Phoenix Maplewood Here weary traveler, rest your wand

It had been lush....once. This land had a deep history, he could tell, reading it from the few burned husks of trees hidden in the underbrush, and now the rich land falling apart again, prey to the swarm. He'd paid no heed originally to the hoards of insects invading the land, except to find them an annoyance, but as the onslaught continued and the land suffered, he cursed the winged beasts and the empty stomach they'd left in their wake.

Raeth was a fighter, a warrior, born and bred. He'd be damned if hunger was to be his end. He'd done well enough, subsisting on squirrels, rabbits, mice...hell, he'd even tried eating one of the locusts. How his siblings would have loved to see him in THAT moment. He smiled every so softly at the thought. He missed them, wondered how they were faring. After he'd been ousted from the pack by his own father, and after vowing to himself he'd never return to the ungrateful man, the only times he'd seen his sister and brother were in memories.

In fact, his sister had been the real reason he was out here, treading the broken land with tired paws. He'd heard varied stories, some possibly true, that her whereabouts could be out here. All he really craved was to know she still lived. His father and the rest of the pack, well..he was too stubborn an old man to die or let his pack suffer. But as for Laer, Raeth knew she'd left home, and ever the overprotective older brother, he had to know she was surviving in this mess. Had to find her. Would give up his kill for her just to know she was fed...

how could I resist?

The lands were starting to become fertile again. For the healer this meant a few things. Mostly it was time to start collecting herbs and properly antiquating herself with the lands and finding where she could expect the plants to grow. The greyscale woman had made her way from the Dragon's Keep and down into the valley, her steps sure and slow - she would not waste her time or her energies in any injuries while there was so much work to be done. 

Her keen eyes caught a figure up ahead - only vaguely aware from her Heda of the past troubles with the wolves of the woods she knew of the precarious treaty that had been dashed so long ago. It had been abandoned, those wolves trekking a great deal away out of fear and the awareness that they wouldn't survive against the Dragons once they were roused. The figure though was a splendidly colored as the creatures of lore, his pelt standing out against the bark and sparse foliage as if he had been painted there instead. 

She could not quite tell what he was doing from the distance she was at and so she approached. Fearless, though not reckless, the Dragon watched the red male. 

His chain of thought was broken by only the barest of sounds. He hardly caught it, to be truthful. Hsi ear pivoted in the direction it came from first, his head following b ut a heartbeat after. Clearly, she was skilled - upwind, and almost completely silent. It took him a few moments, but he finally spotted her amongst the foliage trying to reclaim teh battered land.

Granted, Raeth was never trying to hide, nor was it the easiest thing for him with a pelt of his color. This land was riddled with varied packs, and he was very specifically trying not to cross any borders and start any trouble, weakened as he was from the famine. He was a large wolf, aye, but still thinner and out of form due to lack of sustenance. It was still good to see another wolf, and a female at that. Perhaps she'd have some information on his sister, provided she was the friendly sort.

"Come on out, friend, if you care to share some company!" he said with a grin, inviting and jovial as ever. He had no idea why this woman was here, if she was part of a nearby pack, if she wanted to steal something from him, if she just happened to cross his path, if she was friend or foe, it never really occurred or mattered to him. He was probably way too ridiculously trusting,and ignorance, or perhaps ego, tended to be bliss in his case. What harm could she possibly do?

As she neared the male she was spotted, her pelt far more stealthy than his and yet still quite different to the terrain that surrounded them. The healer's green eyes drifted over the male, narrowing a bit as he beckoned her closer. At his words, a coy smile did grace her features and the woman tilted her head; to some it might have seemed innocent, but the move was anything but. "Not too long ago any wolf caught in these woods would have forfeited himself." She said in a lilting voice. It was still graced by her accent, the second tongue familiar and smooth to her own ears but to anyone else it would be evident that she pronounced some things differently. 

Once she was closer to him it became more obvious why he was familiar. She did not waste her time with lesser wolves, so assured was she in herself and her people. This male though - were she a betting woman she might have won a fortune on guessing his heritage. "Serilyen." The name was spoken as a title; with the respect and reverence it deserved. Saria was not one to mince when it came to respect, though such a thing was hard earned with her. In the case of the other wolf - Laerneth - the woman had been hardworking and it had earned the healer's respect.

A grin widened on his countenance as she came closer, voicing what seemed to be a clear threat. He knew a little bit of this territory's history."Aye, I wouldn't have bothered to step foot here were it still so. No lone wolf should be so stupid to encroach on pack territory...especially certain packs. " He grinned. Despite being a force to be reckoned with, Raeth was, for all that, on his own. He knew better.

But his somewhat reckless grin faded as soon as the name slipped from her ashen mouth. Serilyen. Shock showed first, and while Raeth could sometimes seem the big, dumb brute, he was much sharper than he gave away. There was only one way this femme could possibly know his family name...and anyone with good eyes could tell his and Laer's resemblance. The shock was quickly replaced and the words came spilling from his lips. "You've seen her! How long ago? Where? Was she well? " Never one to mince words, Raeth. He never even bothered to introduce himself as hope flowed back into his weary frame.

The male moved into quick animation, clearly Saria was correct in her assumption and launched himself into questions. "Easy, Firebird." The woman said quickly - her dark tail lashed behind her as she regarded him. This must have been the brother that her Firebird had mentioned, the woman had been in her care for so long they had talked at length about what was important to them. Saria had not been able to disclose much other than her heda and her goal to reunite with her. "Laerneth was well when we parted." She explained, though she could not promise that it would stay that way. 

"We parted perhaps a month ago. She was in my care as she recovered from a rockslide." Saria supplied to him, not wanting to string him along anymore and not wanting him to launch into demanding more of an explanation. "I am Saria, of the Sleeping Dragons." She offered finally, wondering when the last time that he had seen her Firebird. 

The "firebird" title amused him, as he'd used it before with his sister in their youth. He liked this woman already. ANd when his sister's name issued from the greyscale lady's mouth, and the fact that she was well, he gave an inward sigh of relief as well as an outward one.

A rather embarrassed look overtook him after that. It was typical of him, reacting before thinking about the possible outcome. Leave the plotting to his brother, he was a man of action. Now that he had regained himself, a sheepish grin on his face, he found his tongue again. "That very rockslide is what parted us. Laer followed me after my exile...no matter how much I tried to dissuade her." If Saria, as she'd introduced herself, had spent even a few hours in Laerneth's company, she'd know how stubborn his sibling was. "I've been searching for her ever since. But the storm effectively wiped away any scent she may have left behind. A month is not so terribly long...if I'm lucky, she won't have gotten far. Thank you....for taking care of her. My name is Raeth, and I am in your debt." He said with a bow of his brightly colored head. He took his vows and debts very seriously, hopefully he could repay her for the kindness he'd done for his sister, and for him.