Silver Creek Fire starts with matches

As the pack is still getting established, lone wolves and travelers can show up here and not be attacked on sight just yet, but please do acknowledge that a pack is residing in the area! Hunt roll: 2

Silver Creek, thought Saena definitively as she watched the water swirling by. That would be its name. Her children were in the care of some pack wolf or another, so she had a moment of peace and quiet to contemplate the situation. The sky overhead was clear and blue, but the day was far from beautiful. The lack of foliage made the wood seem barren and there was a distinct absence of birdsong and a distinct presence of ravens, likely due to the liberal number of dead locusts on the ground. They were everywhere, like the sickest shag rug covering the whole wilds, and she was glad for the scavenging birds that cleaned them up.

Beneath the surface of the water darted small silver fish, another good reason to name it so. The fish would remain for a few days longer, unaffected by the plague but sure to be quickly affected by hungry wolves, but fish were difficult to catch. Saena was a large game tracker, a leader of hunts and a team player. Catching fish had never been her forte and ordinarily she didn't bother trying. But a rumble in her stomach bid her to rise and she stooped low over the creek, holding deathly still, until she darted her muzzle out, plunged it into the flowing (and surprisingly frigid) water and snapped her jaws shut.

An unexpected success! She reared her head back, speared between her teeth a small, sleek fish. She dropped it on the bank and tore into its soft belly immediately, but she was only one bite in when guilt held her fast, and her ears and body sunk low. How greedy of her, to have it to herself when she had a pack of hungry individuals who had given to her more than she'd ever given them, she thought, and she let up a low and quiet howl to invite a hungry pack member (or maybe someone else, much to her misfortune) to share in it with her, however small the portions might be.

Rexxar stood back from the timberline, behind which wound the creek that had been his haunt the past few moons. His ears were splayed and his lips were pinched and pulled sideways as his blue eyes roamed the bare limbs of the trees. The locusts had come this far, too. His stomach rumbled in protest; the last meal he had eaten had run its course, and it appeared that he would have to rub his pads raw travelling far enough to find untouched wilds teeming with prey.

Perhaps the fish were still gathered in the pools. Rexxar strode forward, only to find to pause again as his nose picked up the scent of wolves. With the wind at his back, he had not noticed until he had drawn near. It seemed the creek was becoming home to others. His stomach rumbled again, and he considered turning back and seeking the pools downstream... but then he heard it. The most beautiful howl... the dinner bell howl. Nothing sounded sweeter to a complaining stomach than somewolf calling out they had food.

That settled it. Curious and hungry, the smokey wolf loped toward the caller, surprised to find that he recognized her. The white and copper female from the coast. His mouth curled in an amused smile. "Well hello," he greeted from a distance of about three lengths of himself.

Casmir was admittedly on edge. they had lost their alpha male and the land was barren, lending very little cover to their vulnerable group. and while they seemed to be the only pack in the area, the young male could not trust that the wide expanse of land housed no others. 

he had lost sleep and eaten little, and so when Saena's call rose, he loped toward it without a second thought. a bite or two of fish might buoy him through the next couple of days; his tongue lolled as he spotted the familiar form of the alpha female, but the sight of an unknown male moving toward her brought a snarl from Casmir.

he was not one of theirs; he lengthened his stride and came to Saena's side, hackles bristled and tail flung high, though not higher than her own. the boy growled, tucking his chin in case the other struck, and his eyes were hard. 

at his age, Casmir was tall, rangy, muscular, though he would not achieve his full breadth for another year. yet mistrust made him dangerous; it had hardened him and brought him out of childhood, and he stood with glare firmly fixed upon the strange male.

Going to make this a one-off post to establish Braely in the area of SC. 

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Brae was weary of travel. She had, since fleeing Snake River, gone through fits of starting and stopping, traveling and staying, resting then leaving. Presently she had wandered for several weeks, leaving the wretched thing at Sweetgrass, then pushing to the north and west. The mountain crossing had depleted her of any fat remaining on her body; only her teats still swayed beneath an otherwise sunken abdomen.

The peaks had been treacherously slippery,  all melting ice and shifting earth, and the last of several small rockslides had sent her tumbling down a sheer rock face. There she had earned the scrape that ran along the back of her head and the right side of her neck, where fur had come away along with flesh and left angry scabs in its wake. Solid ground, then, was a blessing from the gods, and Brae sent to them a silent but pious thanks as she strode through a great damp wood. It seemed to be struggling to flourish for spring despite the locusts that swept through in phases. 

Loamy soil, thick with moisture, gave way beneath her tired paws, and she had a number of scrawny squirrels and undernourished birds flushed from the young greenery without really trying.  It was a more pleasing land than those she had just trekked through , but troublesome to the two year old was the vague scent line that she occasionally crossed paths with. It was an immature and as yet not fortified border marking, and yet it was enough claim that Brae wouldn't tempt a pack's wrath by poaching. 

Irritable to have found such lands only to be taunted by a fledgling pack's pissline, Brae frowned and veered away from their borders. By the scent of them they were no strong clan able to afford her price, nor protect her if Basile should pursue her on a whimsy or if he caught word of their unwanted whelp. And yet when a howl quivered from deeper within, an invitation to feed, caught in the mist between the trees... Brae found herself wishing she could accept its summons.

It was not meant for her exactly, but that didn't mean it couldn't be, and not all bargains had to be in the long term.  Charcoal ears flattening back to her nape, Brae lifted her head to issue a tentative howl of her own.   I come with no threat on my tongue but an offer, if you'll see me.

Chosovi lurked with the group. By now they had moved to a place that was comfortable for what she hoped was all of them. It was certainly better for her. God, she hated the beach. She did no good in that sort of setting. Still, she would've stayed 'til the day that she died to be with Saena and company; the bob-tailed woman had earned her loyalty the second she was accepted into the fold.

Chosovi had heard the howl and quite hungry yet also not at all caring for her wellbeing and wanting to tell Saena that she had to eat, for the kids, she marched on over to the general vicinity. In the distance, another howl. Before her eyes... Casmir, a stranger, and Saena. Chosovi moved and mimicked Casmir, just so that he would know he was not alone in his thoughts... or his actions, anyway. Whatever was going on, she was by their (the Creeks) side.

It was only a matter of time before some kinwolf arrived to share in her meager meal, but the seconds ticked by like hours as the fish, glistening still with wetness from the creek, taunted her beneath her paw. She flexed her foot, felt her nails press against the scales, and fought the urge to devour it then and there. It would be rude to call for someone only to eat it all herself, after all.

The first wolf to arrive was the very last Saena expected to see again. Her opinion of Rexxar was yet unformed, for while he had given her some sound advice and conducted himself in a pleasant manner, she half-believed he was a fearmonger. Yet she knew now his words were true, and so although he was within her claim, her pups were no where near and she stood only with authority and a little mistrust rippling her hackles. "You," she pointed out the obvious. Rexxar was well-built, and having wandered into her claim, she assumed he had some interest in her clan, whether or not that assumption was wrong. Having met him once before, Saena knew he would do her no harm, and was moments away from extending to him an offer.

But she didn't have much of an opportunity to say anything more before Casmir's arrival. The Mayfair appeared with authority and aggression in his stance, and though Saena agreed with his sentiment—protect the home—the flag of his tail set off other bells in her head, bells that were normally dormant but were ringing now as hunger dragged out more feral parts of her being. As she had no tail of her own, she could not outstrip his authority by raising it, and it wouldn't do for any of her subordinates to act her better in her presence. So while Rexxar was now labelled a potential threat to their claim, with the opportunity to invite him in expired, she ignored him momentarily to round on Casmir and make a snatch for his muzzle to remind him who was boss.

Chosovi arrived moments later and her actions were no different, and Saena's hackles prickled indignantly as she insecurely perceived this as disregard for her position. With no Alpha male at her side and with this land being new and unfamiliar, it was more important than ever that she be regarded as the leader. With any luck, her unwelcoming response to Casmir's dominance display in her presence would also advise Chosovi's reaction, but if not, the Alpha female had no problem reinforcing her authority here. In the interim, she swung her head toward Rexxar, wrinkled her muzzle, and told him, "leave."

He had hoped perhaps the wolf had made a substantial kill, or had come across a fallen deer. In short, he had hoped that there may be enough that the wolf might be inclined to share. But instead, his blue eyes drifted to a small fish held between her paws. There was a slight tilt to his ears as they turned backward. The fish was hardly enough for one, let alone two.

Make that three. Four. In no time, the dinner summons had attracted two others, behaving in a manner that told him two things. One, they were packmates with the copper and white female, and two, she lead them. Her own reaction confirmed as much. There was a fifth somewhere in the distance, howling an interest in meeting, but she did not show, and Rexxar, faced with three pack wolves, knew his chance at a meal were shot.

The alpha female turned toward him and ordered him out. He did not argue. The smokey male tipped his snout down with a polite smile, and then loped away.

Exit Rexxar

Casmir had let hunger and rage take hold of him; even as he stiffened alongside Saena, his intentions well-meaning, instinct told him he had taken a grave misstep. another woman from the Creek followed his lead, not that of his pale cousin -- this caused dread to pool in his belly. all his suspicions were confirmed by the sudden snap of Saena' teeth toward him; they dug sharply into the top of his muzzle, bringing tears springing to his eyes.

the boy dropped to his belly, as much out of surprise as to mollify the Creek alpha's ire -- she was not just his cousin, she was his leader, and he'd assumed way too much about their relationship. The strange man was ordered to leave and did so without argument, though Cas' golden eyes followed his retreating back with a hint of hardness before he curled his offending plume between his thighs and looked down upon the ground.

Casmir was reprimanded, and Chosovi wilted at the sight of it, sliding near to Saena when the moment seemed okay to do so to lick appeasingly at her muzzle. She, too, had been well-meaning in her hard defense, but she supposed that she had also been unthinking. She certainly did not want to disregard the womans rank! And acknowledged it now, knees bent so that she seemed to be partially squatting, ears flat atop her head. The other left, and Chosovi's eyes fell upon them before looking back to her leader again.

It wasn't unusual for a wolf pack to recruit members into its ranks by treating them differently than a standard trespasser, and Saena would've done just that with Rexxar had her unruly subordinates not intervened. Alas, the man turned and left Silver Creek and she was left to deal with Casmir and Chosovi.

Luckily for the Alpha female, who despite her mannerisms had no love of showing overt dominance to her followers, Chosovi followed Casmir's lead yet again. That irked a part of her that she was unused to, but for now it served to temper her. Saena knew she would need to keep one eye on Chosovi and one on Casmir. Her cousin could do no harm to her or her rank, on his own, but the possibility of her wolves showing loyalty to Casmir over herself was a grim one. Cousin or no, Saena would not allow him to usurp all she had worked for.

She relinquished his snout with a growl, casting her eyes sharply to Chosovi before grumbling deep in her throat. "He would have served us, but your haste has cost us," and with that she strode away from the both of them. Her anger at them would not last, but for now, Saena wanted to be alone and far away from Casmir and Chosovi. She had no tail to snap irately at her hocks as she departed, but the stub where it used to grow itched with the desire.

last for me!

Saena was maaaad. he couldn't say he blamed her. they could have used the man's strength, though Casmir was still a little put out. i ain't need no man, he thought nonsensically to himself before he began to slink in the opposite direction. he also wanted space, to lick his invisible wounds and berate himself; the other Creek wolf went woefully unnoticed.