a mother. The white queen surfaced out of her den and went to drink by the stream next to their home. It was a quite morning, as every morning in Bearclaw.

Scarlett wanted to check up on the caches, as a gamekeeper she needed to keep the meat supply up. But before she could reach it there was a howl sounding through the air! Oh how exciting! The white female steered into a new direction and climbed up the boulder path to meet this lone wolf that might wanted to join them. Her tail was held high but Scarlett had a friendly disposition. Her red eyed fell on the white female across from her. "Hello fellow white one," she greeted with a hum on her lips. "You called for me?"

with askance glance to the sky and the treacherously blue sky with no hints of clouds, Hestia shrugged her shoulders in no small amount of stiffness. she'd not long ago had a run-in with a fearsome beast... whose bark had been worse than it's bite. suffice to say, she'd run into a tree and the bruising below her fur and yet to calm down at all. it was a downright pain but she'd shrugged off worse before, so it wasn't like she had secure grounds on which to complain.

her nose perked up as she saw a white shape moving up the seemingly treacherous boulder path and she lowered her head a little towards the ground, in no way ready to have to deal with an alpha female who could be hostile. the red-eyed fae stopped a few paces from her, her words humming on her lips and there seemed to be nothing... circumspect about the way the alpha was perusing her, just a slight air of friendly curiousity.

"well met, white one. I'll cut to the chase I guess- I'm looking for a place to tie my loyalties to. I've not been in a pack for a long time but I look forward to it, if you'll have me."

Scarlett was relieved that the female wasn't anything hostile or aggressive towards her. A broad smile turned on her lips when the female spoke about wanting to join their pack. That was excellent news, they could use a few new wolves in their pack. But Scarlett shouldn't let excitement run the conversation. Of course the friendly alpha female wished she could jump to being friends but maybe this friendly face wasn't so friendly it could be. And if she was going to have these babies in 6 weeks then she wanted her pack fully functioning and be okay with one another.

"We have several spots open so you are welcome to join. I would like to know your name though," she laughed softly, a polite laugh. "I'm Scarlett and I am the alpha of this pack with my mate Kove," the pale female introduced. "Bearclaw is a calm valley, we have a bear named Arthur who is nice if you don't bother him." Scarlet liked to give brief intro especially about Arthur. He was nice and even helped out with chasing of intruders. Scarlett needed to make sure that Arthur didn't saw the new members as intruders. "So tell me. Do you know anything if the trade system some packs use? We use them, so everyone as their own task in the pack, like being a healer or warder or gamekeeper. There are several more. Is there anything you are interested in?"

hestia grinned at the polite laugh of the albino alpha fae and nodded her head down towards to ground once again, stance softening as she listened to the information being provided to her by the conveniently helpful fae. "I am Hestia Ambrosia, from the northern mountains. it's nice to meet you, Scarlett. and yes, I'm quite familiar with the trade system from a few packs I've spent small amounts of time with in the past. I've a small amount of training as a healer, which usually proves useful and as a fae whose had a few pups of her own before, I'm fairly good with pupping and care-taking of that kind. any of that useful to you?"

she grinned wolfishly- hah, she was hilarious- and sniffed the wind, getting used to the scents of the place that was likely to be her home for at least a season or two. "it's a nice looking place to be sure, well defended and even well supplied. I can see why the wildlife thrives, with this much balance in the area. you said you had a bear living here, like... not a psycho one?"

Scarlett was pleased to know that the female wolf knew about trades, even more importantly the white female had experience with healing. That was the most perfect answer she needed to hear since Raziel was still recovering from his wounds Scarlett didn't know what to do against fever or anything like that. To top everything off the female spoke about having experience with delivering young. This was almost too perfect. Scarlett's red eyed squinted for a moment. "That sound really useful," she returned. "We are actually in need of a healer," she admitted.

Scarlett wasn't going to tell the other about her young yet, because she wanted them to be safe. She couldn't get attacked now. Plus if the female would join she would find out sooner or later when Scarlett would start to show. Scarlett was also not sure if she wanted to do the birthing alone or not. "You have an naturalist eye. That is what I thought too. We have our own herd of deer but we don't always hunt on them. You shouldn't worry about the bear. Arthur talks about himself as a royal and is utterly lazy. He is a black bear, more mellow than a grizzly. He even helped us chase away an intruder once. He only dislikes to be woken up or bothered by eating really. He is too lazy to be aggressive."

the fire-eyed fae had squinted at her for a moment, and she truly wondered what the other saw when she looked at her? but that thought was but a flight of fancy. she cut it off at it's root and grinned once again. "I'm by no means the best healer but I know a thing or two. and a few weeks ago traveling through here, stumbled across a treasure trove in the form of a yearling, lots of bad scarring and such on her sides and face- but for a yearling, she sure had a lot of knowledge. seemed to be running from something, so I didn't have a lot of time with her but she loved ashwagandha . cute little pup, gotta admit."

she blinked for a moment and then laughed. "sorry, got sidetracked... where was I? oh, naturalists and trades and bears... I can be a healer if you need one, though with the pupping and looking after pups- I only ever did it for myself, not sure what I could do for another but eh. who knows? naturalist sounds like it could be fun and this bear of yours seems to be a right hoot. wonder if he'd be up for a lazy game of logic..." hestia mused quietly and then blinked once again, distracted by her thoughts. "well, you struck gold with this place I dare say."

Scarlett's heart stopped beating when the other female talked about a beaten up yearling. A female yearling. Scarlett instantly thought of Néa. Her poor little Néa. She hoped it wasn't her. She would pray it wasn't her. But she had knowledge about healing too. "Did you happen to know this pup's name?," Scarlett asked quietly. "My adoptive daughter Néa has been missing for a long time now." A soft smile then turned on her lips. She hoped Néa was okay. She would always be Scarlett's daughter but at some point Scarlett had to let it go. She couldn't force a yearling to stay with her. If it was her path to run from something then Scarlett would let her.

"Well, any knowledge is good to be honest. I have a bit too, so maybe we can learn from each other," she smiled. Indirectly telling the other female that Scarlett basically already considered accepting her in the pack. Hestia seemed like an amazing member to have in their pack and it also seemed that she was a good future friend. "Well I guess you struck gold too, because I think I would be a fool not to accept you. I might even let you help with the birth of my little ones in about 6 weeks. Let me show you around Bearclaw Valley."

there was an instant change in atmosphere around the friendly snow-wolf, a cold and oily sense of shock, and perhaps no small amount of fear. it was the same sudden change that Hestia herself had felt when she'd lost track of a pup, the same cold fear that sat like icy water in the pit of her stomach. "that's her. Néa, though she gave her name as Linnéa. seemed... sad in a way but if any wolf has ever been mad in the mind, it was that pup. she wasn't altogether there I don't think."


she paused there for a moment, thoughts running wild like leaves across her mind as she did so. "if...if it's any consolation, she seemed to have found a way. said she was heading to the central regions of this place. something about finding her own pack there. felt like she was... imposing on someone? I'm not sure."


she held her breath in nervous anticipation, as the alpha fae seemed to deliberate but her former words seemed to hint at a positive outcome for her journey here. the anticipation in the other fae's voice at the thought of her own pups was clear to hear and she smiled in congratulations. "pups huh? congratulations! your first litter then? I'd love to help around if you need me, having pups in no easy task after all... and..." here she paused, and no her eyes were not damp, it was just the sun. "thank you, for letting me stay..." she whispered the last, with a smile towards the other.

I will try to get this thread to 10 post today. Because I will be leaving for a Lacrosse tournament tomorrow and then at least your joining thread is wrapped up! :D

Scarlett gasped softly as this female had been in contact with Néa, as far that the girl could communicate with others. She seemed mentally damaged. A soft sigh left her lips. Poor Néa. Her life hadn't really a pic of cake. "Was she planning on returning home?," Scarlett asked hopefully. Maybe Néa had comment about her home, or what she was running from. Scarlett already gotten her answer with Hestia's next comment. "Oh--- That! That is great news. This is her home pack. Hopefully she will return to me," she whispered. "Thank you for your information."

Scarlett nodded. "Yes. It will be my first but I am already a caretaker ever since I was a  teenager. I have experience with young ones but not with pregnancy yet. As of now it is still going fairly well. I only need to pee a lot more, and all the extra eating too," she chuckled. "But since I am fairly small in build I believe that the next few weeks will be much harder on my body." Scarlett smiled kindly when the female seemed touched that she was accepted in the pack. Scarlett was already seeing her as a friend, as goodnatured as she was. "You are welcome. I will show you all the good spots to have a den. We have two very handsome warrior male too. So maybe you are a match for him," she chuckled. Ever since Raziel joined the pack Scarlett might have taken it on her to find a girl for him.