Northstar Vale office style jazz band

Wind rushed as if in a desperate race across the heavens, boughs creaking and submitting to the will of the winds. Of course here, a fortress protected by not walls but mountains, the wind was lesser then it would have been should she have stood now in the lowlands, yet the wind brought a chill to her all the same. Autumn. Time was slipping quickly, the paradise that was summer making way for the desolation of winter. For many, alone during the cold's reign, death would dog their footsteps, and should luck not favour the greyscale woman, the same would come to her. The winds, the cloud heavy with clouds not yet having shed their cargo, were but a warning of the imminent changing of seasons, or a rich time to a poor one. 

She made good pace across the vale, intention being to cross the mountain range, see what was to be in the north of these lands. Unknowingly, she tread close to her sisters land, a face long since seen but not left to the ravages of time. Her family, their faces and names, still cemented in her mind, though not as clear as she would like for them to be. 

A bough fell, landing upon the earth with a distant thud, and she started, emerald gaze moving up to the boughs above her as she slowed, wondering if now was perhaps not the best time to travel. The wind had the potential to increase, as did the number of falling boughs. Though the single thud she had heard had perhaps been but a one-time event, wariness brought pause to her as she halted, missing the brief scent of border driven toward her as the winds slowed a moment.

Tagging @Asterr, but anyone welcome! Preffereable from RJ!

The last few weeks have been nothing but a strain on all of them. He had been pushing his luck with @Tavi, nothing any of them did made any difference and it had been a week ago Ukko woke up to her gone. His duty in the pack left him conflicted and while he searches, he returned from each trip until the trips became fewer. Asterr nears the day of her birth, swollen and tired and likely in need of bed rest but the man doesn't push her more than he's comfortable. He keeps her fed, though, and now that he had been hunting for one with Tavi gone, things seemed to be better.

It didn't lessen the strain on him and as he searched outside the territory for Tavi once more, he finds himself much farther away then he intended. He'd gone back and forth for days and it wasn't really the way he wanted to learn the lag of the land, he did what he'd been compelled responsible.

Distracted for the moment, he finds a scent carried on the wind in his direction. It isn't familiar but the ever increasing wind leaves him uncertain of where he's going. A heavy sigh escapes his lips and he turns, once, to see the fall of a large branch up ahead, and a little further the sight of another wolf. Ukko picks his up head to peer through the brush, glancing where the fallen limb had come, and then works his way through until he's close enough to chuff the announcement of his approach.

Another. Presence is established, as is direction, via a chuff. She pivots, eyes searching in the general direction the sound has come from, not yet slipping in movement. The wind is too strong to properly scent the other, but she sees him soon enough, the dark of his coat stark against the earth. She allows his approach to be unhindered, by the unthreatening stance he carries and his friendly chuff, she assumes him to be not a threat. 

She watches him curiously, moving with easy grace to meet him. "Greetings" she begins, soft and lilting voice amplified to be heard above the winds, steadily picking up, though the change is barely perceptible. She can not tell yet if he is of pack, or but another lone wolf. She is wary, as any might be of a stranger, but not especially fearful. She watches him curiously, wondering a number of things, but putting none of them into words, not yet.

Ukko may not know his pack well, specifically with one particular member—one Asterr insists on keeping around despite his crimes—but he takes a little more pride than he expects. While spending the last several weeks in an attempt to get to know his mate, distracted by his best friend, he knows he’s no where where he needs to be when the next bend in his life comes. When it comes to his own responsibility, he had hardly considered the lone wolf in front of him anything more than just that: a lone wolf.

Her response is formal and she holds herself in a way that feels familiar but it doesn’t swim to the forefront of his mind just yet. Instead, he nods his head and wags his tail a few times to show his intent. While she hadn’t become on guard in his presence, she feels comfortable enough that he doesn’t have to worry about where it might go.

“Hey,” he says, closing the distance as he steps over a little brush in his way. The sound of a creak causes him to turn and look for the source but nothing gives him clue yet he needs to run. Ukko brings his attention back to the straggler with a sliver of a smile on his muzzle. “Nice weather, huh?” he adds with a chuckle, glancing around at the branches above them.

He speaks casually, amiably, and she sees no reason to be on guard nor be defensive, and yet she is still alert. She is no fool and is not one to blindly trust another based on stance and words alone. But she replies amiably enough, voice now her usual soft tone that they are closer, and she does not fear not being heard. "Yes. The autumn is a favoured season of mine." Any attempt at humour and irony is lost on her, as she watches the other with emerald optics. 

He scans the boughs above, she does follow his gaze immediately but keeps her gaze on him. "Are you of a tribe?" she questions, wondering if this is perhaps a loner, a wanderer, who might have knowledge of many places, or if this is a pack-wolf, firmly rooted in his place, as many were. She shifts her weight, stance one of quiet grace, head raised as she surveys him.

Ukko shifts when she she responds, feeling a scrutinizing weight of her eyes—something he often feels when talking to Asterr—but the thought doesn’t survive much longer. While his nature is far more relaxed and easy going, a contrast to the uptight chieftess of his home, it gives him a weird sort of balance. When it is not someone he is familiar with, he feels a little awkward and glances away until she, in turn, asks something of him. The word tribe, however, doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Yes. Ryūjin. Just south east of here,” he says though the name of the pack doesn’t mean much to him. There is a whole slew of information he doesn’t know about his mate, or his pack, which doesn’t necessarily make him fit for either job he has a handle on. “My name is Ukko,” he introduces then with a slight lift of his nose. “Shogun. Which is kinda like beta,” he adds, compelled to say as if she were any other wolf.

His words resonate, and her demeanor shifts in the slightest when he mentions a name. Rujuin. The name is familiar, learned in the lessons of a childhood long past now. She is curious, but only when he mentions his title does she truly hope. Shogun. She pauses a moment before adding her voice to the whistling wind and creaking boughs, hopeful now. "Are you of a Draconid tribe?" she asks, a hint of awe leaking into her voice. To find a branch of her home tribe, no matter how distant, would be astonishing. 

The male is suddenly much more interesting than a single conversation, a name learned, but perhaps a home, should she be so lucky. Since striking out from her tribe those many months ago, she had since grown nostalgic, so to speak.

Instead of introducing herself, she has another question, one that causes his ears to twitch and erect forward. It shouldn’t surprise him as much as it does, with how she carries herself and the way she speaks, but there’s a little lingering in the back of his mind. He nods first, uncertain of how to answer fully for he does not know much about the tribe itself, or the history it has, and surely if the woman before him knows of his tribe then she will know much more than he does. Feeling himself internally shrink and lose a grip on his own title for simple ignorance of a culture he doesn’t know, he clears his throat once before speaking.

“Yes. Asterr is the chieftess,” he manages, curious to know if she knew of his home, if she knew Asterr as well. The history remains hazy to him on how long they have been in the lair and where she came from but he is learning, slowly each day. “What is your name and where do you come from?”

Asterr. The name is quick to attach itself to a face, long faded, but known well. Her eyes gleam, a smile twists her features as she looks at Ukko. She can not help the happiness on her features, as this male could be the key to seeing her sister again. Being part of a tribe, a true tribe, once again. "My sister." she states, explaining the happiness that obviously she feels. "My name is Hisaya. I was of the Draconid Tribe, as was Asterr." she explained further as an answer to the question he posed. 

Her decision is quick, knowing that her sister leads this tribe is all she needs to know. "Would you lead me to her? It has been many a moon since I have laid eyes upon her." she said, willing to follow this male over the mountains should it mean a meeting with her sister, and the thing she also desired. "Do you have a place in your tribe for another, Shogun?" she asked, eyes still gleaming.

I figure we could do everything in this thread to avoid messing up the timeline since the puppies are born? :) We can tag Asterr in the next round.

When the other informs him that Asterr is her sister, his ears twitch upon his head. Most of him wants to believe the words she says and he feels inclined to, given that he’s said minimally about the details. She recognized his home and his title, prompting him with a word that he knew to be limited to Ryujin. “It is nice to meet you,” he says then with a dip of his head, knowing where this will be going before she makes the request.

“We have room for family,” he tells her then with a swish of his tail. Their numbers are small but that meant little. Hisaya is family to Asterr and, in a while his. “Follow me. There are a few things you should know,” he says then, wondering what she might think of the information. 

He felt it obvious that he is not a Draconid by blood but, in a way, through family. Asterr may be his mate but there is limited connection and he worries that only the children will tie them together, despite how often they are around one another.

“She is my mate and with children,” he informs, shifting his weight back to pivot the way he’d come. For the time being, he gives up his search on Tavi in order to reunite the family members. His search would likely have gone without purchase so he begins the trek back to the lair.

sounds good!

He replies to her request with a few words. Room for family. She is pleased, both at the prospect of seeing her sister and of being part of a tribe once more. She dips her muzzle in a wordless thanks, expression bright, as he tells her there is something, or rather, a few somethings, she ought to know. She has but to ponder at the meaning of the statement before her curiosity was sated. 

"She is with children?" she ponders, a rhetorical question, looking to the male, no longer unimportant, but Shogun and mate of her sister. Her...brother in law? The sudden appearance of more relations, with nieces and nephews to come, is surprising, to say the least. But a few moments ago she was simply traversing a mountain range, now she finds herself spurred into movement once more, towards what may very well be a new home and a family, bigger now. This could be no coincidence, and though she found herself believing in Draco on a...mediocre level, she thought that he surely must have some part in this. 

"My thanks." she says, looking to the other as they travel. "And my congratulations," she adds a moment later, at the words of children. "Where lies the tribe?" she asks, voice melodious and pleased. Her eyes scan him, small smile on her muzzle as she surveys the man that now bears many titles to her. Brother-in-law, Shogun, she thanks Draco for his part in guiding her here. Perhaps, he would guide the others here, should he not have already.

The woman before him questions his statement to which he nods once to confirm what he has said. A warning, or a heads up, but something that keeps Ukko on edge and protective of the woman he calls his mate. Hisaya doesn't need to know that their affection is limited and their relationship developed under strange terms. Perhaps there is something there neither of them have discovered but Ukko knows he won't leave the woman when she carries his children in her belly. His responsibility would not have wavered if she had not become pregnant but now that she is, and due any time, he has become doubly so.

"Thank you," he says then, just before her final question to which he begins his trek back the way he'd came. "This way," he tells her, finding an easy pace to bring her to his borders.

The trip is mostly quiet, occasionally exchanging a few words, but the eagerness to get back and see Asterr has settled. While Tavi isn't forgotten, his duty takes a quick precedent so he can reunite the dragoness with her family.

When the lair is in sight, he points it out to Hisaya and takes a few quicker steps forward to close the remaining distance. The border has become familiar to him, where he has begun to see the lair as his home and feeling the Maplewood and peak shed from his mind. Places he no longer feels comfortable using the terms home, even when he slips up, but he knows in due time all that will disappear.

Ukko turns to the Draconid as they cross the borders, leaving her nearby so that he may search for his mate. Finding her first gives him a chance to line up the information Hisaya had given him with what @Asterr knows instead of putting the mother-to-be into danger.

I have permission to PP Ukko, yee.

From water the girl had emerged, the weightless feeling of floating having assisted in easing her muscles. Any day now and her children would come to life, filling the world with their cries and breaths. She looked forward to seeing them, to watching them grow and teaching them all that had been taught to her. But as the day crept closer, she'd found herself wishing them out more and more often, the added weight having become rather troublesome. There was little that she could do now, her movements limited, as was the distance at which she could travel. Grounded was the dragoness, unable to take flight, but she'd done her best to ignore such realizations for she knew that it would all be worth it in the end.

It was along the water's edge that she'd been laying, basking in the glow of what light managed to slip through the ceiling. It warmed her coat and assisted in drying it, though she knew that it wouldn't be for much longer that she'd be able to do as she had. Every now and again there came a cool gust of wind, carrying with it the threat of fall. The leaves of the trees would eventually alter in hues and then fall down to cover the earth, littering the ground with an array of warm colours. Winter would always be lurking just around the corner, the harsh winds and powdery snow awaiting their cues. The change of the seasons was so close, thus she enjoyed the warmth when the could, such as she'd been doing prior to Ukko's arrival.

Footfalls roused the chieftess from her light slumber, head lifting as she'd sought out the source. Upon noticing his face, she'd pulled herself up to her feet and greeted him accordingly, nudging his shoulder once the distance between them had allowed it. She'd not needed to wait for very long before he'd brought up the reason behind his being there, much of the information mentioned having then been confirmed by the Draconid herself. Thereafter, she'd allowed for him to lead her to her sister, who she'd then greeted by pressing her nose to her shoulder. "Sister, it has been a long while," the girl would add after pulling away, an appreciative smile being directed towards her mate. Another Draconid had arrived within Teekon, and it was only a matter of time before several more followed.