The Sentinels 12:51

On the borders~

Winter had been unkind to the already famished Tuwawi. Her cardinal frame turned from thin to skeletal, meals becoming smaller and less frequent. She had some success along the coast, but the unique hunting of the shores proposed an interesting challenge. Her true quarry lied to the North in Ankyara Sound - but first she needed strength to get there. Snow had already begun to fall and time was running out.

Her silver eyes narrowed shrewdly as she slowly eeked towards the borders of a well-marked territory sustained by a large and thriving pack. Perhaps they had a few scraps to share for a lowly passerby... she couldn't pass up the chance to ask for handouts, however unlikely they would be.

Tuwawi rounded the eastern wall where exceptionally tall trees stood guard and waited to be found by a patrol.

Eilidh wasn't exactly the definition of a patrol. She was petite and slim, and her fur belied her true stature. Her gossamer coat was thick with winter's warm layer and her emerald eyes shone in the bright sunlight, though the canopy of the Sentinels created a patchwork of shadows beneath them, covering her body in patches of sun and shadow. The girl was actually looking for some herbs, bark, or berries to replenish her mother's healing den (which was quickly becoming hers, as well), and the search took her farther out toward the border than she knew. The movement of the grey and red woman ahead caught her attention, and instinctually the girl's fur stuck out a bit further and she stood up straighter as she approached the other.

"I wouldn't come any closer," she said softly, though power and conviction underlined in her tone. "You are nearing the borders of Donnelaith, the pack that resides beneath these Sentinels. I am Eilidh, first daughter of the alpha pair." Eilidh straightened then, hoping her still-girlish nature would be lost upon this stranger. She tried to mask her youth with stern words and looks, and kept her body as still as she had seen her father's become during times of stress. There was no fidgeting to be seen today, and she hoped her Pappa would be proud. "How may I help you?"

The red drifter ambled idly 'round the gargantuan pines while sniffing for stashed voles in the snow to bide some time. Unfortunately, not a morsel was unearth by the time her position was discovered. An adolescent female was the first wolf to greet the ember at the precipice. She was a pretty thing - a beauty, even - with a coat the color of honey. A pang of envy brewed in Tuwawi's breast. Maera, her daughter, had been a beautiful; a young woman with a striking pelt of fire and ash.

Yet, the age and inexperience of the pack-wolf meant more promising odds. It might be easier for Tuwawi to appeal to the maiden than a suspicious guard. However, the girl - now known as Eilidh - claimed herself to be a child of the leaders. The Sveijarn knew she must trek carefully, lest rouse the ire of her guardians.

The matron's posture was cordially neutral, ruddy tail hanging limp. She made no move to impede the young princess' instructions, knowing to listen for the sake of bolstering the girl's ego. A slight tip of Tuwawi's slim muzzle acknowledge her words before speaking her own. "Eilidh of Donnelaith," the ember drawled, playing with the foreign words upon her tongue, "I am a courier from the Taiga and bring urgent information." It wasn't a flat-out lie, Tuwawi thought, just... shrouding the full truth. "But my.... journey has been long," she wheezed and fake-stumbled to the side, "winter has made the mountains nearly impassable. I had no choice but to go around. I am so thirsty... so hungry." The matron slouched down to her rear and looked to the blonde girl with pleading eyes to put on a most convincing show.

If Eilidh had been slightly older, the woman's ruse would have been easy to see through, and the gossamer princess would have snarled and sent the woman on her way. But Eilidh was not older. She was still very young and inexperienced in the world, not yet a year's span old. So her heart was tugged as the woman wheezed and stumbled as she relayed her tale. Eilidh knew better than the invite the woman inside their borders without permission, but there was something deep in the other's eyes that tugged on her heart. Eilidh knew of a stream not far from there where the woman might be able to drink.

"I'm sorry for your hard journey, miss. I know of a stream nearby if you'd like to go there." She framed it as a soft suggestion, but before the woman could overrule her intelligence, Eilidh motioned for the woman to follow as she traipsed toward the target area. "I am sure you could rest here briefly, if needed. I'd have to ask my Pappa, of course, but he is a kind man. Perhaps after you drink and rest, we could call him." Especially if there really was any urgent information, her father might want to hear it. "Perhaps I could fish for you, miss...?" She left the end unspoken, hoping the woman would get the hint and offer up her own name in return.