Mudminnow River we are the greatest pretenders

For @Scimitar, if you have the time! <3

Day broke crisp and cool, and damp. Mordecai had opted to follow the streams leading out of the hollow and to the north, eager to explore a little before the majority of the world around him had stirred to the morning light. A low fog clung to the grasslands had he went north and for a change he found himself captured by the unfamiliarity of the place around him. There was something familiar about it, though not by any visual means. The familiarity he felt was that of a sensation, a long boarded up wonder that he had kept under lock and key for the better part of the year.

As the ground shifted to some sort of smooth granite beneath him, Mordecai reveled in the way the landscape unfurled ahead of him. The river broadened and seemed still, its flow so idle that beneath the gaze of a rising sun it may as well have been a sun-kissed piece of glass. It would not have surprised if this patch of land did not freeze over come winter, and as he entered the smooth waters to wade across he wondered if they too, would be as easily crossed.

Some few minutes later, he was nestled in the crook of the river as it bent around the varied terrain. Settling into the tall grasses and reeds there, he crept past unsuspecting water fowl in his pursuit onward. For the most part, he found that Harlyn had not followed him; his solitude was a welcome one to his surprise. And so he continued on, once more following the river where the rise in the land gave him overlook of it and of its breadth.

bastille — get home

Despite having lived in Rising Sun Valley for almost a year many areas of the region remained unexplored by him. He had never sought the outrider trade, and his duty as warden and warrior had kept him close to him.. later followed by his rise to Beta and then Alpha in Swiftcurrent Creek. Travel had been minimal unless it claimed purpose, except for now. Now, he had a family settling within the area, and he desired to know exactly what they were walking in to.
 
The Sunspire pack seemed to still be settled to their west, but they had not had trouble from them for some time now. Noctisardor Bypass was long gone – and thankfully so. Phoenix Maplewood was a short distance from them, but while Jade Fern Grove might not have been in the north, the Frostfur still considered the north coalition to remain in place.
 
A river wound through the land before him – nothing remarkable, but one he had never visited before. His strides were lengthy until he noticed a golden figure in the near distance. The male seemed lost in his own thoughts, and the dark agouti wolf paused, debating whether to interrupt that silence or leave him in peace.

And while Scimitar did that very thing, Mordecai became aware of his presence. It was hard to mistake the notion that he was being watched, because oft time it was true that he was being watched. It did not cause him to deviate from his path just yet, as his eyes scanned the horizon beyond for signs of life. Of course, that wasn't a hard search either; the landscape around them all was very much alive still; full of wildlife no doubt watching them as they watched one another.

As his gaze swept to the west, he picked out the darker hues of another, cloaked in autumnal colors. Not quite blending in, but would soon. His steps brought him to turn gradually, a single friendly bark leaving him. His tail rose to sweep in an equally friendly wave as he made his approach. They were one in the same, out to learn and explore to discover what lied around their homes, though the knowledge was far from shared.

Before he could determine what to do, the stranger caught sight of him. Pausing, the regal contemplated quietly for a moment, studying the tawny wolf and the way his own stance became more relaxed -- an attempt to be friendly. The greeting bark stirred his paws forward, and the cinnamon wolf made to close the distance between them as his own stance remained neutral.

Offering a small nod as he came closer, the large male studied the other with a stoical mask. Rising Sun Valley had changed quite a bit since their claim in Swiftcurrent Creek, and he felt as if he were rediscovering a whole new land since returning. "I hope I am not uncomfortably close to claimed land," he murmured quietly in way of greeting.

Somewhere about midway, Mordecai watched as the other pushed off to close off the distance between them and adjusted his approach accordingly. As they came within earshot of one another that pace slowed to a gradual stop, though about the only thing that did not stop was the wave in Mordecai's tail. His gesture that he was friendly had been met well so far, and he had no inclination to cease it just yet.

In lieu of a proper greeting — which was fine and well by him — and a quick test of that air between them told Mordecai much of what he wanted to know. In turn, it was the perfect supplicant to an answer: "I could say the same. But in my case, you're fine as long as you don't trek too far south of the river." An easy, thin-lipped smile followed his words. He wondered where the wolf could have come from, though he was well aware of a pack that lingered somewhere off to the north of them. Where exactly it was, he hadn't yet found, but the evidence was plainly there in the collective air between them.

It was news to the dark agouti wolf that they had neighbors just south of the river – he wondered vaguely if that was where Quill was. Trying to dismiss the soft female from his mind was proving to be difficult, but he made yet another attempt to do so now.
 
A lazy grin began at the corner of his lips, though he remained aloof. “Then if you stay clear to the northeast of here he shouldn’t have an issue,” he spoke, his own tail giving an amicable sweep through the air. The conversation had the ability to shift with weight at the mention of two neighboring packs – and Scimitar held no doubt that the man before him was the wolf who had laid claim to the land south of the river.

Likewise, that affirmation was as good as gold to Mordecai. "You must be apart of the pack we heard a while back then," he said. It was as likely guess as any, given that in that present time the Hollow was sandwiched crudely between a pack to the north and the south.

"I'm Mordecai, one of your neighbors. There's another pack to our south as well." It seemed as fair as any point for an introduction and an exchange of information. He suspected that this wolf would do with it what any of them would do, and already the proposition of whether or not they would also share hunting grounds occurred to Mordecai. But he could not speak for the lands past the distant forests of their little neck of the valley, so perhaps not.

“Bearclaw Valley?” He was aware of the pack – he had run in to an ivory she-wolf by the name of Scarlett who had lead the pack. It had been no more than a blip in time, but the scent upon her fur had lingered within their area, and he had since avoided it if only to respect pack boundaries.
 
His eyes drifted over the other wolf – he seemed capable, and not incompetent or threatening, as had his neighbors from when they were in Swiftcurrent Creek been. Rising Sun Valley seemed to be prime real estate, as there were now three packs within the valley.. and Phoenix Maplewood just north of them.
 
“Phoenix Maplewood is also to our North.” If they were being amicable and sharing information, he might as well oblige. The wolf before him did not seem like he would prove a threat to Saena and her pack. And if he did, they would have the Grove pack to contend with as well.

It seemed that his offering came with a return gift, another pack. For whatever reason, it would have seemed that this valley too housed its fair share of packs. These however, were of the unfamiliar sort. Not like what Mordecai had been used to, where he had willingly ventured out to the packs that had existed in the flatlands. But after that little bit of a tango with the wolves of Blackfeather, he found that he was rather disinclined to make a repeat effort quickly.

"I believe that was the name of it, yes," he said as Scimitar wrapped up. Of course, in time he would learn that for certain, as Luke would be the one to venture there and make a more solid connection. Viggo had gone as well, but of course Viggo had soon left them as well. This time, that thought did not breach him during their conversation. "It would seem we live in a popular area," he went on to say, "have you explored much of this place?" With any luck, perhaps Scimitar was more familiar with things than he. And so far, his conversational partner had been the sharing sort.

One ear flickered in turn of Mordecai's words -- Phoenix Maplewood was on the male's radar, and, so he assumed, was Jade Fern Grove. At the noted implication of how crowded their home was, Scimitar offered a derisive snort, a quirk of his lips indicating a small smile.
 
"I laid claim to a land called Swiftcurrent Creek, further west in Rising Sun Valley. It was one of the reasons why we left here to begin with -- this valley draws many packs." He paused, offering his shoulders a light shrug as he amicably gave a nod in the direction of his old home. "We moved northwards -- and went off the map completely. After a fire burnt part of our forest, we've returned.. except to the Grove. I'm familiar with the area -- but not so much the lands around your home."

Swiftcurrent Creek... the name of that place rang a distant bell for Mordecai, though he did not connect from where he had heard it from. It may as well have stemmed from ancient history, though he had also unknowingly spent a night there during their travels to the Hollow. Nevertheless, he also picked up on the supposed name of the region that they were residing in — Rising Sun Valley — and it was fitting.

The talk of fire almost gave spark to a shift in his demeanor, but Mordecai refrained. The Plateau was well behind him and the devastation rendered there in that eastern valley had not gone unnoticed by him. They were all fortunate.

"I can't say I've gleaned a whole lot from them myself. With such close company, we've thought it best to avoid stepping on toes, or worse." Beyond that, to him it seemed no different than any other place he had been through across this particular wilderness. Valleys and hills, mountains that jut from the ground, dotted with forests and curved and shaped by countless rivers and creeks. "But, it seems quiet here and we'll take that. Beats having to worry about where not to go," he went on to say, thoughts brushing over his venture to a particular woodland he hoped did not have a twin.

The tawny wolf seemed a decent fellow, though it was not enough to truly stir the regal’s muscles to relax. His eyes would drift between the wolf before him and back to the river, his mind hoping to stray from a certain silver she-wolf who smelled oddly like him.
 
“There’s that,” he agreed quietly, never quite the conversationalist. His gaze drifted away then, in the direction he believed the other male might have been from. “As long as you avoid stepping on our toes and those of our more northern friends, I think we’ll get along just fine,” he rumbled quietly, feeling distinctly protective of Phoenix Maplewood, after everything they had done for his family. Of course, winter always proved to show a pack’s true colors – and he was curious to what it would bring the newly formed Grove pack with so many neighbors.
 
“What’s the name of your pack?”

Likewise, Mordecai also wondered after the winter that was to come. Whether the sheer chill of the earth or the lacking prey would drive them to forego their logical decisions or not and envelop them deeper into something more feral would be discovered in a matter of time. There still remained the possibility that the world would keep its warmth through those sparse months, however, as it had the year before. The previous winter had made for easy travel and as it were, the autumn still clung to a welcoming warmth. He only hoped it would not be misleading.

Still, he took Scimitar's words with an understanding nod — the Grove alpha would not need to worry about Mordecai traversing and causing trouble. For the most part, this was something that he would pass along to the others, though for the time being he did not believe any within the Hollow to be willing to stir trouble. If anything, those were the kind he sought to keep out of their ranks.

"We've taken to calling the territory Lost Creek Hollow," he answered. "And I guess that's on account of the water sources. This river stretches down along part of our territory, in fact." He gestured out of habit, his own gaze cast back out over the path from which he had come. "What about yours?"

And once he and Scimitar had finished exchanging a bit of information, they went their separate ways.